Rapberry, meet the giraffes. Giraffes, meet Raspberry.

Raspberry had his first close encounter with a large African animal today!  Binder Park is the zoo in Battle Creek, Michigan, where the guests can feed the giraffes, but the zoo closes for the winter for we figure that the giraffes must go very hungry during that time, right?  Well, the zoo reopened today so we packed up and headed out in order to make up for all that lost time!  In fact, we've been looking forward to this day literally for months, and we even took our friends Erin and Andrew along as reinforcements.  We lucked out and had a beautiful day - hazy sun, a light breeze, and just enough warmth.  We think the tram to Africa got faster this year, too.  Last year we think we remember it being seven minutes to Africa, but this year it was only five.  The giraffes were happy to see us.  Us particularly, mind you, becuase we always overfeed them.  Of course we also had to visit the children's zoo - it's one of Jon's favorite parts because of the large rabbits - and almost lost Cortney while we were there (really, is she the one in the cage, or is it the pigs?), then we finished by visiting the mile long boardwalk hike though the wetlands.  We seriously tired ourselves out, so that all four of us were pretty quiet on the ride home.  Today's trip was especially productive because Jon got in some practice with the new video camera (we especially like the headless horseman part, Andrew) so that we'll be ready when Raspberry arrives.  In fact, watch for practice clips on the site here as we get better with this complex new piece of equipment. 

Baby tested, dog approved

Today was a great day!  Our friends, mom Becky and baby Liesl, came over this afternoon to visit and to see Raspberry's room.  Since this was the first time any of our animals had even seen a baby we didn't know what to expect, but we are excited to say that all went very well!  Becky is a wonderful and relaxed mom who loves animals and wanted Liesl to meet dogs, so they even spent some time down on dog level, which seemed to please everyone.  Diamond was the least interested, quickly determining that babies don't scratch necks or hand out treats, Ollie was just Ollie, and Cookie was unconcerned (as is par for the course, we never saw Oahu).  Moose, on the other hand, was gentle but extremely intrigued.  When Liesl tried out our swing (which we are proud to say is assembled correctly, and was baby approved) Moose stood up on his hind legs and followed the swing back and forth.  When Becky tried out Raspberry's changing table in the nursery Moose was so interested that Jon held him up so that he could see, and Moose and Liesl carried on a light conversation (we think, although it was beyond our comprehension).  Of course at four months old Liesl is twice Moose's size, and probably about twice the size Raspberry will be when he first comes home, but we figure this is a good start.  Plus, Jon got to watch a diaper change and hold a baby for the first time, and our baby set up was tested and approved by a veteran first time mother and a baby.  Liesl was even entertained by the wallpaper animals on the nursery wall while she was being changed, which was exactly our plan.  Yeah!  Thanks Becky and Liesl!

April showers bring June babies

We can't believe that we are only 5 to 8 weeks away from having a baby in the house.  We're not sure that we can possibly be ready, but our friends and family are working hard to get us that way!  Today they showered both of us (really all three of us) with love and baby gifts to do just that.  It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and warm weather and we all ate really well!  The women were treated to homemade chicken, broccoli, fruit and tossed salads along with honey baked ham and devilled eggs, followed by homemade brownies and cheesecake with strawberries (mmmm!).  At the same time the men were down at Pizza House gorging themselves on stuffed pizza.

After eating Cortney opened many baby essentials, including a bathtub, swing, front carrier,  monitor, shopping cart cover, nursing pillow, video camera (so we can share Rasberry's antics with all of you!), books, blankets, burp cloths, diaper bags (small and large), and, of course, toys.  Everyone was so thoughtful, and all the gifts were wonderful and exciting, and will be very useful!  Raspberry was also spoiled with some very unique things:  A fantastic Dutch outfit and Olympic Bear straight from his aunt Kate, Cortney's cousin in the Netherlands; a blanket crocheted by his maternal grandmother;  receiving blankets made by his grandgodmother (?), each with a piece sewn in the corner from the blankets she made for Cortney over 29 years ago;  and a jacket and hat to wear home from the hospital crocheted by grandma Hoffman, a close family friend.

Meanwhile, back at Pizza House, Jon opened many daddy...er...essentials (?) that came in a diaper bag of his own.  Including household safety items, a chewable book (for the baby, not the dad), a bath hippo (again, for the baby...really), a bragbook for the wallet, earplugs, gloves and masks (for diaper changes), and...kazoos.  Yes, kazoos.  Jon also did a little gifting of his own, passing out blue bubble gum "it's a boy" cigars (hey, the men don't wait in the waiting room anymore so he had to get his fun in somehow).

We had a wonderful time and, at the end of the day, felt very loved.  Thank you so much everyone!

A visit from far sort of away friends...

Sue came in from Grand Rapids today to have lunch with us and to check up on Raspberry's growth.  She hadn't seen him since the "glimmer in the eye" phase, so he looks a lot different now.  We had a great time seeing both Sue and her friend (a wonderful gal who came along for the afternoon contra dancing in Ann Arbor), though we wish we'd had more time with them (when they came last March we went contra dancing with them and had a great time, but Cortney's a little off balance these days).  Instead we met up with them after church at the newest place in town - The Carlyle Bar and Grill (on Jackson in front of the Quality 16) - and we think it is someplace we could recommend.  They had a little bit of something for everyone - Jon had a fancy pizza and Cortney had a fancy chicken sandwich (with avocado, which is her newest and strongest craving);  Sue's friend had Halibut (looked good, too);  dad H had something that came with fried plantains (how cool is that?!?!);  both Sue and mom H had good looking caeser salads.  By the way - if the occasion ever presents itself, be sure to ask Cortney's mom about the major heads of broccoli that came with her dinner the last time she ate there.  It's a good story.

March showers bring June babies!

Our loving church choir family threw us a wonderful baby shower today! Keiko hosted the brunch event in her beautiful home, serving up four different homemade breakfast casseroles plus fruit and dessert spreads better than any catering service could, including a sweet french toast mix, a meat and eggs combination, a salmon, spinach and feta blend, and a potatoes and bacon skillet! Our friends Lisa, Nora and Leah handled the game-planning, decorating, and group gift-buying. Though they were tempted by some scandalous game ideas involving diapers and chili (don't go there), they decided on a few relatively safe activities. Guess how many Sugar Babies are in the bottle! Jon's winning answer: 191 (actual total: 192). How many baby foods can Jon identify in a blindfolded taste test? 3 out of 6.  And Lisa made a fantastic storyboard of our relationship up 'til now, using candy bars as word substitutes.  And true to the board, we did receive Mounds of Good & Plenty presents from the Lifesavers in the choir! There were so many thoughtful and necessary gifts, too many to list here, but we want to let everyone know how lucky, thankful and blessed we feel to have this support. The show-stopper gift was the group-purchased stroller - complete with time and temperature gauge! Thanks to the pre-assembly done by Leah, it made an impressive entrance. It's a good thing that there were experienced mothers there who could show us how to work its various features!  And, while Jon may have won the bottle game and correctly identified three of six baby foods, his real accomplishment of the day was collapsing the stroller smoothly and correctly the first time using just one hand!