Well, I have been negligent blogging, havent' I? Here's pix from the past few months including Thanksgiving, Christmas, first snow storm, and playing dress up lol

The holidays were especially fun. Although we didn't make it to Red Wing (first time for me) Christmas Eve, we had a wonderful day starting with presents, blueberry muffins then playing in the snow.

Although Emily had the regular flu in October and h1n1 in November, Cassidy didn't catch it either time. In fact, she has barely had a sniffle. She recently had her quarterly appt at Children's Hospital for her hypothyroidism and since August, she's gained two pounds and grown 2.5 inches! In five months!

Cassidy's attention span has increased; it's fun to see her page through a book or play with Little People or Weebles for a half hour! Emily loves dressing her up (check out the pink hair!). She's constantly getting into things, and I feel like I'm constantly saying "no" to her. When Emily is in her gymnastics class, I can barely watch her because I'm chasing Cassy. She's not shy and says "hi" to everyone.

Keep checking for new pictures. I'll try to be more timely.

Derrinda

As my friend Joan said, "Who knew riding a sheep could be so much fun?" And Emily couldn't be a more proud big sister. It really rocked her world not to be queen bee around here, but she handled it better than I ever could have imagined. I'm hoping we'll have a warmer weekend so we can make it to the apple orchard before it snows.

Summer's over

Emily and Cassidy are best buddies, don't mind the age difference, they both giggle at anything the other does. This is becoming a problem at bedtime when I have two giggling girls for an hour.

Cassy suffers through each new tooth--fever, crying, difficulty sleeping. Remember, Emily already had eight teeth when she was adopted; Cassy had none. The nights can get very long. For six nights she woke up every hour. Thankfully, that's over.

Tate is forever patient with Cassy. She'll lay on him, pet him, pull his tail; he just waits patiently then gives her a kiss. What a great dog--I don't think Tucker would have had a fraction of his patience.

We enjoyed a day at the cabin Labor Day weekend. The girls played in the sand and went for a short walk with Nanny. Then the jungle gym came (Uncle Dirk) and the fun began!

Emily's first day of 1st grade went really well. She likes her teacher and has made new friends. We had been offered a full year's tuition if I wanted her to go to Bunker Hills this year--this was when Cassy was waking up every hour and we were getting to the breakfast table at 7:45 am--that's what time Bunker Hills starts. So, regretfully, I had to turn that down.

Keep checking back. Cassy has her fifteen month appt next Friday. I need to find out how much she's supposed to be eating. I think this kid would eat until she blew up, never gives me any indication if she's full.

Happy Autumn!

A few new pix

We're having a fun summer. Cassidy continues to "catch up" in fast forward (except for hair growth!). She's become much more active and repeats everything. Just this week she's been saying "meow," "kitty," & "puppy." And what a comedian she is! She'll be singing the "mama song." You know, "mama, mama, mama..." When I ask her to say "mama," she smiles and says, "dada." Great! A thirteen month old with a sense of humor lol

My favorite of her "new tricks" is throwing kisses. She's also learned that if she throws kisses at bed time, mama will giggle, take pictures, and throw kisses back instead of allowing her to settle down to sleep! And with the kisses comes, "Nigh night." awwwwwwww

The two portrait pictures above were taken in April. I just finally got the disk. It was so easy getting her to smile.

She enjoyed the parade in Red Wing last weekend. She was clapping when the Veterans drove by and dancing when the band passed. Since she's so much more mobile and active, she does not like to sit still but did pretty good.

Keep checking back! Derrinda