Productive Night!

It started off as a slow Friday night but turned into a very productive night. We were going to start some freezer meal cooking o. Saturday however we got started Friday. I love having a freezer full of meals to pull from when I am inn a pinch and especially with a new baby on the way. We had not only a productive night....but a fun one as well. Brian and I had many laughs together as our kitchen counter filled up with dirty dishes and a giant mess was created. We successfully made: 2 bags of buffalo chicken dip, 2 things of tator tot casserole, 2 chicken enchiladas, 2 beef and bean enchiladas, 2 pizza meatloaves, 2 goulash meat mixtures, 2 things of chicken noodle soup, and 2 things of white chicken chili. Woohoo!

This and That

Swim lessons have improved after one week. Look at her go! Once she got that noodle she was actually able to let go of Brian....she refused to let go of her rubber duckies, but oh well......success!

Father's Day weekend.....she loves her daddy :)

And she loves her cousins....every time she plays I hear "Caden and Eli" or "Lucy and Carlie" or "Baby Maddie and Millie"....I wonder when Millie won't look so much like a baby to her?

Growing Up

I just can't believe how big she is getting! And I am sure once the newborn baby is here, she will look like a giant! Each day is just more and more fun :)

Swim Lessons

Day one swim lessons.....very eventful. And unsuccessful, as Brian would describe them. She wanted nothing to do with the water. Brian reported her as a "stage five clinger". She repeated, "Me up" a thousand times and did everything in her power to climb as high as possible on Brian. There were times where her toes even made it up to Brian's shoulders. She looked cute in her swimsuit....although, she was a little nervous....

Her hands remained here 95 percent of the time.....around Brian's neck. Note the picture below she is the only one not in the water....every other kid was loving it.

They had them practice climbing out of the pool. This was by far her favorite part. She was an expert at scaling the wall out of the pool.

The last 10 minutes I actually saw some smiles. She would never take both hands off Brian's neck, but he did manage to get her down in the water more and they chased the ball around. That was the success of the day: one hand off Brian.

Afterwards, she acted like the had the time of her life. She talked and talked about "swimmin" and "playin in the water with daddy" and "splashin"......maybe those are her goals for next week....

Surgery Day

Tear duct surgery went extremely well. The hardest part was getting there so early and keeping her entertained for so long! We arrived at 5:30 am.

She was in and out of the bed a million times, played with stickers, ran up and down the hall.....a very busy little girl. She wasn't quite sure about going on a ride on the bed....so we ended up carrying her....we didnt' mind :)

Since it was a "special doctor day" she got to bring along her Elmo and blanket. They made her very happy and she even took them back with her. She was very unsure about leaving mommy and daddy and going with the nurse, but she did great...thankfully, because I really don't know what I would have done if she would have been crying and screaming.

She woke up great this time and was ready to get something to drink and cuddle....with mom!!

She was really quite active when she got home. Brian and I took turns taking a nap. While Brian was sleeping, we played with some Plato. She was very proud of this "butterfly" that she made (accidentally, I believe...).

Summer Fun

Summer is almost here and I know I am not going to be able to keep up with the pictures! It has been so much fun already, and it is just getting started. I want pictures of everything....swimming, fishing, smore making, zoo trips, and the list goes on!

Learning to drive the Gator!

Date night!

A snapper turtle was caught by my nephew! Yikes!

Bathrooms

Two posts today......

Brian has been busy the past two weeks updating our upstairs bathrooms, and I have to admit....I love it! We found some leftover paint in the garage and decided to give it a try. So our bathrooms are now Portabella. We updated the fixtures and I found a free shelf (in the second picture) alongside the road and made Brian stop and pick it up :) It was during our association garage sales so it wasn't like it was just a random road. And it worked out really well....I painted it with leftover paint from our room, and it fit perfectly in the bathroom!!

BUSY Weekends!

Stella has been quite the character lately. Loves being silly all the time :)

We hit up the zoo this weekend. It was a little chilly in the morning, but we wanted to beat the crowd. And we are happy we did. By the time we left at noon the place was packed!

We had to be around some water on Sunday with the hot, hot temperatures. We had to pull her out of the water to take breaks....she lived in it. She wasn't too sure about the pond yet....but she made progress by the end of the day.

May 19-20, 2010

One year ago today we had just spent the entire day at Riley's for our pre-op visit. I went back to look at our post during this week and it is just like it happened yesterday. How could one year have gone by so quickly? We spent the day getting xrays, having blood work, eating McDonald's, and chasing Stella around. I remember thinking she would have to crash at any minute....but she never did. At least not until we got the hotel, and then we had to wake her up a short time later to arrive at the hospital at 6:00 am.

She was so happy running around the waiting area so early in the morning. She pretty much had the whole area to herself. She loved throwing money into the fountain and her daddy chased her around everywhere loving every minute of it.

She looks so little here on Brian's lap. The hospital let us keep her little gowns and she dresses her babies up in them now. They look so little!

And this is the first time we saw her. May 20, 2010. A date that will forever be part of our lives. A day we dreaded and prayed about for so long. And now it is a day we remember and are so thankful for. Thankful for the doctors, nurses, our family, and so very thankful for all the prayers for our little girl.....and most of all, thankful all those prayers were answered!

She started feeling better so quickly. She loved wagon rides and just getting out of her bed!

And a short 5 days later....we were free! I couldn't believe it. I remember walking out of the hospital with her thinking they were going to call us back at any minute. She was so happy to leave, and so were we. She fell asleep before we were out of the parking lot and slept all the way home. Below was our last wagon ride to the exit of the hospital!

Picture Updates

Stella with her Easter basket from Grandma and Grandpa Butcher.

Happy Mother's Day: flowers, cards, and a new insulated cup....love it!!

My little fisherman :)

Daddy and Stella