It's a Girl!! Also, Visit With Susan and More!

Yesterday I had a second ultrasound, and we finally were given the news we were waiting for regarding the sex of our baby: it's a GIRL! The nurse took a bunch of measurements and said it looks like I'm at 23 weeks, with a due date of March 29th. The baby's about 1 lb., 2 oz. and very active; during the ultrasound the position of the baby's head changed from my right side to my left. I can feel her movement now... it's like butterflies most of the time, but sometimes I experience a bit of a sudden jab. Jon had the day off from work, so he was able to come along and be a part of the whole thing, too. We're very excited and glad things are progressing well so far.

Mom and Dad were able to watch the kids for us while we saw the doctor. They stayed overnight at our house after Thanksgiving dinner; brothers Bob and John stayed over, too. While they were at our house, Mom and Dad got calls from each of their other kids as well; Laurie called in the morning, before heading over to Van and Judy's with Mark, Don called in the afternoon after the Packer victory, and Bill called right before we ate, from France. Jonathan came over as well. We had a big evening meal, followed by naps and karoake (Jonathan took off rather suddenly after the karaoke started... wonder why?).

Last weekend we spent in Madison, visiting Susan. Jon's oldest daughter was able to catch a ride with friends from West Virginia all the way to Madison, so the kids and I met her at Laurie's house. We stayed there three nights in all and had a very nice visit. We played lots of board games, had coffee and conversation, and had a fabulous meal at Morel's Saturday night (brother John met us). We also did some shopping and saw a movie. Susan has really developed into a warm, caring, mature young woman. She got down on the floor and wrestled with Michael, let Emma brush her long hair (and gave Emma a beautiful French braid Grandma Jane would have loved), and showed us a picture of David's girlfriend on the computer (yes, David is 17 now and has a very pretty girlfriend he met in drama). At age 19 she is about 2 1/2 years away from completely her physician's assistant program, and will have a master's degree at the end of the program. The program she's in is very rigorous; to remain a student there she must maintain a B average and not flunk any tests (if a student fails a test they have only one opportunity to retake it and pass; if they fail a second time they fail out of the program). This happened to a good friend of hers recently, so Susan is well aware of the pressure she's under. But she is very bright and seems unusually disciplined for her age. She will make an excellent doctor someday.

This posting is definitely not in chronological order, but I also wanted to include some cute pictures from earlier this fall. I took photos of the kids in their Halloween costumes-- they had a costume parade around their school, followed by classroom parties. Emma was Casper the Ghost (a costume made by her Aunt Ann for daughter Allison years ago), and Michael was Death.

I was glad my flexible schedule allowed me to see the parade and go to their parties, though I had to do some running back and forth between rooms (each of their classes had a different party at the same time). In the picture of Michael in his costume, note that his black teeth are NOT part of the costume; he'd just gotten done eating some kind of black frosting that temporarily colored his teeth. Yuck.

Emma was fortunate to have a second birthday party (the first one was in Rhinelander) at her Grandma Jane and Grandpa Bud's in Cornell. Jonathan attended, as well. We had a nice dinner, angel food cake, and presents for the kids to tear into.

We were glad to see that Grandma Jane is doing well after her eye operation.

On Veteran's Day Longfellow School had a program open to the public. The kids sang songs, did a skit, and handed out hundreds of thank-you cards to the veterans in attendance. Michael and Emma, along with the other Boy and Girl Scouts, wore their uniforms and participated in the opening and closing flag ceremonies.

This last picture is Michael and Emma romping in a pile of fall leaves with their cousins Seth and Malia. Seth and Malia are two of Jon's brother Mark's three grandchildren.