ABCD

i have some video but i just can't seem to get it to upload. anyway, i just wanted to brag on my son, who at 19 months old learned his abc's. now, i don't mean he just knows the song, which he does, he actually knows the letters. we have these foam letters that Jesse was playing with, and he picked up the "O" and i told him the name and he ran in circles saying loudly "O, O, O, O. . ." then, in a couple days he was picking up letters and holding them out to get the names, by the end of the week we were working on the difference between F and E , K and X , M and W,
O and Q and now a mere month later, he is a super hit at parties. i came home from work this week and he had learned his numbers (sans "4") up to ten. and to top it off, just yesterday he grabbed my finger to pull me out of my chair and said, "daddy, show you" walked me over to the blocks where he lined up several and said, "look daddy, i did it!"

5 YEARS

Five years ago today, Korrie and i made our vows. A master's degree, three jobs, thirteen months unemployed, twenty seven months pregnant, three kids (approx. 3000 diapers), and 30lbs later i'm in awe of the Lord's goodness. He brought Korrie and i together and He has blessed us in so many ways, even when there's been more worse than better. i'm still amazed that this fiesty woman is by my side, in my life and in my heart.

CLEMENTINE

Welcome Clementine Elizabeth Harper!!

She arrived at 1:30pm Friday, May 2nd.

8lbs 1oz, 20 3/4 inches long.

Korrie woke me up around quarter to six to say, "today's the day." So we mustered the troops, readied the house and loaded the van by around 9 and, ironically enough, stopped by our auto mechanic's shop to see if he could fix our dash panel! He said it might take a little bit and i said,"how long is that? my wife's in labor in the van." He laughed and then looked shocked. We rescheduled, then headed into Nicholasville and got some gas and paid the water bill. We got to Nancy's (our Nurse Midwife) office to get checked at around 10am. Korrie was at a 5, so we walked the parking lot for a couple hours, while my parents headed our way with some breakfast.

At quarter to 12 we were at a 6 and we went over to the hospital. Nancy reserved a room with a tub for us, so after several long minutes of being strapped up to monitors and answering questions and signing here and here and bailing hot water from the sink into the tub, at 12:30-ish Korrie was able to relax in the tub and work through contractions without distractions. Everyone finally left, I turned out the lights in the bathroom and let her do her thing. (i'll do another post called "Korrie in labor") At about 1:15, i went in to check on her, knelt down and held her hand. She worked through a contraction. With the next contraction, she furrowed her brow, breathed heavily several times, then grunted. She said she felt like pushing. I offered to get Nancy, she said wait. . .i waited, she grunted again, i went into the hall, spotted Nancy and waggled my finger for her to follow (the less you say the better off you are in these situations). When we got back to the bathroom, i knelt, the light was turned on and Nancy went wide-eyed. She put on some gloves and half-jokingly said, "we're going to have this baby in the tub!" Korrie took this as a green-light, she grunted again. Korrie offered to get out of the tub, Nancy considered and decided to see one more contraction. With that contraction the baby was mostly out. With another couple pushes Clementine was on Korrie's chest in the tub. Seeing as how it's not exactly legal to birth in the tub at St. Joe East, and none of us had done this before, i took Clementine and the midwives helped Korrie to the bed. We were instantly famous throughout the hospital. And then serenity came to a halt and it was grand-central-station once more. Every new nurse that came in was talking about the water-baby. Here do this, lets go here or there, we need to take the baby over here. So, while Korrie was finishing up, I was playing protector/defender (imagine me checking nurses into the glass on an ice rink--almost). We are so thankful to all of you who pray for us and to have another wonderful birth and a beautiful little girl.

Glimpses from August '07 to April '08 (!!)

The Passing of Bernadette

Korrie here...Well, the deed has finally been done! After months of talking about mailing Jesse's precious addiction, Bernadette the pacifier, to France and my friend Shalimar, action took place on the 21rst! I think the anticipation of the event was just as dreadful to me as a parent (thus the delay) as it was to Jesse. Even so, Jesse helped paint a box for the package, and marched bravely into the post office with me to mail it off. The postal worker congratulated her, and when we got back outside to Lee waiting in the car, Jesse ran up to the window to yell, "Daddy, I did it!!" Needless to say, the glee felt then wore off rather quickly that night, and I was up with her, oh, about 3 or 4 times to comfort her and try to get her mind off of the missing friend. We prayed about it a lot, the occasional wild angry thrashing stopped (pretty scary, folks), and sleep came. Since then Jesse has only cried for it a couple of times, and continues to be proud of herself and her truly attained "big girl" status. I am very glad this chapter is over, but there's a small part of me sad to see it go, sad that it means Jesse really is bigger, and time is ever passing. Here's to Bernadette: may she live a full life in France, eating crepes with chocolate and sipping cafe au lait with Shalimar! :-)

Now, what about Zeke's thumb...

BACK

Hello again everyone. . . anyone?
we're still here, and we have internet at the house now, so to celebrate i'm updating the blog.
i'm a bit out of practice and behind the times, but i'm glad to see your blogs again finally.
Korrie and Jesse are having a sleepover at MaryGene's house, so it's just me and Zeke tonight, and he's off in la la land now, so here i sit. No big news as of late, Korrie has a couple weeks to go yet, but she's at the point where sooner would be better than later. Zeke is a nemo nut, worse than Jesse ever was with babe. Jesse still has bernadette, we're just chicken i guess to get rid of it, but it has to happen soon. it's one of those things where no time seems like a good time. she thanked Jesus for it the other night at bedtime prayers. still ironing out names for the little one to come, Clementine will be one, either first or middle, we're not sure yet. i for one am so glad it's finally warming up, and drying up; cold and wet isn't a happy thought for anyone, but it's doubly tough on delivery work.
holding down the wilmore fort. more to come.