Good news for my mom

My mom is out of back surgery now. She had a herniated disk that she had repaired this morning in Springfield, Mo. Everything went well and she's in recovery. She'll be back in Mountain Home this afternoon. Hooray!

Here's a picture of my mom holding Mia the day she was born:

So much for voting

Mia and I went to vote this morning. You can read about it here.

Take that, TV

We've been spending more time together as a family sans TV. Last night we played inside and then went for a walk around the block. Mia also had some supper. She's getting better and better at feeding herself. I put some food on the spoon and then hold the spoon out for her. She grabs it and then pops it in her mouth sideways. She doesn't get a whole lot of food off there, but we know she knows what's up. Sometimes she gets so excited she flings the spoon (and therefore the food) all over the place, squealing with joy. In a word, she's a genius.

Time with Oma Jill

Here are some cute pictures of Mia with her Oma Jill: getting a bath in the sink at Jill's condo and taking a nap curled up on the couch together.

Swimming like a splashing fish

I meant to post this a week ago but am just now getting around to it. We took Mia swimming in the pool at Leigh's mom's condo complex. As usual, she LOVED being in the water! Leigh would walk her across the pool and she'd splash like crazy all the way. We think she thinks she was swimming on her own. It was so fun to watch. We stayed until nightfall made it a little too chilly.









And here are a few videos. (The middle one is super short.)

Why I love my job

This is a real conversation that actually happened today:

My editor's boss to a caller: "Let me let you talk to our feral cat editor."

*my phone rings*

Me: "Oklahoman."

Woman: "Is this the feral cat editor?"

Me: *sigh* "Yes."

Tacos and tables

Last night we had supper with Clay and Marc at a Mexican restaurant we all like to go to. As soon as we got there, Marc started making her smile. He did this trick where he covered his face with a napkin and poke his tongue through as a surprise. Mia cried. We have no clue what it was, but she probably figured that Marc violently killed the napkin. But she quickly recovered and had a great time eating the table:



Jill left for South Africa this morning. She arrives in Cape Town on Friday night their time. Ma seems to be doing OK. She's lucid and asking to see specific family members. She asked to see Jill, and we're hopeful (and expecting) she will arrive in time.

Vilakazi night

Last night we had a small get-together for a few friends who've been supporting us and Vilakazi. We showed photos of our trip and told everybody about what we did. Here's a short video I made about one of our donations: rain boots. (You can't see it all on here for some reason on some browers. (Click here if you can't see anything to the right of the word "teacher" in the first scene.)

News on Ma

Ma was released from the hospital today to go home. At this point, she will receive hospice care. There isn't much left that can be done at the hospital. Jill is going to go home, and we are so grateful for that. This is a really tough time for Leigh and his family. Please pray for them and for Ma.

Prayers for Ma

Today Leigh's grandmother, Ma, was put in the trauma center (sort of like ICU I think) at a hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. She's been in bed for several days, which is absolutely unlike her. She also has cold hands and feet. Please say a prayer for her.

Ma is Jill's mother. She and Pa met Mia for the first time when we were there in June. As usual, Ma and Pa were hilarious. Ma called Mia a twit, which might have been the funniest moment of the entire vacation. They loved on Mia the whole time. It was really special.

Chuckles!

Yesterday our pal Chuck Van Hamme, also known as Chuckles, came to town! OK, so he's actually Chad's friend from growing up, but we've claimed him as our own. I'm not sure if that's good. Mia got to meet Chuckles, and luckily she survived. This is a picture of her with Chuck, who let her borrow his Detroit Lions hat.



This whole week is dedicated to Chuckles debauchery - Eischen's, Edna's, dollar-beer night at the ballpark and Cookie's. Good gravy. I hope all survive.

The apple and the tree

My mom sent me this email. I'd completely forgotten about this. Maybe it is genetic?

Your blog about Mia splashing took me back 28 years. You did that! We had a little plastic baby carry seat we would strap you in and put enough water in the tub to come up to your chest. You would also kick and splash with this intent look on your face, like it was your job. You also would just churn away. Do you think there is a how-I-take-my-bath gene?

Noodling

Today we went with our pals Tre and Kelli Dupuy and a friend of theirs, Sanda, to the 11th annual Okie Noodling Tournament. (Here's a quick refresher on noodling.) I'm going to write a column about it next week, so for now, I'll just show you some of the photos Kelli took:

Actually live on the Plaza

Tonight we went to Live on the Plaza, which is always really fun. If you live in Oklahoma City, you should go. The store owners there stay open late, and artists put out their work. Some places have food and drinks and such. Tonight several dog rescues came out and I have to be honest: I wanted to get in the pen full of pugs and just roll around in there. They were so adorable.

We hung out and saw lots of friends. LOYAL folks Aimee Ahpeatone, Bose Akadiri, Kristen Vails. Friends from work: the Kimballs, along with Megan and Darla and their guys. We also saw Clay and Marc and Clay's fancy new car. Mia of course came with us and was really excited to see Marc, who is her BFF. We put her in a dress we bought in South Africa and let her actually be live on the Plaza.

On Tread On Me(ya)

Yesterday Leigh got instructions from Mia's teacher that she needs shoes. She's often pulling herself up to standing and then pitter-pattering her way long bookshelves and tables and toys in her classroom. Most of the floor is linoleum, so she needs shoes to prevent slips. We found this hilarious pair of sandals at Walmart, and today she wore them for the first time. Here are some photos: one of her before she left for school and the other shopping with us at Sam's Club.
As you can tell, she loves them. Her teachers say she's the only one who doesn't pull her shoes off.

Diaper to the face

Mia is in the last bit of recovery from her ear infection, and Leigh and I have let her sleep in our bed when she wakes up with pain. She has an uncanny ability to spin around and end up perpendicular to us. That means one of us gets a butt to the face. This time, it was me:

But honestly, I think what I like best about this picture is our sleeping conditions. It's good that we change the sheets, but maybe eventually we'll change the sheets to ones that match - not green stripes, pink stripes, polka dots and black at the same time. Oh, some day.

Chicken!

Mia achieved an Oklahoam milestone: she went to Eischen's. (I wrote a column a couple years ago about how awesome Eischen's is.) We went with a group of friends, which I think might be a requirement of driving to Okarche.

She still doesn't have teeth, so she couldn't actually have any chicken. Therefore, Leigh and I had chicken in her honor. It was delicious. And that pleased her.

Peek-a-boo to you, sir

Since my surgery I can only take a bath (with my knee out of the water) until my little wounds are healed up. So Mia has been a helpful lifeguard in this endeavour.

Tonight we discovered something pretty funny: Mia has learned how to play peek-a-boo at the peeker. While Leigh was helping her stand, she pulled the shower curtain in front of her until I couldn't see her and then whipped it back, revealing her giggling self. She did this over and over. She knew the score. We couldn't stop laughing, and that made her laugh at us.

Then we decided she could take a bath in the tub as well since the bath was full. (Normally she's in the duck.) The moment she hit the water this incredible look crossed her face. She wasn't excited or scared. She was intense. She had lots of splashing to do RIGHT NOW. We couldn't even hold her well enough to make sure she wouldn't fall over with all the hardcore splashing. Her arms and legs were churning nonstop. Her face didn't flinch. It was all business. So I think we'll wait to move from the duck to the big people tub until we can have a better hold on her. But it did make us think maybe she needs a little pool for the summer.

I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but I finished uploading videos from our trip. I went back and put them in with the corresponding dates, but if you don't want to flip back through the blog, go here. This is probably my favorite of them all:

Happy Fourth of July!

Mic check 1, 2, 1, 2, mic check, mic check, 1, 2

A knee of steel!

Surgery went even better than the doctor imagined. It turns out the MRI was wrong, which my doctor said happens about 15 percent of the time. My ACL wasn't torn, he said - it was only "really angry." I don't know what that means, but I'll take angry over torn. I had more cartilage tears that expected but he fixed those up. Long story short, my recovery will be much faster. And then - God willing! - I will make a return to softball, soccer, rowing and golf. Please, please, please!

I've been sleeping a bunch, and Mia has been hanging out with me on the couch. She has an ear infection, so we're both kind of taking it easy. Leigh has been a champ. He's been taking care of everybody and - as always - without a single hint of complaint. He's an awesome husband. My mom's in town, so that's been helpful. She's been providing the "awww"s necessary to keep Mia occupied while I've been down for the count.

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers and such. Mia and I appreciate them. We've been texting back as quickly as we can. I've been replying on my phone; Mia's using Leigh's. So sorry if there are some misspelled words in there. Give her a break. She's just a baby.