Shorty

Shrimp, peewee, stubby, squatty, stumpy...I've started calling Elias these names to get him ready for the mean kids at school. All of his 18 month pants are way too long for him. I think he is going to be pint-sized, but I suppose it is too early to really tell. Oh well, I'm certain the mean kids will still be around once he goes to school, so a little early training won't hurt.

From Visitors to Vacation

Chris and Kareena (the reason we came)

We headed to airport with Brya; She went to San Francisco, and we went to LA for Matt's cousin's wedding. It was a whirlwind trip, but a great time.

Elias, Scout, Aaron, Noah (left to right)

When we arrived, we headed to Chris' Mom's house for a family get together. It was nice to catch up. We got the obligatory cousins' picture. It ended, as always, with the baby crying. I did a good job of getting the two older kids riled up with a tickle game behind the curtains. We all got in trouble for that one.


On Friday, after a breakfast at Ihop, we gathered at Andy and Diane's new house (it was beautiful). The kids loved playing in the pool. After a while the slide came out and Scout and Noah ran across the yard and "dove" into the pool from the side. They picked lemons from their very own lemon tree, and then proceeded to get stinging lemon juice all over their little cuts. Ouch. Someone else got in trouble for that one. That evening we had a nice dinner with all of the guests from out-of-town. Thanks Dave and Pat!

Great Aunt Serena and Elias

On Saturday morning we headed to the beach (wearing our reunion t-shirts, of course). We saw surfers, people standing up on boards and paddling around, and even some dolphins. Serena and I wished we had brought our suits.

Elias loving the waves splashing his feet

That afternoon was the wedding. Elias had trouble paying attention the whole time, but luckily this cup saved the day. The things kids like. We had a great time at the reception at Chris' Grandma's house!

It was nice to see the family, but as always, I wish there had been more time. Scout and Noah can't wait to see each other again. I'm looking forward to more hugs and kisses from Noah and more tickle wars with Scout. Ah...the Kiefers. Love you guys!

The New Zealand Invasion

Our friend Jess and her coworker Brya came into town for a work conference and stayed at the Kiefer/Ecklund inn. Unfortunately it coincided with the pink eye incident earlier described. As far as I know, no one else got my pink eye...which is the only good thing I can say about having it.

We had a great, busy time. Some of the activities were volleyball, trivia (they won), dancing (I worked the door instead of dancing...sniff, sniff), karaoke at Will's, game night at Dave's and more dancing. Oh yeah, they also went to their 4 day conference.

With all of the activities (and over half I didn't even attend) I can only hit the highlights:

-The parking lot attendant at the Turnverein directing me for about 10 minutes on parking my car in the exact place he wanted it.
-Cramming two bikes and a stroller into Matt's car with the car seat installed late at night in front of Jess and Brya's boss (she was impressed I got everything to fit)...then trying to get it all out again at home.
-Going to Taco Bell for a late night snack, taking pictures there, and having Matt ask, "Do they really want to go to Taco Bell?" when I him asked for directions.
-Laughing so hard I couldn't stand up when Brya split her pants playing a Wii game. I'm thinking if it was bad of me to laugh so hard at the time, it must be even worse to be writing about it here.

Game Night (no, my eyes weren't THAT red)

Brya

Pink Eye Sucks

...that about sums it up.

Daddy

Elias said "Daddy" for the first time yesterday and hasn't really stopped. We're not sure he knows who Daddy is, but he certainly knows we like it when he says it. No "Mommy" yet...I think Matt has been doing some coaching on the side.

Stepping It Up

I went running the other day, and as I entered the park, a race walker was just behind me. She quickly passed me, and I knew that I had to pick up the pace. I couldn't let a walker be faster than me running...even if I was pushing a stroller. With difficulty, I managed to catch and pass her, but I'm not sure how long I could have kept it up.

I'd hate to think what would have happened if she was being chased by men carrying Samurai swords (A reference from this week's NPR program, "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me").

Book Club Take II

My friend Carissa and I started a brand new book club, and we met last week to kick things off. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and we have plans already for the next two meetings. The food was outstanding...stir fry, gyosas and homemade icecream (green tea and heath bar crunch) and cookies. Carissa picked the book, The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexabder. It was pretty good historical fiction. We did a fair amount of book club discussion, with even a history lesson with handouts. I will have to pick a book in a few months. Any ideas?

What....A.....Day

Saturday, Elias woke up wheezing and crabby. Super duper crabby. In fact, he wouldn't drink his milk or eat, and cried for about two hours even if we carried him around. He has had wheezing before, but it doesn't usually affect him much.

We took him to Urgent Care around 9:00. Turns out he has an ear infection. He felt better after getting some pain reliever drops in his ears and even had some milk. Unfortunately, he was still wheezing, so we stayed until about 1:30 doing nebulizer treatment after nebulizer treatment (with some chest xrays in between) until his oxygen level was high enough. That is 4 1/2 hours people. All of us were ready to go after about the 4th treatment. I guess following the directions on our box of meds for the nebulizer (1/2 a container every 4 - 6 hours) is just a guideline.

He has a cold and it moved into his chest a little bit (happens quite often). By Sunday afternoon the wheezing had cleared up completely. I know, I know, the doctor was just being thorough. But as Matt pointed out it, we have had more experiences than not where we take Elias in to be checked out and we feel like we become prisoners. Wonder what he'll get next.