Back in the water, albeit briefly.

SS finally migrated to her natural habitat of chlorinated water. I wanted to go yesterday, but P reminded me that with all the rain, the water would not be warm. This afternoon he dragged his feet, but finally gave in. As soon as SS saw towels, bathing suits and sunscreen she started to do a happy dance. That was quickly followed by strict orders to dress quickly and quit wasting time.

Our little girl proudly showed her pass, and almost jumped out of the stroller. P wanted to try the lazy lagoon first, but I got only knee deep and backed out. No way was I going to immerse my body into that chilly water. It was 88 degrees and that did not put a dent on it. We took SS to the kiddie area, hoping that once we were out in the sun it would help us brave the cold water later.

We were quickly rewarded with a glimpse of progress. Last summer SS would not climb on the very small children's slide on her own. One of us had to be beside her the whole time. Today she went up on her own and returned a few more times. She really enjoyed 3 out of the 4 slides they have. They fourth slide is a tunnel and SS is just not ready for that yet. SS even walked up the second steepest steps on her own.

It was so neat to watch SS slide, end up under water, get up with a huge smile on her face and say "That's fun. Again!" When she got in the water, she would do it on her belly. P thinks that she is ready to learn strokes this summer. He is the swimming instructor, so he must know what he is talking about. One of the things that is obvious now that she does not request our assistance is SS's lack of balance. It is not about strength, but about her birth circumstances and that time she was not home. We can't change it, and she will eventually catch up, but it royally sucks. So far SS is not aware of the difference so she happily wobbles along. One side of the slides does not have steps and is rather steep, so P had to come down and help SS up each time. He got an unexpected workout today.

After toasting our hides we gave the lazy lagoon a try. I thankfully had to go to the restroom and postponed the inevitable a bit. When I returned, P told me that the water was cold, but SS was not ready to get out. Time for me to bite it and get in, and I did, but only waist deep, and it was COLD. SS was shivering and still cried when we got her out, but there is no way we could let her be that cold. There is no fat in her body. The moose children around her had enough blubber to insulate them (said very tongue in cheek and with affection about said lardos). I can hear the Abus and Grandpa saying that would not happen if SS was in their respective islands.

We talked SS into sitting at the end of the adult slides and hoped that she would be entertained by watching people wipe out or yelp in agony once they hit the frigid water. After a while we returned to the kiddie area and SS returned to the slide she prefers. She had good momentum and ended up under water each time, getting colder. I suggested we go home and she emphatically said no. P suggested the same and got the hand. Since SS would not stop shivering, we made an executive decision and told her it was time to head home. SS was upset and cried, and that is understandable, because she does not get the concept that she can return any day. Hope that gets through to her soon. P rewarded his little fish with a treat, or a bribe, depending on your point of view. Looks like we will be spending a lot of time on the kiddie slides this summer.

Beautiful smile, terrible bed head.

Wetsuit and goggles on, ready to roll.

P was telling me how cold the water was as I was snapping the picture. I thought they were going to come out, but P asked me to put the camera back and get in with them. Misery does love company and he was not about to let me coward my way out. That water was COLD.

P found the tattoo meant for last Halloween and decided it was time for SS to show it off. When SS comes home with a real tattoo I will remind P who taught her how to desecrate her body. I have to admit that it suits her.

SS was mad at us for getting her out of the water and would not look at the camera. Even after offering her a treat. She is the see to believe type.

Blissfully munching on the reward Baba got her (fries and a vanilla shake) for being so intrepid on the slides. She inhaled the shake all by her tiny self and wanted more.

****Update

7:30 p.m., we missed water time. :)

The sun is back.

We were so happy to see the sun again this morning. The weather had been gray, rainy, yucky, and all three of us need sunlight to thrive. The whole vampire thing will never work for us. We went for a drive, celebrated with cherry limeades and went for a walk. A short walk, I was wearing my Tevas, I do not wear those things for long walks. Apparently we need some serious readjusting to sunlight and heat. SS's cheeks were red and she was whinny as heck, even though we kept her hydrated. We did manage to have fun and really enjoyed soaking up the sunshine.

Oops, I think I broke them. P was out before 6:00 p.m. and SS joined him at 6:30 p.m. It is likely that P will sleep until tomorrow morning. SS is a toss up, depending on how much the sun took out of her. Sometimes I really envy them.

Baba's, today sippy cup and sunglasses designated holder.

Ladybug sighting.

Have you ever felt like you are the product of first cousins?

Because that is how we felt after our golden parenting moment this afternoon. P was helping me dress SS for an afternoon of shopping, before returning to work. The irony there slays me too. Getting high tops on SS, on any child, can be challenging, especially when they are not on a cooperating mood. SS did not want P to leave, so she set out to stretch his task as long as possible. Once done, they headed downstairs. I was still upstairs when I heard SS happily stating that she wanted her "pirate boots on." This is where P sometimes surprises me, if it was me, SS would have remained in her red Chucks. But P is a good Baba, and he set out to change SS's shoes. When I came downstairs he was struggling with one boot. Very normal for him to assume that SS was milking it again. P made a comment under his breath about how determinately obstinate SS can be, while SS said "I can't." As the dutiful wife that I am (shut up, I could be), I agreed with my husband, while he finally got that boot on. P moved on to unzip the next boot and I saw something inside, and out fell a sock. I quickly asked P to unzip the already in place boot, and there was the other sock. We had a good laugh at ourselves, and once again wondered if our genetic tree branches. If there is a campaign against inbreeding we are shoo ins as poster children.

By the way, if your toddler fancies a fedora do not oblige. We are not referring to what we know is a temporary fixation on SS's part. Apparently those things are attention magnets, something we do not need nor want. Our shopping jaunt was sheer hell, because everyone and their freaking annoying mother had to take a look, and stop to comment. SS came through for me, even though I feared hypersensitivity on her part after yesterday. Our girl handled it like a pro, not a single meltdown or outburst after a few rather intrusive (into her personal space) incidents. Wish I could say I did as well. How does she do it? How does she have such patience and poise in public, then falls apart at home over the smallest thing? We were gone for four hours, and she was a champ, so proud of her.

The best part of our afternoon happened when a friend found us while grocery shopping. How did she find us? She heard SS's voice and followed it, saw us by the bulk foods and said "I know that voice." I knew we are loud, I knew SS is getting louder, but I was still surprised to be located that way. While embarrassing for me, my friend had just received bad news and it was good to be able to give her a big hug, catch up and share a few laughs. SS was what she needed and I am glad my empathetic girl was able to make her feel better. This is the extent of SS's front stage personality, I was about to get her jelly beans when I saw my friend. Obviously sidetracked, jelly beans were forgotten. SS waited a reasonable amount of time and politely (not kidding) asked for her jelly beans. She got them. So if anyone ever needs to find us, just follow the voice(s).

Obviously still hot and heavy with her hat, although I suggested she leave it at home. No, I never learn.

SS is getting pretty good with her impersonations. Here she is channeling the girl from The Ring:



The real thing:
We know, that was kind of mean and SS has no chance with us a role models, and as her moral compass.

Like mother like daughter.

This afternoon we had one of those moments where SS's life before coming home played a greater role than we would have liked. Not because we want to negate that time, but because we have no factual information, just the remnants. We took advantage of the lack of rain and spent time outside. It was a bit cold and it was overcast, but we are going to have four days of rain, so outside in shorts and hoodies we went. We both had fun and then we set out to cook dinner. SS became whinny towards the end of our cooking, because it involved just Mama. I was returning some things to the fridge when I turned to remind her to be patient, totally missed the rack and dumped an almost full jar of olives on the floor.

Because I am all about safety, I cook barefoot, and usually SS is barefoot as well. I quickly looked and to my relief she had shoes on and was not in danger. I was in the middle of broken glass, and yucky olive juice. Yeah, that one was my own doing, but it got better. SS (a certified ice freak) thought a shard of glass was ice and in her best Ninja demo had it in her hand, and ready to pop in her mouth in a second. I needed to get her attention and quickly, so I used my stern voice to let her know she had to stop immediately. There was an instantaneous change in her look and demeanor. I got that look, the look she gets when she goes somewhere else. It was followed by shaking and tears, and I knew that quickly we would have a situation. I forgot about the glass beneath and went to hold her. I did get glass stuck on my foot, but did not notice until much later, and got it out even later. There was damage control to be done.

Once she calmed down some, I managed to clean the mess with her by my side (and flip flops on my feet), at times holding her. With JJ, raising my voice would not have brought upon so much drama, and using my stern voice would have stopped him without engaging in damage control. When P came home we were in the middle of escalating aggression from SS. I was so happy that he came home early. SS can easily tire a triathlete, and we are hardly athletically conditioned. We spent a few hours dealing with SS's rage. With SS we have to be very careful how we handle certain situations because her reactions have taught us that it isn't one freaking bit about us and now. Sometimes we get tired of fighting that ghost, sometimes we get angry at that ghost, but most of the time we simply accept that the ghost is here to stay. Without the ghost there would be no SS, and that is not an option for us, ever. We do the best we can flying blind, and disciplining our daughter is just more complicated. And yeah whatever, and eye rolls to anyone who thinks it is like raising any other child, we could not care less. There is quite a bit we are purposely leaving out, for obvious reasons.

But on to the lighter stuff of life. My little pack rat is apparently learning from the best, her Mama. My bio mother and I are polar opposites in every way. When she was here last October, she was very upset because one week after life saving surgery I did not even want to contemplate cleaning out my closets. Getting rid of unnecessary things, Abu's mission in life, was nowhere in my to do list. My lackadaisical attitude about clutter control is rubbing off on SS, the girl will soon surpass me, and that is no easy task. Every time I clean the van I am astounded by the crap in there. Maybe my kids will have immaculate cars, it's not in the stars for me. At least not while I have my toddler partner in crime.

Here she is practicing how to stuff her car to the max. I hate to admit it, but her dedication to clutter making makes me proud.

Doubting SS would not believe it when I told her the ball would simply not fit inside.

Then she decided to take her hat off, but it just had to remain with her, even though she still can't close the darn door. SS also had a sippy cup in the back cup holder.

Practicing parallel parking.

We are definitely in the market for a lady bug cape.

We think the boots add a nice touch.

The height of fashion...

Another freaking rainy, cold day.

It has rained for the past three days the water park is open but the heck if we are getting in that cold water. SS keeps longingly looking at her pass where it is hanging for now. Poor baby. Here are a few phone pictures from Wednesday.

The girl can definitely wear a hat. Heck she makes everything look good.

That Diego dude sure is funny.

Our dainty little flower.

I wasted two hours trying to get SS down for a nap. She was crabby and really needed to rest. That of course translates into no sleep. I gave up and we went to to the grocery store, where SS promptly fell asleep. It was also raining, I am glad I had towel in the van, and SS got much needed sleep.

Making good use of my Mother's Day gift.

A healed bum means never having to say you're sorry.

It looks like the lack of permanent disfigurement of her buttocks is a big plus in SS's decision to forgive us. Her bum looked so much better this morning and I quickly bathed her and dressed her in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. That was a huge sacrifice because SS expects my clothes to be similar to hers. I bit the bullet and wore the same, and if that does not spell l-o-v-e I don't know what does. But we needed to keep her sneaky fingers away from her skin. We are not really sure that she has completely forgiven, since she refused to taste dinner before us, so she is off kitchen duty for a while.

SS found the lady bug cap to complete her outfit. She is about to take off flying in this picture. The funny thing is that we have a lady bug costume we bought for SS before she came home. It was intended for her first Halloween, but P could not have her wear it in good conscience because back then SS was obsessed with ducks. That is how P ended up spending an obscene amount of money on a duck costume to be worn once. He is a good Baba. Maybe we can get SS to wear her LB costume now.

SS has mastered the art of blending in, something very important for super hero survival. P was cracking up at the thought of attention phobic me walking around with our daughter. I tried to distract her to take the cap away, then thought what the heck she is three and using her imagination. I am sure that when she is a teenager we will need these moments to get us through the really tough moments.

The title is more appropriate for a p0rn flick than a children's book. SS is in love with Diego. Yesterday I showed her a pair of Dora flip flops and she would not look at them. Had to buy her the Diego ones to get her accept the Dora ones.

SS asked me to take a picture of her "JJ hat." Maybe now she will leave her brother's hats alone. Nah, not a chance. But she is so proud to have a hat like his.

She left the house as Super Lady Bug and returned as... Super Pimp!

I realized that SS has outgrown her Vans. Honestly, I have no idea how she got her feet in there. We lucked out with these new kicks, totally SS, and are now her "Halloween shoes."

The 99 cent store is a great place to find things to keep SS occupied. Good thing she found the fan vent or she would have screamed her head off for me to "blow Mama."

Super Lady Bug

SS has hit the super hero stage, and since we only have three readers we are going to reveal her super secret identity... Super Lady Bug! SS's "cape" is a bib we got for her eons ago that we knew she'd probably never use, but it had a matching hat, and how cute is that when you do not have to be practical (during the wait). There was also a bumble bee bib set, but it did not appeal to SS.

Now our daughter insists on leaving the house wearing her cape. Thankfully it is seen as adorable, or people are too polite to tell me that my daughter is wearing her bib the wrong way, and how dumb I am not to notice. In an effort to foster good will with the mere mortals she is going to protect (no, you don't get a choice, she is going to "help"), Super Lady Bug gave us a the scoop on her world debut. We are impressed that our efforts to protect SS's identity have rubbed off, just look at that costume, no one will ever know SLB's true identity.

P just got back from a pharmacy run for SS, nothing serious, over the counter. SS has turned into a picker and it is causing problems. Right now she is mad at me because she is sporting a big Band@id on her arm, because she would not stop picking at her mosquito (we think) bite. She is royally teed off that she can't get to it. Skin pickers are a problem, her father is one and has the bloody body parts to show. No way we could let her get that bad.

SS developed a few pimples on her buttocks, and she would have been fine if she had left them the blankety blank alone. But SS is one resourceful little soul (who moonlights as savior of the world) and manages to get her hands where they should not be. When Mama was not looking SS went to town on her buttocks and worsened the situation in no time.

SS was miserable, truly miserable, and in an effort to make it better P used an itching cream that Abu had provided us. Before my brain could engage what the cream was, P had lathered it all over SS's very sensitive nalgas (bum) and our daughter lost it. She wailed like we probably have not heard before. Not only is it gut wrenching to witness your child in such distress, but the worst moment was when SS between sobs asked "why Baba?" Dude that tore us apart. P would never do anything to purposefully hurt his kids, and add a child with trust issues and it truly sucks to hear that. Here comes a truly silly moment, I wish it was me, that is how bad I felt for the guy. I held SS tight and reassured her, while P wiped off the offending cream, cleaned the area, aired it and applied SS's drug of choice Tin (a.k.a. Desit*n). Poor baby, we placed her naked from the waist down on our bed with the overhead fan on (on a waterproof pad, heh). SS is finally calm and I think P and I are going to survive the guilt we are feeling.

Sorry SS, we are making an emergency extra (triple) deposit to your therapy fund.

Love,

Your very dense parents.

P.S. Our intellectual short comings are not contagious. We think, better check with your brother.

SS modeling her Irish Rican T-shirt. The logo does not show that well, but there is video below, and the picture can be enlarged.

Guys, no need for the shirt, just one look at me and how can anyone not think Irish Rican?






Faster than a speeding bullet...

SS's first season pass.

We bought our water park season passes today when P came home for lunch. It is SS's first season pass with her picture and name on it. The aquatic center and exploration park passes include her, but she does not get her own card. SS was very excited waiting for Baba to come home and was jazzed up about having her picture taken. The joys of being a three year old. I had a craving for a Slurpee and asked P to bring me a C0ke one and whatever fruity flavor for SS. P showed up with a strawberry-banana large one for us to share. He definitely does not have a clue that there is no such thing as sharing something sugary with SS. She latched on to the thing and P and I were lucky to get a few sips.

Last year I filled out the pass contract, and when P had his picture taken he realized they gave him my last name. They would not change it, stating that everyone under the same contract had to have the same last name. This year I decided to take one for the team, and now I am the one walking around with the wrong last name. SS is also walking around with only half of her last names. No offense but Americans are rather narrow minded about last names.

The water park opens next Friday but we do not know if it is going to be warm enough to enjoy the water. SS has a wet suit, so it will be OK for her. We do not think we will be enjoying the lazy lagoon for a few weeks. Summer is here and we are looking forward to sun and water.

Our cute basket case.

Texting Mama, yep, that is what Baba taught her.

Dinner yesterday, SS loves dumplings.

Would you wave the $45 fee and take half a huge, backwash filled Slurpee?

This skull and bones lanyard caught P's eye. When he asked to purchase one, the woman wanted to know which one. They also had a flower lanyard. Silly woman, our SS does not do stinking flowers. SS is upset in this picture because Baba returned to work, and I had her turn her card around.

Dinner tonight.

Breaking bad (habits).

P's main work computer is down so he came home at noon. We had him to ourselves today and possibly tomorrow. The guy was exhausted and quickly fell asleep, an impossible task with our very loud child. That and the fact that SS thinks it is hilarious to go up to her Baba and scream in his ear, while forcing his eyes open. I was able to coax SS outside with an offer of 80 degree heat, sunshine and a no pants requirement. The girl was on a roll, yapping away and doing her best to be heard as far away as possible. It worked, P came outside to join us.

SS is becoming more demanding of our attention daily. It is not like she has to share us with a sibling, but that is how she acts. Yesterday she cried at least a dozen times over nothing. It was all about "Mama hold me," or "Mama sit here." P right away noticed the increase in instant tears and extra clingy behavior when he came home. We are taking advantage of the next two days to force SS to rely on her Baba more. We are not expecting her to be on board, and while I will never withhold affection SS needs to learn to ask and not demand. Yeah, good luck with that. There's always a career as a military boot camp drill Sargent.

We had a good time enjoying the sun, watching SS's antics, and listening to her newly acquired language:
* Cracked us up trying to reach the leaves on the trees, because she did not find enough on the ground for her green fuel. The leaves were a good three feet above her, but it did not stop SS from jumping then stating in frustration "Mama I can't get it."
*Knowing darn well that she woke up her Baba she would rub it in by asking in a very sincere tone, "Baba, you tired?" Dude, not even I am that heartless or daring.
*SS is totally into Widget from W0w, Wow Wubzy. Widget loves to build things and is usually hammering away some invention. Good role model for a girl, right? There's a catch, something always goes wrong with said inventions. Come to think of it, it is a perfect fit for our klutzy SS. SS has designated a stone her "Widget hammer," and loves to pound away. I almost threw away her "hammer" a few times." We need to get her a toy hammer.
* Shortly after taking off her shoes and walking to the kitchen she forgot where she left them. "Mama, no find shoes. Oh no Mama." SS is the ultimate drama queen.
* After refusing to wear pants outside, she came downstairs wearing shorts and announced "Mama I found pants!"
* When P says goodbye she says "I come too."
* SS is letting us know when she is tired, hungry, scared, cold or angry. We get a lot of angry, what the heck is up with that?
* She is paranoid about us taking "MY Sn00py blanket." We have never come even close to coveting her blanket, but the conspiracy theory is there.

Then there are the things that have not changed:
* She is the happiest child we have ever come across when it comes to changing her diaper. Most infants reach a stage where it is like trying to lasso cattle, or tame a bronco. SS just lays down and actually giggles during diaper changes. She does the same when a bath or shower is imminent.
* She is still a cuddle bug, it began the day we met and it has not ebbed.
* SS has a tremendous amount of empathy and always notices little cuts and bruises on us. If we get hurt or she thinks we are hurt, she quickly kisses the area to make it better. Even if she is the one who hurled a toy or sippy cup at us. We have had a few funny moments of her bumping into our behinds, and before we know it she is literally kissing or rear ends. We are definitely using those moments as future blackmail material.

The closest I'll ever come to having a groupie.

A very feminine solution to storing and carrying her cars.

Our environmentally conscious daughter hard at work on green energy fuel, to make up for her dependency on disposable diapers.

We are so relieved that SS can't open our gas tanks.

It would be nice if they had a Yunnan Ham one, because that is what they are known for and what we have.

She does not know her full name, but she knows her Baba is Caucasian.

SS and I have been laying low the last couple of days, with very low energy on both our parts. I had an easy breezy Mother's Day. P thought that he had made late reservations for brunch at 2:00 p.m., but that turned out to work out just fine. The bowel G0ds punished me pretty hard, the pain subsided around 5:00 a.m. and then it took me about another hour to fall asleep. P allowed me to get much needed sleep and I felt confident about our brunch date. SS was her usual adorable self, it blows our mind how well the girl can hide the evil within.

This afternoon P placed a second bumper sticker on our cars. I have issues with commitment and have never had a bumper sticker in a vehicle. That is one long a$ commitment right there and I never wanted one. I don't care to announce to world my political affiliation, views on abortion, whether my child is an honor roll student (as if), or remind the world to save the whales. The ones we have had before (I put my foot down at one and one only per car) were P's doing. He embarrassed me by having one from that awful discriminatory, crappy university we attended, and now he proudly sports one from a TV show. I can never see myself getting a tattoo for the same reasons, and let's face it, it took me six years to accept P's marriage proposal, we are talking a serious aversion here. This is over something that can be removed or scraped. Imagine how I feel about two deforming scars adorning my body eternally.

There are two small surf shops in Puerto Rico, Playero, and I recall their products from my adolescence. P found the original shop in Old San Juan last year but I just could not justify the price for not very good looking T-shirts. I have always liked their logo, it's very simple, like me. P ordered us a bumper sticker each and also a Yunnan bumper sticker to honor my birthplace and SS's. I was touched by his gesture and contemplated getting one that states "save the males."

Not a day goes by that we do not talk about China. We have SS's Chinese flag in our living room, there are pictures of our trip there and two sets of referral pictures that SS looks at everyday. I also found that the more I talk to SS about her story, the easier it gets for me. I have had now almost two years of finding the right, simple words to explain to SS our journey to become a family and her arrival home. Although she has limited verbal skills, she is very aware that we are different. She studies faces that are like hers, a few months ago she blew me away by asserting "Mama has brown eyes." SS also points at JJ's eyes when she is looking at his pictures. We do not make a big deal about our ethnicity, but SS traveled to P.R. and we told her that Mama was born in Ponce, where he beloved Parque de Bombas is located. We do not talk as much about P's ethnicity, but SS has heard enough about his Irish heritage and we have too many Paddy's Day t-shirts and boxer shorts she sees us wear to bed.

Now, I do not recall using the word Caucasian frequently in front of SS, but somehow it made its way into her brain. When I asked P if he wanted a bumper sticker (you have no idea how much that hurt, defacing my car with a third one) he joked "Yeah, get me one that says just another average White guy." This afternoon SS began referring to P as Caucasian. I thought I heard wrong, but that was what she said. We do not think SS has a clue about what that really means, but she sure enjoyed using the word. We much rather she learns her full name, but we are wimps and we just roll with what SS throws our way.

P and the kids also gave me a Playero hoodie sweatshirt, two lanyards (for our summer water fun passes), and a key ring. I am all Playero'd out.

Last week SS sat on my lap, put her cute arms around my neck, kissed me and said "Mama, I love China" I don't blame her, there is a lot to love there. SS was quiet for a while then said "Mama no China... Baba no China, JJ no China." No sweetie we were not born in China but we are so proud that you were.

Happy Mother's Day (Updated)

Okay, so it’s Mother’s Day. What does that mean? To me it means a day to celebrate those women who go the extra mile and expect nothing in return. It also means acknowledging the sacrifice mothers make for the betterment of their children and society as a whole. Mother’s day is the time we give thanks for the mothers in our lives, be they ours or others. So it’s at this time that I would like to thank and acknowledge K. I’m so thankful she is the mother of my children. I couldn’t ask for a more devoted person to look after what I love most in life, my children. I love her caring, her devotion, her heart, and her steadfast commitment to her children. I know I don’t always acknowledge the hard work she puts in day in and day out raising a toddler. But I’m always thinking about it. I’m thinking about how there is no way I could have half the patience she has to do the job. I'm so thankful for the sacrifice she's made the last two years to stay home with SS. The bond those two have cultivated over that period of time will truly benefit our daughter the rest of her life. I knew K would be an excellent mother to SS long before we had the desire to raise her. Seeing how much she put into raising JJ and the sacrifices she made for him, I knew she would do the same with another child. I remember how when we first got together, almost 15 years ago, how in no uncertain terms JJ came first and if I were to have a place with her I needed to accept that. At first I didn't understand it but today I can't imagine it any other way. A good mother always puts her children first, and that's what K does. So K, thank you for putting your children first. They will grow to be happy and loved and those around them will know why. Happy Mother's Day Baby.

Love,
P.



Happy Mother's Day to all the Mamas, Moms, Mamis, Mommas and Mothers out there, no matter how your children came into your life. An extra special hug and kiss to all the waiting Mamas, it's tough, but so worth the wait.

To SS's birth mother, thank you seems inadequate, as no words can convey our eternal gratitude. Without you, our family would be incomplete.

Update:
We sent his picture to my mother, Abu and Aunt Court but it did not show up on all their e-mails. It made it difficult to decipher the message. Subject was: Happy Mother's Day. Body: May your special day be filled with bacon or whatever you fancy. I hope once they see the picture it makes sense.

Mama and SS at brunch. SS had a virgin mimosa to go along with her recent virgin margarita. The girl knows her virgin drinks. :)