The Possessed and the Obsessed

Spooky puppy update.

Gotta love those glowing eyes.

The girls are growing and sometimes, honestly, all I can say is-

it's a good thing they are so dang cute.

 Lola fell asleep like this tonight on an old towel.

(They'd gone out in the rain and gotten muddy - yes, again).

Lola and Monroe like to gang up on Kean and steal

whatever he's playing with.

I don't know who I have to watch closer.....

 Kean, by the way, fell asleep in this crazy position.

I guess it is not so crazy when you realize he was in the womb

like this for most of his time.  He still sleeps this way or completely

folded over on his front.

I have to put a barricade in front of the opening on his bed

(where his head is) so he doesn't fall out at night.

(Yes, we all learned the hard way- thump).

And in case you somehow missed this on Facebook - or you 

are one of the last few holdouts, this is worth your time.

Greer has been singing this song to Kean for the past

three years, especially when he was feeling particularly sick

from the Chemo.

Evidently, he was listening.

Giving Not Getting

Eight years ago, a couple of my friends and I adopted a few refugee families

for Christmas-- to help them and to teach our children that Christmas

is more about giving than getting.

Our little "pet" project has grown  with each year.

And I mean grown.

Today we held what has become our traditional First American Christmas Party

for the Refugees.

We had-- between Refugees, interpreters and volunteers about

400 people.

 Our controlled chaos included lots of food, treats, gift bags, Christmas Carols,

crafts and a visit from you know who.

This year, Holland got to be one of his elves.

 Greer made fast friends with Sabrina even though she didn't speak a lick of English.

  I think her family just arrived from Congo.

I think the girls are about to disown me.

The past several years, they've sung a song or two at the party--

all Christmas Carols.  They agreed to do so again-- but didn't

know they'd be singing in front of nearly 400 until they got there today.

They were nervous-- and even with some microphone issues at the beginning--

they did great.  I don't know where they get their guts.

Speaking doesn't phase me-- but to sing in public would kill me.

What great little helpers on a great day.

I'm off to collapse in bed.

Dark-Thirty

Never a dull moment around here, I tell ya.

We had a storm blow through here and our

power went out just as I was cooking dinner.

That's not such a big deal but the fact that it stayed

out until bedtime (nearly 5 hours)... it got a little tricky.

Byron is taking the girls camping tomorrow and oh

I had just about a gazillion things I needed to get done tonight.

Oh well.

Kean had his riding therapy this morning

and was on a new horse:  Romeo.

Then it was race home, drop him off and motor on over to our Baldapalooza meeting.

It is fast approaching (Sept. 14th - yikes- get your tickets now at

www.baldapalooza.org).

I had to beat it home from that because he threw up

and poor Holland was freaking out.

No, not the flu again.  Just his regular Chemo throwing up stuff.

This afternoon, Lindsay came over for a few hours to work with Kean.

One of the things we try to do each day is put his hearing aid in and keep

him from pulling it out by reading stories, playing games and singing songs.

He is fixated on that awful song...

I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee...

won't my mommy be so proud of me.

He likes to sing it over and over again.





Maybe I should clarify.

He likes to hear us sing it over and over again.

But he sure lets us know which song he wants!

Kean's "I'll show them" new trick

Today Kean was able to sit up against a chair for the first time. Big stuff for the little man. Of course, Reese had to muscle in and get in the pictures with him. But just look at him-- he's holding his head and body up. It's interesting how quickly things can click. On Friday, I was a little discouraged as I talked to Kean's doctor. I had just gotten a written report from a new therapist who came to observe Kean-- since he's been arching his back and neck consistently. In a nutshell, the report rated Kean on his "skills" (grasping, strength etc.)-- the highest he scored was a 4-- meaning at the level of a 4 month old. Most of his marks where 2's with a few 1's mixed in. When you consider he is 9 months old (8 months adjusted)-- it was a bit depressing. So today's milestone of being able to hold himself in a sitting position when propped in the corner of a chair is a big deal to me. By the way, he weighs 15 pounds (and just like Reese was) -- he's not on the typical growth charts-- he's in the negative 10 to 20 percentile.

We had a crazy, busy weekend. Saturday night we went to our our friends' house for a Persian dinner and big party (one friend turned 50, another 21 and Holland's teacher graduated with her advanced degree)-- so we put on a "Live From Las Vegas" variety show. I somehow got roped into being the emcee. The girls sang a tribute song-- complete with solos. I think Reese stole the show. We danced, we laughed, we ate way too much and stayed up way too late.

Here are a few more pics of the girls from last week.

As Byron says-- they're pretty cute for ugly girls. HA!