Gone daddy gone

We searched, we hoped, we prayed, we searched again, we had Molly and Chach search, we pulled our hair out in frustration, we searched one last time (just, you know, in case), and we finally gave up.

It's official: the camera is gone.

How it vanished we don't know (we were looking at it in the car near the end of the drive home, for pete's sake), but all of the lovely shots of Eden, Sarah, Molly, Florida, the beach, the pool, and my ever-expanding spare tire are gone for good. It's okay to shed a tear or two; we've already filled a few glasses-ful.

So an in-depth report of Eden's first exposure to white sand, palm trees, and southern weddings will have to wait a bit longer until we can steal some pics from Molly's camera. On the plus side, we had gotten some sand underneath the sliding lens cover that made some nasty clicking sounds when we turned it on or off, so it was probably on its way out sooner rather than later. I never liked that camera anyway. Stupid camera.

In the meantime, enjoy this photo I've managed to dredge up. It's a great shot of Eden sleeping in the middle of the night after a storm knocked power out. With no flash. And a fast shutter speed.

sad, sad post

So here's the deal. We went to Florida. Had a wonderful time. Took lots of great pictures. Drove back home to Arkansas. Lost the camera. Now we are at a lost as to what we can even post. We are on a mad hunt for the lost camera and will keep you all posted. As far as Eden's platelets... all she needed was a little trip to the beach, they're up this week to 425,000!! Hopefully she'll keep them around there, we'll see. If anyone has any idea where to look for our camera let us know, until then, here are a few older pictures of Eden- her 1st soccer picture. And her w/ Daddy.

Manic little monkeys

Whew. It's been a busy week, and there's no letup in sight. Here's a quick rundown of the latest events:

--Grampa Lair came out to visit, pulling in last Sunday and taking off early this morning. The last time he had seen her was back in April, when she was knee-high to a grasshopper (she's thigh-high to a cricket, now). Eden loved the furry white stuff on his face (although he may not have appreciated her tugging so hard on his beard), and we loved having him out for a spell.


--Monday was clinic day, where she scored a 309,000 on her platelet test. I said last Monday was her worst trip so far, but this one beat it by a mile--it was screamarific. The nurses now draw straws to see who gets stuck with "the incident maker." (I kid, I kid--at least, I hope they don't draw straws. Some of them have a hunted look in their eye when we roll in, though.)


--Wednesday we had house church at our house, where the other members got to see the indigenous Laircub in her native habitat. Ashley Chandler and Eden's buddy Brady (from down the street) came up for a while too, which Eden appreciated--the party was getting laaaammme-o with only old people around.


...and that's about it. My list of activities looks a little weak, now that it's in print; maybe you had to be there to appreciate the hectic-ness of it all. Or maybe we're just wusses.

Coming up, we've got a trip to Florida next week for a wedding; some friends from Phoenix driving in the week after (with kids Eden can play with! She's been looking forward to this, like, her whole life); and Grandma Lair flying in the week after that. If I had been as popular in high school as Eden is already, I would've been class president. Or something. So we've got this weekend to catch our collective breath and then it's party party party for a solid month. Please, please, please pray for our sanity.

Big Girl

Eden officially graduated to her Big Girl carseat this weekend. She weighed in at 22.5 lbs. this past Monday and the limit for her old seat was 22 lbs. On the upside she does seem to like it better and Mike and I were just about throwing our backs out carring her in the old one. Mike and I have also discovered the relief of Baby Einstein. For all of you out there who are saying to yourselves "Oh no, they're sticking that kid in front of the TV all of the time", I really can reassure you that we don't do it often, but it comes in handy now and again. So here are a few pictures of Eden relaxing before bed.

Mondays are for grouches

Today's number is 443,000, brought to you by the verb fuss and the adjective cranky. Yes, today was clinic day for Eden, and while she scored great (well, decently--we expect it to be high the week after a transfusion) she wasn't happy about the experience. Actually, this may have been her worst trip so far--she even screamed at the nurse, which everyone knows is a no-no, unless you like spit in your soup. Oh wait, that's waiters.

At any rate, she was not a happy camper. She hasn't been much fun to be around for the last week or so, come to think of it. I blame the teeth. They haven't popped through yet, but you can almost see the little tormentors, lying just under the surface, radiating waves of crankiness.

Eden and the Hospital, Acte Trois

Yesterday was Transfusion Day, where happy little girls with no platelets in their blood go and get topped off for a few more weeks. Last week she rocked the platelets to the tune of 78,000, so yesterday--even though technically she was just going in for another blood test--we packed bags with clothes, diapers, baby toys and grown-up toys (because who wants to spend a day in the hospital without some Mario Kart action, really?), grabbed an aunt, and headed off bright and early. Call it a sense of foreboding.

And whad'ya know? She scored 53,000. Big surprise.

So Eden got a needle stuck in a vein for the third time in her life. Her foot again, so no fun foam hand-board for her to play with and chew on and get generally sloppy. She was much less happy about this round of IVIg, as well; she had less of the "this is all so new and interesting and why does that man keep coming by with wild horses on his shirt (Nurse Tim, who wins my award for Nicest Male Nurse Ever)" reaction and more of the rockstar-ish "this again? How about a little creativity around here. This is, like, SO lame, people" 'tude. And who can blame her? If I was 5 months old and had large quantities of fluid pushed into my body from location other than my mouth, I'd probably be a little pissed too.