Birthdays

Our newish backyard makes throwing parties loads of fun.

Daphne's favorite are the birthday parties.  Not a day goes by that she doesn't ask me if it's her birthday yet.  I tell her we have to wait for the pumpkins, and then Christmastime will come, and then it will be her birthday.  She is so excited for her birthday that I hope it will live up to her expectations.

In the meantime, she will help everyone with their birthday cakes.

helping papa

At some point we will work at eating in a tidy manner.

More Summer Love

I come from pretty good stock.

my dad, aunties, and grandparents

For the most part.

Roth Girls!

The kids and I spent a hot weekend in Albany, which is the perfect time for swimming in bathtubs:

Let me say it for the 1000th time....I love summer!

Oh Feet, Why Do You Give Us So Much Trouble?

We finally were able to discuss the results from Daphne's MRI today with her doctor at Shriners.

I wish the doctor could tell us exactly what we're supposed to do, but she can't.  Daphne's little feet have missing bones, fused bones, bones in the wrong places...it's crazy in there.

There is no "we will do this, and this will happen" formula.  It's more of a "we could do this and hope for this, or try that and hope for that, or add this, or take away this, or wait 5 years, or do something tomorrow."

I do not feel qualified to make these types of decisions. 

So for now we're taking the easiest route possible: a different type of brace that's actually, technically a prosthetic.  I can't even explain it it's so strange, so you'll just have to wait the 6 weeks for them to be finished to see.  This new prosthetic won't do anything as far as straightening her feet, they'll actually be more focused on giving her more of a 'foot' to walk on and relieving some of the stress on her knees and ankles that her regular KAFO's have caused.

I admit, it would be more fun if we didn't have to do this.

Playground and Cake

Tuesday night was our neighborhood's National Night Out at the park.  We figured that Daphne loves playing at the playground and we love free food, so we might as well be community minded and attend.

And then, glory be, there was a band that was a tribute to Cake band (Cake the music band, not like cake that you eat...all that to say, they just played Cake's music, they didn't play music and encourage you to eat cake.  Which is good because Christian and I can't eat cake.).  Cake is one of David's favorite groups, so he got to sit there and listen to some of his favorite music, live.  The band was actually pretty good.

David and Christian sat and listened to music for quite awhile and Daphne and I played on the playground.

Do you think she enjoyed herself?

Then Christian came over to watch Daph and he was just SO CUTE.  Not really cuter than any other time, of course, but for some reason his cuteness was really speaking to me.

he's doing his fake laugh right here.

And then Daphne came over and she was just SO CUTE as well.  Although she's not into having her picture taken right now.

I know this about her, but I made her sit with me for some pictures.  I will be kind enough to show you some of the best ones:

I know.  Call a modeling agency immediately.

Olympic Edition

We've been enjoying some Olympics around here, as I'm sure many of you are.

It's been fun introducing Daphne to them.

"Where are the 'Lip-ics," she asked, "on our lips?"

I also heard, 

"Why were those girls doing this?" (she waved her arms artfully around her head, mimicking the gymnasts, I think.)  "Are they trying to fly?"

And of course:

"Where are they going?"  The age-old question of runners who like running around a track. 

David said he did some gymnastics in high school P.E.  I've been trying for days to get him to reenact a few of his routines, but he seems shy to perform what he (says) can do on the floor and parallel bars.

I'm waiting for synchronized swimming.  I totally missed watching any of that event during the Beijing Olympics (why is the good stuff always on so late at night???) so I am making it happen this time.   David thinks synchronized swimming is dumb, but I think that's just because he's jealous that he can only do gymnastics.  If he can even do that, which I am not sure of yet. 

I really like the commercials, too.  Except for the one with the skeleton guy who's arm falls off.  That one is not my favorite.

Our own home Olympics have included doing some painting, cleaning, swimming, and enjoying the beautiful and fabulous hot summer weather.

Christian excels in all banana eating contests, which is why our fruit bowl currently looks like this:

Happy Olympic watching!

Christian: 11 Months

I feel like I have a little boy now, not so much a baby.

Christian is trying to walk, working on more words, SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT (mostly), climbing up the stairs, watching for airplanes, pulling Lola's tail, stealing Daphne's toys...growing up before my eyes.

He loves me the most, would live on bananas, starts dancing the second he hears music, and has the most kissable cheeks.

He doesn't like growing new teeth, or being left behind, or being coaxed into trying new foods.
















He is full of smiles and laughs, he gives kisses and snuggles, he is joy and love wrapped in a perfect, squishy little package.

11 months with this guy:

It's been pretty great.

And some outtakes:

Wasteland to Playground

This has been a slow year for yard work at our house.  I can do a lot of things while holding a baby but it seems weeding flower beds is not one of them.  Recently a friend mentioned that he thought our yard looked the best it's ever looked. Personally, I think it's possible that once the weeds get so big they start flowering, any novice gardener would be confused on what 'good' is supposed to look like.  

I've just had to let it go and be OK with not getting the flowerbeds perfect this year (although I mixed up a weed killer composed of a gallon of apple cider vinegar, 1/2 a cup of salt, and a teaspoon of Dawn dish soap, and wouldn't you know it actually kills weeds and stray grass just as dead as Round-Up does.  I've been spraying it everywhere, just for kicks).  

There was one outdoor project we were committed to completing this year: making the wasteland right out our back door more user friendly.  We use the area quite a bit this time of year, but since nothing grows in this spot it's been a challenging place to work with and a bit of an eyesore.

So David whipped out his power tools and we turned our wasteland into a very useful playground.

David built most of it himself with Daphne acting as a helpful contributor. 

oh Brynner

it's important to guard your cheeks from loud noises

I helped by finding free wood on Craigslist.  It's amazing the things people are giving away on there; it's a dream come true for the frugal minded.  I was also helpful by rescuing a cabinet door from our old bathroom and turning it into a chalkboard.  Chalkboard paint and I are Best Friends.  We are beyond tight. 

Anything that is a pretty color in the house was also contributed by me and some spray paint, my other BFF.

With two swings and the playhouse, we're feeling quite good about our new patio area.  Next spring I will get to plant a lot of flower containers to bring in some more color and some softer textures. 

where's Christian?

she's got boys up there already. oh dear