Ken has joined the ASI softball team, and I have joined the ASI softball team supporters! Last night, we went to the second game, ready to win!! I stepped in for a girl who hurt her leg, and though I got out, I helped two team members get home. As we were out in the field, a friend tried to catch a pop flyball and got hit in the eye. Ow! She needed stitches, so Ken and I drove her to the hospital (the same one my boss had her baby in!), and stayed with her while they put 15 stitches into her eyebrow! It was a late night. Her eye is swollen shut today and I imagine in a great deal of pain, but she'll live. Guess I'll end up joining the team after all. Oh well. . . :-)
My grandma Sue has recently gone into the hospital again. I guess her lungs are just finally starting to give out. The last time, they thought she was a goner for sure, but she pulled through! We're praying for a miracle, I know she wants to see and hold my brother Eric's new little girl! My gram is a trooper and once she sets her mind to something, she gets what she wants! I was with her one year when she broke her hip in Branson, Missouri. She swore she was gonna get out of the hospital and fly home within several days of surgery. The doctors didn't think it was possible, but she made it! We never had to rebook our tickets. She's a tough ol' bird!
In other news, I have made a ton of baby blankets lately! I'm obsessed with sewing or something! Actually, I think my skill level has finally increased to where I'm actually enjoying the art of sewing instead of cursing and getting frustrated!! Regardless, I think that it is time for me to start selling some of my wares, so I'm thinking I may list them on www.Etsy.com. It's a website specifically for selling handcrafted items. Already, I'm excited that I might be able to buy some super cute appliqués to put on my blankets to make them even cuter! Be on the lookout soon! And let me know if you're interested in a baby blanket or just a blanket. They're pretty cuddly!
Happy Easter!
Travis' Age
Friday, March 21, 2008
Orange and Baytown, Texas
Recently, Ken and I took a short trip to Orange and Baytown, Texas. Orange is where Ken grew up and he hadn't been back there for over 15 years! It's a beautiful little town with gorgeous architecture. We also took pictures of the sweet little house that Ken grew up in.
We were able to visit Ken's aunt and uncle and wish his great-grandma (Momma Gibbons) a happy 97th birthday! It was so fun!
We stayed with Ken's dad in Baytown, a town outside of Houston, where Ken also lived for a few years. We went out to lunch at a beautiful restaurant on the Kemah Boardwalk. I wished that we had more time to wander and shop. Unfortunately, we had to drive back to Bastrop that day, so we saved it for another day.
Our blogsite now allows us to post slideshows, so take a look to the right and see some of the lovely pics we took!
We were able to visit Ken's aunt and uncle and wish his great-grandma (Momma Gibbons) a happy 97th birthday! It was so fun!
We stayed with Ken's dad in Baytown, a town outside of Houston, where Ken also lived for a few years. We went out to lunch at a beautiful restaurant on the Kemah Boardwalk. I wished that we had more time to wander and shop. Unfortunately, we had to drive back to Bastrop that day, so we saved it for another day.
Our blogsite now allows us to post slideshows, so take a look to the right and see some of the lovely pics we took!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Babies can be cool
I had the opportunity to be in the delivery room while a friend of mine had her baby. So sure, why not? My friend's sister was supposed to take time off to be there, but because the baby didn't have any more room to grow (my friend is little-bitty), the doctors went in and got the baby early, thereby throwing off everybody's schedule!! :-) Since her first baby had been born by emergency C-section, they decided this one would be by scheduled C-section.
First, I waited while my friend checked in and paid (it seems surprisingly inexpensive to have a baby . . . ) Then, we got up to the room and cracked jokes with the nurses. My friend seemed a little nervous, but the nurses hooked the baby heart rate monitor up, and we could hear the heartbeat. It seemed fast, but they said that was normal.
Then they took my friend to the operating room. They told me they'd come get me soon and gave me a cool paper-like robe to put over my clothes, and plastic-like things to put over my shoes and hair, and a face mask so I didn't breathe death and destruction on the little one. I waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally, after rereading page 2 of my book, Painless Project Management, 12 times, I was finally called into the operating room. It was big.
My friend was lying on a table with a large cloth draped from the ceiling, bisecting the upper half of her body from her lower half. The anesthesiologist was by her head and giving her some pretty good stuff. I sat down on a stool by her head, praying that the wheels wouldn't slide me into all the wires and machines right behind me (I'm not the most steady when nervous!!). My friend smiled and I held her hand and we talked about movies while the doctors talked about Hawaii and porn stars (I swear I heard them talking about porn stars! - nobody believes me!).
It seemed we waited for an eternity while I struggled to find something banal to talk about that would get my friend's mind off of what was going on on the other side of the curtain.
Finally, they said she was out, and then, we heard her cry. Boy was she angry! I looked at my friend and forgot that I was dressed up like a freak and that no one could see me smile through the mask. We both lost it and started crying.
What a magical moment - the moment that a new life enters the world and a beautiful, healthy little one is added to the family. I saw that the baby was finally real to my friend. Before, you can feel her moving and you can talk to her, but you can't see her, you can't bring her comfort, you can't hear her. I could see how beautiful it was for my friend just to hear her baby cry. Just to know that she was healthy. To know that she could finally see her, hold her, hear her.
A few minutes later, they said I could go over and take pictures. She was lying on the scale, just a tiny little thing. The nurse had to prompt me to take the pictures - the scale was cold. Once they put her back under the warmer, I got to take some more pictures and touch her. She was sticky from the white, waxy substance that covers newborns. The nurses moved her arms and legs, really pissing her off. She was shy in the womb and shy outside it! She was less comfortable being stretched out. But their goal was to make her cry, and they did a really good job.
Finally, they bundled her up and put a little hat on her. Is it wrong that I wanted to take the hat and see if I could sew them? Could be a good side business: sewing hats for newborns (newbie hats)
She loved being bundled; she quieted right down. The nurses finally let me bring her over to her momma, who started crying again, as did I. We sat there together, me holding the baby on her shoulder so she could see and feel her while the doctors sewed her back up. Finally, we all got to go back to the room.
And that is the story of little Elizabeth's beautiful birth. She's now 10 days old and still loves to be bundled. She's a sweet, quiet baby. Just lovely!
I'm probably lucky to have missed all the gore of regular births, but I absolutely loved being part of something so magical and beautiful. I'm forever thankful that my friend let me take part, and that I could be there to help support her and be there for her.
-Krista (baby birthing partner and hand-holder extraordinaire)
First, I waited while my friend checked in and paid (it seems surprisingly inexpensive to have a baby . . . ) Then, we got up to the room and cracked jokes with the nurses. My friend seemed a little nervous, but the nurses hooked the baby heart rate monitor up, and we could hear the heartbeat. It seemed fast, but they said that was normal.
Then they took my friend to the operating room. They told me they'd come get me soon and gave me a cool paper-like robe to put over my clothes, and plastic-like things to put over my shoes and hair, and a face mask so I didn't breathe death and destruction on the little one. I waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally, after rereading page 2 of my book, Painless Project Management, 12 times, I was finally called into the operating room. It was big.
My friend was lying on a table with a large cloth draped from the ceiling, bisecting the upper half of her body from her lower half. The anesthesiologist was by her head and giving her some pretty good stuff. I sat down on a stool by her head, praying that the wheels wouldn't slide me into all the wires and machines right behind me (I'm not the most steady when nervous!!). My friend smiled and I held her hand and we talked about movies while the doctors talked about Hawaii and porn stars (I swear I heard them talking about porn stars! - nobody believes me!).
It seemed we waited for an eternity while I struggled to find something banal to talk about that would get my friend's mind off of what was going on on the other side of the curtain.
Finally, they said she was out, and then, we heard her cry. Boy was she angry! I looked at my friend and forgot that I was dressed up like a freak and that no one could see me smile through the mask. We both lost it and started crying.
What a magical moment - the moment that a new life enters the world and a beautiful, healthy little one is added to the family. I saw that the baby was finally real to my friend. Before, you can feel her moving and you can talk to her, but you can't see her, you can't bring her comfort, you can't hear her. I could see how beautiful it was for my friend just to hear her baby cry. Just to know that she was healthy. To know that she could finally see her, hold her, hear her.
A few minutes later, they said I could go over and take pictures. She was lying on the scale, just a tiny little thing. The nurse had to prompt me to take the pictures - the scale was cold. Once they put her back under the warmer, I got to take some more pictures and touch her. She was sticky from the white, waxy substance that covers newborns. The nurses moved her arms and legs, really pissing her off. She was shy in the womb and shy outside it! She was less comfortable being stretched out. But their goal was to make her cry, and they did a really good job.
Finally, they bundled her up and put a little hat on her. Is it wrong that I wanted to take the hat and see if I could sew them? Could be a good side business: sewing hats for newborns (newbie hats)
She loved being bundled; she quieted right down. The nurses finally let me bring her over to her momma, who started crying again, as did I. We sat there together, me holding the baby on her shoulder so she could see and feel her while the doctors sewed her back up. Finally, we all got to go back to the room.
And that is the story of little Elizabeth's beautiful birth. She's now 10 days old and still loves to be bundled. She's a sweet, quiet baby. Just lovely!
I'm probably lucky to have missed all the gore of regular births, but I absolutely loved being part of something so magical and beautiful. I'm forever thankful that my friend let me take part, and that I could be there to help support her and be there for her.
-Krista (baby birthing partner and hand-holder extraordinaire)
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