Visiting Traveller

Kevin and I drove out to visit the pup on Saturday.

And I have to say-right now, she looks exactly like a guinea pig. Same size, nice and chubby, teeny little legs. I might be in love.

Kevin might be, too. He is really looking forward to having another girl in the house. Actually, maybe he had a picture in his head of a nice, big dog who could hang out in the garage with him.

She is a sweet little girl who gives lots of smoochies. I wasn't prepared for that. But I can get used to it.

Mama is very gentle but also very protective. She's sending a strong message here, just with her eyes. Too bad she's so adorable-it's hard to take her message seriously. Particularly since I will be taking her baby home with me soon. Hmmm....

Oh, man! What can I even say?!

Running

Hello.

I bought new shoes yesterday.

You're asking yourself, right this moment, why I am telling you something so boring.

Well...here's why.

I signed up for this race. And no, a 5K does not warrant new shoes.

But then I signed up for this race. And a half marathon totally warrants new shoes.

On Monday I went on a 3 mile run in my 3 year-old shoes, and when I got home, my feet were on fire. Bad sign. So yesterday, while Dana was at school, I went here and spent almost an hour selecting my new shoes. I know that sounds excessive, but it went like this: the nice man on duty (Tony) made me walk around in my socks and hop on one foot while he watched my feet and ankles. Then he put me in a neutral shoe and filmed me running on a treadmill. He analyzed the movement and then switched me to a slightly more supportive shoe. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I worked up kind of a sweat. It was a little embarrassing.

Once we found the right type of shoe, I spent another 15 minutes trying it on in different brands. And we finally agreed that this was the perfect shoe for me, at least for right now. Tony says that knowledge and understanding come with experience, and that I may learn from these shoes. Or something like that.

Anyhoo, I really love this running gig. I always thought I hated running but it turns out I had it all wrong. I just wish it would get above 42 degrees.

It's a Girl!

Friends, meet Traveller.

She is a Boston Terrier and was born on April 1. We get to take her home in early June, and we couldn't be more excited!

Dana's been carrying around a dog encyclopedia for over a year. She's become known to my friends as "The Dog Whisperer" because every time she sees a dog, whether at the playground, at someone's house, or on the street, she runs over to ask the owner if she can pet it. Much cooing and giggling follows. She's been begging for a puppy for as long as she could speak. She's finally getting her wish and she is over the moon.

Our little girl is named after General Robert E. Lee's favorite horse. Kevin's a bit of a history buff and, since we're adding yet another girl to the household, we figured it was only fair to let him choose the name.

Expect silly puppy posts throughout the summer.

Zzzzzzzzz

Sleeping photos hold a special place in my heart.

Like this one:

See what I mean? What makes this even better is that Dana climbed in with us in the middle of the night, and she made sure to locate and bring her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle because she is certain Kevin wants to sleep with it at night.

And this one? Well, what can I really say. Poor Kevin lives in a house full of girls. Ballerinas and Hello, Kitty! are pretty much all he's ever going to get here.

Preschool Mother's Day Program

On Thursday, Dana's preschool put on a Mother's Day program.

The kids sang songs and did finger plays ("But not on a stage," says Dana), and then their "big helpers" seated us together and served us treats.

Dana was pretty happy to have a sundae at noon.

I should have taken a photo, but I was still reeling from the cuteness of the singing and I didn't think of it, but the kids decorated place mats for us moms and they wrapped flowers around our napkins so the treats would be extra fancy. Dana was so proud of this! The first half of our gifts were also at our spots. The previous week they painted terracotta pots, then went upstairs to the greenhouse and planted things in them. Dana chose a spider plant for me.

Doesn't every mom love anything with her child's hand print on it? This was so sweet. There's a little poem inside, and then she signed her name in her sweet, lilting print.

Dana had to take a photo of me holding up my gift. This is so awesome-the big helpers and the teachers put together a memory book full of photos and captions about each child's year at preschool. We still look at Nora's memory book and were so excited to see Dana's!

After she took the photo, I looked over and Dana was all teared up.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"I just love you so much, Mama."
Let's just say she wasn't the only one teared up at that point.

Later, I recounted this story to Kevin and she got embarrassed. "Mama, I wasn't CRYING! Sometimes my eyes water when I yawn!" Sure. Whatever. Wink wink.

I can't believe this little one will be graduating preschool next week and moving on to kindergarten in a few short months. Bittersweet times around here.

Butterfly

Grandma, Grandpa and Jan took the girls to the circus this weekend.

Kevin and I saw some friends we hadn't seen in maybe a year, and when we got home, there was the world's longest voicemail waiting for us. It was Nora, telling us all of the wonders of the circus. This little girl talked until the answering machine cut her off. It was really cute!

Each girl got to choose one activity. Nora chose to get her face painted. Here it is 24 hours after the fact. It was a butterfly, complete with glitter! She loved it so much that she wore it to a birthday party this afternoon.

Dana chose the elephant ride, but she changed her mind at the last minute. I don't blame her. She's 37 pounds; she's no match for an elephant.

Kevin and I feel like we missed out on something wonderful by not going to the circus. I think that next year, we will tag along.