Birthday Weekend

Last week was super busy and went by super fast! Eli has been enjoying the Cowboys games on his new TV and had company over to watch the Monday night football game. On Tuesday I had a baby play date over here with Teresa and Aidan, and Katy and Caroline. Caroline cracks me up...she loves to carry her toys in her mouth so she can cruise around. She and Emily pretty much fought over every toy the whole time. Aidan is growing so much too, as he can hold his head up and has really good trunk support. What a sweetie!

On Wednesday night we hosted (a very lonely without the Kanes and Alexanders) supper club. I made my mom's King Ranch Casserole and Rebecca brought some fantastic peach cobbler. Sophia is very mature and officially is a toddler!

Friday evening we made our way to San Antonio to spend the night with my parents. I just realized that somewhere down the line I stopped referring to my previous house as "home". Eli had a meeting for his capstone class in San Antonio the following morning, so it worked out great to spend a few hours hanging out with my sisters. Teresa scored some points at her volleyball game and afterwards we had a birthday steaks for Eli on the balcony. Of course no visit is complete without a dip in the pool! Emily loves to swim!

From there we jetted off to Austin to meet the Danzes for the birthday party of Wilma, Felix, and Eli. The whole family got together to watch the UT game and hang out. Lots of fun! Emily loved playing with her cousins and all of their toys. She was very content the entire time--it always surprises me how much Emily thrives outside the home. I guess she takes after her parents because she's definitely not a homebody! Grandma and Grandpa have a fun setup for the grandkids in the backyard--I can't wait to see Emily playing with her cousins in the future!

Yesterday we celebrated Eli's birthday with dinner for our Dallas family. Of course I made Eli's favorite--steak and potatoes!

Love never fails

The first reading from last Wednesday's mass is one of my favorites. Each time I hear it, my heart jumps to 5 years ago while Eli and I listened to our professor recite the beautiful verses in Corinth, Greece. Centuries ago, St. Paul went to the town only to encounter dozens of citizens living in deep sin, disrespecting all of God's gifts. In dire need of help, St. Paul encouraged them to live by these very inspiring words:

Love is patient, Love is kind, It does not envy, it does not boast,
It is not proud, It is not rude,
It is not self-seeking,
It is not easily angered,
It keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
Love always protects, always trusts,always hopes, always perseveres.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. Love never fails.
Corinthians 13 : 4 - 8

One Sick Little Girl

Last week started out great with a trip to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth with Katy and Caroline. The Impressionist exhibit was spectacular--you could see the same Monet, Van Gough or Renoir everyday hanging in your house, but when you see the original, it's almost magical. Each brush stroke stands out, and the color is as vibrant as the day it was painted. Katy and I strolled our babies through the bits of history hoping the girls would sit still long enough for us to hear the explanation coming from our audio-tours. The only thing predictable about Emily--not when she's tired, not when she's hungry, not which toy is her favorite--is that she will not sit still...ever. I felt bad for her and for the others in the exhibit giving me stink eye when she couldn't be pacified with puffs (no food in the exhibit) or toys (she may apparently throw them at the paintings...too bad she couldn't throw them at the man's face...). Just God reminding me to be flexible and pay attention to my child. 24 hours a day.

With Ike on its way we began to pray hard for those in the Houston/Galveston area. Meanwhile Emily began a crisis of her own. It began with the blood in the urine on Wednesday night. Thursday morning at the doctor they took samples and prescribed a high level antibiotic and cream. When we got home she started to run a fever. For the next 4 days she had a temperature of 104. Monday morning the fever went down to 102 and by the night she was back down to 97. Whew! I was beginning to think that the Motrin and Tylenol were fake. Today, a week later, she still has blood in her urine, and the samples showed there was no urinary tract infection, so another door has opened. After medicating her for 3 weeks she will be referred to a nephrologist and will begin another battery of tests, including a ultrasound of her kidneys. Please pray for Emily...she has gone through so much already. On a happy note, Emily is enjoying her new talents of pulling herself to stand up and sit down. She also loves to open drawers and pull everything out...life is so fun when there are things to get into!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Eli's mom visited this week to help Teresa unpack who recently moved to Dallas. Aidan is such a cutie and getting huge at 3 months old! Babies really do grow up fast; he's already swatting at toys and rolling over. Emily played well with him and of course stole all this toys (thank goodness he's sweet and doesn't mind). We helped to put up shelves and organize stuff, and by the time we left we had made a pretty big dent in the process.

Sheri spent that night and the next day with us at our place. We excitedly watched Sarah Palin's speech (what a woman, huh) and then next day we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. Emily wasn't as enthralled as I anticipated, but Sheri and I sure were! I wish I had pictures, but that morning I put our camera through the washer. OOPS! Surprisingly I took some pieces apart and got it back up and running again. The Zoo was almost completely shaded, which made for a pleasant day. The coolest exhibit to me was the apes--they had indoor caves with windows that we could stand up against. Not only are they huge with scary eyes, but their hands and feet are gigantic. Emily was her usual observant self, never missing a beat, but wasn't scared! For those of you who don't know Emily, let me tell you, this is progress for her! There were months when I couldn't turn on the blender, garbage disposal, even washing machine without a fit. Not to mention she was/is a "stage 5 clinger" and now will let grandma hold her!!! This is so exciting to me...not only that she recognizes grandma, but that her severe stranger anxiety is weakening (hopefully!).

We went the Hartman/Kern wedding on Saturday night at the Dallas Arboretum and it was so beautiful with the sun setting over White Rock Lake. The venue was almost like a scene out of the Great Gatsby--white tents and romantic music. Afterwards we ran to Rachel's going away party (she's moving to Brussels for Grad school) and shot over to Greenville for the wedding after party. Sweet Aunt Mary babysat Emily for us!

Emily has been busy lately sprouting new teeth and cruising. So far that makes one and a half teeth, but she uses them to her advantage (i.e. biting mom ferociously when she is not allowed to eat her cell phone or computer). We can already tell she will be very determined and motivated in life. Another new trick this week is pulling herself up to stand in the crib. Yes, it's so cute to see her standing up after waking up from a nap. Not so cute when she decides not to nap in 2 days because she loves to stand up, but doesn't know how to sit down. We're still trying to get her to sleep through the night, but are slowly accepting that she's just not one of those kiddos. Click here to understand why not.

Oh and other news!! I am thrilled to announce that Olivia and Marty are having a girl!! Just when I was worried about Emily getting outnumbered by her 3 boy cousins...

Also my Uncle Will and Aunt Jacquie are having another baby!! They too have 2 boys, so we cant wait to find out what they're having next!

Labor Day Weekend

We love holidays, especially those which honor the continuous hard work of Americans to make our country so wonderful. We had a very productive and fun weekend that just flew by. On Friday night we had dinner with my school teacher friend Melanie and her mom. She had just finished the first week of school...I miss teaching! My sweet little kindergarteners are now in 2nd grade and I still think about them all the time:) Anyway the last time we were at her house I was still pregnant with Emily and we played taboo so loudly that the lights hooked up to the clapper flashed on and off a million times. On Saturday we ran errands as a family and that night I went out with my girlfriends--always a fun time!

Sunday was Mary Clare's birthday so we celebrated with all the UD cousins over at Lauren's. Mass then lunch then ladderball. School's about to start so kids were moving in and the freshmen were getting nervous. Those were the days...you just don't realize how good you have it until it's over!

Monday we went to the neighborhood pool which was awesome. There's a zero entry pool that Emily could crawl into and tons of fountains that she loved. Eli and I loved the enormous waterslides and visiting with the McBrides. Yay for 4 day weeks!!!

Emily loves to read!