What could this mean?

Yes, yes, that I have a clean van.

But, what about this?

That could only mean one thing!


Road Trip!

We leave tomorrow and will be on and off the road for the next 10 days. Yes. I said 10. But, it should be really fun...except for the part where we are spending 36 hours in a car over the course of the 10 days....that's 2207 miles folks. That's a lot of pavement! Where will our travels take us this year? Glad you asked! When we leave on Friday, it's just to get a head start on getting to Tennessee Saturday. We are going to overnight at my parent's house and then hit the road Saturday morning. Our plan is to get to Franklin Tennessee as early in the afternoon as we can so we can spend some quality time with our Friends, the Caudills. The Caudills were in our travel group last year in China. Their son is YoYo. Affectionately referred to as "The Betrothed". If you want to get a peak at Claire's future husband, feel free to check out all the cute pictures here.

Where was I? Oh yeah...after that, we are moving forward to St. Louis. ST. LOUIS! I love St. Louis. I have no idea why. It's just an American city. But, I just love seeing that arch when we cross the river to Missouri. I can't wait to have me some toasted ravioli and I can't wait for Dr. Dobbs to see Claire walking! Claire has an appointment on Monday morning with the good Doctor. This is a follow-up to all he did last year. But, we are also having him give us a second opinion on her hips. Dr. H, our orthopedist here, has stated that she wants to do hip surgery on Claire in the near future. This surgery is "controversial" according to her own Progress Notes and we were advised by Claire's physical therapist to seek a second opinion. So we are. With Dr. Dobbs. Please be in prayer on Monday, that we will have peace with his recommendation. And, even more importantly, that we will know what to do if he suggests surgery as well. I really, really trust Dr. Dobbs judgement, so there will be no need for a third opinion. The problem is that if he also believes she needs surgery, who do we let do it? Him or Dr. H? Paul would rather Dr. Dobbs do the surgery. But, if we let him do it, that will mean lots more travel and quite frankly we don't have the funds for that. It would also mean insulting Dr. H. Now, I know what you are thinking. Who cares if you insult Dr. H. Do what is best for Claire. It's not that simple. See, we can't up and jump in the car to head to St. Louis every time Claire needs to see an orthopedist....which is no less than twice a year. She has to have a local doctor to follow her progress for the rest of her life. There are many orthopedic issues to do with spina bifida. Spine, hips, legs, feet. That's a lot to cover. Dr. H is our best option for that here and if we insult her, we will have to deal with that for years to come. HELP!

Okay, now that I've gotten that off my chest....the rest of the trip. On Tuesday we are heading north from St. Louis. North to Chicago! More importantly, north to the Gulke's! If you don't remember them, go back to this post. We are so excited to get to spend time with this wonderful family of friends! We met our second day in China and clicked right away. Scott and Paul are like peas in a pod. Hilarious! Karla and I have so much in common...besides our nutty husbands! And, they have great kids. GREAT KIDS! I love my kids to be around their kids! We will be staying with the Gulkes from Tuesday until Sunday, when we hit the road again. For that long, two day, drive home. But, I'm not complaining! It will be worth it to get to see good friends and have fun times in old and new places! Can't wait to share it will you guys!

On that note, I was reflecting on our travels from last summer. Claire had only been in our family for a few weeks when we hit the road to St. Louis last June. We learned to cath her TWO DAYS before we left. Boy was that fun! Not only did we not have clue what we were doing, but now we had to do it in public restrooms from here to Missouri. Every three hours! Back then, it took two of us to get it done too. Paul has seen the inside of every women's restroom in six states! Plus, that kid screamed the whole time...thanks to a lovely UTI she got immediately after we started cathing her! Good times, people! New baby, special circumstances, language barrier, bonding issues...bad recipe for traveling. But, you know what. We still had a good time!

Claire didn't talk back then either. She really didn't. She just watched us and pointed to things. But, it was on those trips that she started to talk. I think it's because we spent so much time all together in very close proximity (read shoved in a van full of stuff). How could you not learn to talk with five other people saying so much, in your face, all the time! Now she doesn't stop talking. I know I've said that before, but it's true. When I strap her in the car seat, that's her cue to ask 100 questions......"Where are we going? Where is that? When will we be there? What are we going to do? Why are we going? Do I like it? Can I walk there? Who will be there? Is Daddy going? Is Parker going? Is Noah goingisIsabelgoingamIgoing?" Breathe child!!! By this time we have turned out of our neighborhood onto the highway. So she starts over! Boy, this year is going to be different!

So, the house is clean, the luggage is filling up, the petsitter has been alerted......we're outa here tomorrow! Prayers for safe travel and maybe some extra patience would be a great thing right now!