A Winter Trip to the Zoo

Here are some pictures from a trip to the zoo back in February. Before I had kids, I wondered why anyone would want a membership to the zoo, now I understand. First of all, they can only stand to be there for two hours, tops. To get my money's worth, I'd feel the need to stay all day. Second of all, the kids LOVE to go and never get tired of it. When it's been a few weeks of bad weather, Reese starts talking about the zoo every day, asking if we can go, even if it's snowing outside. When the weather is nice, we go about every other week. It's a great way to spend a morning outside and to get some time with friends too. These particular pictures were taken at the gorilla exhibit as we were stopping for a snack. One bad things about the zoo in the winter is the lack of places to stop and eat, because most shops are closed. It was fun to go this week and see the shops opening up again. Spring is here!

On an illness note, we just can't seem to keep Isaiah well. He has had 3 fevers in the last month, two ear infections with two courses of antibiotics. Ugh! Another reason to be excited for spring to be here.

We've been working hard to get our house ready to put on the market. Yesterday Michael painted our bedroom, and we have been packing up stuff to put in storage. We've found a condo we like in Cincinnati, so that has been motivating. We don't want to buy until we sell this house. Please pray all of that works out, it's kinda stressful. Thanks for checking in with us!

Big Girl Bed and No more stitches

Here are a couple of pictures of Reese on her new big girl bed. She is very excited about it and it has been a really easy transition. She has done very well about not getting out of bed until one of us is in the room. Why do I have a feeling that it won't be that easy with Isaiah? Speaking of Isaiah, I took him back to the doctor because he has another double ear infection. What's up with that? No ear infections for either of my kids, then he gets two in less than a month. He seems to be feeling much better today, which we are all grateful for.

Reese got her stitches out today. She did great, only complaining just a little that it hurt. She was very excited to find out that she got a sucker when it was all done. I don't think she remembers anything about the actual procedure, and when we left today, she told me she had fun at the doctor! So much for her being traumatized by the experience:)

Playing in the Snow

When my parents were here this weekend, we had over a foot of snow. We've never had that much snow the whole time we've lived here. Michael joked that my parents bring Cleveland weather with them when they come. We went outside and built a snowman and made snow angels. Contrary to what the pictures reveal, Isaiah HATED the snow. Michael had to put him on a chair so he would stop crying. Reese loved it and couldn't get enough. The last picture is an extremely rare shot of both kids looking at the camera. Before I had kids, I had no idea how difficult of a feat that could be!

Before and After...

Please forgive me if this is gross to anyone, but I know a few of you were interested in the before and after pics of Reese's surgery. She will get her stitches out next Friday, so we'll have a better idea of what it looks like then. It is amazing how flat her back is now, that is the biggest difference to me right now.
She did great for the whole surgery process. It was much easier than I anticipated, surely due to many of the prayers that were offered on our behalf. Except for walking like she was drunk right after surgery, you'd have a hard time knowing she had surgery at all. The most traumatic thing part of it all was when I had to take her bandage off yesterday. Until then, I don't think it had totally sunk in that she had a 'boo-boo' on her back. Pretty amazing.