Lucie's Arrival

After 9 months of worrying about the fact that we really had no plan for the arrival of this baby (and yes, just worrying about it... not actually MAKING a plan...), everything worked out just perfectly! My parents arrived in OMaha on Saturday (3/28) and Frank and I went out for a last "date night" - very fun. Dinner and a movie is never as exciting as when you know that it probably won't happen again for a while! :) On Sunday, Frank and my dad played golf - beautiful weather for the end of March. And Sunday night, we all turned in early to try to be ready for the "big day."

Frank and I spent some time on Sunday night ironing out the names for the baby (oh yeah, still didn't have "sure" names as of 10 pm on Sunday night...thrid kid!). The alarm went off at 4:30 am and I did my best to get showered and ready as if I never would get a chance to shower again! Off to the hospital - checked in at 5:30 am - did all the paperwork (how binding ARE all of those waivers??), did the IV thing (they shouldn't let nursing students "practice" on nervous pregnant ladies!), the monitor thing, and before we knew it, it was time to head to the O.R. ...

Everything went well (well, after the spinal finally took - I was really worried for a minute there that they were going to start cutting before I was numb... I was practicing my story for when I would be interviewed on 60 minutes or something... I had lots of time to think - took almost 40 minutes for me to be numb enough to slice me open... Oh well -- all's well that ends well. :)

There was the big moment "It's a girl!" (totally knew it the whole time!) -- when I saw Lucie for the first time, it was total deja vu from when ellie was born -- clones! Then all the chatter starts (between Frank and the staff, mostly) -- "oh, she's so cute" "what's her name?" "she's really big" Everybody's yucking it up as I get put back together - good times.

The kids (ellie and nathan) were waiting with my parents in the waiting room by this point and Ellie for sure was excited that she got a baby SISTER (Nathan took a while to warm up, but he's coming around slowly but surely!) Today, he even asked, "where's Lucie?" That's a big step for him! :)

It was HUGE to have my parents here - Frank even worked a couple of half days while they were here, everyone could make daily visits to the hospital and the kids could still have their down time at home and naps, etc. It was such a load off our minds - and ellie and nathan were thrilled to have grandma and poppa here with them - what a treat for all of us. (Except maybe grandma and poppa!) :)

Meredith and her family arrived on Thursday (4/2), the day I came home from the hospital. It was great to have more company - the kids were thrilled to have the cousins around to play with and the adults were all very understanding about our lack of "hosting" skills that week :) (Not that the karaoke-on-demand isn't fun enough, but...)

It was sad to say goodbye to everyone when they left - can't wait to make a trip back home soon!

Lucie Anne

The last two weeks fall into the "lost" category - always seems to happen when a new baby is born...where do the days (and nights) go? Here she is.

Lucie Anne Williams

March 30, 2009 8:09 am

8 pounds, 13 ounces 20.5 inches

Ellie's 5th Birthday Extravaganza!

Ellie's birthday FINALLY arrived... she thought she would never turn five! My parents came all the way out to Omaha to help her celebrate, which was very fun for all of us. We had a great time - and we hope they did, too (especially since they are making a return trip in less than two weeks to help us out...AGAIN... when this new baby arrives). :)

On Saturday, we went to the zoo. It was a nice day, compared to what we have seen recently - temps in the 50s... not too crowded at the zoo, and we managed to see a lot of the "hot spots" - the aquarium, the butterfly garden, the desert dome - Ellie's choice, of course, for her "birthday" and it was a fun morning. While the kids were napping in the afternoon, my parents and I headed to the Nebraska Furniture Mart - I don't think my dad was too cracked up about it at first, but once he saw it... he was converted, for sure! (I don't think my parents shop at many "cheap furniture" stores at home... he couldn't believe some of the prices) They found a table and chairs for their new condo downtown, for a very reasonable price! :)

Saturday night - Ellie's birthday continues -- we went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner (again, ellie's choice). It's fine - she really gets a kick out of it for some reason - she thinks it's "fancy" because the forks only have three prongs - I guess, when you're five, that's worth something, but...
We came home, did the presents and cake and ice cream thing. (Always a little much to be eating a big dessert right after filling up on a restaurant dinner, but somehow, we all managed to get the cake and ice cream down!) I think Ellie was pleased to have such an "Ellie day" and to have grandma and papa here was even better!

On Sunday morning, before my parents left, we went outto breakfast and then jetted over to the hospital to show them around (well, this was mostly for ellie and nathan...) The hospital is pretty small in comparison to those in CHicago, but we thought the kids might like to catch a glimpse of it before the "big day." We saw all of the highlights - the piano in the lobby that plays itself (nathan was mesmerized!), the waiting room outside the maternity ward (which has a vending machine - too exciting!). Hopefully with a planned c-section, no one will have to be waiting long enough to need snacks, but you never know... soon enough - can't wait!

On Monday, Ellie's actual birthday, she brought shamrock cookies to school for her treat (they have really been hyping up the St. Patty's Day over there...). She came home in a birthday crown - tickled to have been the "birthday girl" at school. For dinner, we went to the Amazing Pizza Machine (a glorified chuck-e-cheese -- again, it was a 5 year old's choice). Not a bad time to go, actually. Monday night - no crowds. Easy to get everyone to be ready to leave - more cake and presents waiting at home. Nathan was starting to get a little suspicious as to why Ellie was getting so many separate birthday celebrations, but he was pretty good about it. After all, he did get to ride the go-karts with daddy (oh, wait, that was more of a treat for daddy!). Nathan had the birthday spirit - as we are pulling out the other half of the cake left over from Saturday, Nathan demanded another party hat before he would eat it -- the kid is all in for birthday fun!

Feeling a little guilty that Ellie didn't get a "friend party," but two celebrations so far, and when the Hilts come in April, we're going to do another "party" with the cousins. She should be alright :)

More soon - hopefully before this baby comes!

Coco Key Adventure

We finally went... For Christmas, Frank's secretary got us passes to Coco Key - the indoor water park. It's a national chain, but we never went to the one in Chicago. It's one of the big attractions here in Omaha. Ellie was super excited to go - Nathan was interested in "swimming" but I don't think he really knew what he was getting into. We decided to make a mini stay-cation out of it. We picked Frank up after work on Friday and headed to the Holiday Inn (Coco Key is attached to the Holiday Inn) - took us about 5 minutes after getting to our room before we were all suited up and ready to get wet! (Well, most of us...no matter how temperature controlled, I have a hard time getting into "swimming mode" when it's 5 degrees and snowing outside...) But, we did it -- plenty for the little kids to do - lots of little slides, basketball hoops in pools, fountains, spraying things... ahhh, yes... classic water park stuff. We had everyone pretty well tuckered out by 8 or 8:30 and (since it was "vacation") we topped off the evening with ice cream and once we got back up to the room - everyone was asleep within minutes! Excellent.

The water park doesn't open until 10:00 am, so the next morning (when everyone was awake by 6:00), we killed some time wandering around, ate at the hotel breakfast buffet (kids eat free...they've probably changed that policy after Nathan consumed his body weight in Frosted Flakes!), took Flat Stanley around for some photos and even swam at the regular hotel pool (oh yeah, more swimming...not at the water park, but the regular pool opened at 8:00). Even though we had to check out of our room by 11:00, we were allowed to stay and play until 3:00 -- we almost made it - we ended up leaving around 2:00 - which was plenty for all of us. Even Ellie, who would never have admitted it, was exhausted and didn't put up too much of a fight to leave. You know, besides all of the people staring at me (and my ginormous belly), it really wasn't that bad... and the kids DID have a blast (and that's really who it's for, right?). We will probably go back, but not soon - it's more like a "once a year" type of a treat...

Besides that, Frank has been busy busy busy around the house. He painted our room, and our bathroom, the downstairs bathroom. he put up new light fixtures in the dining room, living room and a new fan in our room. This dump is starting to look more like "us." By the time we get it the way we want it... it'll be time to come back! We have this "list" of things we want to accomplish before this baby comes, and slowly but surely, we're (well, Frank mostly) is chipping away at it. Of course, the things we still have to do are things like "think of baby names" and "pack a bag for the hospital"... yeah, important things... but at least we have a new light in the dining room! :)

Hope everyone has a great week -

Happy March!

Valentine's Day Weekend

Friday, Feb. 13th:
In true Omaha fashion, Ellie's preschool Valentine's Day party was cancelled due to snow. I felt bad for her, mostly becuase (being from Chicago), it had never even occurred to me to check for school closings. I knew it was supposed to snow that day, but as of 8:30 am -- not a single flake had fallen. (Preschool starts at 9:00... I thought we were "safe.") Actually, it's pretty lucky that I turned on the TV before we left -- that's when I noticed all the school closings on the crawl at the bottom of the screen -- oops! So, the second holiday party cancelled due to snow... Ellie handled it alright - I convinced her that they would "do" the party on Monday (I hoped they would, anyways.) We went to the grocery store, where all of Omaha was (apparently) stocking up before the "big storm." Total chaos. By 10:00, we were back home, ELlie and Nathan switched back to their pajamas and we were in for the day -- big pot of chili for dinner - kind of nice, actually.





Saturday, Feb. 14th: Valentine's Day


Not a big holiday for us, really -- usually just a bag of candy hearts and a couple of cards. But, this year, Frank sent flowers on Friday and the card read: "How about dinner tomorrow night?" OK, I'm thinking our usual romantic "order a pizza after the kids are asleep...." Sounded good to me - but NO, he had arranged a babysitter to come over and we...wait for it...went OUT - dinner AND a movie (and we even stopped b the hospital in between to get a quick tour of the maternity floor -- like most other things in OMaha, it was nice -- small, but nice and new-ish). It was a fun night - always takes us about 20 minites to adjust to the fact that we can finish a sentence without being interrupted by one of "them." It was very fun!





Sunday, Feb. 15th: Oliver's baptism


Frank took the trip alone - we wish we could have all been there, but for us all to fly would have been pretty pricey (especially since we waited too long to finalize plans!) and it would have been hard to drive it without Frank taking a vacation day (he's a little protective of using them so early in the year...especially with baby coming up soon.) He said it was a nice day - he took lots of pictures and it looks like the event was a "success." :)

The Hilts Visit Omaha and Nathan Turns Three

Getting spoiled -- another fun weekend with visitors to Omaha! We love it! This weekend, the Hilts made the journey west. They arrived around 1:30 on Friday afternoon and Ellie and Nathan could barely contain their excitement. The cousins were in the door just long enough to take off their shoes and then the whole foursome disappeared up the stairs together to go play - a beautiful thing! They actually did a great job "playing nice" all weekend - there was a lot of hanging out time (I'm sure they were glad to have driven all that way to just "hang out") :)

Saturday was Nathan's birthday (the big 3!) and we spent the morning at the Children's museum downtown. Very fun. There was a new traveling exhibit opening on Saturday and they had a special "member preview" an hour before the museum opened to the general public. That was nice - to be in there for almost an hour with no crowds. We were able to see everything in the museum and still be out the door by 11:15 or so -- plenty of time to stop for lunch on the way home - and attempt to get everyone down for "quiet time." (Or not so quiet time with all three girls in one room - oh well...) We ended up doing Nathan's presents late afternoon, so we could fit in an early dinner and still have time for cake and ice cream and of course an after dinner "video night" for the kids :) We (the adults) entertained ourselves into the "wii" hours of the night playing just about every wii and wii fit game that we have. I must admit, I was pretty much humiliated in everything except darts and "dancing with the stars", I clearly dominated those! :)

It was a fun weekend -- weird to think that we probably won't have any visitors until "baby-time" (which is 8 weeks from tomorrow, but who's counting??). Lot's to do before then, so hopefully these weeks will go by quickly!

The Roderick's Visit Omaha

Frank's sister Gina and her husband Kip... and of course, Oliver came out to Omaha this weekend. We had a great time - we hope they did, too! Ellie was beyond excited to have "baby Oliver" here for the weekend and Gina and Kip are very gracious to let her "help" whenever she could. Other than constantly reminding her to stop "jumping around" near his head (she was THAT excited!), she did pretty well as the designated helper. We can only hope that she is that excited / helpful when the new baby lands here for good!

It was a cold weather weekend here this weekend, but we didn't let that stop us. We went to the Children's Museum - the new exhibit is all about "presidents" -- it was a little old for our kids, but there were a few fun things for them. Ellie and Nathan both did the "make a campaign ad of yourself" running for president. There was like a web-cam thing that took their picture and put their face on a grown up body and made a commercial... Ellie wanted to be a man, and the picture of her face on the man's body looked exactly like Frank - it was eerie (and hilarious). We also braved the zoo -- not the best day to be tromping around outside (high of 15 degrees), but we didn't stay long. We hit the big (indoor) exhibits that were near the entrance -- the aquarium, the butterfly garden, the "jungle" house,... When all was said and done, I think we'll have to go back on another cold and snowy day -- we literally had the place to ourselves. The kids had the run of the place - we probably saw as much of the zoo in the one hour today as we usually see in twice that amount of time. Very cool (or cold, I guess...)

It was very fun to have them here -- always sad to see visitors leave :(

It helps to know that we have the Hilts coming next weekend -- full report to follow!