Our new little boy has arrived and all is well. 9:05am this morning. Jessica and unnamed 8.3lb baby are sleeping now.

This morning Jessica woke up around 7 with some stronger than usual contractions. An hour later we handed Arthur off to a neighbor and drove like a bat out of hell to the hospital. She was screaming like a crazed banshee which made driving through red lights even more scary. She tried to deliver normally, but eventually the baby’s heart rate dropped a little and they decided on an emergency c-section. Unlike last time, I was able to stay with her they entire time. They put her to sleep, and I sat in my blue scrubs across the operating room for 15-minutes until I heard a little cry and saw this purple dangling little person rise from behind the curtain and onto a little table where they cleaned him. I got to hold him and he made a few tiny sounds and tried to open his eyes but gave up and fell asleep. Jessica is slowly waking up and they’re bringing the baby in now to try breastfeeding.

Lots of love!
ben and jess and art and baby #2.

Today I took Art’s friend, Evva, and her grandma Carol to the Children’s Museum. On the way back in the car Art and Evva were talking about what was in the sky. Here’s a transcript:

Arthur: The moon is up high…in the sky… hiding behind the trees.
Evva: No. Sun is out!
Arthur: Moon. It’s up high.
Evva: Sun is out!
Arthur: No, moon! It’s hiding behind the trees.
Evva: No. Sun is out!

(Repeat for approx three minutes until…)

Evva: Sun!
Arthur: Moon!
Evva: Sun!
Arthur: Moon!
Evva: Sun!
Arthur: Moon!
Evva: Sun!
Arthur: Moon!

P.S. We should note that it was cloudy outside and we were still in the parking ramp when this disagreement started.

I made a bread in the breadmaker tonight and it was done about a half hour before Ben would be home for dinner, so I had to keep reminding Art that he could have bread when Papa got home. Papa walked in the door and Art jumped around yelling, “I want some bread, Papa!” Papa meant bread. He was so excited!

Then, while we ate dinner we bargained with Art that he could have more bread after he ate some soup. He took one or two bites of his lentil/veggie soup, put the spoon down in a hurry and said, “More bread!” He ended up eating almost all his soup, but somehow he squeezed a whole lot of bread in there, too. It’s no wonder he weighs 35+ pounds.

*Updated Below

Friends and family,

As most of you know, it took jess and I nearly a week to name Arthur. We met him, had a good look, and tried out a number of names. Arthur seemed to fit perfectly.

This time however we’ve been thinking alot about the name for the new little person in Jessica’s belly (in part because this time we know it’s a boy). We decided on a name a couple weeks ago (march 15 to be exact), and rather than share it with you after he’s born, we thought we’d do it today, now that Jessica is officially full term. It also helps it feel more official to let folks know even though he’s not here yet.
anyway, here it is:

Quest Garden Garvin

We love it and feel it really gives sums up what we hope his little life will be. Full of growth and adventure. And we also thought it was quite fitting that jess had a little ‘quest’ of her own while on bed rest for over a month. To be honest we had mixed feelings about the alliteration of Garden and Garvin, but we finally just gave in and though thought ‘why not’? This is probably our last kid so why not just go for it!

Anyway, that’s the big news from our family. We hope you love Quest’s name as much as we, do. Jessica is already rubbing her belly and asking how little Questy is doing in there. We’ve updated the blog to reflect Art and Quest’s new life together, and we’ll send out photos as soon he’s born!

Here’s a video-tour of his new room (complete with Art saying his new brother’s name!)

lots of love,

Ben, Jessica, Art, and Quest

April Fools! (The truth is, we have no idea what the little bugger’s name is.)

Here’s me and Ben when we went to the Guthrie to see Jane Eyre last Wednesday. The play was great! And we had a lovely time together. We actually have tickets for a month after Art’s brother should be born. I’ll probably have to pump during intermission…

Art went to the zoo with Josh and Ashley recently and had a great time.

pre-zoo excitement

At the new tropical rainforest exhibit.

tall giraffes.