Introducing Lucy Scarlett Friesen
Lucy has arrived. Here are some pictures of our new daughter, along with a short version of her birth story. I will follow up later with the longer story of her birth as told by me (Juli) for those of you interested in the details. We are all doing very well and praising God for our 2 healthy, happy girls.
The short version of the story is that my water started to break at home around noon on Saturday. We went about a regular day playing with Ellie, watering the yard, feeding the chickens. By 3pm contractions had begun. 9pm Saturday night we went to the hospital because contractions were very intense, 1 minute long, and 2-3 minutes apart. Lucy was born at 2:03 am Sunday morning. She weighed 8 pounds and 2 ounces (7 oz more than E). She is 20.5 inches long (same as E), and has lots of beautiful dark brown hair. She is spending 2 days in the Special Care Nursery because I had a high fever during labor that made her heart rate too high and the doctors are being cautious and giving her some fluids and antibiotics. Other than that, she has had perfect health since birth, we can visit her around the clock, and she is a great little eater. Eleanor likes her new sister too. We will post more pictures of our family of four in the next few days. Thanks to all who prayed for me and Lucy.
Waiting for Lucy . . .
We are still waiting for Lucy Scarlet to arrive. Her due date is this Saturday 4/18/09. I am comfortable most of the time, except at night when contractions come and go. Eleanor is such a great kid and is letting mom get lots of rest. Please keep us in your prayers as we head into the final stretch.
Here are some fun recent pics of Ellie for your viewing:
I Love Hats!
Ellie shows how to accessorize and outfit
Mom and Eleanor at the park
I love slides
Valentine’s Day Egg Hunt
I know you thought Egg hunts were for Easter, right? But at the Friesen house an exciting thing happened this week. Speckles, Ellie’s chicken started laying eggs. Ben, who’s attitude towards the chicken was hostile at first (“freeloader” was a word he used) now exclaims that Speckles is the greatest chicken ever. . . because she now earns her keep. Here are a combination of Valentine’s Day and Egg finding pictures. Ellie loves her chicken so much and looks forward to feeding her everyday, and now checking to see if Speckles made an egg.
Here are a few more pictures of Ellie and her friends from a Valentine’s day brunch our husbands organized at church. The pictures were taken just before the girls went off to the nursery so moms and dads could enjoy a romantic brunch. (PS: The baby I’m holding in the photo is not ours! Lucy Scarlett won’t be due for another 2 months).
Giving Thanks
As Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I was feeling contemplative and grateful for the many blessings God has given to our family. Here are a few things I am thankful for:
-Eleanor’s new affinity for saying “mommy”
-Eleanor’s silly smiles and belly laughs
-Eleanor’s caring spirit and the way she loves other babies
-The new baby beginning to kick
-A loving husband who brought me flowers last week
-A caring mother and father who still care for me even though I have a child of my own
-Thoughtful, intelligent, loving sisters
-A home of our own that is warm and dry
-A challenging and rewarding profession
-Friends I can see once a year and they still know and love me deeply
-Chocolate shakes
-Compassionate and intelligent colleagues
-4 days off work
What an update . . . read on!
Where to start? This is a catch up posting. Work and home have both swallowed all of my time these past few months, so I apologize to the faithful blog followers out there for such a long time between posts. Here is a little bit of how our life has been since September’s post.
Early September: Juli starts getting nausea in the mornings. . . hmmm. . . that’s weird. Pregnancy test says. . . positive, baby number 2 on the way in April. Ready or not!
Late September: Ellie starts walking, hooray. She loves to walk now. Ben finishes his final project for his masters, quite a task. Now he just has a few more classes before finishing in December. Juli is busy teaching, coaching tennis, throwing up, and chasing a now mobile Eleanor.
October: Ellie is walking much faster, signing up a storm (she signs at least 15-20 words, not that I’m bragging), loves to say “ga ga” = da da. Ben, can’t wait to finish that masters degree. Juli, still throwing up, “why am I hungry. . . didn’t I just eat?”
Halloween: (See pictures below). We have a party for our Young Families Bible study at our house. We dress up from the Wizard of Oz. Ellie, a great growler by day, refuses to answer anyone who wants to know “what does a Lion say?”
Early November: Ben begins his final masters class. Hooray. Ellie starts saying “ma-mee.” It still melts my heart every time she says it. We get a new pet chicken. Her name is Speckles and Ben and his dad built her a lovely coop with their own two hands (and a lot of tools). Ben awaits the day when she can “re-coop” our losses by laying eggs. (Sorry for the pun). Juli is done with tennis and vommitting. More Hooray!
This Tuesday: We had our 18 week sonogram and saw our little baby GIRL! That’s right, another girl. Eleanor is soon to have a little sister. We couldn’t be more excited. (Picture of new baby Friesen below).
So, that’s what we have been up to instead of blogging. Stay tuned until the next installment in the adventures of Ben, Juli, Eleanor, Speckles, and Baby X.
Dorothy and the "Cowardly" Lion
We're off to see the Wizard
Lions, and Lady bugs, and Bears. . Oh My!
And introducing . . . Baby X Friesen. Name TBD.
Wow! That's our girl.
