Josh Renaud

And her name is …

Yeah, so we took our time and left folks on the edge of their seats for a bit. But it's now (almost) official: our newest daughter is Ludivine Mercedes Renaud.

We'll call her Ludi for short. Her first name is from Yoli's grandmother, who died at a rather young age. Mercedes is a Spanish name (deriving from mercy).

Jadzia warmed up rather nicely to her new sister. We made sure we spent time alone with her before bringing in the baby. I also prepped Jadzia before I took her to the hospital by showing the video of Yoli with Ludi.

You can see a bit of their interaction yourself in the very short movie below. It also shows Jadzia playing with her new friend Tori who came to visit.

To watch this movie, you need Apple's QuickTime software installed on your computer.

The newest Renaud

Our newest baby has arrived, and she's a girl!

Right off the top, let me say that she remains nameless for the moment, but we hope to have settled on a name by the end of today.

Here's her vitals:

* Born July 30, at 2:23 a.m.
* Weighed 7 pounds
* 20.5 inches long

If you click below to continue reading this entry, you'll be able to watch a short video of the new baby and read the story of our adventure.

To watch this movie, you need Apple's QuickTime software installed on your computer.

Wow, we are exhausted!

Yoli called me at work last night around 10:40 p.m. to report she had had a couple pains that she thought might be contractions. She said she would take a shower and they might go away.

Around 12:10 a.m. this morning, she called again to say she was now certain real labor had started. "But this doesn't feel like Jadzia," she told me.

Since it was a slow sports night, I took off a little early and headed home, but not in a particular hurry since I expected we had several hours of labor ahead of us.

When I got home, it took a while for everything to sink in. I called my mom and asked her to come over and stay the night since Jadzia was there. But after about 15 minutes, it became clear we needed to leave -- fast! I called my mom again and asked her to come as quick as she could. "I'm on my way," she said.

Mom arrived a bit later, and we took off to the car. Yoli was very uncomfortable sitting on the seat with the belt. So she asked if it would be okay to kneel on the floor and face toward the back of the car. I was a bit reluctant, but we had a 30 minute drive ahead of us, and I didn't want her to be in terrible pain.

So we drove that way. I tried to go fast, but not too fast. I kept glancing at her hoping the baby wouldn't come in the car. We were both praying audibly and quickly as we made the trip.

We arrived to the hospital safely and walked to the maternity ward. It took a while to get checked in, and I realized in my haste I had left behind our birth plan in the car. But it was too late.

Yoli was 9-cm. dilated when we finally got a room. My worry changed from "please don't let the baby be born before we get to the room" to "please don't let the baby be born before they wake the doctor and she gets here."

Thankfully the baby held on, but things progressed very rapidly. Yoli really only needed three big pushes to get the baby out.

The nurses were kind, and accomodated all our requests despite the haste in which everything happened (and my lack of a printed birth plan). The doctor was also very helpful since she knew what conditions Yoli wanted.

Yoli told me many times that the whole labor was very different from Jadzia. It was much shorter, more sudden, and much more painful. But she came out physically in better shape than she did with Jadzia. No stitches or anything were needed.

Everything was natural, no drugs. Yoli seemed so happy after the baby was born. We learned the sex (we kept it a surprise) and then Yoli nursed the baby.

We are very thankful for the way God worked everything out.

I guess we just need to catch up on our sleep (while we still can) and settle on a name!

Learning to be a big sister

Jadzia really likes to play with her dolls. It took her a while to get into them, but now she acts like a mom (or a big sister, which she is soon to become!).

To watch this movie, you need Apple's QuickTime software installed on your computer.

The phone call

Part of Jadzia's nightly bedtime routine is to call me at work and talk to me. This video from June is a good example of what she does.

To watch this movie, you need Apple's QuickTime software installed on your computer.

The woodpecker

Almost a week after Jonathan's visit in March, Yoli shot a little video of the woodpecker across the street from us. This woodpecker drove us insane for a while, waking us up too early each morning with its noisy pecking. She's shooting the video from far away, but the sound in the video is loud and clear. That might give you an idea of what we were dealing with.

The happy ending of the story (for us) was that the folks who live in that house had the tree cut down, and the woodpecker went elsewhere. We've slept better ever since.

To watch this movie, you need Apple's QuickTime software installed on your computer.

Tio Jonny comes to visit

We've accumulated a lot of video since late last year that we haven't gotten around to editing until the last week.

So, I'll be posting a few short clips that you might find interesting.

The first video is from my brother Jonathan's visit to our house back in March.

To watch this movie, you need Apple's QuickTime software installed on your computer.

Ferguson's No. 2 pie

Yoli took second place in the Ferguson pie contest yesterday with this apple-cranberry pie she baked. She had been itching to compete for more than a year.

Here's what happened last year ... Yoli baked a pie on a Friday. The contest was to be held during the Ferguson Farmer's Market on Saturday. Because Yoli had to work at that time, Jadzia and I were going to enter the pie on her behalf. However, I got very sick that morning, and just could not go to the market. So we decided to forgo the contest and eat the pie ourselves.

But here's the kicker: That Sunday, the big photo on the front page of the Post-Dispatch showed the judges of the pie contest eating pie. The caption included the name of the winner. It could have been Yoli's pie on the front page! She determined she would NOT to miss the 2007 contest.

And she didn't. She experimented with the recipe for two weeks before the contest, baking three proto-pies. We solicited feedback from my parents, which proved valuable.

All in all, it was a fun experience. Yoli worked hard and was rewarded with
praise, plus $20 in Ferguson Farmer's Market bucks.

Now, she's setting her sights on No. 1 in 2008.