Another Birthday....Matt is 17.

Happy Birthday Matt!

It's hard to believe that he's 17...where has all the time gone? We went out for dinner for his favorite food...Italian, but I failed to get many photos. The kids have all been up since 6-6:30 and were all exhausted. They barely made it through our 7pm dinner reservation (we had to go out after swim team practice). In fact, they all came home and wanted to save the rest of the celebration, including cake, ice cream and presents, until another day. Go figure! We'll have to try again tomorrow.

Sunshine!

Hannah has decided on a name for her puppy. She came into my room with him bright and early the other morning and said, "Mom, I want to name him Sunshine." "He rises with the sun, he keeps me warm (lying in her lap all the time) and he brightens my day." So, there you have it. Sunshine (Sunny, for short) it is.

She just used her new Fancy Nancy posh writing set to write her first poem in his honor.

SUNSHINE
My puppy is sweet.
He nibbles my feet.
He likes to take walks
in the middle of the street.

Hannah wants to show her dog and the breeder
is willing to help us...she's very nice and is teaching us a lot.
There is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club show coming up in the spring.
The breeder said she could help us show him or she would handle him for us
if we wanted. Hannah is out of her mind with excitement and now wants to save up
her money to buy a female pup so that eventually she can breed them. I don't
know how far we would go with all of this, but for now she is really enjoying this puppy and this seems like a pretty wholesome activity. This puppy has been a wonderful thing for her. They adore each other!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Hannah, 11.5 months, Guangzhou medical exam



Hannah, age 2, with Christopher and Matt



Hannah at age 3



Hannah at 4 with Emma



Hannah's 5th birthday party





Hannah, today...6 years old, at her Fancy Nancy Birthday Party. She and her friends had such a great time at the party. I'm still cleaning up. Feathers from the boas are everywhere. I'll post more photos later.

Our 21st Wedding Anniversary

Matthew was kind enough to help and scan some photos in for me (Thanks Matt!). I wasn't able to find a proof of my favorite photo, which I have hanging on the wall in a size too large to scan. Anyway, I included a photo of our two "witnesses", my friend, Karen, and my brother, Chris along with our wonderful waitress, Ann Stanley, who we used to go back and visit every year. Chris was sweet and made the day even more special by taking care of some of the small details including decorating the car with "Just Eloped" signs.

Twenty one years ago today, Pete and I were married in front of the fireplace of the Ford Room of Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts. In fact, we did so on the sly...we eloped. We were engaged and the wedding was planned for the following summer, but we decided that a big wedding wasn't for us. We had just purchased our first home, an older 4 bedroom place that needed to be completely renovated. It seemed crazy to waste money on a big formal wedding when all we really wanted was to be together.

We had planned on having the justice of the peace come to our new home to marry us but our renovations were way behind schedule and our home was a mess of crumbling horsehair plaster and dust. It was very last minute that we changed the venue and I was lucky to have found such a charming location to exchange vows. No one knew except for our two witnesses and our two mothers who were sworn to secrecy. We cleared it with them a week or two beforehand to be sure neither were going to have a real issue with it and, as far as we can tell, they never spilled the beans. Pete's only request for the elopement was that we "dress up" and have a photographer present to record the day. He wanted photos to hang in his hallway.

I never intended to elope in a full length wedding gown, but a few weeks before we got married, we were stuck in traffic on Newbury Street in Boston. While we were sitting there, I looked up and spotted what I thought was the most gorgeous wedding gown in the front window of one of the boutiques. I jumped out of the car and ran up the stairs into the shop. It was a tiny place, about the size of a small living room. Inside I found the owner, Violetta, accompanied by two of her friends helping other customers. Some women were busy around a small rack last season's gowns that said "1/2 price", but I headed to the dress in the window. I asked Violetta if I could try on the gown, but she told me it wasn't on sale. I told her that it was okay, I just want to see it...to try it on. She took it down and led me to a dressing room.

All of the gowns in this shop were hand-made by Violetta and they were all gorgeous. I felt like a princess when I stepped out of the dressing room. Violetta and her friends all rushed over to see me in her creation. They were a funny trio. They couldn't stop talking and fussing over the gown as they zipped me up and adjusted the train. The gown did fit me like it had been made especially for me and Violetta was so pleased that she announced, in her thick Russian accent, that she wanted me to have it...and that she would sell it me for half price even though it was one of her newest gowns. It was crazy and I got swept away in their excitement. Still wearing the gown, I stepped out onto the stoop. Pete, who was waiting in the traffic below could see me and with a smile and a wave, he yelled "BUY IT!" I did.

So that is what I wore in front of the fire in that small colonial dining room 21 years ago. After we were married we had lunch with our two witnesses and we even asked the photographer and JP to join us. I think the total bill for lunch for the six of us, including the cake and the rental of the private dining room, came to about $90 dollars. No one would ever know from the wedding photos that we didn't have 200 guests. It was such a romantic, amazing day. We left the next morning for a honeymoon in the mountains where we skiied and watched the '88 winter olympics at the Inn's bar. We mailed our wedding announcements from the Jackson, New Hampshire post office and had fun hearing people's reactions to our "secret wedding" when we returned.

Marrying Pete is far and away the best decision I've every made. Marriage is a gamble and I got lucky. Twenty one years and five kids later, we are even more in love and happier than when we were just beginning. Thanks Pete...I love you!

I wanted to post some photos but haven't had a chance to scan them in yet...maybe tomorrow. I worked for 12 hours today on a paper due in the morning and didn't even have time to sit down and have dinner together anyone. I have school all day tomorrow, Matt's birthday party here tomorrow night and Hannah's birthday party here on Sunday. Pete bought me a card with a beautiful note, a bouquet of rose and a pair of gorgeous earrings. I sent him a 99 cent e-card from Hallmark.com. The roles were reversed this year as I'm usually the one to fuss over special days, but I simply have too much going on. Plus, I'm just doing my part in allowing him the opportunity to even the score ;^) We had two great nights out last weekend and hope to get out again to celebrate some more next weekend.

Puppy Love

Hannah is so in love with her new puppy. The reason I was so motivated to add another dog to the family was primarily for therapeutic reasons. I've been thinking of ways to provide Hannah with some healthy ways to deal with some of her loss/trauma and figured that the unconditional companionship offered by a dog of her OWN might be very healing. Relationships with animals often have few of the downsides that relationships with parents, siblings and friends have...no one to get angry with you, make you do your chores, or simply not have time to play with you. Dogs don't make many demands, they never call you names, talk back, or fight with you. They just want to be loved and gives lots of love back in return. It's about as unconditional a relationship as you can find. Hannah has lots of energy and likes to "run the show" so I thought having a dog to "control", train, etc. might give her a good outlet for all that energy. It was a bit of a risk and I was uncertain how it would work out but I can already see a huge difference in Hannah...and it is all wonderful. She's happier, calmer and sleeping better. Her mood is happier and more even and she has been telling us all how much she loves her family. I think she truly appreciates that we were willing to do this for her...I think she realizes how special this is (and how lucky she is to have this little guy...not all of her friends who'd love a dog get to have them). I think it has only built her security and trust and her knowledge (on some level) that we will go the distance for her to meet her needs. He keeps her busy, focused and occupied (she usually asks for a friend the moment she gets off the school bus and doesn't stop until someone comes over...now she has a built-in friend to play with when no one else is around). I actually cannot believe how great this doggy has been for her already and am so glad I did the research, found a great, calm breed and followed through.

Valentine's Day Weekend

We had a great weekend. The best part was that Emma was finally feeling better. Her pneumonia is gone and, though she is still very tired, she is healthy and happy again!


Pete and I actually got to go out for two "dates" this weekend. I remember going 5 years without a real date night so this set a new record for us.



On Friday night we went to an opera at Harvard. It was the Dunster House Opera's production of Igor Stravinsky's A Rake's Progress. Hillary played in the orchestra and several of her "old" music friends, who are now at Harvard, were part of the production including Yuga, who was the music director, and Eva, cast as Anne Trulove. We've known Eva since she was about 11. She was an amazing violinist,even as a young child, but I never knew what an incredible voice she had..beautiful! There is something very inspiring about seeing young people perform and they really outdid themselves! A few of our friends (the parents of some of these kids) were in the audience so it was fun to see them, too. Hillary, who had been sick most of the fall, looked so healthy and happy. She beamed! We had almost missed this production because of illness but I'm so glad that we didn't. It was a wonderful evening and I'm so glad we didn't miss it.





On Saturday night Pete and I went to see the Boston Ballet. They performed a modern ballet called Black & White. It was a stunning mix of athleticism and art. It was both serious and haunting but at other times very funny. Overall, it was a fun ballet and a great way to spend Valentine's Day.





On Sunday, we celebrated Valentine's Day (it was the only day that all the kids, except Hillary, were around for dinner). We decorated the dining room with hand-made decorations the girls had made, made heart shaped cakes, ate our traditional spaghetti dinner (it's red) with salad and garlic bread, opened presents and candy bags. It's always a special, fun time to spend together.

Other than that, we watched movies, played some games and took lots of walks together with all three dogs (who are all getting along very well). It was just the nicest weekend!

Hannah's First School Dance

We never had school dances in elementary school when I was a kid, but Hannah just attended the "Friendship Dance" at her school. Her elementary school is just K-2 and the kids had lots of fun doing dances like the limbo and the locomotion..all very age appropriate. She was there with her best friend and got to dance (or chase after) her "boyfriend" who she has been talking about since the first day of school (oh no!). Up until a few days ago, she had planned on marrying him but then we invited him over for a play date and found out that he doesn't like dogs. What? Hannah was shocked and confused. "How does anyone not like dogs, Mom?" She has decided that she will keep her search going for the perfect boyfriend (is there such a thing??). I'm so relieved. I was getting pretty tired of all the "love" talk. Must be the "Disney" influence because I can't think why else little kids think about this stuff except from watching Hannah Montana, etc. I'm not a commercial TV fan and this completely reaffirms my support for public television!



Ready to go. She looks like Alice in Wonderland to me.



With Cookie, the school mascot







With the "boy"



With best friend, Jessie

Introducing......

....well, he doesn't have a name yet but this is the photo of Hannah arriving home with her new Cavalier King Charles Spaniel on Sunday night. Pete, Christopher and Hannah traveled (all day!) to Vermont to pick him up at the breeder's. I wasn't able to go because I was at home with Emma who was too sick to travel. Hannah was so excited and proud when she showed him to us for the first time. They are the perfect match and I cannot imagine a better companion for her. He is the sweetest, most attentive little dog. They adore each other. Now, we just need some help in choosing a name (we were all set with a girl puppy name but she fell in love with the boy puppy instead). Please send some suggestions!!!! I'll let you know which names are in the running once I get a list going.

Not much better

Emma had a tough night (me too!). She was up so many times last night crying and complaining....her back hurt, her tummy hurt, her cough hurt. She was so uncomfortable. She woke this morning with a 102.2 fever even though she finished her antibiotics last night. We are headed back into the pediatrician's office in a few hours.

It's been so busy I haven't had time to post anything about our new family member. It's not what you think...this one is four legged :). I will say that Hannah is head over heels in love and that's just what we hoped for. More later!

I think Emma is a little better today

After 4 days of coughing and fevers in the 104-105 range, Emma seems a bit better today. She's still having coughing fits....those are the worst part. They really frighten her as she is choking and the fear is apparent in her eyes. The only problem is that stress and crying bring a fit on and the nebulizer actually scares her so much that rather than being therapeutic, she gets so worked up just seeing the box that she winds up in a coughing/vomiting fit. I also wonder if the medicine itself is causing a coughing fit (is it the chicken or the egg...while doing a treatment her coughing got worse and she was really choking so I wonder if the medicine itself is irritating or is it the stress???) Any advice? I've already called for the meds in a suspension rather than in the nebulizer, but haven't heard back so I don't know if that is a good option or appropriate. Pneumonia is no fun and the nurse told me yesterday that some kids are getting 5-6 rounds of antibiotics before clearing the infection and many are ending up in the hospital. I'm hoping that isn't the case here. So far today, she's eating a tiny bit today and her fever is low-grade. I'm waiting to see if it climbs as the day goes on.

Emma has pneumonia

Sweet Emma has had a rough winter. Last week she started her fifth cold of the season. She had cough and fever. I took her to the pediatrician and her lungs sounded clear. After a couple days of being sick, the cough remained but the fever went away for five days. Other than the cough, she seemed so much better, was eating and running around like normal but she then woke with a very high fever on yesterday and was complaining that her back really hurt (near her kidneys). We took her in to see the doctor and he said her lungs sounded awful. We also spent most of the day trying to get a urine sample (not easy with a sick, lethargic, miserable kid who didn't even want to eat or drink a thing). Her fever was still up over 105 last night, but she woke happier this morning. Hopefully the antibiotics are kicking in. She hasn't slept well this past week due to the cough but she actually slept several hours in a row last night. Her breathing is so much quieter that when I woke this morning I couldn't even hear her breathing and got scared for a moment. I had to reach over and touch her to feel her chest moving and was relieved that it was!!! She's still coughing a lot but she wanted to get right out of bed and asked to get dressed. She is now smiling and talking with Hannah. I think it will be a better day than yesterday was. It's great to see her smile again after all the discomfort she had been in. She tried to be so good for the doctor yesterday, but she could barely lift her head. I'm so thankful that she is feeling a bit better today!