Averie Jean

Averie Jean Aldrich

She was born at 8:19 weighing in at 9lbs 12.3oz and measuring 23 1/4″ (although there are some conflicting numbers between the hospital and the first doctor visit).

Her first name is something we’ve liked for a long time (although spelled a bit different than originally) but her middle name comes from Rachel’s mother’s middle name.

Some pics from her first few days of life:

 

Portland Round 2

For those of you that aren’t aware, we just got back from a family trip to Portland and if you’ve been keeping track we’ve been there once before. This time was a completely different experience. That’s what happens when your family doubles in size and you don’t put 4,000 miles on a rental in a single trip.

This time, the greatest part of the trip wasn’t a great party with dancing and celebration or the phenomenal scenery at every turn or the chance to see huge parts of the country for the first time. It might be cliche but the greatest part of the trip this time was experiencing everything through the eyes of our kids and spending lots of time with family.

Recently Reece has been ecstatic about anything that moves (planes, trains, helicopters, tractors, boats etc.) so we try to expose him to what we can. I cannot properly express the size of my sons eyes as he looked out the airport windows at the plane we were about to get on, turns to us and shouts AIRPLANE! He quieted down on the plane but he was insanely excited about the whole process. One of the places we visited in Oregon was the Airplane Museum and I swear that when he walked into the place he thought it was holy ground.

Delilah wouldn’t stop talking about the entire trip. With all of this, remember that she’s three and she’s totally serious. While sitting on the tarmac for the first flight out she yelled “why aren’t we flying yet!?” Much to the amusement of everyone around us. One evening while out in Oregon with family we saw “the first star at night” and we asked her what she wished for. She thought for a minute and then whispered quietly “that we can come to Oregon again.” After arriving back in Rochester, the first thing she said in the airport? “I want to go back to Oregon.”

These are just a few examples but we could tell just watching them that they were thoroughly enjoying their time in a new and interesting place. What made it really special for them and us was the time they got to spend with family whom they only rarely see and to build the beginnings of their relationship with their cousins. By the end of the trip there seemed to be a real bond forming and we wished we could stay longer.

We can’t wait for the next family adventure whether it takes us to Portland with family or Peru with just the kids.

A Successful Trip to the Mountains

IMG_1176NOTE: This post is old, it was originally written on February 14th 2012 but for some reason never posted until March 7th 2013

Our first family trip to the mountains has been a success so far. Rachel still has a week before she goes back to work so we’re in the mountains taking advantage and spending a long weekend with the family. The ride up was relatively uneventful although it did take us an extra hour and a half tiger going, and the trip itself took an extra hour due to required stops. All to be expected with an infant and a toddler dragging along so I call that a success!

It sure is nice having a lot more space at camp. We wouldn’t have been able to do it with both kids, both dogs, both of us and my father in the little cabin. Now we have a bedroom to spread out in and the kids have a living room and dining room to spread out in. I put it that way because Delilah’s at the age where that’s essentially how it go’s.

We mostly just spent the day relaxing in the cabin in the woods. Dad and I picked up a bit of wood in the morning, and even managed to kill a porcupine in one of the traps he has set around diamond. He’s trapped 7 so far in the past week. Not too shabby.

After naps we took a quick trip down the road to see some family. Was good to catch up with cousins and let Delilah play. She had a blast running around playing with the cars, trains, animals, miniature babies and other toys. Her favorite parts were a sort of red light/green light game she played with her cousins, as well as the typical dance party she likes to throw these days.

Tonight the sky is so clear the temperature is gonna drop most likely to below zero. This is by far my favorite time of the year to be in the mountains. With the snow on the trees and such clear skies you don’t even need a flashlight outside. It’s beautiful and usually makes for great riding conditions in the morning.

Delilah seems to like the snow almost as much as Rachel and I do. Every time the snow starts to fall she exclaims “I see the snow! So pretty!” and a little piece of me smiles.

I can’t wait for more trips like this. I feel so lucky we have a place to go to anytime we like. I look forward to when Reece can run around an enjoy it as much as Delilah does now.

Reece Davin

The newest addition to our growing family was born a little over two weeks ago, 12/22/2011.

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Reece Davin Aldrich

He was born at 12:13pm weighing in at a beastly 9lbs 6.1oz and measuring 21″.

The name Reece is something that just came to us one day but his middle name has a bit of meaning. More on that later.

For now, here’s some pictures from the first two weeks of our little man’s life.