Recent Photos

It's A Boy!

I am happy to announce that my sister Martha is expecting a little baby boy! Her and Mike found out yesterday and they couldn't be happier. Even more importantly, baby Schau looks healthy and seems to be quite active. Congrats Martha & Mike! I look forward to June to meet your little one. I just know that him and Riley will be the best of friends. Check out her blog on the sidebar for more info as well as a recent belly shot.

My Long Walk

I am kind of late in getting this post up since I took these pictures last Friday. But I was inspired after reading my dear friend Kristen's blog entry entitled "Walks This Week". I too took lots of walks last week during the sunny but crisp days we had. I finally brought my camera along last Friday on my hour long walk. These pictures represent some of what I saw. Thank you Kristen for writing such beautiful words and taking some incredible pictures!

Funny Stories

Two funny stories that are worth sharing with you all...

I've taken Riley swimming twice now with some friends that I met from our childbirth class that Tyler and I took while I was pregnant. We were in the pool on Thursday playing with our babies and chit chatting when I noticed that Riley had fallen asleep in my arms! The other girls and I started laughing because it truly was comical to see Riley sound asleep with her little arm up next to her head, as if she were sleeping cozy in her bassinet. She was either extremely bored with our conversation or she was reverting back to her days in the womb. Either way, it was pretty funny. If you look closely you can see her asleep in my arms (she's the one in the yellow bathing suit in the middle).

Second funny thing that happened just last night...

After dinner last night Tyler changed Riley's diaper then took her in the car to pick up a movie for us. While they were gone I kept thinking how nice it was to be able to relax and have a few moments to myself, knowing she was in good hands. When they got home Tyler handed Riley to me and mentioned that she seemed really sweaty and maybe had a wet diaper again. I laid her down on the changing table, started unbuttoning her pajamas and quickly realized that she seemed "sweaty" because she was not wearing a diaper! Somehow it had slipped Tyler's mind to put a new diaper on her after he took the dirty one off! We both laughed so hard we thought we too were going to pee our pants! Poor thing, she was just laying there happy as can be in her urine-soaked pajamas while we had a great laugh. Next time Dad is in charge I'm thinking I might need to do a double-check...

I forgot!

I forgot to post this picture of Martha and Erin's pregnant bellies. This was taken the night before we left for Vashon. We decided that they are carrying their babies differently, Martha higher up than Erin. Does this mean Martha's having a girl??? We will find out on Monday. Can't wait to hear the good news Martha. Either way, you will be so delighted to know the sex. Then the shopping can begin!!!

Trip to Vashon

Erin, Claire, Riley and I (we missed you Ang & Ellie) rented a house on Vashon this past weekend. This was our 5th year of getting together and we hope to continue the tradition for years to come. It's always great to re-connect and spend good time with each other, since we are spread out from Portland to Bellingham. This was Riley's first girls trip and I must say that she did quite well. I think the others would agree! A noteworthy event that took place on Sunday while we were lounging around, was Riley had her first belly laugh! It was truly the cutest thing I've experienced thus far. She was laying on the floor and I was twirling her toy above her and amidst the hiccups she was having, she let out her first chuckle. Then she continued to laugh for a good two minutes as I kept twirling her toy. We all kept looking at e/o, like, "Is that laugh really coming from her???". It was a memorable event to say in the least!
The rest of the weekend was spent laying around the house, watching old Friends episodes, eating and taking a long walk. It was very restful and so fun to get away and see Vashon. Thanks girls for the fun weekend.

Over the Mountains

This past weekend we embarked on our first long adventure across the mountains to Spokane. We met some old friends - Troy & Jenny and Nathaniel and Andrea and their kids Asher and Evelyn. Tyler, Troy & Than met when they were 12 on the Spokane Skyhawks soccer team. This was the first time that all 3 couples have spent time together since Troy & Jenny's wedding, about 3 1/2 years ago! It felt almost surreal for Tyler to be hanging out with these old friends when 2 of the 3 of them have kids of their own...where has the time gone? We were able to see some family too - so it was a great trip. Riley did great in the car and last night she slept for 10 hours. It was heavenly!

I'm Back!

It's been almost a month since I've posted something and I'm really excited to get back into blogging. My time in Seattle was wonderful and I was even a bit teary-eyed as I drove back to Bellingham, as I couldn't believe my time was up already! Most of my days were spent laying around the house with my family and hanging out with friends. Here are just a few pictures to highlight my time...

This was taken at the Dijulio's house on our annual Moritz/Dijulio girls get-together. Riley was the newest addition to the group and this year we decided to stay in and make dinner. We figured Riley needed at least another year of life under her belt before we introduced her to our usual wild nights in downtown Seattle :)

You can barely see it, but yes, it is snowing on Christmas in Seattle. Definitely an event worth documenting!

Bjorn on Christmas Day playing a tune for us. Jon, Athena and Bjorn came over for Christmas brunch and we had a great time eating and hanging out.

Here is Martha's tum-tum. She is about 19 weeks along and will find out what she's having at the end of January. We're all guessing boy and it's also what we're all secretly hoping for too! Doesn't she look great???

Bath time with grandma was one of Riley's favorites! I couldn't believe how much she loved the bath. She also has learned to smile and it is adorable. When she smiles, her whole body smiles along with her mouth. It's hard to catch, as she tends to blink when my flash goes off, but I think I got a few good pictures.

Happy New Year to everyone! Hope your Christmas was as wonderful as mine. We're heading off to Spokane on Thursday morning to spend the weekend with family and friends. It will be Riley's first big adventure across the mountains. Let's hope she sleeps the whole way! love, eliz