Its a . . . .

GIRL!

Yep it is definitely a girl, I won't share the picture to prove it but it is obvious just like Keeley was. The good news is that all we have to do is wash Keeley's clothes to get ready. The bad news is that we have to come up with a name for the little one. From the ultrasound we could really see her features and she looks a lot like Keeley did in her chubby checks, lips and especially her chin. The ultasound tech said that if she had to guess she would have guessed she was 29-30 weeks, and seems how I am barely 27 weeks, it sounds like we will have another beefy baby.


Personality seems very different from Keeley so far. Although she is very active, she is a self soother, something Keeley never was. She had her umbilical cord in her mouth most of the time and when she would drop it she would suck on her thumb until she could find it again. It really was a very special bonding experience for Matt and I to get to see her. I can't wait to meet her and see if any of this holds true.

So. . I'm off to try and find a name, any suggestions?

Boy or Girl

So, I have caved and got an ultra sound to find out what we are having. But, what I want to know first before I spill the beans is what you think we are having. boy? or girl? make you pick by monday night because that is when I'll let you all in our secret. ps if you already know what we are having you have to vote what you told us you thought it was. here is a cute little picture if it helps you make your decision.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

What do you see?

I see Keeley getting lots of attention.

I think Keeley sees a duck. Quack.

I think Pappy sees a Duck also. Quack!

Quack!

Christmas #2

Christmas #2 happened when Nana and Pappy showed up from Idaho. We saved out all of their gifts so we could open them all together. They arrived around 4pm on Christmas Day we opened presents and then enjoyed a yummy ham dinner together.

The one thing Mom and Dad kept saying about Keeley was how gracious she was. She always said thank you and always wanted everyone to be opening something. She spent a lot of time diving out the presents. She is a very thoughtful child.

That was until she opened her big present.

Then it was all about pushing her around the house so she could fill her basket with all the new toys. She loves that bike.

Christmas #1

Christmas #1 was just the three of us and it was so much fun. That is the first we really have gotten to do it by ourselves. Keeley didn't wake up until 8 which gave me enough time to finish up the cinnamon rolls before we started.

She was too cute about everything. She kept say Wow!! and TOYS!! I hope she never loses that Christmas joy.
For Christmas she got lots of ELMO, building blocks, pots and pans, Thomas tent, a baby doll, clothes and a brown and pink chair. She couldn't have been more pleased. Little did she know that was just the first time the tree would be filled with presents.

Here is Keeley handing Riddle her present!
Thanks to everyone for making our Christmas so plentiful!!

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at the Popes house.

After eating ourselves sick with food we took a little detour to see some Christmas lights. Keeley screamed the entire time in the car but other than that it was great.This was the coolest house! We got out to look at it and take a break for a few minuets and as we did that, Anna, one of little girls with us took off for the front door she was meet there by the sweetest family who invited us in for cookies and to see the rest of their displays.

After that it was home to wait for Santa!

Riddle

My parents gave Riddle to me when she was only 8 weeks old fifteen short years ago. The first three years of Riddles life her and I traveled to something like 20 different states. I showed her on the National circuit and she won her class at nationals two years in row. When I left for college Riddle stayed with my parents and that was the first time in 9 years we had been apart. But it didn't last long. As many of you know while I was attending school at Boise State I met a boy, no not Matt. We were very serious when we broke up I had a rough couple months. The word rough probably doesn't do it justice, to me it was nearly unbearable. That is when Riddle moved back in with me. She would run with me 3 miles every day at 11 years old. She slept on my bed and she never left my side when she found me in tears. To many of you this may sound silly but just thinking about it makes me cry again. Since then she has only not been with me the 1 year that I attended BYU-Idaho and was single.

Matt says that when we got married he didn't know about Riddle and that I was saving it so it would break the deal. Shortly after we were married I begged to bring her to live (illegally) in our little 3rd floor apartment. Riddle was Matt's first dog, that made for some good times. He had to do all of his learning with her. The deal was if she moved in with us she wasn't to be on any of the furniture. I obliged his requests. That first night she was in our apartment I left the room to brush my teeth. When I left she was sitting quietly on the floor. When I returned just 5 minuets later I found Riddle snuggled up to Matt on our bed. From that day forward she had furniture privileges.Riddle became my baby as she got older. She was often sick. In the last 4 years she has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and has had surgery to remove parts of it, heart issues, allergies, asthma, arthritis that we treated with medication until she over dosed 2 years and was hospitalized for 2 days. Just after Keeley was born she suffered from a stroke that we didn't think she would survive, but she did and the only thing that reminded us of it was the slight tilt of her head. Most recently, I ran over her leg and she didn't even have a broken bone. Pretty good for her 13" statue.

Everyone worried what she would do when Keeley was born. But she instantly took her in as part of the family. Keeley's poking and prodding has always been endured with a good attitude. We knew she wouldn't be around much longer so for Christmas my parents gave us a ornament to make with her footprint, I finally got around to doing that last Friday afternoon.

That same night while we were out running errands she escaped though and open gate in the backyard. We were up until midnight looking for her and up again at 7:30 searching the neighboring developments. Riddle had started to lose her mind in the past few months often forgetting where she was or what she was doing so I am sure once she lost home it was a scary thing for her.

We have spent countless hours searching for Rids but nothing has turned up. We are pretty sure that someone picked her up and now has her in there home. We have fliers out to all the vet, shelters and on every door in our neighborhood asking people to call. But nothing.
We all miss her. But me the most.

Since Keeley's birth Riddle has gotten much less attention than she use to when she was my "only child." However, what that doesn't change is our history. To me it is like losing a good friend. In fact other than my family she is my oldest friend. We have been through a lot together and she will always be missed. I pray she will come home and she can spend the remainder of her time with us.

Sorry this got so long I just needed to get it off my chest.

Miss you Scoots!