Babyhood

So the newest member of our team is integrating into this big new world, and contributing dirty diapers and a dislike of naps. But her daddy can't help but love her. Riley's new clothes have been a topic of interest on April's part, and I can't help but wonder whether she is having fun dressing Riley in different outfits the way she might've had fun dressing dolls as a child, if she had had any dolls. As April takes care of Riley I'm continually in Awe of the strength deep inside of her, and the love she has for this little one. She's a mom. This is her child. And I have a front row seat to learn what this whole dynamic relationship is all about.

As a new father, I think I'm learning a little more as I go, where as it seems like April has been doing this all her life. Riley is so funny. Our friends ask us what sports she's going to be good at, knowing full well that athletics will probably be a common influence in her upbringing. Part of me is hoping she'll be a little speedster at church when she's four or five, running through the halls laughing, with one plume of a pony tail sticking straight up on the top of her head. I may regret it as it happens, but I pray she has the energy to exhaust everyone around her.
The Un-containable Riley Jean Freed. I haven't told her mother this, but I don't think April will be very suprised. I think we know what we are, and we want to pass on our gifts. Mommy was a Tomboy, and Daddy was a Dreamer. Hopefully Riley will get all our good stuff and none of our bad. I bet that's what all parents want. And now, that includes us. Weird. We're parents.

Welcome Riley!

Riley Jean Freed was born on Friday October 3rd at 2:21 pm. She was seven pounds and twenty inches long.

Daddy got to feed Riley while Mommy was still recovering.

Mom finally got to meet Riley after having to wait way too long.

That's our Baby. The newest member of Team Freed.

Countdown to a Different World

Our bags are packed, our schedules are cleared, and we have a 1:30pm appointment tomorrow at Methodist Hospital to have a baby. We have done so much to prepare for this in the last nine months, and yet somehow, I doubt that "Ready" is a word that applies to me. April is ready. She has been mentally and emotionally ready for months, and has been busily preparing this child's new world of diapers, cribs and car seats. I've pretty much been freaking out inside for the last five weeks.

I mean, what's going to happen next? What uncharted territory are we getting into? What is this child going to be like? Is it a boy or a girl? And who's going to take care of this kid?
And even with all my questions and uncertainty, I'm more excited than I've been in a long time. I'm anxious, I'm nervous, I'm happy, I'm scared, and I'm relatively certain that if the baby doesn't come soon I'm going to pop like a balloon filled with volatile emotions.

Baby Freed's room has been ready for a while now. We painted the walls green when we painted the rest of, what was at the time, our new house. And ever since we found out last winter that April had a person in her uterus, we've been adding things from Ikea, talking about color schemes, and preying on not-so-unsuspecting family and friends for baby hand-me-downs. We have been so blessed in receiving so many things we needed for this baby from people who care about us. Thank you so much to everyone who has given in our time of need, I hope that we may someday return the favor.

What will you be like, Baby? Will you look like Mom and Dad? Are you going to be all wrinkly at first? I can't wait to meet you, watch you grow, and take care of you.

That's enough freaking out for one day.

-Wilder

The Team is Getting Bigger

It's been WAY too long since we last blogged but we'll skip all the boring stuff and go right to the biggest thing in our lives since then. As most everyone knows now... we're pregnant. (Not so much we I guess as me.) The due date is October 10th, we did not find out what the sex of the baby is and we're both super excited. The nursery is almost ready as we mostly just have a few finishing touches and need a crib. Now we're in a "wait and get huge" phase. I feel big already but I'm sure as the next three months come and go I will learn a whole new meaning of big. We'll keep you updated though with pictures of the growing belly and more importantly baby pictures after the little one joins us. -April

Snow, Snow, SNOW!

So tonight for the second time, we enjoyed one of the many joys of homeowning: shovelling the driveway. I remember as a kid, I used to really dislike shovelling the snow, mostly because I didn't really see the point. But tonight in the quiet darkness that comes so much earlier in the evening these days, perhaps I discovered something different about this driveway; it's mine. And as my breath steamed past my eyes in the cold, I realized the audacity the snow must have, landing on MY driveway. Smiling to myself, I turned a chore into a game, a battle of will. "Snow on my driveway? I don't think so!" And for the second time, we procceeded to let the snow know who's driveway this was. "That's right, there are some new shovels in town, and we're clearing out the riff raff. Tell your friends."
TeamFreed 2, Winter 0.
I'm pretty sure after tonight, the snow will start falling just on the yard, in an effort to avoid another embarrassment.
On a side note, my sister asked me if I thought my kids would be competitive. The only way that could happen, I responded, was if we had kids. ;)

Paint, Paint, and more Paint!

When buying a house you have to make it feel like your own. That usually means painting. Painting we have done. Luckily it has not all been done by just Wilder and I. Thanks to both of our parents, Amy, and Alan we were able to pretty much finish it in one weekend. Here are some before and after shots of a few of the rooms in the house.
Kitchen (after only):

Living Room:

















Dining Room (after only):


Family Room:

Turkey Day!!!

Well, what's a brand new house without a rush to clean everything up? We ambitiously decided to host Thanksgiving this year, and didn't really realize what we were getting ourselves into until about a day before the inlaws started showing up. But, since we're not the sort of people who admit when we're in over our heads, April and I scrambled to get everything ready for our first large scale meal. Amy and Kash drove in wednesday night from Des Moines to join us, David, and the Freed parents in an amusing night of Nintendo Wii fantasticness. Anyone who is wondering, "Is the Wii fun?" It sure is. And you know it's especially amazing when my mother is celebrating after serving an ace right past me in Wii tennis.
So late Thursday night DJ and Alan roll into town, and Thursday morning the preparations begin. We had all the classic Turkey day stuff, including my crowning achievement, a 22 lb bird (cooked brilliantly, if I do say so myself). But it was my wife that was the star, coordinating the first beautiful multi dish nine person meal in the history of our new home. This year, I decided to flex my creative muscles, and put together a comic book commermorating our first Thanksgiving. I took pictures of everything, and it came out prett well. I'm not quite sure how to share it with the world yet, so stay tuned. It was a fantastic day with friends and family. Not everyone could be there, but hey, there's always next year.

New House!

Wilder and I finally bought our first home! We are so excited. We closed on October 31st, which was only about three weeks after we first saw the house. God was really faithful in our search even though I did not always realize that. He stalled us with another house for just the perfect amount of time to be able to get this one. We first put on offer on a different house in the beginning of September, hoping to close by the end of September. We knew it needed some work but offered below asking in order to be able to do that. We were so excited. We waited over four weeks to get a response of no from the seller. It was a long discouraging process. We started looking agian even before we heard back. We weren't see anything that we liked as much as that house. The the first week in October we found the perfect house for us. It had only been on the market for a few days and we made an offer the very next day. We are pretty sure that we got a great deal on the place and are looking forward to many years here to grow as a family.