A few recent shots of the girls to share...

(above) Getting ready to ride the shuttle with their backpack leashes. These backpacks are either a little monkey or a bear and then the tail clips on and off and is an actual leash so the parent can keep the rugrat from running off. I rarely use these devices except at amusement parks or airports or other places where there is a lot of confusion/people/stranger danger etc. It's funny how people look at us when we are using these leashes. Single twenty somethings ususally look horrified as in "how could you do that to your child, they are human beings for crying out loud. You should be locked up." Thirty and forty somethings who are in the middle of the parenting craziness usually either look at us like "oh wow...look at that, I wish they had those when my kids were 3." or "gee- I wonder where they sell those. I have GOT to pick one of those up - even if my kid IS ten years old." Then the older set look at us as if to say "Glad it isn't me!" We never know exactly how people are going to react but when you see a haggered mom coming down the gateway in the airport with two loud three year olds who are making the respective noises of the animal on their back (katie roars like a bear and Jessica ooo ahhhs like a monkey) and the tails of said animals comprise the leash they are attached to - it always gets some sort of head turning reaction.
(Above) my Katie Kate - age 3 1/2

(above) Jessica, me and Katie in the lobby of the Governor Hotel in Portland Oregon. The girls' favorite part of staying in this hotel is that they had a bowl of green apples in the lobby that you could help yourself to. I think the girls ate like 3 apples/day while we were there. Everytime we came down in the elevator they had to check if there were apples.

Jessica Rose and Clarice. Clarice (for those of you who have never been around my kids) is a stuffed rabbit head/blanket. She has the head of a rabbit and then her body gracefully transforms into a blanket. Jessica has had Clarice since birth and does not go anywhere or sleep without Clarice. We named Clarice. Her full name is Clarice Rabhijt (think Saudi Arabian and prounounced Rabbeet) Blankette. She is the Saudi Arabian cousin by marriage to Katie's stuffed comfort item which is basically the same thing but is the head of a bear. Katie's stuffed friend is named Sophie Bear Blankette. It's a big long story but I thought the love Jessica has for Clarice is so obvious in this picture.

(above) Jessica at a cafe in Portland

(above) Mom and Katie at cafe

(above) My babies and me - girls are we - making three- missing Mikey

Super cute Jessica Rose age 3 1/2

She looks so sweet doesn't she? Guess what? She is. I love you Katie.

Down for the count. As soon as my kids fall asleep for a nap or the night, I can't help but do the math immediately in my head of how long it will be until they wake up again. Do all moms do this?

Sorry these are just of my chicks. I don't know what happened to my camera. It's like it didn't work when I was taking pix of anyone else. I never thought I would be one of those moms that just took pictures of "their" kids and this recent few days has made me aware that I need to do a MUCH better job of taking pictures of other people. My only excuses are that it has just been in the past few weeks that I've started taking pictures again AT ALL so I am rusty AND I'm so interested in VISITING with other people that are adults and can actually talk back to me about anything besides The WonderPets that I get all excited and forget to grab my camera. Oh - and I'm always thinking about Mike and what he's missing and well, basically, he is missing his girls big time so I'm thinking about what sorts of pictures I want to share with him. Sorry to everyone else that I didn't get a photo of. I hope you know how important you are, how much I love you and how much I was glad we were all together.