Baby and Mama

Baby Charlie Face

At Home Today

Notice Dad (Nate) on the picture in the background – pretty cute!

Super Stink

Ugh, disgusting farts this kid has – it’s ridiculous!

The New Vreeland Clan

Here he is! Charles “Charlie” Clyde Vreeland weighing in at 7 pounds 15 ounces, a whopping 20 and 3/4 inches in length, born at 6:55p on April 2, 2010.  Thank you all for your prayers and inquiries, sorry we couldn’t get pictures out before now!  Enjoy!

He's Here!

Made in Montana

Alaska Grown

Eyes Wide Open

Today is the day and look what it brought!

April Fool's Baby

We finally set up the crib, you know, never a good time like the due date…and good thing we did too ’cause look what I walked in to find!  Some one had hatched a baby!

I thought it was pretty clever of Mr. Almost Dad.  That sleeping bag you see there was made by a dear friend of my family’s for me when I was a tot and I remember sleeping in it on the floor.  The pillow you see is from Nate’s mom and is a picture of him as a baby all glammed out in his matching blue knitted outfit complete with hat and sweater.  How cute is that?!  How cute and obviously excited to be a Dad is Nate?  Ha!

Nate and Baby Nate

So, nothing as of yet, no stirrings of the largest muscle in my body to expel the largest thing ever to grow in me.  No sign posts of anything immanently approaching either except for that the baby is down way down and kicks my bladder and ribs and other areas I had no idea it could reach every night before we all fall asleep.

Thank all for your prayers and thoughts and here’s to a healthy easy quick and SOON delivery!

Hey all you Blog readers out there.  I have been encouraged for a long time to start one of these things and until recently was utterly opposed to the idea.  Conformity is not one of the things in life I enjoy participating in.  Stubbornness is perhaps a large character flaw of mine.  Just today I was again reminded of that fact.  Poor Nate, I made him put together my bike so I could roam around town on this beautiful springy March day.  I was surprised it only took a week for me to convince him given that my expected due date to deliver our first wee bairn is on Wednesday this week.  I’m quite the whale and I don’t know if he’s more concerned about my attire (red polar fleece pants and XtraTuff boots) distracting drivers or the largeness of my belly getting in the way of my steering abilities.  Either way, he made me promise to go down to the bike shop and get my wheels trued and to ask the bike guys if they thought it was safe for me to be out and about “in my condition” on a bike. 

Anyway, back to the point.  This is the official blog site of the Vreeland clan, here and now up in Sitka, Alaska where we have been transported due to the acquisition of a permanent job with the Good Ole Forest Service for Nate.  Many of you, if not all of you, know this by now.  I will from henceforth attempt to keep you all abreast of the happenings and doings of our new life up here in the “wilds of Alaska.”  We shall hopefully have many tales to tell you during what we anticipate to be a long term stint up here.  Please feel free to make your travel plans to visit at anytime, babysitting will be required but most likely you’ll be accompanied by myself or Nate while doing your obligatory chore (or privilege rather). 

And now for the first story: 

This time of year evidently is a great time to be in Sitka.  It is prior to the masses of tourists and seasonal workers climbing out of boats from all over the world and infiltrating the normal daily life of Sitka.  There is a calmness, a closedness about the town where people stroll to and fro regardless of weather conditions, talk your ear off even if they’ve already answered your question, and generally take the time to look you in the eye and try to figure you out.  A closedness in the fact that many of the shops downtown are closed for the season still or are only open 2 days a week for 3 hours a day. 

This is also the time of the herring run fishery.  Evidently loads and loads of these bait fish congregate to Sitka Sound to spawn and also to have their roe harvested for a rich market over in Japan.  On days when the fishery is open to harvest the harbors have a mass migration of boats to various parts of Sitka Sound where the seiners make ready with their purse nets and seek to amass as many fish as they can.  It is quite the show and everyone and their dog in Sitka goes out one of the two roads to watch the event. 

What People Do for Entertainment in Sitka

 

The Seiners

 

Needless to say we are not just sitting around twiddling our thumbs, well, except for when it rains sometimes.  But wow, we sure live in a GORGEOUS place and once I have this kid I’m going to get a kayak so I can explore more than just the 16 miles of road here on the island.  Keep in touch as we will try to do and bear with me as I figure out this whole fancy schmancy blogging deal!