Why google is my friend.

I learned something new this weekend.
Perhaps you find a mischevious 4 year old girl who has located the missing super-glue and attached her dress to her entire belly...what do you do?
Margarine.
Just in case you were wondering.

I love this girl.

Feeling Beachy

Emily's always had a less than happy experience with the beach. I'd say she down right *despised* the beach year after year. The torture would always commence in the 2 hour car ride with a good car sickness induced vomit and ensuing panic attack. Then the sand would sneak into every crevice of her sticky sunblocked body. It was hot, too windy, and just too treacherous a terrain. Mean ol' mom forced her to do everything else in life--eat some foods other than peanut butter crunch cereal, bathe every once in awhile, sleep a couple hours a night--and darnit, I was going to force her to at least tolerate the beach while the rest of us had fun. We'd roll out the red carpet for her. She had her own tent, spare towels, treats galore, and she'd sit there just scowling. Forget about going into the water. No sirree. There's seaweed and that saltwater burns my eyes.

But alas, this year was a bit different.

Pig tails did the trick. I knew the day would be good when I saw the bounce in her step. As we got out to the beach the questions started flowing. "where are the stairs to the swimming pool? why are the birds flying about so crazy? why must the sand burn my soles off my feet?" Sensing a little anxiety, my mom took the kids straight to feel the waves wash over their little pudgy toes. And that's when it all started.

***The Golden Moment***

For the first time in our little girl's life, she was truly happy the whole day long. You've never seen so big a smile plastered to her sweet little face. She and Leo spent the next 6 hours running around like they had just won the lottery.

They sat comfortably in the scratchy sand building the great wall of China. They loved digging up the tiny mussels (she-shells) and watching them dig back into the sand.

Leo couldn't contain his excitement of the pinwheel on steroids. Flying the kite was even better.

Do you see that face?! This kid was in heaven. He would throw his head back and kick his feet as hard as he could.

The best part of all: sleeping under the setting sun.


Next time we go, we'll bust out the smores. They wont know what hit them!

Schools...Out...For...Eva!

Look at this girl.

Isn't she sweet?

3-K ended today with a big bang. The class put on a little show for us, which included the chicken dance, the wheels on the bus, and a bunch of other songs which were half-sung by tiny spaced-out and wiggly 3 year olds. Each of the kids gobbled up a bowl of ice cream and got a bucket of goodies on the way out the door. Hooray for summertime!

Being a Baby is Tough

Well we went to the pediatrician today because Emily and I have had colds since this weekend. We have all been just plain miserable, and have been trying to offer it up, especially in light of the upcoming election. Emily was running a low fever (100.7) and did not sleep last night because of her runny/congested nose. I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband who helped me calm her down between 4-6:30am, even though he stayed up until midnight studying. Turns out that she has an ear infection, strep throat, and a sinus infection. No wonder!

Two weeks ago more urine samples were taken to follow up from her previous infection--awful procedure for a little girl--and traces of blood were still present. After being on antibiotics for 10 days, we were a little surprised. We continued medications, and thankfully the doctor agreed to hold off on further tests (ultrasounds and blood tests) for 3 more weeks for her current medication to take affect. When we went back today, one week early, tests showed that we could discontinue her meds and no further tests are necessary! What a blessing! Thank you for your prayers. Keep them up! :)

Big News!

Drumroll please...we're moving here! Can you believe it's going on 7 years that we've lived in Dallas? A lot has happened here...college, meeting our best friends, falling in love (well, really that happened in Rome), getting engaged, our first home, our first baby, our first salary jobs. I could go on and on. We plan to make the move after Christmas and are excited to be closer to family, but are sad to leave our good friends behind. We had already looked into moving down and Eli had started to send out resumes, when a change in his job position encouraged him to resign and move on at the end of the year.

I thought that finding a job last year would be difficult, but this year's recession has us worried about how much hiring companies will be doing in the future months. Eli is the hardest worker I've ever known and scarecly takes even five minutes for himself to relax. His capstone class is very labor intensive, but also interesting and well worth the hours he puts in each night. In December he will graduate with his MBA and take a break from school for awhile (but seriously, who knows what he'll do next!). At TEMSCO he is the marketing director and at his previous job he was the marketing manager, so naturally he will be looking for a marketing job in a large company.

I wish I could bottle Emily and save her in this age forever. What a sweetheart! Apparently she had been going through a phase of being a little difficult (not sleeping through the night, not letting me put her down or leave the room, fussing all day, and not playing by herself) for the last few months. I chalked it up to sleep deprivation and severe stranger anxiety, and am pleased to say she has moved miles this month!! Oh I wish you could see her crawling and cruising around the room. She plays independently for a good portion of the day and rarely cries! Finally she is going down for 2 naps easily and bedtime is 1000 times easier than in the past. I'd like for her to sleep past 5am (since she goes to bed at 7), but I'll take what I can get! I think she's used to going to mass with me and although she still wants to talk and play, she has shown a great improvement in her patience. Emily still eats like a champ, eating everything I put in front of her--all vegetables, fruits, meats, beans, breads and pastas. I tested her dairy allergy yesterday with a pinch of cheese and she still got hives, so we'll continue to wait. I've begun to wean her (those top teeth are vicious) and she likes the soymilk and is learning how to drink out of a sippy cup. The cloth diapers are still easy and are better for her diaper area than before. We have a pedi appt on Friday to see if the medication is helping her condition, and we may do an ultrasound as well. Keep our little trooper in your prayers:)

I realized that I never really talk about myself, and so I thought I'd take this chance to update on what I've been up to. Besides taking care of Emily all day everyday by myself, I've been working on my faith life. I enjoy reading about saints' lives and am strengthening my devotion to Mary. When I was having a hard time with Emily in the hospital and when she was such a high need baby, I was able to put my life in perspective with remembering the seven sorrows of Mary. To keep the faith during hardship is nothing but an extreme necessity for us all. I also spend a lot of time reading about strenghening my marriage and family in the Catholic faith. It's tough having just a few hours to spend together as a family a week, and even tougher on a marriage if you never see each other! We know that full time school and work are what allow me to stay home with Emily, and it's worth it. I also spend my time doing marriage counseling and teaching about Natural Family Planning. This weekend we're starting up our pro-life involvement with the life chain and 40 days for life vigil in front of the abortion clinics. Of course for fun I recently taught myself how to knit and sometime soon my cousin will be teaching me how to make bread from scratch.

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!

Mary Moves to Dallas!

Mary Clare was just born ready to be in college...and now it seems like time sped by! She's the 4th Harkins to be at UD too. It must be strange to my parents to have more kids living out of the house than in--and half in Dallas at that! This year at UD there will be 5 Fagan-cousins, and more in the area, which will make our family days so much more fun!

We had a nice dinner on Saturday night when everyone arrived and afterwards Emily opened her birthday presents from Nana and Grandaddy. On top of some clothes, she got a cool table that has interchangeable discs that have all sorts of buttons and switches to push that light up and sing. It's perfect for her because she needs to work on pulling herself up and it's just the right height. Nona gave her a cute little piano which she loves too. It plays tons of kids songs and the keys light up. Aunt Mary gave her some Mother Goose and Spot books that, of course, she wont let me read to her but she likes to chew on them.
Yay size 1 shoes fit!

On Sunday after mass we went to a cajun restuarant for food "so good you'll slap your momma." It reminded me of good ol Mississippi cooking...mmmm.

I think Elil's holding up something spicy (hence the spicy face) Newyly adopted sister Amanda

Last week Emily spent most of her time crawling around the whole house. She's pretty quick these days and loves to eat every speck off the ground. I think she's also trying to compete with Eli and I on eating...she seriously never stops (and neither to her diapers!) and she finally has cut her first tooth on the bottom. Yesterday she had her 12 month checkup. She weighs 15.5 lbs and is 27" long. She grew 3 inches in 3 months but hasn't put on much weight, probably because she never stays still! We need your prayers on one more medical issue that's come up, and are hoping to avoid surgery, especially since she's due for surgery next year on her hemangioma. After a lot of research on all the medications Emily has taken, Eli and I have developed a "wait and see" attitude combined with more of a natural remedies solution as opposed to commercial drugs. I think we've had some bad luck with the meds (one has been recalled, and most other gave her severe reactions).

We had a playdate at the arboretum this week and enjoyed one of the last $1 days. Rebecca and Sophia joined us and we had a blast! We will definately have to come back very soon.

We fed the fish bread...Emily just wanted to eat it herself!
Standing up all by herself!

Isn't Sophia adorable!? She's such a sweetie.

Busy playing in the fountain

Emily learns to crawl

You know how everyone always says "oh enjoy your baby when she cant go anywhere!" or "you'll be sorry you wished she could crawl!". Well I think I can honestly say that my life is much easier and Emily's life is much happier now that she is mobile. Just imagine a baby with a very active mind who wants to get into everything but is stuck. For awhile Emily wouldn't let me put her down...she needed me to take her around to explore. Now that she can move, she can entertain herself for like 10 minutes at a time! It's so fun watching her slowly inch herself across the room!
We’ve had a bit of bad luck with our cars lately. Early in the week someone tried to steal our car. They were unsuccessful (thank goodness!!!) but ended up breaking the window and ripping out the steering column, which cost $1000 to repair. It turned out to be a big hassle trying to get it towed to the car shop. The first tow truck guy ripped off the bumper, harassed me, tried to charge me $50 to put it back on, and when I said no he unloaded the car and crashed into it and fled the scene. This was after Emily and I stood out in the 100 degree heat for 3 hours (poor little baby). So the cops were called and another tow truck came, but couldn’t get the car loaded because of the position it was in from the first tow truck. So finally everything was worked out with the 3rd tow truck that night. I enjoyed driving Eli to work in the mornings—30 minutes of time to do nothing but talk! It was great!
We had a pretty full weekend--we are trying to find more free things to do in Dallas so I can get out of the house. As much as I love being home with Emily, I still find myself overwhelmed when I don’t talk to or see anyone besides Eli for days. I go to mass everyday and try to take Emily to the park too, but there aren't too many moms my age with a baby who stay at home and don’t have grandma at their fingertips. I imagine things will change when Eli can spend more time with us after he graduates in December! Yay! Anyway so we went to run on the Katy Trail in Dallas on Saturday and went to visit Anne afterwards. On Sunday after mass, Lauren had us over to her new apartment for a BBQ. Old mill hasn’t changed much except that they painted the exterior. Quite a trip down memory lane--we could remember all the apartments of our friends and all the good times we'd had on the circus (more or less the courtyard). Later on we went to the mall Grapevine Mills and walked around Old Town Grapevine. Pretty cool...lots of wine tasting shops and boutiques.
Both Emily and Eli are sick with a cold/bronchitis/strep. Eli went to the doctor yesterday and is on antibiotics and stayed home from work. Emily as usual is having a hard time sleeping and I don’t think she's fully adjusted to being back from vacation. She's been waking up at least 3 times in the middle of the night to nurse. Although she's been taking 2 pretty good naps everyday so I cant complain! :)

A Year of Miracles

It's hard to believe that Emily turned 1 year old on Monday! Looking back over this crazy year, there are so many of God's blessings for which to be thankful. At the time we were in robot mode, trying not to think about little things like how Eli was unemployed 2 weeks before Emily was born, or how our car broke down and we had to buy a new one the day she came home from the hospital. We probably wouldn't have survived the crisis without the support and prayers from everyone, and the extreme dedication of the doctors, nurses, and therapists. Emily is certainly the bravest little girl who even today is quite the fighter. She is truly an inspiration to us all! Here's a list of just a few things she's gone through in her short life:
-82 days of hospitalization
-heart surgery to repair the hole in her heart (after 5 rounds of intense medication which failed)
-100s of apneas and bradycardias (when her heart rate would slow drastically and she would stop breathing, many times turning blue in our helpless arms)
-living hooked up to an IV, a heart rate monitor, an oxygen monitor, an arterial line, a feeding tube, a respirator to a CPAP to nasal cannula, in a temperature regulated glass box
-severe acid reflux which burned a hole in her esophagus
-phototherapy treatment for jaundice
-respiratory distress syndrome (she had synagis shots to avoid rsv)
-Spastic diplegia (she continues to have occupational therapy each week and is improving!!!)
-eczema, allergies, staff infections, etc.

We are happy to report that Emily is just about as healthy as can be and can almost CRAWL! She still needs surgery on her arm in the next year, but is currently taking no oral medications and is all in all a typical adorable baby. Talk about a miracle:)


No bigger than a dollar bill



On her birthday we had a little dinner for her with some family (Aunt Lauren, Aunt Teresa, Uncle Kyle, cousin Aidan). She got to try cake for the first time and loved it!





Yummy!





She was crying because she thought we were taking away her new toy!



Now she's happy and trying to figure out how it works



Very stylish big girl clothes from Uncle Kyle and Aunt Teresa





Favorite Touch and Feel Books






Aidan is getting so big!



Playdate with Matty at the park