The Phantom Battery

Grant will put anything in his mouth.

As Jennifer was flattening her hair for church, she noticed Grant sitting amid the broken pieces of a toy cell phone (at just 1.15 years old, Grant already knows how to hold it up to his ear and babble). She collected all the pieces, but couldn't find one of the phone's two button batteries. A long search on her hands and knees failed to produce the Smartie-sized pill.

The two parents reasoned, 'He won't eat broccoli florets, why would he eat a metallic battery?' Everyone moved on.

At night, however, Grant cried in his crib for over an hour, which is unusual for him. He normally puts in a worthy 5-minute effort, then calls it quits. But this increased the likelihood that an ingested battery was giving him fits. So they pulled Grant out of his crib, and the little guy thought he was the champ (increased effort, increased results).

Now Jennifer drafted Joseph into the search. The two groped the floor for over an hour, then called the "My Baby Swallowed a Battery, What Do I Do Now" hotline (202-625-3333). They suggested taking Grant in for an X-ray.

At 10:00 pm Joe drove Grant to his hospital. By this time Grant was tired. His body was like a soaked towel; they spread-eagled his little body over the x-ray film and snapped a picture. 10 minutes later the verdict arrived: No battery.

So now, each of the kids have emergency room experience. Madison chopped off the tip of her finger while performing circus tricks on her chair. Logan was rushed to the ER after a few weeks of life because he was full of mucus (still is); then had to have a sweet pea extracted from his left nostril (always something green); and then had to have his forehead stitched up after tripping on a stair.

Kids.

Fun times!

 Logan, Madison, Joe and I went to a Cleveland Indians game. Grant enjoyed playing at a friend's home! We got a little rained on, but fun was had by all.

Kids coloring. Grant only ate the non-toxic crayons.

BTW, Grant still isn't walking, but he has mastered the stairs! I still get a little nervous and try to watch him when he is going up or down, but he's fast! As you'll see, he kind of slides down--he keeps his left leg straight and his right leg bent just in case he needs to stop (like if he sees something mouth-worthy on the stairs, or realizes that the fun is upstairs).  I just watched the video and can't figure out why it cropped his head off, or how to fix it. Sorry! He also is finally getting more teeth--four are coming in on top. We laugh when we see his tongue rubbing his upper gums--it would be weird to all of a sudden feel something hard and sharp coming out of those baby-smooth (and swollen) gums!

We're still planning to move. Life is feeling back to normal.  The sunshine and warm weather help keep our spirits up. I'm basically finished with my first three credits, and need only three more before September to keep my teaching cert. current. I called the Idaho State Dept. of Ed., and they said I could even take a class I had taken before. Life's not too bad! I actually am kind of excited, and told Joe I could work for a while and he could be the stay-at-home dad while he started up the practice. He quickly turned my offer down... must be he realizes that staying home with the kids isn't all play-dates and macaroni and cheese!

Joe is working away at getting a web page up and figuring out marketing stuff for the practice he hopes to get started in a month or so. Stressful? Yes. But he's excited, and even though we both have doubtful moments, we are hopeful and feel like this move--literally and figuratively--will be a great blessing.  

House for Sale!

If you haven't seen our home, check it out! 

Some of our favorite things about our home:

• Feels comparatively new (it was built in 1949, but it's in great shape. And for those of you unfamiliar with the east--1949 is relatively new for a house!)
  
• We have an attached garage (many of the homes out here have a detached garage behind the home.)
• We have a great backyard
• We live a 5 minute walk from the park, which has a great pool, playgrounds, tennis courts, and playing fields
• We a few minutes away from several shopping centers
• The playroom is right off the dining room, so we can entertain or clean, and the kids are never out of sight!

If you know anyone looking for a home out in Cleveland, send them our way!

(I put a picture of Madi's room up because the one on realtor.com doesn't show how cute it is! And this picture is super faded for some reason. In case you can't tell, the colors in her room are pink, purple, and green. I love it!))

Additional Niagara Falls Pics

Jenny is Going to Kill Me

Voila! Here's is my cute wife after her in-the-doghouse husband forgot to bring her changing clothes to transition from a temple trip (Palmyra) to Niagara Falls. Her mother kindly let Jenny borrow some extra shoes, and we stopped at a Dollar Tree to pick up some socks. She was quite embarrassed. She wasn't very thrilled that I took this picture in the first place, and I'm pretty sure she won't be impressed that I posted it. (Although, doesn't she look happy?)