baby aldrich

Playtime

~ randyaa ~ 3 Comments

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailOur recent trip(s) and membership to Strong reminded me of the first time Delilah interactively played with us. It was a very memorable experience.

A few months ago we were all out to dinner together at The Olive Garden and Delilah was in a different high chair for the first time. It was almost too big so we stuffed a blanket and some other stuff behind her to give her some support.

After the waitress brought us drinks there was a coaster left on the table just inside Delilah’s reach. Once she realized this she quickly flung it towards the edge of the table. With cat like reflexes I stopped it from toppling to the floor with a single finger and slide it back to where it was. Her shocked look said to me: “Whoa! What was that!?”. She then tried again, and I stopped it again. This repeated for about 5 minutes until our food showed up and she was smiling and laughing almost hysterically.

Little games like these are every day occurrences now and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Taking her to Strong is a riot and she’s really noticing and playing with everything now.

Keeping Up

~ randyaa ~ 2 Comments

IMG_7574These Days she’s growing so fast it’s hard to keep up. She’s now pulling herself up, (assisted) walking, babbling (non stop), laughing up a storm, teething, high-fiving, smiling (all the freaking time), wearing pigtails and she even had her first real fever the other day (101.8°F). Pulled out of it without a scratch in 2 days though. She’s a trooper. Coming home is so much fun now because as soon as she sees you she smiles like crazy and wants you to pick her up right away just to be close.

Favorite thing in the world right now? Comforting Baby-Hugs. She’s been doing it for a long time but it doesn’t make it any less special. If she wakes up or wont go to sleep for a while and she’s crying & you walk in and pick her up she gives you the biggest bear-hug and calms right down. Gotta say, it’s awesome.

She’s only 8 months old and I have NO IDEA what’s next, but that’s the best part. I can’t wait.

Delilah 0-6 Months

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

Friday was Delilah’s 6 month birthday.  Man oh Man.  The past 6 months have been a blur.  Delilah’s had lots of milestones, smiles, babbling, standing, grabbing, sitting & just recently, rolling over.  Looking back through these pictures made me smile so many times…

NOTE: If you cannot see the slideshow above please view the original post.

The next 6 months will be just as exciting with even more milestones, but will probably fly by even faster.

Hope we can keep up.

What's in a Name?

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailApparently people don’t like when you leave them hanging. Everybody wants to know what the meaning is behind Delilah’s name. Sort of funny given that it’s not that dramatic of a meaning but it’s still fun and makes for a good story.

There’s actually a few meanings:

  1. We sort of had a theme song for our honeymoon in Hawaii. Literally every time we got in the car we’d hear Hey there Delilah by the Plain White T’s and we even used it in one of our Honeymoon slideshows. Delilah isn’t named after the song, but her name is inspired by it. We were thinking up names when we heard the song and both fell in love.
  2. The lilac bush we planted a week after we bought our old house (on Roselawn ave) never flowered until this spring. We were even ready to tear it out this year if it didn’t. A shortened version of Delilah is Lila which can be translated to Lilac in several languages. Kinda cool right?
  3. Along the same lines as the Lilac bush but not as cool… she was born during the Lilac Festival so now she has a Festival every year just for her.

And what everyone’s been waiting for… Some more pictures from Little Lila’s first few days of life:

Delilah Grace

~ randyaa ~ 18 Comments

We had this short & sweet ‘Pushing’ post all ready, but the little lady had other plans so we had to wait until now to let the world know.  Not the first plans she’s disrupted and certainly won’t be the last.  That’s ok though, it all comes with the territory.

It’s been a long few days but she’s here!  Couldn’t be more excited (and scared… but that will pass).

Zemanta Related Posts Thumbnail

Delilah Grace was born at 8:26pm May 19th weighing in at a healthy 9lbs 12.5oz & measuring 21.25″.  Because of all the meds Rachel was on she needs to stay in the special care room for at least the night which is a little hard for us but it’s for the best, we can actually get some sleep tonight!  Her name does have some meaning to us but that’s for another time.

We knew everyone would want pictures so we wanted to get these up right away.

Mom & Baby are both healthy & sleeping soundly. Dad is about to head off in that direction as well. Heh, Dad… that’ll take some getting used to.

Love you all!

~The Aldrich Family (all 3 of us)

What Happens, Happens. Breath

~ randyaa ~ 6 Comments

We’ve had a lot going on lately.

  • In February we refinanced our duplex.
  • A the end of February we bought a new car.
  • In March our offer on a new house was accepted.
  • We close on the new house May 10th.
  • We’re in the process of finishing work on our apartment.
  • We’re in the process of renting out our apartment (we’re keeping our duplex).
  • My Photography business is just getting started.
  • I started a new Outdoors Blog.
  • Our first baby is due June 4th.
  • Rachel has been put on bed-rest until the due date.
  • Stressful things are afoot at work (some that I like, some that I don’t).

With all that’s going on I constantly need to remind myself to just slow down & breathe.  It’s hard sometimes.  There’s a lot to get done and it often feels like I’m not getting anywhere.  I get tired of people telling me about it though, I’m fine.  I take it all in stride, and whatever happens happens and we’ll deal with it as it comes.

Ze posted a song a while back that I had totally forgotten about until today, when he posted the story of how he made it.  It resonates with me perfectly.  I get it.

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/track=397380065/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/

Hey, I’m Ok.

I’ll be fine.

Just Breathe.

A Perfectly Normal Sunday

~ randyaa ~ 5 Comments

On a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago it was gorgeous outside so Rachel and I spent the afternoon with the little one.  So what she’s not born yet?  We’re anxious parents so we couldn’t wait.

Rachel’s brother George & his wife Stacie gave us Oregon shirts for Christmas last year & we just got a package from them for the baby with a Oregon onesie in it.  It was too cute to wait a few months before using so we had a perfectly normal fun Sunday afternoon at the park.  Leave us alone.

The Coolest Thing Since… The Last Ultrasound

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

Wow!

Technology is amazing.

I know Ultrasounds aren’t really all that new but they can show you some really cool stuff! Seriously, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.

Our little baby is gonna be an acrobat or something, she sure is active and flexible!  You can almost make out her face if you watch closely.

I just wish the offices would catch up with their technology.  We’re forced to record the Ultrasounds on VHS.  Seriously… VHS.  We even bought a 4 pack of them (smallest available) from Target for the first one and it was like $8!  All we do with them is convert them from VHS->DVD for archival storage and then rip the DVD->Computer for your enjoyment and our viewing purposes (we’re all digital).

Our First Climb – Crane Mountain

~ randyaa ~ 1 Comment

In 2005 we climbed our first mountain (Crane Mountain) together. I had climbed a few in the past but this was our first together.  We were spending a week in the Lake George area and what better way to explore the region than from above?

ladderWhile not the tallest mountain we’ve climbed, it was pretty intense with several incredibly steep rocky sections.  One of the steepest sections even had a ladder, which was good because being our first mountain together… we didn’t exactly have scaling equipment.

As is always the truth in the Adirondacks, the views from the top were simply amazing.  It was on this climb that we really learned how rewarding such a strenuous hike can be.  On our way back down we passed by a little pond and it was so hot  we were going to take a dip.  However; when we took a closer look we realized it was infested with leaches.  Nice!

It was really a good choice for our first Mountain Climb.  The trail wasn’t that long, but intense, and the views were stunning.

We might go back some day, maybe with the little one.

Crane Mountain will always hold a special place in our memory.