Therapy Baby

My sister, Waylon and I headed down to Missouri for an impromptu trip this week because my dad was in the hospital.  He recently started kidney dialysis, and overall things are not going well.  Now he has moved to a skilled nursing facility but could still use your prayers.

Kudos to Waylon for being the most easy-going baby traveler a girl could hope for.  Faces of patients and staff alike lit up every time I brought him to the hospital.  There is no maternity ward there, so I guess they don't see babies too often.  I kept joking that instead of a therapy dog, he should be the resident therapy baby, brought around from room to room to lift everyone's spirits.  I hope he lifted his Pop Pop's spirits anyway.

I plan to continue posting here, catching up on old stuff and ignoring present family health problems, if for no other reason than to cheer up my mom when she gets home and turns on her computer.

We passed mile after mile of beautiful purple clover fields on the way down. I'm sure losing my life while my sister abruptly jerked the van over to the side of the road and had me pop out of the sunroof to snap this photo would have been worth it, right?


Here's Waylon in his Cardinals gear, worn especially for my dad, enjoying some play time on the hospital floor with Nana. That's the great thing about babies; they have no idea.


First Shakespeare's trip!

(Oh, and you can catch a glimpse of my recently-dyed-brown hair here.)



The creepy doll we left behind in my mom's bed to give her a laugh/freak her out.





Wow, Waylon even still looked pretty cute and cooperative after hanging out in a Denny's parking lot in Springfield, IL for an hour while we pulled off the road for good cell reception to talk to the health insurance company.  What a trooper. 


I do have some good ones of Waylon and my dad, but for now I'm keeping them to myself. 

Three Three and Under

Since Joe and I have so much experience, let us give you our advice for parenting three children ages three and under: outsource most of it.

Have your sister, brother in law, and parents watch the older two kids while you take advantage of room service at the hospital and occasionally send the new baby with the nurse to the nursery for a couple of short spells of overnight sleep between feedings.

Granted, our advice will only work if like us, you only have about 36 hours of having three three and under. (Georgia turns four tomorrow.)

All kidding aside, the girls met their brother for the first time this morning, and it was so sweet. The pictures say more than I can put into words.


Their doll carriers were their gifts from Waylon.
















June insisted that we keep removing layers, all the way down until Waylon's diaper was off.







Unfortunately, they had to cart Waylon away for the rest of Georgia and June's visit for some specifically timed medical tests, but all was not lost.  We had big times going up and down in the mechanical bed.