A Day (or two) in Our Lives

She swears she isn't tired...I turn around and she is sound asleep on the rug!

A few minutes later, the dog joined naptime. Ahhh..peace and quiet.

Our two cats, Bob (on top) and Puma, both girls, both fighting over the same seat. Bob always wins, even though she weighs 5 lbs. less. She just lays on top of Puma until Puma gives in.

Emily and her buddy, Bella.

Em sporting her overalls and pigtails.

Not Sleepy?

What does a 3-year-old do when she doesn't want to sleep at night?

Of course, what else but climb up the dresser drawers, into the highest, smallest drawer, wedge yourself in and then cry because it's not "comforble"!

Mom and Dad were not happy campers...but we had to take the pictures! (And for all those worried about the dresser tipping over....don't, we've got it taken care of, and are now monitoring her bedroom via video monitor.)

Maternity Leave from High School

According to a Fox News report, some pregnant Denver high school students are requesting at least 4 weeks unpunished maternity leave from high school. Currently, school policy is to require the girls to return to school the day after they are discharged from the hospital or face unexcused absences until they do return. The teenage mothers-to-be believe that this policy is unfair to them and interferes with their bonding time with the new baby.

How incredibly sad.

I feel very sad for the new babies, many of whose mothers will be more concerned with whether they will be able to fit into their prom dress or stay out all night at a party than concerned about the well-being of their child. I feel sad for the child that will most likely struggle all his life with a single mom whose education didn't come first and is now forced (if the child is lucky) to work very hard all the time to make a decent living. I feel sorry for the young mothers who (if the child is lucky) will have to spend the rest of her life working a boring, unfulfilling difficult job just to survive each day with her completely dependent child. I feel sorry for the high school counselors who are recomending the "high school maternity leave" who truly care about the young mothers and wrongly believe that this is the best policy.

How very, very sad.

Christmas 2007 Photo Essay

I don't know why the pictures ended up like this, but I'll work with it.

Emily had a great Christmas with Grammy, Pop-pop and Aunt Kathy in Delaware (where it was aroun 40-50 degrees the whole time!). Above are a few of my favorite "Emmy" pictures from Christmas day.

Most of her gifts revolved around the Disney princess theme. All the pictures show her wearing her Princess "bess" aka "dress". It's really a nightgown, but the two are inseperable. Literally. She wants to wear it all day and night. Getting her out of it is a battle. She did get a new princess dress, but it's still a little big right now. Her favorite Christmas morning gift was the Cinderella snow globe from Aunt Kathy. Emily has insisted on seeing these snow globes in Walmart, Target, Meijer and Sears since the time they came out in November. She was thrilled to have one of her own.

All in all, it was a good Christmas. Of course, it's not over yet. This weekend we will celebrate with Andrew's side of the family. This child will think Christmas never ends!

New Year's Photo Essay

Bella loves the snow. She loves sticking her nose in it and then romping through it.

The view of the deck on New Years' day.

The trees covered in snow. Lots of snow.

The view from the deck today. 16 inches of snow. 26 inch drifts. Too much snow. (Ignore my reflection in the glass. It's too cold to open the door!)

The view from the front door. Pretty, but enough already!

Think I Fixed the Problem

For some reason changing the template and going back and setting everything back up again seemed to fix the problem. I can't get the font I want without having the same issue though, so I guess this will have to do for now. Still, I think the new look is nicer.

Trouble With Blogger

Well, it appears that I'm smart enough to change the template and colors and page elements of my blog, but somewhere in the process I've managed to do something wrong. I can see that there is one comment on my newest post, but I cannot open it, no matter what I try. I also cannot access any links on my blog. So, if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Until then....I'll keep trying when I can.