Well, it's happened. Ruby had another severe allergic reaction today. We knew it was probably inevitable, but it was still shocking and scary. It was the first time I had to use the EpiPen for real, and that was not fun at all. The needle in that sucker is close to an inch long (no exagerration), and it made Ruby bleed really bad onto her pants. She's napping right now, but I'll take pictures when she wakes up. We ended up spending quite a bit of the rest of the afternoon in the ER. If you want to know the full story, read on.  I'll put the pics first.

A flashback of my precious baby girl:

The EpiPen leaves it's mark:

The shot site (the bruise has subsided quite nicely!) :

Just the pants:

Poor Ruby (she's not back to 100% yet):

I'm not feeling well at all today, but I had some errands that I had to run. Our license plate expired today, we had paperwork that had to be mailed out today, and I let Ruby run out of wipes. (With a child who still poops in her diaper at least once a day, wipes are essential.) Since we had to run out anyway, Kyle asked if we'd like to go to lunch. I haven't been able to keep anything down since Sunday, but McAlister's sounded really good, so I decided to give it a shot. I had a chicken salad sandwich, Kyle had a roast beef sandwich, and Ruby had grilled cheese. We had Lays chips, which are fried in corn oil or sunflower oil, and Kyle had mashed potatoes. Ruby had some Teddy Grahams, which are produced in a peanut-free facility. No peanuts anywhere in our vicinity.

About half-way through lunch, Ruby got fairly agitated, and I noticed that she had two hives starting to form and grow on her lips. I gave her a tsp. of Benadryl, and we left the restaurant. By the time we got back to Kyle's work (to drop him off), the hives had not subsided, in fact, they were growing. Ruby was also starting to rub her tongue against her teeth, and scratch at her tongue with her hand. Those are all signs of an anaphylactic reaction, so I chose to give Ruby the EpiPen. That made her even more angry. That needle is *really* big, and it caused her to bleed a lot and get a really big bruise. I held it together, as I drove her to the ER and tried to call Mike.

As soon as we got to the Registration Desk at the E.R., I completely lost it. I started crying really hard (thank you, hormones and sheer panic) and trying to tell them what had happened. They kept saying, "You did a really good job, Mom! She looks like she's doing great!" Thankfully, the EpiPen did exactly what it is supposed to do. It stopped Ruby's reaction cold, and restored her to good health. The ER doctor gave Ruby a stronger medicine that would last longer than the Epinephrine, and they observed Ruby for a while. We have to give her that medicine for the next three days.

Ruby was really worn out when we got home, so she's napping for a little while. We won't be at the skating party tonight. We've had enough excitement for one day.

Please join us in praying that Ruby outgrows this allergy quickly. We love you all!

Many, many, many of my blogging friends have done at least one of the following two exercises.  Like a lazy, selfish, parasite, I have enjoyed reading their entries without returning the favor of entertainment.  Tonight, I read Amy's blog, and I felt really guilty all of a sudden.  So, here I go!  :)

Ten Random Things About Me: 

1. At some point in time, I have played the following instruments: voice, piano, guitar, bass, cello, marumba, xylophone, and kettle drums.

2. I played four of those instruments in the high-school marching band.  LOL!   I was also in the choir, on the swim team, drama team, debate team (I bet that one shocks a lot of you, huh?  LOL!), and a member of the National Honor Society.

3. I *love* to take baths.  Probably more than I should.  It's a little bit of an obsession.

4. I love the early infant stage.  Even though I don't have a high patience level in other areas of my life, I seem to have an uncanny level of patience for those first really hard weeks.  I would like to be a dedicated foster mom to infants and young toddlers, if God allows that opportunity in my life at some point.

5. Mike and I love the Ninth Street Hill and Highland Park neighborhoods.  I'm not sure we'll ever be able to afford a house in that area, but, if we can, I would really love to live there.  Reality is that we will not be able to live there, so we hope to live in the immediate vicinity of our current home.  We love our location!

6.  I'm really diggin' my mom's Blackberry right now, and I would love to have one.  LOL!  I totally would not be able to use it for all it's worth, though, so I would never actually get one.

7. I have lost 8.5 pounds with this pregnancy, because I have had such terrible and constant diarrhea.  (How's that for RANDOM and TMI???)

8. Today, I saw a headline that said, "Dolphin dies after mid-air collision."  I laughed really hard, and now I feel really guilty.  LOL!

9. My only craving through the pregnancy has been McD's sweet tea.  However, I'm scared of the caffeine because of the miscarriage.  Oh!  I take that back!  Last week, when I was grocery shopping, I started craving a PB&J really bad.  I started crying as I walked by the PB in Aldi's, and I cried for the remainder of the shopping quest.  People were looking at me really werid.

10. I have a celebrity crush on Sean Connery.  and Sean Combs (a.k.a. P. Diddy).  LOL!

Okay, are you all still my friends after that?  I hope so!  :)

As for the second exercise:

A "Meme" (I have no idea what a Meme is, but that's what Amy titled it...  *shrugs shoulders*)

Where is your cell phone?  Sitting right next to me on the side table.

Your significant other? What can I say?  He's truly amazing.  He's a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.  He's a wonderful and completely unselfish husband.  He's a caring, responsible, and funny daddy. He's an intelligent and driven man.  He's full of love, and I can trust him completely with anything.

Your hair? Really unruly.  I hate it.  It's naturally frizzy and thick.  Yuck.

Your mother? If I grow up to be just half the woman she is, then I will have made a success of my life.  She has been the best mother I could have asked for, and I hope I can follow in her footsteps.  She's also a pretty darn amazing Grandma.  :)

Your father? If my other half is made up of him, then I will be the most amazing person on the planet.  He is honest, wise, intelligent, loyal, loving, dedicated, and devoted.  He's the most wonderful Poppa I could have requested for Ruby.

Your favorite thing? I refuse to choose just one.  My husband, my daughter, my family, my friends.  Hands down.  On a whole different category, several levels down: McD's sweet tea, Girl Scout Thin Mints, Ice Cream, My bath, and My book.

Your dream last night? None last night.  I'm sick, so I slept pretty soundly.

Your favorite drink? McD's sweet tea, Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola Classic

Your dream/goal? To help people on a mass level/grand scale.  I don't know who they are, and I don't know what I'm supposed to help them with, but I want to help them.

The room you are in? The basement, soon to be my bedroom.

Your ex? Which one?  LOL!

Your fear? Being alone.

Where do you want to be in 6 years? I hope to have our family on the verge of completion and be on our way to being foster parents or adoptive parents.

Where were you last night? At home in bed.

What you are not? Single (LOL!), weak-minded, soft-spoken, foolish, mean-spirited, disloyal

Muffins? Blueberry, please.

One of your wish list items? I need my house to be baby-ready.  That includes a lot.  I'm starting by pretending that "Clean Sweep" is coming to my house on Saturday.  I'm taking everything out into the back yard and separating into three piles: keep, sell, trash.  Anyone want to help?

Where you grew up? Terre Haute, Indiana

The last thing you did? Sat on my bum watching t.v.

What are you wearing? jean capris, a Purdue t-shirt

Your TV?  It's Mike's from the college years.  We like it.  :)

Your pets? Don't have any right now.

Your computer? A Toshiba Satellite that we were shopping for on the day of Alex's birthday party and the day our poor little Cavalier was totaled.

Your life? Is everything I ever could have hoped for. 

Your mood? Is a little unpredictable these days.

Missing someone? Almost every day.

Your car? 2001 Chevrolet Venture (A Mini-Van)

Something you are not wearing? A lot of things!

Favorite store? Well, I'm sure I'd have one if I ever actually spent money.

Your summer? Getting my house baby-ready.  We'd also like to take Ruby to a few places: Shedd Aquarium, Indy Zoo, etc...

Like someone? I like quite a few people!

Your favorite color? Green right now.

When is the last time you laughed? When I read the "Dolphin" headline tonight.

Last time you cried? When I read Amy's meme tonight.

I hope you enjoyed!  I don't feel nearly as guilty now, even though this took me an entire 40 minutes, which I had planned to spend in the bathtub with a book.  :) :) 

Today we participated in the March for Babies, an annual event for the March of Dimes. We had multiple reasons for participating. First, our good friends, the Focosis, had a daughter named Lydia who died from a birth defect called anencephaly. This was a great opportunity to show support for our friends and to pay tribute to the life of a beautiful baby girl that was cut short. Our second reason for going was of course our daughter Ruby. As most of you know, we spent a week in the NICU after Ruby's birth. Thanks to the technology and medical advances of our day, we still have our precious girl with us today. Participating in the march was a great way to support efforts to save babies like Ruby, who stuggle to live after birth.

The march was quite fun. We were part of a team called "Lydia's Grace" that was headed up by Amy Focosi. We had something like 75 people on our team. many of whom were good friends from church. We walked for ~4 miles, in the streets around the county fairgrounds. There were tons of people participating! I've posted some photos from the day here. These are a few of my favorites:

Good Morning, friends and family! I have some great news! A friend of mine from high school, Amanda Royer, has been dating a young man that we knew in high school. As their relationship approached a deeper level, he shared his concern about their differing levels of faith. He is a committed Christian man, and Amanda has been (to this point) fairly indifferent about the subject of faith. (Amanda, correct me if that is wrong!) She told him that she was open to exploring her faith, and he invited her to his church. Today, I am praising God and thanking Him for his faithful community at Cross Lane Community church in Terre Haute. Amanda said that she felt welcomed the minute she walked in.

After spending some time talking with the Pastor at Cross Lane, Amanda said that her thoughts were, "Really? Why haven't I done this before?" She made a statement of faith last night. (In her words, "That I know God loves me and that Jesus died for my sins and that I know I'm never going to be perfect, and that's ok.") She is getting baptized this Sunday!! :) Praise God!

Many of you know that I have always wanted a child with red hair. What you may not know is that, it's really because of Amanda. :) She is one of the most beautiful redheads I know. :) (This picture is from our senior year in high school. I used to be thin, guys!! Sorry about the glare from the flash. It's a picture of a picture.)

Anyway, I am just so thankful, excited, and happy to see what God has been doing in her life. :) As Christians, we won't always get to see the sprout from the seeds that we have planted along the way. However, today, I am just SO incredibly blessed by watching Amanda begin to bloom. I wish you all could talk with her and hear the excitement in her speech.

Keep planting the seeds, friends, God is definitely continuing to work it out! Amanda, welcome to the family!! XOXOXOXO

Contrary to popular belief, and despite the cute smile, I did not give birth to a beautiful little baby girl fourteen months ago. Apparently, I gave birth to a beaver. Mike got Ruby out of bed this morning (Thank you, honey!), but when I went to put her down for a nap, I noticed this:

That's right! My beautiful, darling, sweet little Ruby has chewed all the way up and down her crib rail. This makes me absolutely sick to my stomach, because her crib converts into a toddler bed, then a headboard and footboard for a full-size bed. I'm so incredibly irritated. I know that we can sand it down and paint it over, but it still makes me incredibly frustrated. Grr...

PLUS, I'm not all that thrilled about my daughter's idea of extra fiber. I mean, surely paint and wood aren't part of a balanced diet for a one year old. I need to find a way to keep her from doing it again, but right now, the only thing I can think of is wrapping receiving blankets around it and duct taping them down. I'm sure there's gotta be a better way. All you mommies of older children out there...any ideas for me?? Bring 'em on!

Thought you guys might enjoy! :) Ruby had a playdate with her friend yesterday. We're waiting on permission to post pictures. If we get the green light, you guys will certainly enjoy them!

They go by completely unnoticed. The small things, that is. Or, perhaps we notice the small things without stopping to acknowledge them. In the dictionary, acknowledge is defined like this:

1. to admit to be real or true; recognize the existence, truth, or fact of

2. to show or express recognition or realization of

3. to recognize the authority, validity, or claims of

4. to show or express appreciation or gratitude for

5. to indicate or make known the receipt of

6. to take notice of or reply to

7. Law to confirm as binding or of legal force

It would be impossible to truly acknowledge all of the small things. In fact, there’s a statistic available somewhere that says that our brains only acknowledge a ridiculously small percentage of everything we actually hear. If our brain didn’t filter so selectively, we would go insane, literally. God gave us a very necessary involuntary hearing filter to protect us. However, we sometimes choose to employ a voluntary filter regarding our hearing. Yes? If not us, then certainly our children! LOL!

I’m terrible with this. If Mike and I are on an extended drive, I’ll often take a book along. If it’s a good book, I get incredibly involved in my reading, and I elect to employ my voluntary filter. LOL! Many times, Mike will have to say, “Are you listening?” And I have to admit that, in fact, I am NOT listening at all. There are times when Mike really needs a chance to communicate with me, and I brush him off or ignore him in order to give my attention to my book.

I think it’s very similar with the small things in life. The small things can be anything from the pure, unadulterated joy found in the smile of a young child to a small intuitive “feeling” we find in the pit of our stomach. A small thing can be the first bright, sunny, warm, comforting, invigorating day of the Spring Season or the first miniscule snowflake that lands on your nose in the Winter Season. A smile from a stranger. A sincere hug, full of love and compassion. A hand-written thank you note. A close parking spot at the mall. The perfect piece of fabric to finish the quilt. Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola Classic at the beginning of pregnancy. The list could go on and on and on…

My point is this:

Many times, I get so caught up in my good book, that I overlook my husband’s need to communicate. Similarly, many times we get so caught up in life, that we, the Bride of Christ, overlook our Husband’s need to communicate through the small things.

It could be that God is trying to talk to you, but He’s having a little bit of a hard time competing with your good book, your life. The stranger who smiled *really* needs an invitation to church. The close parking spot at the mall was a small hug from your Heavenly Father. The perfect piece of fabric finishes the quilt that will forever become a comforting part of a family’s experience in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit.

The first bright, sunny, warm, comforting, invigorating day of the Spring Season is an annual reminder that we serve the God whose mercies are new every morning. The God who is. The God who was. The God who will always be. All praise to Him!

If you made it this far, my prayer is that you will be hugged in the coming days by acknowledging the small things gifted to you by your Heavenly Father. Be blessed, my friends.

Ruby woke up this morning around 5:30 a.m.  That's pretty unusal for her, but not completely unheard of.  It was her first full night in a cloth diaper, so I thought maybe that had something to do with it.  We went ahead and woke her up, changed her diaper, gave her a bottle of milk, and started to put her back to sleep.  Unfortunately, she puked ALL of her milk back up all over both of us, and we ended up taking a bath together.  Nothing wakes me up like a shower/bath, so there was no going back to sleep after that.  We continued on with our normal morning routine (breafast, clean up last night's dinner mess, play with toys, nap for Ruby (and for Mommy, too, on this particular day!)).  :)

Well, when I checked my e-mail, I had a message from Mike saying that there had been an earthquake right around the time that Ruby woke up.  Neither of us felt anything, but our friends, Mike and Amy, felt it.  I'm guessing that must have been what woke Ruby up.  Since Mike and I didn't feel anything, I have a couple of theories on why that could be:

1. Our house is so tiny that the whole thing sways together (like the whole earth spins together, so we don't feel the spinning.)

2. I really should have lost the rest of that pregnancy weight before I got pregnant again.  Maybe I'm big enough to anchor our house to the ground in a fashion that keeps us stable!?!?  (I do sleep pretty darn close to the center of our house...  WHO AM I KIDDING???  Any point in our house is pretty darn close to the center of our house!  Roughly 15 feet or less from the center of our house.  LOL!) 

Anyway, that's the exciting news from us!  I'm sure many of our friends and family felt this as well.  The epicenter was actually located in southeast Illinois, and news reports are saying that tremors were felt all the way up to Michigan and all the way down to Florida.

If anyone is interested (and wants to indulge us!), we have added new and recent pictures of the Roo-meister to the photo section of our site.  There are even pictures of Uncle Kyle arriving home from Rio de Janeiro.  We surprised him at the airport to welcome him home! 

We love you all very, very much! 

We didn't have an appointment for some unheard of Star Trek or Star Wars creature; we had our first pre-natal appointment for Baby Goodwin 2!! This morning, the Goodwin family headed over to Dr. Harrison's office to get this pregnancy officially started. We have an official due date, now! BG2 should be arriving sometime around November 21, 2008. That means I'm about eight and a half weeks pregnant.

We had mostly good news today. My body is growing the way it is supposed to be growing, and things are looking good. I got a lot of bloodwork and other tests taken, and we'll have the results of those sometime this week. Chances are that I'm slightly anemic again (like I was last pregnancy), but that is easily fixed with an iron supplement. We also learned that, because of my history of miscarriages, we'll be getting another ultrasound at our next appointment in a month. How exciting! Another chance to see our little one and make sure that s/he is doing alright.

We also got a little bit of not-so-good news. Most of you know that Ruby, our first daughter, was born six weeks premature and that her amniotic sac broke eight weeks early. These two conditions are called PROM (premature rupture of membranes) and Premature Labor. The PROM has a recurrence rate of 25%-50%, and the Premature Labor has a recurrence rate of 50%-75%. When I had Ruby, Dr. Harrison had said that I would have about a 25% chance of all of that happening again. Today, she said the chance is more likely to be at least 50%. I was very shocked. I asked her why her opinion had changed since Ruby's birth. She said that, due to my entire obstetric history, the fact that I had completely spontaneous PROM, and the fact that my body naturally went into labor so early, she felt I was probably on the higher end of the range.

I am a little sad to know that we're facing such a high probability, but I'm also thankful to know the facts. I had already decided that we would be totally ready for this one before 30 weeks this time, because I learned my lesson with Ruby. When I was admitted to the hospital for Ruby, we had exactly one umbrella stroller, one pacifier, two baby outfits (one boy and one girl), and a crib with no mattress. I don't want that to happen again. :) This is going to be a busy summer of preparation! :)

We'll be keeping BG2's information a secret, just like we did for Ruby, so you all have several months of guessing to look forward to! (I just ended my sentence with a preposition...sue me.) :) After our appointment next month, when we know everything is okay, I'll probably open up a pool like we did for Ruby. :)

We love you all, and we appreciate your continued prayers for a healthy, safe, pregnancy with a healthy little baby at the end of God's pre-ordained gestating time!

On an unrelated note, Kyle has been in Rio de Janeiro on a mission trip for the past week and a half. He was called to preach and do some outreach home visits. His updates have been infrequent, but things sound like they have gone well. He was supposed to fly out of Brazil this evening around 8:00, and he is expected to land in Indy around 2:15 tomorrow afternoon. Their trip *to* Rio de Janeiro was full of obstacles and delays. Please pray for a seamless, safe trip home. Ruby and I miss our lunch partner, and we can't wait to have him back! He'll be writing a report of his trip when he gets back, so I'll make sure to copy and post it here!

Hey everyone! I realized it's been a while since I've updated about Ruby, and, since I'm using this as her "baby book" of sorts, I thought I'd better do it while I'm thinking about it. :)

Ruby Elizabeth is now 14 months and 1 week old. :) My, how the time flies!! She had a doctor's appointment about a week ago for an ear infection, and she weighed 20 lbs. even. We were very happy to see the weight gain slow down. She is full of smiles and energy, and she seems to have a positive affect on the people around her. Grocery shopping generally takes quite a while, because all of our fellow shoppers want to stop and talk with her. :) I don't mind. To whom much is given, much is expected, right? I've been given a beautiful daughter who loves to make other people smile. It's the least I can do to share her with others. :)

Ruby has also had quite a developmental explosion. She is picking up words and signs at a rapid pace right now. Many times, she will even mimic a word after the first time she's heard it. Apparently, her vocabulary and communication skills won't be lagging behind like her fine and gross motor skills. I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she has a mother who talks all. the. time. (Hee hee hee...) Here current list of words and signs is as follows:

Spoken Words: Dada, Mama, Roar, Moo, Baa Baa, Bak Bak, Woof Woof, Pig, Bear, Book, Play, Thank You (Tay Tay), Parker (Par Par), Peyton (Pey Pey), Grandpa (Poppa), Pop, Gigi, Uncle Kyle (Ki ki ki), Aunt Megan (May May), Aunt Sarah (Ra Ra), Uncle Zach (Saaa), Bath (Ba), Baby, Bye bye, Hi, Night-Night (Ni Ni), Poo-poo

Signs: More, Eat, Milk, Please, All Finished, Bye bye, Hi, Clap

She is also starting to make progress with her motor skills. She is getting really good at picking something up between her thumb and pointer finger (the pincer grasp) and directing it straitght into her mouth. Also, this morning while we were doing "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear", she purposefully touched her nose and her toes! I was very excited to see that! She has also started to clap when we're saying a very metered rhyme or clap when we're singing songs. She also loves to dance! One of her most exciting new "tricks" is standing alone and taking steps. She has been cruising since Christmas and crawling since Feb. 3. Now, however, she can stand on her own and balance for about 15 seconds. If we get her standing very solid and steady, she can even take two to three solid steps. It's very fun to watch, and she turns and claps her hands when she's finished. She's sure to make certain she gets the praise for her endeavors. LOL!

I could probably write a lot more, but these are the basics. We love our little Ruby SO much, and we couldn't be more thankful to have her in our lives!!

***Disclaimer: The video is over an hour long, but well worth the time.***

Do you ever feel like you get life a little bit out of perspective? I know that I do. I get my priorities mixed up easily. I forget what's *really* important. I start to focus on myself or the details or the little things, and, before I know it, I realize that I'm missing the boat entirely. I've recently learned of a Professor from Carnegie Mellon named Randy Pausch. Dr. Pausch was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the fall of 2006. After a full treatment of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, the cancer came back with a vengence. In August of 2007, he learned that the cancer had metastasized agressively and was attacking his liver and spleen. His doctors gave him an estimate of 3-6 months of good health. I am so impressed and inspired by his outlook on life, that I felt led to at least give you the opportunity to be inspired, as well. His talk, "Last Lecture: Really Acheiving Your Childhood Dreams", is very good. It can be found HERE on YouTube. Or you can watch it here on our blog.

In addition, Dr. Pausch felt the need to get his lecture on Time Management in a digital form for his children in the future. For those of you who are excellent at time management and never find yourself up against a deadline or letting down a friend, feel free to skip this part. For the rest of us, I think Dr. Pausch has some very practical and beneficial tips and points. You can find his video lecture HERE on YouTube. OR you can visit his website HERE. The Time Management resources are about 3/4 way down the page under the "Professional" heading. He has made the lecture, power point program, and notes available under a "creative commons" license, which is a legal way of saying that you may use them for non-commercial purposes, so long as you don't alter them, and you give attribution to Dr. Pausch.

Anyway, this man and his family are on my heart. I commend him for the way he is looking forward and giving his children a most incredible gift in their last memories of their father. I hope that his story and his circumstance also helps you gain a little bit of perspective, if you have a habit of losing it, like me. You can keep up with his journey HERE.

Much love, friends.