I have so many little matters to tell you of, that I cannot wait any longer before I begin to put them down.
This morning Elizabeth got carsick in the middle of nowhere in Utah, up in the mountains where we couldn’t stop right away. We had to clean her up as best we could with wipes and water, then we found a Walmart half an hour down the interstate, where we restocked on wipes, air freshener, and febreze… Long 16 hour day. Please pray for a vomit-free drive tomorrow!
May 3rd, 2012 by ECM
Susie screamed so hard yesterday that she threw up five minutes from the Joecks’ last night. Even after washing the car seat, the van is smelling special this morning.
We were up at 4 and decided to hit the road early. Utah, here we come.
May 1st, 2012 by ECM
Susanna’s seventh tooth popped through overnight. We’re always happy when the teeth make it through and our kids return to normal cheerfulness, but we’re extra glad that it happened today because of our upcoming month of travels. Tomorrow at noon, we’re leaving the People’s Republic of California for 33 days of national and world travels.
In case you hadn’t heard, Pepperdine hosts a new faculty spiritual retreat every year for new faculty (duh) and their spouses. This year, it’s at the Pepperdine study-abroad campus in Lausanne, Switzerland. An all-expenses-paid trip for two to Europe? Yes, please! And while Derek and I are talking about our “vocational journeys” and sightseeing, my amazing parents will be watching the kids.
So starting tomorrow, we’re driving to Las Vegas, Colorado Springs, and Columbia (where we’ll leave the kids), then flying out of St Louis to Geneva, where we’ll train to Lausanne. We’ll fly back into St Louis, pick up the kids, and drive up to Detroit, hopefully see my extended family in Lansing, and spend Memorial Weekend in Hillsdale before heading back to Columbia, Colorado Springs, and then home in time to vote in the June 5 elections here. Oh, and Derek’s doing an overnight trip to Phoenix in there, too. All told, it’s 5,028 miles of driving and10,270 miles of flying (not counting Derek’s extra trip).
So I’m so, so glad that we won’t have a teething baby to add to the mix.
Apr 30th, 2012 by ECM
We went blueberry picking this morning.
First we had to play on the equipment.
Tommy was definitely more helpful than last year at strawberry picking time. Elizabeth seemed content to reprise her role as Little Sal, trailing behind her mother and eating every single one.
Yes, that is dirt all over her mouth. Our container of blueberries was upset three times over the course of the morning, and Susie was eager to help pick the scattered ones up. As you can see, they only made it as far as her mouth, along with a quantity of good farm soil. Yum yum.
Apr 28th, 2012 by ECM
The Invitation:
Miss Elizabeth Muller,
Her bear, Lucy,
and
Miss Susanna Muller
Request the honor of your presence
at a Teddy Bear Birth-Tea Party
on the occasion of their 3rd, 2nd, and 1st birthdays, respectively.
Saturday, April 28
10:30-12:30
1671 Eveningside Drive
RSVP
Please bring your favorite teddy bear or stuffed friend to keep Lucy the Bear company.
The Guests:
The Menu:
Assorted Teas
Fruit Salad
Avocado Tea Sandwiches
Cheese Tea Sandwiches
Cranberry Scones
Spinach and Cheese Mini-Quiche
Chocolate Dipped Teabag Shortbread
Double Chocolate Banana Muffins with Buttercream Frosting
The Gift Bags (containing candy flowers and tea cups and handmade felt tea bag sets from the Pemberley Seamstress):
Tommy wanted to draw and label a picture of Robot World for Daddy’s office door. So instead of asking me how to spell “robot” and “world,” he found a catalog and a book that had the words on the covers and copied the words from there.
Apr 25th, 2012 by ECM
It looks like we finally have a real instrumental musician in the house. Elizabeth sings all day long (at dinner tonight, the song went, “I’m married, I’m married, There’s a baby in my tummy, I’m married to Tommy, We got married in my church!”). But Susie plays instruments. (Phew! The Willett musicality doesn’t get lost when it skips a generation!) Her work on the cymbals, castanets, and maracas is unrivaled in the house. She plays a pretty mean baby piano, too.
Apr 23rd, 2012 by ECM
The girls had their annual check-ups with Dr. Antall today, and everything looked pretty good! Both girls were fascinated by their TB tests (I guess we’ve never had such a large immigrant population to necessitate such testing in previous places), and true to Muller form, Susanna was a trooper about her MMR and Varicella shots. Ten seconds of crying, two long naps, and she’s good as gold. The big kids were disappointed not to get shots, too. Elizabeth’s hearing tested fine, but Susie was too squirmy for the device to work. We’ll retest at 15 months. Dr. Antall noticed Susie might have a bit of a droopy left eyelid (no big deal, and inherited from me) and her middle right toe curls under her second a little bit (again, not a big deal). It’s funny that I’ve never noticed either thing, but I guess that’s why we pay an expert to check her out!
Elizabeth at 3 Years
Height: 37 inches (around 50%) (Tommy was 38 3/4 in, 72%)
Weight 33 lbs (around 65%) (Tommy was 38 lbs, 94%)
Blood Pressure: 88/42
Susanna at 1 Year:
Height: 29 1/2 inches (57%) (Tommy was 29 1/4 in, Elizabeth was 28 1/4)
Weight: 18 lbs 5.5 ounces (9%) (Tommy was 23 lbs 9 oz, Elizabeth was 20 lbs 7 oz)
Head: 18 in (65%) (I think the others were measured in cm, and all I remember is that Elizabeth was 50%)
Apr 21st, 2012 by ECM
This morning, my wonderful husband watched the kids while I took a photography class at the Rec Center. Here are a couple of my attempts to put what I learned into practice!
I think this is called playing with depth of field–it took me several tries to just get the one petal in focus.
Now if only I can remember everything when we’re in Switzerland!
