Monday, August 28, 2006

2 months old today!


Stephen has reached another milestone - 2 months old! He loves spending time under his mobile and seems to get really excited when the orange star comes around.

We started the day by missing the bus :( to go to campus for an early morning prayer meeting. So we drove instead, which does save some time and we even parked for free.

We planned to have a friend over in the afternoon but she hadn't written the right address down and so now she is coming on Wednesday instead. So Stephen and I took a nap (much-needed after little sleep last night!) until Ryan got home.

I had my audition for the C-U Symphony. It did not go well - and I promise I'm not just being hard on myself! But it's over and now I don't have to try to juggle practicing into the daily routine ... and Ryan got to spend a few hours with Stephen and give him a bottle.

Let me know if you'd like to see the 2-month pdf that I put together. I've been playing with my graphic software. It's very cute but I don't want to overwhelm everyone with lots of Stephen emails :)!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

First day of school


So here are both of my boys on Ryan's first day of school. Ryan had his French class this morning and is now at band auditions. He's been practicing his excerpts a lot. So much that I've been walking around the house singing them. Of course I don't have perfect pitch so they're not quite in tune, according to him.

Stephen is napping right now. I finally figured out that maybe he was fussy because he was tired. Sure enough. He crashed as soon as I calmed him down and rocked him for a little while.

His 8-week checkup was yesterday and he is right on track. He's 24 inches long and almost 12 pounds. I guess that's a pound for every 2 inches of him.

Aunt Heidi will be over for dinner soon.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Our first weekend is behind us ...


We had a wonderful weekend here in town. My sister Emily came and joined us. It was nice of her to help, although I don't think we really had to convince her to sit around and cuddle with our son! Friday we enjoyed an evening at home and Emily showed up after we'd finished dinner.

We had a nice slow start on Saturday morning and had waffles for breakfast. Ryan then went to a recital on campus and Emily and I did some grocery shopping. It figures that when I do have help that Stephen would really cooperate at the grocery store ... it was when I was all alone last week trying to do it that he screamed ... and screamed ... and screamed ...

We enjoyed a homemade pizza for a late lunch and then really attacked some more unpacking. Although we did fairly well packing and labelling boxes, we did throw some random items in boxes where they didn't belong - thus inducing some lengthy searches once we got here. If you ever need to know where the telephone cords are, look in a box labelled "mommy's shoes." The diapers will be in the box with the breast pump accessories.

We really twisted Emily's arm and talked her into watching Stephen for the evening so Ryan and I could go out to celebrate our anniversary. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner downtown Champaign at a place called Radio Maria. Then we went to Wal-Mart. I guess we aren't newlyweds anymore :).

Heidi showed up at our house while we were gone and she and Em took Stephen to the custard place down the street. After we got back, Ryan and Emily stayed up to watch a movie, and I got a few hours of sleep, knowing that I'd be up with Stephen during the night. Which I was. But I can't complain. For the most part, he just gets up to eat and then goes back to sleep.

We also found out that Ryan passed the entire music theory test on Friday. It wasn't a test that he had to pass to begin school but it would tell them what aspects of the subject he still needed to work on. He was very relieved (and surprised!) to have done so well.

Today we worked on unpacking the office and the boxes of books in the living room. Uncle Gary and Aunt Judy were in town and we enjoyed dinner with them at Cracker Barrel. Emily left to go back to Plainfield, and Heidi is back at her condo. Stephen is currenly sleeping and Ryan is putting odds and ends away.

I have been amazed at what a good baby Stephen has been the past few days. He still wants to be held a fair amount, but he is generally content and happy! I really think that the busyness of the move and the constant activity was pretty hard on him. Now we are fairly calmed down and he seems to really like that ... and I appreciate a happy baby! ...

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Almost Settled!


We are finally hooked up to the internet in our new home at 1408 W. Clark St. It was a busy week and a half - not to mention the busy 2 months before the move!

On Monday the 7th we loaded up a big truck (yes, Ryan did manage to fit all the furniture and boxes into the truck) and drove to Champaign. Laurie Olson and I brought Stephen and he did very well, needing to stop and eat only a few times and really being very good in his carseat.

We did a whirlwind job of unpacking the kitchen and bathroom and some of the other rooms as we had only a day before heading to Canada. Then we hopped in the car with Grandma Susan and drove to Port Huron, Michigan, for the first night. Stephen did well in the car that day, and it wasn't until the next day that he really started expressing his disappointment with spending so much time in his carseat!

We got to Grandview Island on Kahshe Lake at about 8 on Thursday evening. Grandma and Grandpa Leatherman (or shall I say, Great Grandpa and Great Grandma) were eagerly awaiting our arrival. Over the next few days, we enjoyed time on the lake and even some relaxing moments! Stephen was introduced with pride to Great Grandpa and Great Grandma's friends at their Sunday morning service.

Our ride back to Illinois was a bit more enjoyable for the baby since we decided to just stop more when he was upset, not wanting to traumatize him too much. Getting back into the U.S. only took 3 hours .

And another activity that took 3 hours was getting our drivers licenses here in town! Thank goodness that once we finally got to the front of the line, the workers were understanding of the crying baby and let Ryan and me alternate taking care of him while in the midst of taking the written test, vision test, and getting pictures taken. (Written test in Illinois is much easier than the test in Iowa!) We still haven't gotten the passport taken care of since our picture of Stephen was rejected. We took some more and hope they are acceptable!

Yesterday Grandma Susan left to go back up to Canada for a few days before returning to Des Moines! We miss having her around, but realize that we really do need to be able to manage life just the 3 of us ... speaking of help and other people around, Aunt Heidi has been here for the past few nights for dinner, and Aunt Emily will be joining us for the weekend. We are excited to get the rest of the unpacking done. As I type this, Ryan is taking empty boxes up to the attic.

Tomorrow, Ryan has his entrance exams so he has been studying. He's also been practicing some of the music he'll be working on this fall.

It hasn't sunk in to me yet that we've moved. We've met some of our neighbors and they seem very nice. I'm going to meet another mom tomorrow while Ryan is testing.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Goodbye, Big D!

We're off to Champaign!!!!! We'll begin loading the truck as early as we can tomorrow morning, along with about ten of our now most favorite people. :) After arriving, we'll head to Canada on Wednesday, not getting back until Monday evening. This may be the last post for a while, since we won't have internet at our new place yet, but we'll be back soon!

Saturday, August 05, 2006

And another busy day ...

We had a nice lunch with some of the members of Ryan's band. (His last gig was last night at Prairie Meadows.)

Then Stephen and I went to Jon and Marillyn Beard's baby shower. Ryan went to Newton to perform with Ashanti. We enjoyed seeing so many of my friends from Heartland Christian Fellowship.

Then later we came home and Andre and Candy stopped by said goodbye and prayed with us. Laurie is hanging out for the evening - here she is holding Stephen!

Friday, August 04, 2006

More Goodbyes

Yesterday was the day of many many goodbyes. It's sad but a necessary part of moving! We had lunch with the Perfection Learning crowd. Randy fed Stephen a little bit of a bottle - he is very good with babies! I am really going to miss the people that I've worked with for more than 6 years!

In the afternoon we napped and then went to dinner at the Blochers' house. That's where many of our friends congregate every Thursday evening for dinner. It's amazing really how many children were around! Ian, Ellie, Max, and Stephen. And there were Kharia and Niki, but they're more "adolescents." (See photo of Kharia holding Stephen. She is really good with babies!)

More packing followed, and we had to do it in dim lights since that was the only way Stephen would stop fussing so much! I think he was a little worn out from the busy day. So many people to see and things to do!

Then this morning we accompanied Ryan to his hair appointment and all three of us went to the chiropractor. Stephen wasn't adjusted, however. Vince said he didn't need it!

We enjoyed visits from Elaine, Ian, and Ashley, then later from Lindsey Brust. Ryan is playing a show later tonight and Stephen and I are going to see what Grandma Leatherman is up to!

Thursday, August 03, 2006

A Good Report

We went to the midwife for the last time yesterday. We will really miss her! We've gained a lot from her insights, and we really like her approach to pregnancy.

Anyway, we weighed Stephen and he is 10.5 pounds - he's gaining right what he should. I did some quick math and realized that each week, he eats about 280 ounces of food, and retains about 8 of those when it is all said and done. Wow! Could you imagine how much weight he'd gain if he kept all his food as body mass?!?

She also told me that my body is healing just as it should. I'm not quite there yet but we are only 5 weeks out and the appointment is usually done at 6 weeks.

I spent the afternoon with Rachel and her kids. I'm trying to see so many friends in these last few days being in Des Moines!

Today is my going away lunch with Perfection Learning.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Meeting some of our friends

We spent some time this morning with two women who have raised kids just to ask them some questions about disciplining and cooking tips, etc. It was a very good visit! My friends Kathy and Laurie joined us., and my distant cousin Mary Amelia was also there.

Then we went to the Drake Diner to see Kiata who was in town from Wisconsin. She was sure excited to see Stephen. We also saw Kharia and Kyle. Kharia had not met Stephen yet ...

Stephen was in such a good mood that Ryan and I got to eat dinner and get some other things done around dinnertime. Then, since he was in such a good mood, we put him in the car and took him to Walgreens for his passport pictures. They turned out well, and since we now have the birth certificate and the SS card we'll be able to apply for his passport and have it within a few months! Then on to Germany for the Leatherman clan ...

Ryan and I will do some more packing tonight while Grandma Leatherman plays with Stephen. It's such a blessing to have help! We couldn't do it by ourselves ...