April 21

April 21 is Lyla Joy's due date. This is the first time I've actually had that due date in my head. It happens to be Easter time, so there have been a lot of jokes about Lyla being our little bunny. It's so nice to know the baby's gender ahead of time and to call her by name, which is nothing we were able to do for our kids. In the video we took just before Kelsey's birth, Kris says her name will be Kelsey Barbra or Kyla Ruth, or Jonathan Daniel if it's a boy. We just lived with the uncertainty. It's so nice now not to call Lyla "it" or "the baby", we can call her by name like the person that she is. Mark and Katie has a block letter sign in their street-facing window that says "JOY". I wonder if this just because of Christmas or on purpose because Mark's mother was named Joy and Lyla's middle name will be Joy....

Personal borders

Today, we met Katie, Mark and (of course) Lyla. I immediately touched Katie’s stomach, but within 10 minutes Katie told me sh was sicknof everyone touching her stomach. Whoops! Lol, I assert my rights as Grampa.

Lyla pre-visit

Today we drive up to LaGrange (aka The Great Blight North) to see family for the holidays. The good news is that all the kids will be there too, including Lyla Joy in-utero with Katie and Mark. It’s fun to see how much she’s grown each time,and how much bigger Katie’s belly is. Last time I could feel Lyla Joy move a little, but I bet it will be much easier to feel this time.

Life after Lyla

Kris and I puzzle over what life will be like after Lyla arrives. It’s hard to imagine. For sure, she will be at the center of our lives, but it’s hard to tell how this will manifest itself. We rent an apartment in SC, and a bigger one in KY right now, which, admittedly, is kind of crazy. We think about buying a little house in Altoona, but how will this work with everyone else living in Kentucky?? What if Courtney and Daniel move? What about the Littles? I think we’ll leave this in God’s hands because I can’t make sense of it on my own.

The Loch Ness Monster

The latest thing with Lyla is that Katie keeps trying to catch her on video moving. The result is a series of bad videos on the family group text where we see Katie's stomach for a second with no discernable movement. It's pretty funny. I do remember that eventually as Lyla grows those movements will become bigger and easier to record, but for now they feel bigger to Katie than they look on video. Last night on the group chat there was a short discussion of genetics (Mendel would be proud). Katie correctly observed that she and Mark have a 25% chance of having a blonde, blue eyed baby-- just like Kris and I did (that would be Courtney, thank you very much). Can't wait to see Lyla in person!

Rats

Katie called yesterday and reported that Lyla was moving around a lot and kicking. The baby is at the point where you can feel it moving when you put your hand on her tummy, but it won't pick up on video yet. I remember when Kris was pregnant, she had a dream that she had two rats in her tummy that chewed their way out, and she was running around trying to catch them. Kris told Katie, it felt just like having a little rat moving around in her stomach. In other news, Katie is a little sad these days because her "baby bump" isn't big enough. This is pretty funny because before she knows it, her stomach is going to be HUGE!

Lyla Update

Katie and Mark went in for another ultrasound today. Lyla is 14 OZ, when she's only supposed to be 12. Her head size is at the 93rd percentile, and her femure length is a the 70th percentile. Sounds like we have a good basketball player coming along, but we'll need to keep her Dad away from her for that- he's terrible at basketball! Most importantly, her heart is working perfectly in all 4 chambers. Katie reports Lyla kicks all the time. We're happy she's strong and healthy.