Baby's First Invitation

Yes, Matt & Erica, I would love to attend your wedding. Daddy said there might be dancing and Mommy mentioned something about wearing normal clothes again. Sounds like a good time for all!

Sincerely, Baby Ward

Our first attempt at film production...

Just in case you haven't seen this, here is a link to our friend Mike's blog and the movie we made to announce the pregnancy. Neither of us is particularly gifted in the area of technology, so we're pretty proud of our accomplishment, especially since we were pretty excited and overwhelmed by the news (as you can see from our faces) and that we had to keep everything a secret.

After being sworn to secrecy, Mike helped us edit it and send copies out to our families. Everything went well, so we thought we would sent it out to friends. Well...again, being distracted, we tried to use a do-it-yourself postage meter and ended up calculating it completely wrong. So, instead of an exciting package waiting at their doors, our friends and Kaethe's sister (who, thankfully are pretty patient with us) ended up with notices and/or disgruntled mail carriers demanding their postage due. In Berrien Springs, this was particulary a problem as two of our friends live on the same mail route, making a rough day for that carrier.

Good thing we're not planning on video-taping the birth.

Three months to go...

Questionable church signs

On my way to work yesterday, I passed a church whose sign read "L-E-N-T. Let's Eliminate Negative Thinking". Negative thinking about what, exactly? Our neighbors, friends, and enemies? That would be a good thing. Negative thinking about how difficult it is to actually give something up for Lent? (Although I'll admit that I didn't make too much progress in that area this year and my excuse is that I've been giving up things like alcohol, soft cheeses, and most of my wardrobe for many months now). I think I did notice some negative thoughts coming from Jonathan the other day while I baked cookies for church and he painted the baby's room. (He gave up sweets for Lent).

However, isn't Lent supposed to be, at least in part, about "negative thinking"? That is, prayer and mediation upon our sinful condition, God's wrath on sinners, Jesus's suffering, death, and sacrifice for us? Pretty negative thoughts. To use Lutheran terminology, if we don't recognize the Law, then we don't fully appreciate the Gospel. Isn't that what makes Easter so wonderful?

The best show on TV...

is back tomorrow!!! Prison Break is returning to Fox on Monday nights. We stumbled upon the first episode one night and were captivated ever since. The basic premise is that the main character, Lincoln(hey--that would make a great baby name!) is on death row for a murder he didn't commit. Enter his younger brother, Michael who intentionally commits a crime in order to be placed in the same prison in order to rescue both of them. Additional subplots include government conspiracy, race relations in prison, and the relationship between Lincoln and his son, L.J.

Here is an article by Gene Edward Vieth, from WORLD magazine. Veith is a strikingly talented author whom I respect in many ways but unfortunately doesn't quite seem to see the genius behind this particular show. But it's still cool that the Lutheran author of "Christainity in an Age of Terrorism" and similar books is writing about my favorite show.

Happy 2nd Birthday Benjamin Meyer!

One of our all-time favorite kiddos, Benjamin William Meyer turned two this week. Even though he's far away in Kilmanagh, Michigan where his daddy is a pastor, we feel like we're experiencing a milestone too. Ruth & Jonathan were our first close friends to become parents and we've been attempting to absorb every lesson they've learned since then. Since Kaethe and Ruth have been best friends since 1st grade it's been especially nice to go through this new life stage together. And now Ben is going to have a little brother, "Baby Timmy" coming right around Easter!

Here is a somewhat-recent picture of Ben with Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Jonathan. One of his highlights the past year was celebrating the Fourth of July in Pittsburgh, where he enjoyed the block party and fireworks, just not swimming.

So, happy birthday Ben and please don't pass on anything from the terrible two's to our baby anytime soon.

We own WHAT???

It is hard to believe that our still-unborn baby is accumulating quite a bit of stuff. When we first found out about the baby, our friends the Palmers gave us our first actual "baby" gift--a set of newborn mittens. Now, I was doing okay seeing baby-themed scrapbooks and calendars around our house...they weren't too different from our similiar decoration. But those newborn mittens struck me everytime I saw them--a whole new person was going to be wearing those. Soon! We left those mittens on the kitchen counter for months, trying to get past the idea that we should call one of our friends who already had a baby to come pick those us since obviously they didn't belong in our house.

And now, among books, sleepers, and two baby-store registries, our baby also owns a "Royal Potty" which not only plays music at "appropriate" times, but also comes with crown stickers for positive reinforcement. Thanks, Mike & Kim.

Who's catching our baby?

Another midwife appointment yesterday and everything looks/sounds great. The heartbeat was in the 140's which my mom thinks means a boy and my dad is hoping is also reflective of the IQ. We have been so happy with the Midwife Center and our care there. I always leave my appointments relaxed and excited. The midwives are very clear that I am the one actually delivering the baby and they will be there to guide, support, and of course "catch" the baby. Here is the link to the profiles of the individual midwives. We've met with everyone but Lori so far, and they have all been profession and warm. We have to love Ann since she's a Wisconsin native, but Laura was the first person there we met and also looks strikingly like Jonathan's mom.

Ash Wednesday

Is it appropriate to wish someone a "happy" beginning of the Lenten season? Pastor Stiegemeyer, a local Pittsburgh pastor has some very good thoughts about Lent, and coincidentally, about the book The Purpose Driven Life which a church we were visiting several years ago used during Lent. Here is his most recent post.