The Six Pack

Now that he will be four months old tomorrow, I'm finally posting Mark's three month pictures!  My favorite is this first pose... though he's not smiling, he has the cutest expression that has baby written all over it.  And that hair... it's starting to earn him the nickname "Big Red"! (Click pictures for a larger view.)   Drool boy!

It has been two years since Zachary's Fontan surgery and he has grown into a healthy, happy little boy.  Still, we are reminded the reality of his condition from time to time, and recently we have starting talking to Zachy about his special little heart.  This morning he had his annual cardiology checkup  way too early  to be up and at it, so we slipped some clothes over his sleepy head and had him buckled into his carseat by 7:15.  He snoozed soundly on our way across town, and when we got to the doctor's office I unstrapped my little dreamer and plopped him over my shoulder.  When we got in the building, he woke up, and still a little dazed he asked, "Where are we, Mommy?" My big boy was getting heavy, so seeing that he was now awake enough to carry his own weight, I set him down, took his little hand, and explained, "We're going to see your heart doctor today." "Mommy," he asked, very bravely and matter-of-factly, "Will they open my che...

When Steve and I were first married and living in Texas, we vowed that trips to visit family out of town would never be called "vacation." If so, we feared we wouldn't ever take real get-away vacations. Thirteen years and six children later, it's getting more and more difficult to make those trips to see family and sneak in real vacations, too. This summer especially. So... while we weren't officially on vacation , we recently returned from a week of fun in North Dakota where we visited Steve's mom and dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We hung out on the farm where Steve grew up, and for our boys, this is as close to "vacation" as they will get this year. We crossed endless expanses of prairie and farmland to make the two-day, fourteen hour drive.  To our amazement, the boys did pretty well in the backseat!  (Of course, it helps to load up on sugary and salty treats, portable electronics, and surprises from the dollar store.)  And while we had so ...