Welcome to our World

How delightful to have wonderful weather in February and even more wonderful friends to share it with! Barb & her dog Aspen are the ones who first took me and puppy Meigo to this dog friendly spot over 4 years ago. We've been enjoying it ever since! Now that Kaelah is in the picture, there were 5 of us girls enjoying the scenery while the awesome men in our lives were at work. Poor guys. (; Here's a shot right after Meigo tried to shake herself dry. I can't help but giggle when I look at Kaelah's expression. Here is a great glimpse of my lovely companions. And check out the stick Meigo was having me throw for her! That thing was huge! That's what I get for neglectfully bringing a ball thrower with no ball inside. lol. "He he he. I can be so silly with my hat." I love you, Kaelah!

Kaelah has been loving zoo and farm animals lately, so we jumped at the chance to go to the zoo without being charged admission. Grandma & Grandpa joined us and Dan even took the morning off work. The weather was amazing (absolutely perfect with a sweater on) and although it was as busy as a Saturday in summer it felt so much friendlier. Gratitude for a break from cabin fever? I know I felt that way! Above: all cheesy grinny... just like me. So that's where she gets it! lol. It was such a joy to watch Kaelah figuring out what she was looking at -- you could just see the gears cranking in her head. It took her the longest to figure out the elephants because at first we could only see their big butts. Once Kaelah saw their trunks her eyes became huge & she pointed & made her elephant noise. Eureka! You might notice the stuffed dog that is always over her shoulder. This was our trial run of bringing her backpack out in public before Disneyland in May & she ...

If you were born on the 19th & you're turning 19-months-old, is that your first golden birthday? Kaelah is growing up oh, so fast! She likes to sit up to the table without her booster seat, put together her shape puzzle Grandpa bought, identify objects, and make lots of animal sounds. Kaelah is beginning to show more creativity in her play and is increasingly entertaining. She is also becoming a profession procrastinator when it comes to bedtime and doesn't fall asleep right away anymore. (As I type I can hear thumping sounds and singing coming from her room.) The 2 words we hear most often are "more" & "Gobo" (as in Gobo Fraggle). Why? Kaelah gets to watch Fraggle Rock while I'm combing out all the knots in her hair in the mornings. I think it's trying to go curly back there but without much success. Thank goodness for detangler! It also gives me plenty of time to put in pig tails -- I'm so glad she finally has enough hair to d...

Dan & I have been saying we should spend a night at the Stanley Hotel for years and we finally pulled it off this weekend! My wonderful parents held down the fort at home taking care of our girls. Kaelah handled being left much better than the dog did! Perhaps because she got to call us on the phone Saturday morning??? Meigou was so pathetic my dad went to PetSmart and bought her a new toy, if that tells you anything. And I was rather proud of myself for handling a night away from Kaelah for the very first time so well. View from the hotel. The Stanley is turning 100 years old this year and is nice & old & creaky. The weather was a little overcast too, and all this combined made for a great ghost tour on Friday the 13th. Our tour guide, Joshua, did a fantastic job and totally freaked out all the believers in the group. I got locked in Room 401's closet where Lord Dunraven's ghost lives. Joshua explained that the ghost didn't bother me because my weddin...

Kaelah likes things that begin with the letter 'p' this week. Danny helped her discover that she had pockets in some of her sweaters that she can put her hands or little hair barrettes into. I know this picture doesn't show it, but the way she was walking around the house reminded me of the teenagers I used to tutor in middle & high school. My 18-month-old may just be cooler than I am. Kaelah decided that peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are the best thing in the entire world to request for lunch... or breakfast... or snack time. I've found that if I let her lick the pb lid while I make the sandwich (here she is watching intently), there is a whole lot more patience in our kitchen. What? Lids wash! Fridays are glorious days were we pop some frozen pizza in the oven & have something easy like salads or, in this case, baby carrots with ranch dressing to eat. Kaelah snarfs the pizza & uses the carrots as utensils to eat as much ranch dressing as we...