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. :)

The Cinco de Mayo Door Gremlin strikes.

We had a very uneventful Cinco de Mayo, but P scored tacos for lunch and dinner. The man can eat them daily (only home made, he won't touch them elsewhere), but SS and I like variety. P had his monthly safety meeting and the boss provided home made tacos. I did not think of the date and texted P to ask if he wanted tacos for dinner, and his answer was "absolutamente." At least SS and I did not have them twice, plus P prefers how I fry corn tortillas, he is not a fan of the pre made, baked stuff. We also had margaritas, and SS had her first virgin one (yuck, even with Equal), because she has to have whatever we have. Given her energy level and our sleep deprivation, we still could not give her tequila. We swear it was only a less than three second contemplation.

This evening I was in the kitchen, P was outside and SS was playing with her metropolis table in what should be our dining area. I walked over to check on SS and noticed that the front door deadbolt was locked. P would not do that and SS can't reach. She can't reach at three feet, but with her handy dandy stools (provided by her stupid parents), she has six extra inches of evil. I asked her to show me, because although the stool provided the necessary extra height, I did not think SS had the strength to move the lock. That and we have a blog, it's the second video. :)

SS has been using her stools for a while, but mainly to turn lights and fans on and off. About a month ago I started to find the sliding door unlocked and P noticed that it was SS. Now we have to check before we go to bed. Those things did not worry us much, but now she can open the door and walk outside. As parents it is neat to see SS figuring things out, her neurons are firing, wheels are turning, and she is taking more risks. As parents we also worry about SS's safety, we need to be a step ahead of her, and quite frankly, that is not always the case.

No wonder she is a ham.

She knows the rule but refuses to follow it.

Walking with SS is no longer easy.

Six months is a long time for a now three year old, and I should have known better. After my surgery, embarrassment about what has pretty much kept me from doing the things I enjoyed. I am an anxious social mess at my best, when I encounter a social situation (group gatherings, parties, weddings, showers, etc.), I can only think about it ending. The addition of a colostomy skyrocketed my anxieties, and P went along with it until Chinese New Year and the kids' birthdays. At that point he was done indulging my fears and played the it's for JJ and SS card. Inspired by my friend Michelle I decided to try a short walk with SS today. Since P went to work early again we waited for him. It did not cross this scattered brain that the man was up at 3:00 a.m. and would be in no mood to walk. Oops!

SS was SO excited to see her Hummer again that she just hopped in as soon as I got it out of the garage, and would not get out. I had to wait for P to come home to get her to move so we could get it in the van.


On to the walk of mistakes, it was a really bad idea to let SS see the aquatic center. It did not matter that there was no water in the pool, and not a soul in sight, SS just had to go inside. She refused to smile for a picture we wanted to send to Michelle to let her see that I was out and about again.

Five minutes into our walk we spotted this sign. P declared that we would have to go home. Dude, there are so many miles of trails around the river, we just had to drive to the main entrance and enter through the bridge. I did not think that getting SS back in the van was going to be problematic. I can be dense that way.



In the picture below SS is doing her hell no I won't sit down peacefully protest. That was again entirely my fault, because I always allow SS to walk across the bridge. SS took some of her first tentative steps here and it is still a favorite today. P allowed her to do her thing, hoping that SS would settle and be her quiet, happy go lucky, enjoying the ride self. Sucker! It was awful getting her back in, she refused, she cried, she whined, she convulsed, she screamed as though she was being beaten. We were so grateful for her lack of language skills. A year from now we can see her screaming "Stranger danger, I have been abducted, call the police!"





Darn thing works, it was 3:00p.m. when I took the picture. And right here began my 45 minutes from hell. SS was cranky and cried, "No Mama, no walk." P piped in "That's what I'm thinking." I told P they could return to the bridge and wait for me, but that would be easy and would not inflict any suffering upon his succubus of a wife. So he kept going in one of the best moods I have ever seen him. As tired as he was, he would not leave me alone our first time out.

SS was so easy during our walks, she did whine but it took only one time letting her now that after Mama's walk she could have her fun, and SS would settle and do her own thing. It is going to be a lot of work to get her there again, if that is possible. I am going to bring her music and headphones Thursday and see if that helps.

I love my Sn00py water bottle, the only thing that would make it better is if it was bigger. P bought it for me (and s smaller one for SS) at Camp Sn00py five years ago. I guess it's made for the short crowd. I miss Camp Sn00py, I miss Southern California.

Everybody is Kung fu fighting...

Back to life, back to reality.

Today we renewed our membership to the exploration park. SS and I had not visited in months, not much energy for walking and that is where our walks usually ended. SS is used to have me show our card, then she quickly gets her wristband and off to explore she goes. Not today, there was paperwork to do, and she did not like waiting one bit. SS life is all about hurry up and wait, you'll see.

We had a blast reacquainting ourselves with our stomping grounds. The new GPS exhibit, a toddler's hands on dream was also a lot of fun. They recently refurbished a water exhibit and SS was all over it, getting wet and looking forward to many returns. We ended our visit at the butterfly exhibit. SS was very excited about the butterflies and tried to coax them into flying, "Flap your wings, fly!"

SS fell asleep as soon as P placed her in her carseat. She did not wake up when we got to C0$tco, and would not budge at the mention of a hot dog and a smoothie. P was holding SS (who was resting her head on his shoulder), and when he tried to take a bite of his food, SS's head flopped forward, dangerously close to hitting the table. Good thing the man has excellent reflexes. My inner neurotic, overprotective b*tch came out and I had to take SS from P. I should have taken a very deep breath, then count to one hundred. The guy did nothing wrong, but it scared me, and the thought of my kids getting hurt makes me do strange things.

I took my baby in my arms, and sat across from P, holding SS just like he had. SS did not even open her eyes. I had SS on my right arm, and I was eating with my left hand, while P was looking at me with a what the heck woman, how are you swinging that look. Easy, I was born with a uterus, all creatures born with one are programmed to perform such feats. I held SS while we shopped, because I did not want her to wake up if we switched. Gosh, twenty six pounds of love, dead weight love do a job on your arm. I left P to pay and took SS to the van. She was so tired that she did not stir when I placed her in the carseat. My arm was twitching the entire drive home. It was quite funny.

At 9:30 p.m. P went to the van, looking for SS's milk sippy, and we are so glad he did. P asked me if I opened the garage door. Nope, not me, and not him. Hmmmm, that leaves only one person, a three feet Gremlin who loves to wreck havoc. Our very busy SS cannot reach the garage button, so how? Then I remembered finding an opened kitchen drawer earlier. The same kitchen drawer where the garage remote resides. Dear SS, you manage to keep us on our toes. Could you please limit your headache inducing antics to one per day? Your rapidly aging parents would really appreciate it.

SS and I are looking forward to resuming our morning walks. Sun and water, we can't go wrong. OMG, I need sun and color badly, I'm as pale as P!

SS had not seem her beloved sturgeons (aka Baba Fish, and the coolest fish ever) for months. She spent time saying hi and letting them know that she will be back frequently.

P and SS posing with a salmon. P once caught one that weighed 35 pounds. Nine pounds heavier than our daughter now. That was one huge fish, and a tasty fish.

"Hey guys I hit the wooden block motherlode! Can I have one just like this one in my room?"

Baba teaching SS about clue gathering while geocashing. We planned to geocash in China, and hoped to leave a small Sn00py and have it make its way back to our town. But adoption trips are not vacation trips. From the moment we arrived at SFO we knew that geocashing was not going to happen. P keeps his promises, so it is top of the list for our return trip.

SS imitation of a well mannered child.

This cheap plastic calculator had SS's attention for record time. We are going to buy her one for road trips. Come on, it could be considered educational. The girl is a pro at pushing buttons, mainly our buttons.

Gotta love technology.

I have always had a thing for world globes, and one this size would be a dream come true for me. It was neat to see that it caught SS's interest.

What a treat, an exhibit where it is OK to touch to your toddler heart's desire.

We thought SS was going to faint at the sight of so many cell phones and GPSs.

Trying to splash Mama and Mama's precious possession, her camera.

Baba's turn to get wet.

One month ago...

A month ago Dr. SS admitted me into the hospital to put an end to my bag glued to my torso days. Although apprehensive, I was really looking forward to returning to some sense of normalcy. It seems like so long ago, but it has only been one month. Thanks to P's, JJ's and SS's loving care and attention, I am in a much better place than I expected at the one month mark. You three are my reason for living. Thank you.

SS gave us our laugh of the day early this morning. SS made a beeline for P's headphones, and they had the following exchange:

P: "Stay away from my headphones, you broke the last ones, that wasn't nice." SS cut them with our big people scissors.
SS: "Yeah, my fault." At least the girl is honest.

SS never fails to deliver laughs. Last Thursday SS gave me a good one, but sadly in public. When I tickle her I sometimes say "cosquillas en las costillas" (ribs tickles). SS must have been thinking about that, because in the middle of our playing she very loudly (is there any other way in public?) said "tickle n*pples," and proceeded to do just that. She is obviously still very interested in my breasts, no matter how many times she sees them, they still hold her interest, way too much. Trust me, there is nothing extraordinary about them. I am so praying for her boob phase to be over. But if her father is any indication, she might never outgrow this phase. I do not care much what SS grows up to like. I do care about having to be hypervigilant about SS grabbing my breasts in public, or even better, surprising me by sharing them with whomever is around us. The girl is quick, she can get my blouse and bra down in no time. We think she is going to make spending money teaching that trick to teenage boys.

Tonight I was thinking about my first surgery and wondered where would I be next October. Then I had a conversation with Michelle (thanks girl, you gave me a lot to think about), and I realized that at this point I need a goal. I need something to look forward to, something that will lift my spirits, help me stop obsessing over my mutilated torso, and stop fearing ending up defecating out of my torso again. In short, I need to let go and live, and I have a lot of living to do. Michelle inspired me to get off my butt and begin to walk again. Not literally, I have been walking consistently since I was a year old. SS and I are looking forward to resuming our morning walks. Her Hummer weights about 40 pounds, and I feel confident in my ability of getting it in and out of the van without damaging something I will need later. No matter where I end up next October, I am going to be just fine, as long as I have my family with me. It would be nice to add meeting a very good friend to that moment in the future.

We have always told JJ and SS that they can be anything they want to be, set their minds to and work hard for. That is a proverbial parental line of bullsh*t, a blatant lie. But somehow we feel compelled to pass on the myth from generation to generation. For example, President of the United States is not on either of our our kids' futures. SS was born in China, thus ineligible (at this time), and JJ is too darn honest, speaks his mind, and does not suffer fools. Wonder where he got that from. We can now add fashion designer and fashion trendsetter to the list of things SS won't accomplish. She does look mighty satisfied with her look. That is all that matters in toddler land.

Gross warning!!!!!!! If you have a weak stomach stop right here. While I do not want to stunt anyone's growth or make people lose their stomach contents, I had to post the two pictures below. Like P said, no guts, no glory. It's been a long, painful road, and I am taking P's advise and trying to look at my mutilated torso as something positive. I am alive, relatively healthy and able to enjoy life with my kids. That could have been cut short six months ago.

Now

Then