Happy Birthday Baby!

Can you believe that our sweet Madison Eire Carrell is a year old? I can't! I also can't imagine NOT having Madi in our family.

The little "Birthday Princess" wore her tiara to school and got SO many compliments. She loves to have people's attention.

Instead of having a party, (we are waiting for Grandma for the party) we went to the church for an activity. It was there that Madison discovered Kailey's purse and would NOT let go of it. She altered her crawling pattern so she could carry the purse around. What a funny little thing.

We love you Madi and are so thankful that you are part of our family!

Stepping out and UP in Zermatt

My sweet sister Nancy came to visit us and it was so great! Traveling to and from Dublin was a nightmare for her (Salt Lake to Chicago- missed flight to Dublin- so went to London and THEN to Ireland... her luggage didn't make it until the next day...) but we were so glad that she came! We spent less than 24 hours on the Emerald Isle before whisking her away to Switzerland. Traveling again proved to be more than exciting. Emery was feeling better (see older post) but Claire wasn't quite herself and Madison was really sick. We took an extra outfit for me and 3 extra outfits for Madi (to be used as backup on the plane and train) and I believe we used them all plus two blankets. It was a rough day for the little angel- but she wasn't very upset- just puky. (It's a miracle Nancy ever comes to visit.)
After arriving in Zermatt in the evening, a taxi took us to the apartment we had rented. He stopped the taxi and said, "Okay, just follow the stairs." We were a bit surprised to see how many steps there were. Just a few less than 200! (I think the actual number was 193.) I believe that we had 8 suitcases and several backpacks/ carryons. I overheard Jake say, "Think Rocky. Think Rocky." We hummed the song and made it up the stairs! (Danny did the majority of the heavy work. What a man.)

The upside was that the view from the apartment was truly spectacular! The Matterhorn is gorgeous! Zermatt did not disappoint us. The weather was wonderful and the sunshine was splendid.

We had a wonderful time going sledding!

Shelby and Claire in their matching snowsuits. Claire tried skiing this time and Shelby spent a lot of time on her skis. She is doing well!

Emery also tried skiing but prefered just hanging out in the snow- and she looked so cute in her sunglasses! (That sun was so bright!)

Madison didn't feel super great during our trip (it took a full 5 days for her to get over that nasty tummy bug) but she was so pleasant most of the time. What a little sweetie.

Danny, Kailey and Jake tried out snowboarding. They looked great and agreed that the boots are much more comfy... but have decided that they will stick with skiing. (Danny was thankful for Ibuprofen for a day or two afterward. Kailey sprained her wrist and wore a splint for two weeks...) I even got to ski. It has been 9 years since I had the opportunity. I truly enjoyed my time. It was absolutely breathtaking. It was quiet. I realized again how amazing this beautiful world is.

Zermatt is winter paradise. We loved our second visit! It was even better having Nancy with us!

Oh What a Night!

So Danny and I planned to go on our weekly date tonight- just a late dinner so we could be all alone! Originally we were going to see a movie with the kids in the early afternoon- but things got uber crazy. Shelby and Claire were at gymnastics and then Kailey came home later than planned from the birthday party she was attending. So we went to plan two: Danny and I would go out for an early dinner and take the kids to the movie. Emery still wasn't feeling super- but she hadn't puked all day so we felt we could leave her with Kailey. However, because of Emery's slight clinginess (and Kailey's insistence that she was NOT going to watch the baby- we took Madison with us to eat. Danny called to get a reservation at a little italian restaurant in our village but couldn't get an answer so we decided to just drive over instead of walking. It was closed- as in out of business. We did see that a Subway sandwiches shop just opened not too far away- so we drove there. They were also closed. (I'm assuming because it is a Saturday evening?- who knows!) So Danny drove by one last spot where we had heard was another Subway- and we found it! Hurray! So we took our sandwiches to go and stopped by the little Eurospar (small grocery store in Malahide) market and got the food we need for dinner tomorrow and went home to eat our sandwiches. Mine was lovely and we saved some cash.

Our movie (Marley and Me) started at 8:20. I felt like I had plenty to do here- plus Shelby and Claire were tired and didn't want to see the movie (they knew the dog died at the end and did NOT want to see this!)- plus with Emery not feeling well... Well, Danny talked me into going. So we headed to the theatre and got the necessary popcorn and other junkfood. Some of us needed to use the toilet so we got that all taken care of before heading into our movie. As we were getting ready to walk in- Emery started to cry. We were asking her what was wrong when... she threw up. (Remember the pizza that Emery didn't get to eat last night? - she ate it for dinner tonight. Evidently, her little system still isn't prepared to digest all of the cheese and greasiness.) I had the baby's blanket and caught most of it- but Emery had some on her face, shirt and skirt. She and I went into the bathroom to clean up. As I attempted to clean her little shirt- I gave up and just put my sweater on her. When we walked out of the bathroom, Danny asked if there was anything I needed. I told him that next time he needed to listen to me. Since Emery was feeling better, we decided to just go see the movie. It didn't go as planned. Madi wasn't quite tired enough so she made some noise (usually very cute sounds- but not cute in a theatre). Claire was tired but couldn't get comfortable. She was sitting in the row behind Danny, Emery, Madi and I, so she would stand up and lean over to talk to Danny. Then Emery started to whimper. She felt yucky, so Danny held her and tried to keep her quiet. I was feeding the baby- but after she fell asleep- we switched and he held Madi and I held Em. It was better for a while- until about an hour and 50 minutes into the movie when Emery started to cry and said that she needed to throw up. I got the box of popcorn in time and she was able to launch at least part of her stomach contents into the box. Danny looked at us and said, "Enough- let's get out of here!" So they all left. I quickly wiped Emery's little face and my hands with a few baby wipes- grabbed my purse, the bundle of aforementioned soiled clothing and blanket and Emery (I didn't want to really reposition her for fear of stuff going everywhere) and left the theatre. Danny was just coming back in to get us. The worst part- is that I didn't have enough hands to take out the box of popcorn. So I left it on Emery's booster seat (I did turn the plastic booster seat over so it was more of a plastic container- to hold whatever was in the popcorn box). I wish I could apologize to all of those people who were sitting near us. Danny would like to apologize to the girl in the wheelchair that he almost knocked over in his attempt to flee the theatre and the carnage there!

On the way home, I sat in the middle row in our car between Madi's carseat and Emery's booster and held Emery. Kailey and Danny left the front windows rolled partially down as to minimize the stink. Emery and I had a nice little shower when we got home and we feel and smell much better.

But really- can your Saturday night adventure compare to ours!?

March Madness at the Carrells

If you are looking for a blog on the real March Madness (ie- College Basketball) this is the wrong entry for you. I am speaking of the craziness that is the Carrell home. We have had two bouts of stomach flu in the last two weeks. Jake, Claire, Madison and Danny all enjoyed a variation. Em- had one urp but that was that. Poor Madi was the sickest and had serious issues for about 5 days. Poor little thing! The rest were a quick 24 hours of yuck. Today Emery had a rough day. I could go on and on about the different forms of vomit she has NOT enjoyed- but only other nursing/medical people would appreciate the descriptions. (Let me know if you would like more details.) Suffice it to say that Em is the only Carrell I know who throws up and immediately wants to eat. (As she finished driving the porcelain bus, she asked for food and she cried when I wouldn't let her eat pizza tonight even though she vomited only 30 minutes before dinner!) We hope she gets the 24 hour version. Otherwise, today was busy. Jake's class did a play on Greece. He did a fine job. Plus he looks good in a toga.

Yesterday- J and K had French day when they were supposed to speak only french all day (I am pretty sure this did NOT happen) and helped to prepare and eat french cuisine. They had fun. Today all of the kids enjoyed the Global Feast. This is an annual fundraiser at the school. The kids get to wear their normal clothes- as opposed to their usual uniform and each family is encouraged to bring in a dish from around the world to share. The teachers ask the families to donate money for the food- with all of the proceeds to go to the village of Chimteka in Malawi. The school community was very generous and the school earned 1120 euro from the students today. We are pleased that our children are learning more than just the basics at Sutton Park.
Madison is also learning. Yesterday morning, after I went for a walk (Danny was watching the little girls- supposedly) I came into the house to find my sweet little angel like this:

Yes, she has a full size chocolate bar (Cadbury's Dairy Milk) in her little hand. When I walked in, she immediately started to move as quickly as she could in the opposite direction- giggling! Oh she is fun. This is a little video of her laughing. What you can't see is Emery doing something to me that just made Madi laugh. (I think she was tickling me and I would make a silly sound...) I should have stopped recording about 10 seconds earlier- but it was really cute.