July 12, 2008

Ina Sue is a budding wildlife photographer. To church on Sunday.  Franklin was out of town so I needed to usher for him.  This was the half-way point for my quarter of teaching the youth class.  We have a good group of youth and I have been enjoying it so far.  Mark Hochstetler preached on the subject of "Failure".  He compared the Christian life to a basketball game where when you miss the basket you keep coming back for the rebound.  Came home for a light dinner of squash casserole, corn on the cob and  ham & tomato sandwiches.  The children did not want to settle down for their naps so it made the afternoon a little less relaxing.  In the evening we went over to Dwayne & Glenda Stovers for a delicious supper and nice evening.  Conrad Stovers & Uncle Howards were also there.  Glenda served us grilled hamburgers, onion/corn pie, potato salad and finished with a scrumptious cheesecake.  We ate supper outside in a beautiful evening but then it clouded over and made us rush inside to get out of the rain. 
With our remaining harvest of carrots. Ina Sue started the laundry Monday morning while I made us panhaus and "daddy eggs" for breakfast.  I had a hectic day at work but came home to a wonderful supper of sloppy joes, green beans almandine, and fresh tomatoes.  Ina Sue also canned 11 pints of sweet pickles today on top of all the laundry.  After supper I went out and picked the veggies in the garden while Ina Sue & Carolina mixed up a batch of monster cookies.  Carl brought us a big bag of freshly filleted catfish from out of his pond.  What a gift!  We made a small batch of ice-cream to finish off the day.
We got caroled for Wednesday evening. I went in to work a bit early on Tuesday.  Carolyn Heatwole came over and helped Ina Sue for the day.  While Ina Sue mixed up a batch of bread, Carolyn took the children and pulled up our green bean patch.  After she got done she also baked the monster cookies for us.  Ina Sue did some cleaning in the afternoon and spent some time tying up the tomatoes in the garden.  After I got home we had left-overs for supper then I worked for a while trimming branches in the back & side yards.  (The chain saw works so much better now that the chain is on the right way. :)  It started raining a little so we waited until it slacked off then drove over to Conrad Stovers to pick up a spare toddler bed they had.  We got it setup in the childrens bedroom and Landon slept for the first time on his own little bed (out of the crib).
The day before she came... We had raspberry muffins and banana milkshakes for breakfast on Wednesday.  I headed in to work.  Ina Sue and the children pulled up the last of our carrots.  My mother dropped by for a very short time before Uncle Howards picked her up for their trip to Virginia.  After I got home from work I mowed for a while and hauled away the branches I had cut the evening before.  Then after it got dark I pulled the van around and vacuumed it out.  The youth had a supper over at Hendrick & Randy's.  After supper they walked around the neighborhood and caroled for people.  They ended up here and sang a few numbers for us.  What an honor.
Our 2nd little princess. Savannah Brooke Ina Sue had a baby doctor appointment Thursday morning.  She is becoming quite convinced that the baby is soon to arrive.  (The due date is still two weeks away)  I went on in to work with the understanding that she would call me if things seemed to progress.  She dropped the children off with Cheryl Hege before going in to the midwife.  The midwife told her that the time was getting closer but that it might be days yet before the baby decided to arrive.  We had BLT's for supper then I went back in to work around 8:00 and worked until about 12:30.  When I got home Ina Sue felt sure that we would probably have the baby the next day.
What a thrill! My sisters Karen Hobbs & Rhonda Strite were planning to come over and spend the day with Ina Sue on Friday.  When we woke up in the morning Ina Sue did not think she would be much in the mood for company that day so I called them and cancelled.  We called the midwife around 9:00 and they said to come on in and get checked out.  We dropped the children off with Marcia Heatwole and drove on in to Bamberg.  The midwife said again that things were definitely progressing but we could go home for a while.  I ended up going on back in to work for the rest of the day.  After I got home in the evening I swept the house then worked on making up a batch of dill pickles.  As the pickle project progressed it became more and more obvious that I might need to speed up the process.  Ina Sue let me fill the last of the jars and seal them before we rushed up to the Bamberg hospital.
Entranced Siblings We called Marcia on the way to the hospital and asked her to come over and stay with our children for the night.  We got to the hospital around 12:15 Saturday morning and Savannah Brooke Strite drew her first breath of air at 12:45.  Ina Sue thought the birth was pretty rough but I thought it went easier than the other two...  We are both very thrilled that she has finally arrived.  She weighed 6lbs. 14oz and seems very healthy.  They transferred us out to a regular hospital room around 3:00.  Since there was no bed for me I came on home and relieved Marcia to go back home for the rest of the night.  When the children got up in the morning they were overjoyed to hear that they had a baby sister.  (It was an answer to Carolina's prayer) 
Starting to look around I fed the children breakfast, got them dressed then dropped them off with Grace Heatwole for the morning while I drove back to the hospital.  We had fun calling friends and family with the good news then hung out at the hospital until the lab got Ina Sue's Rhogam shot ready for her.  We were finished with that and out the door by 2:00pm.  We picked up the children and let them see their new little sister.  After I had everyone settled down for their afternoon rests, I mowed the yard and worked up some of the tomatoes that were waiting.
Check out that head of hair.... :)