R.I.P. Stinky

Stinky Bunny is no more. And if you know Lauren, you know this is a big deal.

As of last Tuesday, Lauren no long has Stinky.

I've been wanting to take him away from her for a while but she LOVED that stuffed bunny and I didn't want to traumatize her. But even the dentist said it was time to start thinking of getting rid of him.

So last Tuesday was the last day for Stinky.

It took me a couple of days to actually throw him away. And I literally cried a little bit when I did. He's been such an important part of her childhood. But he was smelly. And gross. And wasn't coming clean anymore when I washed him. He was becoming a health hazard who was going to cause Lauren to need braces later if she kept sucking on his ears.

I took pictures before I disposed of the body. :) Josh picked the washcloth as a backdrop because Lauren loves to wrap her babies in washcloths. The blanket underneath is a baby blanket that Claire shares with the girls' babies.

Please don't mention Stinky to Lauren when you see her next. She still whimpers and asks for him every few days. She understands he's gone but she misses him.

R.I.P. Stinky. You've been a good friend.

My baby is growing up.

Random Pictures

Josh's basketball season is done (and baseball has started). Here's a picture of his basketball team.



He had fun, made new friends, and had good coaches.

The older girls went to see Peter Pan at the Center for the Arts last weekend. They were totally excited and wanted to get dressed up.



And Claire... sweet, adaptable, cute Claire. Just being Claire.

More about vacation

Life has been busy and I haven't had time to blog. It's finally settled down and gotten somewhat back to normal since vacation, so here you go. :)

Vacation was great. From the drive to the rented house (and fun pool) to the Disney parks to the time we spent at the ocean and everything else. We loved it all and are grateful we had this opportunity. I was going to post a play-by-play but decided against it. Here is a link to the photos I took if you want to see: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=a4b9f894517970dd&sid=0AcM2zVq4aMmbjY

Here's a quick rundown.

Magic Kingdom - This wasn't everything I expected, to be honest. I thought it'd be everyone's favorite park but it was actually nobody's favorite (at least in our family of six). It was fun and the castle was beautiful. Josh, Meghan, Lauren and I went back to the park at night to watch the fireworks above the castle and the Spectromagic parade. They were both really cool.

Hollywood Studios - There's not a lot of interest for kids above toddler age here, but we actually liked it more than I thought we would. The best part to Josh and me was the Indiana Jones stunt show. We sat in the front row and it was really fun. Lauren loved Playhouse Disney Live. Meghan loved the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" playground.

Epcot - This was a cool place. Partially because of the amazing princess breakfast in Norway. Partially because Josh got a passport and was able to get it stamped in all of the countries (which he thought was really cool). Partially due to the laser light and fireworks show that night. It was just a cool park and we'd totally go back again. Soarin' was realllllly cool.

Animal Kingdom - When we were planning our trip and I thought we'd only get three parks in, this is the one I was going to skip. We had time for all four so we went anyway. I'm soooo glad we did. This was probably our family favorite park. The safari was really cool (the animals were amazing and you get pretty close to them), Expedition Everest was reallllllly fun (Meghan and I rode it twice and were able to sit in the front car the second time), "It's Tough to be a Bug" was funny. It was just a really fun park and I'm so glad we didn't skip it.

Cocoa Beach - We wanted the kids to see the ocean and to be able to swim in it. Meghan wanted to look for seashells. Cocoa Beach seemed like a great option. It was. Unfortunately the riptides were strong that day and the water was freezing cold, so we couldn't really swim. The kids and I did play in the water (and saw a live starfish), Meghan got lots of seashells and we saw some really big waves. It was fun and I'm glad we went.

So overall, the trip was good. I learned a lot for next time (and yes, we do hope to go back in the next few years). Two thumbs up.

Hey there, hi there, ho there! Greetings from Florida!

We are here. And we are having a great time. Some of us more than others (check out Minnie going in for the kiss on Brian)

The trip down was long but good. The kids behaved well (and slept a bit).

Today was a relaxing day. Brian golfed at Lake Buena Vista Resort at DisneyWorld. Josh, Meghan and Lauren golfed 36 holes (yeah... of PuttPutt) and swam for 4 hours in the pool. Lauren is in love with the hot tub. Tonight, we all went to dinner at Chef Mickey's (I totally recommend it. Get the seat by the kitchen door if you can. Seriously. It's close to the buffet and the characters go through that door every 10 minutes or so. Best seats.).

Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom day. We can't wait!

It's almost been a year...

Since Meghan was bitten by the dog. She had an appointment yesterday with her plastic surgeon. Overall he's pretty happy with how she's looking but he says it's still a little more red and hard than he'd like. I had to buy a new (much more expensive) scar treatment. It's called Kelo-Cote. Dr. Weiss says he's seen great results with it. I'm hoping it works well for Meghan. I don't quite understand why he didn't recommend it to us in the first place, rather than the ScarGuard, but it is what it is right now so I'll just be grateful we have something new to try. She goes back to the doctor in six months, which she'll do for the next ten or so years until they can really do something to try to help minimize the scar.

I asked Meghan some pretty tough questions on the way home from the appointment. Tough because I hesitate to ever talk to her about her cheek. I worry that people stare at her too long because of the scar on her face. I worry that kids ask hard questions because they are so brutally honest. I worry about how she feels about dogs now. So... Meghan said yesterday that her cheek doesn't usually hurt anymore. She said people don't really ask about it anymore. She said that she's afraid of dogs now because "they might be crazy like that dog was". She says she does sometimes worry about dogs she knows because they might do something bad to her too when they're jumping around her.

On March 28, it will have been one year. Crazy to think about.

Claire

Claire's appointment in Ann Arbor yesterday went well. The doctor says Claire is doing great. As I suspected, they are thrilled with her bilirubin levels and still a bit concerned about her enzyme numbers. At this point, they're attributing her bilirubin levels to ABO Incompatibility, the same thing that Meghan had when she was born. They said that it could be something else and her bilirubin levels could go back up but that's very very very unlikely. Due to her enzymes, they're ordering another blood test in a month (and asked us to make sure it's drawn when she's healthy - no cold because it affects enzyme levels so much). Unless her numbers are up in that blood draw, she doesn't have to go back to Ann Arbor for four to six months.

This is what I was hoping for. I wanted them to say "she's fine" but didn't want the fear that comes with no more blood tests and reassurances that she truly is fine. It's hard to go from such extreme possibilities and worries to absolutely none at all. I'm very confident that all will be well at the recheck in a month. I just want to hear that it is.

Claire is 3 1/2 months old now. She weighs 10 lbs. 13 oz. and is 23 inches long/tall. She's a cooing, talking machine. She LOVES to sit up. She can't do it on her own but she certainly tries. She smiles often and Lauren appears to be her favorite source of those smiles these days. She's tracking things well from sight and sound. She's developed some separation anxiety regarding me (which hasn't been easy on or fun for Brian). She likes to play with the toys on her Exersaucer (in which her feet almost reach the bottom now). She's eating well and growing beautifully. What a ride she's had these last few months. I'm glad to be at the point where we finally just get to enjoy her and not have to worry so darn much!

Deanna