CONGRATULATIONS DADDY!

Congrats to Curt on his new job as a lawyer for the Missouri Ethics Commission!!!!!!!

Here is a quote from Curt's boss at the Attorney General's Office in a Facebook post: "About to lose the best lawyer and best man who ever worked in my Unit. I guess the lesson is, eventually you get what you pay for."

That said it all!
We are so proud of you!

(On a related note, I can now have the computer back to give my blog some attention since poor daddy isn't job searching every night! Blog, I'm so sorry to have ignored you for so long!)

Rollover

I just watched Miss Elizabeth roll from back to front to back!

I'm just fine, how are you?

As many of you know, we just got back from a 3-day hospital stay due to Elizabeth catching RSV (Really Sucky Virus)! What an awful, stressful, crazy adventure.

It was surreal walking off the elevator (after surviving the ER and being told in no uncertain terms that our baby would not go home that night) onto the same floor that I left with her 10 weeks (now 11) ago. We even stayed in the exact same kind of room and she slept (at times) in the same weird bassinet thingy.

Seeing your baby struggle to breathe has to be one of the most awful experiences a mom can withstand. (Many of you other moms who have experienced baby trauma drama may argue with that statement). I fluctuated between stubborn optimism and terror in ways that made me so stressed out I could smell the stress on my clothes. For those who have ever been this stressed, you KNOW that smell. You KNOW what I mean.

Of course, now that she is home and only hooked up to one monitor, all that worry seems excessive. Ahhhh, the beauty of hindsight.

A note to all the doctors and nurses out there:

-LIE to parents when they ask if this could be life-threatening. You KNOW what we want to hear, just say it even if it might not be true!

-Please don't make me beg you for Tylenol for my baby ever again. Would YOU want to experience this type of infection including fever without so much as a drop of medicine?
-When a baby is obviously dehydrated and feverish, don't beat around the bush with the ole saline drip. Her IV is there for a reason, use it. Give my angel an intravenous sip!

A note to Mimi, Anna and Mary Helen:

-You three are simply amazing! Saint Mimi's 24-hour help made a traumatic situation tolerable. Anna, your patience and obedience and just overall acceptance of the situation kept me sane. Mary Helen, the breakfasts were amazing! We were so well taken care of that it became a joke among the nurses! We even shared some coffee with them!

I love you all.

A note to Elizabeth:

-I love you and could not imagine life without you. (I just recently HAD to imagine it and it was unbearable). Thanks for being a trooper and getting better quickly!

And to finish with a humorous flourish, a picture of an exhausted baby and daddy, both happy to be home today"

Here's what we've been up to for the past 2 months:

We've been enjoying some serious sister talk:
I'm sure they are already sharing sister secrets that their mom will not be privy to!
(Hair design by Anna Stokes Hair Studio, Inc.)




We've been enjoying some serious Granny talk:







We've been playing with Grandpa:



And we've been showing that you don't need snow to have fun in winter:
This video is titled:
Wooter Tooter Super Scooter!
(Subtitled: Uncle Curt is a Super Star!)


Plenty of pictures will follow for your viewing enjoyment!

Meet Elizabeth

Did you all know babies were like this?



Seriously. This girl will happily talk to herself for 10-20 minutes. She cries only when hungry, needing to burp, or right when she goes down to sleep.

I do believe I landed the sweetest girl on earth!
Hooray for Elizabeth!

Interview with Anna

I stole this idea from Auntie Em. (Well, not just the idea, but all the questions as well!:-)

Here is an interview with Anna, age 3 during our basement camp out in the blizzard of 2011:

What is your:
1) Favorite color? Purple
2) Favorite book? Jungle Babies (the book we just finished reading)
3) Favorite movie? The Mulan (the movie we watched earlier that day - plus twice yesterday.)
4) Favorite food? Chicken
5) Least favorite food? Pancakes (She loves pancakes)
6) Favorite fruit? Bananas
7) Favorite vegetable? Bananas
8) Least favorite vegetable? Tomatoes (She loves tomatoes)
9) Favorite TV show? Dora
10) Favorite song? Row Row Row Your Boat (Weird. Ben said the same one and I never told her his answers. Plus, we haven't sung this one in forever.)
11) Favorite thing to do with mom? Tickle
12) Favorite thing to do with dad? Hop on Pop
13) Favorite game to play with friends? Puzzle animals (the book we just did)
14) Favorite store? The one that has my cawts in it!
15) Favorite sport? Wiggling
16) Favorite bible story? You Are My Sunshine
17)Favorite place to go? Camping in the woods (We were pretend camping, after all)
18) Favorite restaurant? The lomster (lobster) one
19) Favorite toy? Ariel doll
20) Favorite thing to do with Elizabeth? Tickle, tickle, tickle
21) Favorite drink? Orange juice
22) Favorite thing to do at school? Go to the nursery and play with the other kids
23) Favorite thing to do outside? Slide
24) What do you want to be when you grow up? A knight
25) What can you do now that you are 3? Put my hands up (huh?)
26) Who is your best friend? Ariel
27) What is mom's job? Bake, bake (ouch)
28) What is dad's job? Climb up in the attic
29) What does mom always say? Help my write my name. (huh?)
30) What does dad always say? I don't know
31) What is your nickname? Anna Maria
32) What makes you laugh? Tickles
33) What makes you sad? Bumping
34) What are you thankful for? You (Awwwwww)
35) What does mom love about you? I don't know, you tell me! (Where do I begin, sweetling?)

Then Anna began to ask ME questions, in a very serious manner.
The questions were tough:
What is your favorite baseball place?
What is your favorite hat?
What is your favorite eyebrow? (What?)
What is your favorite toy?

Pretty creative, hard-hitting questions, wouldn't you say?

How to survive a blizzard...

Ok, Ok. For those who have lived through a "real" blizzard I know this one only counts by Missouri standards. But if the news people can call it a blizzard, so can I.

So here are survival tips:

1)Look good while you smile for the camera!


2)Leave your shovel where you can find it. Notice it is buried up to the top of the shovel part!


3)Stay on your feet!


4)Keep track of your children!


5)Make paths so you can find your way back!


6)Basement camp outs will make the time go by faster!