Please welcome to the world Miss Leah Claire Ferguson.

Born: April 21, 2008 at 12:22pm at North Kansas City Hospital
Weight: 7 lbs 8.8 oz
Height: 21 1/4 inches

Mama and baby are both resting happily after a speedy delivery.

Currently, the update is…there is no update. At the doctor’s office Friday, the doctor said it could be any time, but that time has yet to arrive. A mostly-relaxing weekend has passed, and nothing has changed; if nothing happens between now and 4 am Tuesday, we’ll be heading to the hospital in the wee-wee hours on Tuesday so induction (inducement? … the giving of the magic drugs) can occur.

In other notes, Ian and I planted tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, herbs, and flowers yesterday in our backyard planters and little garden area. I’m giving one more try at a garden in our backyard, and if the results are abysmal again this year, I’m calling it quits. (Note that I said nothing about the front yard - though odds are we’ll be looking at selling the place by gardening time next year.) I’ve moved the garden spot to yet a 3rd location, that gets … different sunlight. Our back yard has limited sun, and is partially overhung by a black walnut tree, neither of which is conducive to gardening. If I didn’t think it’d make the neighbors hate me, I’d just plant sweet corn in the front yard, which would be perfect for it. Ah, well.

Ian’s second birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and last week we finally got the prints back from his 2-year-old photo session at the Sears photo studio. Some of them came out really well, and some not-so-well, but he’s still a frighteningly cute little boy (and he knows it). One of my co-workers said he should be in Baby Gap ads. The rest of the photo set is in the gallery - if you want prints, and I haven’t already sent you some, let me know.

I set this site up almost 2 years ago, just before Ian (Monkey #1) was born. Unfortunately, I have an amazing inability to actually sit down in front of a computer and choose which of the 37 different things I want to do I should actually do, and thus I usually end up either surfing the web or doing something for work, when I should be paying this page attention. As a result, this blog (I still hate that “word”, but use it grudgingly) has gone un-populated … until now. On the cusp of the birth of Monkey #2, I think now is a good time to start actually putting some things out here for the friends and relatives that I spend far too little time communicating with via other means.

For those of you who don’t know, today is the official, doctor-sanctioned due date for Monkey #2, though, since these things are always an imprecise science, it’s looking like it probably won’t be today, and thus the waiting game continues. Fortunately, despite what Shawna claims are my best attempts otherwise, we’ve finally achieved some level of readiness, as we have a room ready, most of the rest of the house cleaned up, old toys dug out of storage, and at least a couple of bags of newborn diapers purchased. Of course, the world being what it is, there are a number of things throwing monkey wrenches in the “relax and wait” plan - Ian having an ear infection, me having some minor medical issues, and Shawna’s grandma being sick, but, well, life isn’t always convenient.

Anyhow, that said, watch this space - I’ll try to to update this page as soon as we have news, and keep reading as we make our way through this next life adventure.