slobber, mini-vans and the 4th of July

First of all, I want to start off by talking about baby slobber. Where the heck does it come from and what causes it? How could a child so small create so much slobber that she completely soaks her clothes? We're constantly wiping away spit bubbles and slobber. It's pretty gross when you think about it! Dave and I did get a good laugh the other day when Emily made a spit string that hung down a good 5-6 inches. If you can't laugh about slobber then really, what can you laugh about?

I mentioned in a post a while back that Dave and I were looking at mini-vans. For those of you who know me well, you'll be relieved to know that I'm NOT driving a mini-van. Dave and I decided to go with an XC-90, the Volvo version of the mini-van/SUV. It totally sucks on gas mileage, and I do mean that literally. We leave it parked during the week and only take it out for family adventures. It is really nice to drive around, and I love not feeling like my knees are smashed into the dashboard. It was also fun taking all of our gear and the puppies for the 4th of July. (Of course we had to buy "gear" just so we could pack it around in our new car)

I did want to talk a little bit about the 4th of July. This year my family had their annual party on Saturday the 5th. The day started out rainy and yucky and ended even worse. I'm sad to say that my brother Zeb suffered from some pretty serious burns after an accident with fireworks. We're thinking that a piece of lit fuse landed in a box of fireworks and created a pretty serious explosion that Zeb just happened to be standing next to. He's got severe burns on his entire left arm and hand, some burns on his right hand, and a burnt face with some blistering around his nose. I can't even begin to explain how scary this whole thing was. He's going to be ok, but when I think about what could have been it feels like my heart skips a beat. This could have by far been the absolute worst weekend of my life and as far as I'm concerned we're very lucky that my brother is still with us. I've now made a vow that I'll never say goodbye to my brother or my sister again without giving them a big fat hug. I love them both so much and I'm so thankful and lucky to have them in my life.

Now lets talk about miss Em-dawg. She is so dang cute and lovable. She is getting so big and strong that it just blows us away. Now when Dave and I talk to her and play with her its obvious that she knows us and loves us. She has the biggest smile and of course she loves all of our crazy voices and our funny faces. She and I even spent a day talking in British accents! She is starting to open her hands and grab our fingers, and she's even leaning up on her elbows during tummy time. I've been bad about taking and posting pictures and I promise I'll try to do better. This whole work thing is taking all my time and zapping all my energy! Please enjoy the pics!