When the kids were in PA for 10 days during Gracie's surgery, they spent hours doing Perler Bead Projects.  Now we have a huge zip loc bag full of these things.  Darcy came up with the idea to have a store, and I guided the entrepreneurial effort by suggesting the profits could go to the local crisis pregnancy center.  We had a speaker from CARE NET Pregnancy Resource Center come the other week and the kids have been filling up a baby bottle with change to give to this organization.  If anyone Read More

I don't think we've ever done President's Day weekend right before.  This year we did it justice, thanks to the Pennsylvania Garmans coming down for a visit.  The weekend included a twelve passenger van, twenty dollars worth of parking at the National Zoo (where we witnessed an ape repeatedly drinking its urine), forty-five degree weather at Mount Vernon (Brett, you told me it would be 70 degrees!), seven kids, three strollers, two hours at the Smithsonian Air and Space Center, and one failed Read More

Every February, my mom visits us.  This tradition started back in February of 2003 on a snow day.  I will still in my pajamas, and Colby suddenly got very concerned that we didn't have any milk.  He insisted that at the very moment, weHAD to BOTH go to Food Lion and pick some up.  I threw a coat on and followed him, feeling very confused. We walked through the aisles, and I kept looking around, not sure what was going to happen.  Then it happened.  I heard the same dog whistle that my mother Read More

I think this picture of my baby pretty much sums up my life. No matter how hard I try, there is always one sock missing. The other day we had two appointments on the calendar.  I rehearsed with the kids our schedule for the day, I packed lunches, I made sure I had a bottle ready, and I even got the house all picked up so that it would look perfect when we returned home.  I was trying so hard.  We checked off all the subjects for school, we all had clean bodies and all the kids nails were Read More

I learned how to post bigger pictures...yes!   Read More

Gracie has done PHENOMONAL the last 3 weeks since her open-heart surgery.  I took her to the doctor's on Wednesday and got the news:  I can start to treat her like a normal baby again.  For us that means picking her up under her arms, putting her in her jumper, and bathing her normally (Brett, I don't even want to hear it...). Here's what we've done recently to celebrate:   Read More

Gracie is ready to be released from the hospital! We will probably be gone by noon today. She has recovered extremely fast and seems almost totally free of pain with only a little tylenol to cut it down. As of last evening we could really see that she was begin to act like she normally does. So, we will spend the night at the house in Crozet and make our way back to Dumfries tomorrow. Read More

Last night Gracie left the PICU. This morning she had her chest tube out. She has just one more line that needs to come out and she will not have any left. She is eating well and her appetite is starting to pick up. Were not sure yet how many more days she'll need at the hospital, but she is doing great. Read More