Latest Annie Comment

"Hey Mom," Annie said enthusiastically, "I'm watching 'Beauty and the Beast 2' . . . it's been brought to you by Belle, and by the Beast."
I'm now worried she's been watching too much PBS or something, as she sounded exactly like the narrator guy who announces sponsor companies between shows . . . :-)

Truly Excellent Bedhead

According to phone calls I've been getting from my sisters, I am in desperate need of updating my blog.
So, um, here's a couple pictures . . . which is probably about as good a blog post as it's gonna get for now -- I don't know if I should blame the change in weather, the apparently low iron/B12 levels, or just being 30 weeks pregnant in general, but I'm tired and less motivated than normal. If I can barely to remember to change the laundry (like that one load that got started three times until I finally changed it this morning), I shouldn't be spending too much time online.

Anyway, Ellie woke up with a truly impressive mop of hair this morning, that all flipped up into a little fauxhawk . . . I would expect this on days where she'd had a little pony tail on the top of her head, when we take out the elastic right before bed, so the hair is already sticking straight up before she even sleeps on it -- but last night she went to bed with perfectly brushed down flat hair, and woke up with this . . .

"Let Me Help You With That"

Annie and I were watching something on TLC or the Discovery channel or something similar, that was profiling preemies. We discussed that our baby wouldn't be that small and wouldn't need any of the tubes or the incubator if he's born when he's supposed to be born, and not early like the babies on TV. Annie was concerned about the babies she was seeing, and asked if they would be OK. We talked about how the doctors are usually able to help babies who are born really early and that start out so small. Annie still seemed a bit distressed, so I explained that her own best friend, Sarajayne, had been born a whole nine weeks early, and had been really teeny tiny, but how she's perfectly fine and just like Annie and any other three and a half year old now. Annie was finally OK with it, seemed to no longer be as concerned about the babies on the television, and I thought we'd reached the end of subject on this one . . .

Until the next day, when Sarajayne was over playing with Annie on the swings, and I suddenly hear Annie say, in her sweetest maternal voice, "Oh Sarajayne, since you were really tiny and almost died as a baby, I'll come push you on the swing!"

New rule for Annie: No more telling your friends they nearly died. It could make for awkward phone calls I'll have to have with their Mom's later on, when they go home and tell their Mom that you informed them they almost died.

(I preemptively told Sarajayne's Mom about the conversation -- just in case her three year old came home distraught upon finding out she'd nearly died and had never known it. Fortunately Sarajayne seemed fairly unaffected by the news.)

More of the Outdoors

We've spent more time outside, and have been loving it! It's been a crazy busy week, where we've just out and doing things most of the day . . . which has been so much fun, although a bit exhausting (mainly for me) . . . the one big drawback though is that Ellie has given up every single afternoon nap this week (her normally nearly two hour nap for the day) and replaced them with 20-30 minute snoozes while in the van, then waking up bright and refreshed and ready to go again. Until about 5-6:00PM, when she turns into a tiny crazy person due to sheer exhaustion. (And don't think I haven't tried to get her to nap after her pathetic 20 minute van cat nap -- most afternoons I've stuck her in her crib for an hour or so, and not once has she managed to fall back asleep.)

We went to the zoo on Thursday morning -- the kids had so much fun looking at all the animals and playing on the playground. They were extremely disappointed that the bears are no longer at the zoo anymore (apparently they live in Oregon or something right now, while the zoo is building new enclosures.) And Annie would tell anyone who'd listen about how the zebras are both dead, and how the baby giraffe died. But, fortunately, the penguins were back on display, and the baby elephant was adorable per usual, so it all evened out for her.

By far and away, my childrens' favorite part of the zoo is the water ball. They'd play here the whole time if I let them. Instead, we always save it as the last thing we do, then once they're good and soaked, we bypass the gift shop and head straight for the van.

Then this afternoon we met Greg's parents, and sister Andrea, out at Thanksgiving Point to walk around the gardens for the Tulip Festival. It was such a beautiful afternoon, and the kids had so much fun. I'd been worried after going all week long, I'd get tired walking around the huge gardens, but I felt great -- especially with a whole handful of other people there to carry the kids when they got tired, or pull the wagon the entire time. I got to be very lazy and just enjoy the flowers and the weather. :-)

Here's Ellie and Grandma Ruth looking at the stream from over one of the little bridges that Ellie loved so much.Ellie loved running around up on the stage in the outdoor amphitheater area.

Annie was a bit of a ham too; dancing, posing and running around with her sister.

Ellie showing off her skills on stage.

Ellie got to help Grandma take pictures of Annie, and it was probably the happiest she'd been all day!

Annie putting back on her shoes. Her hair is getting so long! Never in my entire life has my hair been as long as hers has gotten . . .

Ellie checking out the falls while perched up on Aunt Andrea's shoulders.

Grandma, Daddy and Annie over the falls.

Ellie pointing out stuff to Grandpa.

Ellie and Grandpa again.

The snake Annie and I saw. (We also saw a great horned owl, I just forgot to get pictures of it!)

Annie admiring the tulips. When I asked her what her favorite part had been (fully expecting something about rolling down the hills in the amphitheater, or the waterfalls), she told me it was these pretty pink, orange and purple flowers right at the end of our walk.

Annie would get right down there to smell the flowers.

Grandpa & Ellie again.

Annie, Aunt Andrea and Ellie as tulips. Ellie was less enthused at this point, but both girls were pretty ready to call it a night by then.

It was gorgeous -- and we're going again next week with friends, and now that I know that all that walking just felt great and not exhausting, I'm looking even more forward to it!

Here's a couple videos of the girls playing in the amphitheater area -- Annie rolling down the hills looks exhausting, and they both have mad dance skills. :-)

My Uncle Karl

I recently talked a bit about my Uncle Karl here on the blog. It made me realize there's no one place I've collected pictures and some of my thoughts about him. The video I had of Greg, with Karl untying his shoe, was the first time I'd ever recorded one of Karl's many 'games' and 'pranks' and it left me with a desire to better document my amazing Uncle while he's around. I have hundreds of memories of Karl throughout the years. My Mom was always very close to her baby brother, and it was incredibly important that all of her children have similar relationships with him. She's made a scrapbook that has a few pictures of him when he was young, so I scanned in a few, and searched through the pictures I've taken since the girls were born to put together a small collection of pictures of my Uncle and my family.

Here's Karl as a baby.

He was always a bit of a miracle. My Grandmother had German Measles while she was pregnant with Karl, like many women that year, and an entire generation of children like Karl were born. With spastic cerebral palsy (which is defined as having one or more tight muscle groups that spasm or don't work correctly), Karl's body would never work the way it was 'supposed to'. In my Uncle's case, his legs have almost zero muscle and he lacks any ability to control them in any usable way. His hands are also tight and give him limited grasping abilities. He is also blind (which was actually unrelated, he had glaucoma at 6 years old which took his sight), and mentally severely handicapped as well, and has lost hearing in one ear. For the first four years he spent most of his time at Primary Children's Hospital -- before he was five years old he had pneumonia 28 times. He also had spinal meningitis twice. He spent years in and out of body casts and other contraptions as a kid, and my Mom says she remembers more times than she can count, the doctor's telling them he wouldn't live much longer. He ran horrible fevers often, above 105 degrees, and my Mom remembers her father being able to accurately estimate his temperature within a few tenths of a degree just by touch. (My Mom remembers him having to have frequent ice baths, and his body temperature going above the thermometer more times than she can count).

(Top: Uncle Mike. Next Row: My Mom, Aunt Judy, Aunt Teresa, Uncle Jeff. Bottom row: Uncle Kerry and Uncle Karl.)

Despite a very difficult, painful childhood -- Karl was happy. Karl is happy. It is his nature. He's also quite sensitive and sweet, and is easily upset or hurt by loud or forceful words. My Mom remembers her and her siblings arguments causing him to burst into tears -- so then they'd just glare across the room and mouth stuff like, "Now look what you've done!" My Grandparents would occasionally leave Karl in my Mom's care while they went on (very rare) vacations . . . so I actually have very similar memories of my sisters and I fighting, it making Karl cry, us promising loudly we weren't mad at each other and making a big show of just how well we were getting along for Karl's sake, all the while glaring and poking and burying our knuckles painfully into one another in silent warfare.

This is Karl at the Special Olympics. He's been actively involved for years -- and is a heavily decorated bowler. :-) He's also an Eagle Scout. (My Mom says, "we're still wondering exactly how he got the computer merit badge.") He's gotten to go to countless camps and activities, and as family we've gotten to be involved in some pretty cool events and causes. I remember helping host dances for the Special Mutual group that Karl attended through Church, and I have to say, I dance very, very well with someone in a wheelchair. :-)

Here's my Mom's very '70s family - Uncle Mike, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Teresa, Aunt Judy; Grandpa in the middle; My Mom, Uncle Karl and Grandma; Kerry at the bottom.

Because Karl is blind, sound plays a very important role in his life. He loves making noise. My Mom had on the radio once, and happened to have wheeled Karl up to the piano to bang around on the keys a little, when she suddenly noticed he was playing a very simple version of what was on the radio. That's the first time they discovered that Karl has an incredible ear for music, and can pluck out on the piano (one key at a time, as he can only really play with his index finger) any tune you play for him, despite having never seen the keys.
Karl also liked to make less pleasant noise. :-) One of his favorite things to do was, when left too close to the silverware drawer while in his wheelchair, toss the forks and spoons around the kitchen to hear them clang against the kitchen floor. Problem was, someone usually caught on pretty quickly and put a stop to his throwing of utensils all willy nilly. So, he would quietly get all the silverware out of the drawer and place it gently on the counter top -- then SMASH, with a sweep of his arm send the whole thing clattering loudly to the floor, laughing uproariously as his family came rushing in to investigate the sudden crash. When Karl was younger and smaller, he crawled around his house a lot, pulling around on his front arms, up on his elbows. He would drag the kitchen chair to the top of the stairs, if someone had forgotten to shut the door, and happily push that chair down the stairs to hear it loudly clang down the stairs.
As Karl got older, and I start to have memories of him, I remember his love of music and sound. He always had radios playing (Radio Disney is a favorite), and a TV (usually on a TV that had lost it's picture, so my sisters and I would sometimes have a hard time following what was happening on Sesame Street.) He loved the same cartoons and shows I did as a kid -- with an exception. He LOVES game shows. Wheel of Fortune is one of his favorites, but just a few years back, it was on before he got home from school. So, Grandpa would record it for him every day. Each day, Karl would listen to Wheel of Fortune after school. IF the person playing won the big prize, then the video played until the end. But if the person playing lost big, then somehow the tape always 'magically cut off' before Karl could hear them losing, as it made him so sad.


This is Karl and I on my first Halloween. I was about five months old. We were very much 'two peas in a pod' when I was growing up.

Here we are the next year -- it's too bad this is such a blurry picture!
We were cute matching clowns . . .

I try and remember back to when Karl was young like this -- I vaguely remember his crawling around at family parties, but for the most part, I remember him in his chair or lying in one place on the floor on some blankets. I do remember his old, regular wheelchairs, which my sisters and I would take turns racing around the halls of my grandparent's home. (He now has a much more comfortable and useful special wheelchair, designed to fit his body and his rigidness much better.) I remember thinking he knew MORE jokes than anyone else in the world! He could tell jokes forever, and we'd all laugh until it hurt. Only when I was older did I come to find out that Karl only knew one joke. "Why did the chicken cross the road?" "I don't know Karl, why?" "To get to the other side!" Then he'd laugh so hard for several minutes than everyone else would start laughing too -- it was contagious. And I'm not just talking polite chuckling, I'm talking we all had tears rolling down our faces we were laughing so hard. The funny thing is, as kids, we never understood any of Karl's joke -- we just knew that when he paused, it was time to ask "Why?" and then let him tell his punchline, and laughter would ensue. I loved having Karl tell me jokes. He was also pretty much the best audience ever -- 'cause no matter how cheesy your own joke was, he'd laugh like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.
I still to this day play the "Karl, you've got my finger!" game . . . where I hold hands with Karl, until he'll suddenly grab my index finger and squeeze (although with his limited hand strength, it's not much of a squeeze), and I cry out, "Karl, you've got my finger! Karl, give me back my finger!" and I howl and wiggle and play 'tug of war' with him as he laughs, for a minute or so, until he's done and gives me my finger back. I sigh a mighty sigh of relief -- then he grabs my finger again. And repeat. :-)
What I remember most though were the times he came to stay with us at our house while I was growing up. I remember the challenge of trying to feed him while lying on his blankets in our front room -- I remember ravioli being spilled throughout his beard, and water being squirted out of his mouth as the two of us couldn't stop laughing. It would be SUCH a mess, but the two of us would laugh the whole time. Getting him cleaned up after a simple meal was a bit of an ordeal. Karl loved coming to our house, but after a day or two would get very, very homesick for his Mom and Dad. And, I think, for his bathtub. See, Karl couldn't be bathed at our house. My grandparent's had an extra long bathtub, as Karl isn't exactly 'bendy' with those stiff muscle groups, and therefore had to be laid out almost completely straight in a tub. He loves baths more than anything, and I know it was one of the first things he always did after spending a few days getting coated in spaghetti oh's and yogurt at our house.
Like I mentioned before, I remember us kids fighting, Karl crying, us apologizing profusely, than carrying on silent revenge throughout the evening. :-) On a sweeter note, I remember family prayers with Karl. :-) We all liked the rare occasions Karl would say prayer at our house. You couldn't understand much of what he said (even my grandparents, his most effective translators, can only catch a small fraction of what he says if it's anything outside his recognized list of words), but I remember each of us listening intently for our names to be spoken, and counting how many times we got mentioned. :-) I also remember one time Karl went to Church with us. I got to take Karl to my Primary class with me, and I was beyond thrilled. I remember during singing time though, Karl loudly (and unintelligibly) sang along, and some of the other kids started laughing and mocking him. I was livid -- I was seriously ready to walk over and punch someone in the middle of Primary. :-) My teacher put her arm around me and wisely told me that I shouldn't be angry with the other kids, that they just didn't know better -- that not everyone was as lucky as me to have an Uncle like Karl, to teach me about how much God loved all his children, and how amazing and special we all were in our own way. And how kind it was of me to 'share' my Uncle with all these kids who didn't get to have the same experiences as I did growing up with Karl. I proudly put my arm around Karl and sang louder too (all the while kinda glaring at the other kids -- it was a lesson I learned bit by bit.)

This is Thanksgiving 2003 -- Karl hanging out with several of his nieces (Lacy, Talina, and my cousins Makayla and Marissa). Karl loves the company of his nieces and nephews -- he lights up just having us come into the house. He happily hugs us, calls us turkeys and hugs us until we have to yell for 'help!' It's a game, but he can get a fairly tight grip sometimes when your head is locked under his arm, and your only choice is to go limp and wait for him to be done squeezing you. :-)

I mentioned before that Karl took an instant liking to Greg. To a point I'm almost a little jealous. At times, I feel a bit usurped :-) Karl will find out we've come over and call out, "Greg? Greg?" whereas my entire childhood it was Karl calling out for me. It was one of the reasons I fell so head over heels in love with Greg so quickly though, he was beyond sweet and patient and funny with my Uncle, and that (along with how well he treated his Mom) was definitely a big flag for me that I'd really found someone special, who'd treat me and any kids we'd have together, with the same love and patience.
Here's Greg and I at our wedding reception with Karl, in 2004.

This is Christmas 2004. Karl LOVES Christmas. And birthdays. And pretty much any holiday, but present unwrapping ones definitely top the list.

Karl loves to rip into a present, tearing the paper to shreds, laughing joyously the whole time. And it doesn't matter if he gets a new toy with all the bells and whistles, or a plain t-shirt, inside the paper, he could not be more thrilled and grateful. Buying Karl presents is a highlight of the holiday season -- I think there's even a bit of competitiveness among the family at times, of who can buy the coolest present for Karl. He loves toys, especially ones that make lots of noise. Singing stuffed animals, toy keyboards, music boxes, whatever. I found a SpongeBob toy for him once at Big Lots that blew raspberries when you pinched its nose. That's solid gold right there. The one who took the prize though, had to be Aunt Judy, the year she was able to snatch a Tickle Me Elmo for him when they were sold out everywhere. Sesame Street with uncontrollable tickling and laughter = perfect.

Birthdays are a big deal to Karl too -- in fact, he remembers whose birthday is coming up next no matter the time of year. Which I loved growing up, 'cause my birthday is May 30th, and I was the ONLY May birthday for the longest time. So my birthday was over a month long. Karl would have Grandma get me on the phone so he could sing me "Happy Birthday", starting weeks before the actual event. Every time we'd come visit during the month of May, it was all, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HILARY!" I loved it. I've told Greg that it shows how much I've grown up that I'm so OK with having our daughters birthdays both in May (the 19th & 20th), since it effectively shortened my birthday celebration to ten days, and yet I'm OK with it. :-)

Karl loves babies. He wants to hold them, and feel their little hands and feet. Babies aren't always thrilled about this, since Karl has no real ability to hold them with any real security . . . you basically place a baby on Karl's lap, and have several other adults hovering around in case the baby starts to slip off in one direction or the other. :-) Annie always handled it surprisingly well . . . she looks wary here, at 6 weeks old, but she wasn't screaming. Which for Annie at 6 weeks old, was a bit of an anomaly, as she was usually screaming bloody murder.

Here's Annie and Karl (with my Mom and Grandpa) on Christmas 2007.

This was Annie's second birthday party . . . Karl's been at pretty much all the important events and celebrations in mine, and my children's, lives.

It gets harder and harder now, to keep him as involved. A few years ago, my amazing elderly grandparents finally put Karl into a home when my Grandfather had to have shoulder surgery. The fact they were able to keep caring for him at home well into their 70s is amazing! (My Grandmother, bless her, spent well over 50 years, caring for her children who depended on her for their every need. After the rest of her children were raised and moved on, she still had her baby at home, who needed to be fed, bathed, changed, diapered and cared for as if still a toddler.) The fact their bodies could still pick up and move Karl around is remarkable. Especially, 'cause like many people, Karl packed on some pounds in his 40s. :-) Once my Grandpa had his shoulder surgery, he'd desperately hoped to bring Karl back home again, but we all knew that would be impossible. Once both of their bodies had even the slightest rest from their heavy labors, the 'muscle memory' was lost, and they are both too old and fragile to ever be able to work back up to being able to move Karl around like they once did. Although, a huge blessing has been that Karl is genuinely happy where he is now. It's not always easy, remember he mentally is a very small child -- a child suddenly living away from Mom and Dad. But he's in a home with several other residents in wheelchairs, and his caretakers are wonderful and protective of him. He has such a childlike, endearing quality about him -- coupled with the joyfulness that is just part of who he is, and people are naturally drawn to him once they've spent any time with him.


Here's Karl and Annie on Thanksgiving 2008. They are both equally thrilled about their stuffed animals.
(Thanksgiving is Karl's birthday -- so he's always got some fun new toys at Thanksgiving dinner!)

Karl LOVES taking hats off of people. He thinks it's the funniest thing ever. Sometimes Greg will specifically put on a hat when we're around Karl, even though he rarely wears them otherwise. Here's Annie in Greg's hat, so that Karl had something to pull off her head. Annie put up a good fight though, which Karl found hilarious :-)

This was taken at the Annie & Ellie's birthday party last May -- Karl had gotten ahold of some of the left over wrapping paper, and was having the time of his life.

This is how excited Karl is when he opens a present (like this one from this last Christmas), even before he has a clue about what it is. Seriously, he's like the funnest person to give presents to, 'cause he's over the moon excited about it no matter what it is!

Then, from this Easter, just this month, here's Ellie with Uncle Karl. I realized I don't have as many pictures of Ellie and Karl together, and that's something I need to do something about!

Karl's entire life has been a miracle -- a baby wasn't supposed to make it. A toddler who only had another week. A child whose family should say goodbye while they still can. And now, nobody knows how long we'll have Uncle Karl with us. He could live for decades more, or he could leave us at any time. It's important to me that my girls get to know him while they can. That they have as many fun, rich memories of him as I do. And that I record them somewhere, just in case he isn't always around. I watch my girls shyly smile at the other residents at Karl's home. I watch as they chase the puppy who lives there, as they weave between hulking wheelchairs like they're everyday household items -- and I feel incredibly blessed that my kids are growing up lucky enough to have an Uncle Karl to teach them things about life and love and people and compassion that I don't know any other way to teach them.

Outside

Spring seems to have an undeniable pull on my children -- all they want to do is go outside. Days like yesterday: no problem! The rest of the time, when it's raining, snowing or hailing: it's more of an issue. Here's just a few pictures from the last couple days outside . . .

After being the 'bad guy' all day, and not letting them play outside, I finally acquiesced Monday afternoon, and told them to get dressed warm to go out for a few minutes in the light rain. By the time they were ready, it was raining hard. Then hailing. They decided they needed an umbrella.

Here's Annie running down the street in the pouring rain.

It was right as Greg was getting home, and he agreed to go fetch a runaway Ellie for me . . .

Ellie, while soaked, was not happy about being forced to come inside. (Annie wasn't too pleased either).

Then yesterday was beautiful and we spent hours outdoors. Mainly in the afternoon/evening, when we went to get pictures taken of the girls at Wheeler Farm (I'll post the professional pictures once I get them on CD -- I'm so excited!! Annie was being such a cute model, what with all the big smiles and cheesy poses. Ellie on the other hand just kept pointing out birds and ducks, and was angry we wouldn't let her run wild). After we were done with the photo shoot, we had Greg's parents, and sister Andrea, meet us at the Farm, and run around and look at the animals with us. The girls had such a great time being outside for hours on end . . . top that off by being treated to Frosty's at Wendy's afterwards, and not going to bed until 9PM, and they're convinced it was the greatest evening ever.

Here's Annie running around.

The girls both running free . . .

Here's Ellie playing tag with Grandpa KC -- she was having the time of her life.

The girls racing Grandpa to the cows . . .

Ellie wanted to just keep jumping off the hay bales . . .

Daddy, Annie, Ellie and Aunt Andrea got to pet the baby goat.

Here's the girls petting the baby lambs.

OK Mother Nature -- we're headed for the zoo right now -- keep up this weather, and you just might find yourself back on my good side!

Signing Update

Ellie is picking up signs I hadn't realized she'd even been paying attention to, so the whole sign language thing is going well. (I asked her what a picture at Grandma's house was of, and she signed 'tree', a word I hadn't realized she'd learned yet.) I'm especially pleased because she now verbally says "More", "All done," and "Ball" while she signs them -- all words we've been trying to get her to say forever, and now she acts like it's no big deal to toss them around all willy nilly while signing. (Her speech is suddenly increasing -- which is great, as she hadn't said a new word in months before this -- now all the sudden she's saying several new things a week. She's gonna progress right out of the Early Intervention program right around the time we get her all set up! :-) Her meeting with her new speech therapist is for not next Tuesday, but the Tuesday after.)

Ellie will watch about one "Signing Time" video a day or so, (although this last few days we haven't had any, as I'd accidentally put CDs on hold at the library, and not DVDs.) She doesn't actually act all that interested, walking away and wandering back during the video, but then throughout the day, she'll run up to the computer and point and say, "Leah! Leah!" and then smile and walk away. (Leah is the little girl on "Signing Time", and Ellie's favorite part of the videos is the theme song where they sing, "It's signing time with Alex and Leah," and Ellie sings "LEAH!" loudly at the end of the sentence each time they say it. Leah has become her word for the videos, the theme song and sign language in general.)

The other cool bi-product of Ellie's new "Signing Time" regimen, is that Annie is fascinated by it, and can't get enough. She's always asking us, "How do you say that in Spanish? OH! I mean sign language?" (Daddy's beloved Spanish has definitely taken a back seat to this new foreign language in our home). She's using dozens of signs, and is always happily showing them to her little sister. I now find I'm checking videos out from the library more for Annie than Ellie, most recently putting the ABC video on hold, a video I think will hold little interest for Ellie, but will fascinate Annie, who's always trying to perfect her signing form.

So, in short: "Signing Time," good.

Annie Today

We spent some time in the car today, running errands and such (errands that made me late for the garage door repair people who stopped by to find the owner's rudely not home at the appointed time -- I'm blaming pregnancy brain for this one). I love listening to Annie and Ellie talking in the car, Annie's endless stream of conversation, punctuated by Ellie's ever-present enthusiastic agreement, "Yeah!" Today, it was going something like this:
A: "So, do you think we should go to Arctic Circle when we're done at the grocery store Ellie?"
E: "Yeah!"
A: "And get courtesy cones?"
E: "Yeah!"
A: "How about a twist cone . . . I want a twist, do you want a twist just like me?"
E: "Yeah!"
A: "Oh wait! Ellie, I decided I want vanilla instead. Is that OK? Will you get vanilla just like me?"
E: "Yeah!"
A: "You will? That's great Ellie! I love getting the same as you! We should get everything the same, and be just alike! Do you like getting the same as me?"
E: "Yeah!"
A: "You do? This is the GREATEST best friends day ever Ellie! I love you! Let's hold hands!"
Then they each reached out from their carseats and held hands for the next several minutes while extolling the virtues of matching vanilla ice cream cones.

After Annie got Mom to begrudgingly agree to the ice cream cone (mainly 'cause I liked the idea of letting them run wild on the indoor playland for 40 minutes -- although later regretted it, since the poor garage door people were so inconveniently discovering we weren't home, all the while we were doing something as important as climbing on indoor playground equipment), poor Annie realized a slight problem. We were also going to the grocery store. Where she usually gets a free cookie from the bakery. "Mom," Annie squealed, "we can't have a cookie AND an ice cream . . . that's too much 'sometimes food'!" I assured her it would be OK to have one small ice cream cone and one small cookie, just this once, but she was convinced this was a bad idea. Until her sister asked for a cookie in the grocery store. I offered Annie one, and she said, "No thank you, I'm going to have an ice cream later . . . " but then as we were walking away from the bakery, "Um, maybe it'd be OK if I just had one small cookie though . . . "

For Mine & Annie's Benefit

While Annie is sitting on my lap, 'patiently' waiting to feel Isaac kick, she loves to hear stories about herself in the womb. How anytime her Dad tried to feel her kick she'd go quiet. How whenever the doctor tried to listen to her heart, she'd roll away and kick him. How whenever I had another baby sat on my lap, she'd kick furiously until the baby was removed.

In preparation for Isaac's arrival, she's also loved going back and looking at all the pictures from when her and Ellie were born and in the hospital. Going through them tonight, her and I picked out our favorites of each girl's first three days. I decided to post 'em -- just for fun, and future reference and all that . . .

Here's Annie's very first picture. So happy. :-)
She came out screaming, and kept it up for quite awhile -- all the nurses and doctor were laughing, and as the doctor left the room she chuckled and said, "Good luck with that one."

One of our first family pictures.
Not to sound vain or anything, but for just having had a baby, does my hair rock or what!? I can't get it that smooth and shiny now!

Annie in my arms on our first full day in the hospital. She was so teeny. (6lbs 8oz.) Interestingly, Ellie was even smaller at just under 6lbs., but no baby has ever seemed as tiny to me as Annie did those first few days.

Annie and I almost ready to go home.
(Compare this picture to the ones right after Ellie's pregnancy, and it becomes pretty clear which pregnancy I gained 15 lbs. with and which one I gained 40 lbs. with -- I think my face is thinner in these pictures, two days after giving birth, then in my wedding pictures!)

Big yawn.

Dad & Baby Popeye getting ready to leave the hospital.

Our first full day home -- in Greg's favorite 'outfit' ever for Annie -- a Tigger robe.
(Dang, she was beautiful!)

Here's Ellie -- two years and one day after the birth of our first. She is also mightily pissed off.

Ellie and I in one of our first pictures together.

Ellie, proud new big sister Annie and Daddy.

My girls.

One of our only pictures of just the three of us from that morning.

Ellie -- one day old.

Getting ready to leave the hospital -- me with my baby, Annie with hers.

Ellie's first several days were at home on the bili-lights.

So, for no other purpose than to have them saved on my blog, those are the first three days of each of my girls lives. I can't believe we're like 10-12 weeks from another first three days!