What a difference a week makes!

So it has been another crazy week. Last Saturday (the 17th) it was a great day, so we borrowed Samuel's backpack carrier and went hiking up by the Huntington Museum trails. Sam loved it, for 10 minutes. The next 50 or so were spent crying and saying that she wanted out. Glad we did not buy our own carrier. Here are some early pictures.

It was a nice view, but a not as nice hike because of her complaining. She is usually so great, but she just was not having it.
We toured the museum afterwards. They have a cool atrium with a Chihuly that is in a pond with fish. Sam loved the fish and the nice security guard even fed them to get them moving around. He offered to let Sam do it, but I was not sure about that.

Here she is at Taco Bell afterwards. We let her chose and she likes tacos. She also loves to hang on their rail.
Then, my parents came last Sunday. We had a great night Sunday. I made dinner and we goofed off, all trying on a spiderman mask they had found. Sam is still a huge spiderman fan. I am the only one who did a web fling. It is hard to tell, but the mask lights up green around the eyes.

Then, on Monday at 6:45, I flew off to Pueblo. More accurately, I flew to Charlotte, then Denver, then Colorado Springs, and then was driven to Pueblo. I had a tour of the city and spent Tuesday in meetings, interviews, and gave 2 talks. It was crazy busy and I did not get home until 1150 pm Wednesday. On top of that, Sam got sick while I was gone. I felt like something was wrong, but I figured it was just leaving, stress and because I had just been on a trip with Sam. By afternoon, Sam had a 103 fever. I figured she must have strep, since I had just had that and she said her throat hurt, especially when she coughed. Nick called and the doctor said to wait and watch. But that evening she started wheezing and a barking cough, yep she had croup. It sounds like it was scary, with a fever around 105, but it may have not been that high. She had problems breathing and would only offer a small nod or shake of the head to questions. She had to have a breathing treatment and a steroid shot. Actually, it took 4 shots. They had to split it and one nurse took 3 times to get her part in. And they sent steroids home for us to give her. It was so hard to be away when she was so sick, but she was a trooper. I am so proud of her. What an amazing little girl. And I have never been so glad to make it back to Huntington or to be woken up in the morning, even if the voice was calling for Nana. I am so glad my parents were here. We owe them so much. Nick needed them here to be able to still teach, but with her illness, they were a godsend. They are the best grandparents ever. Thanks so much!

Here is a family shot since it has been awhile since we posted one.

Sam is much better now, with only really a cough and some sadness. We told her we were going to nana and papa's in a few weeks, but she keeps wanting to go now. She really misses them.

Wish us luck getting through packing up and storing our stuff, getting through the end of the semester and figuring out where we will be come August. Hugs to all!

Happy 90th Mama!

Here are pictures from the Florida trip Sam and I took for my grandmother's 90th birthday. It was the first time Sam and I flew alone. It was also the first time we had to buy her a seat. She was great. I was a bit annoyed because coming home the plane was empty but we got put on the 3 seat side with an overweight woman. But Sam was a dream, even without a nap on the way down. And she was pretty good about potty training. She of course said she had to go right when it was time to board even though I had taken her twice in the past hour. And she did have an accident in Florida while we were shopping. But mostly she did great.

This is the way to travel, a movie and a lollipop :)

Not only did my mom bring toys, but my aunts and grandmother added to the loot. Sam had so much to play with.

My Aunt Eunice came over for one day.

She loved hanging out with Papa.

And with Mama.
My grandmother had something like 6 cakes for her birthday. Here is a cute lady bug one.

My great aunt Jenny came over for lunch one day. We had to wait a long time for pizza and Sam loved singing with Aunt Jenny.

Here are 4 generations with another cake.

And Sam had a blast with her second cousin, Alexandra. She is very tall, 5'8", at 11 and an incredible golfer. She even beat my dad. Maybe one day he can get a shout out on the WPGA.

All aboard!

Before Sam and I flew to Florida to meet my parents and go celebrate my Grandmother's 90th birthday, we went to a Mom's club event. We toured a local train museum. It was not quite what I expected. It was a few pieces of old trains that you went through. I learned a lot, but Sam just enjoyed pushing the levers and such.

This one is from a more modern diesel engine. The engineer or conductor has to be sitting in the chair or the train will stop. They used to just have to have weight on the seat, so they would put a brick there, so it now requires weight and heat.

Sam is always up for playing with a phone. She is practicing to be someone important for sure.

This was a huge coal driven engine.
And this was a caboose. I think this was the mountain one.

I will post the Florida pictures soon.

Happy Easter

Things are back to almost normal. We went to the park on Monday and met up with some mom's club friends. Today was lunch and target. Tomorrow we are going to a railroad museum.

My mom sent this dress and Sam wanted to play with it. Here is a silly face.

And a more normal one.
Eating some Easter candy. We did not make it to church because of my strep, but Sam enjoyed herself. We also got to web chat with both sets of grandparents and some aunts/uncles/cousins, including being on a web chat during the earthquake. Glad that was not worse!

Happy Easter!

April is in with a bang!

So I have been sick since last Friday when we were in Columbus. Sam had a touch of a fever when we got back, but recovered quickly with some extra rest. I, however, went downhill. I had a fever of almost 102 on Tuesday, got better Wednesday, still taught and went to a meeting on Thursday, and ended up worse. I had a doctor's appointment anyway set for Friday, so what was to be a check-up became a sick visit. The doctor was impressed by my huge lymph nodes. I get that reaction a lot, evidently I have very reactive lymph nodes in my throat. Turns out I have strep. I am already much better with a couple doses of antibiotics and the extra rest. Poor Nick has been having to cover for me, cooking and playing with Sam a lot. Although I still did take care of her while he was at work. Those were pretty long days! Luckily, she is pretty good at entertaining herself some and is always up for some television. And it coincided with needing to get her back on track for potty training, so I could offer a movie when she pooped. She is doing great again after a struggle from being sick before we went on our trip.

We are in for a busy April. Sam and I are going to meet up with my parents in Florida to visit my grandmother, who is turning 90! We will not be there for her actual birthday, but wanted to avoid the expense and hassle of Easter travel, which turns out to be a huge blessing since I cannot imagine travelling right now. I am also headed out to Pueblo, Co for another interview towards the end of the month. Thank goodness my parents can come to the rescue again, or Nick would have had to cancel a lot of classes. We are so blessed to have them close enough and healthy enough to help us out so often. And also so willing. They are the best! It will be great to have them here again. We have not seen them since early February.

Also, in addition to possibly ending up in another state, we will probably have to move, even if we stay at Marshall. The place we are renting is not being flexible, so they are going to start showing it. I am not a huge fan of uncertainty, but I am learning to cope with not knowing where I will live come August. I will be much more content once we can settle somewhere for a few years :) Marshall is just not that place. But we have learned a lot from a year here and hopefully will soon carry that knowledge someplace else.

Right now, I am trying to live by this quote:

“Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself... 'How did I get through all of that?”

I have not taken too many pictures lately, since I have not had the energy to even get the camera :) I tried to upload a video, but it does not want to work today. So more later...