Rowan Elizabeth

Rowan Elizabeth was born on 03-05-09, about 2 hours before she was scheduled to be induced (cheeky!), thereby proving that she is my daughter, and always arriving early for things! I would write a super-comprehensive blog entry here, but have a squirmy baby on my lap. You can check out my brother Steve's blog (Sensio Ergo Sum, link from this page) for more baby pictures, as well as pictures of the proud big brother Bacchus.

Hellooooo....

Ok, so it's been awhile! Sorry about that! We have been super-busy here, with the holidays, post-holiday madness, renovating a house, and preparing for the arrival of Rowan Elizabeth, which could happen any day now. I went to my 36 week checkup (I had Bacchus at 36 weeks, if you recall), and everything looks good. I've been having practice contractions on and off for over a week now, and, not being the most patient person in the world, would just like to get things moving!!

Let's see...updates: Drew returned from the Missouri Grape and Wine Conference at the Lake of the Ozarks which took place last weekend, but has been under the weather since that time. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the dip in the lake he took on Monday night. :) He's been working double time on the Rocheport house, which now has a shiny new roof. The kitchen cabinets are being completed, and are beautiful, and I can't wait until things start coming together. We tentatively picked out tile/carpet/flooring for several of the rooms yesterday. Now that the roof is almost finished, we just need to do floors, ceilings, walls, and fill in the blank canvases that are the kitchen and bathroom. So, it needs just a teensy bit more work!

Bacchus is growing and learning new things everyday. He has mastered the alphabet, and seems well on his way to memorizing any one of the six "Curious George" books that we read every night before bed. The other morning, he surprised us by proclaiming his breakfast "dee-wish-us", and continues to be a good kid, most of the time. He has his two-year old moments, for sure, and insists on doing most things "MYSELF!!", but all in all, we have a good time. He is an empathatic little thing, always asking, "Ok?" if you sneeze or cough or have been crying (that requires hugs). We have taken to singing our own version of John Denver's "Country Roads" every day on the way home from work. It goes like this:

"Bumpy roads, take me home, to the place I belong! (sung with his head thrown back) Lower Rocheport, mid-Missouri, bumpy roads, won't you take me home." Then Bacchus yells from the backseat, "One more time!!", and that continues from exiting the highway to our house. Some days, he declares, "No singing today, please. Shhhh!" , with his finger to his lips. So I guess it's not every day.

He is really into Thomas the Train, and says "hello" to all of the engines he knows when we pass several old freight cars off the tracks on the way to daycare. It's really cute, "Hi, Thomas, hi Gordon, hi Percy (extra funny, as he can't pronounce his 'r's yet), hi Henry"...etc. He also loves to count the school buses we see in the mornings (sometimes up to ten), and says, "Wait, bus!!", if one is "getting away".

I don't think he fully grasps what/who Rowan is, or what she will mean for him and life as he knows it, but he knows where she is. He will come up to my belly, and try to lift up my shirt to say "hello". ("Hi, Wowan!) It has not softened his propensity to climb all over me like a jungle gym, so we're still working on that. We are attempting to build up his confidence as a "big-boy helper", so that he will feel useful by throwing away diapers and handing mommy burp cloths and such. Oh, to dream!

A shout out to my family members who are still struggling with various forms of cancer: Robbie, and Uncle Bob, we think about you every day! I was happy to see Aunt Elizabeth last weekend, and she seems to be doing really well. I was sorry I couldn't have gone into labor on the 5th, and delivered her namesake. :)

I'll try to get some new pictures up here soon. Drew and I got a fancy new camera over the holidays, and the memory card is apparently too fancy for the software our computer currently has, so we've had some issues.

That's all for now. I hope anyone who reads this is having a fabulous week!

Happy Birthday, Bacchus!

Our beautiful little boy turned 2 last month. We celebrated with some friends at home, and it was great. As you can see from the 2nd picture, Bacchus was not keen on being the center of attention, when we sang "Happy Birthday". He did, however, perk up when he opened his presents. He really enjoyed his Diego sunglasses ("go-go fass"), his electric guitar, and his Mr. Potato Head from Uncle Josh. Later that weekend, Uncle Steve and Aunt Delara brought more presents from Kearney, and his favorite is his "bike" that talks and has lots of sounds and music, from the movie "Cars". LOTS of sounds and music...did I mention that? Thanks, Nana, Pop-Pop, Te-te and Wa wa!

That's it for now... we are decorating our Christmas tree tonight, so we will hopefully have some pictures of that to post, soon. Thank goodness Grandpa Lemberger is visiting with his fancy camera, as our digital camera appears to have broken. :)

Pumpkin patch pictures from October

We had a great time visiting Kearney, where we got to spend time with my sister, Jessica, and her son, Grayson (pictured here with Bacchus).

Ah, the funny stories begin!

1. I had an employee that needed to borrow something from me that I had at home, and I have a tendency to forget those things if I don’t write them down, so I made a little note on the back of my hand, in red ink. Bacchus saw it last night, and said, “Oh, no! Mommy, ouch!” I told him that it wasn’t an “owie”, but that I had written someone on my hand with a pen. Then he said, “Mama, no-no, pen, hand”. Yep, that’s right. That’s what I get for trying to teach him something.

2. I went to wake him up this morning, and he said, “Ouch”. I asked where the “ouch” was, because in the car coming home from Kearney , he said, “Ouch, tummy”, and later had some bowel issues…so he gets it. Anyway, I said, “Where is the ouch?” After a lot of guesses on my part, with a “no” answer, he said, “Ouch, cookies!!”. Um…ok.

3. I was asking him what he wanted for breakfast this morning. “Banana cake (bread)?”, “no”, “Eggs?”, “no”, “Bacon?”, “no….OH, YES!!! Bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon, BACON!!!” - yelled, while jumping up and down on his knees. So, apparently he likes bacon.

Te-Te and Wa-Wa

Uncle Te-Te and Aunt Wa-Wa make great bread for a Bacchus sandwich!

A taste of things to come....

While picking Bacchus up at daycare today, one of the one year olds toddled over to me, holding his little arms up. I couldn't resist, so I picked him up, marveling at how light he felt compared to our big boy. I was focused on the fact that Dane appeared to have a poopy diaper, when the sitter said, "Uh-oh...look at that face!". I looked over at Bacchus, who was staring at me, open-mouthed. He jumped up, ran over, and started tugging at my pant leg, as if to say, "Hey, mom! You picked up the wrong kid!"

I quickly surrendered Dane to have his diaper changed, and Bacchus and I headed for home.