Moving day.

We're moving to a new house today. The house is the same size (3 bedroom / 1.5 baths) but has a better layout (more spacious, especially the kitchen) and has a yard.

We weren't thinking about moving, in fact Katherine and I had recently had our annual conversation where we state that we're not doing anything major this year (and we all know how well we do at sticking to that... new jobs, new babies, moving, major life changes... we never listen to ourselves).

So we say "No big change this year!" And literally two days later Amy from our church sends us this message:

Good morning, Last night as I was thinking about my "old" house, the two of you came to mind. Forgive me if I'm being nosy or presumptuous. I thought at one time in conversation, you guys said that you rented a house in EGR. My house is empty as of tomorrow and will be available to buy, rent, or even a rent to own kind of thing. I don't know what you're interested in, or what your future plans are, but I thought I would share the information with you.

We both read it and had sort of the same reaction: "Interesting... but we're not looking to make any big changes." But we decided to look at it and once we did all of these frustrations with our current living situation surface (well, only two frustrations really: our kitchen is SMALL - uncomfortably small - and we have no outdoor space to sit in or let the kids play). This made us realize that Lyla's at an age where we can't keep her inside all summer, that she needs to be able to get outside and play (just as we need to be able to send her outside to play... if you know what I mean).

So we saw the house and we were hooked, then it became a question of how long would it take for us to overcome our objections and commit to what a huge effort moving is.

5 days.

So in the course of a week we'd gone from "No big changes" to "Moving".

So here we are. Moving the last of our stuff in today (if the rain allows us to) and starting the next phase of our lives.

We'll post more pictures soon so you can see what it looks like... or, you can come visit us. You are always welcome.

Playing in the snow

So this took place a few weeks ago but I thought you'd enjoy it anyway...

Only twice this winter has is been warm enough (with no snow fall) to take the kids out to play in the snow on a Saturday. But when it happened, we made a point of taking Lyla out to play in it. Both times we went over to our friends' house and played in their driveway and yard.

It was a blast getting to pull Lyla around in a sled, sliding down the mounds of snow that the snowplows had left, making snow angels, and building snow men. For being a relatively low-key kid, Lyla sure has a sense of adventure (so long as she isn't too cold). She loved every moment of it... and as a result, so did I.

Looking forward to this aspect of next winter and having Will join us as well.

Enjoy!!

Easter egg hunt 2009

This Easter, all of the East Grand Rapids Play Group moms decided that it would be really fun to have an Easter Egg Hunt for their little kids. They were right, it was a lot of fun. It happened the morning of Good Friday in the back yard of our friends and old next-door-neighbors, Andy and Mandy. All in all about a bazillion people showed up and it kind of was chaotic, what with thousands upon thousands of under-two year olds milling about everywhere I tried to step.

But it was cute to see the kids chase after eggs, to see which kids "got" the concept and which didn't. For me, I really enjoyed seeing Lyla hunt for the eggs. She definitely picked up on the concept and knew when she saw an egg to pick it up and put it in her basket. (It helped that we had practiced the day before in our living room.)

After the egg hunt, we went inside for lunch... also chaotic... but good. It definitely was a lot of fun and there's a good chance that it will be come and annual tradition... except that eight of the moms in the group (including Katherine) are either pregnant or just gave birth to their second child. Will is the first of this new group and I fear that the addition of a second kid to the mix will change the dynamics of the group and it's questionable whether or not the group will be able to hold together. I hope the moms are able to figure it out...

Lyla planning out her strategy:
Ian on the hunt.
Kind of overwhelming...
Liam had a disadvantage not walking yet.
Sadie stopping to enjoy the spoils of her labors... while Lyla moves in for a hug.
And Sadie's off again.
Charlie looking sharp.
Charlie trying not to get distracted by the slide.
Julianna cleaning up.
The moms of East Grand Rapids. (imagine trying to get all the adults and children looking in a single direction for a picture... quite comical).
The lunch after... that's Lyla standing in the center.
Rockin' the double ponytail. Nice.
Oh yeah, QT with Daddy!
And Will. Slept through the whole thing. All the moms fawned over him (this being our first trip out since he was born) and he missed it. Probably for the better, don't want him getting full of himself.

Happy belated Easter everyone!!!

We are home

After a tenuous Monday-night and Tuesday, with Katherine's recovering seeming to run into some minor (and not uncommon) complications, Wednesday turned the corner and Katherine's body sprinted to the finish line, recovering well enough that they let us go home at the usual time. So the morning was spent reviewing instructions from nurses (e.g. cover the front when changing a diaper or you could get an unpleasant surprise), packing up our things (we brought a bunch of things to the hospital and received a bunch of things at the hospital... like a baby), and waiting for Patient Transport to wheel Katherine and Will out to the car.

That last part took a long time... not sure if "Patient" refers to who is being transported or a recommended state of being while you wait for them to arrive. They came, they wheeled her out, we loaded the car, we started driving, Will started crying, we made it home. Hurray!!!

Waiting...

On our way out!!

Home!!!


Our time at home has been great so far. The first night home with Lyla we were up all night trying to get her to sleep. So our expectations were pretty low. And we were pleasantly surprised. Katherine slept on the couch, I slept on the air mattress and Will slept in his cradle which I had set up in the living room. We'll probably do the same set up tonight while Katherine is still recovering (it's difficult for her to sit up on her own in our bed). Today we sat around, playing with Lyla and taking care of will. I tried to get back to work... it took me seven hours to write one email (granted I had to look up a lot of the information I was communicating in the email, but frequent interruptions to change diapers, tend to Lyla, help Katherine, etc. didn't help).

Katherine's mom has been here since Sunday taking care of Lyla and she's staying for awhile. Having her here has been great, a huge help. Katherine's dad is coming up tonight to meet his grandson and stay a few days.

Hopefully, Katherine will be back to normal soon, save the mandated restrictions like not lifting more than the weight of Will in the car seat. I know that Lyla wants to get back to climbing all over her and it's hard to keep an eye on Lyla so she doesn't kamikaze right toward Katherine before Katherine is well enough to handle it.

If you're in Grand Rapids and want to visit, call and let us know. We're thinking that we'll be up for visitors starting tomorrow. I know Will can't wait to meet all of you!

Here's more photos:

In my exhausted state, I totally poored my cup of water on Lyla while she was sitting on my lap right before bed. She forgave me, then proceed to prance around sans clothes for about 10 minutes before she went night-night.

Goofing off with dad!

Yay! Family! I am the luckiest man in the world!

The kid sleeps a lot!

Time to head home... we think

So I'm a little self-conscious about the fact that I haven't been posting as much as I did when we were here with Lyla (we really were here with Lyla, on the other end of the floor, in fact if you turned the building 180 degrees, we'd end up in the exact same spot we were in fro Dec. 4 through 7, 2007). I love will and don't want him to feel neglected because of second-child syndrome (I'm especially sensitive to it because I'm a second-child). That being said there are a few things that Have kept me from posting pictures and blurbs:

1. Lyla - she still needs attention, and though Grandma is here and doing a great job with her, I still have been taking time out of each day to spend with her. Yesterday, she and I went down to the GR Children's Museum for an hour or so so Katherine and her mom could spend time together. We had a blast, riding around on little carts, pretending to drive a car, throwing balls around, making music, brushing teeth, grocery shopping, looking in mirrors, and climbing on things. It was a lot of fun but it wore both of us out. Lyla passed out in her stroller as we were walking back. It was cute.

The other thing we've done while she's been here has been to walk around the hallways. The first day she walked around for about 30 minutes holding my hand. She kept walking up to different doors and knocking on them. It was cute. Yesterday she took the stroller and pushed it around the hall a whole bunch. She kept trying to go into different offices, it was funny.

We also walked over to the nursery to look at the babies. When she arrived yesterday, Will was in there recovering from his circumcision. We walked up to the window and I pointed him out to her and she got this big smile on her face. Then she kept asking to look at all the different babies but kept coming back to Will. I think she recognizes him, which is awesome. Anyway.

2. Katherine - this recovery has been a little more difficult than last time so we had to invest more time in making sure Katherine was getting what she needs. Fortunately she's feeling much better and we're on target to leave today, assuming the final checks go okay.

3. Internet access - this time I can't get on the network from our room so I'm sitting out in the hallway right now. Makes it harder to post.

Anyway, despite all the distractions, it has been great getting to know Will the past few days. He's such a content and strong baby. He sleeps, then he eats, then he sleeps again. But starting yesterday, and more so today, he's becoming more alert, looking around, spending time with his eyes open. He's so beautiful. I love it.

We're excited to get home and to get started on this new phase of our life. But until then, here are a bunch of pictures I've taken over the past two days.





I love the way she smiles when she sees him.

Our friends the Schalks are geniuses (well, Julie is) and they brought a present for Lyla. It's a duck.

Snow days

So, last year was a record year of snow fall in Grand Rapids. This year is headed toward equal (if not greater) amounts of snow. Our friend commented the other day that we've already seen the same amount of snow in November and December that GR would typically see in an entire winter (November through March)!

That, combined with the sub-frigid temperatures, combined with the fact that Katherine is 32 weeks pregnant are all forces conspiring to keep us inside. So we've been making a serious effort to get outside on days that we're able in order to take walks. We spend equal amounts of time getting ready as we do actually outside. All in all it is quite an ordeal, but it's also been a lot of fun and totally worth it.

Here's pictures of Lyla putting on her snowsuit:




Here's pictures of me and Lyla waiting for Katherine to come out:




Here we are walking in the snow! Happy winter, everyone!

Today is the winter of our discontent

What had been a very wonderful week (democratic process, EMS that didn't make me sad, dinner with friends, business development, super cute Lyla) has rather quickly turned south and today marks a sad day for the Rings. For one, yesterday our next-door neighbors, friends, and definite answer to pray the McIntyres moved into their new house. We're happy for them because they now have a wonderful how for their family to grow in. And it's only 0.8 miles away. But that's 0.798106060606 miles farther away than they were. And that's sad. Because we miss them. We miss how much a part of our daily lives they have been. I miss hearing Ian's bathtime through the wall. I mean it's not super tragic, hide your head under the pillow sad; but it's sad.


And the sadness of today being the first day with them not right next door was served with a side of "the first snow of the year." Yippee. Seriously, of all days for it to snow, it had to be today. Boo. Now I know why bears hibernate.

Autumn in Grand Rapids = summer days and giant pumpkins

Hello.

Today was a gorgeous day, temperature in the 70s, not a cloud in the sky... just what you would expect for fall. I guess someone didn't see their shadow.

The ladies and I went to Meijer Garden this morning and had a lovely picnic lunch and then walked to their Replica Farmhouse exhibit to see the giant pumpkins that had been set out. There isn't that much to tell (I can hear the collective "whew," I know you only come for the pictures). Basically we posed Lyla next to pumpkins that were almost the same size as her and watched with enjoyment to see her reactions. We ended up getting a bunch of great photos in the process. Here you go: