Daily Dose of Cuteness

This is a shortie, due to AdventureBaby having a mysterious case of fever-causing yuckiness of unknown origins, but I had to share my daily dose of AdventureGirl original cuteness. She was singing "Row Row Row Your Boat" to herself in the living room. I listened more closely to the words, and this is what she was saying; "Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily merrily Like a Spider Dream". Awwww. She also sings "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to all of the spiders she finds in the garden, which keeps her pretty busy. I love my little girl!!!

Birthday

Well, it has happened, AdventureGirl has turned 3 years old! She is such a "big kid" these days, constantly saying and doing things that keep us in stitches, and of course testing the boundaries as often as she can. We had a quiet family celebration, partly due to the fact that AdventureDad had to work that day, and also because we just haven't met many families with kids her age. So, the traditional (as long as I'm choosing!) carrot cake was followed by a few presents (all puzzles, as it turns out), and the grand finale, which was a swing-set, suffered a weather delay.
In other news, AdventureNana made it through all of her surgeries with her customary toughness, and is now busy recovering and trying not to suffer too much from the boredom.
We had our first hummingbird at the feeder yesterday, and we also had to mow the lawn, so I guess spring is officially here, although it is still frosting too hard at night to plant much.
I'll keep this one short and sweet... enjoy the pics!

Crazy Week

What a lot of misadventures the AdventureFamily has has this week! The good news first, AdventureNana was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and she made it through surgery quite well, although post-op drug reactions made recovery pretty miserable. The excellent news is that her lymph nodes were clean, so no chemo at this point, although some missed cells mean another surgery and of course radiation. The entire Adventure Family is sending her supportive thoughts and wishing we could be there. In addition to her cancer, she is also facing a major surgery on her neck during which several fractured vertebrae are being removed and replaced with titanium and synthetic bone... actually much scarier than the cancer at this point, and a heck of a double-whammy for one person to make it through. Please keep her in your prayers. We love you AdventureNana!!!
On to the other misadventures; earlier this week, we noticed that the AdventureTruck was acting a bit strange... rough on the startup and sluggish to respond. Fearing that something was seriously wrong, we took it to the dealer, only to find out that our troubles were due to the fact that there was pure ethanol in the gas tank (of a non-flex-fuel truck). The truck was not happy, but thankfully we acted quickly enough that no permanent damage was done. The "funny" part is that of course we know it is not a flex-fuel vehicle, and of course I did not put ethanol into it. What I did do is fuel up on post, twice, from the 87 octane pump. Of course we're calling the shoppette!
Next on the list was an interesting call from Yuma Arizona that someone was attempting to cash a $2500 check that I had written them. NOT! Thankfully a sharp-eyed teller thought it was fishy that this individual had credit card checks to cash from 3 different people. Now we know what happened to our stolen mail! (Of course we had no idea that the credit card company had sent us those darn balance-transfer checks, but we did notice a shipment of garden seeds that never arrived, as well as some tax forms, not to mention that opened mail from several other addresses had been shoved into our box, so we figured something was up.) This was the first time I have ever filed a police report. Now being a first-hand victim I can tell you identity theft is no joke, and we are so thankful to that teller and the quick actions taken by the bank and credit-card fraud investigators. It is a minor pain to cancel cards and put fraud alerts on our credit, but it would have been a major headache to try to undo the theft if it had occurred.
Last on the list was a day at the hospital with AdventureGirl following a rapid deterioration after a sore throat and cold. She is hopefully on the mend now, and she avoided hospital admission by being a super-star at the Dr's office and sitting through a nebulizer treatment there, so now she is home and an asthmatic. (She fits right into the AdventureFamily in that regard!). We don't know yet whether this is a long-term condition or a transient inflammation, but either way she's pretty pathetic at the moment.
Luckily we have made it through this week in one piece and ready to move on, and in the grand scheme of things it could have been so much worse. We just can't wait to report on some more enjoyable adventures in the near future!

More Pics

AdventureDad took some adorable pictures today, and I just had to share a selection.
In other news, we are quickly falling in love with Dora, who has continued to shine. She got very ill a day or two after arrival... a kennel cough infection that took some time to develop. Non-stop coughing and huge boogies in her nose (and sneezed all over the house, and coughed back up onto the rug), diarrhea, and no appetite (she went from emaciated to skeletal, poor thing), but she is definitely on the mend now, gaining weight, only occasional sneezing, and playing constantly with AdventureDog Sr, which is a heart-warming sight.
AdventureBaby had her 4 month checkup, and is doing very well. We seem to be through the worst of the colic and reflux, and she charms us every day with her constant babble and wiggles, although she is suddenly drooling like crazy (teeth perhaps?), and is working on her best attention-getting screeches.
As for me, I re-discovered a new favorite smell today... sun-warmed baby. The AdventureFamily took advantage of the 4th sunny day in a row (yes, amazing I know, but we do indeed still live in the Pacific NW), and while AdventureGirl picked dandelions in the lawn, I read a good book with AdventureBaby snuggling in my lap while AdventureDad drew out ideas for our someday house (and took pics). What a feeling of well-being!
After this blissful start to the day, AdventureDad and I went for a great 6-mile run, which was strangely relaxing, and a personal distance record, which was incredibly satisfying.
What a great day!

Valentines Day Surprise

A quick update after a fabulous Valentine weekend. To start with the biggest news first, AdventureBaby rolled over for the first time on Valentine's Day, and followed that feat with a back-to-front roll the very next day. Go kiddo Go! AdventureDad and I then went for a 5-mile run (my longest so far in this build-up) that felt great, followed by a very nice seafood dinner while the junior members of the family stayed with "Grandma Honey". All in all a nice evening, and we were out until almost 10 all by ourselves!!!
The next day we loaded up the kids and went up to Rainier for a wonderful ski with the chariot. It was a gorgeous day; the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the snow was white, and the scenery was of course breath-taking.
It's back to life as usual for us now, but it was sure nice to recharge our batteries over such a great weekend.

Meet Dora and Pictoral Update

Life in the Adventure household just keeps ticking along. I can't believe that tomorrow is the beginning of February, or that AdventureBaby is approaching 4 months old, or that AdventureGirl is approaching 3 years old. I have a feeling of awe when I compare the two, which really emphasizes how much a kid changes in the first few years of life, and how much there is for a little one to learn. It is wonderful to watch AdventureGirl grow into her role of big sister. Although she still suffers bouts of severe jealousy, in general she really seems to delight in her little sister, and it melts my heart every time she makes up a little song, or brings her a toy.
On to the new member of the family. Theoretically named after Isadora Duncan, although rapidly truncated to Dora by our intrepid soon-to-be-3-year-old, she is a mostly white husky/border collie cross that we acquired at the local pound. For those who have the ability to compare, she stands just an inch or two shorter than Casper, and weighs about 20 lbs less (although when she weighs what she should, she will be about 12 lbs less). She was a stray that they could tell us little about, and we mostly just adopted her because I liked her (and AdventureDad approved), and at the end of her second day here, it's "so far so good". She is an angel with M, and seems to seek her out for excitement. She's interested in the cats, but has been put in her place fairly quickly, and Casper is tolerating her for the moment. There of course have been a few little scuffles as the two AdventureDogs figure out their places in the pack, but nothing serious, and when I get them outside they have shown signs of becoming the playmates/friends we are hoping for. It appears that we also struck the jackpot and adopted an already house-trained dog, and she is so quick to learn that she already comes when called and sits on command. She is very light on her feet and attentive thanks to the herding dog in her, and very fuzzy thanks to the husky, and is quickly weaseling her way into our hearts. Now if AdventureDad's allergies adjust, we'll have it made.
The rest of the pics in the show are just cute. O's blue suit is a set of wicking underwear she got for Christmas. Yes, baby wicking underwear courtesy of her Nana. You may laugh, but a happier more comfortable baby you never saw, especially when we're out playing in the snow. The only down side is that she's also slippery!

The Best of Christmas

There is so much that I could post about Christmas and New Year's that I am a bit overwhelmed, so I'm keeping it short and sweet. We had a quiet Duncan family Christmas in WA with just AdventureDad, myself, and the two girls, as well as "Grandma Honey". It was wonderful and cozy. A few days later we drove to MT to visit my parents and to celebrate my mom's birthday with her on New Year's Eve. We also stopped to see AdventureDad's sister and her family, as well as some extended family on the way home. During our stay we got in some snowshoeing and skiing with the kids in tow (literally!) and had a grand time. We are looking forward to 2010 as AdventureDad's final year in his program, and the year when we find out where we will be heading next. Happy New Year to all, and may it be a year of peace and happiness!