The Big 2!

Stephen celebrated his 2nd birthday today. We filled it with all sorts of fun: going to the farmer's market and getting a yummy bread, riding on the carousel at the mall, buying some new sandals, (don't forget naptime), a new airplane, and sloppy joes for dinner. For a special treat to top it off, we had ice cream from Coldstone. He's exhausted, and so are we. And so is Bethany who we drug around with us all morning.

Abby is 2 months old (a family update post)

Yesterday my little girl turned 2 months, and on Saturday my big boy will turn 2! And he'll even tell you that when you ask him. Unless he's in a bad mood, in which case he will say "no no."

First of all, I went ahead and measured and weighed her this morning, not because I was worried but because I was curious. She is 15 lb and 25.5 inches long, taking after her brother and not fitting in the confines of the CDC growth charts. Gone are the days of 0-3 month clothing. That's alright though; we've managed to fill her drawer full of pink, red, and lavender clothes ranging in sizes from 3 - 9 months. She is sleeping great at night -- nursing once or twice, and going back to sleep just wonderfully. I credit the full schedule we keep trying to busy her brother during the day. She has to sleep when she has the chance! She is smiling and giggling and "talking" to us. She also has an awesome poker face when she poops. We hear the sound but her facial expression changes not one bit! She seems like a much easier baby than Stephen was. I think it's a combination of her being easier going and me not being quite as nervous!

Stephen is continuing to amaze us with his understanding and awareness of the world around him. I'm sure every parent of a toddler thinks that, but it's so real when it's my own kid! He hears an airplane and finds it in the sky. He remembers that we saw a train at the bus station and looks for it the next time we go. He has finally figured out that Z is actually a letter, and not just an N that we turned on its side! He also seems to love having his sister around and is actually disappointed when I get him up in the morning and I'm not holding her. I have to make sure I don't create too many routines in his day or he begins to expect the same thing to happen every time. Today when we were at the grocery store I purposefully avoided walking by the bakery because the workers always want to give him a cookie and I don't want him to start thinking grocery store = cookie.

He is learning to "obey" and is sometimes better at it than other times. He picked up the word himself while listening to his Bible verse CD and loves saying it much more than he loves doing it. The main instructions we expect him to follow are to come in the house when we ask and to sit on the floor for a diaper change. He seems to get suggestions confused with commands. For instance, I said "let's go play with your alphabet ball." To which he replied, "obey obey obey" as he happily walked over to it.

Ryan has been working long hours with the music camp and getting ready for his recital. We will both breathe a sigh of relief when it is over ... and then have to figure out where we're going to live and pack to move out of here by July 31! We're 99% certain we're staying in the Champaign-Urbana area, but won't be staying in the same duplex.

Celebrity Family Feud

Tonight on NBC at 7. I like Family Feud AND The Office ... cast members from The Office are supposedly going to be competing against those from American Gladiators. Fun fun. Too bad this just happens to be a night we already have plans. I set the vcr.

America's Funniest Olympic Diving Trials

I love watching AFV with Stephen. Everytime someone falls down, gets pushed into a swimming pool, or endures some other misfortune, he screams "OH, NO!" and then giggles.

Before his nap today, we turned on the TV (which he calls the tay-yay-yay) and the olympic diving trials were on. Every time a diver hit the water, "OH, NO!"

Sibling Revelry

I've been pleasantly surprised at how welcoming Stephen has been to his sister, Abby! Our "problems" these days usually stem from him not getting food that he wants, the weather, and gravity. Only one of those things can I control, and I think it's in his best interest not to eat pizza, cookies, and chips all day every day.

Our day began with some thunderstorms that prevented us from having a morning walk or park time before the Tupperware party started at 11. This did not make Stephen happy. He stood by the door and said "go" continually until Ryan finally took him for a walk around 6.

We enjoyed having some friends here for a casual Tupperware get-together. I am not good at selling it, but I gave it a shot! For instance, one friend was going to buy the rectangular cake taker and the pie taker, and I said that she didn't need to get both, that the rectangular one is big enough for pies. So there went a sale, but that's ok with me. She didn't need the extra item. I'll be closing the sale later this week, probably on the 27th, so let me know if you do want something. They do sell more than plastic these days - it's all online!

Ryan finished his 1st week of ISYM and is now driving a family from Bloomington to their home in a limo. Tomorrow he starts his 2nd week bright and early.

His jazz recital is just a week and a half away and he's been very busy completing transcriptions for it and practicing. Info regarding it is to the right.

The Moby Wrap

I use this daily - if not thrice daily - and Abby loves it! Here she is with my mom ...

I'm really thankful to have my Stephen back. He spent 2 days up in the Chicago area with my parents, and had a great time playing with tractors and trucks. I enjoyed having some alone time with Abby but I missed my big boy.

Texas

Everything is big in Texas, including Abby and Stephen and this post.

We spent a week in Salado, Texas, with my sister Emily and her husband, Spencer. They've been married less than a year and live on a farm, where Spencer had been living for awhile. Little did we know when we planned to go down there that the day-to-day adventures of the Vogts would be such a hit with our almost-2-year-old. Here are some examples ... the chicken and peacock coop that sits right next to the house ... the lineup of tractors ... the classic Fords parked in the sheds ... Bill the dog ... the cows that walk right past the house as they graze ... the riding mower ... the multitude of tractors along the interstate where there seems to be endless construction ... the fish tank ... the life size Brett Favre cutout that sits in the room where Stephen slept ...

On Thursday, Ryan, Emily, and I headed into Austin with the kids and toured the state capitol and visitors' center. Abby slept in the wrap most of the time, as Stephen had done when we were at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

My parents recently decided to purchase a home near Emily and Spencer where they can spend time in the winters. They can rent it out during the summer. That is where the photo of Abby on the shelf was taken. The realtor let us in to look around.

Another highlight for Stephen was being able to sit in the front seat of the car. The design of the Taurus we had rented allowed for the passenger side air bag to be turned off so he sat up with daddy. Although it's not the safest place for him, it made for room in the back for me and Emily to sit with Abby. When I put him in the back seat of Emily's car, he was not happy at all. I think he's gotten used to the back seat again, though.

On Wednesday night, we had dinner at Johnny's BBQ in Salado. This is the restaurant that catered a lunch for the Bush wedding a month ago. The food was good, but I think next time I'd recommend to the Bushes that they go with Big Daddy's in Des Moines.

We also attended (and Ryan was in) Nathan Harnden's wedding in Waco on Saturday. For us it was somewhat sentimental since we spent a weekend in Waco shortly after we started dating. We drove past the area of Baylor where we were walking when I told Ryan that I didn't expect him to do anything for Valentine's Day ... I think I still got some cookies, though.

The trip home was an adventure, as seen in the previous post. We're thankful that we were able to get to a store to get some coolant, and since then we have replaced the radiator cap, which seemed to be the problem.

It's So Nice to Be Home!

In the past 24 hours we have ...

• attended a beautiful wedding in Texas (Congratulations Nathaniel and Brittani!), but where the AC had just broken
• enjoyed a tasty dinner in an equally as hot reception facility
• said goodbye to Aunt Emmy (Emily) - quite traumatic for Stephen
• sat on a real horse (Stephen did this)
  
• driven 2.5 hours from the reception to Dallas, getting in to a hotel at 1 a.m.
• shuttled ourselves, our luggage and our 2 kids to the airport for a booked solid 7:45 a.m. flight (both kids were "lap" children)
• arrived in St. Louis where Aimee picked us up from the airport
• stopped more times than I want to count to 1. feed Abby 2. change Abby's diaper
• been to McDonalds twice
• scoured Neoga, IL, for an open auto parts store for the special type of coolant needed for our car when our car started to overheat
• driven 15 miles to Mattoon at 40 mph with the heat on full blast so the car doesn't overheat; we found some DexCool there
• sang about Old McDonald having a farm with a CHICKEN a dozen times

More about our trip sometime later. Right now I need to feed Abby.

Where Abby Sleeps When We're on Vacation

Memorial Day Picnic

Here is Carolyn holding Abby for the first time. Abby sunk right in and took a nap ...

Abby got to try her first bottle the other day. She drank less than an ounce and wasn't very fond of it. She's been a must better nurser than Stephen, but she didn't take her first bottle as well as he did. We're not in any hurry to get her to take it, but I think the car trip to St. Louis on Saturday will go better if she's willing to take milk that way. We shall see ...


We went on a picnic together today, despite the rain. We just sat in a pavilion at picnic tables and enjoyed our sandwiches, chips, jello salad, and crackers. Then the rain was light enough that Stephen got to tool around the playground for a little while with Ryan.


The Snodgrasses had their twins today! Alexander and Nicholas are doing well and I was able to talk to Erica for a few minutes this afternoon.

I found this tractor video for Stephen and he asks to see it every time he sees Ryan's computer out!! The music on it is quite funny to listen to.

Touch a Truck

The Champaign Park District puts on an event every spring called Touch a Truck. A bunch of trucks — a fire truck, a tow truck, the library bookmobile, the bomb squad truck, and on and on — gather in a park and HUNDREDS of preschoolers get to look inside them and even honk the horns. It's quite noisy. I knew Stephen wouldn't care if he got to actually go in the trucks, but he sure did enjoy walking around the park and looking at the variety of vehicles. This one that he is sitting in is the Pepsi truck. There was no line for this one, and all we did was take the photo. He didn't actually want to play around in there.

My parents managed to find a bike trailer that we can use, and after we coaxed Stephen into it (by letting him play with a truck in it), he LOVED it! My dad had to go on many short bike rides because he kept saying "again." The weather was beautiful, too.

We're looking forward to seeing Aunt Carolyn (Care), Grandma Susan (Pike), Grandpa Dave, and Great Grandma Leatherman this weekend!

Family photos

Stephen likes the tent Heidi got for us.
Sitting on the couch with my daughter.
Stephen got a haircut today!
See the post of Stephen in July 2006.

May 10

May 10 was no ordinary day for Ryan and Lisa Leatherman. We celebrated being married for 1000 days! You may not believe this, but I (Lisa) was not one the to realize it. On Friday, Ryan had put the numbers "999" on Stephen's magnetic board. Having no idea what it meant, I just put the numbers back when I was tidying up the living room. On Saturday he got back from his limo job after Stephen was in bed and we spent some time together talking about events that have happened since we got married almost 3 years ago.

We continue to adjust to life with 2 kids and Stephen's doing great being a big brother. A wise woman (thanks, Maria's mom!) told me shortly after I knew I was pregnant with Abby that in her experience 2 kids was easier than 1. Bear with me on this one. I know that practically speaking that just cannot be true. But I am finding out what she meant by that. I think I had such high expectations of what I should be able to get done when I just had Stephen to care for. Now I just don't expect very much else to get done! It's also nice for me to have 2 different stages to think about. There have been times when it seems all I do is think about the 1 issue we're having with Stephen (such as getting his iron level up or getting rid of a nasty diaper rash) and there's only so much brain that I want to expend on a single kid issue. Now I don't have to. I can think about several issues that require attention. So while we've already had moments where both kids are crying, overall this is far from being a season in life that I can't wait to get through ... we're having a great time!

I should really get to bed. I need to get up early - before Ryan gets up to sub at an elementary school. It's my only chance to take a shower.

Stephen Meets Abby

Many people have asked how Stephen is responding to Abby. He's doing very well and has even held her a few times now.

Here is a video my parents took of when he met her for the first time:

Dressing up

May 2008
December 1977

Free Shipping at Snapfish

I wanted to alert everyone to a special that Snapfish is having until May 11. They have a "no shipping on photo gifts" special and it doesn't require a minimum order. Just type in NOSHIP08 in the coupon field at the checkout screen. (Our family photos are at stephenleatherman.snapfish.com, password 062806.)

What Abby Does

I'm listening to Stephen through the monitor as he is going to sleep. He is talking about Abby. Mostly he just says her name, but he also says that she cries. And that she has hands and eyes and hair and a nose. He's been increasingly interested in her in the last day and often will climb up on my lap to look at her with me.

We're celebrating this evening because (we think) Abby is back up to her birth weight. At least she was up to 8 lb 10 oz on Wednesday and at an ounce a day she'd be back to 8 lb 13 oz by today. I'm guessing she's a little beyond that because she's such a good nurser and her output is more than the average. Speaking of output, she is a much more aware pooper and pee-er than Stephen ever was. She regularly waits until her diaper is off to do her business. Tonight it squirted across the room and all over the rug in our room. In the same spot where my water broke ... sorry for all the information!

My parents were in town but they left today. Stephen really enjoyed having them to play with him and all of his trucks, but I think he'll enjoy having mommy's more focused attention for the next couple of days. Ryan is mostly done with school and he will finish up over the course of the next week.

Here are photos that I know some of you are looking for!

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.

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. :)

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.

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.

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!

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!

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 :).)

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

_______
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!

Photos from the weekend

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.

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 ...