Here's a clip of Lauren getting in the crawl position all by herself. It looks like she will be mobile before you know it!

Love,
Meyers

Current Stats

So we went to see Lauren's doctor a week and a half ago, and she is growing like a weed. She's currently 28 inches long (97th percentile), 16 lbs 11 oz (50th percentile). She is long and skinny like her Dad. She had a great checkup, and only cried a little bit when she got her shots. I can't believe how big she is getting. Right now she is on my lap, asleep on the boppy, and it's just the most peaceful thing in the world.

Well enough sappy stuff from me, it's time to go to bed.
Later

Lauren's first visit with Santa

Thanksgiving with Friends

Lauren taking a snooze in her jumparoo, while watching the Macy's parade. This was too cute to pass up!!




We celebrated Thanksgiving this year at Nate and Sarah's, with many friends. There was some great food, lots of chatter, and plenty of preparations for shopping early Friday morning.

Brotherhood Bridge Trail

Last weekend we took an hour walk around the Brotherhood Bridge trail area. It was nice getting out and exercising, it was cold but at least it wasn't raining!



Lauren all bundled up and ready to go (she fell asleep a few minutes later)



Scenery from the Brotherhood Bridge




Dad attempting to feed Lauren

Work Photos

Thought these two photos were pretty cool. The fighter jet pulled up to the National Guard hangar next to my hangar. Notice the Alaska Airline jet taking off in the background. Pretty cool to capture two jets in one photo!


The pretty fall colors of the trees with the snow capped mountain in the background was a interesting contrast. Unfortunately, the picture turned out darker than anticipated, but still nice, right?


Later, BJ

One Wet Halloween

We had a nice Halloween weekend. Cassie took Lauren in her monkey suit to a Halloween party on Thursday. Friday night we went trick-or-treating with Nate and Sarah and their kids. It was rainy and cold (imagine that!) but we managed to hit several houses and pull in a decent stash of candy.


Lauren the monkey and Mom. Mom looks like a zombie!! Haha


Aaron, Lauren and Allison ready to go get that candy!


Lauren with Daddy

All of the snow has melted from last weekend as the cool weather continues to bring the rain. We got the game this weekend, though it wasn't a pretty site! Ashley and B.J. renewed their gym memberships this weekend which has been a year in the making. With our renewed commitment to fitness we've also decided to eat healthier. Today we went grocery shopping for ingredients for a couple of new dishes were trying: a Thai shrimp noodle bowl, salmon Caesar salad, and broccoli cheese cannelloni.


Lauren refusing to take her nap today... We tried to capture her adorable "pouty face" but missed it. Eventually we all took a two hour nap this afternoon and she decided to join us.

Winter in October!

Hello out there!

We've neglected our blog for far too long. We're quickly headed toward winter here in Juneau. As you can see we've got several inches of snow these last few days. With all of the rain this summer we should have expected this, but it was still a thrill to see the white stuff so soon this year. Skiing season here we come!


Little Lauren is doing great. She had a urinary track infection that we had to deal with for a few days, but other than that she is growing bigger and bigger every day. See below for new baby pics.




Last month we went South to Sitka for a weekend trip. We had lots of fun shopping and enjoying some much needed sunshine. We took the fast ferry to town and saw lots of rainbows, it was awesome. The bear in the photo below resides at the local bear habitat at the end of the road.


The cave at the bottom of the picture is actually a mud/snow slide pushed down the side of the mountain. Avalanches come down the mountainside every year and slowly melt during the summer.


Brown bear playing with his toy.


Rainbow from the ferry deck


On the ferry to Sitka


Our first attempt at Lauren's halloween costume. It was a little big as you can see, we've swapped it for a new one. Stay tuned!

This last Friday B.J. took the PE exam. Ashley couldn't be happier for this day to come! 6 months of studying and being the absentee father are finally over. He feels pretty good about the test, the first 4 hour portion went very good, the afternoon portion was a bit harder. We celebrated with friends last night at the Hangar.


Friends at the Hangar: (L to R): Cassie, Sarah, Nate, John, Mitch, Colleen, and Josh


Colleen, Sarah, Lauren and Ashley


B.J., Nate, John and Mitch

Go Huskers!

We enjoyed the first husker game of the season this afternoon. Lauren looks adorable in her first husker outfit, thanks Mom! We had lots of appetizers during the game and did some web cam with the family while rooting on the huskers. It's pretty cool to be able to watch our favorite team with our family while we are so far away.

The newest member of our household has settled in nicely. Cassie moved up on August 19th and will officially become Lauren's nanny starting September 2nd. Ashley has enjoyed having her sister with her prior to going back to work. They've been buzzing around town, getting the house in order, preparing Cassie for her new role, and playing lots of Wii! We are both so glad Cassie was willing to come up and take care of our daughter for us.


Last week Lauren rolled over for the first time! It was an unexpected moment as Dad had just finished giving her a "baby massage" and thought she might like to lay on her belly for a few minutes. Before we knew it Lauren had rolled over three times! Since then she's rolled over two more times. It is wonderful watching our daughter grow up.

Camping Trip

This weekend I was lucky enough to get to go camping (Ashley stayed home with Lauren). On Saturday I went out with several friends to Young's Bay located about 30 miles outside Juneau on the backside of Douglas Island. The Geary's (Nate and Sarah) went with me in my skiff, the Ivaniszek's (Josh and Colleen) took their boat over the night before. The boat ride was about 40 minutes long, delayed slightly by the boat traffic in the area for the annual king salmon derby.

After anchoring my boat I had to walk around the bay back to the cabin. Josh and Nate came to walk me back, each carrying a rifle. We were separated by a large stream so we had to walk around a ways to find the low spot in the stream to cross. The guys (on higher ground than I) spotted a bear walking my way about 50 yards up around the bend. At that point I decided to cross the stream where I stood to avoid seeing the bear face to face!

We stayed at a "nice" four bunk cabin located about a half mile from the bay. There is a small stream a stone's throw from the cabin. The Ivaniszek's said that on Friday night there were bears everywhere feeding on the salmon in the stream, making it hard to sleep. We saw bear skat all over the area (along the trail to the cabin, by the stream, next to the cabin!)


Here we are sitting around the camp fire (l/r: Nate, Josh, Sarah, Collen). I got lucky and actually caught a fish from the stream. My first fish as an Alaskan resident! It was a 10" dolly varden trout. We pan fried it in a little oil and seasoning over the open fire, man it tasted so good! Nothing better than some keg beer and fresh caught fish!

After dinner we blew off the rest of our old fire works. Several minutes later a coast guard helicopter came hovering over our cabin and shining its spotlight down. It was kinda creepy (like a scene from the X-Files) but they eventually left us alone. At first we thought they were harassing us for using fireworks, but it turns out they were out searching for a plane that went missing in the area just a few days earlier.


We learned to appreciate tidal changes on this trip. Here, Josh & Colleen's new boat is stranded on shore due to the large tidal changes. They couldn't leave on Sunday until around 7pm because of that darn tide. I got lucky with my skiff and managed to get Nate and Sarah out of the bay around 2pm.


Here's the stream next to the cabin where we caught the trout.

Settling in Nicely

We had a great month back home in Nebraska. From the family reunions, baby showers, parties, softball games, fireworks, and all that shopping! Lauren loved meeting everyone. It turns out she has only one functioning kidney, but her good kidney works like a charm so there is no need to worry.

We’ve got back into the groove here in Juneau. Ashley loves staying home with Lauren, working with her on development exercises, napping, and giving her lots of kisses. The two of them have been attending the Hospital baby and parent classes each Thursday at lunch time. They have a great time swapping stories with other families and getting child care tips from the childcare consultant.

B.J. has been busy studying for the P.E. exam set for October. Work stays steady, he's currently working on the Juneau airport runway expansion project, and a feasibility study to replace the Ketchikan School District oil fired boilers with electric boilers. He hopes to get the skiff out several more times this season, but that darn weather just won’t cooperate!

Here are some photos from the trip. Enjoy!

Love,

Ashley, Lauren, & BJ

Preparing to Head Home!

We had a great time with Ashley's parents. We had some great food and great times this last few weeks. We are heading back to Nebraska today! We are all packed and so excited to see everyone. Wish us the best on our first flight with Lauren.

The Meyers at the Mendenhall Glacier on Saturday.

A juvenile black bear we spotted at the Glacier. This guy was all alone wandering the area digging up plants.

A few weeks ago we took our skiff out on Auke Lake to run it through its paces. Nate and his kids joined B.J. as they took a few laps around the lake. Don't worry, little Lauren stayed safely on the shore!

June Update

Hello from the great North. Life has taken a turn (for the better) these last few weeks with our new bundle of joy. Lauren is doing great, sleeping lots, eating lots (every 1 to 3 hours), and keeping us in awe at how amazing little babies really. We have kept busy adjusting to life with a little one, learning to sleep only 4-6 hours a night, sleeping whenever we can, planning all of our outings around her. In other words, she is the center of our world!

Ashley's parents have come up this week help out and have a little vacation. We are going to head back to Nebraska on June 8th and stay for a month. We can't wait to see all of our family and friends, and share Lauren with everybody!

Lauren taking it easy during one of her many naps...

On Memorial Day weekend we took Lauren for a walk around Rotary Park. Ashley and the baby are in the bottom right sitting down.

Lauren prepares for her very first walk with mom and dad.

We welcome Ashley's folks to town at the airport on Thursday, May 29th.

Welcome home Lauren Rene...

Well at long last our little one is here! Lauren Rene Meyers was born on Tuesday, May 13th, at 12:57pm, weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds 3 ounces and at a length of 20 inches.

Ashley started having sporatic contractions around 1:00am on Sunday. We were thinking maybe a Mother's Day baby but it wasn't to be as the contractions continued all day Sunday and all day Monday. The contractions were 8 to 15 minutes apart and about 30 seconds long for the first 24 hours, but then increased to 5 to 12 minutes apart and around 50 seconds long all day Monday. Finally, at 1:00am on Tuesday morning, we woke up to find her water had broke. 12 hours later Lauren was born!

The final 12 hours were intense but my wife did a wonderful job. We had our friend Sarah there to help out with coaching and to video. Labor at the hospital seemed never ending until the nurse asked Ashley to try and start really pushing with each contraction around 12:30. To everyone's surprise after about 20 minutes of hard pushing Lauren started crowning! This was a little ahead of schedule as the doctor was no where to be found at this point, but Lauren wouldn't wait for him. She was delivered and checked over by the wonderful nursing staff at Bartlett Hospital. The doc eventually made it in to give her a once over and take care of Ashley.

Preparing for her first car ride, Lauren gets buckled up in her car seat.

What a wonderful experience! We are in love with our new baby girl and can't imagine life without her. Our hospital stay was fantastic and we have made it back home together, just the three of us.

Love,

The Meyers

Ashley is officially on bed rest

Last Friday we went to the Doctor's office and learned Ashley has high blood pressure. The doc had her on bed rest through the weekend. Despite this, her blood pressure is still up so he has ordered she stay on bed rest until the birth.

Even more crazy news? The doc suggested we may induce labor as early as this Friday if Ashley's blood pressure doesn't drop. Holy cow! We know we are getting close to the big day, but didn't realize we could be a mere 4 days away! Needless to say, we are eagerly anticipating the next appointment on Wednesday. More updates to come...

Love,
Ashley, B.J. & Lauren

April rolling by...Concert was a hit!

April sure is flying by! Here is a photo of Ashley at 34 weeks. She is feeling good and has worked through recent aches and pains (i.e. swollen ankles and pelvis pain). Everything continues to go great with the pregnancy, no problems with each doctors visit. In a few weeks Lauren will officially be full term pretty crazy, huh? We wrapped up our child birth classes last Thursday, though we still have breastfeeding and just for dad classes to attend. We've had a great time at the classes and have learned so much, we both feel much more relaxed and prepared for the journey ahead.

B.J. and Nate had a great time at the concert in Seattle. The evening included a conversation between Dave Matthews and the Dalai Lama, opener Death Cab for Cutie, and a full set of Dave and Tim Reynolds acoustic. The concert was awesome! The next day the guys toured Seattle, including visits to Seattle's Underground (a series of underground passage ways created when the city was raised above the water table in the early 1900's), and the Museum of Flight near the Boeing Headquarters South of Seattle. The weather was gorgeous, mid 70's with blue sky's, they relished getting out and experiencing a bustling major city after being in tiny Juneau for the winter.

Love,
Ashley, B.J., & Lauren

8 weeks to go!!!

Hi everyone! Here is the latest ultrasound photo. This time it's a silhouette and you can make out her nose, lips and hand close to her mouth. The ultrasound went well, it appears that the hydronephrosis is beginning to subside in her left kidney, though the right kidney is still affected. Lauren's heartbeat was 140 bpm and she was kicking and moving around just like a healthy baby should!

We have been attending weekly birthing classes at Bartlett Hospital. They have been really fun and informative. Last week we got to take a tour of the OB ward which was recently completely remodeled. The rooms are huge and each include a jacuzzi tub and a view of the channel. We'll have plenty of room to walk around and work together during labor so that is good to know.

We're busy preparing for next weekend's garage sale. We've gotten Lauren's room all ready to go but realized we have lots of other spring cleaning to do.

Other than that, not much exciting going on. B.J. passed the online arctic engineering course he needed before he can take his P.E. test in October. B.J. and Nate are heading down to Seattle for a Dave Matthews concert in two weeks and are really excited to get out of town for a weekend. Don't worry, Ashley will have plenty of baby preparation (nesting) to keep her busy!

Love,
Ashley, B.J. & Lauren

Baby Face Photo

Hi Everyone. Here's an ultrasound image of Lauren taken this Monday. If you can't make it out, she is looking at the camera, her face is in the middle of the photo and her fist is directly above her cheek. She certainly looks like a chubby little girl, B.J. calls her our "Budda Baby"!

The pregnancy is going great. It's clear that Lauren does have hydronephrosis (when the flow of urine from the kidneys is obstructed leading to built up inside the kidneys) but the doctor tells us it is nothing to be scared about and that there are reliable ways to treat the condition once she is born. Everything else is good, steady heart beat and the like, so we are all smiles!

B.J. spent all day today at a seminar in town on how to be a more effective project and time manager. Despite this boring description it was actually very interesting and he learned lots of practical tips (for example, if you don't check your email for the first hour of each work day you'll be much more productive... studies say it's true!) Work is going great and projects keep rolling in. Current projects include: a school track lighting system, a couple of airport lighting systems, state building security systems, and a medical clinic remodel.

Ashley is on top of things at her office. Not too much exciting there. We've been busy with the baby's room, we fixed up an old elephant lamp B.J.'s mom used when she was a kid, and hung up several more craft items and art on the walls. The room is great and we can't wait for its occupant to arrive!

Valentine's Day on its way!

Hi everyone! We hope everyone is doing alright and having a great 2008. As you can see, Lauren is well on her way to making her debut. Ashley is still feeling great and has gotten her appetite back. We've got another ultrasound scheduled for the 25th and the pregnancy is going great. Lauren is kicking like crazy and keeping Ashley running to the bathroom all too often. Last Saturday B.J. felt Lauren kick twice within 5 minutes of waking up. It was very exciting,

Ashley's one week business trip to Anchorage when well. She was able to help out the staff at the office and hold down the fort while the employee situation got sorted out. She even got alittle shopping in. B.J. has been swamped at work, but that equals overtime which is always nice.

We've had lots of snow lately! We've must have gotten 3 feet since early January. The snow is beautiful but a pain in the butt for B.J. in his two wheel drive neon (Ashley is doing fine in the blazer). In fact, B.J. is parked on the street tonight because he couldn't get into the drive way. Oh well, better skiing when there's snow!

Love,
Ashley, B.J. & Lauren