Spring Has Sprung

It is official.

There is no denying it.

Spring has officially sprung.

Flower-paloosa has taken over So Cal.

Our hummingbird feeders have to be refilled nearly every day.

The feeling of summer is starting to tap at our door and we are thrilled!

For the last two weekends, Dave and I have made our way on Saturday morning to our favorite coffee shop for a soy latte and then a walk through our farmer's market. We have indulged in the fruits of the labor of so many local farmers and feel completely spoiled by the bounty.

We chose the whole wheat sourdough and made caprese sandwhiches:

fresh mozzerella, locally grown tomatoes, basil from our backyard

Yummy!

Speaking of the flower-palooza of Spring, remember me mentioning the baby-palooza that is my women's bible study? Five babies to be born in the span of four months! Well, the first babe has officially arrived.

Dave and I walked to the hospital for a visit and I realized that many of you haven't ever seen our shining castle of a hospital. This is where Dave spends A LOT of his time and we are so completely grateful that his training has been here. Hooray for LLU!

Baby Liam Vincent Ward

May 12, 2011

9 lbs. 6 oz.

Last weekend, we had an event with my Chamber Singers that I've been waiting for since the first days of school. Rather than take them to another amusement park (been there, done that) this year, I decided to give them an experience that A) none of them had ever had and B) one that they would NEVER forget.

So, I took them on a surprise field trip. They've only known when it was going to be, what to wear, and that it was going to be EPIC. It wasn't until we got on the bus last Saturday evening that I revealed to them that we were going to see....

DRUMROLL...

... The LA Philharmonic and the LA Master Chorale perform Brahm's Requiem in Disney Concert Hall, downtown LA. Some of them looked excited and others didn't quite know what to think. You'd think that living this close to LA, these music loving students would have an intimate knowledge of not only the performing groups, but the concert space, and the piece itself. For almost the entire crew, this was their first live classical concert.

We stopped at Chipotle on the way, took pictures outside, and then were ushered in to our seats. The music was fantastic, the kids loved it, we were all enriched. I tried to explain to the kids I was sitting with the actions on the stage (concert master, tuning to A440, soloists in different outfits, etc.) The one thing that I forgot to explain and that the kids thought was bizarre were the curtain calls. The next day they all said, "Why did the conductor keep leaving the room while we were clapping and then come back out on stage?" Funny the things we assume they know. :)

2010-2011 Ontario Christian

Chamber Singers

For the last week, Dave and I were convicted that we were only partially following the diet and exercise plan for the Bradley method. The part that was really missing was daily cardio.

Our solution: to commit to walking a nearly 3 mile loop every day this last week. Walking used to be (in my mind) an exercise for wusses, but packing these extra 20 or so pounds has made the exercise much more challenging.

The results: I feel strong and have been able to fully relax after long days of teaching. But the best result, the unexpected one, is that spending an hour with Dave each day with no distractions been wonderful. We are keenly aware that our time together as just the two of us is very limited and is something to be cherished.

The belly....it groweth

Me at 29 weeks

We are still in the process of deciding where Baby Panther will be born when the time comes. Cami wants a home birth with a midwife in order to have a controlled quiet environment for the natural birth that she is planning.

Dave doesn't like the idea of spending several thousand dollars when we could choose to spend $600 for a hospital birth. He also is worried that if something happened to the baby, we wouldn't be able to get the help we need.

Dave wants a hospital birth at Loma Linda in order to have immediate access to medical care if something were to go wrong.

Cami doesn't like hospitals in general and even more the fact that medical personnel doesn't know how to handle natural births anymore. (What do you mean you don't want an epidural?) There is a long string of things I'm opposed to including delivering this baby while lying flat on my back (so bad for so many reasons).

Last week we did a hospital tour and med with a 2nd year OB/GYN resident to get the low-down on our chances of having the birth we want in the hospital setting and this coming Wednesday we meet with a midwife to get our questions answered about that route.

Decisions, decisions.

We covet your prayers as we move forward.