I've Upped the Ante!

Instead of just doing 20 Acts of Kindness, I am going to do 26 to honor the teachers/administrators who had their lives taken from them (see previous post).  Since we are leaving for MN tomorrow, I will continue my work there. My mom has volunteered to help too! I love how #26Acts is trending on Twitter and how it has taken the nation by storm! It does restore my faith in humanity a bit!

6. In honor of Dylan, I brought some stray carts from the Target parking lot inside.

7. In honor of Madeleine, I let a woman with a baby cut in front of me at the grocery store (she looked very confused, since I had Emily with me!) I told her about the acts of kindness, and she teared up...

Wish us luck tomorrow...I hope our flight doesn't get cancelled or isn't too rough! It is raining here now, but it is supposed to start snowing at any moment.

Random Acts of Kindness

The shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary on Friday really shook me to the core. Now as a parent, the news hit me in a completely different way than the previous school shootings. In order to honor the children, I decided to perform 20 acts of kindness- one for each child. I started today, and here is what I've done so far:

1. In honor of Charlotte, I bought a Salvation Army bell ringer lunch.

2. In honor of Daniel, I paid for lunch for the person behind me at McDonalds. He, in turn, paid for the person behind him. I am curious to see how long this went on for!

3. In honor of Olivia, I donated infant clothes to Sparrow Hospital- who are in desperate need of newborn clothes. When I was in the hospital with Emily, they had her wearing size 6-month outfits (WAY TOO BIG!) and the nurse said that they rely on donations for clothes.

4. In honor of Josephine, I donated food, personal hygiene goods, and clothes to the Haven House, which provides temporary housing to the homeless.

5. In honor of Ana, I paid for someone's prescription who could not afford it on their own.

I have 15 more acts that I am going to try to accomplish before Christmas. I hope that the nation does something about these horrific acts (and gun control may not be the answer...) and we can get help for those who are mentally ill.

Speaking of Christmas, I am very excited to go to Minnesota and North Dakota on Friday! This will be the first time many in my family and Chad's family that they get to meet Emily! It will be Emily's first plane ride- should be interesting! I am sure she will like it, since she likes movement so much!

3-Month Pictures!

I lied. They aren't actually her 3-month pics, but close enough! (More like 2½ month pictures).

Torque just had to get in on the action!

Thank you Denise for the excellent pictures! They turned out fantastic!

It's December already!

As usual, time sure seems to fly by! Lots has been going on here in the Stroh Household! First, Emily had her 2-month checkup. She weighed in at 9 lbs 4 oz (10th percentile) and was 22 inches long (30th percentile). The doctor said that is fine as long as she keeps growing at a steady pace. As far as development goes, she is right on par. She had her first round of shots, which was quite traumatic (for both mom and baby!) I've never heard her scream so hard- poor thing.
Emily is smiling a lot- like on purpose! It's not just gas or random anymore! It is so much fun! (By the way, this picture is totally going to be one on the Christmas card!):

Also, Emily is laughing! 

Lastly, (and this will conclude my bragging!) she is getting good at sitting up in her Bumbo.  She seems to really like sitting in it for a little while, but her neck gets tired after a few minutes. She enjoys looking at her surroundings! She also likes "airplane rides" from dad! 

Also, Chad's parents, Paul and Denise, came and visited over Thanksgiving. They fought over her all week! :) For Thanksgiving, Chads sister and her fiance came from Chicago and we made a full Thanksgiving meal. We got our Christmas card pictures taken by Denise, who is a photographer- I am very excited to get them from her!