The cutest Lion around.

Oh my goodness, this little girl is just too cute. She was sooo excited to be a lion, she was strutting around while we were uptown and waving at everyone like she was the queen. She grabbed hold of her tail and swung it around - which she thought was incredibly funny so she would swing it and crumple on the floor in the bank in a fit of giggles.

Nyla's grooming buddy. Molson didn't want to let Nyla go uptown with her fur out of control... (yes Molson is Darryl's cat from his bachelor days... who but a bachelor would name a cat Molson??)

So incredibly proud of herself :)


Just Cuteness.

Just before her nap, getting upset because she wanted to see her picture on the digital camera but have her picture taken at the same time.

And MELTDOWN!

We didn't go trick or treating but we had a pretty great day.

Nyla has been so much fun lately. She's full of kisses and cuddles and makes up silly games. She loves books and being outside. She still looooves stew... I wish I could say everyone else was as excited about it :) Now we're experimenting with every kind of stew under the sun.

She's eating well, sleeping pretty well, learning new words everyday (her latest word is 'cool'). She loves to play bongos on her tummy, and when we're trying to get her to sleep its not unusual to find that she has 'jerseyed' herself so the bongo playing can be louder. She goes craaazy for dogs and ducks... she's just an all around amazingly cool kid.

I'll update on everything else another day.

Nyla's update

Just a quick one since it's early and my brain is still asleep...
Nyla is doing so well. She was pretty overwhelmed with all the activity and visitors last week. She decided that since people were always here it meant that she should be able to party all night... this kid can go for DAYS without sleep. She's back to her normal sleeping schedule now, which is very good news for Darryl and I.
She is no longer a crawler. She decided one day that the crawl/walk combo was trash and is now officially a walker/runner. Poor thing, her upper body gets a bit carried away when she runs... but she's determined :)
AND the best news of all for right now, she has FINALLY discovered food. We've been trying to get her to eat anything/everything for ages, then one day she decided that she wanted to try some stew that I had made... she gobbled up my bowl, then had more. She usually hates lumps or anything with any texture but she's pretty excited about carrot and potato lumps. So, I've been making pot after pot of stew since its now the only thing she'll eat. I can't give it to her fast enough by spoon so she drinks it out of a cup :) Funny girl.
She's talking a lot more and understanding soooo much. It's nice to be able to ask her questions and get answers. It makes life sooo much easier. I'm thinking about starting potty training soon... she asks for her bum to be changed, so I think if she's aware of a dirty diaper she might be ready. We won't be hardcore about it...
Anyway, as we speak she's saying 'poop, peeeeew stinky. Bum bum bum', so I'm off to change a diaper. I'll post pics soon (not of the diaper, don't worry).

Well, it's been one hell of a week. Things are scary and hard and I'm fighting my usual urge to run as fast and as far away as I can...
I won't get into too much detail, but I spent the last week in a blur of a sewage soaked basement (my Dad's), dealing with insurance dudes, visiting my Dad the ICU about a zillion times a day in order to make decisions regarding his health and future, and then trying not to freak out about a scary bomb dropped in my own house.
I feel weird. I'm not organized in any sense of the word and I'm quickly learning that organization is now going to be my 'friend' while I try to keep everyone's lives in order.
I don't like being the one people look to for an answer... what the hell do I know?

But, we're getting through it one day at a time. Eventually this will be the new 'normal' in my life. I will make decisions for my family and for my Dad and not even feel strange about it. I'm sure I'll learn a whole heck of a lot that will make me better than I am.
There's a quote I love... it doesn't make sense to a lot of people, I guess its one of those ones you have to live to understand...

Rainer Maria Rilke:
Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.

Letters to a Young Poet

So, things are getting solved and I'm breathing again. AND I'm not breathing sewage fumes, so that's a bonus :)

Anyway, I know a lot of this doesn't make sense. I think there's only one person on this planet who understands my mixed up brain in regards to what I have to do... I wish I could trade a kidney to go back in time and be able to hash it out with them. Booo on growing up and screwing up :)

PS, no I'm not drunk, I'm just scattered and I promised some family that I'd post an update... if you can call this an update...

Greatness

I found these by accident today and thought I'd share since they're so funny.
I miss Ireland...





This one is Australian, but probably one of the best beer commercials I have ever seen. He's my hero...