Wine corks and crazy pigtails

They're home!

Maia was discharged yesterday afternoon and the Pucketts are finally all together in the peace and comfort of their own home. Thanks for everyone's prayers and good wishes for our niece and her parents.

Good news from Chicago

Just heard from Mom. Becca has been discharged, and Maia has to stay at least one more night. However, they are allowing the baby to room-in with Becca and Andy in a private room in the NICU. They are letting her eat and Mom says she looks very very good and healthy. Mom and Dad are on their way home, and hopefully tomorrow, the Puckett family will be too!
Pictures from yesterday (I have no idea why they are so small):

More Maia pics

More on Maia

Maia was moved back to the NICU late last night. She had diapers with bloody stools and had been lethargic and not eating well all day. It sounds like the are thinking infection, possibly NEC. The baby is stable, though they have stopped feeds and started antibiotics. I don't have much more information than that now, but I'll post more as I know it. Please pray for the Pucketts, most especially baby Maia.

I do have some sweet pictures from Sat. night:

Maia Update

Talked with Becca at about 3pm and Mom at about 6:30pm. Maia's off her oxygen and has been fed a bottle a couple of times. She's been moved to the Stepdown Nursery, which is just down the hall from Becca's postpartum room, and the plan was for her to go see the baby after 7pm. I cannot wait to see a picture of my sister holding her new little girl!

Ta-Da!

After 24 very long hours for my sister Becca and her husband Andy, they welcomed 8lb 12 oz Maia Lauren into the world this morning! She was delivered by c-section. She had a bit of a rough start, and was sent to the NICU for mild respiratory distress. As you can see, as of about 10am, she was still on either O2 per nasal cannula, or flowpap, which is oxygen support combined with a small amount of flow pressure to help her breathe. She also has an IV, and since they just found blood in her stool, that's likely to be her only source of nutrition and hyrdation for a while. I just talked to my parents, who are on their way up, and Becca's doing ok - it was a really long night for her, and she's evidently got a morphine drip for pain control. She hasn't seen her daughter in person yet. Please keep Maia, Becca, and Andy in your prayers as they recover and start to get to know each other as a family.

Madeleine's New Joke

M: Knock-knock!
You: Who's there?
M: Orin!
You: Orin who?
M: Orin loves you!

It's @#%&ing Cold!

So here are some nice, warmer pictures from this summer!

More on the ice storm

Got this email and these pictures from my brother Christopher. He and his wife Maggie live in St. Louis, and fared far worse than we did in the storm. I'll spare you the two pictures he sent of the dead bird they found in the basement.

Hello All,

Hope everybody is doing ok. Here is a synopsis from the weekend at the Ramsay Ranch 2:

Saturday: 5:30am Awake to no power

Saturday: 11:00am Release Garage door so we can get out

Saturday: 11:30am-8:00pm Stare at walls and each other(power back at 9pm)

Saturday: 4:00pm Can not get garage door down evenly and break wires (do get both cars out)

Saturday: 10:00pm Neighbor tree falls on back of Honda (in the driveway because of garage problems)

Sunday: 8:00am Discover tree on Car

Sunday: 8am-12am Stare at walls, power in and out

Monday: 4pm Get garage fixed by repair man

Monday 7pm Discover Kamakazi bird who flew through our basement window and laid to rest on our basement floor (or discover a really scary threat from the St. Louis mob)

It has been a crazy few days, enjoy the pictures. Hope to hear from Becca soon!!!

The Ice Storm

It started Friday afternoon. We were expecting friends for dinner, so I loaded up the kids and we ran to Wal Mart to pick up a few things. I had heard the forcast, and the ice storm warning that was supposed to last until Sunday night, but the forcast has been wrong before. When we went into Wal Mart, it was chilly and raining, but not slick. The store was a zoo - the canned food aisle looked like a bomb had gone off, the milk was almost all gone, I couldn't find ice melt anywhere. There were people and carts everywhere. School had let our early, and I'm sure a lot of people were leaving work early too. At one point, I heard then page overheard for employees to retrieve more carts from the corrals outside - there were none left in the store and there were customers waiting. All the registers were open, and each one was at least three carts deep. I've never seen our WalMart this insane - not even at Christmas. We got lucky, and moved pretty quickly through the checkout. We left the store about 45 minutes after we entered, and there was an inch of icy slush in the parking lot and it was raining ice. The lot was slick as snot, and I got the kids and the groceries and the kids in the car as quickly as I could. We saw several accidents in the short time it took us to get home. We canceled with our friends and Shannon came home early. He stopped to air up a tire and ended up helping out a teenager who had spun out and crossed the median on her way to work.

On Saturday, it stopped for a bit. We hung out at home, attempted to keep it tidy, and made cookies. It started up again late in the afternoon. We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner (China Palace!) and ended up spending the night. The car was iced over and their road hadn't been graded yet. We decided just to not bother trying to get home in the cold and the dark. We got up the next morning and had breakfast with them, then headed home. It rained pretty much all day, and the temperature hovered just above freezing. The January TEC was taking place this weekend in Jeff at Immaculate Conception, and Shannon and I were doing music for the mass and Hoot on Sunday night. We went and played, and Dad came and helped watch the kids. We headed home about 8:30. As we said goodnight to Dad, Madeleine said, "Night Grandpa. See you in the morning!" We explained to her that while we would see Grandpa soon, it wouldn't be the next morning. Well, evidently she was speaking prophesy, because when we got home, we realized that there were NO lights on in our neighborhood. The huge billboards on the highway were dark, as were the security lights at the storage unit across the street, and there were no lights on in any of the homes. When we pulled up and tried to open the garage door, we discovered that indeed, we had lost power. So I ran inside to grab some diapers and a change of clothes, and to make sure Homer was well fed and all set while Shannon called my parents. We head back to Mom and Dad's to spend the night once again. Shannon ran home in the morning early after he woke up, and the power had returned.

With all of these goings-on this weekend, the biggest news is that Noah rolled over for the first time! He did it reaching for their bizzare blinking toy at my parents' house on Sunday morning. He did it again about an hour ago, trying to eat the case that Madeleine's bristle blocks came in.

Since I started this post yesterday, we've lost power again. I woke up this morning at 0130 to feed Noah and noticed that the clocks were out and the furnance wasn't blowing. I had Shannon set the alarm clock on his phone so I would make it to my transport staff meeting on time, threw a couple more blankets on the bed and the baby and went back to sleep. Shannon was uneasy about the cold (it was 3 degrees when I left for my meeting at 7am) and not having heat, and didn't fall asleep again until the power came back, which was about 0230 judging by the clocks.

Today, it's bright and sunny, and bittterly cold. As I drove home from Columbia after my meeting, my car said it was 8 degrees. The ice is beautiful on the trees and fences, but the back roads are still patchy and the drive to and from Columbia was sketchy at times. I don't have any good ice storm pictures, so I'll post some cute pictures of my kids.

Noah, flush with victory moments after he rolled from back to belly for the first time

Madeleine playing with one of her favorite Christmas presents:
a box of dress up clothes she calls her Princess Clothes

Madeleine took this of me and Noah

Cute bundled up kiddos

Baby Puck

is due today! No word yet from Chicago. We are waiting anxiously to meet her! If my lucky labor shirt was still lucky, I'd overnight it to Becca. The effects, however, were sadly temporary ("Mee mee mee mee mee mee", and only worked for me with Madeleine. If I were my husband or my brother, I'd turn this into some crack about the Cubs, but I'm nicer than they are, so I won't.

Four months with Noah

Can't remember what it was like without him. He had his 4 month checkup last week and did great, even with the 5 immunizations he had to get. He's 14lbs 12 oz, 25.5 " long, and his head circumference is 42 cm. Everything's in the 50th %tile except his length, which is in the 75th %tile. That explains why his legs outgrow his sleepers so quickly. He's hitting all the developmental things for a 4-5 month old pretty well. We're waiting for him to roll over from tummy to back or back to tummy, but that could be any day now. He's rolling from side to side easily, and often turns 360 degrees around when he's lying on his back playing under the baby gym. He's been laughing, gurgling, and groaning for a while now, but just these last couple of days, he's figured out that he can screech. It's a pretty interesting sound, at times sounding like a mountain lion, and other times like Steven Tyler.

Willy, nilly, silly old...

Me: Hey Madeleine, what's this guy's name?
Madeleine: Winnie the Poop!

More Christmas Photos

Noah and Shannon get festive with our Christmas cracker party hats

Shannon pulls Madeleine around Mom and Dad's front yard in the wagon Santa brought (yes, Shannon is still wearing the Christmas cracker party hat)

The morning after: We stayed at the Cerneka Christmas until 11pm, and but we still didn't get to bed until close to 1am because Shannon went out to find cold medicine for Madeleine so she could get some sleep. This was taken at about 10am on Dec 26, after I finally pried myself out of bed. I had worked the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, and had been up for more than 36 hours when I finally got to go to bed. Christmas was a long long day for everybody.

Madeleine and cousin Nathan rocking out to Grandma C's Millenium Santa, who wears a tuxedo and sings Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" with Y2k verses

Noah really digs the bouncy seat. We got it out for him for the first time last week, and he loves to bounce and spin while Shannon sings and plays guitar for him and Madeleine.

Next up: New Year's Eve pictures! Stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

Well, our holiday season is over, and is going out with a whimper. And a sneeze. And a cough. And a fever. We're all sick with Madeleine's cold (I actually have the flu as well) so our New Year's Eve was kind of a bust. But I think the Ramsay New Year's Eve Party was as great a sucess as it ever is. I tried, but I couldn't make it past 10 pm and went to bed with the kids that night.
Overall, it was a good holiday. What I am most proud of is actually getting my Christmas cards out this year. I honestly tried last year, bought cards, ordered wallet-sized prints of our family portrait. I got the cards assmbled and signed, but ran out of steam before I could get them addressed and in the mail. I was so tired, I barely had the energy to finish my shopping and wrap gifts. It turns out, I was tired for a very good reason. I was pregnant with Noah, and that's how our 2006 began. It was another wonderful, hilarious, challenging, and adventurous year:

- Shannon's Mom's 60th birthday party
-Oddwalk busier than ever going to(among other places I'm sure I'm forgetting): Lubbock TX, San Diego CA, Beaumont TX, Ogdensburg NY, Sioux City IA, Las Vegas NV, plus mutliple appearances at the Shrine in Belleville and in Jefferson City
-Camping with a few of our ministry friends at Mark Twain Lake State Park
-Our 3rd anniversary dinner at the Melting Pot with Orin and Erin
-The announcement of our niece-to-be, expected to arrive soon (due Jan 11)
-Our weeklong vacation at the beach with Clan Ramsay
-Oddwalk recording and releasing a new CD
-The Cardinals winning the World Series!
-Traveling, with both the kids, to Las Vegas for the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry
-Christpower and Young Neighbors STL for Shannon
-Following the Farmers' Chinese odessey and welcoming Ava Therese FuBin Farmer
-Welcoming fresh-from-God Cerneka family members Sammy Driscoll, Molly Distler and Griffin Leahy
-Welcoming fresh-from-God friends Craig Willmann, Ava Reeser, Caedmon Farmer, and Jacob Smith
-Our first (and sadly only for the summer) visit to new Busch Stadium to watch a Cubs-Cards game
-My craziest transport ever: meeting a county ambulance on the side of Highway 63 to pick up and resucsitate a 27 weeker that had delivered in the ambulance on the way to the hospital
-Madeleine's daily discovery of language (you can say "Dolphin?" I didn't even know you knew what a dolphin was!"), the emergence of her sense of humor (knock knock! who's there? orin. orin who?), and her budding independence (No! I do it 'self!)

The two most signifcant events of this year occured this summer, with weeks of one another. We lost my grandmother Dorothy Haxton on July 2 to her four year battle with lung cancer. Our Gammer was fun and funny, smart, amazingly creative, generous, ornery and at times a little insane. I find myself thinking of her often, and miss her very much.

Four weeks later, we brought Noah Matthew into the world. Aside from the four miserable months of "morning sickness" (morning my butt), it was a healthy and easy pregnancy. I delieverd him safely on August 29 after a few short hours of labor, with Shannon and my dear, wonderful friend Katy Korte at my sides. My Noah-Boy totally rocks, with his one dimple, his chubby cheeks and round belly, his sweet, easy smile, his crinkly little green eyes (like mine) and big ol' round noggin (like Dad's).

God is so good. Blessings abound, and I can't hardly wait to see what 2007 holds for us, our family and our friends.

I'll never miss TAL again!

My awesome husband gave me a nano for Christmas. It has taken me an hour, because, though the device is relatively simple and easy to use, there is still a bit of a learning curve, especially for those of us not entirely used to dealing with Mac. But here I am, listening to my first download: a podcast of This American Life, in my opinon, the best radio program around today. Our local public radio station broadcasts it on Sundays starting at 10 am, and I usually miss it because I'm either sleeping for work or at church. When I do get to listen, I rarely get to hear a whole act, and I never get to hear an entire show. I adore Sarah Vowell and dearly wish I had her gift for storytelling and essay writing. She is a frequent contibutor to TAL.

I should be cleaning my house and doing laundry, but between work and visiting for the holiday, I haven't been able to play with any of my Christmas presents. Other stuff I downloaded:
-iTunes Originals: Barenaked Ladies (whole album)
-32 Flavors Ani Difranco (original studio recording)
-A Little Less Conversation Elvis Presley (JXL Radio Remix)
-All Night Long (All Night) Lionel Richie
-Copacabana Barry Manilow
-Don't Stop Til You Get Enough Michael Jackson
-Will You Be There Michael Jackson
-Ice Ice Baby Vanilla Ice
-One Night In Bangkok Murray Head (I LOVE this song! It was the first thing I bought after downloading TAL)
-Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond
-The Devil Went Down to Georgia Charlie Daniels Band

Finally mostly healthy again

Hello! I haven't been able to blog for two weeks due to the holidays and working. The whole family got hit with Madeleine's cold (thanks initially to the Way of Lights Children's Village) and I had the flu over New Year's. Poor Noah was the last of us to get the cold, and then he had his four month check up and immunizations (5 of them!) on top. Then the iBook got called to duty this weekend when Oddwalk went to Waco, and I'm not about to attempt to use dial-up to post photos. So here we are! I'm going to post a couple of entries I wrote over the last week or so and didn't have a chance to finish, and then I'll put up a bunch of pics from Christmas and some from New Year's. I was seriously out of commission on New Year's Eve, so I didn't get but a couple pictures from Mom and Dad's party.