Saturday, August 27, 2011

Wow



Hurricanes don't come in pint-sized.

I guess I should be quite happy with the 113 today (lowest of our 8 days in AZ). When Betsy Jo comes to California, she won't know what to feel...

Daddy, Betsy Jo Sleep after Long Draft

Yes, it has taken over four hours but the draft is finally done for the Spanish Inquisition team. Betsy Jo and Mary Jane (who arrived 90 minutes ago) are both asleep now. I wish to be that soon enough.

Betsy Jo's First Fantasy Football Draft

Well, technically it would be Mary Jane's first draft as well but Mommy and Gramma Carol took her to Aunt Lisa and Uncle Greg's for some swim time. Betsy Jo will stay behind with Daddy as he tries to figure out what player to draft in what round. Yes, it might be a hopeless endeavor this year as I spent my last week with my precious little newborn Elizabeth but I will try my best to vanquish my foes. At least that would my late great rabbit Jane would have said.

My team, the Spanish Inquisition (nobody ever expects them), came in dead last in 2010 even though they scored the second most points in the league. Absolutely horrific luck but that's the way it goes. At least that means I will get the first pick in the draft this season. I'm just hoping my first pick doesn't get hit by a car this weekend. I once traded a defensive lineman, good ol' Leonard Little, to Jeff's team and the very next night Leonard passed out at a restaurant and smacked his head on a table giving him a concussion. Talk about timing (or bad luck on Jeff's behalf).

Enough of this stalling... I have only 30 mintues to write down the rest of defensive draft list.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Magically Bigger!

Some people might have said that the Havasu hospital did not properly measure Betsy Jo but I'd like to think that she has grown one whole inch from Saturday night, the night she was born. She is now 21 inches in length which was the same as Mary Jane's back in December. Mary Jane was one pound heavier for those who keep such statistics.

Betsy Jo has already caught the attention of Mary Jane who came by a few times this afternoon to say Hello.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

We All Scream...!



Ice cream is always needed after a long day. After a many hour drive through harsh desert, we arrived in Phoenix where it was a much cooler... 115 today. Nice. After that I think we all deserved a nice scoop or two of ice cream.

We all scream for ice cream, right?

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Big Smile by Daddy



It's 119 today in Lake Havasu City so at least little Betsy Jo will never say she's not experienced extreme heat. Meanwhile Mary Jane was swimming in a pool. Mary Jane has also noticed Betsy but hasn't quite figured it out yet. Maybe she's just a short-eared rabbit.

Now if the hospital passes along the medical records (like they should), we can drive down to Gramma and Grampa Kendall's tomorrow. Otherwise, we idle for another day in extreme heat.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Betsy Jo Looking Hoppy



Betsy Jo's birth mother Jenn Wilson took a very nice picture of her tonight. This is her last night in the hospital. Tomorrow she'll be heading off with us in our newly updated family.

Styling with Betsy Jo



Such a cute little thing. More photos upcoming.

Bunnies Still in the Dark Regarding Betsy Jo

Cherry Bugg has resigned herself recently to being petted by Mary Jane. She would rather not subject herself to such a humbling thing but she understands that she doesn't want to upset Mister John and Miss Jill. Besides, Mary Jane is slowly getting the knack of rabbit petting down. Just no pulling on the ears, that's all.

But with Betsy Jo coming home soon to a rabbit cage near you, she'll ultimately feel the double team.

It was quite amazing when we originally brought home Mary Jane. We had her in a swing and the bunnies were let out that day and they all hopped into the den and circled her like the animals did to Jesus in the manger scene. They could smell a new member of the family. I'm guessing they weren't too happy about it (less carrots for that, I guess) but they have learned to incorporate Mary Jane into the larger family. Now that will include Betsy Jo as well.

That will be a difficult Christmas card photo.

Just Waiting Along...

Mary Jane is staying with her grandparents while Jill and I alternate visits to her and the swimming pool. Well, it is 117 after all... the swimming pool MUST be visited.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Dance, Big Sister, Dance!

One thing that Jill and I will make sure does not happen is that we forget about our lovely Mary Jane. It's been a bit odd the last few days as Mary Jane has stayed with Gramma and Grampa Kendall while we've been at the hospital with Elizabeth. It's not like we've forgotten Mary Jane; conversely, it makes us think about her all the more. When we were all together at my family's get-together (before the all-important "water breaking" phone call), Mary Jane entranced the audience with a mighty quadruple tongue thrust. :P :P :P :P

Mary Jane has been a dancing fiend again with her grandparents. Good for her! She needs to channel that dancing energy. Give Betsy Jo a few months and then she too can channel her energy into rolling, laughing, and crawling.

On an unrelated note, I really do like those M&Ms with the pretzels inside. Quite tasty.

118 Outside, Nice and Cool Inside

It's quite odd to walk around the hospital grounds and think, "My feet are freezing!" Of course as soon as you leave the sliding doors at the entrance, the overwhelming heat hits you like a pro linebacker on HGH. Yes, nice simile.

While I've always been one to leave it on the Weather Channel (hey, the soothing music on the 8s can put me to sleep!), I refer to it even more so in desert climes. Nothing like seeing the searing heat of the Arizona desert.

I'm sure Cherry Bugg would not approve.

Betsy Jo Using Her Eyes

Betsy Jo has had her eyes open since day one! And on her second full day in the real world, she decided to try out her eyes. Look left, right, and everywhere.

First Family Photo!



Together in Havasu.

Darting Eyes

I can't wait to download the video of Betsy Jo trying out her eyes this morning. I'm not sure if she can see more than shades and shadows at this point but watching her move them to the left and to the right is quite entertaining.

Little League...

As much as I think that ESPN's use of the Little League World Series puts too much pressure on 12 year olds (they have a hard enough time tying their shoelaces), I am quite elated that it's on right now. It's a quaint little background noise while I hold my little girl.

I'm still trying to figure out why Aruba and South Dakota are in the same bracket. Sounds a little off to me.

As I wrote yesterday, Betsy Jo is sleeping well and eating well... good for a little two-day-old girl. I'm darn near 40 and I still haven't mastered the eating and sleeping well technique.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Quick pic




Looking good.

On Schedule

Betsy Jo seems to have the whole sleep for 1:45 and eat for 15 minutes schedule down.

And Mommy is back to say Hi.

The Surprise Call

Now to backtrack a little bit here. Unknown to many people, we were matched as potential adoptive parents with a woman in Arizona. At first we thought it might be too soon as Mary Jane was just a few months old. But as we thought about it, it would be perfect for MJ to have a younger sister quite close to her in age. So we moved forward with the adoption process.

Yesterday Jill and I were at my sister's for a family barbecue. I was going to tell them at some point but then we were beaten to the punch by a phone call. The birth mother Jenn called us to say that her water had broken. Egads! Well, no hiding that surprise bit of news anymore. Nothing quite like telling your family that you're going to have to leave early because you're going to adopt a brand new child in another state in just a few hours.

Oh yes, nothing like a long drive out on the 40. It's not a bad ride... just quite full of desert, that's all. Quite coincidentally Mary Jane was born in a desert town as well, Victorville. The temperature at Betsy Jo's birth was still 102. Ouch. Conversely, it was a mere 55 or so in December for MJ's birth. We arrived just in time to hear the good news about Elizabeth's birth.

Oh, she screamed a lot the first night. But wouldn't you? Yeah, after nine months of security to be tossed out into the world of lights and noises... goodness, I'd scream as well!

Pictures will be downloaded as soon as we can get Grampa Kendall's computer for such things. More updates in a bit.

Elizabeth Josephine Kendall Erb

8 pounds, 20 inches. Lots more news to come. And a pic or two if you're lucky.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Mary Jane's First Visit to UCLA



As accidentally mentioned in Miss Jill's blog, I took Mary Jane on a tour of UCLA this afternoon with two former Mary Star students of mine. I tell my sophomores every year that if they get accepted to UCLA and plan to attend there, I will give them the tour myself. And I did that today will Mary Jane tagging along.

Boy, she was tired by the end of the day. So am I... nap time here as well.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Mary Jane Dances for Grampa Kendall



Ah, look at her go! This is from Mary Jane's visit to Gramma and Grampa Kendall in northern Arizona a few weeks ago.

Photo Shoot Video

Poor Mary Jane. It's so difficult to be eight months old and sit still for a photo shoot. Who doesn't want to get up, wander, have a cup of tea, and visit the rabbits?

The Pengoon Returns from Extended Vacation



The Pengoon can no longer rest idly in the back yard or sleep in the purple room during the summer. It's school time again! And the valiant penguin needs to return to Mary Star to lead his Academic Decathlon team to victory. Well, it's mid-August so maybe it's just leading them to study well. In any case, the Pengoon has left Chez Erb to return to San Pedro leaving certain unnamed stuffed animals quite relieved. They feel overly threatened by the fish-eating giant.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Family Picture after Pat and Brent's Wedding




Wow, so long ago.

Easter, Mister John's First Bunny




She was the first rabbit officially given to Mister John as a pet. Yes, there are some random photos of a bunny named Snowball beating him at tetherball. Lies and subterfuge indeed. Easter Grey Erb was her official name. She had a somewhat stressful life as she was the only rabbit to be bitten by a dog. She was also the only female rabbit to have a litter. According to tradition, Patricia allowed Herbie, clearly the male rabbit, to be on the couch with Easter. All they did was "sniff each other" as Pat said. Well, three months later there were many many bunnies. I do recall The Original Mr. Erb questioning Pat on her knowledge of rabbits and sniffing.

Good ol' Easter was remembered well. The first of the modern line of rabbits to claim they were not fed enough.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Cherry Bugg Idles in Her Cage While Mary Jane Stands Everywhere

Cherry Bugg has been idling in her cage for the past week while Mister John and Miss Jill have claimed to vacate Chez Erb temporarily for a cabin in the woods of northern Arizona. But while Cherry Bugg notches off each day of solitude with a scratch mark on her new cage, the other rabbits have been in iso as well. Chip though remains the undaunted happy bunny with the den to hop about.

Meanwhile Mary Jane has proven herself to be the expert stander now. When Mary Jane left Chez Erb last week, she was barely crawling. But then she far surpassed mere crawling and moved on to advanced standing and dancing. Supposedly she and Commute Bunny went to a dance club in Flagstaff last night while Mommy and Daddy were asleep. Daddy might have been working on a jigsaw puzzle but who knows...

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Thunderstorm Keeps Mary Jane form Prolonged Swim

Mary Jane is on her swim-a-day vacation as she splashed about in the Munds Park pool for about ten minutes. Unfortunately the weather got just a bit dark and nasty as large thunderclouds came overhead with lightning strikes. So Mommy, Daddy, and Mary Jane all fled the pool but they were in it long enough to show off their swimming strokes to Gramma and Grampa Kendall. Well, Daddy doesn't have great swimming strokes but that's never stopped him.

Earlier in the day Mary Jane decided to skip a nap and go straight to her 1pm bottle at noon. But the swim and a busy afternoon allowed her a ninety minute nap. Yay for Mary Jane!