Living, Loving, Learning

Ahhh, we are home. Actually, we were lucky enough to be able to come home late yesterday afternoon and it feels soooo good. We had to be at the hospital at 5 am on Friday morning. Needless to say, neither Bruce nor I got much sleep on Thursday night. In fact, Bruce had actually been called into the hospital on Thursday evening for an emergency and that kind of threw our evening off. We were both so tired but so excited to check into the hospital and get prepped for the c-section. The morning started off rough, with it taking the nurses 3 messy attempts to insert the i.v. and 2 irritating attempts at inserting the catheter. On the upside, our OB told us that I was having major contractions...looks like we would have had a baby over the weekend one way or the other!Finally, it seemed like I was ready to head into the O.R. to have my baby delivered. Unfortunately, the anaesthesiologists (3 of them) were not able to get a spinal or epidural going after poking around my spine for an excr...

This is Big Poppa filling in for Mama Gast. I wanted to show a couple pictures of one of the most wonderful things to happen in our lives. She's an 8lb. 11oz. reminder that there is such a thing as perfection in the world. A 21 inch reminder that there is nothing that lifts the spirit as much as the limitless possibilites that comes with new life. And she's a living testament to the power of love. Momma and baby are both great and should be home soon (with more pictures to come.) Good- bye for now. Papa

Wow...truely only 2 1/2 days left until we get to meet our baby girl. The excitement and anticipation has kicked into high gear now. I am having a terrible time sleeping (both mind and body are factors) and my "nesting" instincts have kicked into overdrive. I know that at 39 weeks I probably shouldn't be on the floor scrubbing pretty clean already baseboards, but does that stop me?...not a chance! I hope this baby does not come out of the womb finding Chlorox wipes to be the most familiar soothing smell to her! :) Mentally, I find myself hovering near hysteria but not quite there. I am soooo excited to meet my girl, complete our family, turn the corner on this path of conception. I am nervous about undergoing abdominal surgery, the health of the baby and my bodies and Griffin's state of mind after his world gets ROCKED by this addition. I am confident in Bruce and my abilities to love each other and our children to the fullest through this time, the support we will/ha...

Baby's First Peep!

If I don't have the child soon, I will end up making enough burb clothes for twins!!! 6 more days till we welcome her.

So, we are "basically" finished with the baby's room. I LOVE IT. I look forward to spending many sacred hours with my daughter in her space. Here is the 180 for you.

We had an ice storm here about a month ago and it totally transformed the landscape of the city park, where we spend lots of afternoons.

This is what I am keeping my anxious hands busy with...Sprout will have quite the customized wardrobe!!

This is what we woke up to yesterday morning. The average high for the March 8Th is 57!! It was one of those magical snowfalls...we fell asleep to green grass and woke up to a magical sparkly fairyland. We took full advantage of this surprise opportunity and enjoyed a couple hours outside building a snowman, making snow angels and Griff's favorite, throwing snow balls! Sunshine was in HEAVEN!! She loves the snow and we felt sad that she wouldn't get her favorite type of playtime down here. The best is how ferocious looking she gets when chasing sticks and digging them out of the snow banks. We ended our playtime with a glass of hot cocoa, a first for Griffin. He made a big deal about how good it was and how it made his belly feel warm but was finished with it after 3 sips...just not a big sweets guy. He will beg for a "special treat" (chocolate) but never finishes even a modest serving...he definitely gets this from his Papa!!

My friend Chanley sent me this awesome link that I want to share with y'all: http://blog.pmarca.com/2008/03/an-hour-and-a-h.html . It is a blogger's view of Obama after spending some one-on-one time with him at the start of this race. The views he expresses are so similar to the feelings I have about Obama, that I have gleaned from watching and reading about him. It is nice to have those hunches validated by someone who really experienced the man. For me, the most insightful point he makes is that Obama is the first major Post-Boomer political candidate. I had never thought about that before but that resonates deeply with me. As a post-Boomer, this is important to me. I strongly feel that the Boomers had their moment, their time, their opportunity to change this world...they have left their footprint. No matter if you feel it is an elegant Jimmy Choo footprint or more like a pair of rubber boots used to muck out animal stalls footprint it is time for the next generation ...

Although they only bloom for me about once every other year, these babies are well worth the effort!