Bailey Boo, I LOVE YOU!!!

Somewhere in here, I have a Cheerio. Or something! Hold on, I'm looking for it!

One year ago - not exactly, but within a couple of days - I was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck following an ambulance to Portland. In the back of that ambulance was my little punkin trying to figure out how to breathe. I was scared a little - but peaceful at the same time. It's not something I can really explain, only to know that as we followed that ambulance to Doernbecher's Children's Hospital, I felt complete peace. I knew that Bailey would get the help she needed to be able to survive.

Three days later, we came home. She was a teeny little punkin! (Not as small as Caroline, but a close second!)

Bailey also has an adoring fan club. Caroline can't wait to see Bailey first thing in the morning, and her adoration is returned. LeGrand is an adoring big brother, and Margaret and Savannah will do anything for her.

Birthday celebrations were fantastic. For the first time, I cheated and purchased cupcakes from Safeway.

$4.99 will get you ladybugs and sunflowers!

Another $3.99 got these flowers...

Bailey didn't really know what do do with the cupcake, but the joy on her face and the exclamations of surprise were well worth the wait for her to dig in.

And dig in, she did...

First, feeling the frosting between her fingers. Mom never puts that much frosting on her cupcakes. Second, finding out that there was chocolate under that frosting. And finally, the smear all over her face. (Don't you just love that little wrinkle of her nose? She does that when she's really excited about something.)

Today, she had her annual check up. Today, Bailey is 19 lbs, 14.5 oz. She's in the 30th percentile for her weight. She is 28.75 inches tall, in the 37th percentile for her height. She's come a long way from her beginnings in the hospital!

Bailey loves pasta. She loves her baby doll (not as much as Caroline loves baby dolls, but close...). She is one fast little punkin, and heads straight for the stairs if she has a chance. Mom is her favorite person on the planet; Dad can calm her merely by saying my name. Her first four teeth came in a month ago - she is adorable with them. It's also opened up food options considerably! Bailey loves fruit. She also loves meat.

Bailey, I love you.

Oh yeah. Bailey also loves raspberries. Consider yourself raspberried. She means it in the nicest way.

we just wanted to replace the deck.....

Three weeks or so ago, Andrew took the deck off. It was our "summer project" to replace the deck and replace the siding on the south side of the house and to replace the windows in the sun room. Sounds simple, until we got the deck off.

What we found left us wondering how our Sun Room hasn't fallen off yet. With the siding off, we found some insulation, but that the house wasn't built the same way houses are now. Our sun room was built from the ground up. With the windows resting on some post type things (Andrew could say what they're called, but since he's not typing this and I am, you just get what I'm going to call them. If you want technicalities, call Andrew.)

So... we started the re-build. From the ground up.

Andrew jacked up different sections of the house, and piece by piece, replaced the mud sill and the braces holding the house up.Then he replaced the dirt sill. And then, he started rebuilding the walls. Including framing in window spots. Windows will be here on Friday.

It has meant that we've boarded up the house nightly, and that we go through a different door. But it also means that our sun room has a stronger base, and that the walls will be sturdy. We also won't have the slight breeze into our house every time the wind blows. The pantry will be larger, the windows a tad smaller, but the difference won't matter because of the craftsmanship that has gone into this "little" project.

The new door will be centered in the entryway of the sun room. The windows will be equal on both sides. This view through the wall will be gone... but I'm grateful for a husband who has the skills to do this work.

This work in progress, unlike other projects that are still on-going, will be finished by the end of this month. At least the outside part will. The inside part is not as essential, and can wait. For a little bit, at least.

Improvements include new siding, new windows and a new door. A more stable sun room - with the corner no longer drooping as badly as it used to be.

Really, we just wanted to replace the deck. What we're getting is a new sun room, new windows, a new door, and a lot of sweat equity. Andrew's sweat.

Finished pictures to follow. I promise.

All work courtesy of Andrew Stahr Specialty Woodworking. Thank GOODNESS!!!!!

The Month of the Mouth...

Crazy, but it seems to have been a month with Mouth Issues at our house.

It all started with Caroline. She tripped on a bicycle that was by the stairs, fell, and bit her tongue. Right before I needed to leave for Enrichment. I've never seen so much blood coming out of someone's mouth in my life. I'm just hoping that years from now, we'll be able to use this as reason number 1 why we don't pierce our tongues.

This was taken the morning after the bite. She would only show me if I promised not to touch it. She wouldn't show the doctor that afternoon, so I was grateful for the picture. It's healed now, with only a little divot to show for her pain. She had ice-cream for dinner, twice. Lucky.

NEXT, a LOT less dramatic, Andrew and I both had to have fillings. Yep. No excitement there.

FINALLY, Margaret had some issues with shark teeth. And a phobia about pulling her own teeth. After threatening, I finally took her to the dentist, where he pulled THREE teeth. She was expecting one. She got three. She was a brave little trooper, and didn't complain at all - except to say that she couldn't see the movie very well. She is also healing well, and I'm hoping that she starts wiggling her own teeth next time she has a loose one. I'm also very thankful that her teeth were covered by insurance.

Next time, I'm banking on one at a time. The Tooth Fairy didn't come when Margaret expected her to, so Margaret went back to bed telling me she was going to sleep until she was visited. Chores called, and the T.F. visited on the sly. I'm not sure she's rich enough to pay for teeth that the dentist pulls.......