First Sibling Pictures

Here are a couple photos of Elizabeth and Josiah and their first photos with Isaac.


This is the closest we've gotten Josiah to Isaac so far.



Elizabeth is very, very, very excited to be a big sister.



Group photo with the lion cub roaring in the middle.

Introducing...

With the time being 07:35 PM EST, Isaac Willam entered weighing at 7 lbs 9 ozs:


(More pics and details later)

Come Tomorrow...

... Demarie and David will be heading to the hospital. Will be checking in around 6:45 a.m. They have decided to induce Demarie and possibly have baby come into the world.

Please keep Demarie, baby, and the medical people in your prayers.

What a Thursday :-)

(Sorry, it's a long story ;-))

Thursday started out like most weekdays, with the extra bonus of it being Elizabeth's first school picture day! We had her clothes all laid out the night before and she was up and ready in time, so we decided to curl her hair quickly. I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea. The temp outside was in the 40s and it was raining...meaning either soggy wet curls or frizzed out curls from her hood. Oh well, she enjoyed having some girly time. She even let me make her eggs for breakfast (she almost always just wants cereal for breakfast, like her Daddy.) She and David headed out the door for school and work.

I DID take some pictures before she left the house--just in case the ever so wonderful school pictures didn't come out as perfectly as they promise ;-)

As we were getting ready, I started getting a pretty bad headache. I figured it was mostly from the weather, but left me not feeling so great. Josiah was awake, so we curled up in my bed and I went back to sleep for a bit while he watched a couple episodes of Super Why on the laptop (yay Netflix!)--his current favorite show.

When I woke up, the headache was better, not totally gone, but definitely not as strong. But it had been replaced with pressure and feeling lightheaded. Normally I would have just written this off. However, at my doctor's appointment on Wednesday, there had been some protein present and my blood pressure was higher than it has been running. Not enough for major concern, but enough to keep a closer watch on it and call with anything abnormal. I needed to go in for some labwork anyway, so with David's encouragement I called the doctor to ask if I could at least come in and have my blood pressure checked while I was there for labs. We made an appointment for 2:30. David came and worked from home for a bit so I wouldn't have to take Josiah to the lab. I spent the rest of the time alternating between worrying something was wrong and calling myself a hypochondriac for having "symptoms" just because the doctor said something could be wrong.

With still feeling a bit lightheaded, David dropped me off for the lab and my appointment, came back to pick Elizabeth up from school, and drove back up to get me...and it was a very good thing he did! When the nurse read my blood pressure it had gone up a lot! She came back and read it 5 minutes later, and it was a bit lower, but still high for me. Protein was better, though. The doctor came in and said he would like me to go to the hospital for monitoring. My blood pressure was not in a dangerous zone, but with it being higher and the presence of protein, they needed to make sure it wasn't preeclamsia starting. So, David drove up and I told him we were heading to the hospital...with both kids in tow ;-)

The kids did great! They were both a bit concerned for me, especially once Josiah saw me in the gown with all the monitors hooked up. Our friend came and picked the kids up for us so they could play at her house instead of hanging out at the hospital. We ended up being in the hospital just over three hours. I had labs redrawn so we would get the results sooner. My blood pressure was changing the whole time, always staying on the high side, but everything else, including protein, was normal. Yay! I did get to watch the monitor as some mild contractions happened, and that was encouraging.

We are home, not under any restrictions, just the recommendation to rest a lot. I have another appointment on Monday. David decided he is going to work from home today, just in case ;-) And my mom is driving out today to stay until after Baby makes his appearance...hopefully he won't keep us waiting too long now!

My big plans for the day are to make sure we have a hospital bag packed and ready to go! No I did not have one ready yesterday. Yes, I was scrambling in my mind, trying to figure out what to send David home for in case they decided to induce labor. This time we'll be prepared...at least with the camera and laptop, right? ;-)

Premonition?

Tonight, as Elizabeth was heading to bed, she kissed my belly and said, "Good night, Isaac. I hope you have a nice trip out of there."

Weird!

So, today for lunch we stopped to eat a quick bite at a fast food restaurant. While we were in line, a lady came up behind Josiah and just started rubbing his hair. I didn't know who she was, but she had a face that looked like it could possibly be familiar. We were just down the road from church, so I though maybe that's how she knew us. Our kids seem to be pretty well-known there now. I knew she wasn't a regular worker with the kids, but didn't want to seem rude, so I didn't say anything. After it had seriously been several minutes, and she kept rubbing his hair, I was definitely feeling weird. She would make little comments like, "He doesn't realize it's me," and "He must think it's you." Both of which could be true. David and I both rub Josiah's hair a lot ;-) He finally looked up at the lady and didn't show any recognition, but didn't seem worried, either. He kind of shifted places, and I thought that was the end of it.

As we moved up in line (this place was seriously slow today!), Elizabeth took off the hat she was wearing, and the lady just reached up and started touching her hair, saying, "She has such beautiful hair." By this point, I decided the kids and I would just go find a seat and let David order the food.

When David finally sat down, I asked if he knew the lady. Definitely not! I asked Elizabeth, and she didn't either. Really weirded out now! I love touching my kids hair, and I guess it's kind of a compliment that this lady wanted to keep touching their hair. I even touch other kids' hair, but would never do it to a child I don't know and don't know their parents. And definitely not for several minutes! I'm not sure how I should have reacted. I definitely don't want to alarm the kids, but I don't want them to think they have to stand there and allow that from someone, particularly a stranger! Any suggestions for a response?

While we were eating, Elizabeth made a comment that everyone thinks Josiah is so cute, but not her. I thought about using that lady as an example since she did rub both their heads, but decided against it. I found some other, more acceptable, examples to remind her that people think she's pretty darn cute, too!

Apple Picking

Today was not quite a crisp fall day, but it ended up being a beautiful day for apple picking! After church we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to an orchard for their apple festival. I love this area! We can be in the city, but have farms and country life just minutes away! And how great to have a view of the city from the top of the mountain, while picking apples! The orchard was a bit more busy than we were expecting, but the kids had fun anyway. We only picked a few apples. We saw TONS of really nice ones, but they were in the roped-off sections. We figure they're saving them so they have more for the continuation of the festival next weekend. But maybe we'll get out sometime during the week to get some more apples.

Here are Josiah and Elizabeth reaching for apples. (With boosts from daddy)

Our "Little Rascal"

Posing Princess

Josiah enjoying some of the "fruits" of his labor

Princess style attacking of the apple

Taking the long walk back to the top of the mountain