finding himself

ben, being a prodigy and genius, is working on finding his fingers. this morning he's chilling in his swing, carefully examining the digits and giving them the occasional taste. you can't see it so well in the picture, but his eyes are a little bit crossed from the effort. (aren't all of us a little cross-eyed lately. andrew says, that's how we know he's our child.)

tonight's photo shoot

The Incredible Ben

Ok that title is a little facetious. I have to admit that I am amazed at how amazed I can be over Ben doing very little. This video is a prime example. Only someone who is crazy about this little guy can get excited about him- 1)kicking (a little); 2) looking around (a little); and 3) waving his arms (a little). If you are reading this and have watched the video, I know you completely understand. Enjoy.

Hac minima lux mei and Ben

As I try to write my seminar paper, I often pull this up and it makes me smile. Hopefully it will do the same for you.

sighting!

this morning he smiled at me - i swear! - while i was talking to him! i grabbed the camera and took three blurry pictures. i feel like i'm claiming a bigfoot sighting - the photo evidence is a little sketchy, but it sure looks like a smile to me...

mailbox joy

yesterday was a banner day for the mailbox. packages from aunt linda AND aunt sheila arrived!

from linny, swaddle blankets, made to order, so we can wrap ben securely when we put him down for the night (as an aside, you cannot buy blankets of the right size and weight for swaddling. you have to have an affectionate auntie with a sewing machine to make them for you).

from sheila, ben's first christmas ornament! it's a little red and white snowbaby ornament with his name on it. it's super cute, and a special memento of his first holiday. now to put up the christmas tree...

here he is, chilling on the blankie, holding his ornament.

about an hour ago i started feeling bad because it was 3:00 and i'd done nothing all day but feed, change, and hold ben, with a few moments spent staring at the wall while he napped. i was aimlessly looking at the new issue of modern reformation, feeling like a domestic failure, when this quote by gene edward veith, on luther's concept of christian vocation, jumped out:

"christians preoccupied with their families, struggling [...] and living their mundane lives 'are all in a state of holiness,' according to luther, 'living holy lives before God.'"

this was a good word to me this afternoon. doesn't feel much like holiness, but if luther says so, i say amen and pass the burp cloth.

steppin' out with my baby

this morning ben and i dropped andrew off at school and went to starbucks. the starbucks drive-through, to be precise. i'm not sure we're up to trips inside starbucks yet, but we've completely mastered the drive-through. if only there was a drive-through where you could pick up a new yorker magazine and a few groceries.

in an effort to increase our mobility, we're practicing using a baby sling. i'll take a picture and post it. my friend cheryl makes baby slings, and sent me a sweet orange and brown one. it takes time to get the positioning right, and ben's not sure how he feels about it yet. maybe when we get the sling figured out, we'll drink our decaf in the coffee shop rather than the car.

napping house

a few shots of my two best boys, taken yesterday. so cute! man!

Daddy and Ben reunited

I am so thankful to be better and able to hold Ben again. Thank you to everyone for praying for my speedy recovery. There is nothing like holding your son to put things in perspective. We all have much to be thankful for this holiday season. sdg

sleepers awake

here are pictures from last week, with the grandparents and a few friends. ben's chirping in his bed...gotta go!

outbreak: a sad tale

it's been a while since i've had 1.)a free moment, 2.)internet access, 3.)enough of my brain available to write something. if you're reading this, you're family, and you already know our sad tale of woe (andrew has pneumonia and is quarantined in our apartment, while ben and i are staying at mom and dad's).

but what's a sad tale of woe without some bright spots? here are the good things that happened today.

i talked to andrew and he sounds considerably improved. his temp is down in the 99s, which is still high, but lower than the 101s. he sounds steadier, stronger, and clearer, though still coughing. two dear friends, anna and michelle, brought him some delicious homemade food yesterday, which is as much a consolation for me as a source of sustinance for him. it's been very frustrating to hear him suffering and not be able to do ANYTHING to help! so his improvement is an encouragement to all of us. we are tentatively planning to go back wednesday, if he continues to feel better.

ben is hale and hearty, and generally a funny old bean. we make endless conjecture about his resemblance to various family members. is it michael's mouth and chin? ali's eyebrows and forehead? a bit of emily about the eyes? tall like brenda? thank the lord he didn't get the schroeder cheeks, the helmer hook or the dibvig head, say the grandparents. or my sausage fingers.

we are looking forward very much to going back to iowa city so we can be with andrew and get acquainted with our new normal life. please pray for andrew's continued improvement and my adjustment to being a mom. the support of mom and dad, and mike and brenda, has been absolutely wonderful, so cheers all around to the grandparents!

a little early morning humor

ben and i have had quality time this morning at 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30. it's now 3:50 and he seems settled. knock on wood. this kind of night calls for a good laugh, hey? drum roll please. mom said there was a sign hanging in the nursery of the church we attended when i was a baby, quoting 1 thessalonians: "we shall not sleep, for we shall all be changed." ha! that's it, that's my joke of the day.

on the upside, i never get tired of observing the stream of expressions on his face when he's just barely sleeping. he runs the gamut from disgruntled to wry to suspicious to drunken contentment to sly little grins within a minute or two. mom and i had a hoot providing captions to his expressions. i'd like to capture him on film if i can. hard to juggle camera and sleeping baby, though.

good morning

here he is, shooting the breeze in his hawkeye blankie.

Ben's First "Bath"

Here is a short video of Ben's first washing while in the nursery at the hospital. Since then he has been much more "lively" when being washed!

free at last!

getting ben home early yesterday was a dream! i do miss the nurses and keep having the impulse to report the contents of his diapers to someone (1 wet, 2 poopy). but he did pretty well last night. slept uninterrupted from midnight to five am, and is sound asleep right now. i'm going back to bed myself.

p.s. another exciting tidbit of news: mom's going to bake an apple crisp today!

More Ben pics

Benjamin Andrew

This is the first post of the "Benjamin era"! This is also the first post I have made to a blog (this is Andrew). It is a privilege to introduce my son to you all. Darby and I look forward to sharing pictures and videos of Ben, intermixed with some ruminations by his parents. Although Ben isn't home with us yet, we are eagerly awaiting his release from the hospital sometime this week. We will keep you all posted. In the meantime here are a few photos from the past week.

Welcome

Hey Family!

Andrew thought, wouldn't it be cool to start a baby blog, especially since we're now scattered far and wide? It would be a good way to post pictures, little updates, and, when we can figure out how, video clips. I agreed, and decided, in the spirit of advanced preparation, to get it going now, before the little pumpkin pie arrives.

A note about our philosophy on baby blogs:
There are a lot of boring baby diaries online, and we don't want to muddy up the public space with more of that, so this is pretty much a blog for the family's eyes only. That way, I can post silly pictures of Andrew without TOO much protest. :) We don't mean this to be a virtual altar where you have to come and worship the new arrival, but we figured, you're family, you'd be interested.

Hope you enjoy!