Noggin Bloggin

Nina had her first (and hopefully last) trip to the ER this morning. She fell and hit her head on the metal leg of my jewelry box and ended up with an ugly looking gash on her forehead. It seems like she is always tumbling down and for whatever reason likes to lead with her head-yikes! The docs in the ER used dermabond (basically superglue) and a few steri strips to stick Nina back together and she is now good as new. The cut is on her forehead so scarring was my biggest concern...oh my poor baby's perfect little face but more than likely there won't be much of anything permanent.

As you can see by the pics by this afternoon Nina was playing in the the rain and feeling fine!

BTW...Nina fell as she was trying to run away with my diamond tennis bracelet...got to admit she might not have good balance but the girl's got good taste!

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HOO-HAAH!!!

This is Dart and I’m finishing today’s post for Lori. It has been a long two days for Lori with Nina attached to her at the hip for every flight, meal, and walk around town. I only get to take her to the potty and hang her upside down (Nina, not Lori). Lori picked these pictures and asked me to post them - and then fell into a deep coma.

Today we were introduced to the Air Force way. We had to be at the base by 8:30 am for the trainee airmen fitness run. Fortunately, Courtney was a flight leader, which meant that she ran at the front of her squadron, or we never would have found her. She looks very different, as she has put on 14 lbs of muscle on her 5’1” frame in the past 8 weeks. I was not expecting the intensity of the emotions that came with seeing her again. Courtney is more than a niece; she is almost like a daughter to us. Besides taking her with us on many of our family vacations, she has lived with us for extended periods since she was seven, including most of the past year and when we brought Nina home. After everything she has been through in her life, it is awesome to see her excelling here. We are very proud aunt and uncle. Aidan, and Nolan were also very excited to see their cousin/almost sister and were dying to give her big hugs.

However, we could not do that yet. We would not be able to visit with her until after the coin ceremony at 2:00, so we headed back to downtown San Antonio to act like tourists and visit the Alamo.

Of course we spent more time following (and photographing) Nina as she ran around the grounds of the Alamo than we did actually seeing the Alamo.

After lunch, it was back to the base for the coin ceremony. This was as quick as it was impressive. After the ceremony, we were able to visit with Courtney as she enjoyed base liberty. After satisfying her craving for Reese’s Pieces, we drove around the base, went bowling, and did our best to catch up while getting Nina a short nap.

Tomorrow will be Courtney’s graduation ceremony and a short visit. Hopefully Lori will be rested and back on line for all her fans.
Dart

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Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again (well actually I'll be home Sunday)

We are leaving in the morning for another mini vacation in San Antonio TX. I have not been there before but it looks like a really interesting place. Can you believe this will be Nina’s third airplane trip in 3 and a half months? Not too shabby… the kid's racking up some serious air miles! We are going to San Antonio because my niece Courtney is graduating from Air Force basic training. We will be able to watch her parade and the graduation ceremony and then hopefully have some free time with her. Aside from looking forward to seeing Courtney I will be thrilled to finally have some HOT weather and sunshine. Last month in Florida was nice but it was cold. The weather here in Ohio has been miserable. I feel like this has been the longest winter of my life.


One thing a little different about this particular trip is the fact that Kiefer is NOT coming with us. As a senior in high school, he simply can’t take the time off from school, or so he says. The sad truth is I think he prefers school to another Griswold family vacation. Too bad because Dart (aka Clark Griswold) is preparing a killer history lesson on the Alamo!


Anyway stay tuned for another painful series of vacation photos….:-)

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Mommy and Me

I really can't even believe I did it but I did. That's right I bought matching Lilly Pulitzer dresses for Nina and me and I'm not taking them back! I suppose this is the inevitable outcome when a fashion loving mom waits 18 years for her first daughter. I always made fun of the moms who did this and now somehow it just seems darling.

Love it or hate it, (there's really no in between), we'll be debuting our mom and me ensembles at Kazapalooza in June. I am hoping this will be a forgiving, just as crazy about their kids too, sort of crowd. In any event, fashion gods please forgive me but I really couldn't stop myself.

Now all we need is matching shoes.....

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WOW!

On Wednesday night we had the pleasure of watching Nolan receive an District Award for his Reflections art project. This year's theme was "Wow!". More than 850 kids in our district entered the competition. Nolan's project was a video interpretation of the theme. He received a gold medal in a presentation box engraved with his name. He was so proud but not as much as his parents were!

Wow is right!!!!

Nolan with his Principal, Mr. Saxer

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My Easter Bunny...faith, hope and love wrapped in a frilly easter dress

Nina's first Easter at home included all the traditions of Easter including egg decorating and a backyard Easter egg hunt. Once again she surprised us with her incredible adaptability. She painted and dipped eggs like a pro and when it came time to hunt for eggs on Easter morning she immediately bolted to the eggs and tossed them in her basket with glee. How she knew just exactly what to do is beyond me.

Later in the day we headed out to a Cav's/Celtics basketball game at the Q. Not so traditional but still fun. We had a suite so it was as much party as basketball (or as Nina would say "bap-bip-ball"). I have to admit I had so much fun dressing a little girl for Easter. Nina wore a white dress with pink and green polka dots trimmed in ribbons and flowers. Her dress was matched with a pink showy bow, white patent mary janes and an Easter egg colored purse. Sooooo cute. I didn't get any really great pictures (sorry grandmothers) but I promise Nina looked adorable in her Easter best, turning heads everywhere she went. One of the ushers at the Q said it best, "that baby IS Easter on two feet", if only she knew.

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My High School Senior

Got Kiefer's proofs for his senior pictures today. Look how cute he is....

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Three Month's Home

Yup that's all it's been. Believe me I'm as shocked as you are. It seems like Nina has been part of our family forever, certainly more then just 3 months!

Nina has grown 2 inches taller and gained 2 pounds.

Nina's favorite snacks are pickles (and sometimes pickled beets).

Look how long her hair is getting.

Nina loves to cuddle and play on Mommy's bed.

And she seems to have her Mommy's love for shoes!

Nina insists on helping with everything...this morning it was scrambled eggs.

Who could have imagined that in 3 short months she would become such a happy little girl.

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Easy Rider

While there is no denying that Nina is a girlie girl she has an incredible fascination with all things transportation. I guess I thought this was clear boy territory but apparently not. Nina's first English word was "car, vrrroom", her second was "bus". She now identifies and says; boat, helicopter, airplane, and blimp (we live near Akron-home of the Good Year Blimp). No surprise, her newest motorized obsession is "motorcycle". Dart and Kiefer pulled their bikes out of storage and Nina is ready ride.

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Sibling Attachement

Vacation was great but it is nice to be home. I think one of the best parts of the whole trip was when we walked thru the door and Nina ran around the house absolutely filled with joy to be home. It was clear that she recognized that this was her home and her room and her toys. Fairly unremarkable stuff until you consider the fact that Nina has only been home for less than 90 days. This is just one of the many ways I see her firmly attaching herself to her forever-family.

I get asked a lot about the boys and how they are doing with Nina. I’m never quite sure if people just ask to ask something or if maybe they think there should be a problem. It always strikes me as a little odd but perhaps I am just oversensitive here. The fact is the boys have accepted Nina as their sister in a matter of fact fashion. Nina is their little sister end of it, what’s to talk about? They love her and she loves them right back. A few examples of siblings love...

Every morning Nolan greets his sister with a VERY excited "Hi Neeenya" and she responded "Hi Nol-yun". This morning Nina yelled from her high chair to Nolan “hurry up Nol-yun, bus!”

Nina gets very excited when she sees Kiefer and calls after him saying “Keeka do” which means, "Kiefer do that thing where you throw me high in the air and scare Mommy half to death", and of course he does it and she giggles and begs for more.

Aidan, aka "Aaaa-dun", spends most of his time training Nina to do stupid baby tricks like growling and saying “evil”-classic.

They are knit together so tightly I can hardly fathom they just met each other a few months ago.

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