Okay, so it has been 2 years, but here is a pic of the family

Not bad for a family selfie.  This is at Tinker's Creek Nature Preserve where we took a little hike here on Father's Day.  Sara is indeed enormous at the age of 8, and Abby is no slouch at 5 and already to start Kindergarten.  As usual, all three girls out shine the Dad ;)/

At the lake 2

Abby getting her feet wet in the lake.

Pics, travel, etc etc

Hey, a little shorter interval between posts...

So, in the time since Abby's birthday we've seen a lot of snow come... and as of today most of it is gone. We also made a trip to Houston for my annual science pilgrimage there and the whole family came along... including Grandma D. to boot! It was definitely a different way to enjoy a conference and it was nice because so many other friends and their small children came along as well. Sara was very enthusiastic and was handing out hugs left and right whether she (or even we!) knew the people well. We did get to see DRC/Rew/Riley, Cari/Ben/Timmy/Evie, and Jesse/Kristin/Zailey/Gryffen among many others. Tables for 12+ with multiple high-chairs and kids menus made for exciting dinners... but generally all the kids were great about it, which was fun. The girls all had fun, swimming, shopping, playing, etc while I was off having fun seeing, hearing, and talking science.

The only downside to the trip was that we took one of our kids to the ER for the first time... Abby woke up from a nap about 1/3-1/2 covered in hives. No clue why still, and no re-occurrence so far though virtually all foods have been still eaten... Abby had her 1 yr trip to the pediatrician when we came back, and her explanation was: Texas. Have to admit, I have had more than my fair share of allergic reactions to Texas over the past 13 years... so there is some logic too it :). Otherwise she is doing well. Still tracking the same in size, slightly increasing her percentile each check. She is up to about 22.75 lbs and 29.75 inches long.

Sara is doing well too. She enjoyed Texas and all the family time... well, she seemed mildly miffed with me most of the time, but since I was gone to the meeting a lot and she is reaching a phase with a lot of attitude, so not much of a surprise. She is really enjoying her weekend swimming lessons and we've signed her up for another session as well.



Sara on the boat around the conference center



Abby on the same boat



Sara the Prairie Dog - if you zoom into the plaque on the door, you can see a rather infamous philanthropist



Sara and Grandma D. as we left the zoo on a glorious afternoon



Nurse Sara at our hometown Children's Museum



Abby, Sand, and Dinosaurs!

vacation

So, we took our first vacation as a foursome a week ago and headed up to Minnesota for a week.



On the shore of Lake Superior along the Lakewalk

The initial impetus was for Danette's friend Ellen's wedding the day before Memorial Day. We flew up the day before that and met Grandma and Grandpa D. in the Twin Cities. The girls had a good time seeing their grandparents, and even having them to themselves while we went to the wedding. That was actually a highlight for Sara because she got to make a return trip to the Mall of America and see all the rides in the amusement park. She is still talking about the rides and making pictures of them at school almost two weeks later. We also had the good fortune to be able to see Sara's godmother Laura, and most of the Lukkarila/Krajewski clan for a couple of hours - too short, but great time to catch up regardless. Somehow we made the boneheaded move of forgetting to get a picture of Sara with Laura or anyone else for that matter...

On Memorial Day, rather than our usual local parade, we headed up to Duluth and saw Grandma and Grandpa H. This was Grandpa's first chance to meet Abby too. We stayed until Friday, basically just chilling out, and helping out where we could. The weather was cool and rainy most of the week except for Thursday. While not great for getting out, we did sample a new restaurant for breakfast, Sara got to frost cupcakes with Grandma, and Danette and I even made it out for a movie, Star Trek. Sara and Abby basically just basked in the glow of grandparental love all week. Excited? Yes. Spoiled? A bit..., Exhausted at the end? Oh yeah.

While in Duluth we also got to see my friend Jason from high school and college and his wife Jane (also a friend from college) and their two kids. In was nice to be able to catch up, and it turns out they are moving a bit closer to us, so we will hopefully be able to catch up again soon.

Total exhaustion, and colds, etc ensued by the end of the trip, but we made back mostly uneventfully (minus the present Abby left for me on my lap in the plane...)

Now for some more pictures...


trying out some goggles for the hotel pool


cupcakes with grandma for Sara's birthday


making a castle out of Lake Superior pebbles


Abby yakking grandma's ear off :)


Big smile

Home alone...

Well, sort of.... Grandma and Grandpa D. left yesterday morning - early. So we have been in post grandparent mode for about a day and half now. All is good, calm even as Sara decompresses from that unique grandparent-induced high. Yes, it is true.

Before that though we had a good weekend. Saturday we had a good day of meals, swimming lessons, and rest. Even had some good birthday cake, which Sara may have enjoyed more than anyone else, if that were possible... Whole Foods can make quite the decadent cake. The weather was cloudy, though warm on Saturday still, so while everyone else was still napping, Sara, Grandpa and I took a bike ride/walk around the block (see below).

Yesterday, we pretty much just chilled out for most of the day. We were all pretty tired in general, and the switch from daylight savings didn't help, and Abby had been up a bit more too.

Today, we are getting ready to start transitioning into what will become a more normal routine for the next couple of months before Danette heads back to work. Got Sara into school, did some other stuff and tried to let Danette get a little more sleep... This time next week I'll be back to teaching, so now is the time.

Abby is doing well. She is clearly eating fine, we are starting to see her face fill out a little more we think. Still sleeping like a champ (all the time), except when we want to go to bed. I stayed up with her until she fell asleep last night... a by product is that I am beginning to understand why the show House is popular.

All right, enough chat...



Bike ride time



Guess who has their grump on?



A couple minutes later...



Post-feeding bliss



Sleeping grin

Abby is 6 (days old)

Yup, she's been home for a few days now and is doing well. She is eating a ton and sleeping pretty well too (as evidenced by the photos below). Abby often falls off to sleep pretty easily, though not always when Mom and Dad would like her too (read: night). Still, she's being pretty adorable. We still don't see a lot of her eyes, but a bit more here and there.

Sara has been very good with her little sister. She wants to give Abby hugs and kisses, hold her hand (though she doesn't always understand why Abby doesn't always help out on that one), and hold her. Sara has also been helping with getting the diapers. She is being quite the big sister.

Abby has had several outing so far. She went to a grocery store on Tuesday, Target yesterday, and her first walk around the block today because it is in the 40's and supposed to reach 50 this afternoon. Little Miss Abigail also has her first visit to the doctor's office this afternoon, so that will be another outing as well. All these outing have been good walking for Danette and she is feeling better and stronger all the time.

Let's see, other first for Abby have been her first (sponge) bath at home and her first Skype video calls. She got to see how big Riley has gotten and she did some on-screen wiggling for Grandpa H.

Well, that's about it, there are a bunch of pics below.



A favorite pose...



... in a favorite place.



Mom and Abby



oh yeah...



Warming up after my first bath



Out for my first walk around the block

We're all home...

Everyone got checked out yesterday and we even had lunch at home. Abby and Danette are doing well, to say the least. Abby is quite the sleeper. In fact she slept through the whole checkout, discharge, ride home, and lunch.



Ready to go home!



Sleeping after a little lunch

Abby is quite a strong girl already. She is constantly pulling up and often holding her head up for a bit. Her legs are pretty darn strong too, something we have learned during copious diaper changes.



Head up, but no burp - as usual.



Just because...



"No, those are her hands!" - Sara

Abby has quite the toes, so much so that her big sister pronounced them hands the first time that she saw them. Sara has been a good big sister so far, helping a bit, and wanting to hold her sister and asking Abby to hold her hand. Can tell that she's also trying to understand what this whole new baby thing means, and she's doing pretty well so far. With Grandma here she's getting good time from everyone. Other than that she is just being herself.

One day old now..

Okay, what you are really here for first:



Sleeping, one of many activities she excels at...



Yawning in Grandma's arms



Sisters


So, Abby and Danette are well. The little one slept really well the first night - on a full stomach no less. She is excelling in many departments, as is her mother. She's quite the sleepy one, but very sweet. She is eating like a champ and so far fusses very little (heck, she didn't even cry during the PKU test from what the nurse said). We still aren't sure what the eye color is, as little miss Abigail doesn't grace us with a view that often. They are definitely dark, and presumably will turn brown like her big sister's. The dark hair is pretty killer, very soft and does its own thing - just amazing how dark it is. Danette is doing well and moving around a lot and generally feeling pretty well. She also got lucky and was moved to a (huge) private room this afternoon. That has been so much more quiet (more because of the location) and easier to move around and have Sara visit in. Hopefully there will be a lot more rest in this room too!

Today was a whirlwind with a lot of tag-team action going on. I was with them early in the morning, came home to take Sara to her first swimming lesson of the year and Grandma headed into the hospital. After lunch, Grandma came home and I went back, then after naptime, Sara and Grandma came for a visit and dinner with the whole family.

Sara has been looking forward to swimming lessons for a while, so we made sure to make it to this one and she did great. She was kicking and moving and playing up a storm in the water. She didn't want to get out, but she was so cold and shivering that I had to cut her off a little early. Didn't like that, but she did enjoy the warm shower.

We have had lots of well wishes - thank you so much! We are certainly enjoying our time and looking forward to all being home (Monday sometime). We have also been very luck to have Grandma H. here to help out, and Sara has been so excited to have a Grandma to play with, especially Uno.

Abigail is here!

Abby is a champ. She is doing well, eating well, etc. Born at 7:53 am today she weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz and was 20.25 inches long. She has very dark brown hair, darker than the rest of us; she also has long fingers and toes. Abby is doing really quite well. Mom is also doing well, especially now that the anesthesia has worn off.

Sara came to visit her new baby sister today and was really quite excited and did very well. She even held here sister for a little bit (probably measured in seconds, but a picture captures it forever). And after taking a break to play with grandma in the waiting room for a few minutes she came in gave Mom a hug, and then said I want to go see "my baby" who was back in the nursery for the usual look-see by the nurses.

Anyway, all is well and I am sure there will be more news and pics in the days, weeks, months, years to come.

Thanks to all for the well wishes!




Abby



Abby, Sara, and Mom

one more day....

Well, tomorrow is the day it seems. The baby-to-be-named-later is not showing any signs of wanting to arrive earlier than planned so far. That's okay, we're tying things up at work, at home, etc. It is a little odd knowing, and having known, that tomorrow is likely to be the baby's birthday. On the other hand, we're probably about as ready as we are going to be.

Grandma H. arrived last night with no problems at all. Sara and I met Danette and Grandma at Maggiano's for a nice dinner out, and Sara could get her favorite - pasta. Heck, she even got the waiter to bring her two desserts not just one :)

A bit snowy this morning, supposed to be more today and tonight, but the forecast amount of snow for tonight has been reduced, so hopefully I will not be pulling out the snowblower at 3:30 am. Danette is, we believe, first on the schedule for tomorrow so by early/mid morning we should have a new little one.

So, how will you know? Well, eventually I will try to post a quick cell phone picture or at least a quick blurb before the end of the day. Eventually some nice pics will hopefully show up once I get home and can upload them, just like last time.

The blog doesn't seem to take pics from the cell phone directly. So, you may be able to find them at the following link, once there are some:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sahiispot/baby

Anyways, that's all I know. Have a good day!

2 days...

No new pics and no more news on the baby-watch front. Danette and the baby are doing well it seems. Since Sara didn't want to venture into the outside world without some help, maybe it isn't a surprise that this one isn't itching to go early either.

We have been having a pretty good week here. We had a great day with Sara on Monday, in fact it was probably one of the most fun days we can remember. Sara even said, to no one in particular, while she was playing before dinner on Monday "I had an awesome day." Which was a fair statement I would say. Then yesterday, it seems she had a repeat performance at day care, because one of her teachers said it was her "best day ever." Pretty good for a two-and-a-half year old. We were happy with one day, but two days in a row was outstanding.

Otherwise, all is quiet here. I finished teaching for a little while, since I have my class covered for the next two weeks while we are first settling in at home. And... Grandma H. will be here this afternoon, so that will be exciting too.

What does a lion look like? "Roar!"

A semi-day-off on Monday isn't such a bad thing I must say. Danette stayed home this morning while I had to teach. She and Sara went to a local PB Kids store where there was a Cat in the Hat event at story time that was quite enjoyable, if busy. This afternoon I stayed home, did a little grading while the little girl was napping, and then we went off to the local library to read some books and do some puzzles.

Otherwise, everything is going fine here. We certainly appreciate all the well wishes and thoughts and are definitely looking forward to meeting our new little one.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the last couple of days.



Playing with playdoh, and looking over at the plant Dad rustled while trying to take yet another picture



What does a lion look like? "Roar!" (of course)

A three-day weekend for three

We hope that everyone had a great Valentine's day yesterday... we had some good family fun here. We woke up and opened some nice cards yesterday and then went to the (indoor version) of our favorite farmer's market for the first time in 2009. Definitely not the same as when it is in full swing, but there is definitely something nice about seeing many of the faces and foodstuffs we are used to on Saturday mornings.

Yesterday afternoon we went out for a little shopping and walking after Sara's nap. We stopped at the bookstore where Sara likes to play with the train sets, and we even found a gift for her to give her little sister. Though, in a sign that we still have to readjust to thinking about infants again, the stuffed animal in question has plastic eyes and will have to sit on a shelf in the baby's room to look at instead of for playing with for a while... ah well, it isn't like the kid will be lacking for toys in our house. And then last night we played several hands of Uno with Sara. There is a nice simplified card set for little kids, and she knows her numbers and colors well enough that she can mostly go through the game with just a bit of help... something she really likes.

Otherwise, we are just sort of tying up loose ends around the house, enjoying the relative quiet, etc this weekend. Sara has President's day off, but Danette and I do not. I have a morning class, so we will be trading off around noon tomorrow. Grandma H. will be here Wednesday afternoon and then if we haven't gone in already, we will head to the hospital on Friday morning.

Well, here are some pictures from the last week of Sara, Danette, and the hiding baby-to-be-named later.

One week..... eek.

Well, one week from now we should have a new bundle of joy in our arms. Talk about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Danette is doing well, getting a bit more tired and uncomfortable but otherwise on track. Nothing really new to report on the baby front at this point.

We went out with our friends Leah and Paul last night and they brought a Valentine's gift for Sara, including a new hat that Leah had made. Sara is showing it off in the restaurant in great style. She was very excited to take it to school and show her teachers this morning.

Anyway, that is all...



Say Cheese!

9 days (or less)

For those keeping score at home, only 9 days (or less) until the baby-to-be-named later is born. Danette is doing well and still on track - no signs yet of anything imminent. We did ask the doc yesterday if he had a guess of how big the little one will be and he thought something in the 7 lb range. That would be about right if this kid is following the same trajectory as Sara, just a couple of weeks earlier.

Otherwise, things are okay. Sara had a rough day at school yesterday, rather defiant about wanting to quietly take her nap... apparently reinforcements were required. Of course, she woke up way too early upon hearing rain in the middle of the night, so that probably had something to do with it.

Anyway, we are just going about our business as usual.....

T-13 days

Yup, we are under the 2 week mark until the baby is here. Danette is doing well and apparently so is the little one. We are calmly and slowly getting a few last things together, but the calmness may be disbelief that we will have another baby around two weeks from now...

We had another week of crazy snow, and now it is melting away and near 50F outside. I have spend more time using my roof rake than I would like too, but it does seem to help keep the amount of ice buildup around the gutters down a bit.

Sara is doing well, of course. This week has been interesting because the young lady who usually falls off to sleep very quickly has been doing quite the opposite the last week to ten days. She has been routinely yapping to herself for at least 45 minutes to as long as 1 1/2 hours after we put her to bed; it doesn't matter if it is a nap (just shy of an hour of talking/singing today) or bedtime. Needless to say, something is going on. I suspect it is related to a noticeable jump in her imagination lately. Even her teachers have commented on it, in fact we got a note home from day care/school saying how busy she was that day with her buddies including getting in the car and driving to Minnesota for ice cream. The girl has never had ice cream in Minnesota, she was far too young the last time she was there, so she came up with it all on her own. Anyway, it is an interesting and often fun development.

Below are just some pics of Sara that I snapped while trying to get used to my new camera lens. These are nice because it his her face rather than her hair or neck that is in focus... I am getting better at it though.

Less than 3 weeks to go!

That about tells the tale of the tape. We are getting closer and closer to the due date for the baby-to-be-named later. In fact, we are headed to the hospital for a tour aimed at siblings-to-be today. Sara is looking forward to that. Danette is doing well and everything seems "normal" and on-track.

This week was another snowy one, in fact I think we are going to come up just an inch or so short of the snowiest January on record in Cleveland. We had a little melt back that resulted in close to half our snow disappearing, but all of that and then some has returned, all pretty much in one day this week. I now have some snow banks at the house that are getting difficult to see over.... reminds me of growing up in MN.

Sara is doing well, full of energy, etc. The last couple of weeks have been fun because she started spontaneously giving hugs and saying "I love you" at least in response to the same, which hadn't been her style before. She is also excited to help get the room ready for the baby whenever she can.

This week also so the delivery of my new fixed focal-length f/1.8 lens for my camera, so I have been playing with that. The plan is for it to be very useful for taking pictures of the the kids in natural light/low light in the house, etc. So far it seems like a good idea, but I do have to be far more careful with the focus.

Anyway, here are some pictures for the week.



Painting at her easel



Big smile before school



getting good at ignoring the man behind the camera - in a good way

Oy! down to 4 weeks.

Guess it has been a while since I posted anything... oh well.

2009 has been going well so far. Sara is being Sara, growing, learning more, and pushing boundaries everyday like a good 2.5 year old. The only downside of the month thus far has really been the weather - shoveling or snowblowing 2-3 times a day gets a little old. It also turns out that there must be a gap in the insulation(?) near where our computer sits, so when the temps approach zero, as they had been... the computer is avoided.



A morning pic (1/10) during the cold and snowy month



Snow at probably its deepest on 1/20

Even had to go out and "rake" the snow off the roof twice so far this month to try to deal with all the icicles that were building up.

We have been doing a few other things as well. As we are obviously getting closer to the new baby (27 days or less, one way or another), we have been trying to get a few more things prepared. Everything seems on track and everyone healthy it appears. We even made it out to pre-register Danette this morning and we will have a tour aimed at young siblings to-be next weekend.

However, much to our chagrin, we realized that we just were not going to get the baby's room stripped of its wallpaper and painted in time.... just not enough hours on the weekends that are left with all the other usual things to do. The wallpaper was the real nemesis, of course. So for the first time, we broke down and hired someone to come in and take care of the wallpaper and painting inside our house. Felt a little odd to not do it ourselves, but it is done now. Given that it took two pros a whole solid weekend, we are glad we don't have it hanging over our heads anymore.



Before



During, yup the walls were never painted/primed before the wallpaper went up - Nice!





After

Now we are just working to get the room set up.... but we have some time to work there...

Anyway, needless to say, at least someone enjoyed the snow when it was warm enough to be out for a while...



playing



snow angels



Even a pic with Dad



getting into games more and more, though a little difficult to find good age appropriate ones still, but she loves them regardless



Trip to the Children's Museum on MLK day.



Being Sara, getting up early and having breakfast w/Dad even though she could be sleeping.

Sara has also become even more aware of what's going on around her... or at least she is narrating it more. This week she saw a particular man on the TV, and said "That's Barack Obama!" yup, it was. She was also quite excited when she recognized someone talking about him on the radio on our way to school. Sara also apparently announced at school that she wants to be a doctor and drive the ambulance, but she has to wait until she is older and can go to college and be old enough to drive. Moments like these are pretty neat, especially when balanced with the other half of the typical two-year old equation....