Charles Edward Friedrich

Born Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 4:26pm at Lake Forest Hospital. Charlie weighed in at 7 lbs 5 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Here I am...probably not long after we checked into the hospital at 6am to be induced. All in all, labor was a good experience, it went quickly, the epidural was great (until the end), but Mr. Charlie was face up instead of face down and I just wasn't able to get him out that way, nor was the doctor able to turn him face down. So, by about 330pm they decided that it was time to do a c-section, which was just fine with me since the epidural was wearing off.

Here's Kenny suited up for the c-section, patiently waiting to get called in the room. We loved my doctors, they were absolutely the best, really tried hard to avoid the c-section, but without compromising mine or Charlie's health. C-sections go quickly and before I knew it Dr. Logan was telling Kenny to stand up and look at his son...I kept asking if that was him crying (who else would sound like a baby crying but Charlie???).

Charlie's first picture. Kenny was able to cut the cord and then went with the nurse and Charlie into recovery to stay with him until they brought me in.

Charlie's first bath...I guess he didn't like it very much. :)

Book Catch Up

I realized that I have some catching up to do in terms of posting about some recent book club reads...

My pick in April was for The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls and I know I've mentioned it as one of my top reads from 2007. I still love the book and HIGHLY recommend it if you haven't read it.

Eat Pray Love is by Elizabeth Gilbert and another book that I read in 2007, but we read it for May 2008. It was a great book, true story of self exploration by the author. I loved this book as well.

This book is called The Confessions of Max Tivoli. I didn't read it...I'll admit it. My life has just been too busy...this whole baby thing. :) I did start the book and have it on my list to finish some day. I think it will be really good though!

And this is the latest book we are supposed to be reading. The Curious Inciden of the Dog in the Night Time. It sounds like a great book. I'm hoping to get to read it. So much so that I bought it, which I usually don't do.

And here's a few others that I've read along with these...my FAVORITE author is James Patterson...and I've now just read Sail, his latest and greatest and it was great! He also just put out another book, Sundays at Tiffanys. That one was also great...but a totally different kind of read than Sail. And I'm also into Elin Hildebrand's books right now. She mainly writes about Nantucket and for some reason I just love her books. I'm reading a new one to paperback for her --- Barefoot. They are good summer reads that make you want to sit on a beach and relax. I don't know that I'll get to do that this summer, so the least I can do is pretend to while reading. :)

Maybe the Last Charlie Update! :)

Just a short note that our boy may be here soon!! Well, for sure in the next 12 days! I had my 37 week appointment on Thursday and much to my surprise and the doctor's I am 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced already. I also had an ultrasound and Charlie is doing wonderful, his measurements were right on for 37 weeks and they are estimating his weight at just under 7 lbs. Perfect if that weight is right (in my opinion)...but they do caution you that the further along in pregnancy you get, the more difficult it is to estimate his weight. I hope they are right!

Anyways, if Charlie doesn't make his own appearance in the next 12 days, we are scheduled to be at the hospital at 6am on Thursday, June 26 and I will be induced! Hooray!!! We can't wait to meet Charlie and introduce him to all of our family and friends. I'm actually not tired of being pregnant, I feel good...but I am a little tired of dealing with the gestational diabetes. I am so thankful though that all has worked out well for Charlie given the gestational diabetes because he has stayed perfectly healthy and as the doctor believes so far, it doesn't seem to have effected him negatively.

Baby Shower

Well, as they say, better late than never...

Our wonderful family and friends threw us a great baby shower for Charlie on April 27, 2008. Thank you to everyone for coming to the shower and extra thanks to those of you who worked so hard getting ready for it. It was awesome, we loved it and are SO thankful for all of the great gifts for little Charlie.

It was in Wauconda at Lindy's Landing. The day was pretty nice, the view of Bangs Lake from the room was great, the food was fantastic and the company was the best.

Michelle opening a stuffed frog...from none other than Aunt Donna!

Michelle and Kenny opening some great coordinating pieces for Charlie's bedroom set.

Charlie's first photo album.

Since I FORCED Kenny to attend the shower, my dad and my brother Ted took one for the team and came with Kenny to make it so it wasn't 50 women and Kenny at the shower! Thanks for coming Dad and Ted!
Next to the sweets table was a great set up of diapers. The guests got to write messages on the diapers to Kenny and I so when we start to use them, we can smile and laugh at messages from family and friends. A great idea...something has to make you smile at 3am when you are changing a yucky diaper!

The room before everyone got there...at the back wall on the gift table is another children's talbe and chairs. My Aunt Nancy had those refinished for Charlie and they look fantastic. I call them Ted and Michelle's table and chairs...but they actually date back to Kathi and Larry's table and chairs. So wonderful to have!!

The patio on Bangs Lake at Lindy's Landing.

The pretty centerpieces on the tables...I loved those!!

The awesome favors...the tag says Welcome Baby Charlie. Everyone got a little duckie cookie cutter and duckie cookies...yummy!

My mom and I.

I have lots more pictures I could have posted on the shower, but I decided to keep it a bit shorter.

Baby Charlie Update

Just a short update on Baby Charlie. Due to my gestational diabetes, I'm having many more tests and "checks" on aspects of the pregnancy done, including weekly visits to the doctor. It seems that it is basically under control, but my doctors like to be proactive. One fun part of that is that Kenny and I got to see our sweet Charlie at another ultrasound this past week. At 33 weeks along, Charlie weighs about 4 lbs. and all of the measurements for him were perfect for 33 weeks. He was moving so much that the pictures the tech gave us weren't that great. She also mentioned again that it is "definately a boy" which always makes Kenny proud to hear. The doctor was VERY happy to see him doing so well, as were his parents.

It also seems that unless our son decides to make his appearance to the world on his own time (and we know that is a distinct possibility since Kenny and I are BOTH stubborn people), that he will be arriving the last week of June. The doctor says they don't let gestational diabetes babies go until their due date and they typically will take them about 7 days early. If Charlie follows that schedule we just have about 5-6 weeks to go! :)

My Friend Ryan

This post is about my friend Ryan. April 30, Ryan passed away after a 3+ year battle with cancer...April 30, Ryan also turned 30 years old. This post is about what an amazing person Ryan was and the lessons we can learn from him.

I met Ryan in Spring 1998 when he joined PSE. Although I have seen Ryan many times since college, I picked pictures of Ryan from our college years at NIU. They make me smile the most because that is the Ryan that I will always remember.

Somewhere in these last few days, I saw written that Ryan passed away with grace and dignity...and that is so true....and so Ryan. He was always little more quiet in larger groups, had a great smile that made you instantly feel comfortable, loved food more than many people I know, loved to laugh and tease, and most of all was one of the most loyal people you could meet. There is a wonderful angel watching over us now.

These are some of my favorite college memories of Ryan.

This is Ryan climbing a tree outside our apartment in May 1999...putting Megan's shoe in a tree. I'm not sure why...my only explaination is...we were in college. But this was Ryan's way of teasing...this is the fun side of Ryan.
This is Ryan and Jon, taken in Galena when somehow my friends managed to talk me into camping for a weekend in August 1999 before school started. Jon, Adina, Jill, Ryan, Megan and I had a great weekend together...still don't know how I got talked into camping!

This is Ryan...when I think of Ryan...this is how I picture him...a little serious looking, but smiling. Funny thing about that shirt is that one day, Ryan and I realized we both had that shirt and were both wearing it. I don't remember the exact situation, but it was probably something like it was about 11pm and I (a management major), was headed off to bed for the night and was wearing the shirt to sleep in and had strolled out to the kitchen to say good night. Ryan (an accounting major) was just coming over to our apartment to study with my roomie, Megan (another accounting major) and he was dressed in comfy clothes because they were usually up most of the night studying. I'm sure he had tbell (that's Ryan talk for Taco Bell and a name that I ALWAYS think of when driving by a tbell) in hand to gross out Megan, who didn't like tbell at all! And next, Ryan would start his teasing about how management majors could go to sleep and true, hard working accounting majors had to study hard to get their good grades. Always a joke between Ryan and I about how I had the easy major and he had the tough major...I secretly think he was jealous! :)

Adina, Ryan and Will...May 2000...Adina and Ryan were toasting to a great time at NIU as this was our last party before graduation!

Spring 1998...PSE Bonding...a great experience to get to know the new members in PSE. And there's Ryan on a team with 4 girls.


For some reason this is one of my favorite pictures...in think it's from Spring 1999 and I know it's a E-Board picture. I was the President that semester and Ryan was the guy in charge of keeping the meetings in order (I can't remember his title). I NEVER had to worry about Ryan getting things done for his position on E-Board...they were just done...and he was probably off helping someone else with their responsibilities...and that was just how Ryan was.

Graduation from NIU...May 2000...this was a such a sad and happy day. Sad that we were leaving our friends and NIU for the real world and as hard as we worked to get there, we didn't want to be there...but happy to have accomplished so much while at NIU. Saying goodbye to Ryan was in a way similar to that...so very sad to say goodbye to him and something that you just don't want to do, but so proud of all he accomplished in life and so grateful that he wasn't in pain or suffering any longer and that he was finally at peace.

And this is Ryan...as Fred Flinstone...his face says it all.

I have tried to make sense over the last few years and in these past few days about how such a wonderful person like Ryan, could have to had suffer so much and at such an early age. Although I don't understand why, I came to realize some lessons that Ryan has taught me. He fought a long and brave fight and he didn't back down or complain. This wasn't fair that he got cancer at age 26 but he just went with it. He was brave...more so than many people could EVER be. He also lived life to the fullest...I can't even begin to describe all the places he traveled to and things that he did before he found out about his cancer AND after. It never stopped him and that makes me so proud of him. He reminds me that I should ALWAYS live life to the fullest and to cherish every moment.

Parents have many hopes for their children. Parents of daughters hope and pray that their little girls find a guy like Ryan to date and marry because they know that their little girl will be taken care of. Parents of sons hope and pray that their little boys grow up to be like Ryan, respectful, friendly, loyal, brave and funny --- I know I hope my son grows up to be like Ryan.

Babies

As everyone knows, we found out we are having a baby boy. Although many people I know DO find out what they are having, there are a few out there that don't find out the sex of their babies. In my opinion, they are strong people, much stronger than I, because if you know me, I NEED to know things...as much as possible. Especially during such an eventful time in our lives...I NEEDED to know the sex of my baby.

So, not only did we find out the sex of our baby on Valentine's Day, we officially announced his name too...Charles Edward Friedrich --- or Charlie. If it were a girl, no name announcement would have come that quick, but a boy name, we had decided on forever ago.

Some might say that knowing the sex of your baby and announcing the name, leaves no surprise for the birth. I think a bit differently. I really want to know what my little Charlie looks like...and no one can ever tell me that until he is born. So, many of mine and Kenny's conversations, when discussing Charlie, revolve around who he will look like, who he will act like, will he have traits like other people in our family besides ourselves. We know that Charlie will be Charlie...a special verison of whatever combination he makes up in looks and attitude.

Will he look like his mommy (below)?? This is me at about 3 weeks old. And yes, the chubby cheeks were there ever since birth...and they haven't left yet!


OR will he look like his daddy? This is Kenny at about 2 days old. I have two observations about this photo...Kenny was born with ALOT of hair...and oddly enough, he has kept the same style all these years. :) And, he still makes that face sometimes!!!

So, for the next several weeks, we will sit and wonder what our sweet Charlie will look like. Something tells me he is going to be a mini-Kenny. :)