Just Nice

OK...uterus, shmooterus. Let's move on, shall we?

Two very nice things happened today! First, a sweet, sweet bloggy friend gave me a blog award!

Now I need to drum up my 15 winners and pass out their awards...alas...another day. But THANK YOU Adeye!!!! You should definitely check out her blog! She is an amazing God-filled woman with some pretty amazing children!

The second great thing was that for the second (maybe third) time in my life, I got a pedicure! My sister, nieces, my girlies and I loaded up and went to a local beauty school (think hard working, but oh-so-affordable students!) to get pedis done! I took the girls and my sister was gracious enough to keep an eye on them while they got their nails and toes painted too!

I gave up all control and let them pick their own color. YIKES! Laney chose blue...sparkly blue. WOW. And Abby chose purple...a dark rich purple....until the nail tech decided she needed white tips, french manicure style. YUCK! She loves them though, so I'm keeping my opinion to myself and praying they "chip" so much I have to repaint them soon. At least their toes are adorable in those fun colors! Me? I chose a plain french manicure for the piggies. LOVE it.

Here's Abby. She's ultra serious about this manicure business!

The guy that did the pedi was so great! I was a bit nervous at first, but oh man...my nerves melted right away...it felt SO good! I could have fallen right asleep! It was an hour of massaging, kneading, and painting...all for $10. Yes, you read that right! Support those local beauty schools! They need the clients and the practice, and I need the affordable pampering!!!

It's blurry because it's from my phone, but here is Laney getting the Oh SO blue applied!

Anyway, just had to share the fun day we had. I needed some joy and the girls LOVED the girlie day! We went to lunch afterwards and now they're napping wonderfully! Sounds like I better get something productive done. We're headed for vacay on Friday and I'm LIVING for it!

HORRIBLE picture, but wanted to give you the idea!

I hope you're having a pretty toe, relaxed calf muscles, pampered heels kind of day! I know I am!!!

Happy Baba's Day!!!

I just wanted to take a minute to brag about my husband. If you're not one for sappy posts, or don't want to read me brag, it's ok. Head on to your next destination. It's not going to stop me!

Right now, my wonderful husband is upstairs mopping the kitchen. Yes, it's 9:45 on Father's Day and he's mopping the kitchen. We have house guests coming tomorrow so we decided we'd get the house in order and "camp out" in the basement to keep it clean (remember, the twinados live here). So we agreed after baths tonight, I'd bring the girls downstairs and set up camp. He'd finish cleaning the kitchen and mop. Goodness, I'm blessed.

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Tony, you are an amazing husband, friend, son, and father. I knew from our first date on that you would make a wonderful husband. I, however, had no clue what an amazing dad you would be. You went from being nervous around little ones, to grinning from ear-to-ear and waving at a toddler across a restaurant who is seeking attention. You went from saying, "NO WAY" to kiddos, to opening your home and heart to two little girls from across an ocean.

Your heart is so tender. I am seriously giddy with how God has grown you and challenged you to be a voice for the orphan. These are the kids that no one hears, so you promise to shout for them. I know it can be scary, but I'm excited to see how God will use you in the future when it comes to kids. I'm not saying we'll have a brood of children, but He will stretch you to use your gifts for the fatherless. I know it. I feel it. I pray for it.

Thank you so much for providing a secure, loving home. You take care of us so well. You provide for us spiritually, financially, and emotionally. You work hard and are a true man of integrity. You mow, clean, launder, laugh, play, chase, teach, pay, organize, plan, love, kiss, hug, encourage, challenge, balance, work, fix, and pray for and with your family with 100% of your being. You balance me in more ways than you even know.

Our girls are so very blessed to have you as their Baba. I saw you sitting in that cold room in China as nervous as could be almost two years ago. I saw you sit with anticipation and wonder when our daughters came into the room. And I saw you instantly go from man, to Baba, the instant a crying LaLa was placed in your arms. You physically changed in front of my eyes. You instantly became Baba, the protector. And you haven't stopped.

In China...the moment Tony became Baba...

I love you with everything in me. Thank you for all you do for our family. You amaze me. Happy Baba's Day!

Sporting their Life Is Good shirts...and oh baby, life IS good!

P.S. I have a WONDERFUL daddy as well! I want to do a post about my great parents and I will soon because their anniversary is coming up. But for today, I want to say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my dad, Bill. Dad, thank you SO much for everything you are and for all you have taught me. I love you SO much.

Therapy Part 4-For Real

OK, so I hope the girls don't wake up from naps yet. I want to get this post done before we do our Father's Day presents this afternoon!

So, let's see, I left off spilling my guts to the world that we followed God's lead about a potential foster daughter, grieved that loss when it wasn't meant to be, got sunburned beyond words, and found out I have to have a hysterectomy...and that all happened in one week.

Since then, I have been teaching at my summer job which is a two week safety course with five year olds. That is a SLIGHT change from the usual fifth graders I teach! It is only half days and I work with a fire chief, and some police officers that make it all worth it. To see grown men in uniform sing, "The Wheels on the Bus" is just priceless! And those kiddos sure do learn something!!! I was lucky this time too, because Sarah's little cutie Amaya was in my class, as well as another friend's daughter and son! It was a fun, tiring, long, hysterical couple of weeks! The money pays for our vacation and the laughs are endless.

To celebrate, I picked up the girls today from their last day at the sitter (*sobs* she was wonderful) and went straight to Dairy Queen (local ice cream shop). In the 90 degree heat I ordered them big ice cream cones and let them eat and drip and get it all down their faces, hands, arms, dresses, and shoes. When Tony surprised us by showing up there, he was shocked I let them do that. I figured, what the heck. It's hot. My last day. And my girls deserved a big ole cone of delicious sugar! YUM!

In the evenings we have been doing house projects to get ready for some good friends to come and stay with us a couple of days. Nothing like house guests to light a fire on getting housework done! They'll be here Monday through Wednesday, then on Friday we leave for vacation!!! Then it's back home for a couple of days, surgery, healing, and hopefully a few more house guests!

Speaking of the surgery...I've been going through a whole denial, embrace, face head-on, play ostrich, cry, shout, plead, ache, laugh thing over it. Yeah. I'm a woman. I have emotions. I'm hormonal. If I'm all over the map about this now, imagine what the hormone situation will be AFTER the surgery? YIKES! Pray for Tony!

I like to think that I'm usually a positive person. I mean, I look for the good in situations. When someone cuts me off while driving, I usually grumble at first, but then send a prayer up because maybe they're in a rush due to a loved one's need. Or if someone knocks into me at the store with out saying an apology, I assume they're having a rough day and are just on a mission. I know that's not exactly positive, but I try to give them the benefit of the doubt.

This surgery is no different. I have thought all of the same things you all have been saying. I'll try to give both sides...let's see:

Negative: UUGH, surgery? Pain and healing for weeks!
Positive: Someone else gets to cook dinner and wait on ME!

Negative: Surgery right after vacation?
Positive: My house won't be dirty because no one will be home (except our house sitter and friend) to mess it up!

Negative: You can't lift the girls for a while.
Positive: They can crawl in bed and snuggle with me to watch TV and read (WHICH, happens to be their favorite activity)

Negative: No biological babies. Ever.
Positive: No more periods. Ever.

Negative: Our genetics will not get passed on.
Positive: Our genetics (and allergies) will not get passed on.

Oh, trust me. There are some negatives I can't quite find the positive spin for yet. But I will. In due time. I'm gonna share some personal turmoil here. Let me know if you've ever felt the same (if this applies to you). I'm wrestling with two emotions/thoughts mostly.

1. I feel like a failure.

I know that it's really not my fault. I mean, in the core of me, I know it's not. But I can't help but wonder...if I had lost weight..would that have helped? *shrugs* who knows. But, I do feel like a failure. My body was designed to do one thing...carry a baby. No, it's not the most important thing to me in the world and I can't count how many people have said, "But you have two beautiful babies." I do. I'm not denying that. I would give up any organ necessary to have my daughters. They are my life. They couldn't be more MY children if I had birthed them myself. But regardless of that, it's something in a woman's psyche, I think. Having bio kids was never an important factor in my life, but when you're told you can't...well, it sort of hits you. The one thing my body was designed to do, can't do it. There's no pretty way to put it. It just sucks. I guess in the back of my mind I always thought, "Well, if we decide to have bio kids, we will!" I feel like I have let Tony down. He will NEVER admit that I have, though. He has been the most wonderful thing ever throughout all of this. But I can't help that feeling. We will never have a little strawberry blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned little person running around that carries on his genetics. Mine, I don't care so much about...but his I do.

Even as I'm typing this, I start thinking about how much our almond shaped eyed, brown haired, olive skinned beauties carry so much of us in them though. They might not LOOK like us (which Tony begs to differ....hhehehe) but oh man. There is no denying they are our children. The looks they shoot. The phrases they use. The mannerisms they exhibit. They SCREAM Rett and Tony. It's such a God thing. They don't have our DNA, but oh baby, they are us. So see...there's the positive. It's just that the sadness of not being ABLE to carry a baby, still has a little tiny cobwebbed corner of my heart. Eventually it will get cleaned out and heal. But for now, it's still there.


2. The second thought that keeps nagging at me is a bit crude. Sorry. Men and women are separated by only a few things. Reproductive organs, boobs, and a vagina (which is really all part of the same system.) Therefore, when the doctors take out my remaining ovary and uterus, all I have that men do not are boobs and a vagina. This is where I get ticked. In this sinful world we live in, it is NOW POSSIBLE for men to get boobs and a vagina!!!!!! SO where does that leave me???? Will I feel like less of a woman? Maybe. But that's where I'm hoping hormones help! Hehehe...but it's frustrating. I have a feeling that a shopping trip designed to buy girlie things will be happening once I'm on the mend! Look out, Tony!

Ahh...so there. I have more thoughts on the topic...but they'll develop the closer to surgery I get. Plus, this is yet ANOTHER long post without pictures. Should I drum up one of a uterus? How about an ovary? Boobs? Naah. I'll save that one for later. Hmmm, I wonder if the surgeon would be willing to take a picture of my uterus for the blog? Sheesh, the amount I'm paying him, I should at least get a picture right? I might just ask! HA!

Thanks for listening and hanging with me, my friends. I just skirt the edge of being brutally honest about my emotions on this topic, and censoring some. It's just a tough spot. But I'm so beyond blessed and I am going to choose to see the positive. However, if you happen to catch me when my hormones are out of whack and I think I hear my uterus yowling about having a baby...humor me. I know I have beautiful kids. I know I won't ever have to wear a tampon again. I know that birth control will be an issue of the past. But it doesn't mean that my heart doesn't ache just a little. Be patient. I'll heal.

Therapy Part 4

I haven't forgotten you...Life has just been nuts!

PLEASE stick with me!!!

Therapy Part 3

OK, ok, so gyn oncologist. But before I get to that, I have to say thank you for the comments, support, and prayer. It has been crucial. We HAVE felt them. As for the B situation, I feel peace. A deep sadness for her, but a peace about the decision. That is thanks to you and your prayers.

I also want to be clear that although I don't know the end of B's story, or our story as far as growing our family, I do know one thing to be true. We serve a mighty God who knows our thoughts before we speak them, every hair on our head, and the farthest corners of our hearts. I do not for one second believe our journey to B was a wasted trip. We met some amazing people who are dedicated to babies (and older children and teens, yippee!) in the foster system. They are determined to provide a safe haven, if only for a day or two. I admire them. I admire their bravery. They are not ever going to have to look back on their lives and say, "Oh, we could have. I wish we would have." They did. They ARE the hands and feet of Jesus.

Tony and I have grown so much through this too. Our rationale about life and family was challenged and we grew. We grew spiritually. And friends, I cannot explain the joy that comes from being obedient. MAN, what a rush Peter must have had when he stepped out of that boat! We had that same rush. And I'm riding that same high! I LOVE following His commands. This was a particularly scary one, but we did it. And we did it with praise, and trust, and love. And would I do it again? OH YEAH! Which is scary. Because I 100% believe that He'll be calling on us again soon. Until then, I'll just continue to thank him for choosing us!

Which leads me onto the next part of my therapy. The oncologist post. For those who do not know, four years ago this week I had my right ovary and some lymph nodes removed. I had some weird hormone producing cyst/tumor things that were growing in/on/around my ovary, so my doctors felt it was best to just get it out of there! I agreed. They did not touch my left ovary because it was healthy, and in case we wanted to continue to try and have biological children. I was never diagnosed with cancer, WHOO HOO GOD!

Well, at the point of the surgery, we started thinking about the importance of growing our family. Biology wasn't important, even though it was still possible for us. We CHOSE adoption. (It's at this point, I can see God giggling to himself thinking how He knew the rest of that story and the joy he had in store for us). Surgery was in June, healed, started school, and then signed on for adoption through Ch*na in January of 06.

Blah, blah, blah...years pass and we are blessed with our twin daughters. Blessed doesn't even come close to an accurate word to describe how we feel about them. But I think you get the idea. Anyway, I started having some weird symptoms again (if you want those symptoms, email me...I'm already sharing TMI, I'm sure). So for the past, oh, six months I've been to the doctor, doing thousands of dollars in blood work, having ultrasounds, etc to find out...yep, you guessed it. They discovered a lovely little cyst on my left ovary.

So last Thursday, I ventured to a new gyn onc. (mine from the first surgery had moved to over three hours away). The entire staff was nice. From the front desk girl, to the resident doctor, even down to the girl who took my weight and blood pressure. Which my weight alone, can cause an entirely different therapy session!

I met with the doctor, who was a nice middle aged man in a bow tie. He came in and sat with Tony and me in the exam room. He hopped up on the exam table like a champ and leaned in to talk. In his professional opinion, and with my history, he said to go in and get it out. He said I would go ahead and have the total abdominal hysterectomy.

You know, I went into this appointment believing I would come out with him saying that exact same thing. My gut told me that's what I'd have to do. I had mentally prepared for it. Or, so I thought. But after he walked out and shut the door, I lost it. I cried and cried. My heart still aches. And bless that surgery scheduling nurse. She gave me a few minutes to pull myself together before she came to take me to the conference room. And even then, she reassured me she had a new box of tissues waiting on me in there.

It's weird. Big news like this does a number on one's psyche. But I'll save that one for my next post called, WHY HYSTERECTOMIES INHALE WITH GREAT FORCE! (aka, suck) I'll tell you how great Tony was during the whole ordeal. And I'll share my psycho perspective on all of this. Trust me. In that post, you'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll cringe. And I will have done my job.

Any thoughts/questions/comments, please share! And I'll be looking for your opinions, suggestions, and experiences after my next post too. I'll need group support, I'm sure!

Ok, my friends. I'm going to go spend time with my husband. My tanning bed burns are healed enough that I can snuggle once again! It has been too funny because the girls touch my arms and ask, "Does that hurt?" And my cheeks, "How about there?" They're ready for me to be better too!

Have a good night. And once again, thank you for being so supportive!

Therapy Part 2

OK, if you're just joining the group therapy session, pull up a chair and scroll down below and read Therapy Part 1.

Let's see...where did I leave off?

Before church, when we checked our mail, we found the password to access B's information. Hesitantly, I handed it over to Tony. All this build up. All the prayer. My prayer about this moment was, "Please, God. Make this clear. Make the decision clear."

Well, several minutes later, after we finished reading B's full biography and background, we sat back and looked at each other. B, the beautiful girl, was not meant to be our daughter. I cannot explain it. It was like Tony and I looked at each other and just knew. We both immediately said, she isn't meant to be our daughter. How could God lead us here when we know beyond a reason of a doubt that she isn't ours?

I am not going share anything about B's background. Legally, I can't. But beyond that, I wouldn't want to. It's her story. It's personal. And, friends, it's gut wrenching. I gasped throughout the profile and teared up often. This little baby girl...her life....robbed. The conclusion we both came to was that it would in no way be fair to B, or to our girls to bring her home. We expected many needs, but her biggest need is a family that can love on her individually and solely. She needs 100% attention. And our attention here would be divided. So unfair to her, to our daughters, and to us.

Church that evening was rough. Every time the music would start up, my tears would start up. This child of God. This precious child was someone's baby at some point. And all she wanted was love. The next few days Tony and I were just kind of numb. We didn't tell a lot of people...really, only those who asked. It was so hard. We grieved the loss of her life. We grieved the loss of this child that we had prayed for. Did we doubt our decision to let her go? No. Did we doubt God? No. Never, not once. We just grieved a little girl who would not come to know our love, except through prayer.

As instantly as we knew she wasn't to be our daughter, I also instantly knew that I would come unglued at the first person who said, "Well, maybe God led you to her because she'll lead you to your next child." Yes, that's possible, but I refused to believe that B was simply a stepping stone. She was a child. One that we had fiercely prayed and cared for.

So where does that leave us? Kind of confused. But resting in the knowledge that our God knows the rest of the story. We have not ceased in praying for B. She will forever be loved by us. She opened up our hearts to a group of children that have so very few people fighting for them. These teens are not embraced the way newborns are. There are 145,000,000 million orphans available worldwide. How is it I never knew about these kiddos right in our back yard?

Please my friends. Please, please, please pray for these children. So many of them have just been dealt a bad hand. They are pawns. They have little to no control over what happens to them. Who will be their voice? From here on out, I choose to be. I have to be. How? I'm not sure. But I will be. Tony and I will be. I mean, who is talking to them about Jesus? Anyone? Who is tucking them in? Who is telling them that they are loved? Even teenagers need tenderness. It's KILLING me. Will we bring a teen home? Or will our next child be an infant? A girl? A boy? Or is our family complete? Only God knows. And thankfully, I trust Him. But regardless, others WILL know about these kiddos. The ones no one thinks about. Others will know, and hopefully move on their behalf.

So there you have it. That was only the BEGINNING of the week. A loss.

The middle of the week wasn't much of an improvement. However, it was entirely my fault. I'm a moron. I tanned at the tanning bed. Wait. tanned is totally the wrong word. More like fried, cooked, baked, broiled, and blistered. It was terrible. That was Tuesday night, and by Wednesday morning, I was up dry heaving, shivering, panicking, crying, and longing to be dead. One doctor's visit later, she confirmed what I thought. I got burned. Badly. Lovely.

So I couldn't move. Couldn't sleep. Couldn't play with the girls. Couldn't snuggle. Couldn't do hardly anything without wincing. Miserable. But little did I know, it would only get worse. No, not the blisters. I mean, they would hang on (are STILL HERE TODAY) but the week is what I'm referring to.

No, I'm not usually an Eeyore type person, but this was turning out to be a ho hum week. Most people live for the week to come to an end, but not me. On Thursday, I was going to have a doctor's appointment with a new gyn oncologist. Yeah, oncologist. I knew this appointment would determine a lot.

There's some history leading up to a visit to an oncologist, but this post is getting to be as long or longer than the first. So, I'll leave you here. But the therapy isn't over yet.

Life is scary. How do non-believers do it? How do they get up and face every day's trials without God?

I'll share more later...thanks for praying and loving Tony and me!

Therapy--Part 1

If this blog were a piece of paper, it would have been written on, erased, written on, erased, scribbled out, and then wadded up and thrown in the trash. Although I know I NEED to write this post, I just don't even know where to begin.

I guess before I dive in, I want to preface this by saying the post will probably be long. And I have to make a disclaimer...I am the author of this post. If you disagree with something I say, or an action I (or we) took, that's perfectly fine. What is NOT fine is slamming me in a comment. I don't expect you to always agree with me, but I do expect respect. I never leave rude anonymous comments on other blogs, so I expect the same thing here. I'm going to open up and share my heart. And even though I am loud, and brash, and opinionated at times, trust me, my heart is pretty darn tender. Play nicely.

There...let the therapy session begin.

Last week was one of the toughest weeks I have had in a long time. As a general rule, my life is pretty awesome. I have a fantastic family, a great set of friends, and a faith in God that has held me together. But last week really knocked me for a loop.

Some of you know that several months ago, a friend of mine, Sarah, sent me a link to the waiting children list from our home state. I had never before seen this list, so I set about looking through the information rather disconnected. It wasn't until a few children in my heart stopped. There was this beautiful girl staring back at me. Her heart was broken, I could read it in her eyes. Her shortened bio gave nothing but some basics about her favorite foods and what she liked to do. I read the five or six sentences about her, and clicked on. I skimmed several other pictures and bios before being drawn back to hers. We'll call her "B" for beautiful.

Well, after several minutes of exploring the site, I emailed B's bio to Tony. Just a fluke. I've done this many times before. However, this one was different. Tony replied to me and said, "Hmm, I wonder what her story is." My heart leaped. He wants to know more? He NEVER wants to know more! Then his next email said, "Um, she'll be DRIVING soon!" Yes, my friends, B was 15.

Bigger than the fact that she was 15 was that Tony, the love of my life, didn't freak out! He was interested in knowing more. He wanted to know how a teen could end up in a situation where no one wanted her. He wanted to know if she even wanted a family. He wanted to know the logistics of how this "foster care" program worked. So he set out to find out. Several emails later (even one to the Governor's office) we were able to get into contact with a case worker from our area.

Mind you, I had no idea this would even go that far, but since Tony said the most we would be out was time, I knew this had to be God-driven. Tony's way too cautious. God was here in this.

After much prayer and discussion, we agreed to meet with the case worker to see what the process involved. She warned us several times that the bios we see are merely paragraphs about them socially, but there was usually much much more to their story. She gave us the paperwork (ridiculously lighter pile than China's) and we set about in prayer. I won't lie. We argued with God. We weren't planning on adding to our family for a bit. And a teenager? No way. Not us. The thought was ridiculous. Why us? Why her? Why now? Like I said, life was pretty darn near perfect!

God didn't hide from us. His answer was clear. Take the next step. Trust Him and take the next step. He never promised to show us the entire path, but the next stepping stone was always in plain view. Trust Him. Take the next step. So, we did. We filled out the paperwork and began the process to become licensed Foster Parents.

During this time, we told a few friends and our family. Telling them that we were looking at a teenager who was legally free for adoption was no small feat. Every single person we told made a new wave of nausea then peace settle over me. It was scary territory, but one we trusted God to lead us into.

We got all sorts of questions...was she abused? how'd she end up here? will she be safe? how will you pay for college? what about a car for her? how can you love her when you already have children you adore? will we have room to love her? what about therapy? do you know what you're doing?

We wrestled with every one of those thoughts. It was hard to explain to our family and friends how when God whispered those words, "Trust me" directly into our ears and hearts, rationality disappears. Of course our daughters were our first priority. We love them so much it hurts. But God planted sweet B right in our paths. How in the world could we ignore that?

Literally, everything went so smoothly it was scary. Appointments that we would need to have, were scheduled months before we knew we'd need them. People were put in our paths that we had no idea we'd need for support (Both Beths!) This was God's story playing out before our eyes.

During the wait, the only thing Tony kept questioning was, "What if she doesn't even want a family? She is so close to aging out, what if she just wants to finish where's she has started and move on?" This was a reality because during this time B had turned 16. Only two more years and she would age out. Well, God heard Tony's cries and answered more plainly than I had ever seen before.

One day while I was checking the waiting children site, I found where a video had been posted of B. In her video, she was so tender hearted and nervous. But her underlying message was very very clear. All she wanted in life was a family to love her. She longed for a family. How's that for an answer to prayer? Yes, other children had said that in their videos, but none were as heartfelt as B's. She looked directly into the camera and said, "I want a family."

Fast forward a few months of appointments, meetings, trainings, workshops and you would find that we are officially licensed foster parents. YAY! It also meant that we would soon be allowed to read a larger biography and history on this child we had prayed for as a family for so long. We received our password a week ago Saturday, May 30. I was hesitant to jump online and read about her right before church, but Tony insisted. He needed to know.

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Wow. This is a long post. I hate to do this, but it's 1:00 in the morning. I have to get up to go to work tomorrow (my two week summer job) so I better get some rest. I promise I'll post again tomorrow (or tomorrow night). My therapy session is nowhere near being completed.

A Language All Their Own

They say twins have their own language. We agree. Sometimes, the girls get on a rip and Tony and I look at each other like, wow, what was that? But they totally respond to each other and move on. Twinspeak.

However, when you're three you also have your own language. I'll translate.

Slip Slops=flip flops

Slinkley=slinky

You, You, Get My Foood=Lou, Lou, Skip to My Lou

This was all just this morning. But there are more...I'll update as I hear them.

Memorial Box Monday

Gorgeous tree in our front yard a few weeks ago. It's all red now....

Ok, the title is deceiving. I am not doing a Memorial Box Monday post...I'm doing a MAN I'M GLAD SCHOOL IS OUT FOR THE SUMMER, MONDAY post!

WHOO HOO!!!!

There is going to be big fun in our house this summer! I just LOVE being home with the girls, and as soon as this stinkin' class I'm taking is done (coincidentally on my birthday-what a gift!) then we will have tons of fun!!!

Thought I'd leave you with some cuteness...

The other morning, this is what I heard. "Baba, I have the remote. You wanna watch the wedder channel? I find the wedder channel for you." She has MASTERED the remote. She's also learning tons about manipulating the computer. Scary stuff!

Laney: I ate all my ice cream, but I didn't want the strawberries. They make my eyes close! (They're too tart for her liking!)

And I took the girls with me to school last week. GOODNESS they are popular among the fifth grade crowd! But let me tell you how different they are. Laney starts out shy, but warms up and loves sitting and reading with the kids (or watching a movie, or playing, etc.) But Abby is always on the go and watching what is going on. Like I said, she'll be our tech guru. When I needed the door propped open, she jumped up and ran to do it. And we're not talking about putting a wedge under the door. It's a peg that you have to step on and click to hold in place. She also figured out to to manipulate these folding chairs just to her liking.

Here's Abby chillin' with a book at the library.

Here's the cutest puppy around...Laney thought the doghouse at the children's museum was great!