Spiky Hair and More
On March 9th, Ian went out to get his hair cut and came back looking like a punk rocker! Ian – *You talkin’ ’bout me, huh buddy?* See this image larger.
It was a cute look while it lasted… See this image larger.
But to be honest I want to be reminded more of his sweet side… See this image larger.
and maybe a little less about his rebellious side. See this image larger.
We’ve got plenty of time to let him be rebellious in a couple of years. See this image larger.
Very fashionable though. See this image larger.
From March 10th, thanks Dick and Donna! I actually don’t thank people very often on the blog, because I always figure I’ll forget somebody. See this image larger.
On March 15th, and of course a new shot from Nina! Wait’ll you see the NEXT entry though! See this image larger.
We decided to hop in the car and go to Meijer Gardens to check out the butterflies… 
See, Ian’s younger thus he’s still earning his wings. 
Ian was short on patience and thus so was I. He didn’t do TOO bad, but he didn’t do very well either. Even compared to this trip, though, in the last several weeks I’ve witnessed him gaining control of himself. (Curiously at this phase it looks very strange because one moment he’s blowing a fit, the next he regains his composure… little side story here — yesterday morning he didn’t want his shirt on and threw a tantrum; eventually I gave up and went to check on email, a few moments later I heard Ian’s voice from the top of the steps: “I want to be a good listener, Daddy.” Talk about a heart-breaker!) 
This kind of looks James Dean like to me.
Look at all those smiles! Thanks for coming with us guys!
This was the best of about 20 shots, Nina’s really thinking about something.
Mysterious fountain ball thing.
Ah my beautiful wife. So pretty! 
We took a brief spin around the outside garden area… Ian took the kid’s entrance, as usual! 
This was good for him, he needed to burn off some energy and got in a much better mood. (Until he saw the gift shop.) 
Nina was happy to see her grandparents again, and was not shy at all about showing it! 
*Hi Grandma! You have awesome taste in clothing color, can I just tell you that? What do you think of this little number I’ve got on?* 
Ian was a little more skeptical. We got home from church and he wanted to stay there and play in the “daycare” area. I believe he suspected that Grampa Dave and Grandma Marcia had us running home early. He’s funny like that. He came around pretty quick though, and we had a great time!
*Don’t worry Grampa, Ian’s just going through one of those phases.* 
*This is my favorite chair, from here I can spit-up and get it all over someone that’s not me.* 
A little belly time allowed us to see just how strong Nina’s neck muscles are doing. 
*GUUUH-TWO-HUNDRED-AND SEVEN…. GUUUH-TWO-HUNDRED-AND-EIGHT….” 
Consider these bonus shots for the “All Smiles” entry, taken on the same dates… here Nina shows off her gums as she laughs and laughs! 
So good to see her healthy and happy! 
A happy Nina makes us all happy! 
Another tongue out… this isn’t hard to capture seeing as she spends 90% of her awake time “mouthing” to Mommy that she’d like more milk. (Not that Mommy is holding back — Nina just always wants to be nursing!) 
Mommy and Nina enjoy some sunshine! 
I’m just going to start out with the winner. You need to look at this one bigger to really appreciate it. 
*hi* 
*plbplbplbplbplbplbplb* 
*Now I’m just cracking myself up.* 
*Have you met my brother, Ian?* 
*He can smile too, see?* 
*But only if you ask him real nice.* 
*This is my mommy. She’s beautiful and can make milk out of regular food. Magic, I know, right?* 
*This is my daddy pretending to be a super model with his patented Sexy Look®.* 
*Ian, Daddy said that look was patented.* 
February 27th, Ian grabs one of Mommy’s fries while pretending to pose for a picture. (Not really.) 
February 28th, Nina peeks from her car seat to say hello.
March 2nd, She’s as sweet as a strawberry! 
March 3rd. This is the day I first thought I was seeing full-face smiles. 
See, you can see it in the corners of her eyes! 
Always good to have some pictures of people NOT looking at the camera as well, I always say. 
Adorable! 
Compare the “Adorable!” shot above to this “old” picture of Ian when he was very close to the same age. (Almost exact.) 
Aboard a chariot of light, as if on a downy white cloud fashioned into a vehicle, our Valkyries did arrive, weary from their travels, but elated by their incredible gas mileage.
And there’s our Warrior. 
No tubes, no medication prescribed… in fact, oddly enough, she was even cleared “to go back to daycare.” But we’re just thrilled to have everybody home. (Well, almost everybody. Seth was still at the animal hospital at this point.) 
*You, with the dexterity and the arm strength! Lift me!*
*Free at last!* 
Welcome home, ladies. Please stay a good long while. 
The heroes welcome had been hastily gathered, only moments before their arrival! 
But we did not leave out a Golden Star of Courage, bestowed on Ian for bravery in the face of a week mostly without Mommy. (This shot was taken in the complete dark, Melissa found him like this, clutching the string like a life-line — I bounced the flash off the ceiling so it looks like room lighting, but like I said, it was the middle of the night.) 
Sleep well, princess. The only poking or prodding you’ll receive this night is to change a stinky diaper. And that’s the way it ought to be. 
February 14th, 2010 – Can you hear that? That’s the sound of hearts breaking… 
…and a whole bunch of people praying. Thank you all for being with us.
Does she look like a fighter? Well, she is. 
While I’ll say that a lot of people end up a little disappointed on Valentine’s Day, I can pretty much guarantee you that yours should get better from here on out, little one. 
Feburary 19th 2010 — Grandma Marcia and Grampa Dave swoop in to save our sanity yet again. As you can see, by this time Nina was also on oxygen. 
Pretty much every night, Ian, Melissa and I ate together in the hospital cafeteria. It was one of those times when you realize that this is simply the best you can do to keep the family together. It was also one of those times when you say “Hey why don’t we eat here more often?” They had a killer salad bar. Two bucks and change for an apple juice seemed a little expensive, but whatever… the important part was it worked. We had our family moment every night. 
With a mask on, Ian could visit Nina. Our daycare was brilliant about letting us send Ian in extra days, which was very helpful — but he was also being exposed to new germs… so the mask was a necessity. 
Speaking of daycare, I saw this in the hallway and thought it was a great shot. This was above Ian’s boots so everybody would know whose were whose. 
Grampa Dave enjoys holding Nina, and we weren’t shy about letting him, although probably as not as much as he’d wanted to… I kept him busy helping me move stuff from our house to a storage facility. What, you don’t think we have time to sell our house on top of all this other stuff going on? Sure, why not? (All kidding aside, if I had had time to focus on anything I was going to break down… I ended up overloading myself on purpose so that I couldn’t focus on any one thing. It worked great, but so much happened that I’ve forgotten a lot of things. So if you helped us during this time of need and I forgot to say thank you, I blame it on this. And thank you. 🙂 ) 
February 21st 2010 – I love my beautiful, beautiful family — including the little girl in the bed back there. 
Of all the pictures we have of her, this one hurts me the most, and I’m not sure why. Part of it is the framing, and the cold hospital surroundings… and she looks small, and hooked up to far too many things. I think it might also just be that it is a daughter in her father’s arms, as normal a photo as can be — but the situation is so far away from normal. 