What Are the Odds?

I have 2 sisters (Beth and Errin) and 4 girl cousins on my Dad's side of the family. That makes 7 granddaughters for my Grandma. Easy math, right?! With Elise and my niece Libby, that adds 2 great-granddaughters. Baby S #2 adds one more. And we learned today that my sister Beth is having a GIRL! That makes 11 consecutive girls in a row.

What are the odds?!? 1/20th of 1% or 1/2048.

Question: What are the odds that the next baby in the family will be a girl? The answer seems simple, but is it?

Fresh Brownies

Yesterday during dinner, the following conversation ensued:

Elise: I have stinky pants.
Paul: What does it stink like?
Elise: A brownie.
Paul: A brownie?
Elise: Fresh brownies!

Kids say the darnedest things!

When Life Hands you Lemons

We received some disheartening news on Tuesday. The sale of our condo has once again fallen through, this time for good. We are discouraged. We (or shall I say, I) trusted our buyers to follow-through with what they said they were going to do....close on our house as soon as their Michigan property closed. This was planned for 12/15, then the week after Christmas, then 10 days after that. Perhaps I am a little too naive. Due to some financial hardship that they've recently discovered, our backed out of our contract all together. We're back to square one.....

Because we've already moved out and have temporarily settled in Chicago, our next step is unclear and complicated. We can either move back to Canton and ask that all of our belongings be taken out of storage and returned to our condo. Or we can try to find some place to rent here that's reasonable priced and a similar size to our Canton condo so that all of our stuff will fit. The decision is overwhelming. No matter how you look at it, we lose. And depending on how long it takes to sell our condo, it could be painful.

So, when life hands you lemons, you're supposed to make lemonade. It's hard. Really hard.

Snow Bunny

We took Elise outside in the snow today. It's the first significant snow she's seen (which isn't much...about 4 inches or so). Paul had her taste the snow and when asked what it tastes like, she replied, "Ice." Smarty pants. Since we don't have a sled, we decided to try one of our laundry baskets. It worked out pretty well and she had fun. She also slid down the hill on her bottom, threw some snow at Paul and tromped around, up and down the hills for a little while. Finally, she decided her chin was cold, so we came inside. For a first timer, she was a trouper!

Big Mama

Here's the latest belly picture. The baby will be 23 weeks old tomorrow. I'm big....at least that's the way I feel. Hopefully that's not indicative of how big our little girl is! Oh, and Elise had a good time showing her belly too. Then she gave the baby a big hug and kiss. What a good big sister!

Congratulations Chicago Bears-ss!!!

It's been a great day for long-time Bears fans. NFC Champions for the first time since 1985....and they are headed to the Super Bowl! Paul, Elise and I watched the big game this afternoon. We had a good time teaching Elise the game. By the end, she was running around the apartment yelling "Chicago Bears-ss, Chicago Bears-ss". A true Chicagoan, accent and all.

Year of the Pig

Here's a little somethinge from this month's Parents Magazine:

"If your baby arrives in 2007, during the Chinese year of the pig, you're one lucky (Peking) duck. Piggy babies are said to be sweet, cheerful, and kind. They have excellent manners, make friends for life, and really enjoy their food. Oink, Oink! "

Good news for Baby Girl #2. I'm relieved!

Icky

Elise: Daddy, I eat icky from my nose.

Daddy: Eewww....where is it?

Elise: In my mouth (sticking out her tongue)

Good Read for 2007

I recently finished a really good book by Phillip Keller called "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23." A lot of people think of Psalm 23 as comforting for those who are perhaps dying or who have a loved one who is nearing the end of life. It is really so much more than that. This book is written about the Psalm from a shepherd's point of view and it is such a good reminder of how God is our good Shepherd and we are his sheep. Here's a sample:

Human beings, being what they are, somehow feel entitled to question the reasons for everything that happens to them. In many instances life itself becomes a continuous criticism and dissection of one's circumstances and acquaintances. We look for someone or something on which to pin the blame for our misfortunes. We are often quick to forget our blessings, slow to forget our misfortunes.

But if one really believes his affairs are in God's hands, every event, no matter whether joyous or tragic, will be taken as part of God's plan. To know beyond doubt that He does all for our welfare is to be led into a wide area of peace and quietness and strength for every situation. (p. 70-71)

Anyway, it's a fast read (less than 150 pages) and is less than $5. Well worth your time and money.

The Ancient Chinese were.....

RIGHT! I had my ultrasound/sonogram done today and learned that Baby S #2 is a GIRL! And she is a beauty. I am still amazed at the detail of the pictures....while I'm not sure where her arms are, her knees are up by her face. The ultrasound technician said everything looks great. She also mentioned that the baby might be a little further along than 21 weeks. I'm measuring more like 23 or 24 weeks (and my belly now shows that too, if you ask me). So, her due date might be closer to the beginning of May. But, as I mentioned to Paul, it could just be that she's a big girl....Elise, if you'll recall, was a chubby baby. Maybe Baby #2 is just trying to compete. We'll find out soon.....

Things I had Forgotten....

There are several things that I had forgotten about living in an apartment.

1) Sharing a wall with a neighbor does not always work out so well. We share a bedroom wall with another apartment and are awakened very early each morning by that tenant's very loud alarm clock, which once on is not turned off for quite a period of time.

2) Not having a garage in the winter is unpleasant. Elise and I were up and out the door early this morning and I did not remember to leave adequate time for the car to warm up, nor scrape the windows.

3) Not having a garage is unpleasant (period). The parking spaces in front of our building fill up by 6 or 7p....you move, you lose.

4) Living on the lower level means easier access to your apartment, but also means hearing the footsteps and every move of the tenants living above you. Thankfully, they have not been home much!

5) No keys, no entrance. Paul found this one out. Luckily Elise and I were home to let him in the building. :>)

I am grateful to have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in right now. But I am also reminded of how spoiled we were to have our own home the last 2 1/2 years....

By the way, here's what our apartment looks like:



It's really a very nice apartment (the nicest we've ever lived in) and with just over 1,000 sq. ft., we have plenty of room with what we came with. Elise has her own room (with queen bed) and her own bathroom, so it's working out well. And it's great to have a washer and dryer right in our unit. I would be in a world of hurt if I had to give that up!

Christmas Pictures

As promised, I've posted our Christmas pictures on our Yahoo! site. Here they are:

For Paul's Family, click here or here.

For Laura's Family, click here or here.

Enjoy!

Words of Wisdom from Elise

Elise: Grandpa has a bad cough.
Laura: Yes he does.
Elise: He needs to go nigh night.


Elise: What was that?
Laura: A sniffle.
Elise: Do you need to take some medicine?


Paul: (sneeze)
Elise: Bless you.
Paul (sneeze)
Elise: Bless you.
Paul: Thank you.
Elise: Do you need a tissue?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The last 2 1/2 weeks have been a bit crazy, but I think things will start to settle down now and I'll have some time to catch up. Stay tuned for updates and pictures from the holidays....they'll be posted soon.

In the meantime, we landed at our new 'home' yesterday afternoon. We will be staying in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom furnished apartment in Schaumburg (a NW suburb of Chicago). It's fairly nice and should work out okay for the near future. My only complaint so far is the mattress, which appears to have a severe dip to the center. I'm not sure what we can do about that.

The location of the apartment is pretty good. We are minutes away from Woodfield Mall and Ikea, as well as any other shopping venue you can think of. Paul has a nice 10 minute commute in the morning (not as nice as the commute to his office in the 3rd bedroom, but it'll do for now). We are also close to the highway, which can get us to church in record time (not the 30-40 minute drive we're accustomed to).

I had my first doctor's appointment with my new OB this afternoon and am pleased so far. She seems very nice and was not concerned that Elise was practically destroying her office. Somehow Elise even managed to find a package of instant oatmeal, one of her favorite breakfast foods. The baby is officially 'half-baked' and is very active (lots of kicks, wiggles, etc.). We just scheduled our ultrasound and should know the sex of the baby then (I'll leave the date a mystery for now....that way you'll have to check back).

As for our Canton home (condo)....we unfortunately still own it. The close date has been moved so many times that I've lost count. Last we heard, it should be sometime in mid-January now. I'm holding my breath. It is disappointing that we rushed to move out before Christmas, only to learn that things were being delayed. We are praying now that the whole thing doesn't fall apart altogether. Boy would that stink!