He was born on the third of July...

and died the day before Thanksgiving.

Calvin had to be put to sleep this morning. The cancer was back, and it was shutting him down. If you don't remember, Calvin was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma, the most invasive, blood born cancer a dog can have. They removed a ten pound tumor that had taken over his spleen in August of 2006, two weeks before our wedding. Calvin was eleven. The told us he would live four months, on the outside.

He made it three and a half more years.

He met Ginny.

He met Emmeline.

Now he's eating steak in heaven with all of his girlfriends.

We love him and miss him so much. He truly is the greatest dog I've ever known. Hands down. He introduced David and me. He was one evolutionary rung away from speech, I could see it in his eyes. He would hide rawhides from the other dogs, even at 14 years old. He went out smiling.

What a great run, Calvin.

I'm so blessed to have known you.

Seeing double . . .

I found this old picture in a stack that my mom gave me.

Me at exactly four months on my christening day.

And here's a new one.

Emmeline at five days shy of four months, in the same dress.

Same dress.

Same age.

She is totally cuter.

Emmeline - 4 Months

Emmeline is four months old today. She is growing up so fast! Her stats are:

Weight: 13 lbs. 8 oz. (up one and a half pounds in two months)
Length: 24.5"
Head: 17"

Developmentally, she is changing every day. Some new milestones include:

• putting toys and things into her mouth
• reaching for objects, like keys, grocery lists, etc.
• taking her paci out and putting it back in
• standing (supported by us, of course)
• passing toys from hand to hand (she has just started this)
• playing with her feet, including taking off her socks
• "chatting" with us, and she is adding in some consenants
• showing interest in our food (I don't think she is quite ready for solids yet, but she sure likes to sit in our laps and watch us eat.)
• slinging her toys around (she enjoys the rattling that they make)

All in all, she is a total joy, and we really love her so much.

"There's a thin line between Saturday night, and Sunday morning . . ."

Before we get started, does anybody know where that quote is from?

So yesterday (Saturday) was Halloween and today (Sunday) is All Saint's Day. Emmeline celebrated both, so here are the pics.

She was a rock star for Halloween. Her shirt says "The Hissyfits" on the front and "Rock Me!" on the back. She wore zebra print pants and I spiked her hair up with Karo syrup, a trick I learned from the guy who has been cutting my hair forever.

We went to visit David's parents and my parents and she was a HUGE hit, of course. She was quite cute and really seemed to like being dressed up. Of course, that could have been her high-contrast pants!

Today we baptized Emmeline at St. Andrew's, the church where I was baptized, and married. It was such a great service. She was a fabulous child and didn't get fussy until the very end. The choir sang an arrangement of "Be Thou My Vision" that was a wedding gift to me from my friend Michael Smith. It was so great to have it heard at Emmeline's baptism, too! We had a reception afterward and it was so wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

This picture has nothing to do with Halloween or her baptism, but I love it so I included it. David took it in our back yard and she looks so sweet in it. I must say, my husband is a wonderful photographer!!!

Speaking of my husband, he is recovering from the swine flu, so send some good thoughts his way. David has had what he thought was a cold for a couple of weeks. Last Friday, when he was still feeling cruddy and with a long weekend of work and the baptism ahead, he went to a doc in a box to see if he had walking pneumonia. No, but he was at the tail end (we hope) of the swine flu.

Thank God Emmeline and I were spared (we think), knock on wood. We thought his cold was something he picked up from me or Emmeline since we have both been a little sick in the past few weeks. Who knew that it was swine flu!!!!

Anyway, that's all from here. I'll try to do another post this week about some of the non-baby things going on around here.

Emmeline - 3 months (and 3 weeks)

I sure hope you all haven't been waiting on the edge of your seats for this update, because it is LATE! It has taken some adjustment going back to work. Just when we had gotten into the swing of things - mama has to throw a wrench in it! I've had it started for a long time, but I'm just now finishing it. Perhaps I'll post Halloween pictures for Thanksgiving.

Anyway, Emmeline is doing great. She sleeps so well. We are very fortunate. She has adjusted to daycare without a hitch and really seems to enjoy it. Her two teachers, Mary and Amy like her because she is such an easy-going baby. She is such a little rock star (especially the hair), as you can see from the following picture!
We didn't weigh her this month, but she is a total chunk, and I mean that in the nicest way. I mean, look at those cheeks. I'd say her days of not gaining well are way in the past.
She is hitting all of her developmental milestones right on target. Her new accomplishments this month are:

• rolling over back to front and front to back (she accomplished both of these the day before she turned three months)
• mini-push-ups (see picture below, she loves tummy time)
• "stands up" if you hold her, bears weight on legs
• smiles and coos at our funny songs and faces (Tragically, "Party in the U.S.A." is a favorite.)
  
• "talks" and laughs
• Her favorite game right now is spitting-out-her-spit. It is equal parts gross and sweet. She seems so pleased with herself, even though her front is slimy wet all the time.
• "watching" us, following us and the dogs with her eyes
• She loves sitting in her bumbo. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of that!

We have Halloween and her baptism this weekend, followed by her four month check up and her four month birthday at the end of the week. Also, I've been trying to make some progress on the craft loft so I'll need to show you that! It look like I'll need to be a better blogger. Somehow it seems like more fun to hug on the baby than to blog about her, but I'll do my best!!!