Have baby, will travel

Short Version: Sorry we haven't posted in a while. We've been quite busy!

Long Version: It's been a whirlwind 2 weeks for our family. Two Saturdays ago, we got a call that David's father, who was in a nursing home with Parkinson's, was doing very poorly and we needed to come right away. We loaded up the family and headed to Mississippi. Fortunately, his father is now much better. In the meantime, David and Elizabeth stayed in a hotel in Meridian for a week while David helped his mother get his dad through surgery and moved back to their house with hospice help. Jonathan and I drove back to Lexington to go to work and school. Adding to the hectic pace was the end-of-the-month invoicing for my office (our busiest time of the month!), as well as a large deposition that I had to testify in for a case I worked on in 2001. After those were over (3 grueling days later), Jon and I returned to Mississippi to reunite the family, then Jon went to his mom's for Spring Break, and David, Elizabeth, and I went to Nashville for a conference I had for work. The plan was to stay 2 nights in Nashville, then head to Atlanta for a much-needed vacation. But, we all know what happens to the "best laid plans..." Our plans were thrown to the wayside when a huge storm system accompanied by several tornadoes hit Kentucky on Sunday night. With visions of storm-duty dancing in my head, we had to pack up and head back to Kentucky instead. Fortunately, we did get to spend an evening with cousin Robyn in Nashville before we hit the road again. Now, after a couple more long work days (which were supposed to be vacation days!), we're trying to sneak out to Atlanta today for a long weekend with Aunt Erin, Uncle Brad, and cousin Brooke before we pick Jonathan back up on Sunday. Wish us luck!!!

So, we've been living out of suitcases for the past 2 weeks:



On the babyfront, Elizabeth got her first tooth last week! Unfortunately, it was when David had her alone in the hotel, so he had a few very sleepless nights. We think the 2nd tooth is on its way in too.

She's also gotten VERY mobile, and quite squirmy! Diaper changing could be an Olympic event in our house. She's learned several new sounds, which are obvious precursors to talking. She also makes these sounds *constantly*, which leads us to believe that once she starts talking, she will never stop. One of these sounds also may mean "meow", although if it does, she's a little confused, because she says it to the dog too. She's pulling up and standing quite a bit, particularly if she wants to reach mommy, daddy, or the cat.



Her absolute favorite toy right now is her doll, LouLou, who has to go everywhere she does. David thought he looked quite stylish carrying his dolly...er, Elizabeth's dolly...throughout the hospital!



And, needless to say, she's just the most wonderful baby in the whole world. She made it through the past 2 hectic weeks without a hitch, other than keeping mommy and daddy up all night in the hotels with her loud sleeping!