Hi everyone-
I'm so sorry that we haven't been updating the blog or calling anyone back for the past several days. When we got back from Ethiopia, both Ben and I (Heather) had a bad cold and a cough. Well we still aren't over it, partly because on Thursday I came down with the stomach flu again. I have never been this sick for this long. I'm going on a week and a half now of being really sick!! Steve and I haven't realized until now just how all that travel took its toll on our bodies. After tossing and turning and all the other stuff that goes along with the stomach flu on Thursday and Thursday night, I finally slept almost all day friday and all night last night. Steve has been pretty tired too. He's been trying to take care of Ben the whole time that his wife has been incapacitated!! We're all feeling a bit better today, even though the cough still hasn't left me or Ben, and my stomach still has the "post flu" feel. But it is a bright, sunshiny day here in WAshington, with a layer of frost on all the rooftops and a nip in the air. Ben loves the outdoors!! Steve has already introduced him to dirt :-) and says he loves it. We've taken him for a few quick walks through the neighborhood and he is just fascinated with everything. He and Mo are just the best of buds already. Ben loved him from the first swipe of his huge wet tongue (Mo is our boxer pup in case any of you are wondering who in our family is licking Ben!) We have of course probably a hundred pictures of the dynamic duo together already, some of which I'll post on the blog here in a minute. Mo certainly feels as if all of Ben's toys are in fact HIS, and he is being gracious enough to let Ben borrow them. I'm not sure who has more fun with the excer-saucer/walk-about thing....Mo or Ben!!
I feel so bad that we haven't been able to let anyone know how things are going, and I want to return all your sweet phone calls but up until today, i haven't felt any where near up to it!! Needless to say, we haven't quite settled into parenthood yet, as our bodies are still out of whack. Steve's parents came up yesterday and are here through today which has been a wonderful thing. We really needed some help, especially when I was so sick and Steve was on his own with a screaming baby. Thank God for family...literally!!
Ok, now I shall post some pictures...some of Ben with Mo, lots more of Ben, some of me barfing...ha ha just kidding. We have tons more pictures that are still on our camera that I will get on to our computer today and then I can shower you all with more and more pictures of the new Leasure kid!!! Thank you all for your prayers, emails, messages, etc!! I look forward to calling/emailing everyone back...it's just going to be slow. But we are ok now and getting on some kindof normal schedule. Ben naps from about 10ish till noonish, and then again from about 3 or 3:30 till 5ish. it is remarkable how well he's done considering Steve and I have been such a mess since we got back!!!Love you all, talk to you soon! Oh by the way, i published two other kindof long blogs in the "comments" section on this blog page, in case any of you hadn't read those yet. I'm a little slow on the uptake when it comes to learning how to correctly post stuff on these newfangled weblogs. ;-)

Yes, he's my little living, breathing dress-up doll. :-)

He laughs and laughs when Mo licks his feet!!