She sleeps

In her unpredictability, Anna has been somewhat predictable.

About a month and 1/2 ago, Anna decided that she didn't want to nap in the afternoon. Try as I might, even with a bottle at 1pm - normal nap time. She just wouldn't do it. She would take the bottle, drink it, then open her door and come back down stairs. After several days of this, I decided, fine. No bottle, your done and I will have to deal with Ms. cranky pants.

Well, after a couple of days, I realized that later in the afternoon, Anna would disappear. Since she can freely go up and down the stairs, I would give her a few minutes and then go up and check on her.

For the past month, Anna decides when she is tired. She goes upstairs and crawls into bed. Not always her bed, but a bed. I sometimes find her in hers, or ours, or Celies, but she is asleep and looks so precious. Not the stinker she usually is.

Today was the first time that I thought about it, lighting was good, etc. etc. to capture this moment on film to share.

She sleeps, she stirs, she repositions and goes back to sleep.

Confession: I'm a bad mother

OK. I have a confession to make - My girls have never had a popsicle. It isn't that I haven't tried, they just do not seem to have any interest in anything like that unless it is ice cream.

Well, after lunch, the girls seemed to be a little cranky, but were not going down for a nap for me. So, I thought that I would redeem myself from being the worst mom ever, and teach them about Push Ups.

I took out 1 for each of us and pushed the creamy orange sherbet up so they could get their taste. I put them in a bowl for each of them. They looked at me like I was crazy. Then I told them to watch mommy and showed them how to eat it. They started to the get the hang of it and actually enjoyed it. Anna couldn't quite get the "grip" so a lot of it ended up on her shirt. After them having it melt quite a bit because they couldn't eat it fast enough. I pushed the remaining into the bowl and got spoons for them. They finished off their Push Ups just fine.
i guess I will have to work on their technique.

Yesterday

Was an absolutely gorgeous day here in OH. Even though we have company coming in and I should have been cleaning the house, I couldn't resist taking the girls somewhere fun for a little while to change up things.

I told Bob in the morning that I might take the girls to the "Z." Celie, over hearing this, said, "Mom, can we go to the zoo?" I am going to have to brush up on my french so that I can speak in that language & she won't know what I am talking about. (She already knows more spanish than I do from Dora & Diego!).

So, the zoo it was.

The girls and I got there right as it opened and ventured to the Savannah. We spotted the baby giraffe that had been born 9 days prior. It was wandering the Savannah. It was very cute. Celie wanted to see the Sea lions so we headed that way. At the Sea Lions & Seals, they had someone selling 3 fish for $1. I couldn't resist it. So, I paid the buck and the woman put 3 smelly, little, dead fish in my hand. Oh, that was good for the pregnant lady. Celie touched the fish, but decided that I should feed the sea lions. So, I propped the girls up so they could see and we fed this VERY fat sea lion. I think he had definitely had had his share of fish.

We then moved onto the polar bears. One was pacing the back rock formation while the other was very comfortable on a rock playing in the water.
Next, we were on the way to see if we could find the Touch exhibition where we could touch Rays. We found it and went in. I had to be careful of Anna because she would have wanted to go swimming with them. We had one Ray give us a High Five. Celie thought that was fun.
The Cleveland Zoo is very nice for a small zoo. We really enjoy seeing all of the animals there.

After the Rays, it was time to go home. We had only been at the zoo a little over an hour, but Anna was starting to melt down. She had gotten up early and I knew that a total disaster would happen if we didn't get home. As we were leaving, there were a ton of people coming in and the parking lot was more than 1/2 full. I was glad we were leaving.
I can never get them to BOTH look at me at the same time. I guess I will have to work on that one.

It's a . . .

Well, we went to have our ultrasound this morning. Bob and both girls were in the room with me. Celie was very concerned that I was o.k. She doesn't particularly like Doctors right now, understandably so, but we reassured her that everything was just fine.

The sonographer, I think that is what they are called, was very nice. She started taking measurements of various body parts. Both Bob and I were trying to see if we could see any "parts" but it was difficult from the various positions she was taking images from. She asked if we wanted to know what we were having if she had the opportunity to see. We both said, "Yes!" in unison.

As she was taking some other images, we saw Baby O's heart beating, feet moving around, legs moving around, etc. It was really cool. Then both and I thought we saw something. We didn't tell each other until later, but we both thought at the same time - Ah, there it is, a girl, I think and then the sonographer said, "Well, I think you are going to have to get your paint brushes ready." That seemed like eternity for me to process. Bob admitted later that it did for him as well. Paint Brushes ready meant that we would have to paint over the fairies in the nursery, which meant that it wasn't a girl, which meant it was a BOY!!" Then she said, "Yep, a Boy, for sure," and with that she positioned the ultrasound and YUP, there was no doubt that it was a boy.

So, Jakub Alan Ostroski is doing very well. His measurements are great and everything looks fabulous. YEAH!!

Now, I can sell all of the pink clothes in our upcoming garage sale and figure out what theme to do in his room. I am thinking either Cowboys or sports. Just not sure which though.

Celie & Anna & I made a chocolate cake to celebrate. I had already planned that this afternoon we were going to make a cake to celebrate the boy or girl addition to our family. We are also going to go out to dinner to celebrate when Bob gets home from work.

Honestly, we are happy it is a boy, but we are most blessed that the baby whether it had been a boy or girl is healthy. That is all we have ever wanted. Thank goodness.

4 more days

We are still counting down the days until we get to find out what Baby O is.

4 more days!!!

Bob and I discussed baby names all the way to and from MI. We are definitely settled on the boy name, but the girl name has us perplexed. Still cannot figure out one that is the Ahhhhh, that's it!!!

Thank goodness we are finding out so that if it is a girl, we will have several months to figure it out.

Don't worry, we will post as soon as we can!!!

Celie is A - OK

Bob took Celie to her check up this morning with the Orthopedic Surgeon so that I could stay at home with Anna. Also, if she needed to have x-rays, Bob could go in with her. I cannot because of Baby O.

The Doctor said that she is progressing faster than he expected. He said that she is doing great and healing very well. He said that we can expect her to limp for about another month or so, that that would be normal. But anything more than 2 months and we should contact him.

He said that he doesn't need to see her again for another 3-4 months. At that time, he will see both Celie & Anna, just as a check up measure.

YEAH!!! We are so happy for Celie!! Now comes the fun part of Potty training!!

Shhh, can you hear it?

Silence. The hum of the dryer, the cool breeze filtering through the house, the chirping of birds outside.

All of these things I can hear. . . . . . because for once, both girls are sleeping at the same time.

I took the girls to the "BIG" park. It is the community park at the Community Center in town. We were there for about an hour. And then we met Bob for lunch up by his work. We then came home and within 40 minutes, both girls were sacked out.

Ahhhhhhh, peace and quiet. I almost don't know what to do with myself. Almost.

Just Listening

That is my current favorite thing to do.

Both girls are absolutely hilarious. They have a good time together (with some minor fights) but they also play really well by themselves. I love listening to them talk to themselves with their people. They both have an active imagination. However, I can only really understand Celie as Anna is still speaking in her own language, but we are working on it.

Now, I just need to record them when they are doing it. Some times they stop doing what they are doing when I intrude. So, I just listen.

11 Days & Counting

Until we find out if Baby O is a boy or a girl. We are starting to get very excited. I am also very excited that we will be able to find out so soon what we are having. If it is a boy, then I have some time to go through ALL of the baby clothes that we currently have and put all of the pink stuff in the garage sale we are having in Sept. If it is a girl, then I don't have to worry about anything but a name. There has been a suggestion about the name Wilbur, but I do not think that is very appropriate for a girl. Besides, we already have the boys name picked out.

11 and counting.

Kelly Kind of Day

Bob decided to take the girls to the farm for the night. I didn't go because I had a hair appointment scheduled so I decided that I would make the most of the day.

I went to the Lakewood Art Festival in Lakewood, OH. It was actually pretty good. A VERY mini A2 Art Fair, but some pretty nice stuff. I bought a photograph for our dining room.

Then I went to Pat Catans in Strongsville. It is a super duper craft store. I hadn't every been there and I was impressed with their selection of things and prices. I bought some scrapbook paper (like I needed any) and a few small items to play with making some x-mas presents with the girls.

Then I went to get my hair done. I didn't think that I would be that long, but my hair appointment ended up being about 2 1/2 hours long, but I do like my hair. Hopefully, Bob and the girls will like it too.

Then, baby was craving wings. So, I headed to Fischer's in Peninsula. I usually do not order wings per se, as they are very messy. But I do love a good chicken tender either dipped in buffalo sauce or having it on the side. Baby couldn't make up his/her mind, so we went with a combo platter - chicken wings, eggplant fries (they are yummy!!), and onion rings. Just a little taste of everything.

After I could only eat 1/2 of the combo platter, I finally headed home to begin my chocolate making endeavor. I am making chocolates as a wedding favor for Biff & Sarah that are getting married next week. The dark chocolates came out beautiful, but my white chocolate is misbehaving, so I am having to fuss with it more than I wanted, but hopefully, I will be able to make it work.

Kelly Kind of Day was filled with a little bit of Art, a little bit of Pampering, a little bit of fried food, and a little bit of chocolate. The only thing that would make it a totally Kelly Kind of Day is a little scrapbooking. I still have a few hours left in the day - I think I will do a little. :)

Another Count Down!!

We have another countdown happening at the Ostroski Household!!

16 days until we find out if Baby O is a boy or a girl. We are looking forward to finding out so that we can start calling him or her by their name. We have the boys name figured out, but we still haven't decided on any girl names. I would like to try to keep it a family name, but we might be open for suggestions if anyone has any.

2 days Post Op

We are 2 days from when Celie got her cast off. It is amazing, at least we think so, the progress she has made in such a small amount of time.

Friday morning she was in and out of surgery in about 1 hour, but it took awhile for her to wake up from the anesthesia. We ended up leaving the hospital around 1 pm. When she finally began to wake up, she felt down to where her cast was and said, "My cast is off!" We told her that Yes, it was. She was pretty tender and sore from not using the muscles in 8 weeks and from the surgery to take the pins out of her hip. She fell asleep on the way home and took another nap later in the afternoon. She was a trooper throughout the whole thing.

The Doctor said that it would probably be a week before she would really want to try to put any pressure on her leg. He expected that when we were to see him at our 2 week check up that she would be limping, hobbling into see him. He expected her to start out army crawling in a couple of days, progress to crawling and then to cruising, then to walking, and then back to normal activity.

Well, he was partially right.

Friday evening she began moving her left leg a little bit, but it was obviously tender for her. She asked to stand up, so we let her for 2 seconds, but then laid her back down, because she was in pain. Friday night she began rolling over, very carefully. By Saturday morning, she was rolling over completely. She also tried to get up on all fours. During the day on Saturday, she began leaning up on the back of the couch. Standing on the cushions and leaning back. It was amazing to see her progress. By Saturday night, she was sitting up and standing, leaning on the back of the couch.

Today, brought new challenges to Celie. She slid herself off of the couch and was leaning up against the couch, putting weight on both legs. She has even tested the waters by cruising along the furniture in the living room. I even witnessed her walking on her own in the middle of the living room. She does pretty well shuffling her feet with the help of something or someone. She usually asks for a hand to help her walk from one place to another. She also uses her little chair to use in front of her like a walker to help her stabilize herself and help her walk. She is truly a tough little girl. She is pushing herself beyond belief and we are not going to stop her.

Below is Celie standing up against the couch with her chair in front of her if she decides to take off.

Little Stinker

Just may be Anna's nickname for life.

Anna has really taken to trying to help me out on the computer when I am trying to type fast so that I can get off ASAP. However, just recently, she has figured out how to climb up into the chair and sit at the desk like she is a big girl.
Then when I ask her to get down, I get the stinker face.

Then when she knows that I am getting upset, she pours on the charming face.

A true Stinker.

Visitors

On Tuesday, July 22nd, we had visitors. These were our first visitors to our new place in OH that were not related to us. How exciting.

My friend Alisha and her husband, Said, are traveling across the USA this summer. The classic all american road trip. So, they decided to stop by our place in Cleveland and stay the night. They got acquainted with the girls. When Bob got home from work, we left the kids with the babysitter and headed out to dinner - just adults. It was awesome!!!

The dinner was just o.k. We ate at a local restaurant in town, but it was great to hang out and have adult conversation. Here is a picture of Anna making herself comfortable with Alisha & Said.

Alisha & Said will be gone for about 2 months on their tour of America. So, they couldn't leave their pet fish at home for that long. So, they brought him with them. I told them that since they would probably be coming back this way on their way home, we would be more than happy to fish sit for them so they would have one less thing to worry about. So, for the time being, Abdullah, the Beta fish, has joined our family. Celie & Anna love Abdullah. They really enjoy watching him and Celie's job is to feed him every morning. Abdullah enjoys quiet time in the afternoon and watching "Finding Nemo" with the girls. Below is Abdullah hanging out in the kitchen.

Hours

21 hours & 38 minutes to be exact.

Until Celie gets her cast off. We can't wait.

I do not remember being this excited before. I mean, I was excited that she was getting her cast off, but I really have to hold myself back today. I just can't believe. I can't wait to hold her without an obstruction. I can't wait for us to be able to go out and do things. I just can't wait, but I will have to.

21 hours & 36 minutes.

Super Cool Chic Anna

The other morning Bob had the girls up and dressed before I came downstairs. I was a little surprised by Anna's outfit. Turquoise & purple floral shorts and a pink shirt with a graphic design on the front. I thought about changing her, but wanted Katie, our babysitter, to see Bob's fashion sense.

I had gotten the girls some sun glasses for when we are out and about in the next couple of weeks. Celie already is a pro with her glasses, but for Anna, this is a new concept. So, she loves wearing them around the house. She also loves looking at herself in any reflective surface around the house, most notably the oven window.

Here is some video of Anna in her Super Cool Chic Outfit.

Daycare Dilemna

So, I have been reading a lot of potty training books lately. Getting myself geared up for when Celie is out of her cast and mobile. She has to be fully potty trained to go to pre-school. I could not find one preschool - other than a daycare situation - that would bend on that rule. So, as of Sept. 3rd she starts and needs to be potty trained.

I am getting a little concerned because I am thinking that it is going to take a lot longer then the time that we have to accomplish this. So, what do I do if that is the case?

Do I not allow her to start preschool and hope that when she is fully trained, she can start? Wait until next year and just try to work with her at home and then get her into other activities so that she is meeting other kids her age? I am just not sure how this will all pan out and the planner in me doesn't necessarily like that, but I guess with all parenting issues, sometimes, you just have to go with the flow.

One Week

We have officially hit the 1 week mark for Celie's cast removal. We cannot wait. It feels like this summer really has been an extension of spring because we have been couped up inside most of the summer. We have been able to get out here and there, but for the most part, especially on any day over 83 and very humid, we are inside with the air on. It is amazing how much heat Celie generates on her own, then being in that cast, my goodness, she could raise baby chicks in that thing.

We are hoping that we will be able to salvage a little bit of summer left. As soon as she is up and walking around from her cast & pin removal, we are not going to be couped up inside any more. We can't wait.

7 more days!!!!

Celie the Ballerina

She got an Angelina Ballerina DVD as a surprise today. So, she decided that she was going to stand up and dance. She twirled all by herself holding on to the sofa. I am hoping that her recovery will be very speedy.

A Rare Pic

As of late I am not one for pictures, for many reasons, but here is one of Celie and I.

Say Cheese

Here is Anna saying cheese for the camera. What a little Ham!!

Look Mom!

I was working on getting some things done for dinner last night when I heard Celie call out from the living room - Look MaMa! I went in to see what she was talking about and there she was standing up, in her cast, leaning against the couch. It was so strange to see her vertical. I almost cried. I gave her a big hug and then she grabbed my hands and started schooting, walking, across the floor.
I was amazed.

I normally wouldn't have encouraged such behavior, however, at the doctors on Monday, he asked if she was trying to walk yet, so he obviously knows the progress of young and determined kids.

Now, we definitely can't keep her down. Thank goodness.

Celie Update

We went to the Drs. again today for another check up. Celie was a trooper and did very well. She had x-rays taken and I had remembered to take the Dora the Explorer stickers with me. That kept her quiet and content during the time with the Doc. He showed us the x-rays and said that everything looked GREAT. There was still a slight space in the hip, but he was very confident that it would be complete by time we would take the cast off. So, no taking the cast off early. That is o.k. I didn't REALLY think that was going to happen anyways.

So, we are down to 18 more days. We are in the teens and can't wait. She will have her cast off and her pins taken out on Friday, July 25th. She will be the first procedure, so we are hoping to be back here by noon or 1 pm. We can't wait. We are so excited.

The doctor said that he doesn't want to limit what Celie does, other than she can't get her stitches wet for 72 hours. Other than that, if she wants to try to walk or stand or crawl or whatever, she can. It is really up to her.

So, 18 more days and counting down. We can't wait!!!

Celie Update

Yesterday we went for our 2 week follow up. The doctor was very pleasantly surprised about how fast she is recovering. Her x-ray looked really good and her body is working really hard on making new bone and getting that hip in order where it needs to be. However, just because he was pleased didn't mean that he upped the time that we could get the cast off. So, it will still come off on the 8 week mark. So, we are looking at July 25th that it will come off and the pins in the hip will be taken out. Once the cast is off, he said that she probably won't feel like walking around or anything, but she can get back to normal activity as quickly as she feels like it. He didn't want to limit her activity.

So, we are looking forward to her being out of the cast and being mobile again. We have a lot of work to do before school starts in September.

Only 38 more days until the cast comes off!!!!

Celie's Surgery

Well, received a call from the Drs. office saying that we could have the surgery on May 30th instead of the 6th, so we decided to go ahead and do that. The sooner the better.

We took Celie into Rainbow's Children's Hospital in Cleveland. All of the staff were fabulous. Ironically, the day we went in for the surgery, there was in article in the paper about Rainbow's being in the top 10 of Children's hospitals in the country. That made us feel A LOT better. (there were actually 4 hospitals in OH that great ratings). Her surgery took longer than we and the dr. expected, but he said that everything went really well. We saw the after x-rays and things looked good. She has a fiberglass cast in deep purple.

The major difference about this time around is that she isn't really in a seated position. She is more straight so that presents itself with some additional challenges, but we are working through them. Also, she doesn't have the bar going between the legs. That is actually a good thing because it is easier to maneuver her. Even at 47# pre-cast, she isn't that bad to move around. We are working through it. Every day gets a little bit better.

We are hoping to get a reclining wheelchair by this weekend and a car seat next week. Hopefully, those two things will allow us be more mobile with her. We will see.

Bob's mom and my mom have come for a visit and that has helped with giving Anna attention and getting Celie settled into a temporary routine. Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom will be visiting in a couple of weeks - which will be great to lift her spirits. I think one of the biggest helps will be Katie. She is a college student home for the summer. My friend gave me her name & number. She is going to college - Eastern Michigan - on a soccer scholarship. So, she has a limited amount of time at home and needs to work around her work out schedule. It is actually a perfect fit because she can help us while Celie is in her cast. She came over today to meet the girls and see if this was something that she would be interested in doing. Since she is going to be a Jr. in college, she has a car and can drive, so she also said that she would be very willing to help me run errands, etc. So, that will be great as well. I think that is going to be a HUGE help.

We go on the 16th to meet with the Dr. for a follow up. Hopefully, there, we will get to know if it is 6 weeks total or 8 weeks. He has been saying 8, so the countdown is for then.

51 more days!!!!

Chocolate Pudding

I thought a great treat for the girls would be chocolate pudding. Anna decided it was more fun to draw/paint with it than eat it. We will wait awhile before we try that one again.

The girls outside

Chicago for Memorial Day

We headed to Chicago for Memorial Day weekend. It is hard to believe that it had been almost a year since we were last there. Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom hosted us and they had a party with family and friends on Saturday. It was great to be able to see everyone. The girls enjoyed playing with their cousins Liam & Bridget and at the park down the street.

Here are a few pics from the trip.

Here we go Again

We have been waiting for the results from our Orthopaedic Surgeon in regards to Anna & Cecilia's hips. Our surgeon wanted to present the cases of the girls to the entire staff to get a consensus of the next steps for each.

As of right now - Anna is definitely making good progress on reshaping her hip sockets and everything looks good. So, for her, it will be a wait and see type of thing. So, we will continue to go for 6 month check ups to have her x-rayed and see where she is at that point in time.

Celie, however, is a different story. It seems that her left hip is still having trouble. Though the surgery seemed to be doing well in the beginning, over time, her hip ball joint is getting further and further away from the socket. Also, the socket is still shallow. Therefore, they are recommending that she has surgery to re-do what they had done before. They recommended that the surgery take place in the next 2 years - so this summer or next.

After deliberating all of the pros and cons of the issue - Bob and I opted for doing it this summer. So, Celie will be going to the hospital to have her surgery the beginning of June. She should only have to stay a couple of days and we will be able to stay with her. She will be in a spica cast for 6 weeks and then the pins will come out. She will have to have her hardware - the bolts and plates out of her leg next summer.

It is definitely a blow to have to go through this again. However, we have to remain focused on the positive outcome for Celie. A) this is a fixable thing. B) this is going to give her the best quality of life that we can C) She will be too spoiled to even think about any thing else when this is all done.

We will keep everyone posted on the procedures and outcomes. We are very optimistic that this will be the end of these things for her.

If anyone has any ideas to help keep her entertained, please let me know. I am going to take all that I can get.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

I love watching Anna do the itsy bitsy spider. I actually caught her on video doing it - of course she had to look at herself in the stove - she loves looking at her reflection in anything reflective. please forgive the singing.

It's Positive

Yes, we are.

Tulip

Mrs. O gave us some tulip bulbs as a house warming present when we first moved in. That was before we knew how many deer populated our area. They are everywhere - more visible at least then when we lived in Chelsea. Therefore, gardening, or gardening ideas are more of a challenge due to them eating EVERYTHING.

I had left the bulbs in the garage over the winter - I totally forgot to get them in the ground. I found them just prior to spring to be sprouting in the bags. I quickly got them into the ground thinking that it was worth a shot. It was definitely worth it. I have several clumps of Tulips growing and blooming. I can't believe it. I am looking forward to heading to a nearby nursery to get more things for our yard.

Here is a picture of my first blooming tulip.

Anna's 1st BooBoo

Anna loves her chalk - Whenever we go outside, she runs for her bucket of chalk and picks up a stick - one for each hand. However, she doesn't let go, even if she is falling. This is what happened when she got her first boo boo - she was running with chalk in her hand and tripped. Falling on her knees. She didn't cry - she just got up and made sure her chalk was still in her hands.

Here is a pick of the healing boo boo.


Here is a pick of Anna on her & Celie's little lady bug double chair - chalk in hand.

Shoe Fetish

I have to admit - at one point in time in my life I had over 50 pairs of shoes. I think I am now down to a total of 10 including 4 pairs that are for dress up occasions only.

Anna seems to love the idea of shoes as much as me. She loves putting on her shoes, Celie's shoes, my shoes, and she even tries Bob's shoes every once and a while. She will even try shoes on when she already has shoes on. She often brings me a pair of her shoes to me and gets very angry when I do not put them on her right away.

Bob and I couldn't help laugh as she had put my new black flats on (correctly) and was walking around the house. You can see for yourself. Sorry about the orientation - again.

Another day

Today was another gorgeous day - 74 right now at 4 pm. I will take that.

Yesterday was great as well. After Anna's failed attempt at a nap, I took the girls outside to play. I bought Celie & Anna their own watering cans. So, I fill them up and they "try" to help me water the flowers. They just really dump out the water and ask for more, but that is o.k. We are working on getting some of the water on the plants.

Here are some pics of the girls enjoying the sunshine.

Hips - Good & Bad News

The last couple of Dr. visits have been hard. Whenever we had to take the girls to the doc at UofM, it was always a 3-5 hour ordeal. Celie never had an easy time of the x-rays or the exams and Anna hasn't been to easy either.

Our last visit here in OH was o.k., but the x-rays were weird because the tech mad them both stand up. Well, this time we made sure they were laying down and had a shield on to protect their ovaries. (that is important because of how many x-rays they will be getting in their life time).

How about Good news first. Anna's hips were very iffy 6 months ago. Her hip pockets were very shallow and the Drs. were thinking that she might have to have surgery when she is 2 or so if the problem doesn't correct itself. However, not only is she growing like a weed, her hips have "hugely" (direct quote from the Doc) improved since her last visit. Her hips are still on the shallow side, but there is remarkable improvement with the hips forming a better socket than before. It was very clear on her x-rays - the before and after images. So, with Anna, we are on a wait and see basis. If she has the same/better results at her next visit in 6 months, then we will still have to watch her, but would probably go to a yearly basis and there wouldn't have to be any surgery.

Now for the bad news - well, it isn't horrible news, but it isn't great. Celie's hip socket seems to be working on getting deeper, however, the ball joint of her hip isn't really sitting very well in the pocket. It is definitely obvious from from x-rays. The doc wasn't quite sure if we should do some more wait and see type of thing - another 6 months and then decide or if we should decide to do something in the near future - this fall, etc. So, it is looking like unless Celie's hip gets better, she will have surgery again in the fall or winter some time to try to push her ball deeper into the socket. The Doc is going to take Celie's case to the group and see what the consensus is of all of the ped ortho docs. We should know something in the next couple of weeks - hopefully.

I am thankful that with both of the girls, the problems are fixable. However, with Celie, I can't help to think about pre-school that we were going to start in the fall - potty training - finally - so that she could start school, etc. not to mention the difficulty of having to move her in a spica cast when it weighs 20# and she is now pushing 45# herself. That is a lot of weight. I think about all of these things and they make me sad, but I have to remember that it is fixable and it will be o.k. I have to remember to live for today and the future will be o.k.

A Jaunt to the Zoo

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful here. So, Bob and I decided to take the girls to the Cleveland Zoo. Miss Katy, Mike's girlfriend, was so sweet and got us a family membership for x-mas. We decided to try to hit it when it opened so that we could get some time in before Anna's nap.

Boy, did we hit it perfectly. The morning hours make way for almost all of the animals being out and feeding. We got to see a lot of animals before we decided to head to the Rainforest for lunch. The Cleveland Zoo has 164 outdoor acres and 2 indoor acres - the Rainforest. It is a REALLY nice zoo. Bob and I were very impressed with it and happy to have a membership. The girls seemed to like it as well. I took a lot of pictures, more than I normally do. After lunch, we tried to find the gorilla's, but Anna became a little on the cranky side, so we decided to head home. Both girls must have had fun because they fell asleep on the way home. Yesterday was a great day!!


Bob & Anna gazing at the animals


Celie relaxing in the stroller.


One of the 3 elephants outside. They are working on a new home/site for them.

Pretty Flamingos - not to be confused with the Killer Flamingos - a good local MI band.

Boy, do I know how to capture animals interacting or what? I am glad that I didn't have to explain to the girls what was REALLY going on.


The sloth bear. This was Bob's favorite animal. Why? I have no idea.


Mr. Polar Bear enjoying a stick. 2 camels hanging out.

A Lick Deer. Bob and I thought they looked like a cross between a donkey and a deer.
One of 7 seals in their environment.

Giggles & Fun

Artistic Anna

Anna has definitely taken an interest in drawing. She is more content than Celie to sit and draw for more than 5 minutes at a time. She will usually draw for about 20 or so. Celie is bored after 5 minutes. I think this is great. I think Anna will be my partner in crime when it comes to making "things."

However, Anna has grown beyond just her drawing capabilities as of late. She seems bored by the images in coloring books and tends to be more attracted to a blank canvas. Her preferred medium is plain paper and, well, our new hardwood floors. We are trying to break her of it, even though I know that experimentation is everything.

An Anna creation.This was the beginning. We thought it was kind of funny - so of course I had to take a picture. Well, now, she hides crayons (because we limit her access now) and pulls them out when our back is turned and goes to the corner and colors on the floor. Thank goodness for Mr. Clean pads and washable crayons.

She DOES like chocolate

There was a time when we didn't know if Anna was really our daughter. She wouldn't eat anything with chocolate in it. How could that be?

Well, she must have come around because she definitely likes it. I am not sure that she likes it as much as Celie, but maybe she will grow into it.

Anna is enjoying a miniature chocolate bar that the Easter Bunny brought in her basket.

Easter Lily

Who knew that the Easter Lily dripped like this? It has been wonderful to have live plants in the house again. I haven't wanted to buy any until a lot of our renovations have been done. Now, I can.

Chilly Hunt

Easter is supposed to be a time of spring frolics, frilly easter dresses, sprouting flowers, and easter egg hunts.

Well, old man winter definitely has had his fun with Easter this year. The night before our neighborhood easter egg hunt, he decided to dump 6" of the COLD fluffy white stuff. However, as the organizer of the hunt said, "Snow never stops a true Clevelander." And the hunt went on.

So, we bundled up the girls and walked down to the park to participate in the hunt. I must say, they did a great job despite the snow. There was the Easter Bunny with a side kick, doughnuts & coffee and a small fire going in the portable fire pit. Instead of a traditional egg hunt, each child was able to pick an egg from a basket for their age group. One egg out of the lot contained a surprise - the winner won a gift certificate to Toys R Us. Celie didn't win, but was o.k. with that. She was more interested in playing on the slide and on the swings with the other kids. Anna, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the Easter Bunny or the whole event.

Bob and I were able to meet a few of our neighbors that we haven't met, so it was a great time - though a little on the cold side.

Celie shaking hands with the Easter Bunny.

Anna and Bob with the Easter Bunny.