Happy Anniversary!

Today is our two year. We have a lot to be grateful for! We spent the night in the ER last night. Damn kidney stones! Todd was a trooper on Daddy duty with a sick baby and a wife that couldn't even walk because of the pain;) This is what love and marriage is all about right?! As he was helping me tie my hospital gown I turned around and wished him a happy Anniversary - ha ha! I hope we get time to celebrate our special day before the week is out. I'm scheduled for surgery on Thursday to clean out my kidneys and if I'm feeling a-o-k Jennifer has agreed to watch Veda so we can have a special dinner together;) Hooray!

This stinks!

Bean has a cold. You know those kids you see with a stream of snot from their nose to their mouth? With dry snot smeared across their cheeks? Weezing and coughing and sneezing? This is my princess. It came out in full bloom yesterday. It was so bad by the time she went to sleep that we had to put her to sleep sitting up in her car seat next to the vaporizer. Mom slept on the floor.

We just put her to bed in her car seat again. I have the bed made up in her room and will sleep with her tonight. She just can't figure out that if she can't breathe through her nose - plugging up her mouth with her thumb will cause problems. We flew home today. I was worried about her ears and her cold but she managed.

My Blackbery busted on Sat so I know longer have my link to the world. I'm surprised how little it bothers me - right now. A new one is on the way but I suspect I may have lost my 300 some phone numbers as I can't find the back-up. Awesome. I need digits!

Tons of Fun in the IC

Carpooling

Each time I take the 405 I dutifully stay in the regular lane even though I have Veda in the car and could possibly use the HOV lane. I've never been sure if she counts as a "person" and whether or not I'd end up with a $300 ticket. I finally checked - and yes - she counts! Hooray.

Blah

That's how I feel. We spent all day at LAX on Saturday waiting on a delayed flight that ended up cancelled. We drove the long hour home and did it all over again on Sunday. We barely barely made our connection in Denver as our flight was delayed again and I was drenched in sweat and about ready to lose my mind. Sweet Veda wouldn't sit still on the flights and insisted on pulling the arm hair and trying to grasp the glasses off of the innocent airline customer seated next to us. As if sitting in the middle was not bad enough, he had to endure two hours of harassment. On the second flight I had to change a poopy diaper in the aisle and I didn't think twice about it. I even made the guy sitting next to us hold her while I made a bottle. I didn't ask - I just sat her down and she crawled up on his lap. I didn't stop her - I needed a moment to get organized whether he liked it or not. For the record - I think he did even though he looked very nervous;)

I got up early and drove to Chicago today for a meeting. Tomorrow we will drive to Ames for a meeting at Iowa State. Veda gets to come along as we are meeting up with Grandma Laabs and she will play with the Bean while I'm off working. Here's a pic of Veda. Exhauseted from playing with Nana and Bull all day she fell asleep in the splits!

Bean Stalkers

When we started posting to the blog we added an analytics tool so we could track our visits. I can tell you that between March 16 and April 15 we had 256 unique visitors and more than 1800 visits. That's 256 people who now know that I'm not funny, that I don't know how to spell, and that Veda is so sweet you could eat her;)

The top 5 states are Iowa, California, Arizona, Missouri (Mrs. Fisher?:), and Ohio. Not much of a surprise.

Thanks for following;) Veda loves all the attention! Next week we will be travelling to Iowa. I have work in Iowa and Illinois and will do my best to post updates while I'm on the road. Todd will be kickin' it in the Natti with his good friend Jody at P&G Brand Manager College.

Veda's four food groups

Mom's shoe

My shoe

Dad's shoe

Anything Paper

I was dumb enough to give Veda the church program on Sunday to distract her.. Half way home we realized she had injested half of it. Whoops.

My First Easter

We had a great Easter Sunday. Best of all was the 2 hour nap that Mom and Veda took in the middle of the afternoon! We went to sunrise service at 6:30a on the beach! Waves crashing in the background - sun rising over the Santa Monica Mountains - really doesn't get any better than this. It was a perfect reminder of the wonder of God's creation.

It was early enough that we were able to get into one of our favorite breakfast places without worrying about long lines. Veda happily chewed on a straw and kept herself occupied while we ate;) When we got home we had an Easter Egg hunt in her crib! I tried to get her to figure out if she opened the eggs she would find a treat inside. Apparently we aren't quite that smart yet. We then went for our first swim in the pool! We loved it so we know what we'll be doing all summer!

Later in the afternoon we went to the park. Dad challenged Mom to a game of HORSE at the basketball court while Veda cheered me on. Didn't go so well but if you factor in my handicap I think I did alright. Then Steaks for dinner. A perfect day!

Funny "chubs" Face

I think this speaks for itself...

Happy Bunny vs. Angry Bunny vs. Real Life Bunny

It was all Bunnies, all day today...Veda was dressed with her bunny ears while we went for a walk...while on the walk home, we spotted a real life "albino" bunny (red eyes and all). Either the Easter Bunny was a day early or some unlucky kid lost their rabbit today??

Pouty Face

It's been too cold to take Veda swimming by her standards. I have been eager to try out the new floaty toy that Todd bought her so I decided the bathtub is big enough. She wasn't having it. I don't know if it was the bubbles or the scary lady bug or what but we quickly retreated to the baby bath where happy baby returned.

Veda Illustrates the Need to Baby Proof!

Bully

The other day Veda had her first play date with the Soffin boys and baby Rees (not pictured). At one point little Jacob started crying - we looked over and Veda was doing push ups on his back - laughing away. She would crawl over and grab the toys right out of their hands - ha ha - enjoy it while it lasts dear - pretty soon they'll be beating on you!

Little Miss Brainy

Ugh - I need a break. I'm having a tough time with miss V. I think she is getting too smart for me. I think she knows that I can not handle crying and whining and that it eventually results in horsey rides, long walks outside, or treats. I'm going to have to put on my bad cop hat and let her cry it out.

We Party !

No real story behind this picture...just partying with the cereal bowl and a spoon....just another day hanging out in the cage.

Beach Weather

It was a beautiful warm spring day in Southern California. We took Veda to the beach. I don't know if I'll ever get all the sand out of her chub rolls - ha ha. She is showing us new tricks everyday. She is eating finger foods now, drinking water from her sippy cup, and pulling herself into a standing position. Looking forward to what fun she has in store for us next week!

A+

Veda had another well baby Dr. appt today. She weighed in at a whopping 20lbs 6oz. She's at 90% for weight, 80% for height, and 70% for head. The Dr. didn't seem concered about her eating habits and was impressed in general with her progress. She only had to get one shot today and sqirmed but didn't even cry - she's a tough one.

Veda's visit to the park with Nana and Gramp Bull

New Trick

Veda was so excited to see us today when we returned from Tokyo that we couldn't get her down for her afternoon nap. She was exhausted and finally caved into sleep... while she was sitting up.