Air travel. Why do we keep doing this?

Another drafted blog that never made it to publish.  From July 2014.  

This was a story that I couldn't pass up sharing.

My cousin recently got married.  We decided it would be fun to fly up to Washington state to celebrate with her, and it would also serve as a chance to see lots of family that we don't see very often. We were set.  We made flight plans about a month and a half out. We had all the semantics of child air travel figured out. Great!  Almost...

Major setback #1: canceled flight.
A couple hours from our departure, we received a text from Orbitz that our flight was cancelled.  After 2 hours on the phone with the airline and Orbitz, and no foreseeable way to get to Washington in time, we decided it would be easier to drive across the country.  Why not make this into an adventure?  But after a stern talking from my dad, we forced the issue and were able to catch a flight from Austin the following morning.

So we drove to Austin, arrived at midnight, took a 4 hour nap, and got on a flight to Minneapolis (not exactly on the way, but in the general northern direction).  Our layover was going nicely.  We had a long brunch and went to hang out in a toy store.  Unfortunately, we lost track of time and realized our plane was boarding on the other side of the airport.  We grabbed the girls (I put Aimee on my shoulders) and started hoofing it.  We got to the gate on time, but noticed the faint smell of poop as we arrived.  As I set Aimee down, I mentioned that she needed a change.

Major setback #2: diarrhea happens
Ashley looked at me and pointed out that poop was dribbling down my shoulder, and poop had smeared all the way up Aimee's back to her neck.  Obviously, you can't get on a flight like that.  Luckily, we had my bag as a carry-on, but nothing for Aimee but a few wipes and diapers.  We all went to the bathrooms as quickly as possible (the flight was boarding).  I threw away my shirt and changed into a clean one.  We threw away Aimee's outfit, used every wipe we had, and wrapped one of my shirts around her.

That was gross.  I can't imagine being the person to change those trash cans, and I feel so bad for doing that.  But really...what else were we going to do?

We were the last to board the flight, and the smell was a bit noticeable (at least to me), but we made it.  The rest of the trip was great.

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Snow Days!!!

I found this post set as a draft.  It is from December 2013, but never got published.  Here it is...

I have never lived in a place where snow could stick for more than 24 hours. Yet, here we are, in Ft Worth, day 6 of white. It's getting slushy, and we can now drive on the streets safely, but this is nuts.

I really hate being cold, and the thought of several days of cold just makes me severely uncomfortable.  So I never thought I would say it, but this is awesome!  Lee got to work from home.  We had hot chocolate and hot apple cider.  I made a lot of soup (I love soup.  I would eat it every day.).  We got to glide instead of walk down the street.  And we made a snowman...and he's still alive!!!  Although his blueberry eyes and mouth have rolled out, and his carrot nose is mysteriously missing.  I know you're out there, Bunny.  You left your droppings on my beautiful white, icy lawn.

But, alas, school is no longer canceled, and Lee can drive to work again.  The cozy solitude of our snow-in is over, and life resumes.

Our little snowman.  We're very proud of him.

The neighborhood pond.  Ice everywhere!

Trying to get the ice off the driveway.  Failed effort.

It's sooooooo cold.

The MOST awkward sibling photo.  This will be used at a graduation and/or wedding.

Mahna Mahnam by Aimee

We were singing in the van on the way home and we noticed Aimee pitching in. So we decided to record it and share.

I think it's pretty close to the original.

Posted with Blogsy

Conversations with Kara

Three years old seems to be about the age when children are consistently saying hilarious stuff.  Every time Kara says something to make me laugh I think, "That's so cute.  I'll never forget it."  Then I typically forget it by the time Lee gets home from work...and that makes me sad. 

Solution.  The best way to remember something is to write it down.  So begins Conversations with Kara.

Me during our Bible study: Who was the woman that was kind to Naomi?

Kara: I don't know.

Me: It starts with R-R-R.

Kara: R-R-R--Canada.

Me while driving home:  Wow, look how pretty the lake is today (then I realize we have never seen this lake before).

Kara: Mom, you're lost.

Super Star!

Happy Early Father's Day!

There has been so much going on over the past month, and there are a lot of upcoming posts and pictures.  But time is limited, and we aren’t slowing down….so priorities, priorities.

In stead of looking back, we’ll skip forward.  HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!!

A few letters to Lee (Daddy):

kjgtuythuyytbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbvvbvb               9uo9bm9mb5bmbmbmbbbuy56yyyy      jhhghugyyy7t  khhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy        hutrygygggggggggggggggggggifgiuyh8778ujghhhuiuhnnnnnnnn    ytuhyhjuyhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb nhhhyiuyyyyyyyyyyy7 uuhbubb7nnnnnnnnn bnmgbbbbbbynbvbggggggggbvvvvvvbvbbb --kaara

(I love you, Daddy.  So much.  I love you to go to a baseball game.  You are my best Daddy. -- Kara)

o//ijvfhd glkb nj mjk  nd jkfdjjbm bn jlkgkmfn kgkhjfhfug i9b uhbn 8ij km, jhhhhbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbojnnn  fg rv\]]-hbiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii,mfj mvfjg k fl fkf rjhhikgboh g         hjghjtrhbtbu,kbklklnijgv nc

(Da Da -- Aimee)

Lee, you are a terrific father.  You are patient and willing to humble yourself.  Thank you for providing for us, protecting us, and teaching us more about ourselves and God.  We love you. –Ashley

Big Week for Aimee (and consequently, Mommy)

Woah!  Slow down.  Lots going on with Aimee this week!

I mean, I'm in favor of development, but when it all happens at one time it can really mess with how I have become accustomed to living.  I've become used to setting Aimee down in one spot, giving her a toy, and having her be pretty content for a while so I can get some stuff done.  And when I come back, she has not moved.  I don't mind this consistency.

Even though she is 10 months old, it didn't bother me that she had not started crawling.  If she really wanted something, she could roll around and get it.  But this method of mobility is slow and ineffective.  And I'm ok with that.  If we tried to encourage her to crawl, she would get into a bear crawl position, then decide whatever we had wasn't worth the effort.  But she's strong.  Stronger than I remember Kara being, so we were just going to wait for her to figure it out.

And she did.  But wait.  Along with crawling, she also has figured out how to pull herself up (these occurred within a day of each other).  So she's not only moving, she's pulling things down on herself.  Laundry baskets, chairs, anything not bolted to the ground.  Ok...soooo....time to be more attentive.  And time to superglue the door stops so she will stop trying to eat them.

But wait.  There's more.  We also got the first tooth this week.  A little bottom incisor is starting to poke through.  It's cute, and it doesn't hurt her.  Our girls are really awesome when it comes to teething.  I thank God that's a trial he didn't want to use to grow me.  But, this tooth has come just in time for me to be sticking my fingers in her mouth to fish out all the little leaves, paper bits, and doll shoes that she can now get.  And apparently when she gets something in her mouth, she wants it.  And she clamps down hard to keep whatever she has in her mouth.  Even if my finger is in the way.

Lastly, she said her first intentional non-mama/dada, grunting, or signing word (a lot of qualifiers, I know).  It was "baby".  More like "baybay".  So cute.  She loves dolls.  We love her.  It has been a fun week, but change is coming fast.  No easing into it.

Here's the video of her first crawls.  She decided a soda bottle was worth the effort.  Oh, and the background music...um, yeah.  I kind of love listening to the girl's kiddie music even when they're not around (Kara was at school when I took this video) :).

Aimee signs "All Done"

We are so excited!!!  Let the non-screaming communication commence!