How to Pass the Time on a Cold and Rainy Day

I hear there were blizzard conditions in Unalaska this morning so I should not complain about rain and cold in Dallas, but it was one of those days where you just don't want to go anywhere or do anything. We whiled away the hours keeping Elle occupied with lots of activities. Only a few are documented here! We made chocolate chip cookies and she was quite the helper.

Look at that face!
Wow, licking the beaters is one of my new favorite things!

Later we tried out Elle's new wagon from her Poppy and Grandma in Abilene. She loved riding through the house in it. Here she is jumping up and down, waving her arms and telling us "here I am!"

Some cute new animal stamps and an ink pad came in the mail today, perfect timing for an inside day.

We also played with the toy kitchen (making "meatballs" out of play-doh is one of her other favorite things), played with her new train set from Gigi and Grandpa Rich, dressed her dolls in Elle's clothes and shoes, watched a little "Dora, the Explorer," danced with Mommy, laughed and wrestled with Nash, and watched for Daddy out the window. Sarah made chili and I made cornbread for dinner--which hit the spot on a night like this.

Yes, I am still in Dallas instead of Houston. Saturday, I started losing my voice and thought it was just allergies. By Sunday it was worse and we thought I should probably see a doctor and make sure I was not contagious before being around Emery. We went to an urgent care place near Sarah's and I was diagnosed with a throat infection and laryngitis. The doctor asked me how much pain I was in, on a scale of 1 to 10, and I said "2." My throat really did not hurt much and I wouldn't have even gone to the doctor if it hadn't been for Emery's situation. After I said, "2," the doctor said she would prescribe me some pain pills! I told her (in my best Sarah Palin imitation) "Thanks, but no thanks." Seriously, pain pills? When I told Rich later, he asked, "if you'd said a '4' what would she have given you? Heroin?!"

While we were in the waiting room at the urgent care, Sarah called Bonnie and then started laughing because she said Bonnie sounded just like I did. Apparently, even with all our handwashing we managed to both come into contact with the same thing at the hospital. Since the dr. said I would be contagious for a couple of days, we decided I'd stay here and not double expose Emery. I changed my ticket to Tuesday, a little worried about Bonnie having to get up and get herself and Emery ready for a morning clinic appointment on Monday and an almost hour drive from Katy. Later we heard that David's flight home was cancelled due to weather in Amarillo so it all worked out and I am sure they were happy to have him stay a little longer.

Sarah heard from Bonnie earlier that Emery had a good check up in clinic today but needed more platelets so they had to stay for another transfusion. On the other hand, Bonnie doesn't have to give her the injections in her leg any more, so that was really good news. I didn't get to talk with her since neither of us has much of a voice, but it sounds like everything else is going fine.