Cleveland

The day was finally here. It was time to head to Cleveland for Don's valve repair. This was the first time that Julia would fly and I was pretty nervous about it. It ended up being OK and she did great.

Here we are before we left Wichita.

Here is little Ms. just waiting.

Of course Julia had to be silly while we waited for our flight. At least she was good entertainment!

And still waiting for our flight.

Finally on our way!

Julia did great on the flight. This is her in the car on the way to the hotel. We actually got there at almost the same time as Don and Jeff. I think we beat them by 15 minutes.

Here is a photo of the clinic. It really was amazing.

Monday was filled with a day of tests. Here we are just waiting!

After our day of tests we decided to head out for dinner. We let Don pick and ended up at a tavern. I think it was just what the doctor ordered!

Julia just hanging out.

Julia checking out the menu.

And then she decided to clean my pork chop bone. She is a meat and potatoes kind of girl!

My silly goose.

Julia loves to help clean up. Here she is helping me clean up after I got her ready for bed. Everything went back into the drawer. Even the dirty diaper.

And now here we are on the way to the clinic for surgery.

While we were waiting they brought a dog in for us to pet, I am assuming to help relieve stress. It was so neat.

Instead of just waiting in the waiting room, the clinic gives you these pagers. They page you with updates and when they need to speak with you in person. It was great. We could walk around, go back to the hotel or even eat without feeling like we were missing something!

Because the day of surgery was so long, Desi brought Julia up to spend some time with us. Here she is hauling my purse around. Such a mini me.

The clinic also has a rooftop terrace. You can see the skyline in the back and just hang out and enjoy the sunshine.

Here Julia is enjoying a snack on the terrace.

The time came to quick for Julia and I to head home. Here she is enjoying a little lunch before we headed out.

On the way to the airport Jeff sent me this photo. Don was moved from ICU into his own room. Yea!

Julia's nap schedule was pretty bad while we were there, so she caught some zzz's in the car on the way to the hospital. Unfortunately, she didn't sleep at all the rest of the trip home!

To kill some time in the Chicago airport we hung out in the Children's Museum. It was a child's take on an airport and was really cute.

And here we are, finally loaded up and headed home.

Friday was Natalie's first day of Preschool this year. She didn't want to go and we had a little separation anxiety when we got there, but I am sure it will get better with time!

Catching Up!

I know that it is still August, but Halloween is right around the corner!! Mom offered to buy the girls their Halloween costumes from this great magazine that she got. Natalie knew that she wanted to be a mermaid and what goes better with a mermaid than a fish. Of course Natalie has named herself Aerial and has named Julia, Flounder. I am not sure that Julia will appreciate that name in the future.

Julia from the side. The costume has this hilarious fin on the back.

Julia has just decided that she is too big for a highchair. Sigh, one more sign that she is growing up way too fast!!

I had the girls make some art to put in PaPa Don's hospital room, They had a blast!

Mom and I went to Cracker Barrel with the girls to eat and I couldn't resist a photo of them in the rocking chairs!

Not only is Julia now too big for her highchair, she can now stand on the kitchen "helper" stool!!

Today was Abbie's birthday party. She was having a Tangled birthday party so I thought it would be fun to have the girls' hair braided. I made some fun flowers to adorn their braids with. I think the girls thought it was a lot of fun.

Of course after getting their hair done we had to grab some lunch!

Emily had the girls paint while they were at the party.

This is the amazing cupcake tower that Eric and Emily made for the party. It was just too cute for words!

Before Abbie's party Jeff headed out to Cleveland with his dad.
We did get to have our traditional Saturday morning donuts and I snapped a shot of Jeff with each one of his girls.

 

LOVE this photo of Jeff and Natalie.

 

Before Julia and I headed out of town we needed to do a little shopping. Is that a baby in her PJ's eating a sucker? Yep.

Abbie and Natalie showing off their new bathroom supplies. Crazy girls.

Giving it a "Shot"

First, I have to say, "Happy Birthday Marty!!"

This morning Carrie and I headed over to my Mom's house to take some photos of our kids. We figured we have seen it done a lot that we could probably pull it off. I think we did, I am in love with what we got! I played around with them a little in Photoshop, but I still have a lot to learn, especially with our fair skinned kiddos!

Julia was not having it, but we did get a couple a decent shots.

Here is my favorite shot of Chloe.

 Here is my favorite shot of Ethan. He was the only one that would smile today!!

And here are the models!