Happy Halloween!

We've been having a lot of fun out here, enjoying some sunny weather and staying entertained by Savannah. She is really starting to enjoy her rice cereal, which makes it a little easier on Justin when he feeds her at night while I am at work. Last weekend Savannah and I got to spend a little time with some friends, who all just couldn't get over how cute she is...I had to agree! Yesterday we went on a grand adventure of picking out a playyard for Savannah so that she could have her own space to roam around in and not get covered in dog fur. She's quite excited about it! Today she is all set for halloween, with her first pumpkin outfit on, and another one to come later today. It is raining today, though, so she probably won't make it out for trick or treating, but we'll have fun either way! (Besides, it's not like she would get to enjoy the candy.....at least not directly) Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!

Our time here on the east coast is coming to an end and I have been informed that I have been lax in my postings. However, I did get my repair list taken care of for the house. We got to spend a lot of time with Ollie, both happy and not so happy. We went for a lot of walks, and drives. Ollie particularly liked the drives, they make great nap times.

Both Ann and I got to do the baby sitting thing while Ben and Renee snuck in some naps, it worked out quite well. So tomorrow we head back to reality and work, the kids w ill be on their own again. They will both be back around Christmas so it won't be terribly long befor we can see Oliver again.

Brian and Ann

Greetings from the east

We have been speding the last 2 days with Oliver and his family, aka Ben and Renee. They are all doing well, just a little sleep deprived. Heres a few pictures of the little guy to ejoy

Brian

Savvy Eats!

Savannah gets her taste of the good life! We started her on the rice cereal this week. She is enjoying a healthy scoop of cereal every day now. We are not sure how much of the goop stays in her mouth.....but we are trying right?

Savannah Entertains

Savannah has developed her sense of entertainment. She is figuring out how to make us smile and laugh with her. Her voice is getting louder and finding more variety of sounds to produce. Her fine tuned motor skills are advancing. She really likes to touch things and loves to scratch surfaces. She is starting to acknowledge her designs on the clothes she wears. She is a little bundle of fun right now.

We beat jaundice! When we were at the hospital, Oliver was developing some pretty good jaundice readings. Apparently, since Renee's blood type is O Positve and Oliver got his dad's A Positive blood, that's a pretty bad match up for jaundice. He had a yellow hue while we were at the hospital, and his initial screenings were pretty bad. But they decided to wait a few days and our pediatrician would get a closer look at him today when we got there. But we went to our appointment today (which was at 8 AM--seriously, who schedules parents with six days of parenting experience to be somewhere at 8 AM???) and the doctor said he was looking great, and unless he takes a serious turn for the worse, we are in the clear as far as jaundice is concerned. It was quite a weight lifted from us. And we got this good news after our first night of relatively restful sleep! When things go well, they seem to really go well.

And apparently we are opting for what Dr. Sears would refer to as the "family bed":

After a couple of days of getting to know one another, Ollie got to make his first trip outside. He loved the farmers market, and decided he wants us to make more meals with butternut squash. We informed him that day may come once we all get to sleep through the night, and everyone has the energy to cook again. So far, Ollie would list his likes as eating, pooping, and looking at stuff, and his dislikes are diaper changes and the fact that everyone stops paying attention to him when the lights go off at night. He's gotten to meet a few people, and has so far decided meeting new people is something he finds quite agreeable.

This right here is one of the most amazing people I know:
In the early hours of September 30 (12:45 AM, to be precise; the above picture was taken around 12:50 AM), she woke me up by running into the bathroom, hollering that her water had just broken. And that was the end of our sleep for the next forty-eight hours. We'd been told over and over and over again that labor is exactly that--laborious, and that we should get all the rest we could when we knew so much work was coming our way. However, knowing we should rest and actually being able to rest after a water breakage are two entirely different things. We hung out doing everything we knew needed to get done and couldn't get done once the contractions took over (emailing work, packing bags, setting affairs in order, etc) until about 1:30 AM, when the contractions started.

Renee was able to labor at home all night and most of the morning until the midwives' office opened at 9:00. I called their office around 9:01, and they told us to come in and get checked out. After a few contractions, we were able to get from the house to the car, and a few contractions later we were able to get from the car into the office. Joyce Poirier, our new hero of midwifery, checked Renee out as soon as we got there. She told us Renee was eight centimeters dilated, and though I shouldn't speed to get to the hospital, I had better get her there as soon as I could.

We got to the hospital around 10:00, and Renee immediately hopped into the jacuzzi. She hung out there for the next two hours, switched over to the bed and pushed for the following two hours. And then we were graced with the presence of Oliver Coen Kramer at 1:58 PM on Sept 30, 2008. And though Ollie has consumed our lives from 1:58 on, I wanted to take a couple of minutes to remember Renee, and how impressed and proud I am of her for what she was able to accomplish. She was glowing before last Tuesday, but since then she has been positively radiating.