Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday!!

Chris and I went to Chelsea to visit my parents on Saturday. Hannah and Josh had been there since Friday and were eager to get out and enjoy the snow before their return to Florida. Hannah, Josh and I tried to go sledding, but with temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s the snow was far to sticky for quality sledding. We decided instead to build a snowman. Great plan! Well that is until we discovered that the base of the snowman was almost 4 feet tall and we were never going to be able to get more snow on top of it. So, we improvised and built Snoopy's head instead. It actually looked really cool, though I'm afraid no one took pictures of it.

Santa was very good this year, if a bit confused. Dad ended up getting two drill kits and I bought mom a book she already had, but over all there were no major catastrophies. The best gift by far was the one that Chris gave me. He saved up and bought me a remote car starter! It's not installed yet, but when it is - goodbye sub-zero car, hello toastiness!

No plans as yet for New Year's Eve.

I hope you had a very safe and happy holiday!

Later Days.

Olivia Jean Lacher-Starace

Below is the message we got from Jen today.

Dear Family & Friends, Well, it wasn't what we expected, but we are certainly VERY HAPPY to announce the birth of our daughter, Olivia Jean Lacher-Starace, who arrived on Tuesday, December 6, at 7:37 p.m. She weighed in at 7 lbs., 12 oz. and was 21 inches long. SHE'S A BEAUTY, if we do say so ourselves! (Check out the attached photos!)

You may recall that her original due date was today, Dec. 10. When I went in for my routine, weekly doctor's appointment on Tuesday afternoon, the doctor discovered that little Olivia, gymnast that she already is, had flipped into the breech position. Upon further review (a.k.a. an ultrasound), her position was confirmed and the sonographer measured only 3.7 cm of amniotic fluid (which is apparently not much) and she wasn't moving much. I don't know the degree to which the doctor downplayed his concerns, but he was both calm and matter-of-fact when he told me to leave the office, drive across the street and check myself into the hospital for a C-section that night!

Mike was at basketball practice, so I called him before following the doctor's orders. He seemed to take it pretty much in stride (although the other coach said he looked pretty tense) and he went home to gather what I had managed to pack in my hospital bag (not a lot) and met me in a labor-and-delivery room at Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford around 5:30. I won't lie; we were both pretty much in shock. No one gave us any reason to be concerned about the baby, but this was the LAST thing we expected!

Anyway, I was given a spinal anesthetic shortly after 7; then Mike joined me in the operating room and out came Olivia about 30 minutes later! (Meanwhile Mike's sister Michele, who was supposed to be my labor coach along with Mike, is screaming up the highway from Connecticut. She and Mike's mom, who lives in Old Orchard, Maine, arrived around 8 p.m.) Mike got to help cut the cord and bathe and weigh her and stayed with her in the post-partum room until I came up from recovery around 9 p.m.

So, she's pretty much PERFECT! She has brown hair with the most unique (according to everyone on the hospital staff) blond highlights and, for now, dark blue eyes. We stayed in the hospital for 3 nights. There was a blizzard here yesterday - we got a foot of snow - so Mike left the hospital around 3 p.m. to come home and shovel and snow blow; he came back to get us and we all arrived home about 9:30 p.m. The cats are doing their best to ignore her; although they clearly missed us (Mike stayed in the hospital all three days/nights). I am healing nicely with only minimal discomfort, thanks in large part to some lovely pain killers.

We've managed to get at least some sleep each of the past four nights; hopefully we'll work out a better routine in the coming days and weeks. My parents arrive next Wednesday afternoon and Mike will likely head back to school Thursday. We'll send more pictures soon - meanwhile, hope all your holiday preparations are going well and you are keeping warm. Love to you all, JEN.

Pictures and "Dude, I got a Dell!"

I promised Thanksgiving pictures and now I am delivering. You should check out the ones of Chris carving the turkey. Our turkey was 20 pounds, a bit smaller than in past years, but Hannah and Josh weren't able to come, so there were fewer people.

On a completely unrelated note, I am adding this entry on our BRAND NEW Dell computer. We are very happy with it (well, I am, Chris is working tonight so he hasn't seen it yet). I get a Dell discount as an EverBank employee and so we got a very nice system for a very nice price.

Later Days!

Olivia Starace Arrives

Jen and Mike are the proud parents of Olivia Starace born by C-section yesterday. She is 7 lb 12 oz with lots of dark hair and blond highlights.

Congratulations!