Our Family Grows by One

Around dinner time last night, Melissa decided that the little pains she was feeling were real contractions and that our family was about to grow by one. By midnight, the contractions were strong and regular (5 minutes apart). So, we called the Dr. and went to the hospital soon after. Although her contractions were strong and frequent (as short as 3 minutes), she was not progressing very quickly. Melissa was interested in being open about her pain management, but she is also a early to bed and early to rise person. The folks at the hospital thought she would get worn out from the contractions before the labor really progressed, so they gave her some morphine at around 2 AM to help her rest between contractions. Before we new it, she was progressing rapidly and by 7 AM it was time to start pushing. At 9:31 AM out came a beautiful little girl whom we have since named Abigail Lina Brown. Since she was born about 12 days early, she was a little small at 6 lb 2 oz and 18 3/4", but she is very strong and has a full head of long soft hair. Dad is mighty impressed that Melissa did the whole labor without any real pain medication.

Many thanks to the staff at University of Rochester Medical Center (Strong Hospital). More news and pictures to come.

A House is Born

So I get hassled that I posted something, what ... a year ago ... and nothing since? I think both Melissa and I will try to remedy that.

So it is April and the next few months will be crazy for us. Melissa is due to give birth to our first little one in a few weeks. I am trying to finish my Ph.D. We started to build our new house back in Falmouth, MA. Then we will be moving into the new house later in the year and transitioning to tele-commuters for our current employers (RIT and Xerox). Oh yeah, and sell the Rochester, NY house. Piece of cake.

But this post is about the new house. Where did the plans come from, you might ask? My Dad built a house with a similar external shape a few years back in Wellfleet. We liked it, but it was a little too generic and "spec" house for our taste. So I worked on a rework of the inside for some time. Lots of good input from the family architects (thanks Sadhna), other friends in the trade and lots of books (especially books by Sarah Susanka). I'm sure it isn't perfect and I am sure that our architect friends and family will find some faults, but we are genuinely happy with what we came up with.


And thanks to lots of hard work by my Dad, we are underway. Most of the trades are lined up and we cleared the lot and dug a hole around the first of April. The footings were put in shortly after (picture below) and the foundation shortly after that. They should start framing next week.

I am hoping to squeeze in a trip back there soon to move some stuff out of the Rochester house and to (hopefully) be on-site and swing a hammer for a day with Dennis and Mark (the framers). We will keep everyone posted with pictures when we can take or get them.

Next big project to kick-off ... raising a little person.