Fun and FREE Birthday Cake

Annabeth turned ONE on October 5th! Hooray! I, as most stay at home mamas, had a LOT of time to plan her cake. I had it in my head that I would make a cake from scratch (I've only done this one time and it was a disaster) with homemade icing (which I can usually make okay) but the day before her birthday Jenn and the kids came to celebrate her day with a Hello Kitty Princess Party! They brought a balloon, a tiara, presents, and a little round cake. Since it was just Jenn, me, and the three girls eating cake we only ate half of it. Thus...on her birthday we still had a half a cake sitting in the fridge. I quickly decided that making another cake would mean WAY too much cake for our family SO I created a fun, new one with her leftovers. Free! Love it!

Jenn with Elli, Annabeth, and Kati - "Helping Abba Walk!"

Annabeth's 1st Birthday Cake

Riley Healthy Lung Study

Over the summer I saw an ad for a Healthy Lung Study at Riley Children's Hospital. I immediately felt moved to call and have Annabeth apply. Riley is the children's hospital where my sister had her open heart surgery and it is also home to the NICU team that saved Annabeth, so it is a place that is very close to my heart. We were approved for the study (They are looking for healthy, full term babies between 6 weeks and 36 months who have not had any respiratory illness or special care) and we went last Thursday. They had to give her a mild-sedative so that she would lay still for the machines to run the tests. Annabeth, as always, would not fall asleep so they had to wait and then give her more medicine later. She REALLY fought sleep, even with the drugs!! They were very impressed with her BIG personality!! They ran three tests and we were there about two hours. They also did a blood draw. She was very well behaved and for that good behavior she got two little toy ducks and a shaker to practice for library class music time! She will also be getting her very first paycheck in the mail in a few weeks! If you would like more information on how a child you know can help others through this study just leave me a message! We feel so blessed to have been able to be a small part of a large study that helps preemies (like our beautiful nieces were) and infants with any kind of breathing or lung complications (like our nephew who was hospitalized at just one month old). The Riley Infant Cardiac Unit's test is the reason they knew how to save Anna, hopefully, these lung tests will help save another baby who needs it. Thank you God for being the Great Physician!

My Oldest Friend's Wedding

We are in Evansville this weekend to celebrate the marriage of my oldest friend Jessie and her husband Matt. Jay and I met in the third grade, when I was terrified and brand new to public school. The Raintree Girl Scout Council placed us in the same Brownie troop and my life was never the same. We bonded over a shared love of cats. Spent the school year having sleepovers pretending to be cats or various members of the Baby Sitters Club. We spent weekends camping with our girl scout troop learning about "hypothermia" and picking up deer pellets. We spent summers at Three Lakes Day Camp drinking kool-aid, being terrified of the latrines, and never making any friends other than each other. Middle school came and we continued our friendship over tea parties and bus books. We even became brave enough to go away to sleep away camp and enjoyed three summers at Camp Lakeview. *For the record, without her having been brave enough to go with me I may never have gone to Lakeview, fallen in love with it, volunteered/worked there later in life, and in turn may never have met Mark. So, thanks to her I have Mark!* High school came, and as our circles of friends changed, we kept in touch almost exclusively through daily e-mails, despite having most of our classes together. Senior year we worked on the yearbook together and then college came. We were professional e-mail friends at that point and so the distance changed nothing. Through the years I have come to know that I can count on Jay for a great e-mail, my first birthday card each February, a lovely Christmas drawing, and a lifetime of friendship. So, if you are reading this, please take a moment to pray for Jessie and Matt as they begin their married life. May Matt know the incredible friend his wife will always be. Love you Jay, Mee.

"A Baby Story" Reflection

I recently caught an episode of "A Baby Story" on TLC. In this particular episode what happened with Annabeth's delivery, happened for this couple as well, the difference being their beautiful little girl lived just five days before entering the Life Eternal.

I keep thinking back to her birthday, maybe because her one year birthday is so quickly approaching, but I find myself thinking of that morning so often now. The panic in my doctor's eyes. The room full of specialists. The complete and utter joy of having her which turned to heart wrenching sadness when I realized that she was already gone. The little blue body without a heartbeat, my daughter. The ashen look of grief in Mark's eyes. I hear my desperate, strangled prayers of "Dear God, please save our Baby." I think of the paperwork where they wrote TOA instead of TOB (Time of Arrival instead of Time of Birth). I think of the agony, the anger at having been given life's most precious gift and then having it ripped away. And then I remember the tiny wimper. The rush to the NICU. Pushing Mark to go with her so she wouldn't be alone. The hour long wait to know what was happening, to see her pictures. The two hour wait to meet my little girl.

I thank God for every single precious moment we have been given with her. I

I pray for that couple who only had five days of precious moments to share. I pray for as many days to share with Annabeth that God sees fit to give us.

I am eternally grateful for my life, for her life, for our lovely life together.

Eleven (A Day Early)

Tomorrow Little Bit will be Eleven Months Old! It's so hard to believe that a year ago I was beginning my last week of work in Master Control, Mark and Luke had just finished painting Annabeth's room "Fairy Tale Pink," and I was foolishly daydreaming that she would be here "any day now." This year we are chasing Annabeth as she CLIMBS up AND down the stairs and as "Six Step Anna" successfully takes six steps on her own and then gets down and crawls superspeed to get places.

The Riley Three - Enjoying a Labor Day trip to the zoo

My Favorite Four

This fall I will be watching M&J's three monkeys on Wednesdays while M&J go to work. Today is Day #1. I love it! Kati and Elli are constantly amazing me with just how much they understand! They have been successfully going potty on the big girl potty today, helped their brother when he was crying, and have been showering Annabeth with hugs and kisses. There was also an incident with some baby cereal...but I will leave that be until Jenn gets home to hear it first. Nate has been such a sweet guy all day. He really enjoyed our morning outside with the breeze blowing in his hair. He also loved George and Ryne kisses as well as pulling out the grass. Then, in the middle of lunch, sweet man fell asleep in his Bumbo, worn out by the big girls. Annabeth has been exploring all of the "big kid" toys and has really enjoyed shocking me by knowing how to climb on K&E's rocking horses AND toy cars. Seriously?! When did she get to be that big?! She has also enjoyed some "special treats" for lunch - potato rounds dropped on the floor by the big girls. One baby is sleeping. Two monkeys are jumping. Little Bit is enjoying having the toys to herself. I am so thankful for my Favorite Four.

The girls - all three with "AmyKuhn" hair

Annabeth and Nathanael - the "little twins"

Moving

Moving = What Annabeth is doing all the time! She is really "cruising" along the furniture and is walking holding with just one hand now! So fun! She has also stopped crawling and is walking just on her hands and feet. So close to being "independent." Moving Houses = What the Riley Three are preparing for We've made the list of things to renovate at home before a sale, we've begun some projects in order to make it more appealing to buyers, and are house hunting like crazy. We've not shared this with many people but have really begun to prayerfully begin the process and seek your prayers. We are looking to move closer to Mark's work and to our friends and family south of us. We are also looking for a different layour to have people over! When we bought our current house it was just the two of us, with overnight company a few weekends a year, and lots of trips to see other people. Now that we have Annabeth we have SO many more overnight guests, playdates, etc and so we need the space to host people. Upon purchasing our house, we prayed that God would bless us with the ability to welcome all who knocked. To feed people. To house people. To share His love. We now feel led to do His work and will in a different place. So...the search begins...