Happy One Month Birthday!

Brinnly Ruth's Baptism

Our baby girl was baptized this past Sunday at our church, First Trinity Ev. Lutheran. We were honored to have our friends, Ruth and Jonathan Meyer serve as her godparents. As Jonathan Meyer is a Lutheran pastor, our pastors were gracious enough to let him participate in the service as well, making the service quite possibly the smallest ratio of congregation to clergy ever. (Four pastors present with a congregation of about 80!) Ruth was also able to show off her talent on the flute. The Meyer kids, Benjamin and Timothy were charming as ever and hopefully Mali learned from their exemplary church behavior. (I doubt it, since she spent most of the time sitting on our neighbor, Kaleab's lap).

Following the service, we celebrated at home with a typical Lutheran Oktoberfest lunch and a Steeler win. We were especially blessed to share the weekend with our family and friends who once again made the long Michigan to Pennsylvania trip for us. Thanks, everyone!





Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38-39

Click here for more pictures

15 Months Old!

Our big girl is now 15 months old and what an exciting few weeks she has had! She continues to adore Brinn and speaks in a sing-song voice only around her, usually saying "Hiiiiiiii". She also loves to kiss and pat her back, and snuggles with her the longest at bedtime, after giving Mom and Dad a perfunctory kiss. A few more tidbits...

At her check-up this week, we were surprised to find out that she's only in the seventh percentile for weight and the fourth for height! Her appetite is huge and we're not sure where she's putting all of it. Overall, she's very healthy.

Her favorite toys are her books right now, and she has very strong feelings about which ones she enjoys, namely Dr. Suess and any nursery rhymes. She enjoys being read to and we also find her quietly reading to herself often. (She doesn't seem to mind if the books are upside down).

One of the perks of having a new sister is even more pink clothes and we added another rack in the girls' closet. Mali can reach this one and LOVES to pretend to "shop" by going through the outfits.

She is walking/running/climbing everything in sight. She just figured out how to climb Brinn's bassinette reminding us just how close we have to watch those two.

Pictures of her first week...

Click here to see our first few days as a family of four.

The scoop on Brinnly Ruth...

A few more details on our littlest girl:

She is now five days old and doing great! We came home from the hospital on Thursday and have been pampered by doting grandmas ever since. Grandpa Gregg and Aunt Kara are now visiting too.

Her big sister LOVES her--really! And suddenly matching outfits have gone from being considered cheesy and over the top to an adorable necessity.

And for those of you that asked, we use both her full name, Brinnly and her nickname Brinn. Her name is Welsh in orgin and we both have family roots from that general region. We thought it was a nice compliment to Amalia's German name. Her middle name, Ruth,was chosen for her godmother, Ruth Meyer, and Kaethe's great-grandmother, Ruth Shunkwiler. We certainly hope she can live up to those namesakes!

Today...is even better than yesterday

Brinnly Ruth Ward entered the world on September 11, 2007 at 10:52 pm, weighing seven pounds, one ounce.

Although her labor was long, she is healthy, strong, and beautiful. Everyone is doing well, especially big sister Amalia who can't get enough of her.




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Cute Mali story

In the absence of having any baby news to post about, I thought I'd pass on a cute-but-naughty anecdote of our firstborn from last night:

After a delicious pizza dinner, Mali was finally free to be out of her high chair and roam the house. However, she decided to go pursue one of her favorite, off-limits activity--climbing the side of her high chair. We told her no. She persisted. After she had one more chance to make the right choice, I picked her up to put her in time-out. Seizing the opportunity of having Daddy, Grandma, and neighbors all nearby, amidst her time-out protests, she somehow turned around in my arms and blew kisses to everyone in hopes that they would rescue her from her punishment.

No luck, but everyone present did have to turn their backs so they could laugh quietly without her seeing them.

What a character! And what tricks will the next one come up with?

Still growing...

Countdown until due date...0 Days!

"Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.”

~Evelyn Waugh

Our children are many things--adorable, feisty, good kickers, etc., but neither of them appear to be too punctual, at least not in regards to due dates. So unless I give birth in the next 11.5 hours, I will be officially overdue, again. Thankfully, I'm still feeling well and am prepared for more waiting, if needed. Mali, of course, was 8 days late and would have been later if she had her choice (I was induced).

This does give all of you time to enter your guesses in our contest (link on the right). And of course, we'll post as soon as the newest Ward officially enters the world!

A shout-out to parents

"Children do not accidentally become righteous leaders or emotionally healthy and productive adults--any more than seeds thrown randomly to the wind grow to be part of a thriving garden. Simply throwing children into a cultural tornado and hoping for the best gives them little chance of living up to their potential or coming out unharmed. Someone needs to take responsibility for their nurture, protection, nourishment, intellectual development, manners, recreation, personal needs, and spiritual development. Someone needs to commit time and energy into staying close to them as they grow, encouraging and correcting and teaching."

--Sally Clarkson, The Mission of Motherhood

(a book I should try to find time to read)

Summer lovin'

Free jazz concert at our favorite walking-distance-away park, sunshine, fun neighbors, and a dinner menu of chips, salsa, garden veggies, peanuts, and brownies.



Can life get any better?



Jonathan and Mali vote "no".

Fourteen Months Old

Since she's no longer able to sit still long enough for a monthly Winnie the Pooh picture, here are a few other updates on our (for a few days more) only child:

1) She is WALKING! (kind of). She took her first few steps on August 13th, and now averages about five steps a day. She hasn't really caught on to what she can do with that new trick. Of course, she would much prefer to be moving vertically, and climbs every piece of furniture in our house. We have a feeling she may skip walking altogether and go directly to sprinting.

2) On the same day she took her first steps, she also learned the signs for "bird", "hat", and "dog". Add that to "more" and "hot" and she has quite the sign language repertoire.

3) Her actual words now include "Daddy", "Mama", "Hi", "Uh-oh", "Up", and "Hi-yi-yi".

4) Fruits, broccoli, yogurt, pancakes, and meat of any kind top her favorite food list. Much like her mommy, she DOES NOT like milk, although we're not ready to completely accept that yet. She drinks water like it's going out of style.

5) The good news is she understands the word "no". The bad news is, she definitely gets practice hearing it and we are seeing a defiant side to our precious little girl at times. Time-out does seem to work. She still enjoys lying her head on the floor and pouting when she doesn't get her way. She does NOT appreciate our laughing about it.

6) Unlike her extremely mild-mannered parents, our kid is opinionated! (I'm sure no one missed the sarcasm there). She insists on eating with a fork, reading her specific choice of books, and even wearing her sunglasses if and only if she is in the mood. Last week she wore her sunglasses while we carried her into church--and left them on for half of the service! Considering it was raining outside, she looked like she was either being chased by the paparazzi or had a tough night of partying behind her.

7) She was excited to welcome her newest friend into the world on August 9, 2007. Adison Elizabeth was born to our friends Mike and Kim Hildebrand. We can't wait to meet that little cutie, especially as we pride ourselves in being the first to know that she was coming into the world. Hopefully these little girls can help their daddies stay out of trouble.

8) She also did great while Grandma Sandy watched her overnight last weekend and enjoyed being spoiled. (Good preparation for the upcoming weeks...). Plus, Great-grandma Dena came to visit this weekend and it was wonderful to watch those two get to know each other even better.

How middle-aged are we?

We've been meaning to post this for a while...but the newest light of our life is the 2002 Ford Windstar that we now own and LOVE! Seriously, who knew that they made cars with so many perks these days? Power locks that can operate from a keychain! Rear-controlled air-conditioning! (Mali loves pointing at it.)CD player! A clock that works! And space...so much space. Plenty of room for growing toddlers, bellies, and car seats.

And yes, we've heard all of the Ford jokes and don't believe them at all. (We actually were really impressed with the Consumer Reports recommendations for our van). We've decided that FORD really stands for First On Race Day, which works out well as it seems like we're on our way to becoming a stereotypical Soccer Mom and NASCAR Dad.

Bizarre things to do while in your third trimester...

1) Begin a new part-time job. Thankfully, it's been a really easy transition and allows me to focus on my real job, (mommy-hood), and the needs of my two real bosses (my children).

2) Join a new gym. It's cheaper, much closer, and much, much trendier than our other one. It makes us feel like we're not the middle-aged couple with two kids driving a minivan that we really are.

3) Pull a leg muscle (no, not related to the new gym membership) and after the pain doesn't go away for several days, go into the hospital to rule out a blood clot. Hang out on the labor and delivery floor, chat with the nurse who was there for Mali's delivery and after a leg ultrasound, hear that everything is perfectly fine. This was re-confirmed by a midwife appointment a few days later. The pain did go away after that, possibly due to the time resting in the hospital room with nothing to do but read magazines with my feet up.

Only five more weeks until due date!

My, how she's grown!

Remember this little girl?



Well, she now looks like this and has way too many things to do stop and pose for a monthly picture with Winnie the Pooh.



Take note of her new "drama queen" pose, face on the floor, that she pulls out every time we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do, i.e. sit still.

Thankfully, our neighbor, Kaleab, was visiting and was able to at least make her smile for the camera.


Click here for an entire year's worth of Winnie the Pooh pictures!

The guessing game

Click on the ExpectNet.com icon at the right to make your best guess about our baby's arrival stats. After the birth, the website tallies everyone's guess points and declares an official winner. Just for the record, Kaethe has entered exactly two of these games previously and was the winner in not one, but both of them! One family was so impressed, they even named the baby after her. (Okay, that's a stretch). We'll promise the winner of this game a ride in our new vehicle!

Scenes from a baptism...and another birthday party

We were honored to serve as godparents at Madeline Yingst's baptism last week, plus it was a great excuse for a chance to celebrate Mali's birthday with her daddy's family. Another great trip!

Great expectations...

Our kids have yet another new friend on the way! We are especially excited to track this one's arrival and love checking this ADORABLE blog for updates. The proud parents are our former neighbors, Nick and Becky. Coincidentally, Becky introduced me to the the Kate Havnevik song "Nowhere Warm" while I was pregnant (and overdue) with Mali. The words to the refrain are:

"And I’m sure you’re on your way
Yes, I’m sure you’re on the road
And I’m sure you’re faster than before
Yes, I know you’re somewhere on the road"

Isn't that great while you are expecting a child? It was played many times in our house last June and even during labor as well.

We can't wait to meet you "little spring roll"! We know that you're on your way.

Going, going...GONE!

As we mentioned, we're currently in the market for a new vehicle. Since the time to take care of things before the baby arrives is quickly disappearing, we thought we would speed of the process and list our car for sale on craigslist.com. We had no idea what we were getting into.

Within 24 hours, we had 15+ contacts regarding the car. Remember, this is a 1996 Pontiac Sunfire, with 187,000 miles! One person called at 9:30 pm and said that if we would drive the car to meet him right then, he would give us cash on the spot. We chose not to take him up on that offer, for obvious reasons (not just the fact that we usually go to bed at that time).

By the next day, a family came over to test-drive. The 17-year-old daughter was ecstatic that the color coordinated with her softball uniforms and the 10-year-old liked the fact that it matched her blue slurpee. Less than THREE HOURS LATER they had agreed to our asking price, we had completed the title transaction at AAA, and the money was deposited in our account. (During this process we received several more offers of people to pay cash immediately for the car if that buyer didn't work out). Was it supposed to be that easy? The new buyers then had to take us home, considering that was the beginning of our car-less-ness.

So, now we're mourning the loss of the car that I bought right after starting my first real career job, that we drove to Michigan to get married, moved to Waukesha and to our two homes in Pittsburgh, and even used to bring Mali home in from the hospital. Thankfully we have generous neighbors who are lending us a car for a few days until we finalize the transaction for our new one. And maybe we should consider opening a used-car lot.

Another birthday

One year ago today, Amalia was baptized at our parish, First Trinity Lutheran Church. What a beautiful service and great celebration that was! We plan to remember that today by lighting her baptismal candle and saying a special prayer. Other than that, we're out of ideas. Does anybody have any other suggestions for baptismal recognition celebrations?

We did start the day with a sonogram and finally heard the news we were waiting for--the baby's growth is good and everything looks healthy. The next time we go to Allegheny General Hospital, we plan to leave with our baby!