Friday morning already! What a WEEK!!! First of all, I want to say that God has been so GOOD to us this week. To give you a peek into the way my brain can get caught up with worst possible scenarios, here you go. Knowing that Lori's due date was March 12 and that Dick would be in Florida over that time and that we have been known to have full blown snow blizzards in March and that Anthony and Lori live at the top of a hill that my van cannot climb in snowy weather..... Need I say more?
The actual scenario was this. Last Friday, when discussing the upcoming weekend with Lori she said she really wished the baby would hold off a few more days because of the things she still needed to accomplish. I said, "Okay, I'll pray that he waits a few more days!" And I did. So we got to have our weekend of being with Dick's family, and Lori and Anthony got a few more days of getting things done and doing fun things with Austin.
On Monday morning, at the beginning of a week that promised beautiful warm weather, also at the beginning of Spring break, Lori texted me that she was having regular contractions and was pretty sure it was the real thing. I prepped some food for them at my house, just in case it wasn't the real thing. Normally I teach piano lessons from 5:30 to 6:30 on Mondays, but because my students were in Florida during Spring break, I did not need to worry about that! At 5:30 I picked Austin up from the YMCA and headed to their place with him and the food.
By that time there was no question that it was the real thing. Lori wanted one last "family of three" picture, so we took care of that first.
I took Austin home with me and they prepared to leave for the hospital. I gotta tell this story from our drive home. At one point Austin asked me if we were soon at my house. I said, "Well, we're over half way. It usually takes 25 minutes to go from your house to mine, and I'd say we have about 7 more minutes to go." He was quiet for a just a moment, then said, "So we've been driving for 18 minutes?" Wow! Talk about first grade mental math skills!
I knew that Anthony and Lori did not plan to be as public about this labor and birth as they were the other time, but when I got home I noticed his "veiled" FB update. "I've - 4 min. - you're - 3 min. - we're" Get it? Each word is a contraction with minutes in between, hahaha!!
Austin played with our marble roller kit, but not as a marble roller. He used pieces from it to create his own Star Wars two-legged walker! When it was bath time, that, and his great imagination, were the only tub toys he needed to entertain himself for at least 45 minutes!
We prayed for his mama and baby brother before he went to sleep. Even though he had previously expressed a lot of fear about the birth, he was very calm about it that evening.
Dick headed to bed at his regular Monday evening time (he gets up early to play basketball at the Y on Tuesday mornings), but I stayed up to do music prep for Sunday and to keep up with the latest "labor" updates.
I decided to "sleep" on the sofa so that updates on my phone would not waken Dick or Austin. I had my volume turned all the way up so I wouldn't miss a thing, haha!! And I prayed.
Just before 1:00 AM my phone dinged and there were pictures of a very healthy baby boy! Thank you, Jesus!!! I stared at this little face on my phone, and thought, "There is Austin all over again!"
I got bits and pieces of sleep the rest of the night between text messages and Dick getting up at 5. Austin woke up at his regular 7:00. I told him that his baby brother had come out of mama's belly. He seemed surprised and said, "He did??" I told him that his name is Hunter Jay Stauffer. Austin said, "What?? That's not his name! His name is Austin II."
Because of Spring break and no school (such great timing!!) we could lounge around until time to go to the hospital. He told me he did not want to see mommy's belly bleeding. I assured him that he would not. Bless his heart! The nurses had suggested waiting till 9:30 AM to bring him in.
What a perfectly beautiful sight met our eyes!
Austin was not quite ready to touch him that morning. He was mostly interested in his belly button!
But he was eager to wear his "coolest brother ever" shirt!
This beautiful sight gave me tears. No greater love!
In the evening we went to the hospital so Grandpa could get to meet Hunter.
By then Austin was obviously becoming attached!
Four good looking Stauffers!
On Thursday morning Dick and I were up before dawn because it was VACATION day for him. We had booked his flight out of University Park Airport, just five minutes from our house. More expensive than driving to a big airport, but just perfect for this time. I dropped him off at 5:20, and by 6:00 he was on his way! He had a layover at Dulles in DC, but was already landing in Tampa before 11 AM!! Today he's at Sophie's Grandparents Day at school.
I skipped exercise class after work Thursday and went over to Anthony and Lori's for my "baby fix" before choir practice. They had come home from the hospital earlier in the day.
Ahhhhh.
Lori sent me these this morning!
Melt my heart!!!!!
And that's all for this time. Surely many more pictures coming, both from here and from Florida.
For those of you who will not be seeing the birth announcement on Facebook, I need to do this very quick post. HE'S HERE!!!!!! Hunter Jay Stauffer was born this morning at 12:51 AM weighing 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and 20 inches long. He is PERFECT!! We are in awe of God's handiwork and so thankful for hearing and answering our prayers for this child. Mother and baby are doing GREAT!!!
I mentioned at the end of my last post that our weekend was a bit of a mystery because of all the events taking place "down home," but also the possibility of Baby Boy Stauffer making his entrance into the world at any time. On Friday Lori assured me that they had her brother and other friends that could take care of Austin if needed and that we should go ahead with our plans.
There were two times over the weekend that I thought perhaps I had missed something. On Saturday afternoon I picked up my phone and saw a message that Anthony Stauffer had posted a picture. I thought, "If that is a picture of the baby and I didn't even know she was in labor!!" But of course it wasn't, haha!! Then yesterday afternoon while driving toward Lancaster County I picked up my phone and saw that I had missed two calls from Lori. I couldn't believe it!! My phone was still set on silent from church. I immediately called back, but she didn't answer, so I called Anthony. Turns out they were at Sam's Club looking for something that we both really like and they couldn't find. After we discussed that Anthony said, "Oh, and we had the baby." Hahahahaha!! They knew that's what I would be thinking!
Now to our pictures and stories from the weekend. On Saturday morning we left home at 6:45 AM and headed to Manheim for Ella High's funeral. We had light traffic and made really good time, so we stopped at Dad Stauffer's house first. Dick took this picture of Dad's woods. We're always impressed with how clean he keeps it - at age 90!!
This is the picture of Ella that was in the newspaper with her obituary. She lived to age 98 with a clear mind to the very end. Is that not anyone's wish?
Ella's husband Elvin passed away in 2000. These are their four children and spouses, left to right: son Elvin and wife Pat, son Cerwin and wife Doris Jean, daughter Velda and husband Mel, daughter Doris and husband Bob Stauffer (Dick's brother).
Ella's grandchildren and spouses.
Ella's great-grandchildren and great great-grandchildren!
Doris and Bob (Dick's brother) and their four children, Judi, Jonathan, Japheth, Juanita.
Doris and Bob with their children, their spouses, and the grandchildren!
Bob and Doris live in northwestern Minnesota, as do their sons and their families. Bob and Japheth are both pastors at their Kitchi Pines Mennonite Church. Judi and her family live in Wisconsin. Juanita lives in N. Carolina. Having them all together at one time was a very rare and special occasion.
After the funeral Dick and I ate a delicious lunch at Divine Swine, a BBQ place on the way to Sam and Jenn's. I had a scrumptious pulled pork sandwich and cole slaw. Dick had a delicious beef brisket sandwich with mac and cheese.
We were sleepy after such an early morning and glad for a chance to nap. Bianca was the first to go down, haha! How cute is that??
I snoozed on the recliner with Sammy. Except he didn't snooze. But he was content to snuggle (and squirm!)
When everyone woke up he brought this old toy from his room, climbed up on top of a table and told us to listen. He's a performer to the core, and any stage will do!
Our drive home was uneventful. I think we were home by 8:00 pm, and I hit the sack by 9:30.
We had two wonderful worship services Sunday morning, came home for short naps, then hit the road again by 3:00. I took these pictures of the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg. I noticed on my blog that a year ago I took a picture of it completely frozen!
We got to Dad Stauffer's right around 5:00. What a WONDERFUL evening we were in for! First of all we aunts and uncles (and of course Grandpa and Arlene) had dinner with Bob and Doris's family. Some cousins dropped in later.
We sang our traditional "Family of God" song before the meal. Dick said that Dad Stauffer had tears. Not only was it special to be together, but we sound good too. (-:
The corner table - four of Japheth's children, one of Jonathan's.
After the meal the men stayed in the basement and had loud, animated conversations.
Some of us ladies started out down there, but soon decided to go upstairs where we could hear each other!
The youngest Stauffer (until Anthony and Lori's baby makes his appearance) - Japheth and Aimee's little Daisy.
The little boys spent the entire evening with these marble rollers!
Judi and her much-prayed-for son Kevin.
We ladies and girls talked and read books.
Dad and his five sons. Back row: Bob, Dick, Steve. Front row: Fred, Dad, Jim. Dick (the oldest) was eight years old when Fred (the youngest) was born! Back in the day they were known as Hob Stauffer's boys - Dickie, Bobby, Stevie, Jimmy, and Freddie!!
Is this the laying on of hands??
Table games!
Getting ourselves lined up for a picture. Why does it look like I'm ordering people around? And I have no idea what Jim and Carolyn (on the right) were doing!!
There we are. Dad and Arlene in front. Left to right: Fred and Deb, Steve and Faye, Bob and Doris, Dick and I, Jim and Carolyn.
We decided to get another picture of the guys. Grandpa wasn't sure he felt like standing up, so his sons helped him out!
Then Jim's phone rang. Grrr. Someone said, "There's always one in every group."
That's the best we could do!
Dick and I left for home around 8:30 and were home before 11:00. That was a lot of driving in one weekend, but we went to bed with hearts full of warm memories.
Now we're ready for Baby Boy Stauffer to make his appearance any time. Dick will be leaving early Thursday morning for several days in Florida! Sophie's school is having its annual Grandparent's Day event on Friday. I was there for that event three years ago and enjoyed it thoroughly. I'm not going this year for obvious reasons, but I'm really glad that Dick can go. I just would love if the baby would come before he leaves, but we shall see!!
It occurred to me yesterday that I never posted about our Sunday. I guess because I had posted pictures on FB I felt like I had taken care of it.
We decided kind of last minute to try to catch at least the end of J'von's 1:00 basketball game at Eastern York High School. We left Houserville as soon as possible (around 11:30 am), ate our packed lunch on the way, had light traffic, and made it in a little over two hours! We got there just as the fourth quarter was starting, and saw J'von's team win! I didn't get any pictures of him playing, but got this cute one afterward. Jada loves J'von!
The girls - hers, theirs, and his! Nicayla, Jada, Destiny.
Friendly's at Centerville is on their way home to Reading, so we stopped there with them to eat and spend some time together.
Friendly's food is SO scrumptious!
Frank and Lauren's daughter #4 will arrive in June!
Don't let that innocent look fool you, haha!
When we said our goodbyes, Dick and I were discussing who we could see while we were in Lancaster County. I called my sister Mary Ellen, but her day was jam packed. I texted Sam, and he said they were all in nap mode, but we could stop in. But then I got a text from Lori wondering when we would get back to State College, that they were going to be building a fire.
No question! We were not going to be missing that! So we headed right back, arriving shortly after 6:30. Sunday was an incredibly beautiful day, hitting the 60's!!! Of course, it was getting chilly by evening, but it was still very, very nice to sit by the campfire, our first one of 2016. And it was still February!! Our last one was December 13, also a very warm Sunday. That means that January is the only month this winter that we did not have a campfire!
I finally had a chance to catch up a bit with Lori that evening. In the last few weeks I'd been to their house three times a week and never saw her once, because she was always at work when I was there. And our weekends have held activities that were not together. I told her I want to see what she looks like! Sitting by a fire wrapped in a blanket was not exactly what I had in mind, hahaha!! So yesterday she sent me this beautiful picture which she had taken to send to her mom. She gave me permission to post it here.
Just a little over a week till due date!! I have my things ready to throw into an overnight bag, and I make sure my phone volume is up before I go to sleep. No, I'm not going to the hospital, but I will be with Austin whenever they need to go.
This coming weekend is a mystery that remains to be unveiled. Last week our sister-in-law's mother, Ella High, passed away at the age of 98. Ella's daughter Doris is married to Dick's brother Bob. Doris and Bob live in Minnesota, as do their two sons and their families. Their daughter Juanita lives in N. Carolina and their daughter Judi and family live in Wisconsin. They all are coming to Lancaster County for Ella's funeral on Saturday. Dick and I knew Ella quite well. In the early years of our marriage, the Stauffer and High families used to do various fun activities together. So for many reasons we would like to be able to go to her funeral on Saturday. On Sunday evening the Stauffer family will be getting together at Dad Stauffer's house to spend more time with all of Bob and Doris's family.
Meanwhile, we live over two hours away from all of this activity. There is a precious baby grandson coming any day. There is iffy weather in the forecast. I have my church responsibilities on Sunday morning. So we will take our plans a day (or an hour!) at a time this weekend!
