Family time with the Lowry's in Intercourse, PA

 I think Eli saw one too many antique stores.

Good eats at Fuddrucker's with Grandma & Grandma Mac.

I love this quote. 

Inside Jim's head, "make the torture stop.  Hehe we are in 

Intercourse with my parents.  That's a dirty name for a town. Squirrel."

 Jim didn't love the Amish shops quite as much

as Janet and me (or is it I). Always get that confused.

Amish Country Here We Come!!

We found a cute store that has handmade baby clothes.  I couldn't resist buying Eliza an outfit for this coming winter in pink and a beautiful sweater with little pink, blue, and yellow flowers.  What can I say, I love handmade things... and they are ohh so soft!

 

 Grandma & Grandpa Mac bought Eliza's baby blessing dress, shoes, and blanket.  She is going to look gorgeous in them.

Eli - Leader of Eli-Qaeda

This is Jim. I've recently discovered something about my daughter. She is the leader of a terror group. As Darth Chicken, she is leading the Eli-Qaeda group, whose objective is the overthrow of Mom and Dad's parenting stewardship.

She is fighting the war from within the family ranks and leading a successful campaign. She has both Danielle and me held captive with no release in sight. We aren't even allowed a one hour exercise break on most days. She is using effective interrogation techniques to learn our parenting styles and skills. Techniques such as incessant loud noises, sleep deprivation, and stink bombs are being deployed mercilessly. 

Danielle and I are plotting our escape through various means, but fear Darth Chicken may have already gleaned too much information to make the escape possible. We will do our best to hold out and fight the good fight. Eli-Qaeda must be stopped, for the good of the world! Grandparents everywhere will need Eli-Qaeda destroyed in order to want Darth Chicken around. Keep us in your prayers, we need them. Darth Chicken must not win!

May the force be with us.

Prisoners 1112542 and 1112543

Don't let her cuteness fool you... That's how we were captured...

In the thick of it... or should I say the "thin" of it.

This morning Jim was feeding Eliza when his buddy called asking questions about work.  I took Eliza from him so he wouldn't have to juggle her in his lap with one hand on the bottle and the other on the phone.  Two seconds after I got her in my lap, she had a massive diaper blowout.  A warm stream of brown liquid ran down my shirt and formed a small pool on my jeans.  I had to yell at Jim to get off the phone and help me before it over flowed onto the couch.  Disgusting!! Lets just say Jim owes me BIG time.  I may not have taken a bullet, but I took being blasted with "baby boo" for him.  I have a sneaking suspicion that there will be more of these moments in my future.  

- Danielle

Darth Chicken - The force is strong with this one!

This is Jim. Danielle wanted to make sure that was clear.

Today we had an epiphany; our daughter is a dark lord of the sith that is manipulating us through the baby force. How can we possibly know this? Simple, she rules over us with a baby sized thumb. We must react to her every whim or she makes sure to let us know we have failed her. The evil eye is a staple when she is in her swing and we are not holding her. We can tell she is plotting her revenge.

Since we determine she is a sith lord, we felt it appropriate to determine what her name should be. Darth Baby was lacking. Then we noticed, that her head movements resemble a chicken. She darts left and right, up and down and a whim. All her head movement is jittery and random. However, we can see that her force powers are giving her incredible precision when she stops using her head. For this reason we have named her Darth Chicken.

Danielle and I are doing all we can to bring her to the light side of the force, but we have some work to do. Hopefully the scripture reading in the morning we bring her to the right side before she is a teenager. If not, I fear she will be lost to the dark side forever.

Pray for us.

Jim, Danielle, and Darth Chicken

Life as we know it

Since coming back from California life has been good.  I think with all the craziness of having a baby with medical complications and colic, we were knocked off our feet.  And as every parent can tell you, you are basically a hostage till they are between 4-6 months or at least sleeping through most of the night.

It was wonderful having Danee help us learn how to keep living with a baby.  Jim and I haven't spent, well any time with people who have babies.  Being in the single wards so long you forget that families and little people exist, or at least I did.  This past week I've had some time to reflect on where I am now in my life... baby, marriage, career at home for the time being.  These are all things I didn't spend much time planning for.  I spent years planning for graduate school and my career.  I have learned that if I don't work for something I tend not to appreciate it as much.  This filled both Jim and I with guilt as so many people we know have struggled for these things.

As I have gotten back into a daily routine, I have worked on appreciating my little family.  It has been wonderful to see Jim bounce back and enjoy Eliza as she has been learning to laugh and make silly noises.  We have started what I hope will be a new tradition of cuddling in bed together (Eliza sandwiched in the middle) in the mornings while reading the scriptures together as a family.

Thank you to all our friends and family that have lent their time, support, and prayers.

- Danielle, Jim, & Eliza

Surgical Follow-up Appointment

We had Eli's follow-up with Dr. Rice to see how she has healed from the surgery.  Everything looks good, but he would like us to come back when she is a year old for one more follow-up.  We are so glad that she is doing well and thriving.  We have been blessed.