Austin James

Just a quick post to say congratulations to Doug and Adria on their new little boy Austin James! He was born yesterday after 6 hours of labor! I told Adria that since her first was 20 hours and her second was 6, that gives me hope that maybe next time I can do it too!! We'll see ;)

The one with the high heels

This is just a picture I stole off of my parent's computer. Caelen must be around 5 months old in this shot. I cannot believe how fast my little girl has grown up!!!
Here's Caelen at her Grandma's house after Great Grandpa's funeral. The funeral was at 11:00 at St. Vincent's in Petaluma on Wednesday. It's a big old school Catholic church so every little sound Caelen made echoed 10 times louder than it really was. Needless to say we were in there for 2 minutes before Caelen started yelling about Dada and more food, so I took her outside. It lasted 1 hour 45 minutes. Try keeping a toddler out of the street and from cracking her head on concrete steps for that amount of time in a pencil skirt and high heels.

She ended up falling asleep in the car on the way to the cemetary so I stayed in the car with her while Thomas went to the graveside ceremony. Then we went back to Thomas' mom's place where there was a catered reception. And that is were this photo was taken. Caelen was busy either running up and down her staircase (with Mom always one step behind), or walking around in my shoes. She LOVES grown up shoes! I think feel like Caelen's switch is set to "fast forward" until all of a sudden someone hits "stop" and she crashes for the night. But this child is busy busy busy. She's got missions and things to organize constantly.

She's also getting new words everyday. Yesterday she opened up the cabinent and grabbed one of her little plastic bowls, holds it up to me and says, "A Bowl", clear as day. I don't remember ever specifically teaching her that word, she just picked it up. It always shocks me when she comes out of left field with a new word, and then I'm reminded of just how much she is always paying attention. Little Bug :)

Daddy's Girl

Caelen straight up said "Applesauce" today while she was trying to climb into her high chair with her container of Mott's Applesauce. I stopped dead what I was doing and asked her to say it again but it never quite came out the same way!
She's big into saying "Ahhh Dee Dow" and I wish I knew what it meant. She gets enjoyment out of saying it and is usually grinning to herself. She says it a lot in the car, but also other times during the day. The Dow part is very drawn out and seems to be the amusing part of the phrase.
She's so into Daddy these days! Every morning when I go in to get her out of her crib, I can tell she'd so much rather it was Daddy than me. She always stands up, runs toward the door side of her crib, and points to the door saying, "Dada!!! Dada!!" I have to tell her he's at work and she'll get to see him later but that doesn't stop her from checking the backyard and the garage during the day as well. The moment he's home she goes running to him. It's pretty darn cute and I prefer it to her being clingy to me.

A horse with no name

Here's a few pictures from our trip to Arizona last weekend. Caelen slept for about an hour of the hour and forty five minute flight out there.



Here she is with her step-cousins Lilia (6) Abrielle (3) and Alivia (8 mo).


Here's beautiful Sedona


And here's my little ham entertaining herself and everyone else in the car.

Just Those Few Weeks

Just Those Few Weeks
by Susan Erling.

For those few weeks-
I had you to myself.
And that seems too short a time
to be changed so profoundly.

In those few weeks-
I came to know you...
and to love you.
You came to trust me with your life.
Oh, what a life I had planned for you!

Just those few weeks-
When I lost you.
I lost a lifetime of hopes,
plans, dreams, and aspirations...
A slice of my future
simply vanished overnight.

Just those few weeks-
And no "normal" person
would cry all nightover a tiny,
unfinished baby,
or get depressed and withdraw
day after endless day.
No one would, so why am I?

You were those few weeks my little one
you darted in and out of my life too quickly.
But it seems that's all the time you needed
to make my life so much richer
and give me a small glimpse of eternity.

Saying Goodbye again and again

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and congrats but this pregnancy didn't work out. I just wanted you guys to know, so you're not wondering why I took my post down or why I'm not mentioning it anymore.
Thomas's Grandpa died on Tuesday. This was his closest Grandpa whom he spent a lot of time with growing up and even until his death would visit with frequently as he lived just down the street. Poor Thomas is having a really rough time lately but he's handling it really well and managing to keep a sense of humor.
When it rains it pours, but then the sun comes out.