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Thursday, August 30, 2007

Five and a trio


Decades and years. Sounds like a long time, and conversely sounds so short.

I've lived in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Japan. And many moves within those states and country.

Overall, it's been a blessing, or perhaps I should say "blessings."

I've already received my gift. Philosophically speaking, it was my life that was the gift. But materially speaking, we got the cute little Miata that will suffice for many celebrations to come.

Wanna ride? It's a wild one! So come along... smiling ...

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Adding a hair to my head

Or not! I've been accused of worrying too much, and I must admit that I do. I'm not proud of it, but I do try to excuse it as concern.

Let me lay out that excuse for you: I'm inquisitive by nature. I like to be in the know. Details of that knowledge are important to me. Being prepared for any eventuality is also high on my importance scale. So with the advent of the Internet, and all that knowledge at my fingertips, why wouldn't I want to be prepared for any eventuality by looking up information?

For example, what would 4 1/2 hours of pushing do to a baby? How yellow does an infant have to be before you get brain damage? How long is it before a baby's head goes back to a "normal" shape, and what are the ramifications if it doesn't? How long can a plane stay in the air with one engine? What are those thumping noises coming from the belly of the plane? Okay, so you get the picture.

It's not like I'm panicking about any of the above. I just want to know so that I can either breathe a sigh of relief, or I can do something about it, or I can resign myself to the fact that nothing can be done. Does that constitute worry? Maybe it's my "workaround" for worry.

But in the end, the Bible tells me that no amount of worry will add a hair to my head or a day to my life. Quite the contrary. See all those hairs lying around???

Friday, August 24, 2007

Baby, baby!


Amberleigh Grace is such a cutie, with a head full of fuzzy hair. She arrived on the 21st, and has been "easy" from a Nana's perspective. Now, admittedly, I don't have to stay up at night to feed her, making sure she doesn't succumb to jaundice. But otherwise, she's a quiet one.

Then there is Timothy, born on the 11th. Anyone who reads this I hope will say a prayer for his health and his parents' calm assurance. Timothy is back in the hospital, dehydrated and not wanting to eat much. I'm hoping this will be a faded memory in the not too distant future - "oh, yeah, Timothy was in ICU for a while, wasn't he?" Please, Lord, as the great Healer, strengthen his little body and give him the spark he needs.

Oliver just gets cuter and cuter, and is grabbing for everything now. He may be teething.

Ashley is soooo funny, but is dealing with the internal struggle of baby sister on the scene.

That's all for now, folks. Love those babies!

Friday, August 17, 2007

Prayers please

Here is Ingrid's request - and mine as well - for a safe delivery of Amberleigh Grace.

Hello my dear family and friends -

I thought I would update you all based on my appointment with my OB today. :)

I already knew that I would most likely be induced a little bit early since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes around 2 or 3 weeks ago, but to go in today and hear "You have an appointment Tuesday morning for an induction"...it kinda made me lose my balance! (Maybe it was just my giant belly, but I think it was a combination of the 2...).

So, that means: God-willing, we will meet little Amberleigh sometime on Tuesday the 21st (yikes! That's 4 days!) !

I am to report to the hospital at 6 am (6 am!) to begin the pitocin drip, and if it goes anything like last time, she'll be born sometime in the afternoon.
Needless to say, Andy and I are very excited, but also in somewhat-panic-mode since we still have some last minute things to accomplish!

We greatly appreciate your prayers during this time - that everything would go smoothly and we can welcome a healthy baby girl!

I can't promise any "immediate phone calls" or emails, but we will let you know as soon as we can when it happens!

Love you all!

Ingrid

Saturday, August 11, 2007

And Here He Is!


Yes, I was worrying. And usually I worry for no reason, but I was pleading and pleading with the Lord, with the computer, with Marshall, to give me some word about the newest little addition to the family.

Come to find out, yes, there was a bit of a problem - 4 hours of pushing! Now, women will understand the height and depth and breadth of that kind of exhaustion and pain. Did I say pain? Hmmm, sorry, it slipped out.

Finally, after I got a verbal update from Marshall, I decided I needed to go to sleep (at 3 AM), a luxury that Lara didn't get for quite some time to follow. At approximately 5 AM Marshall called me to tell me that little Timothy Joseph had made his entrance and that all was well with the little world. He was born at 3:29 AM Mountain Time (so 4:29 here).

I'm just hoping that Mommy and Daddy will nap when Timothy does for the foreseeable future. It's so tempting to try to catch up during nap times, but the catching up should be on sleep!

Now, we can see his little face:

I want to see your face!!!

Help me out here. This is excruciating! I cannot stand being thousands of miles away from where my grandbaby is being born. For all the promises of continually uploading photos of what's going on, it hasn't happened. The last communique was at 11:27 local time saying that it was time to push. Well, folks, it's been an hour and a half now, and no communication.

Did I happen to mention that I worry a lot? My prayers tend to sound like rants and whines about now. I want pictures! I want proof! Oh, yes, did I also mention that faith is way down on my spiritual gifts list? Exhortation is up near the top. Sorry bout that ... sort of.

I just want to see his little face! I just want to know that everyone is okay. I just want to go to bed!!!

I guess if Lara has to be up and exhausted, it only stands to reason that those of us sitting idly by should share that vigil.

Maybe I'll have a picture later...

Friday, August 10, 2007

Good morning, baby!

This is WBBY. All baby, all the time!

First it was little Oliver - what a red-headed cutie. Then our marketing administrator goes into the hospital six weeks early - complete bedrest - steroids - the works - trying to keep this little guy inside as long as possible.

Now, our next little grandson is to make his scheduled appearance some time today (Lord willing) because Mommy has been dilated for quite some time. More to come, and pictures to follow.

Then, our next little granddaughter will either make her appearance at a scheduled time during the third week of August, or as the Lord wills (I'm all for God choosing the birthday, thank you very much).

I have a very unpopular view of childbearing these days. I really believe that God knows best. I'd prefer drug-free and natural birth as much as possible. I'd prefer that people allow God to determine the number and timing of children. And I prefer that God choose the birthday rather than scheduling it for convenience sake. I'm not saying, however, that all inductions are for convenience. I am quite disgusted with the number of inductions and c-sections done these days, however. It may have something to do with malpractice suits, what do you think?

Oh, by the way, A=BCA works in advertising and it is certainly the impetus for "mommy stories." A= adrenaline. Adrenaline is the BioChemical Adhesive. Whenever adrenaline is pumped into the system (through joy, fear, anger) it stamps a memory into our brain. Think about it. What are your most vivid memories?

And baby, oh baby, the adrenaline rush of birth stamps itself forever on a mother's memory!!!

I love all you babies. And all you mommies, keep up the good work!