Welcome Lucy Kathleen

Well, the blog voters were right: we had a girl! Lucille Kathleen was born May 16th, 2008 at 10:51 am. She was 7 pounds, 11 ounces with a head of dark hair. (same weight and hair as momma, 29 years ago). She has absolutely melted our hearts and is the perfect baby (I know all mothers say this bit, so just bear with me). Gus is a great big brother, loves to kiss her and is very gentle with her. "Good morning, Lucy" he said this morning.

The birth was very easy and just as exciting as last time- even though it was a scheduled C section. When they said "we have a girl" it was the best moment ever.

Well I have a little hungry girl in the next room, so I gotta get. I will post more details later.
Thanks for all the support and well wishes- We are very thankful to be a happy and healthy - and now complete- family unit.

Blue Lake

Grandpa Dick and cousin Jack always make it up to our neck of the woods Mother's Day weekend for some fishing- this year they hit Blue Lake (and little Blue Lake). Here are some pics that Jack took. Gus horsed around with Grandpa Dick and devoured Jack's lasagna. He was sad to see them go.

A little Vintage Gus to tide you over...

Until we have pictures of the new baby, I have been poring over Gus's newborn pics.

I just love this one of Gus and Matt. His yawn, plump belly, tinyness. Matt was building the deck (4th of July, 2005).

Fencing

Here is what it looks like, now.

note the beer bottle, that was a crucial fence building ingredient

And Gus, soaking in the 74th annual May Day parade in Oroville

Fence Building 101

Step One: Drill the post holes.

Step Two: Setting the posts. (Requires lots of cement mixing pouring, string pulling, and level use.)

Step 3: Hanging the cross beams.

Step 4: Building the gates. Matt was so proud of his handy-work, he had to bring it inside so we could ogle the right angles.

And that is what we are up to. Obviously, we still have to nail the main fencing part, the planking, to finish the project. My dad is bringing his nail gun to help with that phase.

Tomorrow is May 1st

Tomorrow, the calendar changes to May and I am having a holy-cow moment. Baby will be here in 2.5 weeks and its coming so fast.

So many of our friends have just had babies, its officially my turn next. The kick-off of Baby boom 2007-08 was in September, with W-T and his wife having a girl, then in January, Jake and Andi had a baby girl, in March Katie and Joe welcomed a boy, then two of Matt's co-workers had babies in April, one boy and one girl, and just on Sunday, my friend Amy and her husband welcomed a baby girl...

Ben and Holli are due towards the end of May, so they will probably be next in line.

This cute little crew (Lola, Loreine, Sawyer, Sage, Joel, and Chloe)will have a new member in a couple of weeks. Who shall it be?

BBQ Chicken

We had a nice barbecue tonight- the weather was nice and it felt like a grilling evening. Gus loved the chicken and stripped every last bit of meat off the bones. Proud carnivorous parents we are.

35 weeks

Yikes.

4 weeks from today....

Gus will be a big brother, and I'll be holding a newborn in my arms.

We scheduled the C section for May 16th. Cross your fingers for me that the Dr. gets safely back from his trip to Germany the day before. If he doesn't I'll have the back-up OB deliver baby, but I prefer my Dr. He delivered Gus and is quite the character- and very experienced and practiced. A true cowboy OB/GYN. Well, that's what you get in Okanogan County.

This pregnancy has literally blown by for me, I guess working 40 hours a week and being a mom to Gus has probably helped that along. Maybe these last four weeks will pass slowly.

I am filled with so many emotions: anxiety, bittersweet feelings, and curiosity, but overall I am just darn excited.

Its been nearly 3 years since Gus was a newborn, and I am starting to wonder if its like riding a bike, I hope I haven't fallen out of practice with newborn care. This time, I'll have my right-hand man, helping me along. Gus informed me the other day that the dominoes he was playing with were a no-no for baby. "Baby might choke on these" he said. Thanks, buddy.

Have a good weekend. Its Matt's birthday weekend- we'll be having tri-tip barbeque and carrot cake with Grandpa Tim and Grammy Kath.

Twins

I was looking at old photos today, and I came across this one. Its not the best picture, but G and M look so much alike here, at least I think so. Especially in the mouth, cheek, and eye area.

Chocolate Cake

This is pretty good...

uh oh, I got some on my shirt

even better

sans t-shirt

Happy Easter

The Oroville Egg Hunt at Memorial State Park:

Saturday was a beautiful day for egg hunting, (and throwing rocks in the lake).

Mmm, Dad, these are pretty good but I like a little salt and pepper on my hard boiled eggs.
Grandma Connie and Grandpa Dick came for a nice Easter visit this weekend. We ate ham, shopped, dyed eggs, watched some NCAA tournament, and the guys went steelhead fishing. This morning Gus had way too many chocolates, but now he is taking a nice nap.

28.5 week belly photo

Yes, its getting big! The belly is measuring ahead, apparently I just grow large babies. Gus was 9 lbs, delivered at 40 weeks 2 days. This one is on track to be a similar size. I have gained 19 pounds so far, feeling good and savoring our last 10 weeks of "just the 3 of us".

Welcome, Little Baby

Joe, Katie, and Reilly welcomed a baby boy into their family around 10ish last night. Welcome Sawyer James, 7 lbs, 15 ounces.

We can't wait to meet this new little one.

With a good portion of our friends expecting babies, its been really fun to see what everyone has ended up having (boy or girl).

Congratulations, Joe and Katie! Reilly- you'll have to show Gus the ins and outs of being a big brother.

Naptime

Gus and I shared a wonderful nap on the couch today. We are both taking up more space these days, so it was pretty cramped, but neither of us minded one bit.

Mom's-eye view:

I took this photo on the "sunset" setting, but I think more appropriately it should have been called "waxing moon" setting, or perhaps "porpoising" (note the empty chocolate pudding dish on the table).

Just for Grandpa Dick and Grandpa Tim.....

A little something we'd all like to get our hands on:


http://dponwine.blogspot.com/

(scroll down to the post about the Leonetti Vertical)

I wonder how the '78 Leonetti would stand up to the '78 Cuvaison? It would be fun to find out.

Deep in thought

It's Time to Potty. Tonight, after his bath, I found Gus deep in thought on the potty. He is doing pretty darn good, we just started the no- diaper thing on Friday and he has really taken to peeing and pooping on the potty. He only had one accident at daycare today. I have some anxiety about the whole thing- but so far, it hasn't been bad at all. Send us some positive potty vibes our way, it can't hurt.

Old Wives Tales

According to the Old Wives Tales, I am having a.................
Boy. by about 70% odds.

The following point to boy:
Basketball shaped belly, Fetal heart rate under 140bpm, ring on string swayed back and forth, craving sour and salty, feet seem colder than usual...

The following point to girl:
Carrying high, craving fruit (grapefruit)...

Not that I put any real faith in these predictions, but they are fun, no?

Some good reading for Caucus Time

http://www.mom-101.blogspot.com

Interesting....

Take a look at the baby's sex poll to the right. Hmmm. So far, 65% have voted that we are having a girl. Very interesting... I guess I better post a belly picture soon so more analyzing can happen. Only 14-15 more weeks and we will find out!