All dressed up & no where to go

This weekend was fun for Leah and me, but Joe has been sick since Friday afternoon. We were able to get to the zoo before the stomach flu hit him. The zoo was a lot of fun, they have windows that go all the way down to the ground so Leah was able to see right in. We had great views of a hippo, monkeys, penguins, elephants and fish. We saw more but I think those were the ones that had the biggest impression on her. We also rode the carousel. It will be fun to go back again this summer.

Saturday, Leah and I went to an Easter Egg Hunt and Jenni was nice enough to come, too. Leah did really well and got 8 eggs! She tolerated the Easter Bunny - almost smiled, but wouldn't put her arms down. Later that night we had another hunt at Jenni's, but by that time Leah knew what was inside so she didn't do as well. She wanted to eat as she went.

We are NOT looking forward to the cold weather this week. When will spring really be here?!?

The Naked Phase

So Leah has been a handful lately. An entertaining handful would be a better description. Last week our babysitter mentioned that Leah was taking her shirt off during the day. This past weekend it was hard getting any clothes to stay on her, although on Sunday she insisted on wearing no shirt but 3 pairs of pants (should of taken a picture).

Well, today I get an email from our babysitter. The subject was "Leah doing what Leah does". These were the pictures attached.

Uh oh, I've been caught!

Oh, well I'll smile if you're taking my picture.

She went upstairs to make lunch & this is what she came back to. I put Leah in a onesie & jeans thinking they would stay on. I underestimated her cleverness.

Great news!

I'm sorry I didn't update the blog yesterday. Cooper's surgery went well and they were able to do a full repair. He now has four chambers to his heart! I can't even imagine how wonderful it was for Pete & Melissa to get that news. The doctors at the hospital don't like to set expectations for the parents so they are not sure how long he will be in the hospital recovering but I have to think the worst is behind them now. I get tears in my eyes every time I think about them.

Two hearts to pray for

This week we have two hearts that need your thoughts & prayers.

Last Tuesday Leah's great-grandpa's heart stopped beating. They were able to revive him and he is in Barnes Hospital here in St. Louis. The doctors think he will be ok, but his heart is weak. Once it is strong enough they will put in a defibrillator in case this happens again. I hope he has a quick recovery.

This Thursday our nephew Cooper will have his second heart surgery. This is an important one for him. Once the doctors are inside they will determine if Cooper will have two chambers or one. He is seven months old now, and just a ball of joy. I hope things go smoothly for him and that his recovery is not painful.

The good, the bad, & the ugly

Leah is now 18 months old! I can hardly believe it. She is full of words and says everything she sees. She puts together a lot of two word sentences, "I book", "Hold you", "I juice". We hear that last one a lot. On Friday we had her biggest sentence yet, "Mama said hold it." She wanted to give me her snack trap after I offered to hold it for her.

She had her 18 month check up on Wednesday. Leah is all of 21 pound and about 32 inches tall. The doctor is happy with her progress & her stats. Before the appointment I took her for her lead follow up. At 9 months, Leah had elevated lead levels. Not high enough to be considered "lead poisoning" or to be too concerned with, but the source was unknown and that was concerning. This time her level came back normal, and we are very happy to hear that.

Three weeks ago, our old fridge died. It was making a noise for a long time and I accidentally left the freezer cracked overnight, and that was the end. We thought we could fix it with a simple replacement part but it turned out to be the compressor. On Saturday, our new fridge was delivered! Yay for cold sodas and milk in the house (instead of in the cooler outside).

Work has been turbulent. There have been layoffs of both hourly & salary workers, but Joe and I still have our jobs. The only impact we have felt so far is they are cutting all salary worker's hours back 10%, which also means a temporary 10% pay cut. We have to take 2 unpaid days off for April, May & June and then the company will decide if they need to continue this policy in June.

Joe & I are trying to look on the bright side of this, with it being summer it means we can get to the zoo and other places and maybe avoid the weekend crowds. It might save us vacation days, too to use later in the year. It is hard to stay focused with all the change but we are thankful this is the only change we have to adjust to. Keep your fingers crossed for us over the next few months!

We hope everyone is doing well & have a great week.

I couldn't resist sharing this. This is Cooper's first taste of rice cereal. How great is that? What an animated little guy! I love it!