Bobo Withdrawals...

The bobo withdrawals have not been pretty. Last night... one hour of weeping and sobbing and crying out for "bobo". This morning... so far it's been another hour of trantruming sobbing. Please pray...

Saying "bye bye" to bobo's...

Hi everyone. Tonight Mommy and Daddy helped me put my bobos (a.k.a. - pacifiers) into an envelope and we mailed them to the babies that don't have any bobos of their own. Apparently I'm a big girl now. We addressed the envelope "To The Babies" and after going out for dinner to celebrate, I put the envelope in the mailbox and said goodbye to it. Mommy was going to take pictures of the "Bobo Farewell" but it was going too well and she didn't want to jinx it. I don't think the significance of the whole chain of events has really sunk in, so pray that I'm not up all night screaming in mourning. I hope those babies enjoy my bobos...

A quick but fabulous weekend away!

Well... we're home from our whirlwind mini-vacation to Monterey and Santa Cruz with the Gallardo family. It was a fabulous time! We started by hitting the Monterey Aquarium, which was especially fabulous considering my current "Finding Nemo" obsession. Here's Dorey from the movie:

And here's one of the jellyfish from that Dorey and Nemo's Dad, Marlin, survived:

I had a fabulous time checking out all the different fish. I can see why Mommy trained to become a fisheries biologist. And to be honest, she may have been more excited than me to go to the aquarium! But I sure enjoyed seeing all the fish and touching the starfish in the "touch pools".

That night we went out for Mexican food and went to a great playground that had everything from a suspension bridge to a giant slide. I had a blast going down the giant slide and got so confident that I was doing it by myself by the end! Of course Mommy forgot her camera in the hotel room... so no pictures from the park. The next day we went to the beach in Santa Cruz. There's nothing better than playing in the sand and water on a warm day. I played in the sand with Isabelle and in the waves with Daddy. It was fabulous!

We couldn't have asked for a better vacation. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if it was longer. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend as much as we did!

In a jam....

Hey everyone. The last couple of days have been busy around here. Yesterday, Mommy and I got in a minor fender bender in the Target parking lot. The lady who backed into us didn't speak any English, didn't have any ID, and didn't have any insurance. AND twice she tried to leave before Mommy got all the necessary information and Mommy had to put her body behind the woman's car to stop her. It was all quite crazy and Mommy thinks that this lady may be in the country illegally and was scared despite Mommy's attempts at being kind and understanding. Thankfully, we were able to enlist the help of a bilingual family in the parking lot to help translate for Mommy. And, lucky for us, our StateFarm insurance policy gives great coverage including covering us if we are hit by an uninsured driver. And because it's not our fault it won't increase our rates. In the meantime, our new van is sporting some very minor scratches on the side of the rear bumper. No big deal.

And today, Daddy felt inspired to do something with the bounty of figs growing on our trees in the backyard. So he decided to make jam. But not just any jam. Fig Orange Spice jam (click here for recipe). He ended up having so many figs that we now have 25 jars of this fabulous concoction. Warm this stuff up and pour it over vanilla ice cream. Or put it on top of some gooey brie cheese. Or smear it over some pancakes.... YUM!

And tomorrow we head to Monterey/Santa Cruz with my friend Isabelle and her parents. We're just going for a couple of days, but I'm really looking forward to playing on the beach and going to the Monterey Aquarium. Yay! Hope you're all enjoying your weekend!

My life is about to change as I know it...

Hi everyone... Molly here. Well, I have the distinct feeling that my life is about to change as I know it. My mommy and daddy shared some exciting news with me this week. I'm still processing what it's all going to mean to me. But it is definitely nice to know that God heard all of our prayers! Check out the video below to better understand what I'm talking about...

A trip to the doctor's office...

Well... this morning I made a trip back to my pediatric pulmonologist, Dr. Trias. This guy ROCKS and Mommy is very impressed with his level of care. You can tell that he loves kids. Anyway, my inhaler seems to be doing the job keeping my asthma relatively in check. But I'm still having some other allergy related problems including eczema, chronic sniffles, exhaustion and a pretty heavy duty rash around my mouth, which according to him seems more in line with chronic allergy issues rather than food exposure. This is particularly interesting because Mommy was having a difficult time pinning it down to a particular food. Anyway, now I'm on Singulair once a day. Hopefully that will make me feel better. Mommy feels bad that I'm always so run down with my allergies, but I'm alright! I did get my height and weight checked as well and I was 35 inches tall (84th percentile) and 28.8 pounds (79th percentile). So I seem to have inherited some height from my Daddy, Papa and Grandpa van Riessen.

Anyway, I'll leave you with some pictures from my latest adventure in painting. You'll notice that I really get into my artwork!

Things that make me happy...

I'm happy. Life is good around the van Riessen household. We've been doing all the things that I enjoy lately, like going to Fairytale Town, feeding the ducks (see video below), eating corn on the cob, and playing with my friends. All of these things make me very happy.

Mommy and Daddy are doing well too. We're gearing up for a string of mini-vacations this summer that include a trip to Monterey/Santa Cruz with friends, a trip to see my Grandma and Grandpa Belknap, and a week-long international adventure to Canada to visit Mommy's family. All this by the end of July! I can't wait to see everyone! I think Mommy and Daddy are looking forward to the break. Hope you all get a break this summer!

Also, just a quick prayer request for my Uncle Oscar from our Thursday Bible Study group. He's in the hospital right now with a burst appendix. Not good. He's got quite the abdominal infection brewing and is in a lot of pain, so please keep him in prayer! Thanks!

Mommy's Post: Feeling like a pin cushion...

Well... today I started my next plight against infertility - acupuncture. Yup, even though I'm slightly needle-phobic, I must say that the whole experience was extremely benign. In fact, I would almost venture to say that it was relaxing. When the needles were going in, they didn't feel any worse than a mosquito bite and once they were in place, you didn't feel a thing. She put them in my arms, feet, abdomen, forehead, ears and legs. Once they were in I just had to lay there and chill for 20 minutes. It became a really relaxing (read: child-free) time for me to pray. So, I'll be playing the human pin-cushion once a week on top of all the western medical "stuff". I've never been to so many doctors in my life. Our future offspring better appreciate this!