Essentials for a good group picture

Cute children – check

Cute, coordinating outfits – check

Good lighting - check

Sweet expressions – check, um check again, and check one more time with subject #1…

Visual contact with either the photographer or the line of sight in the same general direction – um, not so much…

3/26/11

Art installation by Clara

There was one drawing on each of the drawers, card board blocks symmetrically placed on the counter, and the crowning glory of a Duplo Christmas tree. If it were up to Clara, this would remain as part of the ‘permanent collection’, but as the museum curator I remind her that dish water and residue from food preparation will harm the artwork.

‘Papa Wearing Beads’

‘A Jack o’ Lantern’

3/25/11

Thank you for the sand toys, Grammy

We love them!

3/22/11

Things I don't want to forget

A few months ago when Nathan asked Clara what song she wanted to sing during family worship, she requested "Hallelujah, Praise Ja Tuba." We hadn't started Hebrew lessons yet....

Clara was being really silly and I told her she was a little nincompoop. She replied, in all seriousness, "Mommy, don't say 'poop', Mommy. It's rude."

Two weeks ago during family worship we were reviewing the catechism and were talking about Adam and Eve. She told us that they were not supposed to eat the fruit off of one tree, but they did; they sinned. When we asked her how God punished them, she said, "He made them lie down in green pastures." This is from our girl who doesn't like naps...

This week Clara asked to sing "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" during family worship and sang the entire first verse with us. She never sings a song all the way through with us, and it was very special to me because that was my Great-grandma Pszyk's favorite hymn.

Today, sitting outside eating her snack, Clara called to me "This little girl loves Jesus!"

During her bedtime snack I try to sit and talk to her and today we were talking about when she grows up. Apparently she is looking forward to giving herself her insulin shots and finger pricks. She also informed us that she will be living in Frodafrida - which is in Michigan, and is where Finger lives. When she is as old as Mommy she told me she will "Talk on the phone." She wants to have three babies - triplets - and their names will be Annabel, Mark, and Ryan.

Three months of no posts do a trimester make

Due date: October 10

This is only a partial explanation of the lack of posts - other contributing factors include my own inability to follow through with long-term projects, occasional single-parenthood due to Nathan's increased travel for work, and our embarking on a new stage of life as Clara was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Check back infrequently for more posts!

Look at all these socks!

She put on five pairs of socks and thought it was hilarious – naturally.

3/19/11

Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show

We knew we had to make it to this event while we were living in Houston, so the girls and I picked up Nathan from work one evening and took the train from downtown to the Reliant Center. I had been to a local rodeo as a child, but everything is definitely bigger in Texas! It was also interesting to see what an event people made of it, dressing in their best Texas gear…I asked Nathan if he thought they wore these outfits anywhere else!

Unfortunately Clara was either disinterested in (livestock show) or scared of (crazy, chaotic petting zoo) the animals and Elisabeth, who usually loves animals, was coming down with a fever and seemed out of sorts. However, we had a great time riding the Carousel and going through the kid’s farm exhibit that showed children the progression of food from the farm to the farmer’s market. After taking their ‘produce’ and ‘dairy products’ to the farmer’s market, the children were ‘paid’ and got to ‘buy’ a treat at the grocery store. The exhibit was well done and Clara loved it.

3/18/11

Bakery

3/15/11

Out and about

My mom knows me well and wanted to make sure that I felt comfortable getting out with the girls before she left. We made it to the mall for lunch and the carousel, which is always a treat!

3/9/11

At home

Clara draws a happy Edith getting a ‘finger poke’ (the red dots)

3/8/11

Planting sunflower seeds, which the squirrels then dug up and ate – they even dug up the seedlings to eat the remainder of the seed.

The beginning of March

I’ve written a little bit elsewhere about this, but at the beginning of March, Clara was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. After calling the nurse’s line at our pediatrician on March 2 to ask about her fluid intake and frequent urination, I took her in to the pediatrician the following morning. After her diagnosis, the doctor told us to take her to the ER at Texas Children’s Hospital to be admitted. It was so difficult on her (I don’t think the ER nurses had ever seen a child fight an IV with such vehemence – there were 5 adults working to restrain her and get the IV in and blood drawn), on us as parents, and on little Elisabeth who was shuffled around a bit and had a cold. Nathan stayed the nights at the hospital so that I could put Elisabeth to bed and cuddle on her in the mornings and we were there together most of the days, so that we could both hear what the doctors had to say.

We were so grateful that my mom could come and help take care of Elisabeth and then stayed to keep our household running while we adjusted to the structure required for Clara’s care. We were also so blessed that Clara is a strong little girl and took (nearly) everything in stride, charming the nurses (but oblivious and indifferent to their attentions) and enjoying the hospital stay as much as one could. She relished the snacks (sugar-free jello and popsicles), the meals, the fun-cart (volunteers who brought crafts, small toys, play jewelry, etc.) and the play room.

After admission to ER and then after the IV battle (this second picture breaks my heart.)

3/3/11

Daddy is here! and We are finally transferred to the Endocrinology department and our own room!

Jello!

(Once the nurses realized how much she liked it, they would give us 2-3 cups at a time)

3/4/11

I brought some paper and ribbon to make a banner to personalize her room. You can see her beads from the fun cart in this picture, as well. I think that at this point they were still in their original configuration – I restrung them several times in the hospital due to weak elastic.

She loved this little scoot car and sped through the halls with it. She told us she went all through the hospital.

Enjoying dinner

3/5/11

She (and we) were so blessed to have many visitors from our church. Her friends James and Abigail came with their families and Rabecca, Miss Tammie and Robert, and Uncle Barron all stopped by, as well. It was so encouraging and helped to break up the time. We were at the hospital from the 3rd through the 7th mostly because we were waiting to take a diabetes education class that wasn’t offered until Monday.

Taking a drive to the playroom!

Exploring new toys… It was Sunday and the whole floor was so quiet. Clara and I had the playroom mostly to ourselves.

Jello!

Practicing giving baby insulin – Nathan and I both had to be able to comfortably and accurately give her her insulin injections, so a diabetes educator came by with supplies for us to practice with. One doctor had mentioned that having Clara practice giving injections to a doll would make her more comfortable with the process, so I brought a doll from home and her doctor kit. We duplicated the procedure that she went through, taking the baby’s vitals, measuring the insulin, etc.

(Apparently baby is not following her diet plan closely and is trying to sneak a cupcake!)

3/6/11

Elisabeth visits and enjoys the balloons!

3/7/11

Happy to have our big girl home (although she told us that she wanted to stay at the hospital!)