Hello Kitty, Dirty Kitty

Hello Kitty loves lacrosse! She came to Damon's lacrosse tournament last weekend, but the arena it was at was filthy! I'm so NOT going to blog a picture of the ass on my white capri pants!

at the playground

This is why Mommy prefers Patrick's Track to Hockey. I think that the other kids look much happier too!











Would you believe that rep hockey practices start again in just over a month! ACK.

I was tagged

by my dear friend, Lissa. Thanks a lot! The things listed below that I have done are in bold letters. The rest are just part of the list.

01. Been an adoptive or foster parent
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula.
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said I love you and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby's diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
31. Asked out a stranger
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Danced in the rain
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts
51. Taken care of someone who was totally plastered
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing
60. Taken pictures of complete strangers
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
65. Bought food for a stranger
66. Visited Japan
67. Benchpressed your own weight
68. Milked a goat
69. Alphabetized your records
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Been in a movie
74. Tried scuba diving
75. Been to Lililth fair
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78 Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater
80. Have Regrets
81. Been to Tijuana
82. Discovered that someone whose not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Been a bully or been bullied
89. Camped out all night for a show, movie, or beanie baby
90. Gotten married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn't have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Breastfed more then a year
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Lied about your age
101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Eaten snake
103. Stayed somewhere different then what you told your parents
104. Had a poem published
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Been intimate in a public place
107. Ran a red light
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Shoplifted
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen The Cranberries live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Read every book in the Bible-
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone - well a verbal confrontation, not a fist fight.
123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children - well I'm still in the midst of that
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. Ran in a marathon
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.
140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a seizure
143. Piloted an airplane - no license but I've had lessons
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone's heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100mph
154. Sent a message in a bottle
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery
159. Had s*x on a moving train
160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Hunted an animal
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Been in a car accident
173. Are an organ donor
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name
178. Ridden an elephant
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes
180. Given gifts or notes as a secret pal
181. Met an online friend
182. Bought a homeless person a meal
183. Been to Mardi gras
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt-
187. Skipped all your school reunions
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Seen a dead person that you didn't know
191. Slept on the beach
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Taken in a stray animal
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196: Dyed your hair
197: Been a DJ
198: Been born again
199: Watched a whole film in a foreign lanuage
200: Been arrested

I would like to add one more.
201: Stood on a volcano and watched the lava flow to the sea
Now that was cool!

Peonies

Probably my favourite flower in the garden.  Too bad they don't last longer.  When we bought our house we were lucky enough to inherit 4 different peony varieties.  I'm going to try to get photos of all of them eventually, for now, here is our most prolific. 

We have 2 "bushes" of these, each with dozens of blooms.

I'm waiting for my fuschia one to bloom.  The ants are at work.  What are they doing anyway?

Here's a little bit of peony envy.  Aren't these gorgeous?

Kira at 17 months

Wow, my baby is growing up fast.  It's not that 17 months is so big.

As my friend recently said, "children don't reach developmental milestones in a gentle daily progression, but in a lurching, daredevil approach filled with moments of sparkling brilliance."  That's Kira.  I think because I was sick for a few weeks, I didn't notice, but suddenly she's speaking in mumbled sentences, jumping, running, cleaning up, bossing Puck around, "reading" books, saying "ABCD", preferring to get in and out of her carseat by herself. She's a independent dynamo.

Her eating behaviour has drastically changed.  My "baby" now refuses to drink from baby cups, but needs to use a big glass with no lid.  She does really well and doesn't spill much at all.  She is amazing at using her cutlery too.  See her eating cake at Grandma's:

She just doesn't seem like a 17 month old, but more like a 2 1/2 year old.  Or at least her tantrums seem that way.

I feel sort of sad, like we missed out on her "toddlerhood" and went straight to pre-schooler.  I guess we'd better start thinking about whether we will be having a fifth baby, and hopefully that one won't be in such a hurry to grow up.

Oh no! Look at what the vet did to my dog...

This is how he has been lying for about 15 minutes, about 2 minutes after I took the picture he fell asleep.  He had his rabies vaccines and he was a big suck the whole ride home, except for when the lady at Wendy's told him how handsome he was.  He was bouncing in his seat for that.  Can I just say that the new all-in-one flea/heartworm/parasite medications ROCK!  They multi-task, just like mommies do.   I remember when I had Maddie and George and I used to have to SPRAY with flea spray, give heartworm pills AND do fecal tests and give more pills for worms.   

Lacrosse is a tough sport!

I told Damon that some internet friends wanted to know what he wore for Lacrosse.  He was thrilled to model his gear!  Here he is about to leave for his game.

Hockey shoulder pads with the black kidney pads underneath.

Arm pads with arm shields over top.

I love the serious look.  LOL  He was so putting that on for show.

A bad day at the track

But I feel like I got some good pictures anyway.  Here is Patrick racing agains kids who range up to age 14.  He's 9.  No wonder he got elbowed in the face at the start.  His head is as high as their elbows.  Even though he wasn't happy with his finish, I am still proud that he beat some of those big kids.
Sizing up the competition.  I love this picture.

The word of the day is...

D I C K W A D


Yes you heard me. I was driving Patrick’s friend home because it was raining and there was a lot of traffic in front of us, so Damon says, “Hey Dickwad, move it” to the cars in front of us.

Me: Damon, we don’t talk that way.
Damon: Okay Mommy.
Patrick: ACTUALLY, I’ve heard Daddy say that before.
Me: It’s still rude and Daddy gets in trouble for saying it too.
Damon: Bob (FIL) says it.
Me: No he would NEVER.
Damon: Yes he does, when he yells at the cars.
Me: No he says "stupid old goat" and "you you you stupidhead"...
Patrick: Yeah Damon, THAT is Bob. And Mommy, don't forget he says "you old biscuit".
Me: That's right Patrick.

Just now, Campbell was helping Kira ride on her little car and he yells out “Hey Dickwad” to the phantom traffic.

Nice.

Getting by

It has been a slow recovery. Thanks for all the get well wishes. I think they must be working.

I've been trying to watch more tv in bed. Here I'm trying to watch Crash Test Mommy, but Puck's big head gets in the way.


To add to my stress, I was trying to tackle Mount Washmore on Sunday night and a sock got stuck in the drain and we had a flood. Second floor laundry room flood, BAD. It flooded the laundry room floor, the family room floor and down onto the kitchen below. UGH. The worst part is that it got into the cat litter box! EWWWWWWWW. So I cleaned up what I needed to. I still have to wash the floor in the laundry room, but that can wait until I'm 100%.

Monday afternoon, I noticed that my phone isn't working. I can dial out, but nobody can dial in. Annoying. I try a few times to get through to the phone company. Finally I talk to a lady who tells me that due to a strike, it may take a week before somebody can fix my line. In the meantime they forward all my calls to my cellphone. As in the one that charges me by the minute. I want to get my calls, so I just bear with it.

On Wednesday, a man shows up to fix our line. He looks at our wires outside and the first thing he asks me is if there is a jack attached to the wire that goes up to the back of the house and could there be any damage to that jack because it seems to be shorted out. Umm, yeah there is an outlet in the laundry room...uhh a flood...oh my, yes, yes. Well, it will be an extra charge of $85 for him to come into my house and disconnect that outlet. I think that I can manage a screwdriver thanks.

I saw my hairstylist on Thursday. I am embarrassed to say that it had been 10 months since I last had him do my hair. 10 months! It was in awful shape. He cut off 5 inches and had his girls straighten it. The man is a miracle worker. I have the thickest, frizziest hair in the world and he makes it seem smooth and silky and manageable. He wants me to come back next week for another complimentary straightening. Cool.



I saw the doctor on Friday. I'm doing much better, but she reminded me that it takes 4-6 weeks to get over pneumonia and that I still needed to take it easy. I am not able to overdo things without suffering for it with fatigue, body aches and nausea. Kira started breastfeeding again and she seems greatly relieved.


I had a pedicure today. I had to postpone it when I was sick. Not crazy about the colour of my toes, but it is nice to have human feet again.

Oh but it's GOOD for the planet hunny.

My husband went golfing and on the way home he almost picked up one of these Volvo XC90 V8.

He's seriously considering it anyway. BIL can get us a good deal. In the meantime, I'll keep driving my 6 year old Dodge van into the ground.

Anybody need a bed?

So at the auction yesterday, Matt bought a new bed set for us and for Kira. It was a great deal for $200. Only problem is trying to find places to put the other 41 bed sets that came with them. Yeah, my husband went out and bought 43 beds (a mix of doubles/queens/kings). So he managed to sell 5 of them to his fellow bidders for $20 each. But that still leaves us with a LOT of beds. He didn't know what to do, so today I called The Good Shepherd Centres in hopes that they can put them to good use, either in their shelters or to give to women who are starting a new life and moving into second stage housing. They seem interested, I just have to wait to hear if they can manage to pick them up by Tuesday evening.

Kira seems to be okay. She never started a fever or vomitted. She still has loose stool and it continues to cause a rash, but I think it is just the lack of breastmilk. She takes particular pleasure in kicking Matt and I in bed. She is mad at us because there are no more boobies so she kicks our heads. She does it hard too! I'm going to end up with a black eye before this week is through.

I'm still feeling pretty weak and tired today, but I am breathing better. I am improving more slowly than I had hoped. I expected that after 48 hours on antibiotics I would be feeling almost normal. I forgot what a long recovery pneumonia can be. Now I'm flashing back to 11 years ago when I had it the first time. A month later, I was still having sweats (day and night). I think it took me about 2 or 3 months to get back to full strength. And that was when I was 23, 20 lbs lighter, pre-asthma diagnosis and without kids! Oh yeah and I didn't have a house to tidy up! A week without anybody taking care of things has left my house and yard in shambles! This sickness has cost me months.

Out of the frying pan into the fire

Bad development. Now Kira is getting sick. She has had loose bowel movements, but this morning, she had the foulest smelling diaper ever. I haven't smelled anything but the awful smells inside my own head for almost 2 weeks now and it was knocking my socks off. It made me think of Kathy D's discussions about the smell of Rotavirus. I'm not assuming yet, because she has had a terrible dietary change. She has refused to try the formula, or milk. She prefers to sip on bottled water. And she has been very clingy and lethargic, which I have to say works out kind of nicely for me. I'm trying to get her to eat something. I think she is starting a fever because she feels almost as hot as me. I'll take her temperature after lunch.

Where is my husband do you ask? Oh, well, there was this really cool old hotel, and they are auctioning off the contents, and you know it's a moment in history. So much of a moment in history that he came back and picked up Patrick and took him too! DUH that was my lifeline here. I'm married to a child, my mistake, if I think of it that way, I can understand the egocentrism and not murder him. For now.

I went to the doctors on Friday. Thursday was pretty bad so I booked an appointment. My back was hurting whenever I coughed and I was losing my voice. Friday I woke up feeling worse, feverish, headachey, disoriented and I couldn’t even cough anymore. She listened to my chest and said, “Oh, Adri, this is bad, you have fluid all through your lungs now.” I asked her to check my tonsils because I was feeling some swelling there and she said that was because my larynx was infected now too. She said I had to take antibiotics and the only kind she could give me was toxic through breastmilk, so I would need to wean Kira. I begged her to try one I had already had an allergic reaction to that was safe during breastfeeding. I said, well you know the reaction I had with that one wasn’t so bad, let’s try that. Nope, apparently that doesn’t treat lung infections. She reminded me that if we waited any longer I would need hospitalization. OMG, I burst out crying. You are telling me that I have to wean my baby when I am feeling this shitty? Kira is not a delicate little thing. She’s a beast, and I was literally afraid of saying no to her in my time of weakness.

So I got my antibiotics, picked up my kids and came home. I hit the bed and I thought I was going to die. My mother called me and I told her that if the drugs did not work by morning, I would be going to the hospital, could she drive. I was drowning, there was no more room left in my lungs for air. Thankfully, I was able to cough a bit on Saturday, but I’m still pretty bad. I'm not eating much even when I try because everything tastes like vomit. Tonight I actually had to throw out 1/2 my bowl of ice cream. My boobs are KILLING now.

My kids have been pretty good to me. Even Kira. She isn't happy about our new arrangement, but she seems to have accepted it. She cries herself to sleep in my bed, but doesn't ask for the boobies. My husband is still an asshole, I don’t even want to tell you the bonehead things he has done. I have decided not to fight with him about it until I have gotten my full strength back. Then he’d better start sleeping with one eye open.

I had to miss my high school reunion, but before I left for the doctor's on Friday, I made sure to remind my girlfriends who were going to say 'hi' for me and to let everybody know how youthful/thin/successful/rich I am these days. And I didn't even have to diet!

Just what are the British teaching their schoolchildren?!

The Sun Online - News: Meet the kid sisters: "Moaning mum Julie last night insisted their school was to blame for them getting pregnant." Did she really say that? WTF?

I should have just listened to that inner-voice and stayed home and rested. By the time I left to come home, my eyes were burning into my brain (and all the other good stuff that comes with high fevers)and when I got home, I took my temperature and it was at 104 F.

At first the doctor wanted to treat me for a bacterial infection but when she remembered all my drug allergies and I told her that antibiotics scared me now, she decided to send me for a chest x-ray instead. It showed that my lungs were clear, so instead she is treating it like viral bronchitis and doubling up on my inhaled steroids and doing the rest and fluids thing.

Oh and instead of chasing her, I kept Kira in a stroller and let her scream. It was fun.

You know you're a burnt-out mom when...

you go 4 days with a fever, wheezing and cough, and then consider not seeing a doctor because the thought of dealing with your 5 year old and your 16 month old in a crowded waiting room is a worse fate than suffering at home with pneumonia.

Breakfast in bed

well actually, I'm getting EVERYTHING in bed. I'm spending my 34th birthday in bed. That's because I'm really sick. I haven't been this sick in about 7 years. I have been really wheezy and having pain when I breathe. Then last night the fever started and has stayed high ever since. This morning the upset tummy started. I'm starting to wonder if it is pneumonia. The last 3 times I felt this sick, it was bacterial pneumonia. I'm going to wait and see though.

My husband went to the trouble of making me eggs benedict for breakfast and he and the kids gave me cards, chocolates and some earrings. It was very sweet, then I rolled over and went back to sleep. The boys have been very good about getting me drinks.

BTW, I am terribly behind on emails and reading blogs, but if I did happen to email or respond today, please forgive the pissy tone.

Hoping we "Gute Besserung"!

My husband came back from 2 1/2 weeks in Germany last week and spent 2 days recovering from a nasty cold that he had for over a week. (Matt has only taken 2 sick days in 15 years of working at his company, one of them being last week.) Well he gave it to Campbell, who told me today he that he was finished with it, so he gave it to Kira. Kira still has it, but she is sharing with me. I am feeling like death warmed over and I'm afraid that if I go to bed I will wake up feeling much much worse. Or worse, I will have to wake up to a feverish croupy Kira. European colds are terrible!

Of course the day I come down with his cold, my husband has left for Amherst, Mass.. UGH

I've been replaced

Yesterday, I came home from picking the kids up from school.  My husband's truck was parked out front, but he wasn't at the door to greet us,... or reading the paper in the living room, ...or even more likely trying out the new microwave on last night's dinner leftovers or the Bagel Bites I picked up for the occasion.   I ran upstairs.  "Matt, is something wrong?  You didn't 'nuke' anything!  Are you feeling okay?"

This is the scene I discovered 
I'm all for the dog sleeping on our bed, but after 2 or 3 naps with Matt, Puck has decided that his new favourite spot is my pillow.  UGH.  Now when Puck is in his crate, the cat tries to sleep on that pillow, even if I am on it.  They are having a turf war on my pillow.  I wouldn't mind it as much if I wasn't allergic (especially to the cat).

I miss my baby *WARNING - sappy blog post*

my firstborn baby that is. Patrick is away with a friend for the night. But I missed him today. He is such a great person and I love spending time with him. This boy is so good, he parents himself and often reminds me to be a better person.

Matt's aunt had a cancerous tumour removed from her colon 2 weeks ago. A few weeks ago, Patrick chose to go home with MIL which we thought was odd since my FIL was taking Campbell toy shopping. Well apparently my sweet little man was trying to get more details about the aunt's cancer from MIL (a recent cancer survivor) who had gone up to help take her to some of her appointments. Last week when his dad called hom from Germany, he got a turn to talk to him on the phone. Right after his dad congratulated him on winning his race, he says, "OH yeah, Daddy, did you hear the great news about Aunt G? Her cancer didn't spread to her lymph nodes and she doesn't need chemo!" I thought that was especially sweet that he was so excited about sharing this good news.

He played hockey this morning and then he was getting ready to have a shower and he showed me a mark on his leg. He said it had been there a few days and he didn't recall anything happening. It was a very weird looking bruise, at first I didn't look too close because of his post hockey smell, and I told him I'd look at it closer when he was out of the shower. He was in the shower and was saying it might be cancer because at school they had a presentation on leukemia (they are doing a fundraiser) and they said that the kids had lots of bruises. Poor kid has a bruise and he's worried that he has cancer!

He's growing up so fast and understanding so much, but he's just 9. I hate to see him worried about such serious things already, but I guess that's just his way.

I need to go to bed so when I wake up it will be tomorrow and my baby will come home.

New Roof

I have to get a better picture of my roof, but here it is. 

I also have to dig out a picture of our house when we bought it.  It will be an interesting before and after.  This summer we will be tearing off those concrete steps and replacing with wooden and a wooden handrail.  We will probably also repave the driveway before our van falls into a sinkhole.  Seriously.

Day of Reckoning

Well despite his obvious stomach flu, Patrick decided that he would rather race and potentially not do well. So off we went.

Damon raced first.


He finished 31st which he was pretty proud of.  Keep in mind that he finished 164th last time and there are over 300 kids in his race.


Then Patrick raced. Here he is heading into the woods, he is about 4th at this point.


He had a strategy this time.  He knew to stay behind the leader until he could see the finish line.


He won! It seemed to be effortless too. Not like in the past when he crossed the finish line and he couldn't talk.


Here is Patrick with his friends and a very proud little brother.

It was so cute, Damon kept hanging off of Patrick's arm and basking in the glow while all the kids, parents and teachers congratulated him.

Here is the note that was written in Damon's agenda:

Please remind Damon that touching his eyeball is not sanitary or safe.

Mme.

You see what I'm up against? This is his new "thing" that he does to gross out kids and irritate adults. As with all novelties, it will wear out if we ignore it. Great news, except that I am sure it will be replaced by something new and equally disturbing.

She's just rotten!

I'm speaking of my little princess. My baby. She has had a cold this past week. So have Campbell and I and it seemed that we were all getting over it. But tonight Kira took a turn for the worse and woke up coughing. So I picked her up, nursed her, tried to calm her down and let her sleep on my shoulder. Then she turned toward my face and coughed. Oh..MY..good lord...WHAT is that stench? Has something crawled into her mouth and DIED? I must be imagining this. I wait for the next cough and YES that WRETCHED smell is coming from my little cherub. And she can't stop coughing for longer than 30 seconds. That doesn't make for good sleeping for anybody. Something inside of this little child is rotten, well infected anyway.

My mother is watching her for me in the morning, and the game plan was that after we were done with Patrick's "signing", I would pick up the kids and take all of them to visit my grandfather for his birthday. I'm rethinking that one. It is looking like I will be waking up my sick baby, driving all of them to my mom's for 8 am, leaving them there for about 2 hours, picking them up and going over to the walk-in clinic. Maybe my mom can take the boys to visit Grandpa at least.

Campbell, ready for take off!

We had his party at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.  Our guide Don, a veteran, was very kind and patient!  Things got a little wild, but a good time was had by all.  Especially all the big kids, I mean, dads, who wanted to stay.

Campbell is 5!!!

Campbell started his special day with a trip to the golf course with Daddy. 

Then we had a small family party.

He had asked for a Shrek Mask

He loved it, but he and Damon especially loved that my sisters kids were horrified by it and hid their faces in my sister's lap whenever he put it on.

I took a picture of Kira and her cousins playing in the toyroom and she looked up at me and posed.  When I saw the photo, I had a feeling that I can't really explain, except to say that I can see the girl she will become.

dooce: Nothing is cute the second time, or the 400th for that matter

I loved this entry. This is my daily struggle with Kira and Puck.dooce: Nothing is cute the second time, or the 400th for that matter

Here is Kira hamming it up.  She loves to say cheese whenever she sees the camera.

Now it's time for smooching.

The after pics

Isn't he just gorgeous? I just love him so much.