We are moving to Phoenix!

Yep, you read that correctly.  Many of you already know this, but if you don't, now you do!

I just accepted a really great job down there with the Maricopa Association of Governments as a "Modeling Analyst."  I will be running integrated land use and transportation simulation models for the purpose of predicting and planning for the future growth of the greater Phoenix region.

We are really excited to get into some nice weather.  I put up a couple of pictures of our new house in the gallery area, one nice picture from the South Mountain Park just south of downtown Phoenix, and a picture of downtown Phoenix itself.

Here are some thumbnails of the pictures,  go to the gallery to see the full sized ones!

     

Two videos of Paul bouncing

New Paul Pictures!

By popular demand, new pictures of Paul are available for viewing in the photo gallery!  Enjoy!

Finally graduating...

Yesterday, I successfully defended my Master's Thesis entitled "Valuing Natural Amenities in Spatially Variable Contexts: an Hedonic Pricing Study in King County, WA." After I satisfy the Graduate School's onerous thesis formatting requirements over the next few weeks, I will officially graduate. This concludes my education at the University of Washington. I have been in school at least part-time for the last 7 years.  I have had a great experience in both the Economics and Geography departments. My education led me to my current job as a full-time research scientist at the Center for Urban Simulation and Policy Analysis where we continue to do original research with and implementation of our software, UrbanSim.

Now that school is finally over, I feel like I can concentrate on other things, such as reading for pleasure! I have learned a lot while taking classes, but the next even more challenging learning experience has already begun: learning how to be a parent. I couldn't have done any of this without Tina's support.

Hopefully I will have more time now to post pictures and stuff here. Don't expect anything too soon because we have started moving into our new house, but after the dust settles, I think there will be time.

He is growing so quickly!

Paul is getting so big! He weighs around 15 pounds now, and is getting pretty chubby in the legs! Today he reached out to play with a toy and entertained himself by spinning a red teddy bear on his bouncy seat. It is the first time we have seen him conscoiusely entertain himself other that eating his fists which he is doing constantly.

I think that I feel a little ridge in his mouth in the top front where he may be starting to get a tooth already. It seems pretty early to me but the books say as early as 3 months, and he is 3 1/2 months now!

Paul started at his new daycare facility this week that focuses more on infant care. Everyone in his class is under the age of 1, and he really seems to be doing great. His teachers say that he is cheerful, and fun to play with, and Paul has been so happy every time I have spent time with him there.

It is amazing how strong he is getting. He can now lift his head and chest off of the floor when he is on his tummy, and his grip is amazing. He will hold on to toys for long periods of time, and is starting to chew on them. His eyes are starting to change a little in the center to brown, but are still a dark blue. At this point he still doesnt have much hair, but does have more than he was born with (other than on the back of his head where he has rubbed it all off).

We had to remove all of the stuffed animals from the bottom of his crib today. He has become so mobile just by squirming, that we have found him in the opposite end of his crib in the morning (and in the middle of the night). Yes, he is still waking once in the night :).

As far as Paul's loving parents go, we are doing well. I am feeling a little more rested even though I am back in full swing at work. Jesse is still recovering from a back injury but is in the final days of thesis writing. He is so close to being done with his masters degree. Marley is doing great as usual. She is still her happy, lazy, and overweight self, and is becoming more tolerant of her little intruder of a brother.

Finally, I know I keep promising pictures, and I hope you guys won't give up. We have a bunch and are still working on getting them sorted. Most of you should have rec'd birth announcements/thank you's, and for those of you that haven't, they are on the way! I never thought they would take 4 months! Also, if you didn't already see it, look at the last post for Paul's first footage as a movie star!

Talk to you soon!

Video of Paul

Here is a little video of Paul doing his thing.  We plan to put up more of these, and more photos soon!

We're still here!

Hi everyone! I know that it has been a long time since we have posted a message. We really haven't forgotten to. As you can imagine, we have had our hands full, and still do. Paul is currently asleep, and I may have to go any minute but will try to give you a quick update. Things are really busy around here. Every day is baby central as we continue to adjust to the joys of parenthood. Paul is a wonderful healthy baby. He is a colicky little one that is very difficult to satisfy, but we love him more than anything. He is growing quickly. He weighs around 12 pounds and is eating quite well. He loves taking baths and walks in the stroller, and is changing and growing every day. He is making eye contact, grasping toys, sucking on his fingers and occasionally his thumb, and has just started laughing out loud. It is really a wonderful experience overall raising such a beautiful little baby! Jesse and I are doing well ourselves for the most part. We are thoroughly exhausted most of the time (Paul isn't much of a sleeper), and have truly learned to appreciate the little things in life like a hot shower, or a hot meal for that matter. We have taken lots of pictures and promise to post them as soon as we can. We are so happy that all of you are still checking our website, and will continue to make posts and put up pictures as often as we can. We can't wait to continue to tell you about Paul's progress. Please stay tuned!

New Pictures of Paul!

This is a quick post to let everyone know I posted some new pictures. Here is a link to the new pictures, you will need to go to the second page of pictures to see them:

http://ayers.cc/wordpress/wp-gallery2.php?g2_itemId=30

Introducing Paul Addison Ayers

Paul was born February 21st at 1:23pm PST via cesarean section. He was 7 pounds 14 ounces. He was a little bruised yesterday from a long labor, but that is already beginning to heal nicely. Other than that, he is healthy and happy.

Tina is doing well following the surgery. She has begun the recovery process and has shaken a slight infection with some IV antibiotics. She is quite sore, but otherwise in very good spirits.

There will be more pictures to come, stay tuned.



Here is a link to a larger picture:
http://www.ayers.cc/wordpress/wp-gallery2.php?g2_itemId=505

We are ready.....

.......for Paul to come into this world officially. Finally we feel confident that we have all of the supplies necessary to get us started. We really appreciate all of the help and wonderful gifts that have been provided by our friends and family. The online shower has been really nice to be able to communicate with all of you from afar, and we have enjoyed reading all of your comments and predictions! The showers over the past two weeks have been a lot of fun, and it was so nice seeing friends that we haven't seen in quite some time (and the ones that we have). We are almost finished with our birthing classes, and will now have weekly doctors appointments throughout the rest of my pregnancy. I can no longer see my toes which isn't such a bad thing in the winter time when I am not wearing sandals. If it were summer though, I would not look so pretty without a nice pedicure and my swollen ankles. I am still not complaining though. I have had a wonderful pregnancy!

Jesse is doing well and is just as excited as I am about our upcoming life changes. He has worked so hard to help with everything around the house to allow me to get extra rest, all while continuing to work on his thesis and maintain his full time job! I feel so lucky to have him.

This afternoon we will be watching the superbowl, so I must go, but let's all just hope that the best team wins, and that I win the pool at work :). Talk to everyone again as soon as I can!

Has it really been so long......

....since I wrote the last post? Once again I am sorry about that. The time just keeps on flying by. Everyday, there is something else that needs to be done, and there is not much time for relaxation. I have however been able to go to bed early most nights, and Jesse has been a great help with all of the household duties that I normally would take care of. The birthing classes are going well. There are certainly a lot of them, but I think they will help us be a little better prepared for the big day. Last weekend we went out for brunch at Salty's. For those of you who don't live in Seattle, Salty's is a beautiful waterfront restaurant in west Seattle that serves brunch and dinner. The brunch is all you can eat breakfast food with omelets made to order, assorted fruit, salads, pasta made to order, seafood including shrimp, salmon, catfish, and crab, chicken dishes, a dessert bar with a chocolate fountain and more. In fact there was so much more, I can really hardly describe it. You will just have to go. It is not worth missing for those of you who are coming to visit. Anyway, other than that, our house has become baby central as we try to prepare the nursery. We went to our 1st baby shower today at Jesse's dad's house! It was a lot of fun. We received a lot of nice gifts for Paul, and a couple of goodies for me as well. Jesse is busily working away at his thesis, getting ready to defend it in about 5 weeks. It will be such a nice relief for him not to have to think about school when getting to know our new baby boy, not to mention he will have finished all of the requirement for his Master's degree which is such a huge accomplishment. I am so proud of him! Anyway, I must go as it is nearing time to wrap things up for the evening. Oh yeah, we completely forgot to take the 7 month belly pic in all of the craziness around here, but will post the 8 month pic soon.

Happy New Year!

Wow, it has been a while since I have written a post! Sorry about that. I think everyone probably understands though considering the busy holiday season. I am not sure where to start! First of all we hope that all of you enjoyed Christmas and Hanukkah. We certainly did. Josh and Haviland were in town this year and we spent Christmas day at Jesse's dads house. It was an all day affair that included breakfast, dinner, movies, and video games. Marley was with us as well and she thoroughly enjoyed all of the wrapping paper. We had a great standing rib roast for dinner, and pecan and strawberry rhubarb pies for dessert. Just prior to Christmas, all of us enjoyed a trip to Portland, OR. We stayed at the Kennedy School which is an old schoolhouse that was converted into a hotel with lots of amenities. There was a movie theater, a few bars, a main restaurant, a European style soaking tub and more. Each room is named after the teacher who taught in it, or the artwork in the room. Everyone should definitely check out the website: www.kennedyschool.com.

Now that everyone is back into the swing of things, Jesse and I are facing an extremely busy couple of months. We will have very frequent OB visits, every 2 weeks currently and soon every week. Our birth prep classes start next week and last for 6 weeks. We are trying to find a good family doctor for Paul (and Jesse and I). We have a couple of baby showers, and are trying to get the nursery into working order! On top of all of this, Jesse is busily working away at his thesis which he will defend in about a month!

I am getting to be huge, and our OBGYN says that Paul is a very large baby. She is watching me closely to determine if any special considerations need to be made in our birth plan. Overall though, things are progressing quite well. Jesse put up a really cool baby ticker on the main page of our website. If you click on the days left, it will show you how far along I am , and how many days into the pregnancy I am so far. It also shows how big the baby is. We are really getting excited, and we definitely are starting to feel the pressure of father time.

Jesse has posted some new picture albums on our site as well, so please check those out. We hope that everyone has a very happy new year! Talk to you soon!