Visiting Virginia

On my way back from West Plains I went to visit little Miss Virginia. She is so tiny and so adorable and seems to be a very mellow baby (of course I was only there for 2 hours). Here she is with her Daddy, Craig. I came bearing gifts and of course I couldn't forget about my girl Ally. I think I was her new best friend for the evening. Puppies need some love too. Just ask mine, the get the shaft everyday.
Mama Ericka! She looked better than me and she had a baby less than a week ago.
Beautiful Girl!

Ella Claire Orr has arrived! 3-13-08

For a girl that was worried about a c-section because at her appointment on the 10th she was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced, I would say that 11 days before her due date is pretty good. I went 18 days more with Drew and those were the most miserable days. So I am glad that she didn't have to cry every morning before work wondering if she could do it. Tara's water broke on the 12th around 7:30 pm. She was walking up and down her street trying to jump start the process, I guess it really worked. She called me on my way to work around 9:30 and I screamed. I wanted to turn around and go to West Plains that moment, but instead I went to a job I hate and wondered all night. I immediately called mom to see if she could come over and watch the kids so I could go to West Plains, which of course she did. Thanks mom. Tara called at 5:30 that morning and I about jumped out of my scrubs, she wasn't making much progress and I could hear the disappointment in her voice. It was going to be a long day for her. I left Bonner Springs about 2:30 on Thursday and after missing a turn, getting lost, rain from Clinton on and sitting in traffic from multiple wrecks, I arrived at the hospital at 7:40 and Ella Claire was born at 7:44 pm. What perfect timing. She had a few breathing issues in the first few hours but she quickly improved and is doing perfect.

Here is the new Orr Family!!!

Isn't she beautiful. She has a lot of dark thick hair (Jilli and I are jealous) and the cutest nose.
Tara is a mommy!!

Life with a newborn is wonderful, scary, amazing, trying, emotional, fulfilling. You could probably think of a million adjectives that would describe the situation, but no one can fully understand until they experience it.

Our first taste of Spring - Finally :)

March 12, 2008 a small tiny bit of my sanity has returned. It was finally warm - 70+ degrees, YEAH!!!. The kids and I were itching to get out, so after the naps we went to the park. They have a huge piece of colorful equipment made for 2 - 5 years old that we played on last fall, but of course when we got there it was roped off and closed. It took a lot of convincing for Drew that we couldn't play on it. So we played on the big kids equipment. He loved the slides but was a little leary of the bridge. In the picture below he is driving (he informed me of this), I asked where he is driving to and he said "Nana and Papa house." ECHO!! Drew yells in the dryer at home "echo" so I showed him how the slide made a echo also. He was sooo impressed.
Along for the ride.
The bridge was very wobbly for a 2 year old. He would say "bridge careful" even if he got close to it.

Playing hard means drink breaks are a must.

Daddy says Jillian looks like her Great Aunt Marcia in this picture and I can't say that I disagree.

Once again, "echo." :)

That is one small 5 year old.

There has been a bucket of chalk in our garage all winter long and I keep telling Drew that when it is warm we will chalk on the drive way. I am a mommy of my word, so we did some post park chalking. I do most of the drawing and Drew usually guesses what my artwork is.

Jillian is worn out from the park. That girl needs to work on her playtime stamina.

Our doggy friend Jasmine's mom was impressed with Drew's knowlegde of the chalk shapes. Bailey and Lucy had fun playing with Jasmine too. I should really find a way to figure out Jasmine's mommy's name.

Daddy said when he got home that the kids smelled like summer. You know I lathered them up with sunscreen, I can take no chances with lily white Jilli.

Our Return to the Y - Jilli in her hoodie

We finally made our return to the YMCA after everyone recovered from the Bug of 2008. Jillian played hard while mommy worked out and fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep in her car seat in the kitchen for a while. Poor girl is tuckered out, but still has ahold of her toy. This is the first time she wore a big girl hoodie. Drew loves going to the YMCA, so much that he very adamantly and vocally protest when it is time to go. Oh, the tantrums of a 2 year old. He yells, cries, throws himself down and this time threw a toy airplane that belong to the YMCA and broke it. I try to stay calm and reason with him, but it doesn't always work. I get a little embarrassed that I can't control my kid, but I really can't all the time. Any suggestions you mommies out there.

The Daddy Jungle Gym

Isn't funny how differently moms and dads play with their kids. It is a good thing I think, just interesting. The kids, especially Drew love climbing all over Andy. I think it is pretty cute.

Cute Pics

A issue with Jillian being mobile she can leave when she wants and she does. Obviously so does Drew.

Drew's newest thing is saying he is a bad boy and sitting on his time out stool and then standing up, smiling and saying good boy. This is his face when he is saying bad boy.

If I didn't know better I would think Jillian was giving us the moon. Good thing she can't pull down her pants.

Jillian Crawling

Jillian is a pro at crawling. She is getting faster everyday and you really have to watch her. I thought it was going to make my job harder, but she is much happier being mobile. A product of her crawling is the introduction of the word No No, why do kids love cords?I don't remember Drew crawling this much or this well, but he really didn't crawl for that long.

Pulling up to the time out stool.

Cher returns.

Puppy Dog Day

On Tuesday March 11th, 101 Dalmatians was re released. So at the Roberts House the day was deemed Puppy Dog Day. On my way home from work I stopped by Wal-Mart and picked it up. It was only $12.99. Can you believe that, Disney DVDs used to be $20. That morning we made puppy dog ears and gathered all our puppy dog toys, stuffed animals and books (for Nana to read that day). While I was sleeping Drew and Nana colored their puppy pictures and when I woke up Drew and I made Puppy chow. Drew loves to cook with Mama. He poured in the chocolate chip and cereal. He also was quality control of the ingredients :)YUM!!

That evening we all wore our puppy dog ears, had puppy chow and watched 101 Dalmatians (including the all the dog toys).

Of course, Drew was wearing his puppy dog pajamas.

Nana with her ears and the real dogs watched the movie too.

Here are the dogs we made. From left to right - Nana's was inspired by Bing, Drew's was abstract and mine was a Dalmatian (with a little help from Drew).

Puppy Dog Day was a big success. Although I think I watched the movie more than Drew did.