They tortured my baby!

Well, today turned out to be quite traumatic and we still don't know what's going on! Amelia has had a fever (101-103) on and off since Saturday. We took her to the doctor today. Nothing in her ears, lungs sound fine...sent her to the hospital for a bood workup and a cathater for a urine sample. It took two heel pricks to get the blood, but then she wouldn't stop bleeding while they tried to get the urine sample. Note that I said TRIED. Three different nurses failed to get it in, including a pediatric nurse they called down. It was the worst torture I have ever seen her put through, including when she was intubated. Then back to the pedi office where they gave her an antibiotic shot and gave me a bag to try to catch pee in (wish me luck on that one; we haven't been practicing "early elimination communication" or whatever it's called!).

Then the doctor decides that he'll finally get proactive about moving forward on the helmet thing. Only he's never handled it before and they keep making referrals to the wrong places! The PT therapist from ECI has been trying to get information for me, but I've been too overwhelmed to really process and remember enough of it to move forward (besides, I have a phone phobia that has been flairing up terribly lately...it was quite a breakthrough for me to make Amelia's appt. today). Anyway, we have to go back tomorrow and hopefully we'll get it all worked out.

I was right at the breaking point, going through paperwork that's all thrown in a box, and couldn't remember which ECI person was which and who was helping me with the helmet info...and then I prayed for help. My cell phone rang (and I heard it, which is unusual!). It was the SP, calling to confirm her visit tomorrow. That was one of the calls I had to make (to cancel). I was able to talk to her and figure out that it was the PT I was thinking of and got the phone number from her. Now I still have to call the PT, or at least give the number to the pedi office...but that was such a blessing. Anyway, I'm rambling...it's been a LONG day, Amelia and I haven't been sleeping well, I hurt my back, and we still don't know what's wrong with her...oh, but I did see (while holding her down for the torturers) a slit where her first tooth is coming in!

Easter pics

Amelia can sit up!

Hurray! She'd been getting close but last night she took a giant leap forward and really got the hang of it. I dearly hope this is the first step toward greater independence for my clingy momma's girl.

Popular baby names by hospital

Not only is this "not an announcement" but I'm NOT pregnant (I did wonder about the wording when my sister Katie posted about names!). I just found out about this website that lists the top 10 baby names by hospital. It's interesting to see how much it varies, just across town. Medical Center Hospital, where both my girls were born, is listed. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but still fun.

Ran out of diapers and ended up seeing a movie

Yesterday afternoon I went to get a diaper for Elizabeth and couldn't find any! I looked and looked, sure that there was another box somewhere. We'd just gone shopping last Friday. Maybe we left it in the van? I e-mailed James and he said we hadn't gotten diapers. D'oh!

Luckily it's Spring Break here, so James didn't have Scouts last night. We loaded up in the van and headed to Odessa. We could have gone to Pecos for just diapers and milk (regular Wal-Mart there) but we needed a few other things and figured we could just get it over with and not have to go anywhere Saturday.

It was dinner time and we had some money left on a Chili's gift card, so I looked up how many WW points their Guiltless Grill items were and we were set. On the way there we decided to go see Horton Hears a Who at the drive-in.

Amelia devoured the kids' menu while Elizabeth learned to drink from a straw.

She's getting much better at it and didn't settle for water for long. Daddy's shake didn't have a chance!

The best thing about the drive-in is going up and down the steps on the playground. Elizabeth wasn't the least bit interested in going down the slides; she was just thrilled to go up and down, up and down!

Do they really think this looks better?

8 Months Old Today!

Daddy made her laugh after she cried the first few attempts.

Congratulations on your Eagle, Bryce!

For Lost fans

I saw this on a message board. There's tons like it at Cafe Press.

Indexing quiz

As of Mar 6th, FamilySearch Indexing volunteers had indexed ___________ names in 2008.

A. 1 million

B. 10 million

C. 15 million

D. 25 million

Give me your guess in the comments.

Busy little shoppers

James took Tuesday off and we spent the day in Odessa. I dropped the two of them off for Elizabeth's 2 year checkup and went to Wal-Mart with Amelia to get the nonperishables. We then had lunch at Golden Corral, where the new manager saw James changing Amelia's diaper on the floor of the men's room and apologized profusely and promised there would be a changing station soon.
We then hit the mall because it has the best playgrounds for Elizabeth. She blew right through naptime and had a blast. Amelia slept on Daddy while I scoured the clearance racks at Sears which are currently an ADDITIONAL 50% off! You can see Elizabeth's shopping enthusiam. She also went up and down the escalators several times in a row. I didn't get to look for anything for myself, though, because Amelia woke up and Elizabeth reached her limit when it came to standing in the checkout line.
James then drove around to put the girls to sleep while I got the perishables fron Wal-Mart. A quick stop for Slurpees and we coud finally start the hour drive home. I woke up yesterday morning feeling like a truck had hit me.

The closest I could come to a candy bar

So, after my sister Katie's post about candy bars, I really wanted one. But of course it's Sunday (Fast Sunday, no less!) and the store is too far away anyway. I ventured into the kitchen to see what I could come up with. James was on the computer, so I couldn't even plug the random sweet ingredients I had into an ingredient search on Allrecipes.
I was about to do some major experimentation involving marshmallows and almond bark, maybe corn flakes, maybe popcorn...hmmm. Then I realized that I had everything for No-Bake Cookies, amd, thanks to my cousin Olivia, I had a reliable recipe! My cookbook from a family reunion a while back no longer has a binder because of the fire, but I pulled the recipes out of it.
Yummy! Close enough to a candy bar for now.

No-Bake Cookies
3 cups quick oats
2/3 cup peanut butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup cocoa
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Line cookie sheet with wax paper or foil.

2. Combine sugar, butter, milk, and cocoa in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a rollong boil.

3. Remove from heat. Add oats, peanut butter, and vanilla. Stir quickly, mixing well.

4. Immediately drop mixture by heaping spoonfuls onto wax paper. Cool. Store in a cool dry place.