Ella's Laugh

Ella had her first laugh a couple weeks ago when daddy zerberted her, but we finally caught it on video today. Poor Jack was the victim of her giggles.

The many faces of Jack

Sitting on the bumbo





Fighting with Ella


Hanging with Mason

Doctors Doctors Doctors

Yesterday Jack and I went to see the neurosurgeon at Riley downtown. We went to check on the status of Jack's head. As many of you know, Jack's head has formed a little crookedly. Though it has gotten much better with time, our pediatrician thought we should go see a neurosurgeon just to be safe.

After waiting over an hour, we meet the doc. He was super nice, so my frustration with the long wait was eased. He "talked" to Jack as he measured and felt his head. Jack, being the ham he is, just cooed and smiled at him.

The good news is that the doc said that he wasn't going to order any scans (too much radiation), nor would he need to see Jack again (unless we requested it). I could have hugged him. In his opinion, Jack's head was still soft enough to "fix" itself... and it is. He said that Jack was showing all the right signs and there wasn't any hint of a particular disease (I can't remember the name). YEAH!!

Today, David and I took J&E to the pediatrician. Jack weighed in at 14lbs and is measuring 23 3/4". Ella weighed 12.5lbs (down from our last measurement) and measured 23 1/4". The doc checked them both over and was very impressed with their development. He was very excited that they are doing all the things a 6-month-old should do... and they're only supposed to be at the 4 month level. Of course, David and I were beaming!

Unfortunately though, Ella is still battling a bug of some kind. She has a runny nose, a watering eye, diarrhea, and awful diaper rash (from the diarrhea). The worst part of it all is that there is nothing we can do about it... she is too young for any medication. We've been trying to give her as many bananas as possible, but so far, no luck. Hopefully we can get through this soon; it makes me so nervous because of all the horror stories I've read/heard about with babies and diarrhea.

A special prayer for Aunt Ruth... we love you!

The Missing Pics

Once again, we're behind in posting some pics of Jack and Ella, so, below are some from the last several weeks...

Jack talking to Mommy


Ella cheesing while trying to get under the couch


Who's cuter?


Mommy's trying to show Jack that pink can be manly


Hanging with the cousins (Sam and Ryan)


Showing the blues with Aunt Mimi


Trying to mimic dad's bad posture


Already treating his sister like a princess

5113 Days

Fourteen years ago, Kristy and I walked down the aisle in a small, non-air conditioned church in Markle, IN in front of our friends and family. I'm sure many of Kristy's friends didn't think we'd make it this long because they weren't really happy with her mate selection (something about jealousy and immaturity). Fortunately, Kristy is pretty stubborn and hard-headed and didn't listen.

Anyways, we proceeded to the reception, which somehow didn't even have a d.j. and then spent our wedding night coming home in a driving rainstorm in a once performance German sedan that required frequent stops on the side of the highway so we didn't hydroplane into a semi-truck. Kristy had just started a new job, so I think we had only a couple days to recuperate. Besides, we'd spent our honeymoon money buying a table and bedroom set at a local auction so that our first rental on Garfield Avenue in Terre Haute wasn't completely bare...

Fortunately, money and wealth don't have a high correlation with a succesful marriage, but here are a couple that I think do:

• Saying I love you as often as possible
  
• A kiss before going to sleep
  
• Keeping her belly happy
  
• Marrying a caring, loving, forgiving woman who looks smoking in a wedding dress
  

Happy Anniversay, babe.

Oh and more pics of the kids soon...

Two Years

Yesterday marked two years since Claire and Gracie passed... Our hearts still break and tears still flow; however, Jack and Ella have given us new hope. It's interesting the way God works; I don't always agree with his plan, but I accept it.

'Faith' is a difficult way to live your life sometimes, but I don't know were we'd be without it.