Benjamin Fritz Riemer

Benjamin Fritz Riemer born Friday, April 23rd 2010 5:21 AM. Weighing 7lb. 10oz. 20 1/2 inches long.
He was scheduled to come during a 1PM c-section the same day but around 1AM my water broke. At the time I thought we could just wait until our appt. later that day but I called the Dr. just to make sure. She said to make our way to the hospital. So, in the middle of the night, Marty and I packed up our bags, cameras and things and took off for the hospital. Thankfully Grandma and Papa were already here and we were able to leave Josie unbothered and snoring in her room.
About 5 minutes into our drive to the hospital my contractions started. By the time we got to the hospital (around 2:30) I was in active labor with contractions every 8 minutes, lasting 1 1/2 minutes and already dilated to 3. They were planning to wait it out but after about an hour of active labor they decided that he was ready to come now.
He has been with us just 5 days now and it is hard to remember what life was like without him. Like his sister, he is a very good baby. Great sleeper, eater and pooper... basically that is all he does with an occasional fussy period.
Welcome to the family, Benjamin Fritz. We are so in love and happy you are here!!

Ready... Or at Least Ready to Pop!

Josie has been faithfully cutting a link of the "baby chain" every morning and then counting the remaining links.
Here she is with 10 days left

And again at 3 days left. Where did the time go??

So, I think we are as ready as we will ever be. I told Marty I really wanted to get a few photos with the belly. After that he can come whenever he wants. Really, that was one of the very few things that could NOT be done after the birth.

So with that out of the way, I guess we are ready. 3 more days until D(ue) day :)

Lilacs

Josie and Marty went on a walk to the park and to the library last weekend. On the way home a neighbor invited them to pick a bunch of lilacs from a branch she had just pruned. Josie wanted to put them in water... of course, that meant each little branch in its own cup of water.
I love the smell of fresh lilacs.

Podcast Central

On April 1st, Marty started a new "career" of sorts. He and Jodi started a daily podcast from our basement. Marty spent well over a month transforming his office/man cave into a functioning studio for both webcasting and podcasting. He also created his new website: martyriemer.com
The first show on April 1st went great with Chris Mays as their special guest to introduce new music... her specialty.

The following week, Nicole Brodeur from The Seattle Times came to write a great article about the new venture. Here is her article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2011562096_nicole09m.html

And then last Friday, a local musician, Daniel Kamas, came in to play a few songs.

So far, so good. Both he and Jodi love the fun of being able to broadcast again without the restrictions they had on public radio.

Swimming

Josie had her final two swim lessons this past week. She has improved a lot since her first swim lesson a month ago. We will probably sign up again once life gets settled down after the arrival of #2.
Marty was able to come to both swim lessons this week which was much appreciated by both of us. Josie really want to show off for her dad and seemed to have more confidence when he was there.

I mentioned that every time Josie would go out and take a turn with one of the instructors she would come back and give us a "thumbs up" This pretty much captures that look with her crazy eyes behind her googles and all.

EASTER

We had a great Easter. Pre-Easter prep included dying the eggs for the Riemer family get together.

On Easter, we drove down to Oma and Opa's for the annual Easter brunch and baskets-full-of-candy hunting. Josie did much better this year and found her fair share of Easter baskets and WAY more than her fair share of chocolate.

As always, Oma outdid herself. A beautifully decorated table, a full German breakfast spread AND 4 (!) homemade cakes. Thank you, Oma!!

Josie even got Easter tattoos.

And the whole group

Preparing

We have been preparing for baby Riemer for some time. A little over a week ago, Josie and I made a paper chain to count down the days until her little brother arrives. The first thing she does every morning is run to the chain and cuts off a link... or in this case 3 links since she was gone for a few days.

Last weekend while Josie was at Liz's, some friends threw a baby shower for me and the new baby. Although I'm not really one for showers and didn't even have one for Josie it was really fun to see a bunch of my favorite friends all together. Unfortuntely, there isn't a group shot but here a couple photos.


Of course Josie wasn't all that excited to see a bunch of new gifts and things for her brother and not much for her. She came around when I gave her a mini cupcake that I'd saved from the party.

Then, yesterday a bunch of Marty's friends from high school had another shower for us at a restaurant at South Center. Josie was the "present opener." Thankfully, she is pretty thrilled just to open the gifts and doesn't really care much that they are not for her.
She did get a really nice book just for her and took charge of the three stuffed animals that I'm sure were meant for her brother. She just had to use the camera and get a good shot of her little friends "all by herself"

Weekend in Heaven... AKA Snohomish

Last weekend Josie spent most of the weekend up with Aunt Liz and Uncle Ed. As always, Josie was in Heaven. Actually, for the few days leading up to her trip north, she kept saying, "I'm going to stay with Liz for 3 months!" I would have to tell her that no, actually, she was just staying 2 nights. But it did prompt me to ask her if she'd miss us if she were to be gone for 3 months. Her immediate response was a hearty, "NO!"

Here are just a few of the photos from the weekend. She had a ball on the boat, at the playground and at the Everett Children's Museum. Not to mention all the fun she had with Liz's llamas, goats, chickens, dogs and cats. No wonder she wants to stay for 3 months. They make it seem like summer camp each time she visits.