The Gilcher Family

Our News

2011-01-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

Needing some help

2010-11-19T09:36:00.001-08:00

Family Pictures

2010-10-11T10:03:00.001-07:00

My parents were in town this weekend to watch Hailey while we attended a retreat. Hailey loves her Grandma and doesn't want to go to anyone else (including her Mommy) while Grandma is in the room.

We decided to try to do some family pictures since I realized the last good family picture we have is from September 2009 (shame on me).

It didn't look like it was going to work out...
But then Grandma put on a monster act that snapped Hailey right out of it. (She loves to be startled and scared by "monsters" ala Monsters, Inc.)

Hailey and Grandma talking to Auntie Laura.

August Family Visit

2010-09-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

Jerod's mom and grandparents came into town to visit last weekend. Hailey ate up the attention.

Dancing

2010-08-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

Cannon Beach Trip

2010-07-27T21:27:00.001-07:00

Last week we were lounging on the sunny beaches of Oregon - well, not really - more like trying to fly kites in the off-and-on wind and wearing 3 layers of clothing to stay warm. But at least it wasn't raining. We stayed in an enormous house in Tillamook County with my brothers, sisters-in-law, sisters, brother-in-law, and my parents - twelve of us in all. Hailey had a blast on the beach and running around the house chasing Paul and Jessie's dog and getting altogether too much attention and sugary snacks. She's on attention detox now and it's a bit painful.

Read more about the amazing shopping in Cannon Beach on Anna and my new Room to Think blog post called Fun Coastal Findings.

Sisters! Lindsay, Anna, Jessie, me, Laura (and Hailey, of course)

Nana and Hailey

Sesame and Lilies

Daddy and Hailey

Lunch at Lazy Susan. They had the most amazing Carrot Coconut soup. If anyone has a recipe for this, I'd love it! It seemed like it was made with coconut milk and carrot puree (which I couldn't taste, but the soup was orange).
We went crabbing, spent a lot of money on traps and fishing licenses for the one crab we were allowed to keep. But the experience was worth it!

Grandpa T. and Hailey

Back for More

2010-07-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I've been horrible at updating this blog. Blame Facebook, it's so easy to upload photos to FB right from my iPhoto. And blame Picasa for only exporting 4 pictures at a time to the blog. Google has yet to make it easy to export photos to Blogger. Ok I guess I'm really to blame...

Hailey has been practicing sitting on the potty. Not much usually happens there, other than reading through "Hippos Go Berserk".

We painted chalkboard paint onto our cheap IKEA Lack table for Hailey's enjoyment. Read more about that on Anna and my new blog here.

Dancing

2010-07-09T10:40:00.001-07:00

Spring 2010

2010-03-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

We had a great time visiting everyone in Spokane for a week to help prepare for Anna's wedding. I don't have a lot of wedding pictures since I was in the wedding and stayed pretty busy between that and a certain little girl...

Hailey at the North Bend McDonalds trying a bite of ice cream. After the initial shock, she loved it.

Hailey and Jack (my best friend Katie's younger son).

Mother-of-the-bride with niece-of-the-bride.

Hailey loves Bear, Paul and Jessie's dog who was very tolerant of pulling and prodding fingers.

Christmas in Spokane

2010-01-05T09:47:00.001-08:00

We had a great time in Spokane for Hailey's first Christmas.

Hailey and I with her aunties.

Great-Aunt Denise

One of Jerod's favorite gifts (2nd favorite to 24 season 7)

Uncle Paul and the top of Uncle Dave's head

Grandma loves Hailey! And vice versa.

Emily slipped into the family photos - that's ok, she is an honorary Takisaki.

Grandpa and Hailey

Hailey's second cousin Kiera with her Daddy, Mitch

The happy engaged couple!

Little Drummer Girl

2010-01-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry I've been remiss in posting to the blog - Facebook is so much easier since iPhoto exports directly to FB, but the only way I can figure out how to export to Blogger is through Picasa - and it will only let me do 4 pictures at a time. Any suggestions anyone??

Here is Hailey at 7 months lovin' drummin'.

Here's to a Homemade Christmas

2009-12-20T16:04:00.000-08:00

I wonder if this is a DIY Martha Stewart Santa Claus kit?

Teeth are for Eating

2009-12-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

Hailey has started eating some banana and rice cereal in the past few days and she loves it! I'm armed and ready for nastier diapers, today I hooked up my diaper sprayer.

A glimpse of her teeth...

Artsy fartsy.

Hailey's First Thanksgiving

2009-12-04T13:45:00.000-08:00

Hailey spend her first Thanksgiving in Goldendale, where the term "Where the Sam Hill are we" originated... that is my fave piece of trivia about Goldendale.

Grandpa and Hailey

Grandma, Grandpa, Hailey, and her new noise-making doll.

Hailey's Crib

2009-12-04T13:42:00.000-08:00

It's my lucky day when Hailey decides she will be happy to play in her crib until she falls asleep for her nap. She loves playing with her stuffed animals when she is in the right mood for it.

Hailey Sitting Up

2009-11-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

Hailey has started sitting up for short periods of time, though she doesn't seem to see the benefit in it as she will purposely roll over onto her side or back to play after I sit her up.

Day One of sitting up:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Playtime

2009-11-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

Hailey's hands are getting so busy. It wasn't as genius an idea as I thought to put her round, non-suction-cupped bath toys on a removable tray.

Hailey loves her johnny jump-up seat (Craigslist, $10). Perfect entertainment while I put my make-up on.

Hailey's 1st Halloween

2009-11-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Grandma bought Hailey her first Halloween costume. She was a pretty flower. We had a fun time at the 1st annual Southside Youth Group Pumpkin Olympics.

Spokane Visit

2009-10-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

We're taking advantage of Hailey flying for free, so she and I had a nice visit to Spokane where I relaxed as she was spoiled by everyone.

Hailey and Jack - my best friend's son.

Of course we had to take advantage of this perfect fall scenery in my grandparent's backyard.

Hailey is an animal-lover like her daddy. Felines typically know to stay away from Hailey, but Cole was very patient and baby Skittles is even younger and less discerning than Hailey.

Anne of Green Bagels

2009-10-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time I used to babysit for the Keenan family. When I brought Anne of Green Gables with me Abbie Keenan endearingly called it "Anne of Green Bagels" (which, of course, is what we now call it).

Jerod asked for bagels this week, but I've maxed out our grocery budget - which means I go rummaging around online for a new bagel recipe as I've always been a bit disappointed with the ones I've made before (and they are so much work, you really don't want to be disappointed). So I decided to try this bread machine bagel recipe because it had 355 good reviews on allrecipes.com. It was worth it - very fast and very yummy. I've revised it a bit:

BREAD MACHINE BAGELS FROM ALLRECIPES.COM

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 quarts boiling water
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white

DIRECTIONS:

Place water, salt, sugar, flour and yeast in the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Dough setting.
When cycle is complete, let dough rest on a lightly floured surface. Begin boiling 3 quarts of water in a large pot, stir in 3 tablespoons sugar.
While water is coming to a boil, cut dough into 7 equal pieces, and roll each piece into a small ball. Flatten balls. Poke a hole in the middle of each with your thumb. Twirl the dough on your finger or thumb to enlarge the hole, and to even out the dough around the hole. Cover bagels with a clean cloth, and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Sprinkle an ungreased baking sheet with cornmeal. Carefully transfer bagels to boiling water. Boil for 1 minute, turning half way through. Drain briefly on clean towel. Arrange boiled bagels on baking sheet. Glaze tops with egg white, and sprinkle with your choice of toppings.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until well browned.

Hailey is 4 Months Old

2009-10-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Cheap Decor

2009-10-08T21:55:00.001-07:00

Since we don't plan on living here for an extended period of time, I will not paint the walls and must rely on other creative ways to make Hailey's room girly. I found these "paper floofs" on Suburban Bliss that cost me about $4 and 45 minutes to make. I won't feel bad about throwing them out when we move someday. I don't think, however, that I would ever make FOUR of them for one party...but maybe that's because I have a baby now and it was hard to keep the floofs out of her busy hands long enough to "fluff" them.

Comments & Pictures

2009-10-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm really not that into my blog but would like to do better - so I started today by fixing my comments. Apparently all it entailed was setting the widgets back to "default", so please, feel free to post comments now - I'd love to hear from you! I might even start posting some non-Hailey posts, like my favorite cookie recipe and how to make homemade (green!) bathroom cleaner.

Hailey playing with her favorite toy, Lamaze's Freddie the Firefly. The thing is great.

Can anyone tell me how to keep the Bumbo tray attached to the Bumbo seat? Hailey knocks her toys off and disassembles the tray every time I leave her for 5 minutes. I'm sure it is not meant to be easy enough for a 4-month-old to take apart.

Puyallup Fair and Cute Pics

2009-10-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

Being that we live in the same city as the 5th largest county fair in the country, we thought we should give it a try. It definitely was the largest fair we had ever been to, and we did spot two people (in two different areas) dressed in entirely purple outfits, which might have been the highlight. That and clipping about 27 heels with our stroller wheels. I think we'll wait to go again until we have an independently mobile child. Having a stroller means either being stuck in one spot in front of the least popular sheep, or moving on through the center aisle with about 2 seconds to see each exhibit between the heads of more motivated parents.

Yes, this was the least popular sheep. Hailey (against her will, I think) petted his nose with two slobbery fingers.

Hailey sporting her very cute "Babylegs".

An embarrassing view of my exposed box spring, but hey, the baby is cute enough to make up for it.

With cute offspring comes much responsibility. Keeping the camera batteries charged and putting matching clothes on the baby. And yes, I know everyone says I won't have time for either when the second baby rolls around (not that we're planning on that happening any time soon).

Takisaki Reunion

2009-10-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

Every time a Takisaki Family reunion comes around I feel like I know less of my family. I suppose when I was little I simply played with the kids and didn't learn names, but now I feel a twinge of guilt if I get caught glancing at someone's nametag - as if being part of a clan means I must remember all 200+ members by name. We had fun chatting, eating, and showing off Hailey.

Hailey looks so "diluted" next to one of her cousins.

The family worked on updating the Takisaki-tree.

My mom is really in to these generational photos. Every time I think we've taken every possible combination, she finds another one to take. Here we have two Takisakis and two Gilchers.

Everyone minus Dave & Lindsay.

Cannon Beachhhh

2009-10-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

Moving to the Northwest necessitates a trip to the Oregon Coast. Luckily, we were invited to attend a Baptist pastor's and wives retreat in Cannon Beach the second week after our arrival to Puyallup. The trip providentially coincided with Jerod's family's stay in the same area. Hailey was able to meet her Great-Grandparents Camerer for the first time.

Grandma Gilcher was excited to see Hailey again.

Hailey's Hobbies

2009-09-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

Hailey loves to read books with us - she turns the pages herself.

She also loves to watch Jerod play the guitar - he lets her play too.

West Side

2009-09-08T16:55:00.000-07:00

We joined Pastor Ron's family at their beautiful peninsula lake cabin.

Jerod and Joel had fun with the slingshots.

Hailey and I walked around our new neighborhood today.

Hailey loves to pull her musical frog toy on her bouncy chair again and again and again.

Hailey's Spokane Adventures

2009-09-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

Grandpa introduced Hailey's little feet to the grass. She loved it.

Auntie Laura entertained Hailey a lot of the time while I relaxed.

Hailey and Great-Grandma.

Hailey with Great-Great-Aunt Irene

Moving Day

2009-09-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

Moving was a bit crazy since we had to transport our stuff, Hailey, and the cat. Jerod drove the car up to Portland and stayed with Paul and Jessie; my mom and I flew to Spokane with Hailey and the cat. We met up with our moving truck in Puyallup last Thursday.

Last Days in CA

2009-08-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

That's right...we're moving to Washington this week! My mom is coming down to help us pack.

Grandma & Grandpa Gilcher visited last week.

Photo Shoot

2009-08-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

Our friend Rachel came over yesterday and took pictures of Hailey. Here are some of them. Thanks Rachel - they turned out so great!

Hailey 10 Weeks

2009-08-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

Vaccination Day! Hailey sustained 5 shots to the thighs.

Hailey 8 Weeks

2009-08-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

I thought this deserved its own post...

2009-08-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

It has been a rough couple days for Hailey Joy, so you can imagine that she was not pleased when she spit up on my shoulder and rubbed her face in it.

Also - as an update, we are officially moving to the Tacoma area, most likely in early September. Jerod will be a youth/associate pastor.

More Pictures

2009-08-02T21:37:00.000-07:00

Random pictures from this weekend. She really was not as happy as she looks here the majority of the time.

Here she looks a lot like Jerod's baby pictures:

Jerod's baby pic:

I guess we know what she'll look like in second grade...
Hailey's silly face!

Hailey 7 Weeks

2009-07-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

The most successful tummy-time yet. Usually she just lays with her face nose-down and cries.

Hailey in her new swing. She only likes this for about 15 minutes at a time, and will not fall asleep in it... not quite the miracle I thought it would be.

Yum!

Hailey Week 6

2009-07-25T18:55:00.001-07:00

6 weeks old! Caught a couple smiles on camera.

More Week 5 photos

2009-07-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hailey is holding her head up more and "talking more" now. She doesn't like to sleep much - I feel like I only need a couple less hours of sleep than her... So much for getting a lot done while she naps. She likes music, and loves when Daddy plays his guitar for her.

On a quilt Auntie Doreen made, with a sunflower outfit from Uncle Paul & Aunt Jessie. The socks didn't stay clean very long as she likes to fold her feet in while having her diaper changed.

Her cheeks are getting bigger!

Hailey 5 Weeks

2009-07-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

Pretty in a dress from Uncle Dave & Aunt Lindsay

Obligatory baby-sleeping-on-dad photo.

Hailey is smiling more now - so cute.

Seattle

2009-07-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Jerod, Hailey and I flew to Seattle last Wednesday with dual purpose - for an extended interview at Southside Baptist Church in Tacoma and to visit family.

At Southside Jerod ran Wednesday night youth group, including heading up worship time, game time, and preaching a message. Sunday Jerod preached for the youth, the morning service, and the evening service. We also participated in Q.A.s with the church, search committee, and deacon board. Everything went really well, we enjoyed our time at the church. Between church events we were able to see a lot of family and friends in the Seattle area.

Carol, Jerod's mom, came up Sunday morning from Yakima to meet Hailey and hear Jerod preach.

Great Grandma Louise

Great Grandpa Jiro. Hailey is his first great-grandchild.

Uncle Paul and Aunt Jessie drove up from Portland to meet their new niece.

Auntie Anna came down from Port Angeles to meet her niece. Soon-to-be Uncle Mike came too.

Stacy Fundenberger (my former coworker in San Diego) visited Hailey and I.

Auntie Anna wore Hailey in my Moby wrap.

Jenni Hanna met up with us to visit Hailey.

Wake Up and Play

2009-07-05T16:47:00.000-07:00

Hailey frequently has one dainty pinky sticking out.
Who can resist photographing chubby baby feet?
Waking up is hard work!
Hailey loves her pony from Naomi. She was "talking" to it and and waving her arms at it which usually resulted in knocking the horse over.

Week Three

2009-07-02T12:56:00.000-07:00

Hailey is 3 weeks old today. She must have decided that she has reached the benchmark of no longer wanting to nap in the morning...

Hiccups

2009-07-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hailey had the hiccups while sucking on her pacifier - so it squeaked. So cute.

Family

2009-06-30T08:39:00.000-07:00

Bathtime

Playtime with Daddy

Hailey's Visitors

2009-06-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

This week Hailey had a lot of family in town. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Dave and Auntie Lindsay, and Auntie Laura.

Hailey loves Grandpa and already plays games with him.

Grandma wins the prize for holding Hailey the most hours this week. :)

Uncle Dave, Auntie Laura, and Grandma

Uncle Dave & Auntie Lindsay came up from Hermosa Beach where they were vacationing to stay with us for a night and meet Hailey.

Auntie Laura

Week Two

2009-06-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hailey has had a busy second week of life. She has been quickly gaining back the weight she lost after being born (she lost over 10% of her birth weight, so we've been working hard to fatten her back up). We are so thankful to the Lord for taking care of her health and for her weight gain.

Hailey and Beth

Micheya Ice's baby shower.

Sarah and Abby Keenan were able to visit twice while down for Andrew's soccer tournament.

Our good friends Rich and Michelle brought dessert and met Hailey.

Grandma is here!

Out of Order

2009-06-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

Going back in time a bit...these are some photos from a photo shoot Jerod's coworker Rachel did - pre-Hailey.

More Pics

2009-06-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

Somehow Hailey's determined hands always escape from the swaddle. Thanks to Great-Grandma and Auntie Doreen for the blankies!

She sure looked cute here before the "blowout".

2009-06-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

Since all our relatives live out of town, I am trying to be really good about taking and posting lots of pictures - a new challenge for a non-habitual picture-taker. Here are some of today's pics of our sweet baby girl:

I guess eating is hard work.

Ready for a diaper change.

Naptime - a frequent daytime activity, not so frequent at night...

Tali was a bit jealous this morning of the attention Hailey is getting, so she shared Jerod's lap with the baby.

Introducing Hailey Joy to the World

2009-06-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

Hailey Joy Gilcher was born at 4:17 am June 11, 2009. She was 8 lbs 1 oz, and 21 1/2 inches long. She took her time coming out and gave us a scare when her heart rate began dropping each time Sarah had a contraction. Once Sarah was on oxygen and was taken off Pitocin, Hailey had a much more regular heartbeat. Hailey's head was in a strange position, resulting in a tough labor and a severe cone head - see 2nd picture below. Sarah was in labor for 17 hours, and pushed for almost 3 hours before Hailey came out.

We are now all at home after 2 days in the hospital (counting our sleepless first night). Hailey is such a joy to us and we thank the Lord for what a miracle she is (as is every baby that He has carefully knit together).

Cone Head!

Finally recognizably a girl.

2009-05-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately Jerod was not able to see Hailey Joy on our 36 week ultrasound. The doctor's office was really disorganized this morning and didn't check me in for the ultrasound...so the u/s happened an hour after the scheduled appointment (and Jerod had to leave for work). The technician felt really bad about the mixup, so she made sure to try extra hard to get cute photos of Hailey's face for Jerod to see. She was able to get some really great head shots when Hailey turned her head. Take a look at these chubby cheeks:

Hailey 22 Weeks

2009-02-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

I am now 22 weeks pregnant, and Hailey weighs 1 lb 2 oz. She is getting so big that I feel her moving all the time, and this morning Jerod was able to feel her move for the first time. Today we had another ultrasound because one of her kidneys is a bit swollen, nothing serious. Everything else looks perfectly healthy, and all blood tests came back normal.

Here are some cute head shots:

Hiding behind her hand

Is that Jerod's nose and mouth I see?

Mouth open

Big yawn for Hailey - and boy does that eyeball look creepy!

I almost didn't put this one on - she looks like David! Dave - you are cute and everything, but not as a little girl.

It's a Girl

2009-01-12T15:40:00.000-08:00

Jan 12

Jerod has been insisting that our baby is a girl, and he was proved right by our 18-week ultrasound last Friday. We can't wait to be introduced to Hailey Joy in the flesh! She already has quite the stock of clothes provided by another Sem-wife, and the beginnings of a nice little collection of books (we just couldn't help ourselves...)

Here are a couple photos from the ultrasound, Hailey laying on her side with her sweet arm curled under her, and the second of her getting ready to put her fist into her mouth.