Watching the festivities:
Jen and the boys:
Cole, Me, Jen and Braden (yeah, it's a bad pic!)
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Magical Wizard Gnomies
6 hours ago
Monday, July 16, 2007
more QM pics
Pinata attack!
Watching the festivities:
Jen and the boys:
Cole, Me, Jen and Braden (yeah, it's a bad pic!)
Watching the festivities:
Jen and the boys:
Cole, Me, Jen and Braden (yeah, it's a bad pic!)
Quaker Meadow
We went to the 4th of July Family Camp at Quaker Meadow Christian Camp. Here are some pics!
This is some of my family. Basically, it is the Ratzlaffs, Lusks and Mardocks that still live with Dad and Mom (so, youngest brothers and sisters).
Grant and Hannah, my sister (Grant's aunt!) who made sure Grant was supervised and having fun! She took him out on the pedal boats and floating tricycle thing over and over!
Grant climbing the rock wall. He did pretty good!
Grant and his cousin Natalie (who is older than my two youngest sisters - her aunts!)
This is some of my family. Basically, it is the Ratzlaffs, Lusks and Mardocks that still live with Dad and Mom (so, youngest brothers and sisters).
Grant and Hannah, my sister (Grant's aunt!) who made sure Grant was supervised and having fun! She took him out on the pedal boats and floating tricycle thing over and over!
Grant climbing the rock wall. He did pretty good!
Grant and his cousin Natalie (who is older than my two youngest sisters - her aunts!)
Pirate Cake and other birthday traditions
A while back I read Captivating by John and Staci Eldredge (author of Wild at Heart). In the book, they tell a story of a little girl who knew her parents loved her because of all of the little things they did for her. For example, every birthday, she would wake up to a bedroom filled with balloons. I liked this idea and decided to add it to our list of family traditions. For the past 3 years (birthdays 2,3 and 4), Grant has woken up to a bunch of balloons floating around his room. When he turned 3, I had the baby monitor on really loud so I could hear his reaction. I heard him gasp and say, "Thank you for the balloons mom!" He ran to my room to tell me all about it.
So, although we didn't do it on the 12th, we did continue the birthday tradition. Since our plan was to celebrate his birthday with the Ratzlaff side on Sunday, we decided to "balloon" him Sunday morning. He woke up to Red, Purple and Orange balloons (his current favorite colors) all over his room. He loved it and brought some to our room to wake us up. (He has since "surprised" me by sprinkling all of his balloons around my bedroom ceiling.)
Another birthday tradition we have is a special cake. For Grant's 2nd birthday, I made a car that ended up looking a lot like Bob Parr's car (Mr. Incredible). Grant loved it. For his 3rd, I made him a shark cake that was pretty pathetic, and yet Grant knew what it was right away. For his 4th birthday, I made him a pirate ship! It was by far the easiest cake so far. The hardest part was shopping for the candy to decorate the ship the night before. I put it together in about 15 minutes! Grant loved it and I was pretty impressed, too!
So, although we didn't do it on the 12th, we did continue the birthday tradition. Since our plan was to celebrate his birthday with the Ratzlaff side on Sunday, we decided to "balloon" him Sunday morning. He woke up to Red, Purple and Orange balloons (his current favorite colors) all over his room. He loved it and brought some to our room to wake us up. (He has since "surprised" me by sprinkling all of his balloons around my bedroom ceiling.)
Another birthday tradition we have is a special cake. For Grant's 2nd birthday, I made a car that ended up looking a lot like Bob Parr's car (Mr. Incredible). Grant loved it. For his 3rd, I made him a shark cake that was pretty pathetic, and yet Grant knew what it was right away. For his 4th birthday, I made him a pirate ship! It was by far the easiest cake so far. The hardest part was shopping for the candy to decorate the ship the night before. I put it together in about 15 minutes! Grant loved it and I was pretty impressed, too!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Cute
Today we went to Dallas City Park for the Mad Science thing that the Library put on. It was fun, funny and entertaining. And Grant loved it, too!
At one point, Dr. Yes asked who grants wishes. It was interesting to hear what the kids said: fairy godmother, magician, God . . . Grant kept asking, "Are they talking about me?" I didn't get it at first, but he turned to me again and asked the same question again. "Grant? Mom, are they talking about me?"
What a precious gift he is!!
At one point, Dr. Yes asked who grants wishes. It was interesting to hear what the kids said: fairy godmother, magician, God . . . Grant kept asking, "Are they talking about me?" I didn't get it at first, but he turned to me again and asked the same question again. "Grant? Mom, are they talking about me?"
What a precious gift he is!!
4 years ago today
4 years ago, I sent this email to my female friends and family members! (Which means that if you are a man, brace yourself!!)
A week ago . . . (July 12)
My due date was August 8th. I've been having some preterm labor stuff, so the doctors had been telling us that Grant might come early. I started to count on that, but then we thought, "What if he comes late?" We didn't want to set ourselves up for disappointment, so when Mitch told me to pack the bag I just made a list. Why pack when we have 4 weeks left?
We went out to dinner with some friends on Friday night and I was having my very usual contractions and back pain. No big deal when you are used to living with the irritation and pain. We went home and went to bed. I didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary. At about 4:00am I couldn't sleep anymore since my back was hurting, so I went downstairs to try to sleep on the couch. Again, this is not unusual. At 6:15, I felt a little gush of liquid, so I jumped up off the couch (yeah, I really did!) and grabbed the blanket I was using to stop the flow. I was shaking when I yelled up the stairs, "Mitch, my water broke!" I don't know what he said after that, but I remember yelling it again and running to the downstairs bathroom. We had a pretty frantic hour and a half as I walked around the house with a kitchen towel stuffed between my legs (I saturated 3 before we left for the hospital) and CLEANED the house. After all, I wasn't about to bring my son home to a messy house! Mitch packed the bags (using my handy list!), cleaned the bathroom and generally picked up while I did the dishes and who knows what else. I can't remember much except that Mitch said, "WHAT are you DOING? Are you doing the dishes???"
We arrived at the hospital at about 8:30 and soon we were in our very nice birthing suite (St. Vincent's). We figured that this would go pretty fast because my mom was in labor with Jen for 3 hours and me for 45 minutes. Of course, Jen's labors were always long, so why I was listening to my mom, I don't know. (No disrespect Mom!)
Things were going a bit slow and I was staying at 3 cm for a VERY long time. I was having my contractions pretty inconsistently. Yeah girls, it hurts!! They were 3 minutes apart for a very long time, then they would go to 2 minutes, then 5 minutes, etc. They kept saying the P-word (Pitocin) and I was not having that. Finally, at about 5:00 they said that we really needed to go that route. I said that if they were going to give me the Pitocin then I was going to have an Epidural first. They started the fluids, then the Epidural. I was a bit of a basket-case just before the Epidural went in. I got a little scared and started to sob. Let's just blame it on the hormones and leave it at that. The Epidural didn't hurt when it went in, it just scared me. After that I was in heaven! They started the Pitocin as soon as I was numb and I went from 3 to 10 cm in no time at all.
Soon it was time to push! What was so wonderful about the whole experience was that I could feel the pressure of the baby's head coming down during contractions so I knew when it was time to push. I really wanted to be able to feel it. One of the nurses asked me if I wanted the mirror. I never thought I would, since I figured that would be gross, but I said "sure!" I am SO glad I did because it really helped me a lot and I got to see the whole thing. I knew that I was close to getting him out because I could see his head and when I was supposed to push 3 times to the count of ten, I knew that I could push one more time, so I just did it (after all, it didn't hurt). Hope that makes sense! Basically, I loved seeing the progress I was making. When the baby's head was really coming out they asked if I wanted to touch it. Again, you see these things on TV and I always thought it was pretty gross to touch the baby's head, but I did it anyway and it was amazing! Soon the baby was out and he was crying from the beginning! Before his shoulders even came out! Next thing I knew they were putting him on my tummy and cleaning him up. He reached out to touch my face and as soon as he was covered up he settled down and was the world's most adorable baby.
I had the most wonderful birth experience in the world. It was so great that I would even say that I would do it again tomorrow. I am healing very well. I feel pretty close to normal these days and I have been been losing 2 pounds each day! :o) My baby is perfect. He is absolutely gorgeous. Check out the attached pictures and you will agree! We have been having a very emotional week trying to breastfeed, but I think we have it all down now. Since Grant came at 36 weeks he is considered a preemie. I think this is pretty strange considering that he weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces when he was born. He is 19 3/4 in. long and he earned nines on his Apgar scores. No, my due date could not have been off since I was on the pill and stopped for one month then got pregnant. People keep saying that the doctors must have made a mistake, but I'm telling you that I know EXACTLY when my last period was! So, my big boy is a preemie which explains why he has troubling feeding (according to the doctors and nurses). He doesn't have a good sucker and his jaw gets very tired so it usually take about an hour and fifteen minutes to feed him. I think this will get better soon, though.
Mitch has been home with me all week but he goes back to work on Monday. I have been practicing doing things without his help so that I will have an easier transition when he is gone. Mitch has done so much work around here that I am wondering how I'm going to manage. Rob and his wife Rachel were the first of my family members (besides my grandparents who live in Newberg) to see Grant. They arrived on Wednesday and are here on vacation from their Peace Corp lives in Romania. They have really helped me to prepare for normal, daily life. My mom, dad and my three youngest sisters are arriving on Monday night to check out Grant Daniel. Jen and her newest (3 months), Livi, are arriving on Friday and everyone is heading back home on Sunday and Monday. I'm excited for my family to see our son!
So, that is my surprise! Grant Daniel Ratzlaff was born on Saturday, July 12. He weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and is 19 3/4 inches long. He has brown hair (for now) and blond eyelashes (if you can call them eyelashes). He has a round little head and big hands and feet. Every time I look at him I am overjoyed. He is wonderful!
A week ago . . . (July 12)
My due date was August 8th. I've been having some preterm labor stuff, so the doctors had been telling us that Grant might come early. I started to count on that, but then we thought, "What if he comes late?" We didn't want to set ourselves up for disappointment, so when Mitch told me to pack the bag I just made a list. Why pack when we have 4 weeks left?
We went out to dinner with some friends on Friday night and I was having my very usual contractions and back pain. No big deal when you are used to living with the irritation and pain. We went home and went to bed. I didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary. At about 4:00am I couldn't sleep anymore since my back was hurting, so I went downstairs to try to sleep on the couch. Again, this is not unusual. At 6:15, I felt a little gush of liquid, so I jumped up off the couch (yeah, I really did!) and grabbed the blanket I was using to stop the flow. I was shaking when I yelled up the stairs, "Mitch, my water broke!" I don't know what he said after that, but I remember yelling it again and running to the downstairs bathroom. We had a pretty frantic hour and a half as I walked around the house with a kitchen towel stuffed between my legs (I saturated 3 before we left for the hospital) and CLEANED the house. After all, I wasn't about to bring my son home to a messy house! Mitch packed the bags (using my handy list!), cleaned the bathroom and generally picked up while I did the dishes and who knows what else. I can't remember much except that Mitch said, "WHAT are you DOING? Are you doing the dishes???"
We arrived at the hospital at about 8:30 and soon we were in our very nice birthing suite (St. Vincent's). We figured that this would go pretty fast because my mom was in labor with Jen for 3 hours and me for 45 minutes. Of course, Jen's labors were always long, so why I was listening to my mom, I don't know. (No disrespect Mom!)
Things were going a bit slow and I was staying at 3 cm for a VERY long time. I was having my contractions pretty inconsistently. Yeah girls, it hurts!! They were 3 minutes apart for a very long time, then they would go to 2 minutes, then 5 minutes, etc. They kept saying the P-word (Pitocin) and I was not having that. Finally, at about 5:00 they said that we really needed to go that route. I said that if they were going to give me the Pitocin then I was going to have an Epidural first. They started the fluids, then the Epidural. I was a bit of a basket-case just before the Epidural went in. I got a little scared and started to sob. Let's just blame it on the hormones and leave it at that. The Epidural didn't hurt when it went in, it just scared me. After that I was in heaven! They started the Pitocin as soon as I was numb and I went from 3 to 10 cm in no time at all.
Soon it was time to push! What was so wonderful about the whole experience was that I could feel the pressure of the baby's head coming down during contractions so I knew when it was time to push. I really wanted to be able to feel it. One of the nurses asked me if I wanted the mirror. I never thought I would, since I figured that would be gross, but I said "sure!" I am SO glad I did because it really helped me a lot and I got to see the whole thing. I knew that I was close to getting him out because I could see his head and when I was supposed to push 3 times to the count of ten, I knew that I could push one more time, so I just did it (after all, it didn't hurt). Hope that makes sense! Basically, I loved seeing the progress I was making. When the baby's head was really coming out they asked if I wanted to touch it. Again, you see these things on TV and I always thought it was pretty gross to touch the baby's head, but I did it anyway and it was amazing! Soon the baby was out and he was crying from the beginning! Before his shoulders even came out! Next thing I knew they were putting him on my tummy and cleaning him up. He reached out to touch my face and as soon as he was covered up he settled down and was the world's most adorable baby.
I had the most wonderful birth experience in the world. It was so great that I would even say that I would do it again tomorrow. I am healing very well. I feel pretty close to normal these days and I have been been losing 2 pounds each day! :o) My baby is perfect. He is absolutely gorgeous. Check out the attached pictures and you will agree! We have been having a very emotional week trying to breastfeed, but I think we have it all down now. Since Grant came at 36 weeks he is considered a preemie. I think this is pretty strange considering that he weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces when he was born. He is 19 3/4 in. long and he earned nines on his Apgar scores. No, my due date could not have been off since I was on the pill and stopped for one month then got pregnant. People keep saying that the doctors must have made a mistake, but I'm telling you that I know EXACTLY when my last period was! So, my big boy is a preemie which explains why he has troubling feeding (according to the doctors and nurses). He doesn't have a good sucker and his jaw gets very tired so it usually take about an hour and fifteen minutes to feed him. I think this will get better soon, though.
Mitch has been home with me all week but he goes back to work on Monday. I have been practicing doing things without his help so that I will have an easier transition when he is gone. Mitch has done so much work around here that I am wondering how I'm going to manage. Rob and his wife Rachel were the first of my family members (besides my grandparents who live in Newberg) to see Grant. They arrived on Wednesday and are here on vacation from their Peace Corp lives in Romania. They have really helped me to prepare for normal, daily life. My mom, dad and my three youngest sisters are arriving on Monday night to check out Grant Daniel. Jen and her newest (3 months), Livi, are arriving on Friday and everyone is heading back home on Sunday and Monday. I'm excited for my family to see our son!
So, that is my surprise! Grant Daniel Ratzlaff was born on Saturday, July 12. He weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and is 19 3/4 inches long. He has brown hair (for now) and blond eyelashes (if you can call them eyelashes). He has a round little head and big hands and feet. Every time I look at him I am overjoyed. He is wonderful!
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
My birthday
For my 31st birthday (June 23rd) we went to the Oregon Coast with my brother Rob and his wife Rachel. Here is some evidence:
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