Cherishing the Rest

Yes, it has been a while since we posted. And yes, it's attributable to the adjustments going on in our schedule with Peter. He slept well, and then he didn't. He nursed well, and then he didn't. And then he did, again...

Overall, he has really been doing very well, but he's not even 2 weeks old, so what else could we expect?

I know this is nothing new to parents who have had newborns, but it is a first for us. It has been nice to be home to help Amy while soaking up time with both Sydney and Peter, though I do have to go back to work at some point. The folks from church who have brought us meals may not have any idea how helpful they have been. Actually, I guess all of them have been through this at least once themselves, so maybe they do. Just let me say "Thank you!" here for all to see, and know that you have helped us get over some of the early hurdles until we get this thing called a routine worked out.

Well, that's all I have time to say. Three of the four people in this house are asleep right now, and I think I'm going to add to that number before it starts dropping again. That's actually what got me to post in the first place, looking back at our photos of Peter and seeing the above picture of him sleeping so peacefully. Those moments are priceless, are they not?

"Ar-One-See-Emma"

Many people have been asking how Sydney is adjusting to being a big sister and having us occupied with her little brother. The answer is that she has done wonderfully! She loves to see him when he is awake, and tiptoes around whispering when he is sleeping (when she's not singing at the top of her lungs, which is par for the course!) She loves to pat and kiss his head, to "shush" him and say "that's okay" when he cries, and his toys (which are mostly her old toys, naturally) are exciting and new as she talks about "Baby Peter" wanting to play with them.

The best part of all of this is that she is still a growing little girl who is constantly learning, listening, and surprising us with her abilities. For the first time today (since I'm usually working) I took her to a gym class that she attends each week with a number of other little boys and girls. Her physical aptitude and dexterity amazed me as I saw them for the first time in an environment where she could really run freely and let it all hang out.

She amazed me yesterday too, in a very different setting. While having lunch a bit on the late (and tired) side, I was trying to keep her on task (turkey and cheese, if I recall correctly) when she began staring at me intently. After a moment that I attributed to fatigue, she pointed at my sweatshirt and said "Ar... One... See... (pause) Emma!"

Not impressed?

I realized as she was pausing before the "Emma" that she was staring at my RICE sweatshirt! She spontaneously, and for the first time Amy or I knew about, was starting to spell out what she saw with the letters she knows. I can't fault her for thinking the "I" was a "1", and I was truly tickled when she didn't know the name of the letter "E" and instead used a word (the name of her cousin, in this case) that started with the letter. After I picked my jaw up off the ground, I lavished praise on her for a while and walked her through some more letters while she beamed in recognition of her achievement.

Parents out there will surely recognize my pride, which was naturally enhanced by the fact that she chose the name of my alma-mater to spell first. I guess it's a good thing I didn't go to someplace like Gonzaga or Rensselaer, or that my sweatshirt didn't say "The William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Literature, Science and Art!"

I can't believe how fun childhood is!

Warm and snug at home

Amy, Sydney, Peter, and I are all warm and snug at home again, after what seems like ages.

I don't have any new pictures yet, but wanted to let everyone know we are home and really glad to be all together as a family again. I'll post some new pictures of everyone soon.

Thanks for all the kind comments and well-wishes!

Peter Hudson Bredenberg!

Peter Hudson Bredenberg was born yesterday, April 12, at 9:45 a.m.!

Weighing in at 6 lbs 5.7 oz, and measuring 20.5 inches long, he is doing wonderfully and is a delight to all of us already. Amy is doing very well, recovering nicely from the process and hoping to come home tomorrow from the hospital. She did an amazing job under very different circumstances than we had imagined, and I couldn't be prouder of her.

I am floored at God's mercy and blessing, and in awe of the little tiny baby he has knit together and brought into this world! We are both so thankful for the many people praying for Peter's well-being and Amy's health and safety through the whole pregnancy and delivery. Both of our children are such clear testaments to God's amazing providence and blessing, and we just want everyone to join us in shouting from the hills that we serve a mighty and loving God!

Read on for more details and photos...

Read more »

Things that should induce labor…

I'm sure everyone reading this who has either been pregnant or has been waiting for a little one to arrive in this world has been told a million and one things that can naturally induce labor. I know there is at least one website devoted to listing ideas for naturally inducing. Things like:

• Brisk walks
• Spicy foods

and yes, even
• curb-walking

Obviously, whatever ideas Amy and I have tried so far have not made any progress towards triggering the labor of our little one. I've come up with a second list though, this one of things that I wish would induce labor:

• Long naps (like I need an excuse!)
• Ice Cream (mmmm...)
• People calling to see if we have gone into labor yet (we've gotten enough of those to trigger labor for an entire hospital full of expecting mommies!)

Those are just a few of the things on my list, but I would really like to know what kinds of things our readers have either done to induce labor, or wish would induce labor, so comment away! Just remember to keep it family-friendly!

Open Season on Comments

Now that WordPress is in place, I have two plugins to protect against junk comments (i.e.- SPAM!). As a result, all posts on the site are open to comments again!

Under MovableType, I simply closed each post to comments after 14 days because that was about how long it took the SPAM engines to find them and start littering them with objectionable material. With WordPress, it says in fine print that we can use a little less brute force and a lot more finesse to achieve the same result.

Keep reading for more details...

Read more »

Wordpress in Action

Ok, that's it... we're giving this a whirl. I still have not worked out all the kinks to get things "Just right", but finding time for that gets less and less likely each passing day, and I want to get this going!

So, welcome to my site on Wordpress! I decided to do a "makeover" at the same time as the cutover from the no-longer free MovableType to the open-source Wordpress, hence the new look. Let me know if you hit any snags. I had to patch a few files to fix some odd behavior that was killing my Apache server for reasons unknown, but the latest version of the affected functions seems to be working. I'll keep making tweaks and adjustments in the near future, but about 90% of the work is done.

Enjoy!

Sydney and Amy Photos

Tomorrow is Sydney's third birthday! We can't believe she's getting so big, and I know I haven't done a good job of posting periodic photos, so here are a few from a recent trip to the Dallas Arboretum and a morning shave! In addition, there is a photo of Amy since so many people who are far away have asked to see a picture of her pregnant.

Read more »

Define "Due"

Guess what everyone! Amy is officially 40 weeks today! That's right, today is our technical "due date". So, um, what's that supposed to REALLY mean? I mean, our little boy hasn't shown any signs of wanting to come out yet. Amy hasn't felt any contractions or other indications of impending labor. In fact, the teacher of our childbirth classes said the average first time pregnancy without intervention (induction, c-section, etc) runs around 41.5 weeks. So what's all the fuss about a due date?!

Amy and I are planning to go to the park tonight with Sydney and enjoy the outdoors if possible. Amy has been gardening and we've been going through all of the Spring routines like the first mowing, feeding the lawn, weeding, etc. Naturally I have kept Amy from doing anything that might overdo it, and we have recruited family members to help with some things, but I think the rest of the family is on pins and needles more than we are. We get a number of calls each day asking how things are (as if we wouldn't call our family members to let them know... ;-) But I'm sure that's just natural excitement, and I appreciate the care and concern. Basically, we're just hanging out and waiting. The overnight bags are packed for the hospital, the arrangements are made, now we just wait. Which brings me back to my question - why do they call it a "Due Date?" Can my bills be "due" like this? I'll call the mortgage company and tell them "Yeah, my payment should be there sometime this month. It could be this week, could be next..." Not sure they'd go for that...

So perhaps there's a better term to use. Maybe "Arbitrarily Chosen With No Input From Your Child Date?"

Suggestions?