Welcome to the World!!

Welcome to the world and to our family, beautiful Ethan James McLaughlin! We love you so much and are so happy you are here.

8.5 lbs, 19 inches of newphew lovin'. I can't wait to get this little guy in my arms!!!

So you think you can dance?

This was a few nights ago. I hope you enjoy Hank's unique blending of The Robot, Crumping and of course, the Arsenio Hall cheer that Shane has recently taught him. Only 12 1/2 years until his first Stake Dance!

Seattle

Home again!

We left Sunday and traveled to Kirkland to stay with my wonderful Aunt Lynn and Uncle Steve. They loved and spoiled our boy rotten and we had a great time with them, as always! I also took the opportunity to kick every one's butt at SceneIt, once again proving that my mind is filled with way too much useless movie information.

Monday we woke up and went to Voula's Offshore Cafe, a diner recently featured on one of Shane's favorite shows on Food Network,"Diners Drive-ins and Dives". They specialize in Greek food, and I had the yummy Greek Fetish Omelet. Hank fell in love with our waitress and had everybody laughing.

On to the Woodland Zoo where we were one of the very few visitors that day. We saw elephants, gorillas, giraffes, bats, snakes, birds, zebras, bugs, chickens, tigers, and a jaguar. We had a great time, and it didn't rain a drop on us!

Later that night Lynn beat me at SceneIt. That's all I have to say about that.

Tuesday we reported to Children's Hospital at 8:15. By about 9:30 Hank was dressed and ready to go. The doctors and nurses were wonderful and we had absolute confidence in them, but it was still so hard when they took him from Shane's arms to where they would give him the gas, then give him an IV, breathing tube, and basically a kiddie epidural.

Eeyore stayed with Hank during the Surgery. They even had matching tags!

Two hours later we had our boy back, though groggy and a bit annoyed that he couldn't feel his legs. We made our way home that same day and Hank was a champ. He slept most of the way, but was quite cheerful when he woke up. (Thank goodness for drugs!)

Recovery has been going well, and the whole experience has not slowed him down a bit. We so appreciate all your prayers and well-wishes. We are so happy to have this behind us, and as Jen said, have everything "straightened out".