Kye at home, and visitors

After a second day at the hospital we chose to go home instead of staying a extra night.  It was nice to be home, but, it didn't take long for reality to set in.  We have a baby!  We are parents!  This is for real, we are a family of three now, yikes!

Heather & Kye day 2 @ hospital

Chillin'

Dad loves Kye

Pekay meets her first cousin

Swaddle

At home finally, time to sleep

....and sleep

..and stretch

Heather & Kye

After some time at home by ourselves to get things sorted out, we started to have visitors.

Grandma Ellie

Kyle & family stopped by, here is Kyle with his two new additions

Anne

Dawn

Brandon & Dawn walking around Gold Creek Pond with Kye

Kye, cooling down in some grass, at the Roslyn Sunday Market

First sponge bath

The Arrival, Part 2

Then, at 3am...

I'm sure you guessed it, my water broke and I went into labor, 2 weeks before my due date. We will spare you the details of the birthing story and skip right to the outcome:

Kye Harrison Kern was born August 12th, 6:30pm, 6 lbs 10 oz.

Kye!

First Snuggle with mom

Weigh in

Kye with our awesome nurse Tracy

Dad's first kiss

Happy

The Arrival

In the attempt to be conservative and stay close to home with baby on the way, Brandon and I decided to hike Snow Lake on a sunny day last week. It was a beautiful day and it's always a pretty destination to enjoy a picnic lunch. I wasn't sure how 7 miles of a moderate hike would feel at 9+ months pregnant, but it felt just fine.

Heather next to cascade pool

Heather & Baby with Chair Peak in Background

So, two days later, another sunny day and so we thought another hike sounded like a good plan. We decided to go to Rachel Lake, 8.5 miles long, moderate in difficulty. As we hiked along the trail, people  kept commenting that they couldn't believe I was still hiking, shouldn't we be staying closer to home?, etc. Although we had felt okay about this choice before we set off, we both began to feel uneasy, realizing that starting labor at the furthest point out would be a bad thing. We ate a quick snack at the lake and then high-tailed it out of there, both of us feeling a bit foolish and irresponsible.

Heather & Baby at Rachel Lake

Back at the truck, we decided no more hiking long distances from here on out. Phew. We ate dinner and relaxed that night. Then, at 3am...

Whales Can Climb Too!

I feel like a whale these days. Really, I'm not that big, I remind myself, but I get a little shock when I see pics of myself. The good news is that I can still climb decently, despite my protruding belly.

[9 mo prego]

I went out with a few friends the other day to our super secret crag, with views of Mt. Rainier, wildflowers, and the rock all to ourselves. We had a great time, climbing several easy routes and also one 10b. I didn't even hang on the 10b but it gave me a workout for sure.