Where oh where has our data gone

Oh Where oh where can it be....

We wiped our computer and something happened to the files we backed up. We are taking the computer somewhere today and praying that they can retrieve our pictures, videos, and documents from before. It's not the end of the world, but it will be disappointing if we lost documentation of so many memories - guess that's the price we pay when we keep our lives on a computer.

Hopefully I will be posting again by the weekend.

One-horse open sleigh

Except the horse is really Grandpa and the sleigh is actually a laundry basket

Anara couldn't be more pleased

Cousin Noble hasn't quite made up his mind

Noble trying to figure out whether it's as fun as everyone else thinks it is

Cousin Guy running ahead of the horse and sleigh

Grandma and Grandpa probably spent Monday recovering from the visit with all 4 grandchildren. Yes, Grandpa even pulled Guy in the sleigh. That's all the pics. from our weekend of fun.

Here are some recent Violet quotes:

"What's this all about?" I don't remember the context, but it cracked me up that she asked like that.

"Okay ball, you stay in time-out until Mommy tells you. You don't hit Mommy – that's not good obeying." These were the directions given to the large, purple ball she won at the State Fair.

"Oh, thank you for my poop God." This is what I heard when she was in the bathroom and I was on the computer giving her some "privacy".

"I see the monkeys and I call them George Bush - I'm too clever of that." This is what she told Christina about calling Curious George George Bush.

"No thank-you Mama. No please." This is what she told me when I was singing in the car.

"That's not provolone." This is what she told me when I was tickling her.??

"Of course I can." I don't remember what this was in response to, but it was funny.

"Nina, can we go to the store and find Mommy?" Christina told her that I would be back from the store soon and she responded, "We can write to her on the internet."

"Hmmm... what am I looking for?" She said this as she stood in front of my mom's food cabinet holding it open.

Okay, here are some Anara quotes with translation:

"Moey nana" – more water

"Uppey" – Up please

"A – dee" – all done

"Moey" – more

Quarantined

"Anaraboo can you smile?"

Now both of the girls have fake, cheesy smiles

I am usually not much of a germaphobe, but right now I am trying to do everything I can to keep Anara from getting sick. Starting today we are quarantined until we check into Riley Sept. 5th. If Anara has a fever within 3 days of surgery, they will cancel her procedure and who knows how soon the next surgery date would be scheduled. I am looking forward to having this surgery behind us.

We are having some feeding issues. Anara will not accept food from me as easily as she will Daddy or Violet. Below you can see Violet having success getting her to eat the pasta I had previously been trying to feed her. I don't get it. The social worker said that since she won't take food from me then I should be the only one to feed her.

This past weekend we stayed at Nate's parents' house. We went there for the weekend to have a "camping trip" because this was really the only way camping with Anara was possible. Friday night it was insanely hot and rainy so we didn't sleep outside. Nate put the tent up Saturday and Violet played in it and attempted to sleep. She decided after 11:00pm that she wanted to sleep in the house - so much for her camping trip. Nate and our nephew, Guy, slept in the tent all night. Here are some pictures from our "camping trip".

Violet's first smore

Anara's 1st fire

Vi and Guy in the tent

Another cheesy smile in the tent

I have more pictures and more to say, but Vi just woke up from her nap - maybe tomorrow....

Exstrophy and Exotropia

Yesterday we saw Anara's Developmental Pediatrician, and she was amazed by Anara's progress and how fast she is catching up. She said that Anara is actually advanced, not delayed - so long 1st Steps. The only little thing she noticed was Anara's wandering right eye. I have noticed that Anara's eyes do not always seem to be looking the same direction. She thinks her exotropia is mild, but we will still follow-up with an opthamologist. Anara still has some feeding issues and will be seeing a speech therapist dealing specifically with feeding during her hospital stay.

You can almost tell the eyes are the tiniest bit off in this close-up

Speaking of hospital stays.... Anara's surgery is still set for Sept. 6th and she will most likely be hospitalized for 21 days if everything goes well (there is always the possibility for shorter or longer depending on healing). Anara will be in an external fixator instead of a body cast. I would not recommend googling that word because the pics. are disturbing and don't show exactly what Anara's will look like. Basically it will be an erector set looking thing around her pelvis to keep her hips immobilized and allow access to her incisions.

A baby playing with a baby playing with a baby

The girls have had a little cold the last week or so and Anara is still snotty. Yesterday she had a low-grade fever, but we think it is related to teething. Anara is finally cutting her top 1-year molars. I thought that Violet was finished with her 2-year molars but yesterday she kept putting her finger in her mouth and complaining about her tooth hurting. Anara's MD looked in her mouth and said that her upper 2 - year molar has an extra little bump on the tooth. So, instead of the molar having four peaks (for lack of a better word) she has 5 or 6. Also, Vi's 6-year molar was peeking through the gum on that side.

Daddy's IU flip-flops, a pacifier, and teddy's shades

Last Wednesday we met some friends (Billmeier Family Blog to the right) at the Indiana State Fair for the hot air balloon launch. We woke the girls up and left the house at 6:00am. The girls enjoyed watching the giant balloons and the "fire" in them. Here are some pictures from State Fair trip #1.

Daddy and Vi excited about balloons

Anara excited about balloons

Our family excited about balloons

Watching the launch

Balloon Skyline

Violet and Keith cooling down

A little bit afraid of the pony ride. Vi said, "That's OK though, the man said that happens sometimes."

Saturday we went to the fair with my mom, brothers, and Nate's parents. It was a little warm and a bit crowded, but we still were able to make our way around.

Anara and Vi watching the little piggies.

Napping in an air conditioned building

Cooling off in the water fountain

New Family Portrait!

L-R: Amanda, Violet, Anara, Nate

Haven't felt like blogging.....

It's probably time for a new post, but I just haven't felt like being on the computer. Things are going well. Both girls are healthy, the house is clean, and I am finally beating the rest of my family out of bed (a great feeling).

Anara is growing and developing so quickly. She is jabbering more and has added more words to her repertoire (cookie, no!, balloon, bubble, all done, please, whoa, wow, yeah, yes, rock rock, and that's all the new words I can think of right now). She can successfully climb and descend the stairs alone and hasn't fallen. She can climb into the little rocking chair and "rock rock". She can almost climb onto the couches. She can take about 10 steps at a time, but lacks the confidence to let go of furniture or walk when no one is catching her. She frequently shouts "no" when Violet is too close. Unfortunately Violet has a few bruises from not heeding Anara's "no" and being bitten. Violet has probably been deserving of the bites, but we are really trying to discourage Anara's defensive biting. The occupational therapist provided us with a chewy tube for Anara to bite. Good luck trying to quickly locate the chewy tube when Anara is biting.

We had our 1st post-placement follow-up this week - hopefully we passed. Anara performed well during the social worker's visit and things flowed naturally. The social worker is very informative and supportive - she even offered to help with Violet or Anara during Anara's surgery and hospital stay. Speaking of surgery, we have an appointment with the urologist today hopefully to finalize the surgery date and get a better idea of the plan and recovery.

Violet is doing great. We are still having to do daily breathing treatments, but she isn't coughing at night. Earlier this week I thought maybe we could drop the daily albuterol. That night she coughed and I finally ended up giving her the inhaler to stop the coughing. Maybe summer and Knozone days aren't a good time to stop treating her asthma.

Here are some funny Violet quotes:

Violet was sitting on the toilet for longer than usual and I kept asking, "Vi, are you done yet?" She kept telling me "no" and finally the 5th time I asked she said, "No, I need some privacy Mama."

We were driving to the grocery store and out of nowhere Violet said, "The policeman's like God Mama." "How is the policeman like God", I asked. "The policeman is like Jesus - he has a string on his face." "Vi, what do you mean?" "He has a string on his face like Jesus, like Ho ho ho." I think she was talking about a beard and thought string was the best description. "Ho ho ho is what Nate says when he peeks at Violet with shaving cream on his face.

Nate called home and asked to talk to Violet. Usually she is too busy to talk on the phone, but she gave in and answered Nate's questions. She kept trying to hand the phone back to me and he kept talking to her. Nate said, "What are you doing Vi?" and she said, "Good, I want to play, but instead I'm talking on the phone." I thought this was pretty funny.

Right now Violet is using a calculator to call Nina. This is what I am hearing, "Hi, Nina could you bring us some food for to eat 'cause I am hungry? Could you bring us some potatoes, 4 potatoes, and some vegetables. We can eat at the table. Can you bring some lipstick - yeah the pink kind, okay." It goes on and on and repeats often, but you get the idea.

Anara has been saying, "up" constantly. I have been busy around the house and can't pick her up everytime she makes this request. She would say, "up" and I would say, "No, Mommy has to...." Finally one day this week she started saying, "Up no, up no". I felt pretty bad and started picking her up a little more frequently. She also shakes her head and says no. One day she was sitting on the floor shaking her head and saying no and when I looked over at her she was signing no too. She is a quick learner.