Mobile Justice?

"What's mobile justice?..."

We've never been the activist type, and to be honest this was the first time any of us had been in the state capitol. On Wednesday we attended a rally in support of the rights of mobile home owners. More about this at the website of the organization that sponsored this event: APAC.

Alright, who prayed for snow?

On Friday night most of our yard was bare, which is unusual for a February in Minnesota. That all changed with the snow storm this weekend. We probably got like a foot in the last 36 hours or so. If Isaac and I are up to making a snowman, we'll be sure to post a picture.

Trimming Expenses

We're always on the lookout for ways to save a few bucks. Tonight Noah and his mom demonstrated one of my favorites. A few years ago we got a video from the library that demonstrated the basics of cutting hair. Now haircuts are one thing we don't have to budget for at all.

3 weeks

Lydia is now in her 3rd week of life, and doing very well. She sleeps great - during the day, and sometimes at night. Here bilirubin was checked again a few days ago and went up just a little. That's not a good thing, but still not too much of a concern. We'll just try to give her plenty of sun until things are normal.

Liverwurst?

We're not using the light blanket anymore, but still watching Lydia's bilirubin level. It has been pretty steady for over a week. It's not a concerning level, but should be going down soon once her liver is fully functional.

Isaac has enjoyed some little talks with the new baby, Noah is still learning the meaning of the word 'gentle.'

Home, sweet home.

Last night, Woodwinds got completely full. The baby stayed one more night to finish up that tan
she was working on, but her Mommy had no place left to sleep there. So, (since the hospital is about a 30 minute drive from home) we went to a nearby motel to get some sleep and came back to visit and feed.

In the morning, the pediatrician found Lydia to be doing much better and said she can go home! To be on the safe side, we’ve been given a glowing bili-blanket to keep her wrapped up in for a few more days.

Working on her tan.

Update: As is normal for someone born 3 weeks early, Lydia's bilirubin level has started going up. So, she has been spending some time under the lights, as did her brother Noah when he was her age.

It's a girl!!!

Welcome Lydia!

7 lbs, 5 oz

Born at 8:57 this morning at Woodwinds hospital after a fairly short, induced labor.

Growing Up

We've always had a little trouble remembering to start the dishwasher in the evening. So, sometimes we would wake up with a dishwasher full of dirty dishes. We finally came up with the solution of working it into Isaac's bedtime routine. Now, between "brush teeth" and "read a book" is "start the dishwasher". And, as you can see, he seems very proud to be able to do this himself (we'll see how long that lasts). Baby update: Actually there's not much to report. At our weekly perinatalogist appointment, because we didn’t have a sitter lined up and we were curious what Isaac would think of watching the ultrasound, we took the kids with us. He thought it looked pretty cool, but I don’t think he could quite make out the images of a baby. After the ultrasound (everything still looks fine), we had a non-stress test. This is where a couple hockey-puck sized sensors (actually, I have no idea how big a hockey-puck really is, but it's probably pretty close) are strapped onto the mom’s belly to chart out the baby’s heartbeat and the mom’s contractions. Sometimes, like this time, there’s a button to press when the baby kicks that prints a mark on the printout to compare activity to the heartbeat. Isaac spent some time laying on the hospital style bed next to mommy. She decided to let him hold the button and press it when she told him to. I think he enjoyed this. After a little while the nurse came back, looked at the paper and said "I see you’ve had a couple contractions. Can you feel those?" to which Isaac replied "Yes." The nurse then turned to him and asked if they hurt. He said "not too bad." The next several minuets showed spikes on the contraction printout - a result of laughing.

Vacation Video 2006 ***

We took a little trip to Orlando, FL a few weeks ago, and maybe you've been wondering why I haven't posted any pictures from this trip (or maybe not). Well, I've been working on a little movie with pictures and video clips, most of which were taken with our handy Sony Cyber-shot. It's about 5 minutes long and you can see it here. Enjoy.