Parenting dilemma

Now that the weather's nice, David and I really like to take walks around our neighborhood in the evenings. But, Elizabeth really doesn't like sitting in the stroller for that long anymore, so we've started letting her walk with us. A few nights ago, Elizabeth decided she wanted to take her doll, Lou Lou, in her doll stroller for our nightly walk. She was having a great time pushing Lou Lou, running up ahead of us on the sidewalk. Instinctively, David yelled out to her not to run on the sidewalk, for he knew that she would eventually fall (her klutziness is well documented). But, she was having such a great time, laughing and running, that I told him to let her run, as she'd eventually have to learn about skinned knees. Sure enough, not 5 minutes later, she fell and skinned her knee for the very 1st time. (Yes, that's hard to believe, I know, but she's never been much of a risk taker.) We had the requisite tears, and the all important choosing of the Dora band-aid, but it really was sore for quite a while, and caused her a lot of discomfort.





So, as you can guess, I had moments of remorse where I regretted not letting David keep our baby safe. After all, you never want to see your child hurt. It's hard to find a happy medium between protecting your child from the world and letting them enjoy being a kid. If anyone ever gets it figured out perfectly, please let me know.

But, it does appear that our lesson worked. Last night, as Elizabeth was preparing to go outside, she told me she was going to walk because she didn't want another boo-boo...

Too cool for smiles

(Click the picture to enlarge it. This seems to be Elizabeth's new favorite expression for the camera.)

Wonderful homecoming

I had to go out of town for work on Monday night. After working 2 very long days, I received this very sweet surprise when I got home on Tuesday:





Flowers, candy, and a Welcome Home sign. Awwww.... I have the most wonderful husband in the world.

Now, David promises that this lovely surprise was planned well in advance. But, I couldn't help but notice that it happened right at the same time that our minister was awarded the title, "The Greatest Romantic", by Princess Cruises. Hmmm....think he was feeling a little bit of competition? :)

Spring is back and the weather's beautiful again. And, Elizabeth is finally almost back to normal healthwise. Yeah!!!

In remembrance of Spring

For the past week, these beautiful flowers have been gracing the rhododendrons that David planted in our front yard. They've been beautiful to see - a wonderful accompaniment to the absolutely wonderful spring weather we had at the beginning of the week (sunny with temperatures in the 60s and 70s). Everyone was outside - the kids were playing and the adults were working in their yards, going for walks, washing their cars, and just catching up with the neighbors they hadn't seen all winter. It was fantastic.

But, alas, we have bid farewell to Spring once again. Not to welcome Summer in, as most of the world would expect. Oh no, because we live in Kentucky, the land of the fickle weather, Winter has decided to visit us once again. It's been rainy and 40 degrees all day today, and tonight, they're predicting snow showers again. Sigh...

So, farewell dear friend Spring. Please try to come back again soon. We really love having you around.

Feeling icky

Elizabeth has been sick for most of the week. She had a bit of a runny nose over the weekend, but nothing too serious. Then, I had the pleasure of getting her out of bed early on Tuesday just as she started throwing up. She couldn't keep anything down for most of the day, but her stomach got better after that and she's been eating pretty normally since then. The next distinct symptom was a light rash that developed all over her face, stomach, and back yesterday. It doesn't seem to itch and has gotten darker/lighter throughout the day, depending on how active she is. Through all of this, she's had a low grade fluctuating fever and has been slightly irritable, but nothing to indicate she's incredibly sick.

By turning to Dr. Google, I think she has a viral exanthem (oooooo...how's that for a fancy name?). Most probably, it's Fifth Disease, which has a very ominous-sounding name, but actually seems to be pretty benign. Hopefully, it will go away soon. David needs a break after staying home with a sick child all week!

Vacation update

We're still having a great time on our vacation this week. On Monday, we stopped on our way between family visits and went to the Birmingham Zoo. The zoo is pretty small, but it was perfect for small kids. We thought the weather was really nice after the winter we've had at home, but it must have seemed too cool and cloudy for the Alabamans, because we practically had the place to ourselves.

Here's Elizabeth riding the frog statue:





And the carousel:



Brushing the goats in the petting zoo:



Playing on the playground:





And waiting for the Sea Lion show with her brand new friend, "Shazam" (oh, yeah, and Daddy!):



We got to the Hobbs house last night and have been having a great time visiting, as you can see:











Elizabeth and Brooke have declared themselves "best friends," and have really been playing well together (despite a few typical 3-year-old squabbles). They even had a "sleepover" in Brooke's room last night, and it went great. It's really neat to see them getting along so well.

The only bad part was that Aunt Amy was not able to come to visit after all. Hope you're feeling better soon, Aunt Amy!