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