More vids and pics

It has been a crazy couple of weeks around here. There is more snow coming. Yesterday Nichole's grandma passed away. These two videos are for "Papa" and "Grandma" so that they feel better during this time. Yesterday our care group came and ministered to us by decorating our house for Christmas.

"baby lap" as Lily says. Her friend Malia almost exactly one year younger than Lily.

Lily says her name

Snow and sickness

Snow. We've had a few days of snow here. Lily and I built our first snowman. Nichole has recently been sick with pneumonia and is slowly recovering. We stayed a few days at some friends' house to give Nichole a break. I added some pictures to Lily's album. She brings joy to our lives. We are looking forward to seeing Nana and Opa next week and celebrating Christmas with them.

More pics of Lily

We had a busy week at the Gruber house. John and Nichole were gone for Friday and Saturday to Portland for a youth event. Auntie Leah came and watched Lily. Last week we went to our first story time at the library. Lily is not used to sitting and behaving, so she danced and ran around while the other kids listened to a story. Mama is going to practice so that next time it goes better. :-) We are looking forward to Thanksgiving because the Bret Oren family is going to visit. Nichole is going to make her first turkey. I uploaded more pics to the Lily album

Lily loves chocolate

Lily drinks from a big girl cup

Here is a video of Lily drinking from a big girl cup. I also uploaded some new pics on the Lily album.

Trick or Treat

Yesterday we took Lily trick or treating. By the third house she figured it out and even said trick or treat in her own little way. Our across-the-street neighbors even had a special bag prepared for her in anticipation of her visit. Lily walked almost all the way around our block. We had a great time. Here is a preview pic, but check out Lily's album for even more pics.

2 for 1 Fridays

A double update to finish off the week. This past Tuesday we bid farewell to Nichole's sister, Kim. She stayed with us for a week. We had a great time with her. She saw Seattle, and the Oregon Coast with her siblings. I know Nichole misses her tremendously. Click here for some pics of her time with us.


In Lily news, she got her first haircut. She sat in an airplane and did very well. She only squirmed a little when the stylist cut her bangs. Click here for Lily's album which now includes pics of the haircut.

Nichole and Lily

Nichole has gone to South Dakota to help her brother Bret move to Salem, OR. This leaves Lily and daddy home alone. We both miss Nichole very much and are excited for her to come home. Yesterday we went shopping for a new bike helmet because of our recent Craigslist find. Be sure to check out the Lily photo album. Here is a sneak peek.

Portland Zoo

We went to the Portland Zoo on Saturday. It was our nephew Micah's birthday and he loves animals. The Portland Zoo has a new addition, a baby elephant. He was very cute. We stayed over night with the our friends the Putz'. Their son Max is one week younger then Lily and they had fun playing.



I also have added some more pics to the Lily album, so be sure to click the link on the right to be taken to it. There are some good ones.

Pictures of Lily

The Lily picture album has been updated. Today we are heading to Portland for a visit to the zoo.

Do the Puyallup

Today we went to the fair. Upon arriving we got our bearings and headed to find, what else, food. The elephant ears were calling our name. After that we went to find some animals. We found the petting zoo for Lily. Two goats had their heads in a feed bag and Lily could not figure out what was wrong with them. She loved to pet the animals and was the youngest child in their petting. She especially loved the baby rabbit.
We then went to find a ride for Lily to go on. Here is the outcome of that.



She had to be 2 and daddy wouldn't bend the rules.

We decided to get our seats for the monkey show and then ate some more food. The monkey show was very entertaining. The monkeys did many tricks and we had to make sure Lily blinked throughout the entire show.


Click on the slide show to see the photo album.

After the monkeys, more food and the Gibson family. We ate with them. Nichole and I shared a fair tradition, the Earthquake burger. After clearing our arteries Nichole and I strolled around and looked at exhibits. We finished off our fair adventure with John eating a scone and Nichole eating a caramel apple.
We had a wonderful time at the Puyallup fair.

She makes us smile.

She does. Every day! Lily seems to be cuter by the moment. So, here are three stories of how she makes us smile.

1. We pray with Lily before she goes to bed at night. We hold hands, we pray, she lets out a hearty "Ameeen!" If one of us isn't home, she will ask because she likes us all to hold hands and pray. So, the other night, I was gone. John put Lily in her bed and said, "Lets pray" Lily asked for "Mama" and John told her I was gone. So, after a few seconds of thought Lily says, "Baby" John asked her if she would like to have her baby pray with us too. Lily said "Uh huh" So, the three (John, Lily and Lily's baby) held hands and prayed together. Lily was happy. John was teary.

2. Lily loves to feed Murphy, the dog we inherited for a few months. We hand her the cup full of dog food and she goes over to his dish and pours it in. Then, she takes one handful at a time to wherever Murphy is. Lucky dog! He doesn't even have to find his own food. She is so proud of herself and claps. Oh, and she also says, "Tree" constantly and loves to give him bones. Also, "Puppy?" is often the first thing she says from her crib when she wakes up in the morning.

3. This morning during breakfast we told Lily the exciting news. We are going to the Puyallup fair today! Yay! Then John asked her if she wanted to see monkeys, horses, pigs and goats? Lily was so excited. She said "Ah dun" and handed over her breakfast. She wanted to go now! :-) We are going as soon as she wakes up from her nap.

So, that is how she makes us smile. Hope she makes you smile too!

Texas

Click on Texas to see pictures from our recent trip or just watch the slideshow.



I am going to start using Picasa web albums. It is more robust than Facebook, so come back soon for a new photo album of Lily pictures.

Weekend in Texas

Friday: downtown McKinney - cute stores, fancy coffee shop, earthy store, candy store! settlers of catan to end a great day.
Saturday: yummy breakfast, settlers of catan during nap time, real/homemade icecream sandwiches, best burger joint in town... very full tum tum's
Sunday: church, lunch, back to church to help set up emergency shelter/home for 121 hurricane Gustav evacuees, starbucks without kids, on call when evacuees arrive to help again, watching weather channel and another settlers of catan game soon...

So, it has been an adventurous weekend. We are loving our time with our buddies!
We are glad to be able to serve others on vacation as this is something we have talked about wanting to do on every vacation... we thought it would be cool to serve the communities we visit. Well, we got our chance! Our hearts are heavy for those fleeing their homes, some for the second time. Please be in prayer for them as they travel and "move in" to shelters across Texas. We hope to go to church again tomorrow to serve food or help where needed.

Texas Day 2

So, last night ended with some wii tennis, mario cart and golf. This morning we went to downtown McKinney (not sure if that is spelled right) and enjoyed a few fun stores. I found a watch at the "granola" store that I loved... too bad it was $75. It has been a "sick" like day in Texas today. So, that has been sad and not so fun. We are glad we are here "for such a time as this" and we are enjoying our friends very much. Lance made yummy artichoke spread and we had panini's for dinner. Then, John, Lily, Lindsay and I walked to the park. It is kinda stormy out, but the big rain drops felt fun and refreshing. We are afterall, Washingtonians. It is still unbelievably hot. And at the park, there are no other people in sight. I think everyone in Texas hides all summer long cuz it is too hot to be outside. Not even at the pool! Yesterday, there were only one other family at the pool... and it is a HUGE, resort-like pool. So fun! And the emptiness makes it even better. Lily hates coming from outside to inside. You would think her heart is breaking the way she protests. A girl after her fathers own heart. They don't just look alike, they ARE alike in many ways. We are getting ready for a game of Settlers of Catan. Yeah!

Texas!

Hello from the VERY hot state of Texas. It is in the mid 90's. We got here yesterday. Our plane ride was great - Lily got her own seat. Yeah! Yesterday we had lunch at Chick-fil-a and made it to Sonic in time for happy hour. John got his HUGE cherry limeade. We then got a short tour and hung out at the Bauslaugh home until Lance and Debra got home from work. Then we ate yummy pizza and went to a fun, hippy/Trader Joe's like grocery store. It was fun to watch the girls take turns driving the cart in the little car thingy that is attached to the grocery cart. Lily is having lots of fun with her friends Lindsay and Leslie. Us parents are having fun trying to keep the girls names straight... with names that all begin with L it is a little difficult. They are playing in the play room and entertaining each other well. They bonded very quickly and were all holding hands before we even got home. I'll try to post some pic's later. We are heading to the swimming pool after we pick up Lindsay from school... oh, and after we get Sonic drinks at happy hour. :-) Silly John. Yeah for a whole week of vacation with our friends in Texas!

Our favorite barista

Last Friday we visited the Starbucks where our favorite barista Malorie works. When we pulled up to the drive thru, Nichole said we should do something mean if she was taking our order. I wasn't mean, but this is how the conversation went.

Voice from in the box (vfitb): Welcome to Starbucks, this is Malorie, how can I help you?
John: I will have a grande non-fat caramel macchiato with sprinkles on top.
Vfitb: Do you mean the cinnamon sprinkled on top.
John: No, the rainbow ones like you get on ice cream. Do you have those?
Vfitb: No (half giggling, half laughing at the customer)
John: That's too bad. I will also have a chocolate banana Vivanno.
Vfitb: Ok
John: What does Vivanno mean?
Vfitb: I think life, or maybe energy I don't know.
John: Alright, that's it.
Vfitb: See you at the window.

We got served some great coffee and the Vivanno came through the magic trap door. If you go to Starbucks drive thru on Pacific, ask to have it served through the trap door, but only after you ring the doorbell.

Our Newest Adventure

Nichole's brother and sister-in-law are moving to Salem. Until they get into a house, we are watching their dog, Murphy. Lily must like the dog because the first word she uttered this morning when she woke up was, "puppy." I have also added some more pictures to Lily's photo album.

Pictures added

I added some more pictures of Lily. Just click the link in the sidebar.

Mission Trip - Check!

Project Pierce is now history. We did our local mission trip this week with 10 students and 2 other youth leaders helping out. It was a success! Our students gained a new perspective as they served in a variety of way in their own community. We helped the poor, hungry, elderly, disabled, kids, teens, sick and animals too! Lily survived our crazy week too. She lived at church with us for half the week and was with friends during the day when we were out in the community. This morning when I hugged John, Lily said "Bye Bye"... so apparently she has seen us come and go a little too much. I wasn't even leaving, just giving her Daddy a morning hug. Funny girl!
Tomorrow we get a day off together, as a family. We have one hospital visit to do but other than that, no work tomorrow. Yeah. We plan to do some work at the house, go play at a park, take a walk and do a little shopping at Trader Joe's.
We are counting down the days till we fly Texas to see our buddies!!! Whooo Hooo!! 23 more sleeps...
Have a happy week!

Project Pierce

So that is what we are up to this week. Project Pierce! John and I, along with 10 students and a few youth staff are on a local mission trip. We are very excited about what God is going to do in our lives, the students lives and the lives of those we minister to. Please be praying for us this week as we reach out to love on our community.
We are camped out at church for the week - we "moved in" this morning. I will try to update you along the way, but no promises.
Hope you are finding ways to reach your community this summer!

Pics of Lily

To minimize having to post pics of Lily all over the place on the internet, I am sharing with you the link to an album of her pics on Facebook. You don't have to have a Facebook account to view these pictures. I will let you know when new pictures are added, and of course if there is a super cute one, then I will include it here. There will be a link to the album in the sidebar.

Lily pics on Facebook

Photos of Vacation

UPDATED!!

I will post later some highlights from the trip. I hope Nichole will also. Check out the photos.

Here is an album of our pictures. This will constantly change, so keep checking back to see what we are up to.

2008 Vacation

Vacation Update #1

We are currently in Clinton Township, MI, just north of Detroit. We traveled by plane to Chicago and then my mom and dad picked us up and we drove Archbold, OH. We visited some of my relatives and the next day traveled to where we are now. We did stop at Sonic, but my Route 44 got mixed up with someone else's, and we were already down the road when I realized it was diet. Patooey!! Today we went shopping and ate lunch at Hockeytown Cafe in downtown Detroit. Lily has been a great traveler and so far we haven't had any issues with my parents. HeeHee!! Tomorrow we are heading up to my homeland on our way to Rochester, NY. Here we come Wunderbars and Tim Horton's donut holes.

Lily loves sliding. She stands at the top and says, "Wah, teeyou," and then slides

She also loves being chased by her mama in the grass

Yay, Sonic!

Go Wings!

Lessons Lily learned this week

Receipts don't taste like food at the restaurant they are from

Laundry baskets, not just for laundry

The red-eye reduction flash does hurt my eyes

Daddy's tongue is bigger than mine

I love swimming

Our happy girl!

Lily is as happy as ever. She is eating NON STOP. Really. We think she is trying to catch up. She did lose about 3 pounds so she needs to gain some weight. I had her in shorts today and she now has chicken legs. :-( Her baby fat had left momentarily. Her follow-up appointment was good. No need to worry anymore! Yeah! We are still thanking God for bringing her back to health. That was NO fun for mom and dad. We are both relieved it is over.

Below are some pictures from the hospital. The first few are when she was still pretty sick... the others were when she was feeling better.
Thank you again for your prayers! God is good!!

Lily and Mama in the ER after Lily got her IV.
I couldn't smile for the picture. :-(

Lily and Daddy resting in her room.

Lily in her "monkey cage" sleeping.

Our sweet baby trying to get better.

Don't ya love the onesie they put on her.
Are they afraid we would want to take it home?

Lily and Mama trying to pass some time with a wagon walk. Lily had to ride in it cuz she was in isolation and they didn't want her to touch anything. Good thing she loved it.

Our sweet one... almost ready to go home.

Home Sweet Home

We just got home a few minutes ago. It feels SO good. Lily's last test came back good and she is back to her cute self this afternoon. We have a follow-up appointment on Friday with her doctor.
This morning I went out in the waiting room just to get out for a little bit while Lily slept. I sat in a chair and and my heart just hurt... for the other moms and dads up there. There were two sets of parents both grieving heavily. Across the hall from where Lily was is the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. This is where both of these couples little ones were. I overheard one of the moms say she only had a few days left with her little one. The other just sat there staring at the ground, pale and exhausted. I wanted to cry... I did get all teary and decided I had better get out of there. I felt out of place. We all had the purple bands around our wrists, which meant we were either a mom or a dad. But I was the lucky - no blessed beyond belief - one with a little girl on the "good" side of the unit. I went back to the room and told John how sad I felt... and together we talked about how thankful we were to not to be in their shoes. I prayed for those moms and dads and I will continue to think of them as they fight for life for their little ones. If you think of it, pray for them too. The little 6 month old baby boy in the room next to Lily was in bad shape too and most of the time, had no one there with him except the nurses. So, before we left, we gave the nurse one of Lily's Praise Baby DVD's and asked if the nurse would play it for him when he was alone. She went right in and put it in for him. That little boy has songs about Jesus and how much Jesus loves him playing as I type... that makes me smile. Pray for the caregivers - nurses and doctors - I can't imagine having that job. All of the Lily's medical team were amazing. They loved her and did what they could to make her comfortable and happy. We thank God for them. We also had a doctor who we felt, put herself in our shoes... which was amazing as well. God took care of us and He certainly provided great care for Lily. So, kudos to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital!
We are truly thankful for your prayers. We need to get Lily to drink and eat some more tonight so pray for that. :-) She needs to get used to her sippy cup again and not drinking through a syringe. I think she kind of enjoyed that. I brought one home just in case. :-)
Lily is asking to go outside and it is a beautiful day so I think we'll go for a "wa" (walk) to get her some fresh air.
We appreciate you keeping informed and praying for our sweet girl. We will update later with how the rest of her night went and some pic's from the hospital.

Yucky Tests & Yami Yogurt

Good morning... it is good!
Lily had a good night of sleep even though her mama coughed all night long. :-( We woke up together with the transport nurse ready to take Lily to her next test. She sat up in her monkey cage this morning and SMILED! She then asked for "Da Da" and wanted "Ou" (out) Another answer to prayer from a few days ago. We went down for her test - upper gi. This was NOT FUN. They had to strap Lily down from head to toe, with her arms above her head. Then, turning her around with a crank, gave her a bottle full of barium. Lily screemed and we cried together. It has taken her a bit to calm down... but we are back in our room now waiting for the results.
However, as I write this, Lily is walking around her room taking bites of Yami Yogurt and is double fisted with graham crackers. She is also copying everything her Daddy is saying. She has also drank some apple juice. YEAH LILY! We have her Praise Baby DVD playing and she is even dancing. We ask her to praise Jesus, she puts her hands in the air and says, "Pra Gus"
Our hearts are SO happy this morning. And we are praising Him for seeing us through. We have our baby girl back! We are now just waiting for the results to come back and the doctor to see her again. We are hopeful that we will be heading home this afternoon.
Please continue to pray for her and pray she keeps eating and drinking... we will update this afternoon.
We thank God for you...
and all your prayers.
Nichole

Ultrasound Results

The doctor came in and gave us the results... good ultrasound, no real concerns. They did see a lot of air in her bowels, which could be causing her some trouble. The doctor has ordered an upper gi scan for tomorrow morning. They will continue down the testing phases until they find what is wrong OR she gets better. It still could be that the viral infection has her down and she just needs to get IV fluids until it passes. She was poked for blood 4 times today and by the last time, she was done. It was tough on her and tough on us. I would hold her and John would just talk her through. So sad! I think I cried as much as she did! On a VERY positive note, God answered our prayers. We had some friends here tonight for a little bit. Lily had an hour tonight of being our happy girl again. She wanted down and walked around the room, destroyed a box of tissues and interacted with us playfully. It did our hearts SO MUCH GOOD. This has been my prayer for the last five days... to just see her walk around and be playful. So, our prayer tonight is that she will wake up tomorrow and be "Ah Dun" (all done as she says) and we can go home and see her through the rest of her illness. Or at the least, that we could get off isolation and bring her out of the monkey cage :-) and go for a "Waaa" (walk as she says). We also need her to eat and drink again. So, be praying she will be hungry after her scan. We will update you after the next test is done. Thank you for your prayers - we appreciate you! Goodnight.

Tuesday afternoon

The doctor came in and took a look at Lily. She was initially concerned about her low platelets and wacked out blood sugar levels. So, she told us the possibilities... which were a few super huge, long worded type syndromes. She had more blood work done and both her platelets and blood sugar came back normal. PTL. No need to try to figure out what 2 of those huge words even mean. So, there is still concern because Lily is not perking up, even after 24 hours of being on IV fluids. Later this afternoon she will have an ultrasound on her belly so they can rule out a few more things... and then we go from there.
Keep praying.
I have my mama brag book that I am showing her nurses and doctors. I tell them, "See, this is my baby girl... this is what she looks like normally." They smile and tell us she is beautiful. And they see that the little girl in the gorilla cage is sick indeed.
We love you - Keep praying!
We'll update after the ultrasound.

Pray for Lily

Hello friends & family,
I have a few minutes this morning to fill you in on our little one.
Last Thursday Lily started to get sick. She began not eating and drinking, and not being her cute little self. And had lots of yucky diapers. Friday night was rough with two trips to the doctor. She had 3 bouts of screeming in "pain" and we couldn't get her to stop crying. The doctor said she probably had a tummy bug and sent us home. Saturday morning she had a fever of 102.5. She spent most of the day crying, sleeping and laying on us for comfort. She would have fevers off and on. She was still refusing food and drink...
So we took her to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital ER in hopes of fixing our cute girl. They began assessing her for dehydration and urinary tract infection. She seemed to be okay still... even though she hadn't had more than a few bites and a few drinks every day since Friday. It was late so they sent us home and told us to return Sunday if she still refused to drink. At this point, Lily had already lost 3 pounds.
Sunday she was off and on all day. She began the day with a fever but with the help of motrin we were able to get it down. She basically laid on a blanket in the living room all day. We hadn't seen her play with her toys since Thursday. We began to really miss our little girl.
After talking with Dr. Grubb off and on all weekend, we made the call to take her back to Mary Bridge Monday afternoon. We began wondering if they were missing something... Lily just wasn't improving and seemed to be getting more and more lifeless.
We were in the Mary Bridge ER all day and into the evening. They started Lily on an IV to re-hydrate her since it had been almost two days without a wet diaper. She needed it! They really thought she would perk up after the IV ran for a few hours... but she didn't. She just wanted to lay on us or was content to lay on the bed in the ER. This was tough on us. I really began to wonder if we were gonna see her improve... Lily still would not eat or drink.. not even a popcycle!
So they admitted her into the hospital and after running varios tests, told us they believe she has the Rotovirus. It is a common virus, not dangerous, but makes young ones very sick I guess. I haven't had time yet to "google" it but I remember my friend Katie talking to me about it the other day when I was trying to figure out what could be wrong.
I sent John home last night to get a good night of sleep. They came in every few hours to check on Lil and I... poked her a few times and made her mad at 5 am... silly nurses.
So, here we are... still at Mary Bridge with our baby girl in a monkey cage in isolation. :-) It really does look like a monkey cage. She is resting and is still getting IV fluids. It is so hard to watch her be so sick. I am beginning to wonder if we should have more kids... ha ha. My heart hurts for her and I would love to take her place. The other little ones around Lily seem to be much sicker so we are thankful that this is nothing serious and we hope to have our little girl back soon.
On a happy note, we were able to get her to take a few drinks of pedialite and she did eat a little banana and a few cheerios this morning. This afernoon she ate 10 bites of yogurt! Yeah!!! So, we will wait for the doctor to come this afternoon and see what she thinks.
Please pray for her. And don't take your kids health for granted. I just want to chase Lily around the house again... and I want her to want to stand up in that monkey cage and ask to be picked up.
Thanks for your love and prayers.
Nichole

Lily talking

This is Lily saying some of here words and also falling into a pillow. Whenever there is a pillow or pile of laundry on the floor, she runs and falls into it. It was very cute as I edited the video, Lily "played along."

Memorial Day Activities

First time wearing pig tails

Picnic at Bradley Lake Park

Yay geocaching

Birthday fun

I recently turned 30 and had a great birthday up in Seattle. Here are some pics from the last few weeks.

Nichole and I at a Carenet Benefit Banquet

Me and Jimi at the EMP

Our new hobby, Geocaching

Lily eating apple sauce without untensils

Lily on my birthday looking out of Leah's apartment

Lily and daddy walking out to Sunday School

200th post

Today was the first day off for both Nichole and I in a long time. We went to the zoo and had a wonderful time. Here are some pics of the zoo and our cute child.

She is obsessed with laundry to the point of getting in the basket

We recently got Mario Kart Wii and have been playing a lot. Lily holds the extra wiimote and pretends to play.

Sitting in her big girl chair watching Praise Baby

This is after a day of wearing a pony tail

Cool shades dude

Self portrait at the zoo

Lily is ready to go home

Penguins

Spaghetti

This is Lily's first time eating spaghetti. She thoroughly enjoyed it. We weren't fast enough to catch her when she was finally finished and she threw the bowl on the floor. Yikes.

Hmm, this looks good

This feeding myself thing is tricky

Good to the last bite

No more pictures mama!

Our lil' Pickle

This is Lily waving. She also says hi. It is very cute. She is very friendly and will do this to total strangers at the grocery store.

For some reason when Lily was younger I called her Mrs. Picklesworth. I have funny nicknames for my family members. It has now been shortened to Pickle and she even responds to it. Her personality is starting to come out more and more each day. It also fun to see her imitate the things we do. She imitates me buy typing on the computer and Nichole by wiping everything down with a cloth, its great.

Lily sitting in her favorite chair with her favorite accessories.

Of course having Nichole as a mom means mac and cheese.

Having a child also helps with rearranging things and questioning if we really need all of the older church directories in that cupboard.