Our newest phrases in the house:

-Be gentle
-Be gentle to the Fred-the-cat
-Don't pull Fred's tail
-Be gentle
-Don't eat Fred's tail
-Don't lay on Fred
-Be gentle
-Leave poor Fred alone
-Don't drop your cup on Fred
-Be gentle

Thankfully Fred is a good sport...because Tabitha really loves her "brother".

Tabitha and I over the course of a few weekends liked to occassionally turn on the TV to watch the Women's World Cup of soccer. What fun and exciting games the US women played.

During one of the games, they scored a goal, so I yelled out gggggooooaaalll and put my hands up in the air. Tabitha then followed suit....

GGGGOOOOAAAALLLL!!!!

Another like brother, like sister moment brought to you by Fred and Tabitha.

How hot is it?

Summer is here with a vengeance. It's been really hot and humid lately. How hot you may ask? Well, here's you go....

-The temperature on my run at 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday was 80. The heat index at that time was 91.
-Power outages everywhere from all of the air conditioners running.
-The inside temperature of the house at 75 seems cold.
-Roads are buckling everywhere.
-Construction workers on jobs have that have to be finished are being sent home early because of the heat (although after being in one of the buildings where they were sent home, I see why).
-Set a record for highest dewpoint: 82 degrees
-Set a record for highest heat index: 118 degrees

An interesting stat for you: The coldest windchill this year was -44. The highest heat index for this year was 118. That makes a drastic 162 degree different. I love Minnesota....when does winter arrive?

Here's how Tabitha chooses to cool off.

Sleeping like a baby...

I try not to talk a lot about Tabitha's sleeping. I am afraid I may jinx something if I do. She's been a good sleeper during the night since about 1 month and a good napper since about month 5. Last month we learned how soundly she really does sleep though.

A thunderstorm came rolling through at about 4 a.m. It wasn't severe, but it was loud. I heard it coming for awhile since Fred decided he was going to wake me up at 3:30. There was one clap of thunder that was so loud that the house shook, caused several electrical outlets to trip, and made the singing camel start singing in Arabic. Of course I freaked like I always do, and it made James wake up as well (which means it was loud). I looked over at the monitor and there was Tabitha sound asleep. Seriously, with all of that she slept through it like it never even happened.

I shouldn't have been surprised though....there have been numerous other ocassions where she's just slept....the smoke detectors going off when she was about 2 weeks old (including the one in her room), me vacuuming right outside of her bedroom (granted the door was closed though).

She truly does "sleep like a baby". Now, if only I could take some clues from her!

It's been awhile since the last post. New pictures are on the camera but no time yet to up load them.

But I am sitting here tonight thinking that it is only three weeks til our little girl turns one. Can you believe it? I surely can't. A couple of colleagues came up to me yesterday, and one reminded me of her upcoming birthday. The other one then mentioned how quickly it seem to have gone by. Yes, yes you are right I told her.

No longer is Tabitha is youngest at daycare...instead she's now the oldest in her room and only a bit longer until she moves up to the next room (trust me our checkbook appreciates that fact). She's one that crawls all over the place. She's the one for whom the door needs to be closed otherwise she'll go wandering. She's the one that needs the cabinets locked and outlet covers on. She's the one that sits in the book corner and looks at books. She's the one that brings the younger (I can't say smaller because there's at least one that is bigger and weighs more than her) kids toys as they are sitting in the jumparoo. She's the one with the family poster up.

What happened? No longer is my little girl an infant, and for just a short while longer she's a baby, and much too soon she'll be a toddler.

Wow...what an amazing, tiring, fun, unforgettable, joyous, exciting, phenomenal, crazy year it has been. Here's to many more!