First Comes Love...

At first we thought this whole "sit on the counter and help us cook" thing was cute, but now it's become vital that she help.... every. single. time. Her newest obsession: the blender.   She insists on helping make smoothies by putting in all the fruit (banana peel included), then pressing the lever to turn it on. Needless to say, we're actively searching for new hobbies...

My Dad loves sports cars. As a young adult in the Service, he raced stock cars, and in the mid-nineties, my Mom surprised him with a Porsche 911.  It was love at first sight (for both of us), and so began my love for all things fast, loud, and beautiful too. Through the years we've shared a mutual joy: sunny days on roller coaster road, talking shop (chips, shocks, tires, exhaust), and getting on the highway to open it up; nothing beats the feeling of being sucked to your seat! And like any good Dad / Teen relationship, there were moment I'm sure he'd rather forget: when they left for Rome and I took the car out to test the 0-60.  Just shy of 4 seconds (around 3.9).  Not bad for a kid, but the blown piston gave me away... Getting permission to take the car to the store.  He figured I meant to the bottom of the hill.  I should have clarified; I meant the downtown Bellevue QFC  (about 8 miles away)  ;) More speeding tickets than I ca...

Last Thursday's Valentine's Day celebration went down in history as my favorite to date! Kevin and I are funny about this little Hallmark holiday.  Every year we play it cool and make the same casual comments: "Yeah, Valentine's Day is stupid..." "Let's save some money and not celebrate this year" "It's such a cheesy holiday..." Then, as the date approaches, the conversation evolves: "Well, I just got you a little something..." "Flowers would be nice.  Just flowers." "Did you see that HUGE box of chocolates at the store?!" And so, by the time February 14th rolls around, we've invariable spent a few casual bucks on a not-so-casual gesture. This year we farmed Abigail off for the evening and enjoyed a night on the town: shopping, dinner at Benihana, then to see a movie (Argo). I figured the date night was our unspoken "not-so-casual" gesture, but Kevin one-upped me ...

Abigail is in love with Dolly! She loves to feed her, teach her to walk, give her hugs, and fall asleep with Dolly by her side. Here are some adorable pictures of these two in action: Secrets Teaching her to walk (action shot!) Feeding her a bottle  The stroller is Dolly's, but sometimes Abigail takes a ride  :) Lunch time (I had to give Dolly a bath after this...) Cuddles Happy Friday! Hope everyone enjoys the weekend.

I knew this would be a hard post to write, so I've been putting it off. On Monday morning, we said goodbye to Minnie. After months of weight loss I brought her into the vet early this week.    I had been noticing the weight loss, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I started to see how skinny and malnourished she was getting. The vet determined she was suffering from late-stage hyperthyroidism and her kidneys were shutting down.  It was a painful assessment; why I didn't notice it earlier and help her?  That thought still haunts me. But at 11am on Monday morning, through a mountain of tears, regret, and sorrow, I bid farewell to the most loyal friend I've ever known. Minnie,  You were the first piece to my "own" family.  I remember vividly the day I got you.  It was my 21st birthday and Rebecca and Steph came over bearing a gift (more specifically, a brown grocery bag).  I opened it and looked inside; there you were,...

Abigail, you're half way to two! You weren't in much of a celebratory mood today, b ut we made the best of it by going to Dick's for milkshakes (you had your very own and devoured it!), then came home and watched cartoons.   The milkshake helped turn your mood around; don't they always?! Here are some things we're loving this month: You started walking full time today!  You still crawl if you need to get somewhere quickly, but for the most part you're a full-time (Frankenstein-style) walker! "Gaga" - that's what you call your belly button.  I remind you that it's a "belly button" , but you look back at me with a patient pause and quickly correct me:  "Gaga" .   Okay, fine.  Gaga it is. I purposefully put you in onsies so you don't mess with your belly button 24/7.  Half of the time it's bright red from your little fingers messing with it all day. And watch out world! Abigail's been co...

Here's what pizza night looks like at our house... Doesn't she look JUST like Kevin in this next picture? The fact that Abigail looks so much like myself while also being a dead ringer for Kevin still ceases to amazing me.... Oh genetics  ;) Happy Friday, Everyone!