Our Grand Return Home

This morning we returned home from hospital. Vivian has yet to wake up in her new home, so we haven't really had a chance to show off her new digs yet. Both Janna and Vivian are doing well. The challenge in the next week is two fold. First, we need to make sure Janna doesn't over do it. Second, we need to teach Vivian how to go sleep on her own. The first we will likely fail at. Getting Janna to rest is like pulling teeth. The second we will be successful at, partly because Vivian seems content sleep without raising a fuss and partly because we're ruthless about teaching babies how to sleep on their own.
The minute we got home I put Vivian on the floor so that Seamus and Deirbhile could visit with her. Both were very excited to see her. They were both very gentle with her, doing little more than sniffing her and looking to me for approval. Later on when Vivian wakes up we'll have to arrange another meeting.
When Stuart was a baby Deirbhile treated him as if he were her puppy. She would stand guard over him, trying to protect him from the evil dog that lives in the fireplace. We're hopeful that she does the same with Vivian. Speaking of Stuart, we expect him to come home tonight. Life will be different for him, but after a day or so he'll never remember life without Vivian. Thanks be to God for blessing us so greatly.

Vivian Day Two

So here we are at the close of day two in Vivian's life. Janna is getting along well. A little tired but that's to be expected. I say she's a little tired, I make an assumption in saying that. Janna won't admit she's tired nor will she let on that she's tired. She's never once complained during her pregnancy of any pain, lack of comfort nor has she complained of being tired. She lived her pregnant life almost entirely the same as normal life. I say she's tired today because I assume she must be. You have to figure after major surgery, a night in the hospital, a new baby and lots of excitement that she would be tired. Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. If she is, she won't tell anyone.
Earlier in the day Stuart came by to visit his new sister and his mother. He's had an eventful comple of days over at his Oma and Opa's house. He has taken to Vivian, though we're not sure if he understands that she is a baby. I'm certain he has no idea she's coming home with us on Monday. In any event, we'd appreciate your continued prayers for Janna's recovery. God has blessed us greatly. :)

In Which We Present Vivian Rosalind

Vivian Rosalind arrived at 12:08 this afternoon. Vivian and Janna are both doing fine over at the hospital.
Children are a blessing from God and we have been richly blessed indeed.
Janna has begun recover at the hospital. So far so good. We're not sure if she's going to leave Sunday evening or Monday morning. Either way, pray for her well being.

Happy Birthday Steve!

The Psalms

31

A Profession of Trust
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1	In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
2	Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for a house of defense to save me.
3	For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.
4	Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
5	Into thine hand I commit my spirit: Lk. 23.46 thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
6	I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
7	I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
8	and hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
9	Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
10	For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
11	I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
12	I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
13	For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
14	But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.
15	My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
16	Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.
17	Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
18	Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
19	Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
20	Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21	Blessed be the LORD: for he hath showed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city.
22	For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
23	O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
24	Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

New Years Eve

We spent New Years Eve at Van Andel Arena watching the Griffins. They played someone called the Iowa Chops and as you can see their logo is that of one very angry looking pig. If I were that pig, I would be angry with the way my team played. The Griffins smoked the Chops 6-0. Jimmy Howard looked great in net, dare I say better than Chis Osgood has looked in Detroit.
Stuart loves him some hockey. He watches the game and especially enjoys big hits, pucks hitting the glass and anyone falling down. He behaves himself as well, there were some empty seats around us so we sat him down in his own seat. He especially enjoyed this, getting to sit in a big boy seat. Now we have to transfer that to church. So far he sits through about a third of it in his own seat. We're hoping for more before Vivian is born. I'm not going to get excited over his sitting at the Griffins game transfering to sitting at church. He can make noise and jump around at the Griffins game, if he does that at church there will be tears and none of them will be mine or Janna's.
Stuart has a Wings jersey that is a couple sizes too big for him. He wore it anyway of course. And yes, Janna also wore a jersey last night. It was blackout night for the Griffins last night and fans were encouraged to wear black. Not many did but in the spirit of team support both Janna and I did. I wore my 2002 Steve Yzerman Team Canada black third jersey and Janna wore my Anson Carter Bruins jersey from a few years ago. AC is to this day one of my favorite former Spartans. He captained the team back in the mid 90's. Anyway, hope everyone had a nice New Years. May God be will you all during this upcoming year.

A Touch Of Winter

God has blessed us with snow the past few days, quite a bit of it. I for one like snow, I think it looks lovely. I love the colder weather as well. As you can see, at the end of my driveway is a mound of snow more or less as tall as I am. I fear for what it will look like come February.

Seamus and Deirbhile don't quite know what to do with all of the snow. They've made paths for themselves in the backyard. For the most part Deirbhile doesn't venture outside of the paths as the snow is basically taller than she is now. Seamus will leap outside of the path every so often, usually bounding for the door to come inside.
Deirbhile patrols the backyard looking for wayward dangers to protect us from. Or in her case, wayward squirrels to kill.
Deirbhile has always been a bearded lady but in the snow the beard is more pronounced.
Seamus has a love/hate relationship with the snow. He loves to play in it but he hates the ice clumps that form on his paws. He suffers through the ice clumbs for a chance to romp in the snow.
While Seamus and Deirbhile have fun outside, Stuart stays inside and pretends he's a dog by playing in Seamus' bed.
While it's cold outside, it's warm inside in front of the fire. Wood burning fireplaces are the best.

December Update

Stuart has started sleeping in his big boy bed, at least for naps. Said big boy bed is to the right of Deirbhile. We're hopeful that by the time Vivian arrives in January that Stuart will have transitioned completely into his new bed. If not, well, he'll have no choice once Vivian comes home.
Sometime next year we're going to move Deirbhile into sleep with Stuart. Not actually with him of course but in her own bed. Currently she sleeps in the basement in a cage while my beloved Seamus sleeps in his bed in our room. Stuart would love to have one of the dogs sleep with him. I think right now with the new bed and new baby on the way, adding a dog into his room would be to0 much for him right now. Maybe it wouldn't, but we're not going to push it.
Seamus meanwhile is concerned that if Deirbhile starts to sleep in Stuart's room that she'll become his favorite. I keep telling Seamus that she could never be Stuart's favorite. Seamus plays with Stuart, they romp around and get into mischief together. Deirbhile allows Stuart to pull her fur and ears and climb her like monkey bars but she isn't very interactive and she disappears when she can get away. Seamus will always be the favorite. Such a sweet little boy he is.

Happy Birthday Janna!

Today is Janna's 26th birthday. God has blessed her with life and salvation in the Lord. Who could ask for more. We'll be giving thanks unto God today by reading Psalm 26 as a family. I think this tradition of reading a birthday Psalm was stolen from the Lanning's, who no doubt stole it from someone else. I'm sure someone can trace it to the Reformation or something or other. I frankly don't care where it came from, it's an opportunity to thank the Lord for each year of life through the Psalms.

In any event, happy birthday old lady! We know in spirit you're much older than 26. :)

Psalm 26

Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.

Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.

I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.

I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:

That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:

In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.

Various Minor Events

Stuart had a decent enough Thanksgiving this year. We went out to metro Detroit this year. My brother started his medical internship this year at Henry Ford Hospital. Since we haven't seen his new home and since he rarely gets days off, we decided to go out there this one time. Stuart sat through a miserable Lions game. I hate them so much but I'll never kick the habit. Thanksgiving without the Lions is like New Years without the Rose Bowl.
Janna recently got Stuart a shopping cart, which he regularly fills with his toys. Today it seems to be his big blocks and cleaning supplies. Yes, Stuart has his own set of cleaning supplies. He likes to help Janna clean around the house everyday. I freely admit he doesn't actually do anything besides help pick up after himself. But give him a year and we'll have this child working for us. And really, isn't that what we have children for? Be honest, you all had kids so they would clean around the house or do yard work. Deny it all you want, deep in your heart you know I'm right.
Seamus and Deirbhile are a touch weary of the cleaning supplies. I think they're afraid of what Stuart might do to them with said cleaning supplies.
Alas, Stuart doesn't attach the dogs with any cleaning supplies. Mostly he just loves to pal around with them. If he could be around the dogs 24/7 he would be, he just loves them. Seamus in particular, he calls for him by name every morning.
Wednesday Janna and I went to the Wings game in beautiful downtown Detroit. Janna bought Vivian's naming rights from me and the price she paid is in hockey jerseys. She must wear a hockey jersey to every hockey game we go to, whether it's the Wings, Michigan State or the Griffins. Wednesday she wore my Pavel Datsyuk jersey with a 2002 Stanley Cup Finals patch on the right hand shoulder. Doesn't she look lovely? I especially like the black spinel that goes so well with this jersey.

The Final Countdown

This week Janna and I went to Chicago for a couple of days. Stuart got to visit his grandparents and aunt of canine persuasion in Okemos. Wednesday night Janna and I went to the Hawks game against the Bruins. Before the game they retired the #3 in honor of Keith Magnuson and Pierre Pilote. Both of these players played before I was old enough to follow hockey but by all accounts they were good players for the Hawks.
After screaming and clapping during the national anthem, we got to see a pretty good Original Six matchup. The Hawks lost in a shootout 2-1 but I'm here to tell you it's one of the best games I've seen in person in years. Great defense and excellent goaltending made for an enjoyable evening.
Thursday was a beautiful day in the city, we did quite a bit of walking and a touch of shopping. We ate at Morton's for dinner and had desert at Tru. I had the lamb chops at Morton's, I'm really beginning to enjoy lamb more than steak. Janna of course had her big giant man steak, a bone-in ribeye that had to have weighed two pounds.
We retrieved Stuart and found that my parents had gone wild with him. They apparently went to Toys R Us and bought half the store. After all, if Stuart wanted it they had to buy it. Ok, maybe they aren't that crazy. They did buy him this red contraption which my mother declared to be a piano that played classical music. Once we took it home we discovered it played Europe's The Final Countdown in dog barks. Apparently that's classical music in my mother's mind. In her defense, she's probably never heard that song before.
Stuart wasn't exactly pleased to see us when he was returned. He would much rather get spoiled by my parents. But as the days have gone on he's gotten used to being with boring old mom and ranting crazy dad. He also likes the new outfit we bought him. We like it mostly because it was on sale.

Our Month So Far

We decided to take Stuart to an apple orchard a couple weeks ago. The place was basically a glorified donut shop and old lady treasures store. I was hoping we would be able to pick our own apples, but that was out of the question. Probably to dangerous for liability insurance.
They had one bale of hay on a cart, this apparently is what they consider to be a hay ride. Unfortunately there was no ride. Stuart was pleased with the hay though.
And here's Stuart with a pumpkin, I don't really know why but Janna insisted on the picture. Apparently it's very autumn.
Stuart has taken to trying to help clean around the house. Here he is holding a broom, apparently trying to sweep the floors. Give him a couple of years and he'll be a good house slave for Janna. Seamus is very concerned about what Stuart might do with that broom.
Isn't Deirbhile the cutest thing ever. Janna would say this is the face of evil, I say it's the face of sweetness.Stuart loves playing with his dogs. The puppies tend to rough house in the evening with each other. Every so often I catch Stuart right in the middle of it, pushing the dogs down and getting pushed down himself. He loves it.
Monday I had the misfortune of going to Ann Arbor for a motion. I won the motion, which was pleasing even though I was stuck in A2. The one redeeming quality of that cesspool is Zingerman's. I was able to get three wonderful salami's and Prosciutto di Parma that tastes just like the stuff Janna and I had on our Honeymoon in Italy. The bread they have at Zingerman's was also excellent. Why can't we have places like this in Grand Rapids? Russo's just doesn't cut it.

Happy Days Are Here Again!

Saturday we gave Stuart up to his Oma and Opa so Janna and I could go to the MSU-Notre Dame game in peace. You can see here, Janna is slicing up tomatoes for our tailgate.
The Stanley Cup was on display outside of Spartan Stadium. Janna and I got to see the Cup and have our picture taken with it.
The glorious Spartan Marching Band during pre-game festivities. You can see the place is packed out, most folks wearing white for the whiteout.
Here our Spartans are setting themselves up for a touchdown. MSU would in fact score and go up 10-0 in the second quarter on their way to a 23-7 victory over the previously undefeated Irish.
Our Spartans just after they won the game, joy exudes from the entire team.
And finally they celebrate with the band and the student section. Happy days have returned to East Lansing.
And we return home to discover that Stuart and Seamus have taken over our bedroom.
Stuart and Seamus are clearly up to no good, you can see the guilty look on both faces.
Janna has figured out their plot, all while wearing a new dress from Macy's (clearance rack) and a Swiss Blue Topaz around her neck.