Nuthin' but a C Thang

C thang being...CRAWLING! What.is.up?! Ella started crawling this past week and we are so excited. She was very close to crawling before her surgery so we weren't sure how she would do post-surgery with it all, if she would even crawl at all or what it would look like. She is doing great though! She is using her left arm more and is bearing weight on it which is awesome. She's not using it as much as her right still but hopefully that will come. She is all over the house and it's so cute to watch her. She is just so tiny so it's hilarious to see her scooting around. She's still figuring it all out but she's doing great and her poor little knees are red all the time because she wants to go, go, go. She just kind of creeps along and I can't help singing to myself everyday a little Snoop Dogg "I'm creepin' and I'm creepin' and I'm creepin" as I watch her. Nice right? Thus the title of my blog post ya know, a little shout out to the DoggFather...shoot. Anywho, we're so proud of her! We also started feeding therapy today so we'll be going over twice a week to Our Children's House in Grapevine for therapy. It went well and was a positive experience so I think it will be helpful. My sweet friend Randi goes to the same therapist at OCH and left us a little gift this morning to get us pumped up about feeding. Thanks Randi, we love the bib!

Go Ella! Go! Go! Go!
Feedings are going about the same this week. Ella is still doing fairly well with the puffs and her bottle feedings are about the same which is a positive thing. She has started her usual once or twice a day vomiting episodes which is not so great though. Please keep praying for her feedings. This week we are going to try to start transitioning her to a new higher calorie formula which if it goes well, it would mean that eventually we could feed her less volume, less often. It would change our feeding schedule for the better which would be SO nice so please pray that she tolerates it. She is very sensitive to change so we are really praying this transition goes well. I'll keep you updated. Keep praying!

Anyway, another great gift I got recently was from my very creative friend Jessica. In recognition of surviving this year and for my injury-free performance in caring for Ella, and in honor of my commitment to keep the Carder house safe, she presented me with this custom-made, limited edition safety plate for working injury-free this past year. What's with the safety plate you ask? Well, it all started back when Rick worked for the railroad a few years ago and apparently every year that you work there and don't get injured on the job you receive a safety plate in recognition of your injury-free performance that year. Not kidding. Stick with me here. Rick didn't bother to tell me about this (I wonder why?) so you can imagine my delight when one day we received a package in the mail and he pulls out a plate with a photo of a train on it with a written inscription on the back recognizing him for working injury-free that year. What?! This was so funny to me and it really was a good 10 minutes of me laying on the floor laughing unable to speak before I could compose myself enough to find out more details about this whole safety plate thing.

This is my fun safety plate. Love it.

These are Rick's beauties

I don't want anyone to take offense at me thinking this is funny because I realize that there are many people who work at the railroad and have very dangerous jobs so I am not making light of that at all. But for OUR situation, Rick worked in Accounting and to my knowledge was not in immediate danger everyday. He worked very hard and I'm proud of him for that but I mean what was going to happen in the Accounting Dept. where he might get hurt? I don't know, I guess he could've gotten a little too excited punching numbers on his calculator and jammed a finger or maybe tripped over a stack of file folders leaving his cubicle in External Reporting to walk over to visit someone in Auditing. Who knows? Stranger things have happened. Anyway, I just found this whole safety plate thing quite humorous and I began to look forward to each year when the plates would be delivered. And you better believe we put those bad boys up on display each year in the hiz-ouse before carefully putting them away.

So, after the year I've had I think I too deserve a safety plate. As for the phrase on the plate, let me explain. A couple of my friends and I have kind of used it as a joke sometimes this year when describing our day to each other. When we've had a particularly challenging day, which for me happened most days, it was used a lot. For instance, the conversation might go something like this. Q:"Hey Amy, how's your day going?" A:"Well, just great, Ella has thrown-up every feeding, her g-button came open and I didn't know it so her clothes are covered with stomach contents and Eva didn't make it to the bathroom in time so she dropped a deuce in the hall. So, you know, just another day in paradise!" There ya go. It's a great phrase isn't it? Just kind of lightens the mood on a rough day. So, back to the plate. Since Rick hasn't worked at the railroad for some time now we obviously are no longer receiving any safety plates which is a shame. Leave it to my friend Jessica though to think it would be funny to commemorate this past year by making me a safety plate. Much appreciated Jessica, much appreciated. You might not think it's that funny but again, the whole idea of giving someone a plate because they're injury-free? I can't get my mind around how this came about. The whole thing is just funny to me. However, it spurs me on and I am looking forward to another injury-free year and hopefully another plate to add to my collection. Thanks Jess. No worries though, this plate is a collector's item and therefore will not be one of my anger management plates that I throw in the backyard. Just so ya know. Remember everyone...safety first!

In more important news, my sister Ann and her family made it safely to Phayao, Thailand. Thank you Lord! It was very hard to say goodbye this past Thursday but it is an answer to prayer that the trip went well and that they are there. I had a small breakdown the day they left and was sitting in the living room crying for a good 20 minutes...you know, doing the ugly cry. Eva was "coloring" and Ella was playing on the floor so all was well...or so I thought. I should've known that something was up when I didn't hear much from Eva. Usually when it's a little too quiet around here my hair-trigger something-funny's-going-on radar goes into full effect but I was off my game due to the cryfest I was having. Sooo, this is what I see peeking around the couch at me.

Isn't that special? Indeed yes, she was "coloring," it just wasn't on paper. I had a hard time getting on to her because I immediately started laughing which cheered me up so that was good. Sweet Eva, never a dull moment with her. Anyway, we got to talk with Ann on Skype last night which was fun. They are very tired but doing well. Please be praying for them as they begin their transition to life in Thailand. For the next couple of weeks they will be living in a hotel while they look for a house. So far they haven't seen anything that will work so please be praying that they find a place to live. They could use your prayers as this is an exciting time but also a stressful time as they will begin their life in a new country as well as start a new ministry. Please pray for continued unexpected blessings, peace and guidance for them and their team. You can read updates from them on their blog by clicking on my link Reese's in Thailand. Thanks for your prayers!

More to come. Just chill, til the next episode...