Bath time!

Unfortunately my camera didn't co-operate while we were in Ottawa so I don't have any pictures of all the munchkins together to post. I can tell you that the trip to Ottawa was a huge success. Reese was great on the plane and was in great spirits the whole time we were there. She was very taken with her older cousins and was exhausted everyday just watching them. A 3 yr old and a 16 month old, both boys.....bless your heart Shan, now I understand just how busy you are! Reese was also quite taken with their dog, Rudy. I've never seen her laugh the way she did when Rudy was howling. It was very cute and only makes me want another dog even more. Shannon and I did lots of shopiing, mostly for the kids.....I guess that's how it works now. And we even had some birthday dinner, cake and wine as it was Shan's birthday on Friday. CLearly a successful week!

I thought I'd add a few pictures of Reese. Everyone says how much her looks are changing and even I noticed it in these pictures. Not so much in this bath picture, I just thought this one was plain old cute:




But here you can see how fair she seems to becoming, and her hair is growing like crazy.




And now she likes to stand up to play with her piano. Mom still standsby for support, but she can hold herself up and play for a bit now.

My Little Valentine

I just wanted to post a picture of Reese from Valentine's day.....isn't it adorable? Shannon sent this little top down to her for her trip to Florida and I thought it would be perfect for Valentines day since we didn't have a *Valentine's day outfit* (as most of her friends at her play group did!) She looked gorgeous and we had lots of compliments on it. Reese, on the other hand, was only interested in sucking on the cherries and bow on the chest. So thanks a million Auntie Shannon!





Speaking of Shan, we're heading to Ottawa for a visit with she and the boys tomorrow. It'll be the first time I fly with Reese and I'm going without Mark to boot. Should be an adventure. I'm really looking forward to it though since I haven't seen them since the summer. I hope to have lots of picture of all the kids to post when we return. Until then......

On a Happier Note

Here it is....the new abode! We don't move until May which gives us lots of time to get organized and all packed up and ready to go. It's not a long move for us, it's just a few streets away in the same subdivision we're currently in. Anyway, we're really looking forward to it!

And we're excited to say that Reese is sitting up on her own now.......when she feels like it. She was doing so well sitting by herself 2 days last week, and then the next 2 days she would just do the "stiff as a board" thing and flop onto her back. She's a stubborn thing! Here she is sitting up like a big girl!














We also had our first overnight away from Reese last night and it went extremely well! She stayed with Mark's parents while Mark and I headed to Fredericton for the night. We enjoyed a relaxing dinner and drinks with friends while Reese was apparently on her very best behaviour for her Nana and Papa.

Oh and by the way, the second tooth has finally cut through! I'm trying to get a picture of the new toothy grin, but do you suppose Reese will co-operate? We'll post one when we get one!

A Tribute to Cash

Well it's still shocking to say it, but Mark and I had to have our dog Cash put down this weekend. He was 9 years old and lived a very happy and healthy life until this weekend. He began having seizures on Friday night, they continued thru Saturday morning, and he lost his sight by mid-morning. The vet felt he had a mass in his brain and given the circumstances, Mark and I made the most difficult decision of our lives, to have him put down. Undoubtedly it was the right decision, but still difficult and heart-wrenching.

Cash truely was an amazing dog. We "adopted" Cash when he was 4 years old. He was a hunting/field trial dog who needed a home and he was exactly what we were looking for. When we brought him home, we had to push him up the stairs in our house because until then he'd been a kennel dog and had never been in a home and was unclear about what to do with stairs. After a week or so at our house I think he thought he'd died and gone to heaven. He immediately became a member of our family.....yes, to the point where he was extremely spoiled. The happy memories we have of him are endless. I can't begin to describe the joy he brought to our lives.

Mark and Cash shared a very special bond. Mark hunted with Cash and this was absolutley Cash's favorite thing to do. And from what I understand, he was quite the bird dog. According to Mark, his last hunt this year was probably his best ever. And those two walked the neighborhood daily. I'm sure there were people on our block who could set their clocks by Mark and Cash coming around the corner at 7:30am. Needless to say, he'll be sadly missed by the neighborhood dogs!

Cash's favorite place very quickly became our cottage. Even though we've only owned it for a short period of time, Cash was so happy, relaxed and "at home" there. He loved to be able to wander at his leisure and couldn't wait to get down over the hill to bound into the water. We can't even imagine going there without him, so we've made the decision to spread his ashes there.

Anyway, I hate to go on and on......any of you "dog people" understand I'm sure. Mark put together this slide show.....Enjoy.