Christmas 2007

Since Derek was born Christmas Eve, we delayed celebrating Christmas till today.  

I really wanted a food scale for Christmas, my sister got me what I wanted.  I weighed all of my various presents.  Then, since Derek has been losing weight, we decided to weigh him.  He looks pretty cute.

 

Mike, Jen and Derek

All right, it goes against all of our instincts, but we bought a Raiders outfit for Derek.  Mike is a huge fan, so we decided to be generous due to the Christmas season; however, Derek is a Packers fan first.

Lucky doesn't quite know what to do with the newest addition. 

Okay, my whole family laughed about this picture, apparently, I was the one who had the baby, I look huge!  We took another picture, it ended up looking like I wasn't 7 months pregnant.

I'm an auntie!

Michael Derek!

December 24th, 2007 @ 2:37 P.M.

19 1/2 inches

6 pounds, 7 ounces

A Different Sort of Christmas Eve

Luckers woke me up at 2 A.M.  Like any good aunt, I took her out, while upstairs I was utterly bewildered to see that Mike and Jen's door was open.  The little one tinkled, then we headed back downstairs to my bed.  A few hours later, she woke up again, so we headed back upstairs. While Lucky was out, I headed towards the bathroom, on my way there, I see that my parents' bedroom door is open.  My dad starts talking to me, so I head into his room.  There where my mom should be is an empty space.  "Where's mom?" 

"Oh, they went to the hospital in the middle of the night, but they woke you up to see if you wanted to go."  Now, I know that I am a sound sleeper, but I thought that I would at least remember to wake up and recognize or at least recall a few hours later that my sister was in labor.  I mean, really, what kind of a sister am I that just doesn't even recall her sister going into labor.  

After feeding the doggies and taking them on an extra long walk (I code named the walk operation exhaust the doggies so that they don't get into trouble while Jen is in labor), my dad and I headed in the minivan to the hospital.  Next conquest, the GPS program, I was told by my mother that it was programmed into the system . . . it wasn't.  Mike and Jen had previously pointed to the hospital on one of our expeditions, so I just winged it and got to the hospital - and the right entrance - with no wrong turns.

After a couple of hours and some cards, that little boy is a little bit too big, so my sister is having a C-section.  I have experienced my mom and dad having major surgeries, but never my sister, it isn't a cool feeling at all.  I hate the feeling of not being in control and being unable to "do" anything.  The anticipation and queasy feeling every time the door opens is discombobulating.  Just waiting as the minutes tick by, with no one telling you anything, just frustrates me.

So, I guess Multnomah Falls is off of the itinerary for the day.  Pray for my sister, Mike, the baby, the recovery and that the doggies (who am I kidding, I mean Lucky) are extra good during the next few weeks as everyone adjusts. 

Cannon Beach

We headed to the beach today.  For me, the beach means swimsuit and warm weather; here, beach means water and sand.  We drove to the beach and took a quick walk on the sand.  We then went for fish and chips.  After lunch we headed back to Portland, but right before we got on the main highway back, we got a extra special surprise, elk!  At first we thought they were fake because they were so perfectly aligned and still, but they were real so we all poured out of the mini van and took some pictures.  

Still no baby . . . 

Portland

I got to Portland at 4 a.m. on Friday.  After sleeping in a little bit, I headed out with my sister for a walk with the doggies.  It was great! I have missed my little Lucky so much.  She assaulted all of us when we got to the house with her kisses - I even got kisses from Alex.

This morning I woke up to Lucky crying outside of my room, she had just gone on a walk, and apparently spending twenty minutes away from me was a little bit too much.  

Newborn

I held a newborn baby yesterday. I haven't had a ton of experience with newborns. To be honest, they scare me a little bit, they are so tiny and fragile and mysterious. Plus, I really don't think babies like me that much.

She was adorable though, I couldn't believe that less than 24 hours before she was still in her mommy's tummy. The thing that was really amazing is I visited with one of my friends who had a baby in April. Her little girl was crawling around, pulling herself up to a standing position, and just looking wide-eyed at the baby. How can all that happen in less than a year? It is miraculous.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

The world (at least around me) looks like a Winter Wonderland. It has been snowing all day, not a blinding and bustling type of snow, but a slow, steady encroachment on the ground. Earlier when I looked outside, there were the biggest flakes I had ever seen. Now, outside of my window looks like a snow globe or a stereotypical picture of what snow is supposed to look like. It is beautiful. The pine trees’ boughs are laden, everything is newly white, and mounds of snow awaiting children in hats, mittens and scarves abound everywhere one looks.

Two Notes from the Day

I was subbing today. It always amazes me at some of the conversations I hear during the day. For instance, a couple of girls were talking about going overseas this coming summer. They were basically shopping the different churches or organizations in the area to see what group was going to the best spot. Besides how disturbing the idea of shopping for a mission trip like it was a new pair of jeans was, I was amazed at how these girls were planning to go/had gone to Africa, but they didn't know if one could drive to Menomonee Falls. I was flabbergasted. It is as if the pendulum has swung the opposite direction, instead of not knowing important global issues and places, these girls didn't even know their backyard. It seemed like a farce to me.

Secondly, I went to my parents' house after subbing. After chatting for a few minutes with my mom about my father's latest antics and me attacking the chocolate stash, we decided to play speed Scrabble. I was first introduced to the game by Meg's family. The first time I played I remember being a little bit overwhelmed, but having a lot of fun. We all quietly worked on our various boards with an occasional GO or quick question on spelling. Playing the game with my mom is different - and always hilarious. I end up feeling like I spend as much time looking at her board as I do looking at my own. She is continually asking questions or making comments- How do you spell *enter various word*? Is ** a real word? I think you rigged the game. But you just said go. With each of her interjections, I look over at her board, spell a word, tell her that ** isn't a real word, but ** is, and try to figure out how we can improve her words to better her board. After what seems like a few minutes, but probably is just a quarter of a minute, I realize that I should probably get back to my own part of the game. She cracks me up. The thing that amazes me is that she hates speed Scrabble, but she plays. I don't know how mothers can be so unselfish.

Hunkering Down

Today we received our first big snowstorm and advice to not go anywhere unless you have to. I kind of laughed at the warning. I mean, I live in WI, it isn't like it is DE or FL or WA or other places that shut down with a couple of inches of snow.

I dragged myself out of bed this morning to watch the snow as I made myself food. On days like these, I actually don't mind the warning telling me not to go anywhere. It gives me an excuse for what I really want to do: hunker down in a big sweatshirt, wrap myself in a down comforter and only move to make more hot chocolate.