A Funny Story

Mom & I went to the zoo the other day with Kerry and the kids. Before we go to the zoo, we always go out and eat somewhere because zoo food is AWFUL! So we go to this little place down the street from their house for some breakfast. Now, I always get something HUGE so that I can feed Bella off my plate. So, I got the Strawberry French Toast. It comes with 8 pieces of french toast with a strawberry sauce. While waiting for our food, Bella ate some crackers, a couple of those seaseme seed bread sticks, and she had 1/2 of a croissant. But she STILL wasn't full, so, I cut up 2 pieces of my french toast and Bella just chews em up and eats em. I think only 1 piece landed on the floor. I then started to cut up strawberries and feeding them to her. I gave her a bite and then went back and tried to eat a piece myself but she opened her mouth wide at me and then leaned over in her high chair towards me (a sure sign that she wants more [unless she's going to puke]). So I keep feeding her strawberries until they are ALL gone. She fusses some at me and I just look at her and start cleaning her off. I start talking to her and say to her "You're not a baby, you're just a strawberry!" And my goodness, next thing I knew, Jonathan stood up on the bench and says to me "She is not a strawberry Auntie! She's my baby sister and her name is Bella." He then sits down and finishes his glass of water. I about died of laughter.

I'm a HORRIBLE Auntie

I'm such a bad Auntie. Bella turned one over a month ago and I haven't told ya'll about it! I need a slap on the wrist. (I feel better now).

June 2, Bella turned one! We had a fun little party at Jon & Kerry's. We brought pizza over for dinner and a cake.


We all enjoyed dinner but the best part was the cake. Bella LOVED her cake (as any little girl does).






Once she was done eating/smashing her cake, it was time to clean off baby (and mommy).


Somehow, in cleaning off baby, everyone else got covered in cake. The more I think back on it, we should have just let the dog clean her off. Bella opened lots of presents and had lots of fun. She fell sound asleep early and slept in the next morning. I can hardly believe she's one and that Jonathan will be 3 at the end of July. Can we put a stop to this and keep them little forever??

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Home sweet home...or it was. For as much as I didn't really enjoy high school, its still that place that has those weird/bizarre memories. Like going off the diving board in a garbage can during Kayaking, although the box was much more fun. But anyways, NCHS is being "remodeled". The SPS hallway has been torn down and a lot of the 3 story wing has been gutted (or torn down to studs). But the day before demolition started, the general public was allowed to tour the school.


Our class's mural. Ah the memories of our class. Not many good memories. My favorite is graduating in the POURING rain. Best idea ever! Some of my favorite places were:

The Little Theater

The High Ropes Course/Rock Wall

The murals painted on the walls, especially this one.

The mural in Mrs. Jarman's bathroom in the pit.


What's left of the tile in the long hallway/commons (mmmm...asbestos)

Mr. Paulsen was my tour guide. He's my hero.

Oh NCHS, you'll always have a special place in my heart.

School's Out

Wohoo!! School's out for summer! Yesterday was my last day of school (well, for 2ish weeks until summer school starts). But YEAH! No more school! I know the kids are super excited but so am I! How did I spend my first day off you ask? I bet you can't guess.





I spent my day with the kiddies. It's hard for me to believe that this summer brings Bella to her first birthday (Wednesday June 2) and Jonathan to his 3rd birthday! But, it's a perfect way to welcome summer.

Keep watching for my trip down memory lane as I visited NCHS before they demo'd it. Stay tuned!

Betty White is my Hero

I love Betty White. I thought she was hilarious on Golden Girls (even though at first, I was too little to understand all her humor). But last night, she hosted Saturday Night Live (which I haven't watched in many years), but if Betty was going to host it, then I was going to have to watch it. My favorite skit was the census skit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkQxZltcljc The best part, is that Kerry (my sister in law...Bella & Jonathan's mommy) is a census worker! All you really need to know is.....I LOVE Betty White. Happy Mother's Day!

Bella's Healthscare

Well, now that the scare is over, I feel like I should tell everyone about the scare Bella gave us. On Saturday, Bella found a peanut in Jonathan's room. Being the curious 10 month old she is, she put it in her mouth. She choked on it. Kerry called 911 and the paramedics came. They couldn't find anything wrong with her, but upon Kerry's insistence, the paramedics took her to Hinsdale Hospital. The ER doctors proceeded to send her home. She was lethargic and acting strange all day. By the time Jon got home, he insisted that they go back to the hospital. By the time she got back to the hospital around midnight, she was very sick. The ER doctors called Loyola hospital to see if Loyola could accept Bella because Hinsdale was not equipped to handle her. The peanut was lodged into Bella's throat. Loyola's doctor could not make it to the hospital until 2am and the ER doctors said she didn't have until 2 am. So the doctors called Children's Memorial and they would take Bella immediately. Bella was then transported via medivac (helicopter) from Hinsdale to Childrens.

By the time she got to Children's she had been intabated, and the peanut had got into her lung. The doctors at Children's were able to use a scope and go into her lung to extract the peanut. They then discovered that the peanut had torn a hole in her esophagus. By the time Jon called me Sunday morning (when we were on our way home from Florida), he was in hysterics and things were still touch and go. By early afternoon on Easter, Bella's breathing tube was taken out. She was still being fed by feeding tube so that the hole didn't get infected.

Jonathan was being bounced around from different family members and was very confused. By the time we got home last night, there was nothing we could do. Bella was breathing on her own but she was groggy and very upset. They did more tests this morning (Monday morning) with a dye contrast to find out how the hole was closing. The test revealed that Bella was doing well. The hole was closed. The next test was to give Bella a bottle and see how she tolerated that.

Meanwhile, we went and picked up Jonathan from his grandparents and brought him to our house. He talked a lot about how Bella was sick and in the hospital. He desperately wanted Mommy. He was very good for us and we packed a lot into a day while we waited to hear how Bella was.

At 6:30, Jon called to tell me that Bella had been released from Children's! They were on their way to come get Jonathan before they went home. Bella tolerated her bottle and didn't vomit any of it up. The doctors say she'll be hoarse & have a nasty cough for the next few days but she's back to her regular self. She'll go to her pediatrician Tuesday for a follow up but right now things look good.

Our family is grateful for all the prayers for our little girl. Thank you to everyone for all your support. We will forever be indebted to everyone for all the love and support. And just so everyone can see how Bella is, here's a little peak!

Happy Easter

Seeing as how this weekend is Easter (and we won't be home to celebrate Bella's first Easter), I thought the least I could do is post the super cute photo from our trip to the Easter Bunny! Neither of them cried this time! Bella was intrigued by the bunny and had no issues with sitting on his lap.


Although, she refuses to keep her socks on, she does not mind having a bow in her hair! The little girl is also crawling now. She likes to get into mischief, going where ever you don't want her to go (under benches, in-between fences etc.) That's my girl!


Bella also decided that it was time to show off her newest trick to Auntie.





But Jonathan got a treat as we were leaving. New monkey rainboots!

Happy Easter