Dinner with the Fishes

That evening we went to the Downtown Aquarium to have dinner, tour the exhibits, pet stingrays, and see the white tigers.

Houston Getaway

This week we took a two night getaway to Houston.  We got passes to several museums and had a great time playing, learning, and relaxing.

Our first stop was the Houston Children's Museum, where we had fun in Kidopolis, playing in the Flowworks water area, and painted our faces.

 

Ready for Church

Just had to get a picture today, because everyone was ready, on time, and wearing matchy outfits!

Happy Birthday, Johnathan!

Johnathan is now 6!

It was all about Star Wars today, and we had fun watching Johnathan open his birthday stocking, ride his new bike, and play with several dozen little Star Wars figures he received.

It's safe to say he and Daddy were equally excited about the Star Wars toys.  The two of them set right to work acting out battles and using the Force together!

Johnathan's cake flavor of choice this year was lemon, so he got lemon cake with lemon frosting, homemade lemon curd filling, and lemon-flavored fondant stars.

Happy Birthday, Johnathan!  You bless our family with your sweetness and consideration, a fun imagination, and the most interesting questions ("Would you rather be a droid or an ewok?  And why?").  We love you, buddy!

Abby's First Bottle

4th of July Festivities

For the 4th, we participated in a slightly non-traditional way - Naomi hosted a high tea for her family.  We were graced with the presence of a knight, a scholar, and a little court jester!  After commemorating our British oppressors (hee hee!), we celebrated in a more traditional manner, cooking out with friends and watching fireworks in a pasture outside the Kurten Community Center. 

Oh, Where Is My Belly Button?

With every baby we have, I learn about a new medical condition I didn't know existed.  Abigail contributed to my education this month when her umbilical cord stump didn't fall off in the first few weeks like I was expecting.  When she was four weeks old and it was still firmly holding on, I called her pediatrician to ask if this was normal.  We weren't too concerned, since it didn't look infected, but when another week passed with no change, I took her to the doctor so she could look at it.

Over the next week and a half, we visited the doctor 3 times while she treated it with silver nitrate.  It finally began to separate, but on the third treatment, Abby acted as if it was really hurting after the doctor treated it.  Concerned that there could be a problem causing it to not come off, her doctor consulted a pediatric surgeon, who recommended blood work and an ultrasound to rule out several possible problems.  When we went to the ultrasound appointment, we discovered that that was not the right test to do, so Abby got to avoid that one after all.

In the midst of all this, the cord finally came off one night, so we're happy to report that Abby has a pretty little belly button and can now enjoy baths in her baby tub!  Crisis averted!!