Yes, family & friends, it was only a matter of time before a Settlers blog post appeared.  In case you don’t know about Settlers of Catan, it’s a German board game that my family is obsessed about – or, that I am obsessed about winning.  Personally I think it’s like a cross between Monopoly & Risk.  Currently I am on a 3-month losing streak.  And, people, we don’t just play once in a while – we play at least once a week, sometimes more, and even more than one game in a sitting.  I am the official Settlers loser in my family, and I make sure to let them all know about it.  I stink!  I just don’t know why (they could all probably tell you), but I can’t seem to win.  Oh well, such is life.  And it’s just a game, right?

Today after Bert & Laura brought Emma back after her sleepover, we all had lunch at our house & played two games of Settlers.  Congratulations to Mom (Bonnie) & Bert on winning.  (You won’t be invited back, since you didn’t let me win).

In the photo above I’m the blue pieces.  As you can see at this point things didn’t look too terrible for me until Mom came full force with a massive road, cutting the entire land of Catan in half!  And Bert with his stinkin’ castles!  OMG!  How’s a person supposed to win with this kind of competition?  I even have Settlers of Catan on my iPhone so I can practice against highly-skilled computers but I just can’t seem to bring the winning into real life.  I’ll be sure to let you know when my streak ends.

Oh, and if you want to play with us, come on over.  We’re usually up for playing any day of the week, even into the wee hours of the night.  Sroka’s are always up for some competition!

Photos I’ve been looking at:  Melissa C.  She’s a person I randomly found though…you guessed it….Facebook!  I think I saw her comment on another 365 blog & clicked through to her blog & saw her photo of a crossword puzzle.  Immediately I thought of my dear grandmother who loves crosswords.  Melissa gave me such an encouraging comment the other day when I felt like giving up on this 365 thing.  Thanks for the push forward Melissa & I love looking at your work.  Keep it up!

*oh, and we’re such Settlers nerds that we bought Kids of Catan for our children.  Yup, we took it that far.

A lot of you faithful readers have already met my newest niece, Delaney.  If you haven’t, though, click here to read her story…she’s quite a girl!  Delaney, or “Maeby” as her daddy calls her, made her first visit to our house last week for May Day.  After spending a rousing, and almost rainy, afternoon looking at the May Day Baskets in downtown Annapolis, Maeby came over for her newborn session.  She did fabulously, especially for being out most of the day and in a new place.  Since Maeby’s a little over the 2-week newborn period, it took a little work for her mommy and me to get her sleepy.  I mean, hey, she’s been couped up for 9 months – of course she wants to be up and playing!  Enjoy Bert & Laura‘s newest little addition…

Josh and I had the chance to go see Maeby again last night and she is doing so much better!  She’s out of her astronaut hood, breathing room air, and her Breaths per Minute are at a calm rate now.  Which meant she was able to try eating from a bottle last night!  According to her mommy, she sucked it down quick!  And I just saw today on her dad’s Facebook that they have removed all feeding tubes and extra IV’s from her!  Yeah!  They are still waiting for results from a blood test that showed something growning in her blood, so continue to keep that in your prayers.  Also, continue to pray for Bert & Laura as they were discharged yesterday from GBMC and now have to spend nights at home with out their darling little one.  You can keep up to date on all their happenings at the Rode Family Blog.  Here are some quick photos we got last night!  Enjoy!

My husband’s sister, and my lovely sister-in-law, Laura and her husband Bert welcomed their second daughter into this world yesterday.  Delaney Mae, or “Maeby,” was born shortly before 8pm yesterday, April 13, 2009.  And she is precious!  She has a full head of hair, weighs 7lbs. 7 oz, and is 20 inches long.  Laura’s water broke Monday morning around 9 and she labored most of the day until Delaney made her debut.  Since Laura had a fever before delivery, Maeby was born with one as well and subsequently is having some difficulty with her breathing.  As you can imagine, she is going through a multitude of tests.  If you have time in your day, please remember to keep Maeby, Laura, Bert, and big sister Mackinzie in your prayers.  We’ll keep you updated on her status.  Here are some photos of my first shoot with her…hopefully one of many!

I know I’ve posted about a gazillion Christmas cards, but I couldn’t resist putting Mackinzie in one once I’d edited these four photos of her. She was just too precious! This is for mommy Laura, daddy Bert, & Gigi & Pop Pop while you wait for the rest of them to be finished!