New Friends . . . Feathered Friends

Meet our new feathered friends! These cute ducks showed up at our front doorstep last week. Laurel ran into the kitchen during dinner prep to tell me that there were two ducks on our front doorstep. It took me a moment to answer her requests to join her at the front door. Much to my surprise, these sweet ducks were patiently waiting on our porch for dinner and company. I quicky grabbed some dry bread we had been saving for exactly this purpose, but we never expected to feed ducks at our doorstep!

Laurel was so happy to feed these ducks - I must admit that it was wonderful to witness Laurel's desire and need to care for these sweet little creatures. I recognized that nurturing spirit that many women share and I was just so happy to see Laurel answer that call. Here is a video of Laurel feeding the ducks on our grass. Incidentally, one week later as we were doing yard work, these two ducks returned to visit us. We like to think they are a couple - they came seeking food, which we provided, but we also think they're looking to build a nest in our yard. This should be interesting!

Thought for the day . . .

"I couldn't possibly have understood this when I was young like I do now. When we look back on decades of life we see that the seemingly insignificant things we do over and over actually weave the pattern of our lives. And if those small and simple things are good, we will end up having lived a fulfilling life -- and that is a great thing!"

-Marjorie Pay Hinckley

For those of you out there who are struggling, having a bad day, or just tired from the occasional monotony of our daily lives, just remember that big things come to pass by the small and simple things we do each day.

Easter Sunday

We had a wonderful Easter this year as we reflected on the gift of the Savior and His resurrection. Spring is such a beautiful time to celebrate Easter because it reminds us of the possibility of rebirth/renewal each one of us has each and every day through repentance. Prior to church, we took a picture of the kids in their new Easter outfits. This is the only picture I could get of Andrew holding still for a few seconds - he is constantly on the move!
After church, we decided to capture a few more pictures. Laurel was so proud of the eggs she colored.

I was sad that Andrew could not hold still long enough to get a picture with his mom and sister.

This is what happens when you try to hold Andrew back from something he'd much rather be doing such as . . .

This! As I said earlier, this kid is always on the move. We hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Easter Egg Hunt

Our neighborhood holds an annual Easter egg hunt for all of the children. This year, Andrew participated in the hunt and loved it. He eventually figured out what he needed to do (thanks to his sister). After 2 additional egg hunts with friends, Andrew finally figured out what he should do.
Laurel enjoyed helping her brother hunt for eggs. She also enjoyed hanging out with neighbohood friends, eating Easter cookies, riding a train, and meeting the Easter bunny.

I was pleasantly surprised that Andrew took so well to the Easter bunny. In fact, he took so well to him that he nuzzled his head into the bunny's soft, furry chest and made cooing sounds. Laurel enjoyed her introduction to the "Easter bunny" and never doubted he was the real thing . . . . . until 2 days later when we were at Wal-Mart and saw another "Easter bunny". She says, "Mom, why is that a different Easter bunny?" "Um, um, um," says her clueless, truth-stretching mother, "well, it's just like Santa with his elves. There is no way that the Easter bunny can be everywhere at once. He needs bunny helpers!" Yeah, nice lie but I tell you, this kid is too smart for her own good. Dale and I give ourselves 1, maybe 2 years until this kid figures it all out.

Here is Andrew "stroking" the Easter bunny - isn't he sweet? Here is a little video clip of the hunt:

Andrew's Endoscopy

My poor little man has not been eating regular food very well, so his GI doctor performed an endoscopy to make sure that there wasn't anything structurally wrong with Andrew gastric system. It's been difficult to get Andrew to eat anything since January, other than his special formula and an occasional banana or Cheerio. I was not excited about him going under anesthesia, but the benefits of the procedure far outweighed the negatives.

On the day of the procedure (April 8th), we woke up at 4:45 and got everyone ready to go. My sweet friend, Moanna, came to my home at 5:30 am to wait for Laurel to wake up so we didn't have to take her. Moanna is one of the kindest, sweetest human beings I know - she was a lifesaver for us that day.

The procedure was done in Plano at the Children's Hospital - it is the nicest surgical center. The doctors and nursing staff are wonderful. Unfortunately, Andrew was not happy to see ANY of them. He cried for 20 minutes before the anesthesiologist gave him a little narcotic to settle him down. It was amazing to watch him get so calm in a matter of minutes.

Dr. Russo, Andrew's beloved GI doctor, carried Andrew to the room where he did the procedure. Dr. Russo is the best - It is very clear that he loves children as you watch him interact with his little patients. He's been so good to Andrew since he was a newborn. In fact, he gave us his home phone last year in case we ever needed to call him after hours. I've never had a doctor do that and I'm happy to report that I've never had to use the number.

The endoscopy only took 20 minutes or so. We were happy to hear that nothing abnormal was found. He biopsied 5 parts of his esophagus and stomach. We just found out that everything looked good, but there was sign of some minor irritation in his stomach. I'm happy to hear that physiologically, he looks great. Now the next step is food and speech therapy. I hope that we can make some progress - I never realized how stressful it is to have a child with eating issues. Laurel was never this difficult. I'm happy to report this week that he's added a few new foods to his diet - canned peaches and Vienna sausages. He seems to love mushy things, but doesn't like crackers or anything dry or starchy. As for the Vienna sausages, I must admit that I swore I would never feed my children canned hot dogs, but when you're desperate you do whatever it takes!

The picture above is of Andrew and his dad in the recovery room. Andrew had a difficult time coming out of the anesthesia - isn't his face so sweet as he's trying to wake up? The nurses gave him the stuffed animal (Ming Ming from "Wonder Pets) for being a good boy.

Healing

As we were driving home from Plano this morning, we were listening to a beautiful recording of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing, "Consider the Lilies." At the end of the song, Laurel said, "Mom, Jesus really does heal us doesn't he? He will heal papercuts and other hurts." I said, "Yes, Laurel, He does and He will." We talked about the power of the Priesthood, which is the power to act in the name of God - through the Priesthood, the power of godliness is made manifest (as defined in the scriptures).

This discussion made me think of all the ways I have been healed in my life. It doesn't take long to remember the ways that the Savior has healed each one of us. As I looked at the two kids in my backseat, I am reminded of the healing that took place to get each one of them to the earth. As difficult as it was to get those two spirits here, I am thankful for the lessons I have learned through the process. I specifically remember the healing I experienced in Philadelphia back in October of 2006 when I was led to Dr. Pfeffer, a fertility specialist who helped diagnose why I was miscarrying every pregnancy. After nearly 3 years of sorrow, this Dr. found a way to help me get my son. I know it was not a coincidence. Here I am nearly 3 years later wrestling with an energetic, loving little boy.

It's nice to know that the Easter message got through to Laurel - I'm so happy to know that it was about more than the Easter bunny. As for this beautiful water lily, this picture was taken at Longwood Gardens in Philadephia back in 2005. I have always loved lily ponds, especially after discovering Claude Monet (French impressionist painter) as a teenager. They are so beautiful and delicate, like each of Heavenly Father's creations.

Wal-Mart

Laurel adores her dad - for good reason. He's a terrific dad who loves to spend time with her. They really are two peas in a pod. Whenever I look at Laurel I see her dad. Among their many similarities, they both share an intense love of sugar and ketchup! I cannot keep enough ketchup stocked in the house, even with the Costco 3 pack. It's gone in no time with these two.

Well, knowing how much Laurel loves her dad, I was not surprised by her comments last night and this morning. First of all, we stopped at Wal-Mart last night to pick up some milk and other things we were low on. As we're walking in the store, Laurel says, "Mom, I really wish that dad worked at this Wal-Mart!" Trying not to smile, I asked, "Why?" "Well," she said, "if dad worked here we could see him more often and he wouldn't work as much as he does." Ouch. Well, Dale does work a lot, but it is the nature of his job. I think she was feeling this way even more than usual because he was out-of-town on a business trip. I tried to comfort and tell her that we are so grateful that dad has a job and that as hard as it is that he works so much, we need to do our best to support him. I assured her that her dad would much rather be spending time with her, but unfortunately daddy's need to provide for their families and sometimes that means that they aren't home as much as we'd like.

Laurel went on with the evening and didn't mention it again until this morning. On our way to a friend's home, she says again, "Mom, I really do wish that dad worked at Wal-Mart because then I could see him everyday - I would be so happy!" Ouch again. I'm sure most everyone struggles to balance work with family time - what are some of the things you do to make family time more meaningful. Let's face it, we no longer live in a corporate world where the hours are 9 - 5. Granted, consulting tends to be an outlier in this statistical model, but even then, what do you do to make it easier?

Philly Cheese Steaks

Today with met our friends, the Nuttalls, in Bedford for some really good, authentic Philly cheesesteaks. We had such a great time - it reminded us of the good times we had in Philadelphia. They serve Tastykakes, Birch Beer (cross between rootbeer and cream soda), and water ice. The man who owns the restaurant is from South Philly. We talked about many things, among which was the number of times he was jumped and robbed when he lived there. In fact, he was car jacked once with a gun to his head (3rd Street and Spruce), and when he was 14 someone stabbed him in the leg and stole his bike. It was a good reminder of why we lived in the burbs. Good old Philadelphia!
Here is Tyler with Andrew.

Abbigail, Blake, and Laurel had a wonderful time! They still love playing together, which makes me so happy. I hope that they will always be friends. They've done so much together over the years.

Here is a picture of the kids back in May of 2006 when we went to Boston and Newport together. This is a picture of the kids in Plymouth - the ship is a replica of the Mayflower. I cannot believe how much these kids have grown up!

Andrew is 18 months!

On the 23rd of March, Andrew turned 18 months. I thought it would be fun to show Andrew one year ago at this time - I can't believe how much he's changed since then!

Here is Andrew today - he is clearly unhappy that mom is making him pose AGAIN -- one thing Andrew will eventually learn is that his mother comes from a long line of posers and picture takers. As painful as it is now, he will thank me later.

Well, 2 pictures later he lost it, but I'm grateful to have captured what I did.

Andrew is a joy to have in our home and we can't imagine life without him. He does, however, stress his mom and dad out when he doesn't eat or when his gag reflex gets the better of him (like it did at Sweet Tomatoes 3 weeks ago - so embarrassing and a terrible mess to clean up). He may look substantial, but he's actually quite light because he pretty much survives on baby formula, an occasional Cheerio or banana.

This week Andrew started occupational therapy to work on his eating issues and other developmental challenges. He also went in for another upper GI study 2 weeks ago to check if there's anything wrong inside that's causing him not to want to eat regular food. This upcoming week, Andrew will have an endoscopy so the doctor can take tissue samples and check for any additional abnormalities. On top of that, his other pediatrician thinks he might possibly exhibit signs for autism and wants him tested, but I really don't feel like that's the case. You know, there is something about a mother's intuition. Plus, anyone that knows Andrew knows that he really is a very active, social child.

Andrew, we hope that by the time you turn two you will have outgrown some of these eating issues so that you can grow bigger and enjoy life more. We're going to do all we can to get you to that point. Here are Andrew's stats for 18 months: 31 3/4 inches and 22 pounds. We love you to pieces, Andrew!

Outdoor Fun

We've been trying to spend a lot more time outside now that the weather is so beautiful and mild. I'm seriously not looking forward to the hot Dallas summer, so we're trying to enjoy the mild temperatures while we can. This picture above is of Laurel and Andrew in our garage -- isn't it sweet? They are the best of friends.


This picture was taken last week - it was Andrew's first experience on this little car we've had since we lived in Philadelphia. I remember when Laurel would drive this thing through our Philly apartment on the old wood floors. Poor, poor, poor downstairs neighbors!

Still trying to figure this new set of wheels out.

I think he likes it - hard to believe this boy is already 18 months.

Dallas Arboretum

I love, love, love Spring flowers! When we lived in Philadelphia, we regularly visited Longwood Gardens, a beautiful botanical garden about an hour outside of the city. I have missed those experiences of taking Laurel to see the beautiful floral displays throughout the year. This year, I decided to buy myself a pass to the Dallas Arboretum so that I can have those experiences again. Personally, I enjoy botanical gardens much more than the zoo :-) Besides, if you go to the arboretum on Mondays, they have a petting zoo, crafts for the kids, music, and face painting. Who needs the zoo, right?

Andrew was in heaven at the arboretum - wide open spaces with lots of grass and beautiful pathways for him to roam whereever he wished. It was very difficult to even catch a picture of him with my slow, outdated camera, but I did manage a couple.

Another mother graciously offered to take a picture of the three of us - I love the picture, but it would have been even better had Laurel opened her eyes. You can tell that Andrew is practically jumping out of my arms.

The colors were so beautiful -- Isn't it neat how Laurel's rain jacket matches the flowers? It was a very windy day, but we didn't let that stop us.

Here's another fun picture of Laurel looking at the flowers. She also enjoyed all of the playhouses spread throughout the park. All-in-all, it was a great day and we look forward to going again when the next batch of flowers bloom.

St. Patrick's Day

Grandma and Papa Chris sent a fun St. Patrick's Day package for the kids. The kids were thrilled to receive leprochaun hats, green clover glasses, green stickers, and some other fun toys. I love this picture of Anrew because it looks like he might be trying to tip his hat to say hello, but he's actually trying to rip the hat off of his head. I was just thankful to get this picture because the hat has never been back on his head since then.

My dad flew back to Salt Lake City on St. Patrick's Day. We were so sad to see him go! The kids loved him and I appreciated his help with the kids so I could wrap up my paper and get it done. I have more pictures of Papa Madrian's visit to Dallas that I'll post as soon as I'm able. Aside from having to drop Papa off at the airport, we had a good day. I took the kids to the mall to buy a couple of things and have lunch - it was so wonderful to walk through the mall without worrying if I should be home working on my paper. Freedom!