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.

 

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

Visiting Aunt Lindsey in the Windy City

This weekend Ben and I celebrated our 26th birthdays with a visit to Chicago. My sister Lindsey lives there, and we spent much of our time enjoying her company amidst the backdrop of some of the greatest architecture on the planet. Eleanor was a superb example of good babyness and slept through both flights, except for a little time she enjoyed listening to Ben’s Ipod (see photo below). Some of the highlights of our trip were:
• Taking in the architecture aboard a guided river cruise
• Touring the home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park
• Making Ellie wear a silly Bear Hat all weekend to stay warm
• Chai Tea French Toast at Lindsey’s restaurant and Soy Mocha’s at Intellegentsia
• Eating Deep Dish Chicago-style pizza with Marissa and Jim
All in all we enjoyed our trip to Chi-town (yes I know locals hate that, but I like it.) Ben took about 200 pictures of buildings and would love to talk to you about them. I got to spend quality time with my fantastic sister, and Ellie got to look like a bear, What more could you ask for in a vacation?

Four Generations

Eleanor recently had another baby shower in her honor. While we were at Grandma Ruth’s house we took these photos of the four generations of Mothers and daughters. Some of my own favorite photos from my childhood are the pictures of Rebekah and me with our Great Grandma Maggie. I know that someday Eleanor will treasure her pictures with her Great Grandma Clara, Grandma Ruth, and Grandma Pat. I’m hoping that she can meet her two other great grandmas, Bobbie and Iris, very soon.

Ellie with “Great” Grandma Clara, my mom’s mom.

Four Generations of Juli’s family.

What a lucky girl to have such great grandmas. Here’s Ellie with Pat (Ben’s mom), Ruth (Juli’s mom), and Clara (Ruth’s mom).