Our New Baby Boy

Miles is one week old. We're in a major period of adjustment around here, but are so thankful for the little steps toward routine and normalcy. My parents are staying with us right now, so Grace's days have remained much the same, with Vic and me playing with her between Miles' naps and feedings. Having my parents here also means that we've not had to worry about what's for dinner (we're saving the meals Vic's mom made for when we're truly on our own). Both of these are huge blessings.

Miles on his birthday

big sister Grace (who fell on her way out the door to the hospital and had to be rushed to the doctor for three stitches)

with my mom

We're also quite surprised and thankful that Miles seems to have settled into a bit of a routine -- three or so hours between feedings means that we can get 6-8 hours of sleep each night without too much trouble (albeit in two or three segments). Of course, daytime naps help too, and I'm sure Vic is wishing right about now that he'd brought a pillow to work today...

first Starbucks visit

Announcement

No Baby Yet

Just a quick update to say that Miles hasn't decided to make his appearance yet. It's looking more and more like it'll be an induction on Sunday.

In the meantime, we continue to keep busy -- Grace is learning to count to ten, spell her name, and kick a ball. She's loving helium balloons, bubbles, and her blankie. My mom and I have been running the occasional errand and walking for exercise (not that chasing Grace isn't enough exercise). Vic is using the extra week at work to get some projects going and some organization in place. And we're all trying to get a full night's sleep every night so we're as prepared as we can be for the upcoming sleep deprivation.

Thank you for your prayers -- they've been felt. Thank you for your offers to help -- they'll be used.

And We Wait...

So no baby tomorrow unless he decides to come on his own. Our new deadline is Sunday and, while we're ready now, we're happy to wait if it means a (possibly) easier delivery and healthy baby. We'll continue to keep everyone posted here.

Odds and Ends (part three)

Need a Car?
Meet Sparky. He's a black 1998 Volkswagen Golf (below is a stock photo). Unfortunately, he's not big enough to hold a second child's carseat, so he has to go. He's not perfect (after all, he's 12 years old) but he's always been reliable for me and we'd like to find him a good home. Let us know if you or someone you know might be interested.


Mimi and Papa
Vic's parents came for a visit about a month ago and stayed for ten days. It was such fun to watch Grace getting to know them better, and she's asked about them off and on since their visit. They watched Grace for a weekend so Vic and I could get away (we went to the Abendblume in Leavenworth again and had a relaxing time with the minor exception of the afternoon when Vic went snowmobiling and lost his car key somewhere along the way). Their visit was also a huge help to me during this final month of pregnancy -- Vic Sr. played with Grace a lot and took some great pictures of her, and Annette filled our freezer with meals we can enjoy in the busy time after Miles is born. Thanks again to you both!

Stay Tuned
So obviously no Miles yet. But we have a doctor appointment this afternoon and will know more after that. It's a good possibility that we'll be going to the hospital tomorrow (Tuesday) for an induction, so check back later tonight for the update.

Odds and Ends (part two)

As some may recall, I managed, when Grace was only a few months old, to crochet a sweater and hat for her. I've crocheted since I was eight or nine and find it to be fairly relaxing. The sense of accomplishment when an item is complete is also a big reason I enjoy it. But knitting always felt beyond my reach -- two needles (sometimes more), no hook on the end to keep the yarn from slipping off, the "language" used in patterns -- I thought it would be a lot of trouble to learn.

Well, no more. Thanks to some online knitting sites, a helpful clerk at the local yarn shop, and a couple of books from the library, I've completed my first knitted thing. I'm so proud. And now Miles will be cozy and warm till summer comes. (Since this is a sweater for Miles, and he's decided to remain cozy and warm where he is, I didn't have a model for it. Maybe I'll take a photo of him in it at a later date.)



As Miles' due date approaches, I've been trying to keep busy with Grace, to make the days seem less long. We've visited several friends, run bunches of errands, and a few weeks ago, we took the Edmonds-Kingston ferry and met up with my dad on the other side for a morning at the beach. (Thanks again, Dad, for the fun morning!) Grace had a blast, watched crows and seagulls swooping in for breadcrumbs, got soaked and freezing in the water, and picked up every shell she found. I'm glad Miles already has a swimsuit -- we'll definitely be hitting the beach this summer.



And finally (for part two, but stay tuned for the third and final part of this Lipsey update), Vic's office threw a baby shower for Miles recently. It was great to see everyone, including spouses and kids, the latter of which are many. There were yummy finger foods and desserts, as well as thoughtful gifts, and the fun (and useful) centerpiece of the table was this diaper cake. Thanks, guys -- we'll think of you all whenever we change Miles. On second thought...



Part three coming soon...

Odds and Ends (part one)

It's been way too long since we blogged, and we firmly believe that our regular readers have thrown their hands up in frustration and moved on to other more frequently updated blogs. Nonetheless, we thought it would be good to catch any remaining readers up on the latest with the Lipsey family. So here's the first of three posts designed to do just that. (And thanks to all who've stuck with us.)

Words, Words, Words
In the words of Eliza Doolittle in the My Fair Lady tune, Show Me, "Words, words, words! I'm so sick of words. I get words all day through..." Grace is talking up a storm these days and, since she doesn't have the ability to put together sentences yet, it's simply one word said over and over. Unfortunately, she's still missing a lot of consonant sounds (j, g, k, r) and all of her words end in a vowel sound, which means that, for example, Grace comes out Dway and cheese (her very first word) comes out chee. So when you see this list of her first 100 words (in no particular order), just know that only about 80% of them are understandable to the general public.

snack	dirty	frog	leg
eat	clean	flower	foot
juice	up	book	toe
water	down	ball	hand
avocado	in	moon	head
cheese	outside	car	ear
noodle	again	cellphone	eye
chip	more	toy	nose
egg	help	star	knee
blueberry	no	light	hair
chex	play	radio	cheek
pancake	tuck-tuck	hi	belly
bread	pull	byebye	arm
turkey	stop	blue	elbow
cookie	tub	green	chin
milk	lamb	purple	teeth
rice	puppy	pink	two
banana	bug	yellow	five
cottage cheese	bee	tree	nine
pickle	pig	go	goose
pizza	dog	coat	key
pie	cat	shoe	truck
bottle	butterfly	sock	sofa
hot	lion	glasses	boy
cold	fish	hat	daddy

Baby News
Two notes on the littlest Lipsey: One, our baby boy will be named Miles (which, ironically, is not something that Grace can really say). Two, at this point, we're scheduled for a checkup with the doctor on Monday, March 8, and if all seems to be on track, we'll go to the hospital on Tuesday, March 9, for an induction. It's really nice to know that this pregnancy will only (hopefully) last for another week or so.

Shyayah Again
So Grace has had her glasses for about six weeks now, and is doing great! Her eye is no longer crossing, she pretty much leaves them on (although when she's bored in the car, she thinks they're a good toy), and she has new nicknames (the littlest librarian or Harriet Potter). As always, the photo's a little blurry because she's in constant motion.


Stay tuned for Odds and Ends, parts two and three...