How To Wake Up On Your Birthday

Hear Zoe crying. Realize she slept for almost 4 hours in a row. Go make her a bottle. Play.

Elise's Birthday

Today is Elise's birthday. It's amazing to see kids slowly becoming who they are. Just when you think Elise's big sister Selah is silly, you see Elise pull of a wacky voice or a goofy laugh and dance.

Elise loves being here with her brothers and sisters. It's here she gets to be both a big sister and a little sister, and it's obvious she relishes both.

Aidan will always politely ask, "Dad, tonight, can i sweep wif Lisey?"

Something tells me Lisey and he tell stories and scratch each other's backs like Erin and I did 35 years ago. (Yes Erin, we're that old.)

Happy birthday, sweet girl.

16 Months of Grace:How Winning Is Done

Grace is getting something you don't deserve.

This morning my precious Zoe woke up and wailed. She was scared or upset or something, but she was almost inconsolable until Mom held her and then Dad walked around holding her.

But she was alive. 16 months old. Beautiful and long and opinionated. Eating chicken and vegetable stage 2 baby food and alive. Sweet grace.

Zoe is incompatible with a night of sleep. Incompatible with stage 3 food. Incompatible with tater tots. (I tried. What? I just wanted to see) She's incompatible with being left alone too long.

But she's not incompatible with life. God has given us Zoe for another month, and Zoe has taught me how to win. It's not how hard you hit. It's how you take the hits.

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

What do you get for a girl who has...almost everything?

At 5 months, Zoe's got a family full of people who love her, adoring fans around the world, the doting affection of a MLB pitcher, and a God who has kept her in His palm of His hand this whole time.

We are still...always...so proud.

Birthdays : Two Christiansen Lads

I'm that kind of an uncle. I totally overlooked the birthdays of two of my nephews, Brennick and Temish Christiansen (Deirdre's kin). Both of these guys are growing like weeds and will someday - we pray - have all the coolness of their mom, except male-like.

Temish just turned 9 yesterday and Brennick turned 16 last week. Pray for these great kids as they continue to walk and grow in Him.

Ethan's Birthday Pictures

I know, I know, it was two weeks ago...but here's some pics of Ethan's 5th Bday.

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Ethan turns 5 today.
For those of you who know Jen and I or have known us for a while...I'll repeat.
Ethan turns 5 today.

Ethan is a classic example of this verse, "20You tried to harm me, but God made it turn out for the best, so that he could save all these people, as he is now doing."

Born in troubled times, when there were lots of questions for everyone, came this kid with a big heart who loves passionately, who loves the Lord.

I'll get you all some pictures when the party's through...

Happy Birthday, Payton!

Payton is Zoe's cousin, Charis's kid. Payton is 1 year old today. Count your blessings.

Kellen Turns 15

Kellen turned 15 on Saturday. I'll get you all some pictures. He lit a fire and had some friends over. We set them all up with some kickin' goodie bags, which included everything from Pop Rocks to Gangsta tats. We got him some sandals and an mp3 player.

S'mores, stars, a big fire...that's a fun way to spend your birthday.

10 Weeks

Jen tried playing with Zoe a little yesterday, which elicited some crabbiness and a few big smiles.

Where are we going? Where is this 10 week old developmentally? What can she see? What is she thinking? Trisomy 18 babies are prone to hearing and vision problems. We're going to revise the hospital's grave diagnosis of no hearing. Zoe can hear. Ethan cut his knee hurting today and was wailing the wail of the four year old with a skin wound. Zoe woke up.

There are stories of Trisomy18 babies making it past the sixth month. There aren't similar stories about babies with tetralogy of fallot - Zoe's heart condition - making it very long. The cardiologist had told us before Zoe's birth that in studies done on 3rd World countries of children who had tetralogy of fallot, none had survived past the 2nd or third year.

Ever since we ordered the oxygen machine, it has sat in the corner, mostly unused. Zoe hates it. It might have been aversion therapy for her, because as long as its been here, her breathing has been better.

Miracle baby? What is a miracle? Today's miracle was that in the above story, where Ethan was wailing, Zoe was in a bouncy seat. That's right, Jen got to put her down for a few minutes. Maybe Zoe is getting old enough to allow her mom a few minutes of movement without holding her? Maybe.

At ten weeks, we can turn our eyes and thoughts to tonight's meal and Kellen's birthday. A lawnmower grinds a welcome sound and smell into the morning air. Puffy clouds flit across the sky and boats rocket and float outside my back window. Elise is pushing Ethan in a doll baby stroller. He has a tube in his mouth that he says is to help him breathing. I guess our homelife isn't all that normal. But it never was.

In The Last Month

Batblog has been visited by people from Uganda, Costa Rica, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, China, UK, US, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Philippines, South Korea, Canada, Switzerland, Bahamas, Slovenia, Singapore, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Bahrain and the Netherlands Antilles.

There's nothing more internationally appealing than to report that Zoe Elizabeth Batiansila is sleeping in my arms today, on her 9 week birthday.

Jen Turns 30

Jen's 30 today. Zoe gave her a present with a wailing cry for formula at 4 am. Zoe eats 2 ounces at then loses interest, which keeps her hungry a good part of the day.

We're going to take a trip down to Chicago, not pay someone (sorry someone) and go see Wicked. If you know Jen, she spends a good part of her time singing Broadway showtunes or directing people on how to do it. Seems like the thing to do.

Birthday

I tried to give Jen a break and make it through the night on another floor of the house behind a closed door with Zoe. Jen needs and needed a break for so many reasons, the top two being she's running auditions for an upcoming project this morning and she's been going sleep-deprived for weeks.

Zoe is sticking with us. She has some kind of troubled breathing every once in a while and her color isn't what it was. What that means to us...we don't know. The hardest part of this is trying to imagine what's going to happen tomorrow, or next friday (Mother's Day and Jen's Birthday respectively) and trying to plan is hard to envision without imagining the worst.

Deirdre asked me what I'm doing for Bat and Christa's anniversary next month. It seems an eternity away. Too far away to speak with any clarity.

As Lewis wrote, "Meanwhile the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday
morning. A cleft has opened in the pitiless walls of the world, and we are invited to
follow our great Captain inside. The following Him is, of course, the essential
point."

So, my neck is sore and I'm only one cup of coffee into this day. But it's a new day, and I'm holding Zoe in my lap. It's a new day, baby. A week ago, we had friends over and Josh sang us some of his stuff, and then we broke into "New Day." It might just be the prettiest thing you've ever seen.

Bad Older Brothering

Yesterday was my little sister Tari's birthday. Tari is almost exactly 18 months younger than me, which meant we fought and played with each other every day. Tari used to irritate me by telling people she was only a year younger than me. I'm not sure why this got me, but it did and it would provoke a fight. Nowadays, Tari being one year younger than me means SHE'S OLD. How you like them apples, Tari?

My favorite Tari thoughts:

Tari would hang picture frames in her locker with the store picture still in them. People would ask who the cute baby was, and she'd say she didn't know.

Tari kissed pretty much all my friends. To this day, she blames me. (She is now married to a best friend of one of my friends)

Tari would eat yellow mustard, but only when hidden under something. She couldn't bear to look at it.

Anytime you have a sibling that close in years to you, you pretty much share the same era and memories and highschool friends. Tari and I have seen our share together. Happy Birthday Totsie.

Deirdre: Not 50

Deirdre has expended a good amount of energy insisting she is not 50. She's right. She's not. Deirdre is not 50, she's 49, which is younger, more spry. 49 means a little bigger bounce in her step.

It also means different - purer, even - things for Bat and Christa's 50th anniversary this summer.

Selah Turns 9

Selah turned 9 today and Greg and Jen celebrated by taking the family to The Mine Shaft. It's a pretty well known spot with good pizza and a huge game room. Kellen beat his dad at football throwing, tickets were traded for fake Dracula teeth. Temish came along to celebrate.

76

Bat turned 76 yesterday, and many of his children and grandchildren were on hand to celebrate with him. Here's a link to an album of pictures...

Du's Birthday Weekend Extravaganza

Bat turns...I don't know how old he turns, but he has a real birthday this year! In order to properly celebrate this rare occasion, the adult family members will be celebrating at a special place in the Milwaukee area on Friday, and then the entire family - however many assemble - will celebrate at Deirdre's megachurch in Grafton, Wisconsin.

Please email Deirdre if you are interested or want to send well wishes.

And talk about Cuz Chat - how about Cuz Disco? Turnabout dance is on Friday, the 29th at Teia, Isabel and Kellen's high school. Alexis, Drew, and Connor have been invited to boogie!

At this time, it is our understanding that the Heidis will not be attending, and that the Andreas's will only be appearing via live satellite telecast.

Happy Birthday, Kirin!

Kirin turned 45 this year. That is unquestionably as old as Kirin has ever been. Kirin is the first brat from the first group of Batiansila kids. She and Heidi represent the only Batiansilas to graduate from a non-Concordia.

Kirin has done it all through 45 years. As Liz Chantel, she danced her way to bus fare. She was a finalist in Ms. Fitness USA contest. She was an All-American in track at UW-Lacrosse where she also made the Dean's List. She reads books. She has two great kids and a loving husband.

Kirin is the athletic director at a Christian school in Madison (yes, they have those in Madison). She's always taken the time to be our sister and remember family, so we're remembering her here. A day late.

MINTE TURNS 14

Deirdre, Minte's mother, just emailed to report that Minte has turned 14. The BNS didn't realize that people can turn 13 on one day and then 14 just a few days later. Perhaps this was the way they do it in New York, where Minte was born.

The BNS based its fact checking on shaking 15 year old Isabel Batiansila awake and asking her how old Minte was. Isabel looked shocked, then faked like she was still reading a Willa Cather novel, then mumbled "13. Didn't you just ask me that?" Who needs more fact checking than that?

So happy birthday Minte! Does this mean you turn 15 in the next few days?