He makes a hospital gown look cute

Only a baby could make a hospital gown look cute.

Saturday evening Timothy came down with a fever. I had bought a ear scope and was thrilled to try it out. With my limited experience diagnosing ear infections I first thought that was what it was. By Sunday afternoon I decided I was wrong and his fever was climbing to 104. We gave him Tylenol but when it didn't make a difference I called the doctor. The doc said to take him into the Emergency room. So we rushed the kids through dinner and packed them off to my grandparents to be traded around the rest of the evening (eventually ending up at Pappy's house). At the emergency room Tim's fever climbed to 105.7 even with the Tylenol in his system. I was so happy to be there! Had he had that temperature at home I would have panicked. They got it under control with Motrin and an IV. By 10 pm the fever was down and he was playing. Tests for strep and bladder infections came back negative. Blood work showed the possibility of a virus. But Tim was doing so much better so we packed up and when home. Monday morning he wasn't doing that good. I called our doctor and took him in. I was determined he should go to the hospital, I didn't feel comfortable with him at home where I might be busy with the other two and miss a sharp temperature spike. The doctor wasn't concerned as I was, but consented. Just a little after lunch on Monday Tim and I had set up residence at St. Francis hospital and the round of tests started all over. The doctors and nurses would change their opinions by the hour as to if he had a virus or bacterial infection. Poor Tim was terrified of lab coats and scrubs by this point and would hold on to me with both fists and not let go. By evening he was doing better enough to chew on his IV line and grin once or twice. Tuesday morning we stopped the Tylenol and IV with the hope of going home by evening but around 2pm his temperature jumped up again. The doctors put him back on Tylenol and ran more tests. The fever went down and had stayed down since. We arrived home on Wednesday afternoon and really hope to stay. The doctors believe he had a viral respiratory infection. They deduced this by eliminating bladder infections, pneumonia, and bacterial infections. Tim now has a hatred of hospitals, doctors and nurses. He is happy as we all are to be home!

Nathaniel and Dassah

Nathaniel is in love. Not the infatuated, romantic or cutey "Let's plan their future" kind of way, but in the "I will die for you" kind of way. Or the "Want my last piece of cake?" kind of way. The object of his affection is Dassah. Dassah is younger than Nathaniel by half a year and one of his closest friends. What does Dassah think of this? Well, she sometimes notices that he is around. Dassah is very confident of who she is and feels no need to follow the crowd (much like her father). There is no making Dassah do what she doesn't want to do unless you are an authority figure in her life (once again much like her father). Dassah can be found in a quite corner reading a book and very content while a party is in full swing in the next room. She has no need for friends, she is happy with who she is and feels no need to change just to make someone else happy and she most certainly doesn't need Nathaniel. This does not stop Nathaniel from bringing her food, pleading with her to join some activity and getting two inches from her face and saying "Dassah, wanna play?" This would be a good time to mention that Dassah also has a personal space twice the size of a normal person. She may not have a large vocabulary but it is quickly understood that Nathaniel is to leave
the immediate vicinity if he is to survive. Does Nathaniel understand this? No. Not at all. After a couple of hours she will perhaps join in and play with Nathaniel and they have a blast - as long as Nathaniel knows his place and doesn't attempt to play with Dassah's toys. They have a grand time playing tag or jumping in the bouncer but when the time comes to leave Dassah once again turns a cold shoulder to Nathaniel as he asks and expects a good bye hug. Dassah backs away trying to defend her personal space while Nathaniel backs her into a corner (I got 16 years ahead of me to help him understand that tactic doesn't work with girls) asking for a hug with arms spread wide and speaking as if maybe she just can't hear him. It's a testament to her parents upbringing that she does not scratch his eyes out at this point. With some patient parental instruction the two finally meet and hug. Nathaniel puts his whole body into the hug, after all he loves this girl and wants the world to know that he would cross oceans to rescue her. My boy wears his heart on his sleeve.

What would a photo shoot be with out some out-takes of Nathaniel?

Tim at 9 months (almost)

Our friends the Changs also have some photo equipment and backdrops. They have one thing I don't have, studio lights. They graciously allowed me to come take some pictures of Tim. I have similar pictures of the older two kids playing with toilet paper when they were younger and I wanted to duplicate the idea. Since this time around we are not using a professional photographer I had to find a way to do it myself. Here are the results.

Note the Farmer's tan.

A good end to a bad day

My day started off with finding Tim eating poop. His poop to be exact, somehow that makes it better than someone elses poop, but poop nonetheless. If that wasn't enough to make me want to clock out for the day the snake pushed me over the edge. I went out to hang laundry on the clothes line and almost stepped on a snake. My fear of snakes is illogical perhaps bordering on a phobia. This particular snake was 2-3 feet long with red and tan stripes. It wouldn't matter if it was purple and 2 inches long - I hate snakes. Well, I thought the day could only get worse from there. Thankfully it didn't - well it isn't quite over yet. Maybe I should be careful what I say.

Nora's friend Ella came over to stay the night. The first time in a long time. Why? Because Ella likes to wake up before 6 am. I don't. Tim is now 8 months old and not yet sleeping through the night, but enough that I think I can handle and early morning. But even if she does it is worth it to see the girls playing together like the best of friends. We thought before we sent the kids to bed we would have a bonfire and smores (hmm, sugar and bed time, am I thinking clearly?). Here are the pictures.

Show and Tell

60 seconds before he tipped the chair over

Concentration

Look closely at Tim's face. These pictures are for those

of you who don't believe me when I say that Tim will be

the Alpha Male when he is old enough to put up a fight.

Off to "Hi Ho"!

Our vacation to Ohio! Yes, I have gotten around to posting pictures. I have posted so many that you will have to click the "older posts" button when you reach the bottom just to see them all.

We when back to visit Chad's family in Ohio this summer or "Hi Ho" as Nora calls it. She got that from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. For those of you who are not well versed in Princess movies the Dwarfs sing a song, "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we go". You get the idea. The trip went well and all survived the long drive in the car. Yes, car. We do not have a van and so 5 of us and luggage crammed into our Accord and made the trip. The first day we drove to St. Louis and stayed the night. The next day we drove to Springfield, Illinois to the Abraham Lincoln Museum. Great Museum! Well worth going out of the way for. It is only a few years old and this year is President Lincoln's 200th birthday. Because of the age of our kids we didn't get to enjoy every detail of the exhibits, but enjoyed it non the less. We then drove the rest of the way to the Bakers in Jackson Center, Ohio. For those of you who don't know, it is 45 minutes north of Dayton. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Once we arrived in Ohio we stayed at Chad's parents house. Dale and Liz gladly put us up and entertained us during our visit. I loved not having to cook every meal...or clean...or provide a drink every 10 minutes...or kiss skinned knees...or read stories or....and the list goes on.

Chad's brother Jack and sister-in-law Annette live a short distance away and our kids got to spend quite a bit of time with their cousins Aubrey and Jared.

Cousin Aubrey and Nora

The parade in the barn

Dale and Liz have a pond that they keep stocked with fish for the grand kids. They were catching fish with every other cast. It has totally ruined our kids for fishing any where else! My favorite was when Nora and Chad reeled in a Blue Gill and Nora proceeds to say "It's ok little fishy, I won't hurt you, it's ok little guy". She is saying this while he has a hook in his mouth and can't breath. Gotta love kids and what they say!

The Fair

We visited the Shelby County Fair while we were there. Chad and I both spent our teens in 4-H and have some fond memories of the county fair. The kids of course had a great time riding all the rides while Chad and I visited old friends.

Tim and Grandma

Cousins Jared, Aubrey and Nora

Nathaniel, Jared and bodyguard Uncle Jack.


Faired out.

Great Grandpa's farm

Just a couple of miles down the road and around a couple of bends is Great Grandpa's farm. He farms crops and milks cows. Nora enjoyed learning where milk comes from - beyond Walmart. Great Grandpa also has ponies ("grand-kid magnets" I call them). The kids enjoyed having a horse just their size.

Great Grandpa and Tim

Just look at dem cows!

Nathaniel and one of Great Grandpa's "grand-kid magnets".

Just her size. Good thing we didn't have any room in the car to bring one home.

Chad's parents have a trailer on Indian Lake where we spent a day boating, fishing and napping. For lunch we visited the "Tilton Hilton" a restaurant/bar that is literally on a tilt. The floor is at such an angle that if it were any more tilted a table would not be able to hold a drink. I kid you not. An interesting experience!

Tim's opinion on wearing a life vest and a hat at the same time.

My favorite picture of the whole trip!

The kids got to ride all manner of vehicles...

paddle boat...

golf cart...

820 John Deere Tractor and


the horseless carriage.

Chad's mom had a terrier puppy named Stella. She and Timothy had a great time playing together. The pictures really don't show their playing very well, but it gives the idea.

On the way Home from Ohio

On the way home we stopped at the Creation Museum and the Saint Louis Zoo. We had a great time at both. This was our second year at the Creation Museum and both times we visited on a weekday and both times it was packed. Even a half and hour after opening on a Monday morning we had to wait 30 minutes just to get in. This year we visited the new petting zoo with a Zorse (Zebra/Horse cross) and a Zonky (Zebra/Donkey cross) and the gardens. Both were fun but at that point we really wanted to get going down the road. The Saint Louis Zoo was very nice. It is considered by most to be the best zoo in America and I wouldn't disagree (I haven't see the San Diego zoo yet). Oh, and it was free! Can't beat that!

Creation Museum