I'm so ashamed

Shannon's answer is a want-a-be foodies worst nightmare.

On the other hand, this child is completely my daughter. I used to make up random songs just to keep the camera rolling. I'm sure she would have kept singing until the battery died.

Little Drummer Boy

My little guy actually has some rhythm!

One more time around

I appreciate all the calls and voices of concern on behalf of my youngest sister Lindsey. For those of you who haven't had the privilege of meeting Lindsey, she's amazing.


At age 9 she was first diagnosed with leukemia. At age 14 she relapsed. This past week she entered St Jude hospital for her 3rd, and final relapse. Once we get this kid into remissions, she's going straight to bone marrow transplant. While the shock and sadness hasn't worn off, Lindsey's attitude has rallied us all. We can't wait to get in, beat this thing, and be done forever!


We went to Memphis as soon as we could and thought you'd like to see some pics of how Lindsey is doing. Also, Lindsey has a blog so you can track her progress and leave her words of encouragement.


http://lindseyatstjude.blogspot.com/


Here's her new address


Target House 1
Lindsey Gruwell
Room 200
1811 Poplar Ave
Memphis, TN 38104

Lindsey's the best Aunt ever, even when she getting chemo

I made Lindsey take this pic as an ode to Twilight. The girl received blood products for 3 days straight. Hopefully she will transition from this "newborn" state soon and start draining other forms of nutrients.

Bracelet Buddies!

With my medical record number and bracelet, I'm now and official St Jude patient. I'm so honored and humbled to be her bone marrow donor.

Shannon was able to play with an old Memphis buddy, who is now fighting her own battle with neuroblastoma. We can't wait to see them again on our next visit. Keep up the good work Emma (and Kerie).

St Jude is such an amazing place. It's one of the few places that you feel the spirit. Everything is 100% geared towards the kids. They have these cute wagons for them to ride in, which was a big help not to have to carry around 25 pounds of pure Adam love.

Check out this cafeteria. I didn't even get a shot of the ice cream parlor. I'll have save that for the next visit.

Adam ate enough mac and cheese and baked beans to last a lifetime. I'm going through BBQ withdrawals. Thank goodness we're heading back in 9 days.

Crash and Burn

Crash, burn, code blue, DOA (dead on arrival)...words that went though my mind as we tried to resuscitate our hard drive. In the end, there was nothing we could do but mourn the fact that I hadn't backed up the hard drive since before Adam was born. I might have one picture of his birth floating somewhere in cyber space, but I can't think too much about it because it's depressing. Oh, not to mention Steve's school files and all my recipes. So to make it up to Adam I've tried to take tons of pics to prove he was not adopted (because I know there will be days when he swears he is). This also explains my two week hiatus from blogging as I was without computer/Internet. You'd think I'd have some deceleration of how many books I read since I didn't have the constant temptation of Internet, but it's so much longer to do things (like locate an address or find a movie time) without the web that life is much easier now that I'm "logged on".St Patty's DayI usually do a traditional feast of Irish Brown Bread, Corned beef and potatoes, finished off with bread pudding, but Adam's been a little demanding lately and we ended up with corned beef sandwiches and potato chips. My sweet visiting teachers made me some chocolate clover suckers, which we had for dessert.Hmm, who does this child remind me of? Oh yeah, me.

Happy Birthday to Me
I turned the big 29 on March 20th. My best bud Araksya planned a week ahead of time and made me a feast! Mexican food (my fav), homemade whole wheat bread (No one makes it like she does) and chocolate molten cakes (filled with chocolate, caramel, and mine had peanut butter...does this girl know me or what?)Shannon loved the dinner (even Adam ate some) and gave it 2 thumbs way up. It was so good and no dishes to clean! After I botched the directions on my own cake, I called Steve and had him pick up a slice of caramel cake at a local German bakers. Then Chelsea brought me some homemade hot fudge sauce and ice cream. I was spoiled!

After seeing what I ate this weekend, I'd better stop complaining about those extra pounds I'm having a hard time loosing. Maybe I'll just embrace them. Pass the leftovers.

Adam continues to progress gastronomically...he's added a sippy cup to his already full meal plan. Painting Party

What do you do for a friend having their 3rd girl? Help paint the nursery. It was a good excuse to get some girl time and practicing my painting skills on someone else's wall.

No turning back now.

Moving right along

No ladder necessary for the shorty

Since I was at the party, there had to be food.
Orange Cranberry Pull Apart

Ham and Cheese Crepes

Now that I have a computer, I will fulfill my promise to blog more.

Elder Gruwell

My brother Daniel has been on his mission in Carlsbad, CA since August. I thought I'd let you view some of the things he's been up to. Pictures are truly worth a thousand words. Although I read his letters and can't wait to one day meet this spiritual giant that is constantly growing, when I see his pictures I'm comforted that there's still a bit of "Dizzle" sticking around.Daniels' always had original corny phrases. Now he is channelling that energy into missionary work. On the plane to California, someone saw him in his suit and asked if he was going somewhere on business. Daniel's reply, "Yes, I'm on the Lord's business." When asked what someone could feed the missionaries, Daniel's answer, "Referrals."Even though I couldn't get this pic to rotate, I had to include it. As a fellow connoisseur of Mexican food I was blown away by(and jealous of) the size of this burrito. I'm not sure what inside it, but I have visions of Cafe Rio dancing in my head.Daniel's always been an artist and he's continuing to be creative with limited means.How I would feel if I were learning a new language or two.

Aren't missionaries cute? Especially this one.

A humble Christmas.

I have no comment on this pic.

Daniel gets to check my blog on Tuesdays. We love you Daniel and are so proud of the work you are doing and the man you are becoming.

Bipolar Alabama

I don't mean to sound like an old fogie, but what's with this weather?

Last Sunday

This Sunday

Ops, forgot the sunscreen. But we couldn't get outside fast enough (played at the park, went jumping in the creek, and grilled for dinner). Ah, I LOVE spring.

The many names of Adam

Noelle was so excited that I was blogging more, it gave me that little burst I needed to post yet again. I want to be more like her and post a little everyday as opposed to my weekly recaps, but less face it, my life has never been as noteworthy or exciting as hers.

For example, last night, at 3 am as I was trying to get Adam back to sleep, several names for him flew through my head.

1. Sibling stopper (self explanatory)

2. Slimer - We called Shannon Stinker because she had an abnormally large amount of gas as a child (until I cut out dairy). Next followed Aubrey, who was given the name Slobbers (shortened from Slobbery Aubrey). So what could we call Adam? After being spit up on 3 times in 1 minute the name Slimer came to mind...an ode to Ghost Buster for the monster who spewed green slime on everyone and ate everything. All too appropriate.

3. Adar (a combination of Adam and Radar) Adam has a super human ability to know the precise moment that my head hits the pillow and my eyes close. Then, and only then, does he start crying. We did this dance about 5 times last night and I couldn't help but wonder what I had done to offend this kid?

4. Rooster - because his hair is spiky, he's up with the sun, and he squeals in his bed until everyone is awake.

But when you look at this giant beast I usually call my little man, how can you not help but fall in love?