Andrew Joel Keisling

Andrew Joel Keisling was born at 4:05 am Friday July 31st. He weighed 7 lbs 15 ozs and measured 21 1/2 inches long. Mommy and Baby are doing fine. Also, Timothy loved getting to meet his new brother.

Now for Pictures

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

So, still no baby. We're starting to get more than a little anxious, since we've hit the final 2 week countdown before we move. We've packed everything but Timothy's toys, the kitchen, and the clothes we need until the move. That will help when we get down to the wire and I'm managing 2 kids, but for now, it's only making us stir crazy. There's not enough to do... We have been enjoying the beautiful summer weather, and taking many opportunities to get Timothy out of the house. Storytime at the library, playgroup, the pool, and the park on our own.

Timothy is loving it, and it will be hard this week when John's away this week. He was offered some work for the week, and took it -- provided I don't give birth first -- so that will keep him busy, but keep Timothy and I semi-confined. We'll be okay though. The bus can take us where our feet can't. And, if we're lucky, it will only be a few days before small one makes his appearance anyway.

We're trying to figure out what this kid is waiting on. We've packed everything we can pack, the house is clean, I've packed and repacked the hospital bag, and I've finished his blanket (a week ago!). See? Timothy didn't get his until he was almost 3 months old...
I've tried almost every recommended self-inducing method to bring on labor (I draw the line at castor oil), and still no baby. The contractions even seemed to have pretty much stopped since last weekend when we thought he was coming and even went to the hospital. I get a few here and there, but nothing regular... Someone at church today even commented they'd never seen anyone carry a baby so low, and she'd seen a lot of pregnant women... Oh well, We know the Lord has his time in this, just like everything else about this move. I'd just like time to recover before we leave!

I do want to thank you all for your continued prayers and support. It's made it much easier knowing we're not alone in this. And your good wishes have helped us through so much these last few months. Now we're in the home stretch, and we're very excited! (Well, when we're not tring to get the baby to show up....) =)

Oh, one more fun bonus pic. We realized we didn't have a belly pic for this one, and Timothy decided to get in the picture. =)

Still Waiting....

So, Wednesday, in an effort to induce some labor (or to see as-yet-unseen parts of DC before we leave), we boarded the metro and took in the sights. We went to the National Aquarium in DC, which was a BIG disappointment. The National Aquarium in Baltimore is amazing, this was like a bad sideshow at the circus or something. Just one dark room that took us less than 45 minutes to get through. Timothy liked the alligators though.

Then, we walked halfway across the mall to the Botanical Gardens by the capitol building. That WAS worth the trip. It was beautiful, inside and out. The landscaping was lovely, and inside they had rooms of plants from all over the world, as well as a room of endangered plants, and an exhibit on medicinal plants. Informative, but very interesting. Then, we stumbled into the children's garden. Here, your child can dig in the dirt, water the plants, or play in the fountain. Timothy loved it! He didn't really want to water the plants though. The flagstone was much more fun to water... And sweep... =)

After our siteseeing, Timothy and I headed home, and John went down to Crystal City for his exit interview with Arena. Now he's officially in between jobs, but only for about 3 more weeks or so. (Wow this move is coming up fast...) He called me when he got on the metro, and I ordered a pizza before going to pick him up. We joked that maybe that's what the baby was waiting for, since that's what happened with Timothy, but no such luck. Oh well...

Thursday, we thought my water broke, but I was wrong. Just wishful thinking. Then, last night, the contractions were coming pretty regularly, and didn't fizzle out after an hour like they usually do. In fact, after 2 hours, they were starting to hurt. So, we dropped Timothy off with some friends, and headed off to the hospital. After a few hours there, most of it spent walking the halls, there hadn't been enough progress to keep me, so they sent us home. Now we're back to waiting. =(

I'm not too worried, since I know the Lord will bring this baby in the right time, just like everything else has fallen into place for this move. But I would really like to be done being pregnant. I'm starting to get really excited to see our newest bundle...

Plus, it would make John a lot more comfortable if he didn't have to worry about loading the truck while I'm in labor... =)

Act II (or is that three)

If you've been keeping up with our blog then the first thing that you'll notice about this post is that it's not written in italics. That's right, that means this is a unique look inside the head of John (read at your own risk).

Back in January, Margaret called to me one morning from the bathroom as I was waking up and getting ready to work. I figured she had forgotten to get more toilet paper as often happens, and brought her a roll. As I walked into the restroom I noticed that she was holding a little white stick, and she said "Honey..." That's right, she had just peed on that little stick, and somehow that stick was smart enough to know that she was pregnant. My answer to this was "Well.... Crap..."

You may say that's not an appropriate response, and if that is the case, then you should hear the rest of the story (that's right, that's a Paul Harvey reference, for those of you with radio culture). Margaret had been laid off in November, was having absolutely zero luck finding a job, I had been told that I would be laid off for two months without pay over the summer, and the news about the economy continued to get worse. Margaret and I did the math and realized that even if she did find another job, it would do little more than cover the cost of two children in full time day care, and there was no way we could live in the DC area on the salary I was making at my job.

Well, we prayed about it and the answer I got was "Hey, idiot, I obviously have something else planned for you, and evidently I don't think you've screwed up your first kid too badly, so here's another one for your efforts."

With all this in hand, I began applying for jobs in other areas of the country, where it is much cheaper to live, and where we would have a fighting chance of living off of one salary. I interviewed with about a half dozen places, all of which I felt I was well qualified for and kept getting different reasons why they didn't hire me. One university theater program interviewed me, said they liked me, but were choosing to hire a former student for the position. Another theater interviewed me, told me that I was the person they liked the best after the interviews, only to call me and instead of offering the job, inform me that the funding for that position had been cut.

Many restless nights were spent in prayer, and more than I would like to admit were spent in anger and frustration. One of our friends said to Margaret during this process that God obviously had something really special in store for us since everything was falling through.

Well, in the end that friend was right. Today, on my birthday nonetheless, I received an official job offer to be the scenery supervisor at the University of Iowa. The pay won't blow any one's mind, but it is enough for us to live on one salary, and the benefits are ridonculous (yes that is a word). I'm talking a 14% contribution to a retirement account, full health, dental, vision, and disability for the entire family, oh and not to mention free tuition for any of my immediate family who chooses to attend the University of Iowa (That's right, practically free college for my kids).

Needless to say, God had something in mind when Margaret waved that recently peed on stick at me 7 months ago, he just wanted to test our faith, and evidently it needed some work.

On a different note, today was indeed my birthday. I was woken up earlier than I would have liked by a little boy who had gotten out of his "big boy bed" and climbed in to tell daddy "Happy Birthday". Then I was given a new Dallas Cowboys ball cap (honestly the old one shouldn't be worn in public it's so gross) and Margaret made blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

After breakfast, we thought Margaret was going into early stages of labor, but after lying down for an hour the symptoms went away and we decided to spend my Birthday at Mt Vernon, touring George Washington's estate. Here's some of the sights we saw:

After a lot of walking and a few more contractions we headed home for lasagna and apple pie with ice cream. All in all, this has been one great birthday highlighted by the wonderful news that we are indeed moving to Iowa.

....now just to pack the apartment, find a place to live, reserve the moving truck, repack the boxes that Timothy has unpacked, figure out if we want to take the cats or leave them, make sure the car's ready for a trip across the country, change our address at the post office, change our address on our bills, find a new bank since there isn't a branch of ours in Iowa city, oh, and have a baby... All between now and August 17.

(Margaret's note: Please pray that the baby comes early, so I have time to recover.) =)

Blueberry Picking and Fireworks... The best of summer fun.

Last week, Timothy and I joined our playgroup at a local farm for some blueberry picking fun. The farm apparently does all kinds of picking, depending on what's in season, but this time of year, it's blueberries. It wasn't the strawberry picking of my childhood (THAT farm was just down the road), but considering my current shape and Timothy's age, this was probably better. =) We had a lot of fun, and are still enjoying the fruits of our labors. Timothy was very serious about picking, and ate considerably less than I thought he would. He was all about getting them in his bucket. =)

Then, this past Saturday, being the 4th, we had lots planned. At 8am, our church had their annual flag raising service and pancake breakfast, which Timothy thought was the best. Especially tearing around the gym after breakfast.... =)

We relaxed for most of the rest of the day, and then shared a delicious BBQ dinner with our friends the Marchants. Grilled Kabobs, Corn on the Cob, and Watermelon, followed by blueberry cobbler a la mode. Mmmm! After our very excellent meal, we went off to watch the fireworks. Timothy was thrilled. He loved them. "Daddy! Boom in the Sky!" "Mommy! Look!" We paid the price with a very tired little boy all the next day, but I think it was worth it. Here's some photos for you to enjoy... =)

P.S. The last pic is a little bonus. We just took the side off the crib and put on the training rails in preparation for Timothy moving to a big boy bed. He's so excited!