Buddaaaaaahhhh!

I don't know if you have noticed, but it has been awhile since anything new has appeared in this space. I take full responsibility for that, but to be honest...we have been so busy living our life, it has been difficult to find the time to write about it. Not that I am making excuses, a big part of the problem is that I am lazy at a professional level. Since we last wrote in March, quite a bit has happened. I have a lot of blogs to catch up on, but I am going to let those slide by for now and just bring you up to date.

Much thanks to all of our readers for the support you gave us in the Walk for Babies!! Our team raised almost $2500.00, most of which was pledged to Emily herself!! We will write the blog about that special day on a later date. I will say that Emily did do some walking this time. In fact, Emily does a lot of walking these days, she also does a lot of running...and climbing...and jumping (well, sort of). I will write more about the 25 lbs and 32 inches of rompin' stompin' toddler dynamite in another blog, for now I am going to write about something a little more specific.

Those of you who know me, know that I am a total Olympics freak. I LOVE the Olympics and everything about them...summer, winter... it doesn't matter. I love all of the sports and will watch whatever they broadcast. I have watched hours of curling, shooting, biathlon, equestrian, fencing, bobsled, luge, skeleton, rowing: it doesn't matter, if it is Olympics, I'll watch it. It appears that I have influenced Emily in some way. You see, she has also been paying close attention to the Olympics, especially the diving. When the divers raise their arms over their heads, so does Emily. When they twist and turn, so does Emily. When they enter the water, she screams her approval and starts to clap. She also really enjoys the gymnastics and has developed a bit of a daredevil streak. She will stand on the ottoman, or her high chair and "leap" into our laps while screaming her new battle cry, "Buddaaaaaaahhhhh!!!" She has great fun doing this and Christa & I are always terrified, but we enjoy it too. I know that we are both concerned as to where this will lead, as she gains more control of her body, and actually learns how to jump.

There is much much more to write, but I am reeeeeeeaaaaallllllly out of practice so I must pace myself. Here is a super cute picture and video to tide you over. (Yes...she is playing buddaaaahhh in a pink tu-tu in the picture. Who wouldn't?)

We have titled this video "Buddaaaaaaaahhhh."

You'll have to watch the video to discover why. The video runs for 2 minutes and 29 seconds.

Only A Month Away!

We are once again joining the March of Dimes with a goal to raise money to help babies have a better chance at survival. We will be walking, in Joseph's memory, in the March For Babies (formerly WalkAmerica) at the end of April and we need your help. We have two links that can be found on the sidebar of this blog: for all of you Emily fans out there, the first one will take you right to Emily's page to donate on her behalf (she has a personal goal to raise $500); the other will take you to our team page (you can either donate to the team as a whole, or choose one walker [by clicking on their name] from our roster to support--pick Emily!!). We aren't asking for much, whatever you can afford to give would be greatly appreciated, even if it's only $1.00--just give something.



We want to thank everyone who donated to our team last year!! You helped us to raise over $1700 (one of the highest family team totals) to help babies and we're hoping that maybe, just maybe, we can get close to that amount again this year. Who knows, maybe we can beat it!! Emily really wants to beat her goal from last year and wants to beat Mommy & Daddy this year.



For those of you who are not yet convinced of our cause, here are some interesting facts about the March of Dimes and premature births....



...The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes original mission was to find a cure for Polio. In 1955, because of March of Dimes funded research, the Salk Vaccine was proven "safe, effective and potent" in preventing polio. Since this great feat, the March of Dimes shifted its focus to saving the lives of babies by working to make sure every baby is born strong and healthy. Through programs of research, community service, education and advocacy, the March of Dimes has made great strides towards this goal. They have funded research into the causes and cures of many birth defects. They have educated the community on the harmful effects of drinking and smoking while pregnant, as well as the benefits of taking folic acid before you become pregnant to reduce the occurrence of birth defects of the brain and spine. They have also successfully petitioned the Illinois State Legislature for passage of the expanded newborn screening law that now requires infants to be tested for 29 different disorders. In 2003, they embarked on a new crusade to reduce the occurrence of premature birth. Each year, more that 500,000 infants are born premature in the U.S., many for unknown reasons. The March of Dimes is working to find out why this happens as well as to educate women on the signs of preterm labor.



* You've been helped by the March of Dimes if, you received a polio vaccine.

* You've been helped by the March of Dimes if, your baby or someone you know received lung surfactant therapy to treat respiratory distress syndrome.

* You've been helped by the March of Dimes if, you're aware that drinking, drugs, and tobacco use during pregnancy may cause serious birth defects.

* You've been helped by the March of Dimes if, your baby or someone you know was cared for in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

* You've been helped by the March of Dimes if, you're aware that folic acid, taken before and in early pregnancy, in a multivitamin, as part of a healthy diet, can help prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spinal cord.

* You've been helped by the March of Dimes if, your baby or someone you know received a PKU test at birth.



* Premature birth means a baby is born at less than 37 weeks of pregnancy.

* Each year, more than 500,000 babies are born prematurely, nearly half for unknown reasons.

* Premature birth is the number one killer of newborns.

* 50% of premature babies develop mild or severe disabilities.

* Health care costs for premature babies are about 10 times higher than for babies born full term.

* 1 in 8 babies born in the U.S. is premature. Many of these infants have life-long disabilities.

* The March of Dimes is funding research into how stress and other factors may trigger preterm labor.

* The March of Dimes is also developing programs to help prevent premature birth by educating pregnant women about the signs of preterm labor.



Please take a few minutes to click on the link (preferably Emily's link) and make a donation to help save a baby's life. Be assured that $.90 of each $1.00 raised by the March of Dimes is used to carry out their mission through research, community service, education and advocacy to save babies' lives. Some companies offer a "match" for employee donations, this can double the amount of good that you do for babies. If your company is one of those, you will need to fill out and mail us the company match form. For those of you who would prefer to make a donation via the U.S. Postal Service as opposed to the Internet, please contact us through email for more information (there should be a link to our email at the bottom of each blog entry). Every donation helps, no matter how big or small it is. Please donate (to Emily).

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We're posting this now because it's topical and time sensitive. We don't know how this will effect the ability of future publishing of earlier dated blogs to appear in this space. You may need to be watching the archive for more of Emily's adventures. (Until we get current, that is.)

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Remembering . . .

So, I should probably give a little bit of forewarning here at the beginning (if of course you didn't already get it from the title), this entry has the potential to be a bit of a downer. On the bright side, this blog marks our entrance into not only January, but also 2008! That's right boys & girls, the blog is officially done with 2007. So I suppose I will explain the title and tell the story that the pictures will illustrate.

If you remember from the post about meeting Ronald McDonald, we had made plans to return to the new house and prepare a dinner for the families staying there. While we were in the house after the goofballs were born, it was very common for people or groups to come in and prepare meals for the families. While there is a pantry and you have a place to store food that you have purchased to prepare for yourselves, you spend a good deal of time over at the hospital. All of that time spent waiting & hoping is not only emotionally draining, but also physically exhausting. It was really nice to come back to the house and not have to prepare yourself a meal. I know that Christa & I really appreciated this small act of kindness, often provided by people who had also needed to make use of the hospitality of RMHC. Christa & I have decided that one of the ways that we can give back, is to take as many opportunities as we can to provide that comfort to others who find themselves waiting & hoping. We decided to make our first visit on the anniversary of the day that we lost Joseph, January 4th. We thought it appropriate to provide comfort on the day we needed it most, and will continue to do so from this point forward. We will also try to make it for several other occasions throughout the year. One of the reasons for making other visits is that it is very common for people to prepare meals around the holidays, but less so during other parts of the year. In fact, I recommend that if you are looking for an opportunity to do something for others, contact your local Ronald McDonald House and ask to prepare a meal.

Enough of all that, let's talk about the fun part, going to the house to cook. Christa, Emily, Grandma Kathy, Auntie Mandy & I came up with a menu and headed to the House on the afternoon of January 4th. My parents were out of town, so they were unable to attend, and because it was a weekday, Aunt Susie & Carl also were unable to help, but perhaps next time. After much consideration, we decided to make individual chicken pot pies, fruit salad, garlic monkey bread, apples with caramel dipping sauce and two trifles for dessert. Grandma Kathy had cooked the chicken for the pot pies and made the trifles ahead of time for ease in preparation. One thing we had not told you about was the B-E-A-UTIFUL kitchen in the new house. Two very large islands, four large cooktops, four ovens, four sinks for washing, four dishwashers, and a partridge in a pear tree. The countertops are black granite, and gorgeous, and they have very nice light fixtures as well. All in all, it was a pleasure to cook in this kitchen, especially compared to the closet I usually prepare meals in.

Once we got there, we started to divide up tasks: Christa would peel the oranges for the fruit salad, Grandma Kathy would start putting the fruit salad together, Auntie Mandy would get the tins for the pot pies ready and I would start making the rue and meat/vegetable mixture for the pies. Emily's main job was to look cute, something she does pretty well. I decided to make individual batches of the mix instead of trying to double, triple, or octuple the recipe, sometimes that can go horribly wrong and I wanted the meal to be delicious, not disastrous. Once the fruit salad was ready Grandma Kathy also started making the pie mixture. Once the pie mixtures in batches were finished and ladled into the tins Auntie Mandy would cover them with a biscuit and stick 'em in the oven. All in all we made 64 mini pot pies!! As the meal time arrived families started to trickle in, some stayed and ate in the dinning room, some prepared to-go boxes and either went back to their rooms or headed back to the hospital. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and were very thankful for a warm meal that they didn't have to cook or clean up after.

On a somewhat sad note, one of the people that came to eat, looked very familiar to us. After she finished her meal she came over to thank us and say hello. She also wanted to say hi to Emily, who she commented has gotten so big. This girl had been at the house with us last year, and was back again, as her daughter had developed a respiratory illness. I am not going to go into her whole story, but I felt good that we had done a small something to make her day a little easier.

So there you go, another post, another day closer to being caught up. I know parts of this post were a bit of a downer, but as I have learned sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. With that enjoy the photos and I will have more for you soon . . .

Daddy was busy making the rue sauce for the chicken pot pies.

Grandma was cutting fruit for the fruit salad.


Auntie Mandy was organizing other supplies in preparation for the next step of the process.



Mommy & Emily had just finished peeling oranges, had passed them off to Grandma, and were waiting further instructions.

Our chicken pot pie assembly line.

There was a little bit of playing and goofing around happening to keep Emily happy and entertained while we cooked.

We had apples with caramel dip, fruit salad, garlic bread chunks, and the chicken pot pies. For dessert, we had prepared a chocolate trifle and a pumpkin/gingerbread trifle; both were equally delicious.

After we finished cooking and cleaning, we spent a little bit of time in the living room relaxing.

Emily showed Grandma Kathy & Auntie Mandy the scrapbook about the construction of the new house.

We then went to the Christmas tree to look for Emily & Joseph's ornaments that were purchased by Grandma & Grandpa B and Aunt Susie & Carl.

Emily had a lot of fun crawling around on one of the islands in the kitchen while we did dishes and got ready to leave.