Home Sweet Home

When Meredith was a baby, I got pretty good at one-handed typing. Sitting down now with a newborn in the dark while I type with one hand brings back the memories. Now I just have to regain the skill.

We're now home with Elaine. We were able to leave the hospital about 26 hours after the birth--and were happy to do so and settle back home. Earlier in the day, big sister Meredith and Grandma Gail came to visit for two hours. Elaine slept most of the time after an active evening and early morning. Meredith was thrilled to meet her little sister and gently introduced herself.

The afternoon was more active. Elaine slept only little stints and would have eaten nonstop if she had the ability. She also doesn't mind vocally expressing herself. In fact, she has the cutest "chirping" cry. Though when the cry does not net results, she transitions into a louder, less cute cry.

By evening, Elaine was given a clean bill of health, as was her mother. She also got this state-mandated screening blood test, which entailed about five minutes of pulling blood from one of her tiny feet. She introduced us to some new sounds during that process.

And now we're home. Glad to be here and somewhat ready for this new stage of change and transition.

PICTURES!

Tired girl


Proud mom


Meeting Meredith and Grandma Gail


The whole fam


A brief respit


Sisters


Meredith got a big sister present


Two pals hanging out...

Announcing the new arrival!

We are pleased to announce that Elaine Catherine Reise was born Friday, March 30, at 6:25 PM. She was born at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Elaine and mother are doing well in their recovery. Elaine was 6 pounds, 15 ounces and 19 3/4 inches long. She was very alert the several hours after her birth and had a lot to say to her parents.

Jen went into her appointment for an induction in the morning, but it appeared that her labor had already begun. After a long ramp up period, the final stage of Jen's labor quickly picked up and ended with a perfect new bundle of joy.

Big sister Meredith was very excited to hear the news and will meet her new sister on Saturday morning. She thought her new sister's name was silly.

We'll post more pictures in the coming days, but here are a couple from her first few hours.

A fun week on babywatch

We have managed to have a lot of fun with Grandma Gail this week while on babywatch. (No, no news yet! We'll tell you when we finally know!)

We've walked a lot: to the new library, the post office, even down (and up) the stairs at Minnehaha Falls. We've eaten spicy food (Thai, yum!) Last night Gail convinced us to watch American Idol, and filled us in on the pop culture things we've missed. Man, those kids can sing!

The weather has been lovely; actually set record temps for late March on Monday, and we all dug out our shorts! Since Derek and I have 80% cleared our schedules, waiting for baby, it has felt like vacation in a way.

-JRR



At Minnehaha Falls: 81 degrees on March 26! Several passers-by asked when I was due. Tomorrow!











Building at our new library
















Reading with Grandma before bed: such fun












Another benefit of good weather: re-discovering the swingset and our very fun neighbors, Frank, Jr. and Cate

















After a long, hot day of playing hard

Spring is here

Well, we know now that we'll have a spring birth, as we have passed the equinox. Things have been a holding pattern here. What I originally thought was some early spring allergies turned out to be a nasty cold that has completely knocked me down for a few days.

Meredith has continued to be her active self. Some pictures are below. She loves pretending and drawing these days. She has meticulously gone through and colored each page in her dinosaur book. She loves to ask and pretend about the dinosaurs; saying things like, "These two dinosaurs are friends because they both live under water." Other role playing continues. Meredith likes to cook in the kitchen. She serves up pretend dishes to her parents, including a little bowl with the "Nemo fish." It seems unsettling to pretend to cook and eat Nemo, but Meredith is proud to prepare some fish, and her Nemo fish is handy.

Each night before bed--and often first thing in the morning--Meredith plays with her Lego blocks. Every few days you can see her incorporate new design elements. Yesterday, she constructed a very impressive rocket ship. Another recent creation is pictured below.

Meredith working on her kitchen set with her new apron on.





Here Meredith was pretending to plant a garden on the floor. It was by all reports an intricate gardening scheme. You can see me zonked out on the couch in recovery.


A pre-bed Lego creation.

MOA adventures

Tonight, x days before __ is born, we ventured to the Mall of America ("MOA"). We don't often go there, as good organic-fruit-buying Minneapolis-dwellers, but wanted to 1) escape Derek's fierce spring allergies, 2) get some exercise suitable for a 9-month pregnant woman (slow walking), and 3) indulge Mer's longing for the "monkey-restaurant," known to others as the Rainforest Cafe, which features animatronic monkeys, simulated thunderstorms, and other preschooler delights (as well as food).

On the drive down, we followed our usual iPod ritual where we take turns selecting the song. After Meredith chose "D is For Drums" (They Might Be Giants' kids' album), I chose "Tangled Up In Blue" (the Indigo Girls version), and we had - I kid you not - a 15-minute conversation about what it means to be tangled up in blue. Blue thread?, Mer thought. Derek spoke eloquently and at a preschool level about having lots of different sad feelings at once. I realized I've never really known what Bob Dylan meant - assuming he meant something definable at all. Anyway, Mer remained unsatisfied. Metaphors are a bit beyond her, still. She then chose the Cartman (South Park) version of "Come Sail Away," a hilarious and highly irritating song that she calls simply 'the weird song.'

At the mall, there were gazillions of people, which there always are. And, it should not have been surprising that many of them had also been drawn to the animatronic charms of the Rainforest Cafe; there was an hour and 40 min wait for a table for three. No, thanks. Mer said goodbye to the huge snake over the door with a mix of sadness and fear - tangled up, perhaps - and we headed for points unknown in the top floor of the mall: the food court. There, we staked out a table to dine overlooking the whirling clamor of the indoor amusement park in the middle of the mall, formerly known as Camp Snoopy.

I ordered some burgers and such from Johnny Rockets and received a Applebees-style device that would buzz when our food was ready. This should have been a sign. Ten minutes later it was an hour past usual dinnertime and the three-year-old and the pregnant woman were both almost despondent with hunger. Derek created complex fantasies about forest animals, and Mer gamely played along. At twenty minutes she was twirling in circles dangerously close to other tables. At twenty-five minutes the buzzer went off! but it was a false alarm! Oh, when? Finally, after thirty-five minutes we got so-called fast food which was quite good; next time, we'll try somewhere else, maybe Mexican where all they have to do is compile it and hand it to you. As soon as we started digging in, Mer announced she had to go potty, precipitating a 10-min journey.

Actually, though, we all enjoyed watching the Ferris wheel and the hordes of people from above, and after dinner wandered down through the park formerly known as Camp Snoopy. It was a hectic scene but also relaxing, probably because we actually didn't have anywhere else to be for once. We can just enjoy each other each day and take each day at a time as we wait for the new addition to our family to drastically change our routine. Any day now.

Late Winter Blues

We've experienced quite the range in weather in recent days. From snow and cold, and 60 degree sunny days, we've gotten everything in between. Because the weather is still that of the winter variety, we're getting a little bit of cabin fever. Waiting for the baby (currently 11 days before the due date), doesn't help.

Last weekend, we went to the Minnesota Zoo for the first time. We've gone to the Como Zoo in St. Paul with some freqency. The Minnesota Zoo was fantastic. Meredith's favorite parts were the dolphin show (during which we got a little splashed) and the bird show (which included a hormonally-enraged bald eagle screeching at us). Angry bald eagles are a bit unsettling.

A few days after going to the zoo, the whole family went to the YWCA to swim. Meredith pretended she was a shark, but then decided that sting rays were where the action was. She proceeded to do an excellent impression of the ray she saw at the zoo, slowly waving her arms and rotating her wrists.

Meredith often asks when her baby sister is going to be born. There have been some false alarms, but the girl is staying put for now. Meredith was three days post due date when she was born. Jen would like to get the whole pregnancy thing over with, but apparently it's not up to her sole control. Jen continues to be a good sport for someone who is 9 months pregnant. Fortunately, she is in a good place in terms of her school work due to her hard work, and looks forward to finishing law school this spring.

Below are some recent pictures...

Dolphin Show





Dressed up at a wedding


38 weeks pregnant

More pics - from Feb

Mer having fun in the snow!


































Dr. Meredith is in the house.















Visits from grandparents are the best!














The growing group of kids from Jen's "Global Semester" group. Mer had so much fun running amuck with them at our winter party!

Baby on the way

So, today marked Week 37 in the pregnancy march. Officially, that is considered full term. Practically, it means that in all likelihood, this baby will be born sometime within the next five weeks. Meredith wants to know exactly when her baby sister will be born. So do we!

In the last two weeks, we've had some concern over the girl's position. (She was transverse, i.e. sideways.) Going to the hospital today, we got some good news in that she finally has moved into the correct, head-down position. So as long as she stays put, we can avoid a breach situation.

It's cold and icy here. We hope the baby, whenever she is born, will not have to endure too much winter. Even more so, we hope for the ice to be gone soon. The two snow storms that dumped on us last week have left quite the scenery of icy sidewalks and streets, corners with poor visibility due to high snow banks, and sore backs from shoveling. I love living here, but it is true that it is despite the winter climate.

When the girl is born, we'll post the details here in short order. I don't believe the hospital has public wireless Internet access, so there will be a little delay. :)

New Website

Greetings friends and family. Due to the constraints of the old-school Geocities website, we're trying to switch over to the blog style at Blogger. Our intent is to put future updates on this site and to preserve the old Geocities site (http://www.geocities.com/derekreise) as is. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome.

Since this is an easier format, we should be able to post more frequently. Time will tell.

In any case, welcome to the Reise Household Happenings blog!