Father of the Year!

Katy finally went into labor on Friday evening, and called me, the midwife,and her other friends and family that were going to attend her during her delivery. I dropped the kids with my folks and busted a move on up to Kirksville as fast as I could. Right at about LaPlata, which is 15 minutes outside of Kirksville, my phone rings, and it's them. Here is the conversation as I remember:
Me: Hello?
Chris: Hi. This is Chris Korte.
Me: Yes, I know, Chris Korte. What's up?
(Katy, the background: It's Erin Ramsay! I had you call Erin!)
Chris: The baby's out!
Me: The baby's out!? You delivered the baby?
Chris: Yes. Oh my God, I've never been so scared in my life.
Me: Is the baby breathing?
(screaming baby in background)
Me: That's good - I can hear it crying. Okay, what you need to do now is dry and stimulate it. Put it on Katy's chest and cover it them with a dry towel.
Chris: Cover them with a dry towel.
Me:The important thing is to keep it warm and pink and breathing. Did you call the midwife?
Chris: She should be here any second. The cord's still attached.
Me: Don't worry about the cord. The midwife will take care of it when she gets there. Just keep the baby warm and pink. I'll be there in 10 minutes. Are you okay?
Chris: Oh my God, I was so scared.
Me: You did great! Congratulations!

By the time I got there, the midwife was there and had tied and cut the cord. Evidently, around 7pm Katy's contractions suddenly got more intense and she felt the need to push, and she told her husband so. Their friend Sara had just walked in the door when Katy started pushing. Sarah started taking pictures. Zoe was there the entire time (they had sent Isaiah to a friends) and sat on the steps down into the back room and watched the whole thing. She was very brave and very mature throughout. The head delivered, and Katy told Alvin to check for a cord around the neck. There was indeed a nuchal cord, and Katy told Alvin to get the scissors. Well, Sarah looked, reached over, and looped her finger around the cord. Alvin was then able to slip it over the baby's head and deliver the shoulders and the body. Katy turned around, sat down in the tub, and he handed her the baby, washed off his hands, and called me. And so Eleisa Renea came into the world.

She's about ten minutes old here. The blueness of her hands and forhead are normal. She weighed 9 lbs 8oz, and was 22 inches long.

Zoe was amazing. She handled the whole delivery like a much older girl. Afterwards, of course, she was a maniac. But here she is, quiet and mature and holding her baby sister.

Katy and Eleisa.



This is the Mennonite midwife, Nancy.

Isaiah meets his sister. He was unsure at first, but he warmed up to her.

The new, improved Korte family.

Zoe is wearing a sorcerer's costume her aunt brought her that night as a gift.

11 Months Old!

Happy 11 Months, Boy!

Noah vs. the play kitchen

The play kitchen falls before the might of my 11 month old Samson.

Aren't the Pucketts moving to Spellaska?

I think it's funny and interesting how terribly some people spell some pretty common words as they voice opinions on the internet. Evidently, someone else does, too and chose to say something. I found this comment to the comments on MSNBC's Test Pattern, which is about tv shows and commercials: (This particular article was about the new season of Lost)

I love Lost. Let me just say that first before I say this: Some of you dudes need to slow down your typing or get a proof reader. "Inthrawled?" Really? "Intrust?" Is that like "interest?" A piece of advice. www.webster.com. Don't ever stop learning.
Spelly McSpell, Spelltonia, Spellaska

Pop-A-Shot!

This is Madeleine. Playing Pop-A-Shot. From inside.

We went to Bonkers with some work friends of mine and their kids, and after a bit, I lost track of the girl. I figured she'd headed up the stairs to the arcade, but Shawna looked and said she wasn't there. So, I took my shoes off and prepared to go up in the maze, and I heard Shawna laughing and yelled, "She's in here!". She had boosted herself up, crawled under the partition that keeps the balls in until someone puts money in, and was shooting baskets.

Sheesh. She's brave, and cunning, and this thrills me and scares me to death at the same time.

July 4th

Here are some pictures from the week of July 4th. Becca and Maia were in for a whole week, and we spent as much time as possible with them, as they are moving to Anchorage, Alaska the end of August. I had to work on July 3rd, which was the night of the final Ramsay Ranch Blow Up the World Party. Shannon and the kids went. On the 4th, we ate dinner with my family and then headed to the Neudeckers to watch the country club fireworks from their front lawn.

Noah goes for Maia's hair. Maia retaliates.
John sits with his goddaughter.
Noah and Granpa (or Crappa, as Madeleine is saying these days)
Star spangled Madeleine!
Madeleine and Valerie Neudecker.
Me and the babies.
Madeleine watches the guys unearth the OJIF time capsule that we buried on New Year's Eve, 1999.

The kiddos crashed on the living room floor.
Madeleine checks out the fireworks platform.

Swimming in the baby pool at Gramma and Granpa's new house.

Stop looking, I've found it!

We've been looking for Shannon's goatee for almost a week now. Well, the durn thing finally turned up today, and wouldn't you know, it was right under our nose the entire time. Or rather, under Madeleine's nose:

Around the house

Some fun pictures of the family, including a couple of my neice Maia, who was visiting with her mom last week.

Noah and Maia playing at the Villa.

Me and the babies!

Poor sick and teething Noah.

Yet another picture of the girl in her dress-up clothes. I couldn't resist this one, though, with all the plastic leis.

She looks kinda cute in glasses.

Ready for a trip to the Jimmy for margaritas and cheese dip!

Shannon and Madeleine listening to his new iPod.

Okay, so this bizarre little still life is supposed to be Madeleine's "school". She hauled the chair out of her room, put the plasic bin in the seat, and then filled it with a basket from her play kitchen, her Go Diego Go Rescue Pack, a Fredbird puzzle piece, half of a plastic orange, a red Solo cup, and a lei. Then she put the pink lei on her self, stood on top of the Gladware lid, and asked me, "Would you like to join me? Would you like to be my student?". I should also note that she choose and dressed herself in that outfit. I believe it's the first time for her to do that on her own.



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Busy, busy!

As usual. Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks.

At Ekhert's in Belleville. Shannon's sister Laura treated the family to breakfast there on his birthday.

Our friend Marianne in the YSP production of "Joseph".

Madeleine and Patrick Baker with his cousin Jessica. The kids were showing off their tongues, made blue by the icing from the cake.

The Bockwinkel-Baker family on the morning of Anthony's baptism.

Madeleine and Patrick before the baptism.

St. Louis Zoo

A couple weeks ago, we looked at our schedules and realized we had a whole Friday and Saturday off together, with no family or work obligations whatsoever. We wanted to go camping, but it was too late to make reservations and it ended up being a rainy weekend anyway. So, we decided to take Saturday and visit the Zoo for the first time as a family. We saw the animals, rode the train, rode the carousel, and visited the Children's Zoo. I made a picnic and we tailgated in the zoo parking lot. We ended the day by going to Mass at the Shrine and having dinner there.

Noah loved the meerkats

Me and Madeleine on the carousel.

Shannon takes a self portrait of himself and Noah.

Noah on the train.

Noah and the goat. He wasn't crazy about them.

My family as otters.

Petting guinea pigs at the Children's Zoo while waiting out a shower.