St. Baldrick's Day

There is not a person around who has not been touched by the devastation of cancer. Our family is no exception. Andre is a two time testicular cancer survivor.

We can all think about our lives and imagine if some key moment had gone drastically different and how that could have changed everything. It is so easy to take for granted that Andre survived cancer both times. That he had good doctors and good treatment. That he is healthy and we have beautiful children now. It is simply unimaginable that it could have gone any other way and yet I know that everyday someone loses someone they love to this horrible disease. In fact, we lost my uncle to cancer just this year. Cancer is something that we must continue to fight, to find new treatment, and improved methods for early detection.

Andre in 2003
So to help fight this terrible disease Andre is participating in St. Baldrick's Day and raising funds to help fight cancer in children. Children at Dell Children's Hospital undergoing chemotherapy will help shave the participants heads and share their stories on March 21st.

Andre hopes to raise $1000 for this cause, every little bit gets him closer to his goal. If you would like to donate to the cause you can go to his website at: http://bit.ly/BaldAndre or click here Bald Andre All proceeds are tax deductible and go directly to the foundation.

Happy Birthday Dad

Andre, the girls and I went to visit my dad to celebrate his 74th birthday. To celebrate we went to dinner with Uncle Ray and Aunt Donna. They are relatives by marriage--the marriage ended years ago, but the inlaws remained and they are truly wonderful people.

My dad is doing really well. He's a young 74, which surprises me considering the crazy life he's had.

Its been a joy getting to know my parents as an adult. To begin to see them as their friends must see them. I find that I have a new appreciation and a new love for them both. I like talking to them about their lives and hearing the real story--not the phoney baloney stuff you tell your kids when they're little so that they have a good example--but the real stories, the stories that make them interesting, complex, fallable and human.

My dad really has some great stories too. And he never tries to cover up his mistakes or make himself out to be the good guy if he wasn't. And his stories are funny too. Like when he used to drive an ambulance back in the day when ambulances were owned by private funeral homes and the ambulance drivers would fist fight over who got to take the patient, or they would drive a "not yet dead" old person around the block a few times because they'd get paid more by the funeral home than the hospital--that sort of thing.

He's lived a hundred lives in one, been married to four women, had many girlfriends, many careers and traveled all over. He's one of the few people I know who can make friends with anyone and treats them all with genuine kindness--sometimes to a fault.

Anyhow, this time I asked him about his favorite car. He said it was a 1956 Ford Skyliner that he bought in 1956. It was two tone blue. This is a picture of one, but not his--he totaled his "doing something stupid," he said. When he talks about that car you can still see his eyes light up. I wish I could see him as he was then. I'm sure he gave (his mother) poor old Juanita a terrible time.

Emma, Alan and Maisie

Its funny the places that life takes you and the people you meet along the way. I spent a year in England on a study abroad program while I was in college--or "uni" as they would say. I met some of the most amazing, wonderful people and I've been lucky to stay in touch with so many of them.

Well, as luck would have it, one of my very good friends, Emma, married a man from Texas. Isn't that crazy? I mean, sure its a big state, but I never imagined that she'd have ties here. They may even move back one day! He's really awesome too and absolutely perfect for Emma.

Anyhow, they visit family and friends from time to time so we got to meet up with them. They just had a baby girl who is only a few months younger than our girls. Her name is Maisie and she's beautiful. She has the clearest blue eyes and porcelain skin. She's just a doll. It was so nice to catch up with our friends and always feels like no time has passed between us.

Girls First Visit to the Zoo

We took the girls to the zoo. Its a small zoo that's actually an animal sanctuary for animals that were confiscated or retired. They have a few lions and tigers, some other big cats, several monkeys, birds, and lots of goats.

The cool thing is that on each animals cage or fence there is a sign that not only says what kind of animal it is, but also where it came from. One of the big cats was confiscated from a drug dealer, another one was kept as a junkyard guard animal. Its crazy and cruel. The zoo said on their website that they get an average of 200 calls a month asking them to take in new animals.

Of course the girls favorite animals were in the petting zoo area. You can buy food pellets to feed the goats and sheep. Rowan and Evey both laughed when they got to touch a furry goat. It was really cute.

Phoenix Award

Last Saturday, the girls and I went to see their dad honored for saving someone's life. Not too many people can say they've saved someone's life. This was Andre's third time to receive the award. They are all for people who were saved using a defibrillator.

Andre played with the bagpipe band at the ceremony as well.

Happy Valentine's Day

Rowan and Evelyn On The Go from Leigh on Vimeo.

The Girls at 10 months

Well, they'll be 10mths on the 10th, but we went ahead and took their pictures.

Pediatrician Wellness Checkups

The girls had doctor visits today. Rowan weighs 18 pounds 12 ounces and is in the 50% for weight. Evelyn weighs 16.12 ounces and is in the 25% for weight. Rowan is 28 1/4 inches tall (75%) and Evelyn is 27 inches tall (25%).

The doctor said that both girls look to be doing really well. They are growing on schedule and developmentally they are doing well.

They both got a polio vaccine and didn't even flinch. We're following Dr. Sears vaccine schedule so this is their first polio shot.

Playing Hookie

I had court yesterday morning and took the rest of the day off to spend with Andre and the girls at the park. They are growing and changing too fast not to play hookie when the opportunity presents itself. The weather was so beautiful its hard to imagine its winter.

We took the girls to see the ducks, geese and swans first. They were quacking up a storm and the girls really loved it. I wish we had some bread for them. They were kind of feisty--the geese, not the babies--and they apparently attacked some girl who was trying to cross over on some rocks. People were still laughing about it.

We walked around a bit. Went through an exhibit set up about water conservation and ecology. Andre bought me a snow cone and we walked around the place where he proposed to me. It was under an old tree during the Festival of Lights. The tree is just a stump now, which is kind of sad. But its nice thinking about our engagement, and then being at the park very pregnant eating snow cones, and now back there again with our girls--and with yet another snow cone. Ah memories... And it occurred to me that I should have asked for Cotton Candy flavor instead of Coconut--note to self. It also occurred to me how happy I am with my little family.

Back at work today made me appreciate our time together at the park even more. All of my work days tend to run in together. Even the exciting ones. But being in the sunshine, playing in the park, was really zen. Those are the memories when you're sad or blue, or when you're laying in bed at night thinking about your life, you can pull out of your mind and hold in your hand again. That's an important thing to have.

playing

I never could have imagined how much fun it is to play with the girls at this age. I guess I pictured pre-verbal babies to just sit around and play with chunky toys like they do in commercials. Our babies rarely sit around to do anything.
They're playing fairly well with each other. I try to give them time to play together without us and when we're all playing I try to facilitate them playing nicely with each other.

I think their favorite game is attack mom and dad. They speed crawl to us and then climb over us, slobber us with kisses and giggles. I'll grab them and roar which they find hilarious. And Andre likes to zerbert their bellies.

Andre said Rowan stood up on her own today. I think she's going to be walking soon. I'll hold her hands and help her to walk across the floor. Evey too, but she really hates it. She wants to be held instead and complains the whole time she's walking. She's getting a new tooth though and will soon have two vampire teeth like Rowan. They change so much every day.

The girls are eating more grown up food. They haven't quite mastered the art of using utensils, but they are very adapt at giving the dog their food. The babies are the best thing that ever happened to Joey.

Weekend getaway and Superbowl

We went on a mini vacation this past weekend with three other couples. We rented this really wonderful lake house that included two additional cabins. We took the girls and the dogs, enjoyed the nice weather, played lots of games, and cooked great meals. The only downside was that it went by too fast.


They had a fabulous porch swing that the girls and I loved. There are those sweet moments when you're holding your baby and just wishing that time could stand still. This was definitely one of those moments. Rowan was all curled up in my arms rocking, and with every rock her little eyes would get heavier and heavier.


We returned Sunday evening to a Superbowl street party with our neighbors. The kids are so cute and Evey and Rowan have so many friends. This is such a good neighborhood for them grow up in.