What's New

Danny is learning colors. When he says blue, he enjoys saying it with raspberries "bluuuuuuueeee". Very fun.

He is also learning animal sounds. Before he really gets going, you could ask him just about anything, and he'll roar like a lion. So far, we've got "Moo", "Woof", "Roar", and every once in a while "Tweet tweet". Oh, and Dave practices a baby lamb "Baaaaa"

Danny learned how to drink with a straw....and not choke. This is a task his mother still has trouble with.

I have given up trying to keep his bookshelf neat. Why bother? The joy is taking it a part...EVERY.DAY. Tonight, I actually left all of the books on the floor. It stresses me out just thinking about it.

We took him to the local Zoo on Sunday (ie. Pet Supplies Plus in Mentor). He was fascinated by the feeder fish tank of gold fish. This tank held approximately 1,000 gold fish...there was barely water, because it was all fish. This generated a giant "Whoa". Lots of fun.

What is some other fun stuff...

Danny LOVES loves loves Veggie straws. These are veggie potato chips that are like a straw. He is so funny when he chews them up. Super cute.

Coloring is a great 5-minute distraction that ends with crumpled paper and crayons on the floor. I'm telling you though, in those 5-minutes, we can get a lot done! Dinner, cleaning, etc :)

Hectic Week

It's been so long since I've posted. This week was a chaotic week. Absolutely nutty.

Last Friday (over a week ago) we were getting ready to have some company over. And six minutes shy of their arrival (she texted me), Danny spontaneously threw up. Spontaneous because it was our first experience with the pukes. He was not feeling good. Wouldn't eat. And just seemed out of it. It was early. Not even 6:30, and I finally said, forget it. He's not going to get to say hi to the McLendon's. I went to pick him up and take him upstairs when "BAM", he got me. Poor little guy. It scared the b-Jesus out of him. And me.

After a few more rounds of that, he went to bed. There is definitely a benefit of having a bathroom right off of his bedroom. The sink came in handy for both David and I at one time or another during that evening.

The following day, he was Mr. Sad and a little warm. Of course late Saturday evening, his temperature ramped up, and after spending half of the night walking him or holding him upright to sleep, I knew we needed to see the doctor. It was his ears. We got into the doctor at 10:15, and he confirmed that he had one ear infection, and that the other ear was on its way. We stopped and filled the prescription at CVS (and purchased a $4 balloon...yeah, I'm a sucker) and went on our merry way.

Sunday was a rough day. By the end of the day, his stomach was not cooperating in the #2 sort of way. We were getting hit from every direction. Sunday night was rough. Monday night we took him to the Pediatric ER because he'd had such a rough day and his temp was still high. Only to get there, get checked in, and then "BAM" he came back to life. Running around the ER. Playing. Eating snacks (a first). So we left.

Tuesday night was super hard because now David was sick too. Mommy was flying solo with a kid that had a bad stomach and just cried. When I held him, walked him, rocked him, everything. Just cried a whimpering, sad, painful cry. We were up all night.

Wednesday, my brother-in-laws mother (did you follow that? My sisters husband) found out she had had a massive heart attack. Mrs. Jolliffe had thought she pulled a muscle while working out, and had flu like symptoms. In order to go back to work, she needed a note from the doctor. She went to Urgent Care Wednesday morning, and that is when she found out about the massive heart attack. She was sent to Parma General Hospital where the prognosis was grim. Thursday morning, Mrs. Jolliffe suffered a massive stroke. Unbelievable. This woman is the healthiest woman I know. The news just kept getting worse, and the decision was made to life flight her to the Cleveland Clinic. So far, she has been stable, but the roller coaster is not over. They have to wait several days before they can really treat the heart or the stroke, because treating one could impact the other. She is in the ICU, and would like to go home. I have known Mrs. Jolliffe for 18-years. That is more then half of my life. She lifts weights, Rollerblades, and does all sorts of stuff. She could run circles around me. And then this happened? It doesn't even make sense. Please prayer for her recovery. I don't think it will be speedy, but as long as the recovery is on the table, I think everyone will work through the healing process. It sure beats the alternative.

Like I said, it was a hectic week.

Danny was sick. David was sick. I was exhausted. And worst of all, Mrs. Jolliffe had a massive heart attack and a massive stroke. Unbelievable. Please pray for her, and the Jolliffe families during these difficult times. I can only imagine the emotional drain and exhaustion they are feeling right now.

About my little guy though, it's amazing how hard we'll work to see his little dimples come out. It is so worth the late hours and long walks.

My little Valentine. How we love him so.

Getting Settled

I cannot believe we have almost been her for THREE weeks. It still feels like we're house sitting. I know it's going to take a while until our house feels like home, and walking in everyday doesn't feel like a novelty.

It is just so fun to watch Danny. I mean truly. He is just in heaven, and since he is the greatest joy of our lives, seeing him smile and play, is the best. We run in circles. We play "peek a boo". And we are enjoying family dinners at the table with just the three of us. Dannny is doing marvelous. He is sleeping through the night. He seems to be on a great routine and a schedule. A lot probably has to do with the fact that he is getting older, and is so busy at school, that when he comes home..we play hard, and he crashes.

I have to get some video of him dancing. It's just the sweetest thing you've ever seen. Of course, I'm bias, but he wiggles and bobs his head, and those dimples! Oh my goodness, I just want to squeeze them right off his face! Dave always looks at me like I'm nuts when I say, "Don't you just want to eat him? I could just fry him up and eat him like a sandwich".

We have lots of ideas on what we would like to do to the house...furniture, drapes, blinds, decorations, blah blah $$$$$$ blah. Notice the $$$$$$. Fortunately, we have a lot of time to make decisions and prioritize our to-do list. It's all so exciting! And overwhelming. But mostly exciting! The only hindrance to some of the time it will take to make these purchases, is that it will be hard for me to commit to where on the walls I will want to put holes so I can start hanging some pictures. Of course, these are family photos! Something I just love completely, and now I will have the wall space to make pretty collages of them.

My daily commute to work is a little longer. This isn't the end of the world. The Mom in me has transitioned more of my daycare dropoff duties to David so that I can get to work quicker and home earlier. This is hurting the most, so we'll need to find a better balance. I love to take him to school or pick him up and stay in touch with the "girls" that love on him all day long. The practical person in me thinks of the extra miles on the car and the cost of gas. And how much I DREAD the hill on Mayfield Road between Chesterland and Gates Mills. This is a white knuckle hill. But the social part of me loves the extra phone time in the car! I can actually have a conversation. When I get home, I'm home, and Danny is #1, so this is my time to gab with the girls.

Everyday is a new adventure right now!

Madison Rose

A very close friend of mine suffered a pregnancy loss last week, and had to say good-bye to her baby girl. Madison Rose. It has just devastated me. My heart aches for her and her husband, and their families. I know too well the pain she is enduring. Hearing her sadness, through words and silence. Knowing if there was anything I could do to take it away, I would. Knowing if there was anything anyone could do to take it away, they would.

After losing Angela, I remember just praying and hoping that none of my friends would ever have to experience that kind of heartache. Hoping that I was the one in our circle of friends. I didn't want to have this in common with anyone else I love so dearly. I wanted to keep that shared experience to the limited connection I had with other girls on pregnancy loss message boards. Not my friends.

The memories have been flooding me for over a week. I have had the good fortune of staying busy and unpacking. I have had the quiet time at home to reflect on that time in my life. To cry. To ache for a lost child. To ache for my grieving friend and to grieve with her. To hold my son and count my blessings and know that without Angela, I would not have him. What a deeply painful yet enriching gift that experience brought to my life.

Please say a prayer for my friend and her family. To bring them strength, peace, hope, faith, comfort and patience. They will need all of that as they work through the pain and shock of whispering their "I love you's" to their little girl in heaven.

Warp Speed

The last few weeks have flown by at warp speed! It seems like it was just Thanksgiving, and yet we've already passed Christmas and have rolled right into the new year. In fact, January is already half-over! We have been consumed with packing, moving and unpacking. Wow.

But....We are officially in our new house!

The big move was last weekend, January 9th. We recruited a lot of help, and then had to call for back-ups when we hit a snag with weather related issues...such as the movers and the POD company were not allowed to use our driveway because it is new construction, and the cement had not cured. PODS was kind enough to give us 2-hours to unpack a giant container full of stuff. The city of Kirtland would not let them park it on the street because of a snow related parking ban. Awesome. The moving company called in for a 3rd person to assist, since our driveway has a giant slope to it, and they had a bunch of heavy stuff.

All in all, this wasn't as bad as I initially thought it would be. And the bonus is the fact that the POD was unpacked at warp speed. We had planned to do this on our own during the following week that Dave and I had both taken off of work to get settled. This made unpacking that much easier, because the boxes were strategically placed in all of the correctly labeled rooms (less the few Dave didn't label!).

We are excited to be in our own home. Of course that is not to say that we didn't enjoy the time with Dave's parents. We were incredibly spoiled while living there. Extra eyes for Danny. The guilt-free ability to run errands when he was napping, knowing, home cooked meals ALL OF THE TIME, and a laundry fairy that loves to iron (seriously). Plus a lot of fun companionship sitting around the table or TV laughing and enjoying a drink. Truly the slice of life.

Danny is getting the lay of the land. Up and down. Up and down (the stairs of course). Running in circles around the kitchen islands. We have a very open floor plan, so he is doing a lot of running in circles. We have managed to get cabinet locks for most of the lower kitchen cabinets, a gate for the stairs to the basement (man was Danny pissed about that!), and outlet plugs galore. I even tried a toilet seat lock...but gave up when I couldn't figure out how to install it. What good is that when someone has to use the bathroom and a PhD is required to get the toilet seat up?! Danny is fascinated by putting his hands in the toilet water. DISGUSTING! And when the bathrooms are locked up, he heads straight for Freddy's water bowl. Which is almost big enough for an infant to bathe in. This is frequently placed on the counter to keep Danny from swimming laps. Poor Freddy.

We are also loving that he has his own playroom, that can be closed off, and no longer includes computer cables, routers, etc. on the floor. He has SO MUCH fun in there...Just playing. I love just watching him. And I don't have quite as many heart attacks, or the need to say "No" 8,000 times a day...

Yesterday, I played with him in the basement, which is just a giant slab of cement. I threw a ball, and he chased it. He was like a little golden retriever. But he had a great time, and it helped wear his endless energy out!

I will be posting some pictures soon!

Danny's First Sledding Adventure!

He was too stinking cute! He loved every minute of it. Attached are the pictures...look at those dimples.

Angela Grace

A woman I don't know, but is a friend of friend type of thing, lost a little girl, Angela Grace, after being full-term, she experienced delivery complications. The mother also had complications, and it is a blessing she is still here. Angela was delivered on Thanksgiving, and went back to God yesterday. My heart just aches for her. This was her first child. How do you get past this? How do you move forward? We had a lot of reasons to be hopeful for a healthy pregnancy after our Angela Felicity. Enough that we were able to stay positive. I had milestones to work with. Test results, ultrasounds, and even getting past the 22-week and 6-day mark. But how do you have hope when you've had a full-term pregnancy, and that despite being a complication free pregnancy, complications occur during delivery? I know God has his own plans, and that we have to trust Him and have faith. That is not going to be easy for Angela's parents, whose world just fell down around them.

Please pray for baby Angela, and her parents. For coming to peace with God over this experience, and for a healthy physical recovery for the mother, and an emotional recovery for both parents, and the family and friends who are also grieving.