proud big sister

here are more bithday pictures! nana and grandma brought proud big sister meredith up to the hospital to meet theodore just a few hours after he was born. from the moment she heard that today her baby brother was born, she was excited! today is a day for celebrating, and she clapped and was overjoyed with "yay's!" and wanting to hold him and kiss him...........love love love

we enjoyed our 'recovery' room in the special alternative birth center within the hospital. an added bonus was a healing herbal bath(that is why the water is a different color) for theodore and i in the big whirlpool tub in the room. he wasn't such a big fan of the water.... until he got to nurse in the water :)

happy birthday!

we are proud to welcome the birth of our son theodore michael!!
he is a handsome 8lbs 5 oz and 20.5 inches long

we waited patiently for 41 weeks and 5 days for his official entrance into this world. he has melted our hearts already.

the birth was beautiful and spiritual. we are all healthy and doing well. we were able to labor naturally without medications and felt supported by our midwife, nurse, and especially our doula. we really can't say enough positive things about having the kind of support that we had :)

here are photos that our doula toni took just minutes after the birth.... i hope to get a few minutes here and there to post more photos sooon!!!

special birth items

just wanted to share some special items that will bring me comfort during the upcoming birth. here is the beautiful neclace made out of the beads given to me during my mother's blessingway. each wonderful bead in the neclace was given by a special woman and mother (or future mother) with a specific blessing and well wish for theodore's birth. the orange fabric and signs are all ready for being used as decoration in the labor room at the hospital. i have our suitcases packed with all of the other goodies..... that i have packed and unpacked now at least a half dozen times!....

it is exciting to have planned to decorate the labor room and myself with special calming and empowering items. i also plan to have special calming music, dim lights, special clothes to wear instead of the typical hospital gown, and my own birth ball. i'm looking forward to enjoying (yes, enjoying!) some of the special techiniques that my doula has up her sleeve too..... like massage, fragrant scents/aromas, cranio sacral therapy, and positioning support....

okay baby!

just hanging in there

i was only pregnant for 38 weeks with meredith when my water broke and we got to meet her. and so it is no wonder that i'm an anxious momma at 39weeks and 4 days tonight. i can't wait to update the blog with snuggly newborn pictures!

mother's blessingway

today my friends threw me a mother's blessingway to celebrate this pregnancy and the birth. it was a wonderful way to bring family and friends together (on short notice too!) and have a wonderful afternoon filled with positivity and motherhood.

some of the special highlights from today:
sage smudging (sage was burned to purify the space)
sharing of blessings, prayers, and beads (for a neclace to be worn at birth)
a momma foot bath and massage
a red cord binding around our wrists to wear until the baby is born
and making birth art with clay

thank you everyone who was able to be there in person or in spirit! it was a wonderful time! and i'm so glad that the baby didn't come too soon and have me cancel the party....... awesome!

playground

we took the grandmas to the playground today for a special treat. these glimpses of sun and warm spring weather are heaven sent. even the baby in my belly enjoyed the warm sun... and the break from being indoors snuggling with baby clothes and itty bitty socks and the smallest and softest cloth diapers......

happy easter

wow the easter bunny came to our house and meredith got to eat candy! jelly beans and a tasty chocolate easter bunny were favorites, as well as fun with family today. i missed quite a few fun photo opportunities because i was busy being a pregnant momma and napping (blush) or eating (blush)

decorating eggs

we finally get to decorate easter eggs! this is a treasured activity from my childhood and meredith seems to join right in! she kept wanting to make the eggs 'kiss' and crack them...... she is going to have so much fun tomorrow

the little wrap

meredith and i have been wearing our baby dolls in our wraps lately to practice for when our baby is born. isn't she just the cutest little momma in her own sized wrap? baby doll maria was so content and loved.

cousins

we had some fun with cousins jake and katie today.... the kids are almost too fast to capture on camera

dress up

papa's little angel just had to get dressed up today toooo. God Bless You Papa! we miss you so much already!

(this cute outfit helped us all get a few smiles and grins today)

a thank you

today my brother's friends are throwing a benefit to honor my dad and to help my mom. my heart is overjoyed at their efforts and their support. i have felt the love of friends and family over the last few days that i cannot put into words..... the wonderful hugs, encouragement, love and support. i will be forever grateful, and i thank God for bringing us together during this time of sorrow. you are all in our prayers. thank you!

a eulogy by me

Good Afternoon
I know that I’m going to cry up here
I’m pregnant
and I believe that my dad was Superman
and the best Papa in the world!
I miss my dad so much already

But I want you to know that my Dad is still with us, right now in this room
He would not want us to be sad for him. He is in heaven.
He would not want us to hurt.
He would not want us to feel pain.

I believe that he wants us to know that he is okay now, and that everything is going to be okay tooo.
God and Jesus have healed him and now it is time to celebrate life and being together.

We want everyone here today, physically or in spirit, to know that you are part of our family. My Dad loved you and we love you.

Perhaps you shared a beer with my Dad almost a week ago, or laughed together even 10 years ago.
I’m sure my Dad would want you to know that you were important to him.

Our memories of being together with my Dad can bring us comfort and inspiration.

My Dad was here in our lives
To love us
To help us
To encourage us
To guide us
To show us that ‘we could do it’
To laugh with us and enjoy life
To celebrate anything and everything
To bring us strength

I want you to remember how he was present in your life.
I want these memories to inspire you to:
Show a young child how to fish
Learn how to cook your favorite food… and share it
Step up and pitch in
Do the right thing now, instead of later
Find a way to make life easier for someone else
Enjoy being outdoors or find more time for your own hobbies
Spoil your family and friends
Say, “I love you” more often or even start saying it…..


There is nothing in this world that my Dad couldn’t do.
He just had to work hard to accomplish it.
Actually, he seemed to work even harder if he could do something for someone else

When my Dad started his courageous battle with cancer, he tackled it in the same way.
It took
Not 1
Not 2
But 3 cancers
And multiple rounds of chemotherapy with each cancer
When not the first chemotherapy
Or the second
Or the third try or type of chemo worked exactly right.

And my Dad still did not loose the fight.
He was still ready to continue working and fighting hard for my Mom and us.
And God was ready to heal him in his loving arms.

My Dad is in heaven now.
He will not soon be forgotten and will continue to be missed.
But he has given us something wonderful.
He has showed us how to be courageous and unselfish and loving right to the end.

Please don’t be sad today.
Please be inspired instead.
Please celebrate life and family.
We have all been blessed just to know my Dad.

Thank you and AMEN!

my dad is in heaven

our hearts are breaking because we miss my dad. he is in heaven now. here are a few of the wonderful pictures that we have to savour.

the playground

a little bit of sunshine finally warms us up enough to play outside... and meredith loves it!

my gloves

another fun thing about visiting nana and papa in the hospital is the cool gloves and mask! meredith enjoys every second of our special family time together..... with all of the cool 'tools' and accessories of being neutropenic (extreme low white blood cell/immunity)in the hospital

our baby brother

it is fun getting ready for a new baby brother! meredith loves her books that show a big sister helping with the new baby and she is especially excited to talk about the umbilical chord falling off of the belly button (oh yeah she really does talk about this stuff already.) this week she was able to goto the baby appointment with me and hear the baby's heartbeat really loud.

our little doctor

visiting nana and papa in the hospital is one of meredith's favorite activites right now! she gets so excited to be able to play doctor/nurse with the stethescope especially! she gets very possessive of her 'tools' in papa's room. she tries to hide the little blood pressure cuff and stethescope when the nurse comes in because she doesn't want to share it. she is also fond of the 'real' telephone and being able to make nana and papa giggle with her singing and dancing and pretending!

two years old

we are the proud parents of a happy two year old!! we had fun celebrating meredith's birthday all week long! (that way we could have some cake with nana and papa and meredith got lots of practice singing happy birthday and blowing out her candles.)

our growing up girl will happily sing happy birthday and tell you that she is 'two months' old! she loved playing with her cousin jake especially at her birthday party. she just adored everything that jake does!! the two of them really were excited about the curious george themed party, but baby katie enjoyed the balloons the most :) we just cannot get over how alert she is and meredith gave her lots of attention tooo! awww!

last year meredith just devoured her cake with wild passion, and this year we expected no difference! to our suprise she carefully ate the icing off of her cake using her fork mostly and was really rather gentle! she still loved the cake, but i guess just not as much as the frosting. we had a homemade german chocolate cake with homemade frosting.

a cute moment from today... when she was singing twinkle twinkle little star and changed the verse to be 'twinkle twinkle little guitar' when she was playing with her homemade guitar! it is so cute to here her sing the whole song :)

thank you everyone for such a wonderful day and wonderful party fun with thoughtful presents tooo!

100 units

today papa got a special award..... his 100th transfused donation of blood! it is amazing to know that so many volunteers have unanimously saved his life with each and every transfusion!!!! God bless every one of you!!!

please donate blood to the american red cross so that you can help save someones life tooooooo!!!

george birthday party

with papa and nana in the hospital for meredith's special birthday, we just couldn't let them miss out! so we brought the special curious george birthday party to them too!!!!

who are these masked party goers????

george fan

here is our little curious george fan in her new pajamas from nana and papa..... oh my goodness!!! they are george pajamas!!!! how cool! i could hardly get her in the photos she was excited!

meredith has been lucky to watch tv before the age of two. we have tried to keep it very limited but i think parenting has gotten the best of us and she has a full fledged love for certain shows. it is cute when meredith asks for 'gorge' (as she often requests it!) but it is even *cuter* when she will lay still for a diaper change while it is on.....

my new room

we have been getting ready for our 'baby on the way' by making a 'new room' for meredith. soon the nursery will be for our 'new baby brother.'

it has been exciting getting the new room all ready. sadly the old dinosaur boarder on the walls needed to be removed, but it was a simple project. the painting of the walls however wasn't as easy.... i picked the 'wrong' shade of yellow at first. hmmmmmm i wouldn't recommend the shade 'decisively yellow' to anyone! scott was really patient and did most of the work in preparing the new room and painting the perfect shade of yellow for our happy little meredith. we think yellow will go great with her ladybug quilt and bright colored toys. the funny thing is that they yellow is still so bright on the walls that scott and i will often go in there just to 'shut off the light.'

meredith and i enjoyed some time in the wrap together. this green wrap is called 'simon' and she looooooooooooves going for rides on mommy's backk in it! it is actually still possible to do with the baby in the belly :)

time to enjoya lovely felt lunch..... just don't ask meredith what the peanut butter felt piece is :)

a cousin my size

we had a fun playtime with 2nd cousin sarah tonight!! sarah is only a 1/2 year older than meredith so she fit right in with playing red sparkly dress up shoes and serving up tea in the play kitchen!

dolly and me

today we had some tasty cinnamon rolls and pierogies for breakfast. somehow we've started a weekend ritual now with the cinnamon rolls and pierogies.... i don't think aunt fran and uncle john realized what 'traditions' they would be starting!! i can't wait for meredith to be able to help me make the cinnamon rolls in the morning too. its fun to bake from scratch again :)

here are a few pics of meredith and her homemade amish dolly named 'baby frances.' aunt frances made the dolly and the clothes. here is meredith wearing one of the matching outfits :)

pancakes

its fun to suprise meredith with her new felt food at the dinner table. blueberry syrup on your pancakes is the best....

felt food

aunt frances and uncle john have been busy making felt food for meredith to pretend with...... yummmo!!

my farm

today momma captured me playing with my fun play farm, house, and fairy mushroom. my wooden animals hand made by great aunt rosemary fit right into my farm tooo. check out the cute 'heiny' picture of them all in a row! i was playing with the deer like it was an reindeer. did you know that santa claus lands on the roof with his reindeer and goes down the chimney? my barn has a chimney and this whole idea is just sticking with me... how awesome! the toys you see in this picture were all new toys for me this christmas and i'm just beginning to really use my imagination to play with them. thanx for all the cool and fun toys!

the pizza

today meredith is cooped up with us again in the house.... with her snotty cold. so today we kicked it up a notch. most of our dollies attended our first pizza party! thanx to aunt fran and uncle john for crafting up some awesome felt pizza accessories and some bacon and eggs. today was the first day we got them out and i could barely get meredith to look up from her 'cookin'. she didn't want much assistance. she loved calling each piece by name and making it the tastiest pizza ever. she had fun with the bacon and eggs too. chef meredith. notice how dolly patty is still dressed in meredith's christmas outfit from 2007. as a special treat we ate pizza for lunch after we played. it was a hit too!

holidays for littles

we had a fun holiday playdate with friends today. the girls enjoyed special treats and exchanging gifts with each other. meredith learns quickly from her 'older' friends and they are suprised how quickly she is catching on.