Emily's seizure

I have recently been praying about whether I should go back to work full time.  A *very* hard decision but one I felt that I needed to look at due to the economy, our finances, and medical insurance woes.  I should also find out this week, the results of a recent interview.  This post describes the answer to my prayer...just certainly not in the way I expected.

Emily-a few weeks ago

I woke up at 6am this morning, hearing Mary's voice ring out in our stairway with an edge to it that would bring any mother to her feet.  My husband was ahead of me but still calling down the stairway about what Mary wanted.  I urged him to just go!

Emily was staying in Mary's room last night because they were staying up late to pack for girl's camp with church.  As soon as I walked into the room and could view Mary's hysteria and Emily's limp body flailed across the bed with hair wildly covering her face....I will admit that there was at least one second of terror that we had already lost her.

Emily and Mary-they have always been close

My husband was soon pushing the phone into my hands and telling me to call 911 as he seemed to be too upset to speak.   I was actually calm....kind of that scary emotionless calm.  Within the next few seconds I determined that she was indeed breathing but not conscious.  I was able to tell the 911 operator our address and that Mary was describing what sounded like a grand mal seizure. 

Mary had woken up about 6am with the bed shaking and was irritated that Sizzles (our dog) had gotten up on the bed and she sat up to shoo her off.  What she saw will likely never be erased from her memory.  Emily was jerking around violently with her arms tightly outstretched and her fingers extended out but curled over at the tips.  She was nearly about to fall and Mary was able to run over to her and gave a good shove to keep her on the bed.  The next moment was when we heard her frantically calling us upstairs.

The 911 operator asked if Emily was beginning to be more conscious...I said that she looked like she had voluntarily moved her head.  She requested that I ask if she knew what her name was.  I did and I got the mumbled and slurred question, "what?"  It was the best "huh, what?" type question I had ever heard....

The first to arrive at our house was our local firefighters...we are so thankful for them!  He was able to get some oxygen on Emily and she was able to answer what her name was.  He asked her how old she was and she answered "15"....well, she is *almost* 15 but not until next month.  She continued to seem a bit more alert.

I noticed that there was blood on the bed from biting her tongue... 

The ambulance arrived.  They informed us that they could only take Emily to the smaller local hospital which tends to have a bad reputation.  I wanted them to take her to the hospital where she and the rest of our family are insured and where the care is so much better. 

Her vitals were now good and she was more alert and talking. 

They again insisted that they could not transport to our hospital. 

I ended up deciding to drive her myself.....I still am not entirely sure that it was a good idea.  The ER doctor later scolded me that it wasn't.  But, I know of stories of deaths that were entirely preventable or caused by the other hospital and just wasn't comfortable. 

So, we started our journey speeding down the road towards the hospital.  Emily was falling asleep and looked grey.  I kept asking her what her birthdate was and asking if she was okay.  She indicated that she felt sick.  She didn't want to talk to me because she was afraid of getting sick.   Luckily I was able to find a bag because the inevitable happened and....it was red.  You can imagine what I thought it was..... but Emily reminded me that she had eaten strawberry sherbet the night before.  I don't think I will enjoy that flavor of ice cream so much anymore.

On down the road we drove and I started to slow down lest I would get pulled over .....and then I realized that for the first time in my life I would truly have welcomed a police officer pulling me over.  They could give us a hospital escort or call 911 and hopefully we would be far enough to get to the "right" hospital.  But, it didn't happen...we kept driving....

I cannot describe the relief I felt when we arrived at the ER....I really and truly can't imagine if my decision to drive her myself had put her at risk.

The ER doctor did bloodwork and it was all normal other than a high blood sugar which was explained to be due to the seizure and something about muscles contracting and releasing sugars into the body.  I was obviously so glad to hear the other results that I couldn't focus much on what all he was saying.

When the doctor came in to give the results of the MRI, he announced with true relief in his voice that it was good news.  He said that it was normal and then admitted that he had prior thought that  Emily probably had a brain tumor.  It was such a mix of emotions.....I appreciated his genuine care for her and yet was traumatized by the mere idea of what it could have been.

He stated that he did, however, think that Emily had epilepsy. 

The doctor said that 50% of folks that have seizures will only have one and nothing else for the rest of their lives.  The unfortunate thing is that Emily recalled a few episodes of waking up and noticing involuntary jerking of her head, hands, and feet.  I don't think I will ever quite understand why she didn't say something to me but she had thought at the time that it was nothing big to worry about since it resolved quickly. 

Emily was given Ativan to temporarily prevent seizures and we were sent home with the instructions to follow up with a neurologist this week and make sure she rested since her prior lack of sleep was likely the reason that the seizure came on.  And, that she was not allowed to operate heavy machinery or *swim*. 

 I am so thankful for our gracious and loving Heavenly Father who did not allow Emily to go to camp.  She was supposed to leave tomorrow....if she had been swimming when having a seizure, we might have lost her.   I can't and won't imagine.....

I told Emily that she and I are going to be buddies! :)  She gets to go with me everywhere for right now until we get some answers. 

So, why on earth am I writing a disjointed blog this late....well, we have decided to camp out in the living room with Em down on the air mattress on the floor.  Mary was too upset to sleep alone with her again, which I completely understand, and I didn't want Emily to be alone.  So, Mary and I...and Robertson(who couldn't fall asleep) are downstairs. 

I am attempting to purge my thoughts for the day and get myself tired enough that I can fall asleep.  I have no idea what we will do tomorrow or tomorrow night but for now all is well.

Emily is beautiful inside and out.  She is also so strong....

And, my prayers were answered...and I will not be going back to work full time.







 

My week as a single mom...as Robert attends court in a thawed out country

Last week was a chance for me to see how I would do as a single mom...living in the country with eight children, along with dogs, cats, and tadpoles.

On Monday...well, actually Sunday night, we discovered that one of our tadpoles had become a frog.  The problem?  I decided that we would wait to release him until Monday morning.  Monday morning came and he was gone....loose in the house.  Oh where, oh where could our tiny frog be???  Ugh! 

Then, one of our hens got into the house when Eleanor opened the back door.  The problem?  We have dogs...and dogs that are incessantly teased by chickens that prance about on our front porch in front of glass doors and windows as if to say "neener, neener, neener, you can't catch me!"

Well, her choice to prance *inside* our house was not wise.  They rapidly descended on the poor hen and I froze at first not sure if they had already killed her.  There was a moment of stillness....Emily, myself, the dogs, and the hen.......all still and all quiet.  And, then, she began to move and we all flew into action...literally.  The chicken began to fly up, I lurched forward to grab two of the dogs and Emily grabbed the third.  Amelia opened the door and the hen was able to walk out of our house on her own.  Whew! 

I'm sure that this didn't help my back that has been giving me trouble.  I headed for the doctor just to be told that it was probably just a pulled muscle from carrying around nearly five year old twins and a stout little three year old.  Who would have thought?!? 

On Tuesday, we forgot to take the trash down to the curb.  Most people would imagine this to be a stressful occurance but for our family, this is a disaster! 

And, then I began to get pictures from my husband who was in the twin's country awaiting court.

WAIT!!!  Just a second!  Is this the same place where we nearly froze to death???

Yep!  Here was our first home with the twins....in all it's green glory!

Remember our view of the river that was near solid ice and snow?

Here is what it looks like now!!!!

Absolutely gorgeous and warm as could be!  I seriously couldn't believe it! 

Remember the peaceful still night in the snow with the ducks?

Look how happy they are now!  They were just far more patient than I was....they knew what was just around the corner!

Can you imagine how jealous I was when he began to send these pictures from his boat ride......

Our week was spent with bleary eyed and exhausted teenagers who studied and studied for finals and finished up the rest of their projects and papers that they had been procrastinating.  It was stressful for us all as I attempted to help proofread and help them study at the same time as keeping up the house, the smaller children, the grocery shopping, the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, the hair that my dog is busy shedding all over everywhere (I do believe he sheds an entire dog every day!) all at the same time that my back was giving me grief! (Okay, I promise to stop whining! :-)

Oh, but he is so sooooo cute......look at my adorable hairy baby!

But, I digress....we ended the week well with a successful court date on the twin's birthday!!!!!

We took them to John's Incredible Pizza Company to celebrate....do you recall that we had a fundraiser there?  It was so fun to go this time *with* them!  I have such beautiful pictures of them...but it will have to wait just a tiny bit longer.  The second court date finalized their adoption but it becomes officially official twenty days after the court hearing.  At which point, we will truly and completely be a family and I can officially have pics of their faces right along with ours. :-) 

Until then, here is the best I can do:

I can't forget to mention the train ride that we went on....did I mention that my back was already hurting?

K. nor Eleanor was allowed to ride on the train without an adult.  Another down side of being a single mom....I not only had to ride the jolting and lurching train once...but twice. (Oooops, now I will officially stop whining!)

It was a truly wonderful evening!

And, the twins had so much fun!

Oh, and the hours just before Robert got home?

A baby bird fell out of his nest on our front porch.  We have two nests that are used every year under the eaves of our house.  We look forward to their arrival every spring to bring forth yet another family.  I don't know what they are but they are just bigger than a finch and are black with a white underbelly and a crest on their head that looks a bit like a mohawk.  I researched a little and they look kind of like an Eastern Towhee but they have no brown.  I'd love it if someone knew what they are!

My last moments as a single mom involved me throwing on some sweats and driving our little baby to a wildlife rescue....whew!  We made it!

So, in just 20 days...the twins will lawfully be a part of our family and we will have only one more trip for immigration into America.  Almost there!

And.....he's off!!!!!

I have to admit a little jealousy here....Robert has left for Amsterdam!!!  He will then go on to the twin's country after a day spent in the airport (okay, not so jealous about that!)

No, the twins and I do not have to go on this trip which is both good and bad.  It is obviously cheaper this way but I do kind of wish I could see the country while it is beautiful, green, and warm.  And, oh, do I *love* their food!  I've been trying to get Robert to figure out a way to put it on ice and bring it back with him. LOL! (Ummm, I'm truly serious!)

And, court will be this week to finalize the adoption!!!! 

We are all excited and looking forward to a happy week ahead... we will be done with our homeschool charter for the summer, the twin's will celebrate their 5th birthday, and we will all celebrate our court date... where we will become a family with twins, on legal paper! :-) 

The meaning of sunscream and polkanuts....

Our family has a "birthday season" that is nearly akin to the stress and planning of Christmas time.  In fact, so many of our family members have birthdays at this time of the year, that it seemed absolutely fitting that the twins would also join and add their birthdays to our already completely full birthday calendar!

I thought I would highlight each of the children on or near their birthdays as we go.....since, to me, one of the greatest joys of having a large family is watching each child unfold into their own unique strengths, quirks, and stunning personalities that God gave them! :-)

Birthday season gets off to a great start with our very adored baby Eleanor, who is beginning to be not quite a baby at the age of three!  This starts me right off with an Eleanor fun fact.  This is not a child who wants to be a "big girl" nor will she ever say that she is big and can do it herself. 

Nope, she is pretty darn happy with her role as the baby of the family and is very happy to stay that way.  In fact, I just decided to ask her if she was a big girl or a baby and she responded, "I'm a baby and I'm going to turn into butterflies!"   The bottom line is, that in our household, the baby role has a lot of perks and status.

She is a *character* and has an amazing imagination.  She asked me one morning where daddy was going.  I responded that he had to go to work. 

She responded, "No he doesn't!  He has to go fight monsters.... in the water!"  She then paused for a moment and said...."will you tell him to get my Easter candy back from the monsters....they took it from me!"

Of course, her dad couldn't resist to bring her back some candy that day, to which she replied with a huge smile, "Thanks dad!"  Can you imagine the pride that she must have felt knowing that she was worth battling huge monsters for, just to win back some Easter candy? 

Eleanor's birthday party just had to be a monster party.  I'm not sure if she fears them, loathes them, or adores them....I'm pretty sure it is a mixture of all three.  But, one thing is for sure....she loves talking about them and telling stories.

So, we started her party with monster tag and then went inside and made and ate monster meatloaf heads.

Afterwards, we had glow in the dark crazy monstery duck toys that became great dance partners!

They had so much fun together!

Hmmm, so what do sunscream, bobbom, bamana, and polkanuts all have in common? 

They are Eleanorese for sunscreen, bottom, banana, and polka dots and are now part of the family vocabulary. :-)

Happy Birthday to my hysterically funny, ever so confident, sometimes a stinker, walks with her hands behind her back like royalty, and super cuddly little three year baby!

Next birthday is Robertson's but I still need to blog about our upcoming addition....it is coming soon, I promise!

It is truly a miracle!!!!!

I am so full of emotion today that my hands are having a hard time typing the words....we have gone from near panic about the time running out for our second trip and not knowing how we were ever going to make it work..... to being fully funded in one single day!!!! 

Our anonymous donor sent another large donation and we are fully funded for trip #2!!!  Can you all even imagine the intense emotions I am feeling?!?   I've never been so glad that I have a blog or otherwise I would have absolutely no way to express my gratitude...I am desperate for them to know how much this means to our family and I hope they are reading this!

Let me explain why I have been absolutely brought to my knees with gratitude....

Ever since we have been home, I have had fundraising in the back of my mind.  I knew that I needed to do it....and I knew that there just had to be a way but time was always so short now that we had the twins home.  Adjusting to two new children is not easy (and adjusting to family, pets, chickens, speaking English, and country living has undoubtedly been even harder for them!)  And, bonding takes concentrated and solid time spent interacting together....it can't be done in spare time(as if I had much of that anyway!)  So, in the beginning, I prioritized and chose the twins and the family.

Then, as our days began racing forward and we got our dates for our second trip and court, I realized I  *had* to get busy!  I struggled with attempting some of the past fundraiser ideas because I was afraid that many of the people who might participate would be the same ones who had already helped us.  The last thing I wanted to do was have our family and friends feel at all obligated or pressured to help when they had already been so very helpful and generous for our first trip. 

I decided that I would put extra focus on our business and list all of our ebay items and books that I've been slowly but surely working on getting up to auction. 

And then......well, remember what I said at the end of my last post?  I mentioned that we had a bit of a flood?

Our toilet flooded in our downstairs guest bedroom. We had recently renovated the entire room for my grandmother before she passed away....and now it was ruined.

 Also, the water did not stay localized in the bedroom or bathroom, but rather it carried on like a river and  poured into our library/ebay room and damaged many books and items that I had planned to sell.

 

We had to remove all of the carpet in the bedroom and threw away bags and bags of merchandise and books.  It was sickening and an *enormous* amount of work and time that I truly didn't have....and certainly didn't help with fundraising!

Thankfully, I saved my grandma's rocking chair......no apparent damage.  It has a great story that I may just decide to share someday. :)
Anyway, I am just now beginning to get caught back up from all of the other things that didn't get done while I was mucking out two flooded rooms.  <sigh>

So, today, this very day, was *the* day that I was going to just focus the whole day on getting auctions up and developing new ideas and new listings on etsy for our business.

 I started out at 4:45am to get ready to teach seminary.  My daughters and the other two truly wonderful teenagers in my class are all getting ready for a scripture bowl competition.  I taught a lesson and we had some fast and furious practice competition and then I headed on home to start the day. 

Let's see (just for fun) if I can think of all I did this morning....(well, just a few highlights perhaps!)

breakfast for the children,


boiling lettuce for our tadpoles,

fed the chickens and attempted to gradually entice them back into the very coop where many of their family and friends were murdered by some stray animal in the night (yeah, they're not buying it so far...),

 unloaded/reloaded the dishwasher,

broke up a tug of war between Eleanor and I. over bright red lip gloss that they were both eating (Amelia was just reading this over my shoulder and said, "oh my gosh, was that MINE???"),

reminded children one or two or three plus times that they needed to work on their chores,

helped Robertson and Amelia get started on their homeschool curriculum,

reminded the two of them one or two or ten times to focus on their work,

and finally, I was called outside to witness this interesting moment in country living:

Yes....these are bees that have decided to move...and I'm hoping that they are just planning to hang out on the outside of our chimney for a night before moving on...kind of like a short motel stay vs their new home. Pretty please!

And, yes, this was all before noon!  Ummmm, how many listings did I get done?

Absolutely none! :-(  I was so frustrated and feeling overwhelmed trying to figure out what in the world I was going to have to do to get some quiet uninterrupted time in order to work, and the day was already half gone....

Then, my daughter came into the house with her eyes all excited about the mail.....and there was our donation. 

I truly wish I had the words.....but often words just don't have the power and the emotion that real life can convey.  I am deeply, deeply grateful for the person or persons that care so much about the twins and our family.  I'm not sure if they know how many hours and hours I would have had to work and take time away from the children in order to earn the funds that were needed.  I am truly not even sure if I could have done it unless I had stayed up all night every night until Robert left. 

I am amazed, thankful, and in awe of the fact that our Heavenly Father has indeed made sure that our prayers were answered and that the twins will be ours on paper as well as in our hearts.  It is all so wonderful and humbling and overwhelming.  I often feel like I am unsure if I can believe it and that I am still in shock....This has been a day of a real life miracle for our family!!!!

To our anonymous donor....we will never ever forget the kindness that you extended to us and we will enjoy telling the twins throughout their whole life what an act of altruism that was to give so much and not ask for any recognition.  We will strive to do likewise and use this as an example of how we want to live and behave....just as our Savior would.  Thank you dear donor, we hope you hear and feel the great love and appreciation our family sends to you.
With our love,
The Walker Family

Is it too late for Easter? There is a brand new way to find eggs

Here is my post that I started soon after Easter but just haven't been able to get out.  I figured that as long as it posted before the 4th of July, I would be happy!  I will follow soon with catching everyone up to date and how I have literally been drowning in deep water.

Nothing can prove my own human-ness faster than events like Easter.  Some of you may relate and some of you that I envy will wonder what the heck I am talking about!  There is just something about the pressure of wanting everyone to look "nice" for pictures and for a specific event that will find me short on patience and saying and thinking ridiculous things. 

I start out with a Martha Stewart ideal and always end up with something more like Roseanne (yes, I know...that's an old show, I just don't watch much tv anymore!)  Hmmm, maybe that is because Martha Stewart didn't have eight children in her home or maybe I get a big Fail or maybe it is somewhere between the two. 

Either way, the ideal perfection that I am aiming for usually ends up with me giving up and all of us heading for the van in our "imperfect" state for church. 

And, guess when the real fun and togetherness begins?

Once I let go and let the kids be kids and be messy and just have fun at Easter time and if I get good pics then I do and if I don't?  Well, the world will keep rotating and God will be happier with my mothering. 

But, do I learn?  Hmmm, well a little bit each year perhaps.  But, not quite enough to prevent me from doing it again.  Ahhh, maybe 2013 is the year!  I will either get better organized the night before or we'll just head for church in our pajamas. LOL!


So I don't have beautiful picture perfect photos of the entire family donned in their Easter finery but I do think I have a video of a small curly haired fairy that will touch your heart. 

You see, K. started a whole new Easter tradition.  When in doubt and you can't find your egg....call to it! Press play and bask in the cuteness!!!


Okay, so I did get some cute pics even if they included untucked shirts and missing barrettes.

 I have soooo many stories left to tell!!!  I actually find that we have a story for every day of the week but just no time to write them down!  But, I have some good/awful flooding stories and can you imagine another addition to the family? :-)

Exciting present for the twin's 5th birthday!!!

I had been writing a blog post on the twin's language and in the middle of it all got the most wonderful news!  Our next court date has been set and our adoption will be finalized on the twin's birthday!!!  I was a little sad at first knowing that my husband would be gone (only one of us has to travel to their country for court this time) for their birthday party and then realized....wait a minute!  They will be getting a family for their 5th birthday, who could possibly top that!?!  I'm so excited!!!

But first, I apologize for the lack of blogging!  I am so sorry that I am missing out on documenting these first weeks....but this is how I am with a newborn too so I shouldn't be surprised. 

I also want to thank everyone for their prayers and ultimately to thank God for His patience with me!  Robert has found a job....one that meets our needs even though it may not meet my wants.  We may have to keep looking and there may still be some changes in our future but for now...we can eat and pay our bills.  We all have learned to be grateful for the basic things and ultimately that is such a blessing.  So, we continue to press forward with lots of humility....and I am working to pray more and worry less and keep a brighter attitude (admitting that I fail at this frequently :(

On to more fun topics!  One of the things I have been asked about the most is how the twins are doing with learning English.  It is such a funny topic for our family because they are completely polar opposites on this one.  (please forgive my hair in this pic, it was a damp day which makes my hair a bit wiggy!)

I. is speaking in full sentences and runs around the house touching things and asking the name for it.  We all immediately thought of the scene in the movie with Helen Keller where she is so excited to learn and find out everything she can as fast as possible. 

I.'s foster mother described him as "the professor".  We think that is a great descriptive for him!  He is curious about everything and is very intelligent.  He asks about everything and has this deep desire to know all.  He is also very active and can get over stimulated very easily.  He can have wonderful calm moments though where he is incredibly sweet and very affectionate.  He tells me "I love you" and gives hugs and kisses frequently throughout the day.

I like to call K. my little fairy princess.  She is flat out adorable and she knows it. :-)  She is also very smart but seems to launch her intelligence into more creative works and dramatic play.  She can make an entire game with a single string and play quietly for hours.  We were in the US Embassy waiting room for five minutes before she had already transformed the waiting room into her own little cafe!

K. started out with an indifference to English and then once we arrived home to the U.S., she announced "NO English!"  And, decided that she would teach us her language.  Which, I might add, has worked to some degree because we know many more words now than we did while in-country. 

So, while I. absolutely never speaks his native language unless he is talking with his sister, she always speaks in her native language and she will speak loudly and slowly in hopes that we will finally get a clue and begin to learn! LOL!

K. is so funny though, because every once in awhile an English word or phrase will slip out with near perfect pronunciation and clarity. 

They are both doing perfectly as far as I am concerned and we are just enjoying their very distinct and super dynamic personalities. :-)

So, I decided it might be fun to recall their very first words and then go on to the words they know now.

Very first words (during the first month in their country):
Mommy

Daddy

I love you (taught by their very loving foster mother)

*water*-we knew it in both languages and man did we use this word! (we used this term for so many things....thirsty, river, bath time, swimming at the water park)

EAT!

milk

pee pee (don't know how they knew this term but it worked for asking about needing to use the restroom....well, until K. decided that she didn't actually need to do #1 but rather #2 so that this term didn't apply and she was completely frustrated and nearly had an accident before we figured it out because she kept insisting No! No, pee pee! :/

Horse (this is because I. absolutely *loves* them!)

Baby-K. loves to play "baby" and I loved the benefits of getting a lot of cuddling and holding in

Blankie-they truly loved (and still use) the super soft egyptian cotton baby blankets that we got for them

Kitty-another game that K. likes to play-she is a very sweet and cuddly little kitty

Doggie-another game that I. likes to play-he is a very boisterous and loud barking doggie!

SWIM-this is the word they use for taking baths and also going to the water park

Chocolate-I wouldn't have thought of this as a first word but...everybody loves chocolate, right? :-)

Boat-look for past pics that show the huge cruise boat that we had a view of from our gorgeous apartment while we were in-country.

Juice

Be nice/not be nice-I don't know how this was the term I chose to use but once it was understood, we kind of stuck with it...possibility out of desperation and necessity

Yucky!-mostly reserved for strange/unknown foods

Taxi/car


Words from our 2nd month together:

PLAY! :-)

Most of the body parts-eyes, ears, teeth, hair, head, legs, arms, mouth etc

Dead-I know, it is a strange one to put in first words but children at this age really do seem fascinated with life and with death...ie whenever there is a dead bug etc.  K. has a game where she pretends to choke and die and we all say "Oh no!  She's dead!" and then she springs back to life and runs away giggling and laughing!  She adores playing this game...

TV- Of course!  Not my favorite word and I am really trying to limit this now but like many children they truly enjoy cartoons....especially Tom and Jerry which seemed to be always playing in the restaurant while we were in-country

Outside-what a treat it is to go outside and romp in the warmth after being so cold in the snow!

Shoes-because we have to have those on to go outside

Get dressed/shirt/pants

Walk-as in "going for a walk" which involves going on the levy across the street from us and going down to the beach at the river

Good morning-this is the term that I. also uses when I tell him something we can do in the morning...he wants reassurance that when we say "good morning!" that he can do or eat whatever it is that he is wanting

Let's go!

Many foods(some they can't say-but they understand)- yogurt, chips, banana, apple, rice, KETCHUP, milk, cereal, ICE CREAM(!!!), sprinkles, meat, chicken, cucumbers, carrot, orange, cheese(usually followed by "yucky"), pizza, popcorn, and pie

Stop!  Go!

Cup/fork/spoon

Sleep/Tired

Words favored by I.

Bottom-I. thinks that he has the word like (b-u-t-t) but I am content that bottom is a much nicer word to use! :-)

Poo-poo-he and Eleanor (our three year old) unfortunately, quite enjoy the "potty talk"

Flamingo!-He loved the flamingo at the zoo and then got a magic egg that hatches in the water and grows into a.....flamingo, of course!  His actual word is "mingo!"

HORSE-loves them, wants to watch movies about them, pretends he is one, and loves any book with them in it!

Words favored by K.

Princess!

Ice cream!-I know, I mentioned this one already, but she absolutely *loves* this and it helps the medicine to go down much more happily :-)

Owie!-Any tiny little scratch or nick and she comes running to me for lots of kisses and of course to have a dramatic reaction of how badly wounded she is!  A band-aid is also a must!

Uppa!-her word for "up" and she says it when she wants me to pick her up and hold her.  Very cute!

*Thanks to those who made it this far and hopefully I will have some fun Easter stories and pics to share soon!