You know how Ashley loves snowglobes......

There is a wonderful site out there with a snowglobe that you can shake, and it is so cute. I wanted you all to have the joy this Christmas season to shake the snowglobe in honor of Ashley, so here is the website.

ww12.e-tractions.com/snowglobe/globe.htm

I wanted to put a button in that would automatically take you there, but I can't seem to get to it. So, because of my technical inexperience, you will just have to enter the website by yourselves.

Hey, isn't it so fun to see all the pictures of baby Eleanor? Just like when Chloe was born, I can't wait to fly out and see the precious new little one.

Claudia

Happy "We Love Nora" Day!

I'm not sure if Edward and I are going to be able to print our Christmas cards this year so here it is. I definitely had Eleanor on the brain...so this is what I came up with.

Congrats Betsey and Richard and Happy Christmas everyone!

love,

Meridth

Another update

Sorry we've had a hard time keeping in touch with the family. Between feedings and nurse checkups and sleep, the day has flown by. Betsey and the baby are doing really well. We're all very enamored by each other and have enjoyed the day together. Betsey is a champ at nursing her, which makes us feel very fortunate because we've heard that this can be very difficult. Maybe it will get harder for us in the future. Who knows?

I've posted some more pictures on richardandbetsey.blogspot.com. There's a beautiful one of Betsey just moments after delivering Baby Nora. I can't believe how beautiful, peaceful, and happy she looks. Many thanks to the Gimbel clan for raising such an amazing daughter, sister, and cousin!

Picture of Betsey

Also, there may be a picture of Betsey at richardandbetsey.blogspot.com. I've had trouble uploading, but I think I managed to get one up there.

Eleanor is Coming to Town

Betsey has just received an epidural a few minutes ago and is sleeping comfortably beside me. Prior to receiving the epidural, her water broke naturally, her cervix was completely effaced and dilated between 4 and 5 centimeters, and she was experiencing contractions every 2 minutes. The doctor was pleasantly surprised by how far the baby's head had descended. Everything has proceeded pretty much as Betsey had hoped and planned. Now she just needs to save up energy for the final phase of pushing.

The hospital is beautiful and the staff has been great. It's a brand new maternity wing with amazing private rooms. Some pictures of Betsey a few hours prior to the excitement will follow.

Thanks for all of the phone calls and well wishes! She has really appreciated knowing that her friends and family are rooting for her. We also both feel appreciation for and comforted by your many prayers.

Presentations finished!

I made it! My presentations for school are done and now we are just waiting for Baby Nora to arrive. The doctor scheduled my induction for Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m. It is so strange to think that we will have a baby by Tuesday!

Richard and I are trying to keep busy with the rest of our school work, but I'm afraid I'm rather unfocused. I just keep thinking about our baby and how excited we are for her arrival! We'll be sure to post again before we leave for the hospital...whenever that may be! Thank you all so much for the phone calls, emails, and comments. We have the best friends and family in the world!

Mother's New Addiction

Actually it's not really an addiction yet, since I've only been at the site 3 times in the last two weeks, but I found a new game. Two or three weeks ago, NPR had a blurb about this program called freerice.com, and what they do is they give you vocabulary words with four synonym choices. Every time you pick the correct synonym, you are donating ten grains of rice to needy countries worldwide. (They explain more about that at the website). Anyway,...you know me. I can't stop! I love racking up those bowls of rice, and I love being at the highest levels of performance. I don't know how high the levels go, to be sure, but I have been up to level 47! I just love words, and it really helps to know Latin roots. So if anyone else want to try it, or challenge me to a dual, the site is www.freerice.com and just check it out.

The Final Countdown!

So, I posted something similar on the Team Hawkins blog, but I thought I would just keep you all in on the loop about the end of this pregnancy.

My "official" due date (for whatever that is worth) was updated by my doctor last week to Tuesday, November 27th. There hasn't been any signs that baby Eleanor is coming anytime soon. The doctor did say she is about 7 1/2 pounds right now and that she had dropped, but I haven't had any real contractions or indicators of labor. My doctor said that if she doesn't come out by Monday December 3rd that they will induce me. I don't particularly want to be induced, so after my presentation on Thursday, November 29th, I'm going to try all the old wives tales to get labor going :)

Thank you all so much for your love and concern! We are so excited to meet our new daughter and can't wait for you all to meet her as well!

What are YOU thankful for?

I know we are never supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, but I got tired of looking at the NPR blog and worrying about how Karl was going to live once he gets to Greensburg, so I thought I would ask the Eternal Question--for what things in this life are you grateful?

I know, I know.....how trite. You know the first things that are going to come out of the mouth of Mom--I'm thankful for my (extended) family, I'm thankful for the gospel, I'm thankful for my home and my job..blah, blah, blah. So when you answer this blog, think about it a little bit, and tell some things we may not already know.

I will say two things. I am really grateful that I got to spend the last year and a half administering to my own father. How I love and revere him. He was so smart (that's where you guys get all your brains, by the way), and he was so patient in his infirmities. I hope I will be as gracious and courteous when I get old. All in all, it was a wonderful experience.

The other thing. I am incredibly grateful for the love of such a good man. Sunday, when I was fretting and stewing about how I was going to get the missionaries up to Fort Wayne for a special meeting, your dad agreed to go with me, even though it was a testimony type meeting, and even though he was busy working on the ceiling of the garage. He made this huge, incredible sacrifice because he loves me. I am moved beyond tears that I can be the recipient of such love.

So, how about it? Is this too corny for the too cool, too sarcastic rest of us? I look forward to hearing from you.

I know...I know...another NPR story

Okay people, I realize that no one really loves my NPR stories, but this one was JUST SO GOOD!!!

It was on a program called The Story and it was called "A Home at the Mall" I am cutting and pasting a little blurb from the website here below. The story was just so captivating and interesting. I think you should all check this out!

"An artist in Rhode Island who's lived inside a mall parking garage since 2003 will have to move. Michael Townsend set up house behind a utility door in the Providence Place Mall garage, with couches, a PlayStation, and all the comforts of home. He documented his years living in the mall online, but posted recently that his plans to update the cutlery and install wood flooring have been put on hold. Police say the free lease is up."

Not much new to report from Team Hawkins. Baby Hawkins is due on November 30th and we are paitently waiting for her arrival!

Not just Margie...

So we made cupcakes for the Halloween.

It was festive. Thanks Martha Stewart.

something interesting

Casey sent me an interesting link to a little quiz. You answer a few questions and it tells you which potential candidate you align with most. i know its corny and lacks the precision that our politically aware family members require, but remember its just for fun. the questions are a little vague, but do your best. this is who i had the most in common with. interesting. . . . . anyway. post up who you match!!

ryan

oh, heres the link

$.97 ground beef

We had a ground beef sale from friday to sunday and sold 8800 pounds of ground beef... that's like almost 50 me's or three saturn sky's... MEAT!!!!!!!!

Best Baby Shower EVER!

Sorry for the delay in posting! Especially when Emily was on the edge of her seat waiting for Baby Shower details! It was the best shower and Magie was an amazing hostess! All of my friends are STILL talking about how great the shower was!

Mom's comment pretty much covered everything, but I will add that Margie got an AMAZING and DELICIOUS cake for the shower. It was a very yummy carrot cake. Unfortunatly, most of the cake was eaten by the guests. What were they thinking :)

Additionally, I have to say that I have the most amazing family and friends ever! I got so many wonderful and beautiful gifts, but I did love that Richard's mom gave me his blanket from when he was a little boy and a stuffed elephant (named Sookie) and a stuffed Bear (named Tarp)that Richard loved when he was little. They are so adorable and I love that Baby Hawkins will get to love Tarp and Sookie as well :)

It was also nice to have my brother and Richard attend the shower. Although I was suprised that Edward/Rusty's table did NOT get all the answers right on the quiz! He thought there was some trick questions!

Richard took the pictures below. They are all the tables of people at the shower. Apparently my great friend Morgan took more pictures, but she just moved this week, so I am not nagging her to get those pictures to me :)

Thank you to all my wonderful family who helped us to celebrate Baby Hawkins! It was a great day!!!!

BABY SHOWER?

Okay Gimbel Ladies I think it's time for a blog about the baby shower! Karl said something about Paris Hilton? I need to hear the details. Some questions to consider answering:

Who travelled farthest to make it?
What dishes did Marjorie finally decide on?
Most unique gift?
Notable attendees?
Anything you really wanted that you didn't get? (so Karl and Emily can send it to you)
Did you play games?
and please post pictures!! (even if they're not of the baby shower, says Karl, because there hasn't been a picture posted in ages)