Monday, March 31, 2008

The Countdown Has Begun

The baby could be born any day between now and May 7. Watch this space for updates! I can't say I'm experiencing any clues that it's going to happen soon, but I didn't really experience any of those with Stephen until my water broke. And an explanation because I choose to be anal about it -- I've had a lot of people ask me "wasn't Stephen born early?" Now I know that they're asking about if he was born before the due date, but he wasn't born early. He was born full-term. So I generally rephrase the question when giving the answer: "He was born 2.5 weeks before the due date." He was 8 lb 8 oz!! Certainly not a preemie :). If this one is born at the same gestation as Stephen, it'll be born on Saturday. But I'm definitely not planning on that happening. It'll come when it's good and ready.

So in the meantime, I'm not sitting around doing nothing. Ryan has a bunch of gigs booked; I have plenty of social engagements and even a couple performances this week. I hope my cello can fit in my lap!

Here are some photos from the weekend.

1. Ryan kneeling by Stephen at the reception. He got to hang out for about an hour and some friends of ours shared their chicken strips and fries with him. Even without ketchup he was pretty happy about that!


2. At Panera with John Welch. I was able to get together with my dear old friend Emily (Haluska) Welch. We braved a restaurant together with the boys and they did great. Stephen was thrilled about his grilled cheese sandwich and yogurt tube.


3. Pregnant women at the wedding ... it's fun to be pregnant at the same time as some good friends. Here is Erica (carrying twins who are due in June), Laurie (due in July), me (due in April), and Jill (due in August). We tried to get our husbands to pose together but they weren't really interested. And one of them was off with the wedding party ...

It's opening day for MLB and Ryan and Stephen are both wearing their Tigers shirts. I'll see if we can get a picture. Stephen is also long overdue for a haircut, which we reluctantly are going to (try to) give him tonight. He hates them so much and I don't like traumatizing him.

I have another midwife appointment tomorrow and we're hoping to actually be able to see our midwife! Last week we went 2 different times and she was out for a delivery both times. I was happy that my strep B test came back neg. No antibiotics during labor for me!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon



















Also, what Stephen does when we have a lot of company.









We have had quite a few guests in our home recently. Dave stopped by on his way back from Indiana and stayed overnight on Thursday. Then yesterday some friends from Des Moines came for a visit and we ended up with a total of 21 people for dinner last night. We're looking forward to Heather visiting this week!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Following Directions

Who could this be, you might think. A bodybuilder? No, just a pregnant Lisa following her husband's directions to wear light clothing when taking a walk outside late at night. I couldn't find a warm enough light colored jacket, so on went one of Ryan's t-shirts over a fleece.

Ryan was coming home from school where he was practicing when something (we don't know what) went wrong with the car. The serpentine belt came off - but didn't break - and there is a piece that he found near the engine that had come loose. It was too late to take it somewhere to get it fixed, so we'll have to do that tomorrow. In the meantime, though, Ryan has to get to his limo job at 1:30 a.m. so he can drive some passengers from Peoria to Bloomington. He'll be back home by 7 - just in time for breakfast! So it was scramble-and-try-to-find-a-car time. The bus doesn't go anywhere near the limo company. He could ride his bike, but in a tux that would be less than ideal. Besides, it'll be 1 in the morning. We knew Eric and Bethany's car wasn't working, because they asked to borrow ours earlier in the day. So we called Andy and Maria and left a message, and just figured that would work.

We got a call from them 15 minutes later; they had just walked in the door from dropping off their old car and getting their new car - and those crazy Leathermans want to borrow it already! They graciously are allowing us to use it tonight, and it'll be back first thing in the morning. We just thought it was pretty funny timing.

So that was why I was taking a walk at 8:30 at night. I pushed Stephen over in a stroller to their house and then drove their car back here so it'll be ready for Ryan. (They have a son Stephen's size so I could just use that carseat.)

Both of my boys were in bed shortly after 9 and I've been busy trying to get some housework done. Still catching up from the long weekend that we had. Ryan and I really enjoyed our trip to a B&B in Bloomington. Even the organizing and cleaning that we did here at home was exciting since we are getting the house ready for the new baby. Stephen did remarkably well with grandma and grandpa for 2 nights; he also enjoyed seeing Heather, who is in town for a couple weeks from Germany.

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Update: Ryan made it back from his job by 7 this morning and dozed for a few minutes on the couch. He just took the car in and found that they just need to replace a pulley and it'll be ready later this morning. Most importantly, Andy and Maria's new car was returned unharmed!

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

It was his idea

I turned to see what Stephen was up to and this is what I saw ...

He really likes this truck. It's one that Ryan played with as a boy.

My Eagle Scout husband told me to always check keys that I had duplicated to make sure they worked. Today I did just that after having a couple extra door keys made for the car, and they didn't work! I'm glad I tried while in the parking lot so I could just go back in and get them remade.

I was at the grocery store with Stephen yesterday and a woman who Stephen had probably smiled at stopped and said to him, "young man, you're going to have a visitor soon!" To which I thought she was psychic; how did she know grandma and grandpa Leatherman were coming this weekend? Then I remembered that I am pregnant. That "visitor" to which she was referring won't be much of a visitor, but rather a permanent resident of our home.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Butchering a Cucumber

I got Stephen a new tool - a "safe" kitchen knife. Don't worry; I'm not letting him run around the house with it, but I let him sit on the floor with me today to attempt to slice a cucumber to eat with the hummus he had just helped me make. I got this knife through a Pampered Chef party the other day and decided to give it a shot. He did pretty well holding it and knew that it was supposed to cut through the cucumber, but it was more like stabbing it than slicing it. I think I'll try with something a little softer, like a strawberry, next.

Tonight we went to a visitation for our neighbor, Lurline. She was 82 and hadn't been doing very well for the past couple months. Most of her family lives out of town, and we hadn't met them before. For some reason, Stephen was very uncomfortable there. Maybe the somber mood affects him more than we realize. When we go to a store that he's never been to before, he has no trouble running around and making a lot of noise. At one point, though, Ryan and I were shaking hands with a couple of her grandchildren, and suddenly Stephen thrust out his hand (his left one :)) because he figured that's what he was supposed to do! Wow. I continue to be amazed ...