Interesting Stuff

• Elliot just went through five diapers and a blanket, in one diaper change. He also managed to pee on himself in the process.
• There is a placenta in my freezer. I had kinda forgotten about it.
• Elliot is going to have some more craniosacral therapy in the morning. His head still looks great, but we feel like a little more might help.

5 Days Down

We are five days into this little adventure, and things don't really appear to be settling down. I have a minute to write a little more extensively though, so I will.

The birth went awesome. We had perfect timing with everything, from filling up the tub, to calling our midwife, to Elliot actually coming out. He was born at 5:29, which gave us just enough time to get settled before the sun came up. That day, Tuesday, was crazy. Luckily my mom took care of the kids all day, and my dad brought us some dinner, so things were manageable.

Since then, we have been getting used to doing things on our own, which is going OK. Susan has been on a light bed-rest since the birth to help everything heal right. Tracey (our midwife) recommended this approach over stitches since it was a tiny tear and it will improve our chances of not tearing next time (next time?). Susan is able to get up and move around, but she is supposed to limit her activities. Since I am home, this has been pretty do-able.

Elliot is doing well. He likes to nurse and sleep, but he does not like to poop and pee. He was not very happy when he was born and Tracey pointed out that he had a huge ridge on his head. She said that he probably had a bad head-ache. She recommended Craniosacral Therapy. Our friend, Lauren, came over Tuesday afternoon, moved a few bones in his skull, and he appears to be happier now. Pretty cool, huh? She worked on him for about fifteen minutes and the ridge almost totally disappeared. She tells us that the amount of pressure that she uses is no more than the weight of a nickel.

Andrew and Mari have been adjusting well. They have both been tired and stressed.

I think that is enough for now. I'll try to keep you updated.

Quick Update

Elliot is doing well. He is really cute and sleeps a lot. He is nursing well.

Susan is recovering well.

Andrew loves his new brother, but I can tell he is a little more stressed than usual.

Mari ended her breastfeeding strike and is back in action. She rebelled for a few days, but once Susan convinced her that it was OK she is back to her old form.

I am well. My back aches from carrying kids, but that is OK.

Make sure to check out the pics of Elliot. More to come when I get the chance.

My favorite moments so far are when Elliot is awake and just looking right at me and when Andrew and Mari interact with him.

Photos of Elliot

I finally put some pictures up. Click here to view them.

Elliot's First Video

Elliot's First Video
If you can't see the video, Click Here.

Elliot's Weight

I just realized that when we sent out the announcement yesterday we didn't know Elliot's weight yet. We weighed him in the afternoon and he weighed in at 9lbs 8oz. Not too shabby and definitely the biggest of our three so far.

Andrew & Mari just woke up. Susan & Elliot are still 'sleeping'. Overall I would say that last night went pretty well. I think that Susan and I both got some rest and Andrew & Mari slept well also (which makes sense since they were both out of bed by 4:30 yesterday morning).

One Down

Wow, that was a busy day. Yesterday was pretty crazy. Hopefully we will start to find a rhythm and things will begin to stabilize, but I think that could take a while.

I am going to try to get some pics up today or tonight. Wish me luck!

Later. . .

Introducing. . . .

Elliot John Liesland

Born February 20, 2007 5:29AM


After a few days of light labor and a few hours of heavy labor, Elliot was born in our dining room (on purpose) in the wee hours of the morning. Andrew was there for the birth and Mari came down right afterward. Everyone is doing well.

More photos and details will be posted soon.

-Susan, Rob, Andrew & Mari

Note: I am tired. I hope I got all the details correct.

Valentine's Surprises

1. I didn't have to work (for the second straight day).

2. Mari was up at four in the morning throwing up. It was only the second time in her life.

After a fun couple days off, I am back to the daily grind (sort of). I am about to head home so that Susan & Andrew can go see our midwife and I can take care of our ailing daughter.

Later. . .

Rain Day

I got to spend some quality time with the fam today thanks to some winter rains. It actually started last night as snow and then it rained all day today. With the temps expected to drop soon, there could be a lot of ice around these parts tomorrow. Here are a couple videos from the day:

Andrew & Mari Making Muffins
If you can't see the video, Click Here.

Andrew Reading to Mari
If you can't see the video, Click Here.

A lot of people are wondering if there is any activity with the baby: no.

A lot of people have also been wondering if there is any activity on the house: no.

Believe me, something will be posted here when something happens (even though I think that I am the only person who reads this (and my friend Mark)).

We'll keep you updated. . .

Sledding

Andrew and I finally got out for some real sledding fun this past weekend. We went to the park where we had our wedding reception and found some medium-sized hills. He was a little too scared to go down by himself, so I had to go down with him. This was fine with me since I loved sled-riding. After going down the hill a few times we went for a nice winter hike. It was pretty fun because whenever he was tired he could just ride in the sled and I would pull him. His favorite parts of the hike were walking on the frozen creek and eating some snow. The hike brought back some great memories of sled-riding in the woods behind my parents.

Snow Day

. . . well, sort of. I got to leave work early today. I left around two and got home around three. I did fair better than my sister, Holly, who left work at 2:30 and when I spoke with her at six she was still not home and traffic was not moving.

The kids are in bed, the snow has stopped, and I got most of the concrete cleaned off outside. We all got to spend some good quality time together today, playing, reading, relaxing, and topping the day off by making some cookies.

Now, for a couple hours of relaxing. . .

Quick Hits

• I put some new pics up.
• We got the birth tub, and we have all the supplies. All we need now is a baby.
• I have a new cubicle at work.