The Sy-Guy

Arrival!

Yesterday evening at 10:36 p.m., Silas Richard Heerema made his public debut! He weighed 8.75 lb. and is 21" long with a little bit of dark, curly hair.

Charity called me about an hour after he was born with the news. She sounded great, and said he's a very sweet boy!

Their hospital does not allow children under age 12 to visit the mom and baby in the room, so Esther and Hendrik will not be able to meet their baby brother until Charity is released - Lord willing tomorrow morning! Grandpa Rick and I had decided it wouldn't be fair for us to get to meet Silas before his own brother and sister.

However, our resolve was 'dissolved' when Charity 'encouraged' us to meet Silas tonight when we took the kids to visit her in the hospital lobby.  He's a very precious little guy and it was a such a blessing to hold him.

We were happy brother and sister didn't seem to mind. They KNOW their momma and were happy just to visit with HER! Esther clung to her for the longest time and told me on the way to dinner how happy and surprised she was for the visit - she really didn't expect to see her until baby comes home. Neither Esther or Henry has cried for their parents or seemed overly-disturbed with the strange circumstances.

They've stayed with us multiple days before when Charity and Richard went on little vacations, just the two of them. We felt it best for Esther and Henry to sleep in their own beds, and Henry still gets a nebulizer treatment before bedtime, so it's just easier for them to sleep at home. Grandpa Rick is the designated sleep-over guardian - bunking on the sofa in the playroom at Esther's request. She told Grandpa she wanted him close - that when she calls for Momma and Poppa in the night they take 'too long' to get to her. I'm sure being wakened out a sound sleep doesn't have anything to do with their delay!

I'll post some pictures soon. I didn't take my camera out with me tonight - didn't think I needed too - not very prepared was I?!

Moving Forward

Charity is at the hospital this morning. She had an office appointment at 7 a.m. and called her dad - who was hanging out with the kiddoes until they awoke- around 8:15 a.m. to say she was going to the hospital for antibiotics (I.V., I'm assuming) and that she will probably be induced around noon today.

Meanwhile, we're having an extended 'Grandma Day' with Esther and Hendrik, and we'll have them with us until Momma and Poppa return home with baby 'Poncho'.

 I usually start my work day with a trip to the 'home office' (Allstar Homes, that is) to drop off our bank deposit. The banks are closed for the MLK holiday, but it gave me a chance to pass on the baby news to some of my co-workers. I picked Rick and the kids up around 9 a.m. from their house. Dogs, Bunnies and Horses safely in-arms, we came back to our place for breakfast. Now, Grandpa and his 'helpers' are out checking the property - especially looking for signs of  'rodent' activity that may have manifested over the weekend.

Since the cold weather descended upon us and since the construction work began on the back (once vacant) lot, the mousie population has exploded. Many tenants report seeing mice droppings and mice - dead and alive - in or near their storage units. This is particularly troubling when we're trying hard to sell our high-end, indoor, climate controlled (expensive) units and we open a door to show a vacant unit and there's a gigantic dead mouse on the floor just inside the door. We've put out lots of bait and other deterrants, but we're hoping the presence of an exhuberant 5 and 2 year old will run these pests out of the neighborhood for good!

Still Waiting!

After a wonderfully delicious family dinner at our new favorite Mexican restaurant last night, we were hopeful that Charity would be incited to go into labor as her way of thanking us! Just got off the phone with her, though - she slept well and nothing is 'happening', so far. Since we're working today, we're at home, and just 2 minutes away if she needs us.

We were all treated to a beautiful sight early this morning. Just to the west of our property, we could see a dozen or so hot-air balloons gliding through the brisk morning sky. From our second-story vantage point, it was pretty darned impressive!

You can see balloons AND witness the progress of the 'expansion' at the same time!

And, for good measure, some recent photos of our apartment!

No Excitement Here

I said I might have some exciting news by today, but have nothing to tell....we've been pondering a decision - which has been made - but it doesn't involve any excitement - or any news either, but we're at peace, and that's worth a lot.

And no 'baby' news either. Charity's Dr. will probably induce her Monday if her labor doesn't start over the weekend. We had a wonderful Mexican dinner together tonight at 'Andele', but I don't think it brought on any contractions - it will remain to be seen if the ice cream and cookies did the trick or not.

Thanks, everyone, for your prayers and love.

Sit Back and Enjoy the Ride

I might have a couple of really exiciting things to say by Friday, but for now, everything is in a 'holding' pattern. However, the sun is out, we'll hit 60* today, and no one has yelled at me yet!

I will say that through the faithfulness of preaching and some of my own studies, I have recently been  experiencing a heightened sense of God's Providential care in my life. So, whatever the next couple of days hold for us as a family, I have renewed confidence that 'What e'er my God ordains is right!"

2009 – In Review, And a Few Predictions For 2010

January: Discount Self Storage hit the 50% occupancy mark and we also had our first big incident: a ‘stolen’ property case brought the N.M. State Police and Arizona Rangers to our door. They literally ‘took over’, spending and afternoon and evening on their investigating and gathering evidence that led to the apprehension of the bad guys.


February: We enjoyed a post-holiday trip to Bellingham to visit our ‘best’ son, Chris, his wife, Christina, and daughter, Autumn, and had the pleasure of watching Autumn seated in a park swing for the first time. She, however, wasn’t half as impressed as the Grandparents!


March: The highlight of the month revolved around the annual Western Pecan Growers’ Conference, held in Las Cruces. Son-in-law, Richard, is the principal local organizer. A BIG part of the program is the Pecan Fantasy contest. Once again, Charity won big - this year with her traditional pecan pie entry. I placed with my entries, but Charity is our shining star in the baking department (and after nearly 35 years, is still our ‘best’ daughter). We don’t want to forget that we celebrated Richard’s birthday too! He needed some R & R after his busy month.


April: The entire family met up in California to celebrate the occasion of Great-Grandpa Richard’s 90th birthday on April 13. . We were blessed to spend time with the Oakdale Heeremas and also celebrate Charity’s 34th birthday and Hendrik’s 2nd birthday – which fall on the same day, April 11.


May: Rick turned ‘60’ and the local family honored him with a dinner at an Irish pub.


June: Judi’s birthday month. I took the day off and Charity and I had a girl’s shopping day. It was great fun. For Father’s Day we bbq’d with the Heerema’s and when it came time to give Grandpa Rick his present, it was revealed that Baby ‘Pancho’ Heerema would make an appearance sometime soon after the first of the year, 2010! Later in the month we spent a few days in Colorado at the annual RCUS Family Camp. What a blessed time of relaxing in God’s creation, reconnecting with old friends, making new ones and hearing God’s Word faithfully expounded.


July: Happy Birthday, Discount Self Storage. We celebrated 1 year in business on July 24 -  with occupancy nearing 95% -  and were completely astonished when the owners told us we were being given a performance bonus for a good first year – a 7-day Alaskan cruise and an additional week to spend with our family in Bellingham!


August: Rick and Judi celebrated 36 years of marriage with a wonderful get-away to Phoenix; Esther started school and Autumn celebrated 1 full year of filling her home and the lives of her family near and far with joy and happiness.


September: Our ‘gift’ cruise was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and the quality time spent with our Bellingham family was an inexpressible joy. Discount Self Storage reached 99% occupancy.


October: The bank approved a construction loan to expand Discount Self Storage and the dirt and concrete work began.


November: I took a ‘break’ from Facebook, but we discovered we were missing out on too much news of friends and family, so two weeks later we re-activated the account - now with Rick as an active participant. Work on the Discount expansion continues. We’ve been told by the owners that if possible the entire expansion will be completed– rather than separate 2nd and 3rd phases as was initially planned. This will potentially add nearly 400 new units to our current inventory of 383.

December: We rejoiced in our third Advent season in Las Cruces  The construction work continued, and we enjoyed all the preparations leading up to Christmas: cooking, baking and witnessing Esther's first-ever school Christmas Program. She turned five years old on December 27. We celebrated with a family lunch and later in the day she had friends over for a 'kid' celebration. On New Year's Eve, Esther and Hendrik spent the night. We put the tent up in the living room and made the kids a nice, cozy nest inside. They finally fell asleep, but first Henry wanted to talk to his sister about bears. We weren't listening to the conversation, but they might have scared themselves just a little.

Predictions and Prognostications:

January, 2010: Charity and Richard will be blessed with the arrival of their precious new child; Esther and Hendrik will welcome a new sibling.

Chris, Christina and delightfully precocious Autumn will fulfill their callings and grow in grace and in the knowledge of their Lord, Jesus Christ.

Rick and Judi will fulfill their callings as well. We will continue our walk of sanctification and will find God’s mercy and grace to be sufficient and find Him to be our ‘very present help…’

We will continue to count our blessings as we find joy in a close relationship with the Heeremas., and we will thank God every day for Chris, Christina and Autumn and cherish times we can spend with them too. We will find particular reason to give thanks as we see our children raising their families in the ‘nurture and admonition of the Lord’.

And, we will be blessed by all of YOU – friends and family everywhere!

 “Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth. Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy. We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.” (The Book of Common Prayer)