Two Tails, Eight Paws....

We Got our new Kitty

we love her

she is cute.

Nap time is her favorite

its our favorite too!

She lets Brinlee hold her and even falls asleep on her.

That makes her even more great.

She has a Big Smile....

She like Andrew the best. Always wants to be near him

I always want to be near him :-)

I'm so glad we got her. She has been so much fun for us.

Oh and BTW less then an hour after we adopted her and brought her home....

BRUCE

came home.......

So now we are a two cat family!

(Bruce survived a week being locked in our neighbors garage.)

Much love always-Marci

Family Of Four

We are feeling like our house is empty..

Bruce is gone.....

Its time for a new furry friend to join our family

Can't decide whether to get another cat, or maybe a dog. We have never had a dog before so the thought of it scares me. Tomorrow is the big day when we search for our new friend.

Can't guarantee a feline or canine but we will find something with fur to come live with us!

(we are a strong family of animal lovers)

The fact that we have only had two cats during our six years of marriage is nothing short of an absolute miracle. It is all we can stand to not adopt more. Our dream job would be working with animals all day every day! We are just a bunch of softies.

Plus Brinlee doesn't understand why she can't go "spill food" (feed Bruce) anymore.

its time.....

Enough To Fill Up A Vacuum Bag

I decided I was brave enough to take her to the Sand Dunes. So glad we did. They are the same sand dunes I played on when I was a little girl. It was always one of my favorite things that I did in my childhood (growing up in Parker there isn't much to do for fun)

I love her funny face!

All worn out.

I have been feeling GREAT!

Jumping off sand cliffs into soft warm sand is just as fun now as it was 20 yrs ago!

Sand everywhere

Sand over there

Sand in hair

Sand all over cloths

in my nose

inbetween my toes

Much Love Always-Marci

Bruce

Bruce....

You will be missed.

Thanks for being the best black and white cat a family could ask for...

Bruce

April 2007-June 2010

Most Summer Days

Everyday (as long as it is warm) we are always out and about.

We have great parks for kids in this town. Today before andrew went to work we took Brinlee to her favorite park.

I told Brinle to go get her shoes on so we could go to the park...

This is what she found..Black high heel velvet church shoes~

(I made her change)

Always so happy~

"hello, can anyone hear me?"

Brinlee was so confused. She could hear her dad,

but could see her dad! They were so cute!

Later in the day after naps Brinlee and I went for a run around the river and then to Freeman Park. I let her get out and play in the sand and she loved it. It makes me want to take her to the Sand dunes....We will see if I have enough energy to clean sand out from her, me, my house for the next three months.........

Later that night while making dinner she asked if she could play with the "hot mitts" (hot pads) I later found her using it for a shoe.......

I love this girl!

Much love always-Marci

Fathers

We had a great fathers day.

I think Brinlee is pretty lucky because she has such loving Grandpas in her life. She loves her "Tampa" and "Ya Ya" I think they think she is pretty special too.

This past week Brinlee was really sick.....

Her Grandpas both came to the rescue.

Brinlee is also so lucky to have her dad. He is one cool guy. There isn't anything he would do for her. Reading a million bedtime stories is one of them...

-She is one LUCKY LUCKY girl!

Short Term Memory Loss

I have noticed that I have really been struggling with my short term memory. Not to big of a deal if its just not remembering where you put your keys or what you had for breakfast yesterday. But sometimes Andrew will be talking about an event that happened or something cute that Brinlee has said and I don't remember it.....

My little family is so special and there are amazing little things/miracles that happen for us every day. I always want it to be fresh on my mind. I want to take lots of pictures of the sweet times and jot down memories from it so it can always be with me.

My Blog will help me with this. Its fast, easy shows pictures, and I will always have it to look at as long as the Internet exists!

Things are different for us now. Everything has changed. For the better I feel....Depends on the day.

MS happened to us. Showed up in the form of my eye going blind. Its better now, but what a journey it has been.

Multiple Sclerosis is an Auto Immune disease. That basically means my Immune system "hates" me, or hates my nerves anyway. It effects me different days in different ways. But I am learning how not only to live with it, but to FIGHT it! Its easy to fight a disease when you have an army of soldiers (family and friends) behind you.

Official Diagnosis March 17th

"Lucky me"

Brinlee had just turned two. I am glad I have her to keep me on my feet and going. She expects me to be the same mommy that runs with her, twirls her and plays "airplane" with her now just like she did before March. I'm glad she does. It makes me stronger.

My posts are for me, for my family to always be able to look back on with fun memories, remembering the cute things said, to reflect on the fun things we have done, and to be proud of the way we have risen above hardships.

Much Love Always- Marci

Stikeers Nan Teets!

If you were wondering, stikeers nan teets are translated into "stickers and treats" Oh boy, stickers and treats. My life for the past two weeks has been centered around those two items. I decided to start potty training Brinlee when we got home from Hawaii because she was acting like she was ready. I have to say that I am so proud of her! She caught on so quickly. Well we had a few questionable days where I felt like I was going to have to re-carpet my whole house, but after a week she became a potty pro!

I studied the potty training thing out pretty hard. Took lots of advice from family and clients, then came up with a method that was tweaked to Brinlee's personality. I decided that I was going to put her in big girl underwear, and never go back to a diaper. when she would go I had a special song, followed by a dance, then a major clapping fest accompanied by her picking out a sticker then getting a skittle for a treat. Then she would have to call one of her grandparents to brag. I never thought so much happiness could possibly come from hearing a little trickle sound....

Tonight as I was thinking about how awesome and smart my little Brinlee is, I discovered that in all the celebration of her new talent of not messing her pants I forgot one key component. ME! It is as much a celebration for me as it is for her. After all I am the one who spent countless hours in the bathroom that first week reading stories, singing songs just waiting for her to experience a victory. I am the one who had to buy two bottles of "resolve" carpet cleaner in one week. I am the one who gave up play dates, gym work outs, running errands so that there wouldn't be any "accidents" not to mention the many loads of laundry making sure there was always a fresh clean pair of "hello kitty" underwear.

I realized tonight that I have such a big hand in whether or not my child succeeds at something. I realize as mothers we don't give ourselves as much credit as we should. I need to be just as proud of my skills as a mother as I am of her skills of growing and progressing. After all she would still be peeing her pants if it wasn't for me :) So I think I will celebrate me tonight. I'm going to celebrate being a diaper free mom. Celebrate the fact that I came up with the coolest plan ever to get my daughter to be "pee pee free". I think I will go get myself a sticker, followed by a treat!!!

Escape From Snow

Andrew and I just spent the last week vacationing with his parents in Hawaii. OOOOOO Goodness it was sooooo fun! We played so hard, saw so much, ate way more than anyone ever should and laughed until it hurt. We had a blast spending time with our parents and making fun memories with them. Here are a few highlights of the trip!



Hanging out at Pearl Harbor. The USS Missouri in the background.









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What happens when you feed the birds.



Andrews Tattoo given to him by a native of Samoa.

Luau at Polynesian Cultural Center. Way to much food!

Luau when we were in Kauai. It was located in the middle of a

beautiful tropical garden

Sunsets on the beach.

Andrew chillin with the dolphins

Went on a beautiful hike up a mountain the rain forest

An all day boat tour we took around the Nepali Coast

which is on of the most beautiful places on earth.

It was on that boat ride that I learned how sea sick

one can get!. It was still great fun though. We saw dolphins

whales and snorkeled

Peacock trying his best to impress the ladies

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Spent the day playing in the ocean. Met a friendly

Sea turtle that hung out with us for quite a while.