Finley's First Haircut

Waiting our turn with Daddy. Pre-haircut, wondering why Mommy scheduled during nap time. ;)

Ms. Margo cutting Finley's hair. Finley was such a big girl!

Big sister Charlotte showing Finley the ropes. Charlotte LOVED getting her haircut. In fact, she pretended that she was "Ms. Margo" all day, giving all of her stuffed animals haircuts.

Christmas at Gigi's

Opening gifts with Uncle Seannie.
Playing outside.

Charlotte outside of her playhouse - a custom Victorian (2-story) that Gigi had constructed for the girls. It has a front porch, garden and backyard and is fully furnished inside. So much fun!

Sweet girls. C loves taking pics of Fin.

Christmas at Home

This year we celebrated Christmas at home. It was wonderful to be in our cozy new house. Even though it was 70 degrees the day before, Christmas Day brought some chilly weather. The girls were excited to celebrate and hang out together as a family. It was calm and relaxing. This was the first year in a very long time that we did not travel and we loved it! No where to go, no where to be, no plans to coordinate. Laid-back, family time - just what we needed.

On Christmas Eve we went to service at our church and then had our traditional Christmas Eve supper with extended family. This year we went to Houston's. We planned an early dinner so that the girls could join us. I couldn't believe they made it through a 2.5 hour dinner and behaved so nicely! It was a wonderful meal and we shared great conversation.

That night we left our shoes on the front doorstep for St. Nick. Gigi told us about this great German tradition and the girls love it! He filled them with yummy treats. We slept so well and woke up late (8:00 am) for Christmas morning festivities. Presents, a treasure hunt from Santa (Kubicek tradition) and stockings. Then we all took a nap together. Delightful!

Charlotte received the movie, 'Up' from Daddy. They went to see it in the theater this year together and both really enjoyed it.
Finley opening her stocking. Lots of new bath toys.

Mommy opening a gift from Daddy.

Charlotte sliding down her new slide from GBonnie and GDave, holding the bird book from GGSally.

Eating our traditional brunch together - pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit salad.

Charlotte's First Dance Performance

Charlotte participated in ADC's annual Yuletide Magic production this year. She danced with the youngest group in "I Want a Hippopatamus for Christmas" and in the grand finale, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Sara S. was her special buddy. They formed quite a bond. She has even asked for Sara to come over and play at her new house. Charlotte LOVES watching the BIG girls dance. Whenever I teach on Thursday afternoons, she comes with Gigi to the studio to watch the big girls practicing their competition routines. She feels right at home at the studio.

We weren't sure how the performance would go, because she cried (read: screamed!) during the entire 2 hours of the dress rehearsal. She refused to dance and cried, "I want my Mommy....and so on." It was very difficult for C to see me interacting with the large group of dancers and their parents, etc. But, the old adage held true. Bad dress rehearsal....great show! And it was fabulous.

First was the Zilker Tree Festival (aka Trail of Lights). It was more 'intimate' this year due to budget cuts from the City of Austin. But we actually enjoyed it MORE! Less headache, more fun! Our group danced on the Candyland Stage, right under the HUGE Christmas tree. We had an awesome crowd - all seats were taken and people were just pushing in and up to see all of the dancers. I was so happy for them to have such a great audience.

Next we performed at Brighton Gardens, a senior retirement home. The residents were delighted by the dancers. They commented on the lovely costumes and the overall preparation of the program. It was so much fun. The dancers used their ADC Dancer's Manners so nicely. After the performance, they shook hands with the residents, gave them homemade cards (we created at dress rehearsal) and wished everyone a very special holiday season. I was so proud to lead this group!

We wish you all a very merry Christmas!

Practicing the finale with her buddy.
Backstage at Trail of Lights 2009.

A Joyous Celebration

Today was a very special occassion for our family. Today Finley Claire was baptized. It was a beautiful ceremony. We were surrounded by family and feel so blessed to have shared this special, sacred day with so many people. Pastor Larry talked about setting aside time to be joyful, especially during this season. He talked about how important it is to celebrate. So, today we celebrated Finley. We promised to raise her with love and gentleness.

Finley is a joy.

Finley is filled with light and love.

Finley is a child of God.

Our Pastor, Larry C., baptizing Finley.
Our sweet family. Aunt Chris, Gigi, cousin Michelle, Carissa, Finley, Andrew, Charlotte and Uncle Sean. We are blessed that our family made a committment to Finley today, too.

Aunt Chris and fin.

Mommy, Daddy and our sweet angel.

Gigi and Uncle Seannie.

After the ceremony, we hosted brunch at our new house. It was so much fun. Finley slept all afternoon, Charlotte and cousin Gavin played in the playroom and the adults got to enjoy great conversation. What a treat! Thanks for coming to celebrate with us. What a joyous day!!

Chunnie Kitty (3/1997 - 11/2009)

My heart is filled with sadness as I write this note about our sweet Chunnie kitty. Our beloved Chunnie has been with us for 7 years - the entire length of our marriage. We adopted her from our friend Katie (Mommy's friend from Grad school). Chunnie, then named "Phoebe," needed a new home as Katie was highly allergic. Having never had a cat before (and truth be told, not really liking felines at all!), we decided to keep Phoebe for a month until Katie found a permanent home. Somehow, we fell in love with Chunnie and couldn't imagine giving her away. At the time, she was 6 years old. She slept with us every night, right on top of my tummy. She helped me through my MFA program when my anxiety soared because of all of the pressure and deadlines. We took her to the park, on a leash. We bought her Christmas presents - and a stocking full of tuna to boot. We bought her fancy collars in Carmel at the pet boutiques. We were those people. She slept in our window sill above the kitchen sink in our first apartment in downtown Oakland. She found another sunny spot in our apartment in Dublin. She was our first baby. She moved with us from Cali to Texas. I'll never forget that trip. Andrew and his dad drove our cars back from San Fransisco while Chunnie and I took an airplane. Even fully sedated, she yowled the entire way. I apologized for her incessant crying but luckily I was next to a fellow cat lover and she didn't mind at all. We made a new home in Texas and she has found a friend in both Charlotte and Finley.

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I decided to take her to our vet, Dr. Greenville at Circle C Animal Hospital (hands down, the BEST vet in the world!). Chunnie just wasn't acting like herself. She was sleeping all day and night and didn't seem to want to leave our bed. She also had lost a lot of weight. I wanted to get things checked out, in case she needed medication before the Thanksgiving break. Chunnie was down to only 7 lbs. (regularly 12 lbs.). Dr. Greenville ran some routine bloodwork and found out that she was in severe kidney failure. She was only using 1% of her kidney capacity. Our vet gave her 3 days to live. She said that Chunnie had developed this condition, very common in cats, over the past several months or possibly years. Our recent move to the new place likely heightened her stress level and pushed everything over the edge. We were devasted. We decided to euthanize her so that she wouldn't feel any more pain. It was a quick and peaceful passing, but so very difficult to do. Andrew and I both cried like babies in the vet's office.

Chunnie has been such an amazing part of our life together as a married couple. She has been a terrific companion. We burried her in our pet cemetary on my parent's property. We have told the girls that she is with God now, living in heaven. It is difficult when they wake up in the morning, looking for their Chunnie. I am reminded of what a special friend she was to all of us.

Charlotte reading to Chunnie - something she did often and with great joy.

A little snuggle time with Chunnie in the sunshine.

finley claire - 6 months!

6 month old Finley!

14 lbs. 5 oz.

24 inches

Where did all this hair come from? It keeps growing...

She loves to sit up. What a big girl! We've also tried solid foods and Finley loves it! Some favorites include sweet potatoes, apples, pears and oatmeal cereal. YUM.

Playing at our new house

We moved into our new house right before Thanksgiving. Andrew and I have been worried about this move and it's effect on the girls. Our Scottish Thistle home is all they have known and we were worried that the unfamiliar would be unsettling. Oh, how we were wrong! They have had such an easy transition to the new house. It has been such a lesson for us. Our sweet girls have reminded us of what is truly important. We are learning to be more flexible, living more in the moment. Yesterday, Charlotte even exclaimed, "Mom, I LOVE this house," as she jumped through the door. We've tried to make the transition smooth by setting up their rooms first. So, we're in boxes everywhere, but it's an adventure! Andrew calls it 'camping out.' I'm learning to go with the flow and not stress over the piles of boxes. So what if we don't manage to decorate for Christmas this year....we have each other and that's all we need!

Finley playing at our new "Stick House." Charlotte dubbed it this name because the front driveway is always covered in fallen sticks from the big pecan tree out front. I think we'll have some really special memories here....