Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Back to a little reality


After a couple days of new baby, then a few days in Indiana, we are back to the daily grind. Ryan has finals this week. My mom is in town for the week and that's been very helpful already.

We did brave the trip to Indiana on Sunday morning. It is a 4 hour drive and we did it in around 6 hours. Halfway there we met my parents who took Stephen in their van to Elkhart. The visitation was that afternoon. Although it was under circumstances that we would not have chosen, it was nice to see Ryan's family, some of whom hadn't even met Stephen. Abby continues to be a great baby; she slept during most of the funeral service on Monday morning.

Today we welcomed Sherry and Grandma for a couple hours and we took a female 4-generation photo.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

New Family Picture

Abby Susan Leatherman





What a morning! Abby was born at 6:52 A.M.--almost before we got to the hospital! Lisa was in labor all day yesterday before things died down after 10pm. We got a few hours of sleep before heavy labor kicked in around 2:00. We got to the hospital around 6:30 and were in the room for about five minutes when Abby's head started coming out. About ten nurses were in the room instantly, and she came out on the next contraction. Abby weighs 8lbs, 13oz, is 21 inches long, and is very alert. Lisa was amazing during the labor, and she feels great. Grandma and Grandpa Lorimor will bring Stephen over soon, so check back later for a new family picture. :)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

A Slow Start

Many of you may know by now that my labor kicked in last night, but it's been very slow going. Though the contractions are 4-5 minutes apart, the pain is not very intense and I've been able to carry on with normal life. I'm planning to take a bath and try to get a good night's sleep, hoping that the baby just wanted to hang out in there a little longer before making its appearance.

On a sad note, we found out late last night that Ryan's grandfather, J Artley Leatherman, passed away at a hospital in Elkhart, IN. We will miss him, but are very grateful that Stephen was able to meet him on several occasions. The funeral will be on Monday and we hope to be able to attend with our new little one.

Monday, April 21, 2008

The waiting game

Waiting is what we're doing around here. We're waiting in a big way for the baby to come. But tonight as we tried to run some simple errands we were waiting in small ways ... it took over an hour for Ryan to get measurements done at a tux shop for a wedding he's standing up for in June. As Stephen grew increasingly restless, we decided that I'd go ahead and take him over to Meijer where we were going to pick up a few groceries. We ended up in "that line" and had to wait as the cashier made call after call and eventually a manager came and sorted out some prices with a customer ahead of us.

We enjoyed the weather as usual during the day today and did some playing at the park. Stephen walked all the way home (0.6 miles)! As long as there is a sidewalk, I let him walk next to me (I just carry him across the streets.).

Although the price of gas continues to go up, I found the price of something else going down: photos, when purchased as digital prints via online stores. Including shipping I ordered all the photo-album-worthy photos since August for less than 10 dollars! That's what I would have paid to develop a roll of film a few years ago.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Grandmas and grandpas galore

My parents have been waiting for a call to come because I'm in labor ... when that still hadn't happened by Thursday, they decided to pay us a visit anyway. They came down Friday morning and we had a great time playing with Stephen and his trucks. They also took him to the park so he could go down the slide (shide) again and again and again.

Then late last night, Ryan's parents rolled into town for the weekend. They didn't make it before Stephen's bedtime, but Ryan and I got to chat with them for awhile before they headed to the hotel. Then this morning we enjoyed a breakfast at Jim Gould and Susan and I went to a Pampered Chef party. Ryan has been working and practicing the rest of the afternoon and evening, but Dave and Susan and I took Stephen out for pizza and to the mall to get some new sandals (size 8.5 feet!) for the summer. We had a bit of ice cream at Baskin Robbins before heading home for bedtime. It's been a great day - and I even got to take a nap!

Although we've been ready for the baby to be born for awhile now, it's been nice to enjoy more time with just Stephen. He is doing great at going with the flow ... I hope that keeps being the case!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Enjoying the sunshine

Though the mornings have started out a bit chilly, it's wonderful to be able to get out for long walks and playing at the park. Both yesterday and today I've taken Stephen out in the stroller quite a bit, and also let him run around. He loves the slide at the park, and today he even started going down it while sitting up instead of on his tummy, feet first.

I had an appointment with the midwife yesterday, and everything seems just fine with the baby. Just one week until the due date, and then it could still be a couple more weeks until we welcome it home!

Monday, April 14, 2008

He Has No Clue

People have been asking if Stephen knows what is going to happen coming up here soon. We've tried to explain it to him, and he does seem to like babies. But today I asked him the question: "What's in momma's belly?" To which he replied: "Heidi."

(For those of you who don't know, that is my sister's name. It's not prophesy :).)

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Not My Whole Brain ... but a lot is in the binder

So I now feel more mentally ready to have this baby. I've been wanting to put together a binder that contains some basic info about how things run around here. Just the basics, like washing a load of cloth diapers, important phone numbers, making pizza crust ... and a friend came home from a conference with an idea: "Mommy's Brain-in-a-Binder." I've been working on in a little every day for the past week or so, and I think it's finally at a usable point. I haven't even showed it to Ryan yet, but he knows I've been organizing something ... he should be home by 3 a.m. and maybe I'll get up and show him. Then again maybe I won't. I hope it's something that can help us manage day-to-day life around here, especially with the new addition coming soon.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

His First Exploding Piñata


No baby yet. So instead we've been keeping busy with plenty of things to do. Today was his friend Will's 2nd birthday party. Here is a photo of Stephen breaking the piñata with Will's grandma. He's pretty sugared out from the party and is taking a good nap right now.

Ryan has a busy weekend with several gigs, including a show with the C-U Symphony, so we're hoping the baby holds off at least until Monday. Besides, my mom just had surgery yesterday and it would be good to give her a couple days to recover before we busy her with taking care of Stephen.

I love the warmer weather (when it is actually here). We now have a designated "outside" truck that Stephen pushes and rides up and down the driveway. He also discovered that he can run around our house and in this activity he takes great delight.

Friday, April 04, 2008

Couch Domination


This is what our couch looked like at the end of the day today, though I added the sign in Photoshop. Just wanted to share.