Introducing....

Erica Lee Finch
Born Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 3:29pm
7lbs 12oz, 20.5 cm.


Here she is, our beautiful baby girl. A short entry today to let you all know she has arrived (a week old today !) and that all is well. She looks just like her Daddy and sleeps so well. Mummy is getting lots of sleep between feedings and our little Erica is so good natured. Lindsay is a proud big sister and we are looking forward to our new adventure as a family of four.

Love Helen xoxo

Clubs:

It's hot and humid and I'm grateful for central air in the house and AC in my car.
Well, we've only got a couple of weeks to go. The baby is moving downwards - I've noticed it's a bit easier to breathe these days and I don't suffer such bad indigestion. Everything is set to go, so as soon as Lindsay's graduation ceremony is over (June 17th), the baby is free to come as far as we're concerned !

In keeping with our theme, I want to take some creative photographs of Teddy Bears to print and frame in the baby's room. If any one has any ideas, or links to other deviations on dA that I can imitate, please let me know !

On another note, my dear brother is now taking commissions to help fund his next trip home for the holidays. Check out his page if you're interested !
I think I'll get Lindsay to open a lemonade & doggie biscuit stand this weekend and if this humid hot weather keeps up, we'll be able to afford to fly them home on a Concorde !

I hope everyone is well and enjoying summer so far. More updates to follow as the end of June approaches.

Love Helen

Clubs:

I'm feeling very tired these days but there's so much still left to do. Geoff and I spent the long weekend painting the baby's room in between gardnening. I'm so pleased with the room ! The colour is a very pale yellow called "Cotton Blossom" - which is similar to a banana pudding, but it's actually even paler than that !
The trim is all in white and it looks so fresh and new. No evidence left that it was once my beautiful office that Geoff had so lovingly painted for me in bold Cranberry and Summer Squash almost 2 years ago.

Prenatal classes are underway. It's a good thing we signed up because things have changed SO much since Lindsay was born almost 12 years ago. It's a lot of fun though and Geoff and I are now known as the 'oldest couple' in our class ! Everyone thinks we are brave for doing this at our age (they are saying brave to be polite, but we know they think we are crazy).

I promised a Toby update. He's back to normal again. He's eating like there's no tomorrow and although we never dissected the litter box contents for the remains of the eaten dental floss, we're pretty sure it's worked its way out of him. OK, enough about that (ewwww!!).

That's it on my end. I just want to say that we here are thinking of those in China and Burma who have lost their homes and loved ones. We are so fortunate for all that we have and must never take it for granted. Our prayers go out to all who have been affected by these catastrophic events.

Love Helen xoxo



Clubs:

Only 6 weeks to go !!

Here we are already....mid May and I'm 34 weeks pregnant.
Baby is due end of June and we are getting things ready for his or her arrival. My office is being converted into a baby's room. Geoff started to put the primer up and it was really strange watching him cover up the recently painted cranberry and summer squash walls that he so lovingly had painted for me to make my office a nicer place to be.
The new colour will be a light beige & white and the decor is natural wood with a Teddy Bear print border ! I can't wait to see it all done.

We have finally picked out a couple of names (boy and girl) but we'll announce the name when baby comes.
Things are going well health wise. We had concerns about my blood pressure, as I had pre-eclampsia 11 years ago with Lindsay....but so far so good. I feel very large and I'm getting quite uncomfortable especially at night. Still, it's a wonderful feeling to know there is a life growing inside me - a little baby made up of Geoff and I. The most important gift that God can give us. I think of how lucky I have been to have Lindsay as a daughter and am grateful for the opportunity to do it all over again.

It's scary sometimes to think of the sleepless nights, colic, terrible twos, countless fevers, colds and viruses, losing my independance.....can I handle all this again at 42 ???
Yes I can. With Geoff and Lindsay at my side, and the strength that God will give us...we can do this.

On another note....Toby is sick. . On Friday night he got into the bathroom garbage can. We found the contents all over the floor. By Saturday he started vomiting eveywhere, and stopped eating completely. We hoped that he'd gotten whatever he'd eaten, out of his system but by Monday he was just weak and dehydrated. I took him to the vet. They opened his mouth and found the end of a length of dental floss that he must have found and chewed up. They sedated him but were only able to remove a couple of inches (afraid that by tugging, it would tear his small intestine).
We brought him home with a tube of laxative, a syringe and soft cat food. I've been force feeding him 3 times a day and we hope that this will carry the floss through his system to pass naturally. If it doesn't work, he'll need surgery to remove it.

So far so good - his strength seems to be coming back and he is being very cooperative with the feedings. I'm sure he will be fine.

Well that's it from my end for now. I'll try to keep you posted over the next few weeks.

A special thank you to my dear friend Karen for checking in regularly and for her prayers and messages that are so appreciated !! Love ya Karen !!

Clubs:

I'm going to have to renew my subscription....these ads really slow things down and it's very frustrating trying to get to my friends' latest postings ! Trying to get caught up on things, so will pay the fee for another couple of months and post a new journal between checking out all your new work ! I miss my dA friends !!!

Love Helen