Long time no blog. Things have been super crazy around here. Elementary school went on break for the four oldest. Middle school began for the eldest. Middle school went on break. I spent three weeks in Sacramento with the younger four while Drake spent three weeks in Hawaii with the oldest two. (Gee, who got the better end of that deal?)Elementary school started for second child. Elementary school went on break for second child. All the while, we've had the fact that Drake interviewed for a job in Sacramento while eldest was in her two week session of middle school. Towards the end of our Sacramento/Hawaii vacation, Drake got word that he got the job. That left us deciding if he really wanted to take it and what it meant for us if he did and what it meant if he didn't. We had to make that decision while we were 2415 miles (give or take lol ) apart because the new job wanted an answer before we were back from vacation.

So, what was the decision? HE ACCEPTED!!! Whoa...talk about huge. Granted, it's not as though we're moving across the United States, but 496 miles (give or take lol That's the mileage allowance his new employer gave him, so I'm assuming they're right...or just trying to keep us under the 500 miles, at which point we'd be able to ship our car and fly up there and they'd pay for it. lol) Still, we're uprooting our children, taking them away from the only place they've really ever known, and moving clear across the state.

It's a good move for us. San Diego was always a temporary living situation. It was the first place Drake could find work after college, when we were being forced to leave family student housing and really had nowhere to go. It was always agreed that San Diego was a five year commitment, then we would move closer to my family. It's been six and a half years now. It's time. I need to be near my family. I need that support. Every year, I've applied for school, been accepted, sometimes even getting as far as registering for classes, only to have to withdraw at the last moment because Drake gets sucked into a new project that means long hours and not being able to commit to being home to watch the kids so I can take some classes. That won't happen this year. Drake will have regular work hours, so he can be home to watch the kids. If he can't, I have my mom, my three sisters, my sister in law and my brother, all available and willing to take my kids if I need them to at the last minute because Drake can't get home. Being away from family left me with the possibility of having a baby with no one there to support me. Drake had to go on a week long business trip when I was pregnant with Sera. He got back shortly before I was due. Thankfully, she went overdue. Had I gone into labor while he was gone, it would be just me, in labor, getting myself and four kids to the hospital. Not fun.

Not only will we have the support of my family (and I'll get to go out on DATES with my husband! We went out for dinner last Christmas and my family watched our kids, but that was the first time we had been out alone in six years) but my kids will get to grow up with their cousins. Growing up, I saw my cousins once a year. I wasn't close to them at all. They were people I was forced to interact with at Thanksgiving and it was really uncomfortable. I HATE the thought of that being how my kids feel. I am so close to my siblings. The thought of our kids not growing up together is heartbreaking. Caitlin is almost 11. For over half of her life, her cousins have been a once a year thing. I hate the "warming up" period that they go through when they get together. It makes me sad to see how close my sister's and my brother's children are and see my kids just off to the side because they haven't seen their cousins in a year.

Add to that the lower cost of living, the better schools (although I absolutely ADORE the elementary school my kids go to. I'm very sad to be leaving the school and the teachers who are so dedicated to the kids) and a safer neighborhood (not that my neighborhood is bad, but we did have three scooters stolen off of our front porch a month ago :( ) and it's just a good move all around. Caitlin is just going into sixth grade. I don't want to move her when she's older. I want her to feel like the next area we live in is "home." She won't feel that way if we wait much longer to move. If we move when she's in high school, I'm afraid San Diego will always feel like home to her.

Caitlin is upset because sixth grade is still in elementary school. (Well, that's just one of the LONG list of reasons that she's upset about moving) I think it's great, though. It will mean that all four kids are in the same school for their first year in a new school district. I like that they'll all have each other for support at school. I reminded her that it also means another promotion ceremony at the end of the year, which she's excited about. lol She's so sad to be leaving her friends, though. :(

Emma is upset about leaving her friends and leaving the school. She's having an easier time accepting the move than Caitlin is, though.

The younger four are just excited to be moving near my mom. They can't wait and are SO happy to be moving.

Drake was having a REALLY hard time accepting the job. It wasn't that he didn't want to move. It wasn't that he thought staying in San Diego was a better option. In his head, he realized that this was the best thing for us. It was a wonderful opportunity, both for our family and for his career. Why the hesitation then? He likes his job. He loves his coworkers. He has this amazing sense of loyalty, which I love him for...it makes for a good husband...but it made it really difficult for him because he felt like he was disappointing his coworkers and leaving them in quite a lurch because he's in the middle of a large project. He eventually realized that his sense of loyalty needed to be to his family and doing what was best for them. Things are "good" in San Diego. Life would be fine if we stayed. Things will be better in Sacramento. He realized he couldn't just settle for "good" for his family and that better was....well, better. lol

As for me, I was/am really excited about moving. I've found, however, that this has been harder on me than I thought it would. This has been our plan all along. I've been waiting to move near family...forever, it seems. San Diego has never felt like "home" to me. I thought I was just excited to move, that EVERYTHING about moving was a good thing, that it would be easy because this is what I've been wanting for a long time. Then, it actually started happening, and I started acting strangely. I've been on edge. I've been snapping at the kids. I've had such a short fuse lately. I thought maybe it was the money stress...trying to find the money for a new place and moving. I thought maybe it was the overwhelming thought of packing up and moving all of our stuff. Then, the kids had their last day of taekwondo. Drake took them to their classes. I went to pick them all up after class. My plan was to go in and say goodbye to their instructor and the parents that I had become friends with. I got there. I parked. I took the key out of the ignition. I sat there and cried. I couldn't go in. The thought of actually saying goodbye was too much for me. Here was something that had been a part of my children's lives for almost five years. That's more than half of Emma's life. Ethan was just barely one when we started taking the girls to taekwondo classes. Cole was two or three. The girls are black belts now. Cole would be earning his junior black belt next month. Their instructor and their friends from this class have been a constant in their lives for almost the entire time we've lived in San Diego. I didn't want to say goodbye. I was going to miss them. I felt like I was taking my children away from something and people they love. How can I do this?

I picked up Emma from school yesterday. It was her last day of summer session for the Academy. I saw her hugging her friends. I saw her saying goodbye to her teachers. How can I take them away from their school?

As of now, we don't have a place to live. Drake starts work on the 24th. We're going up there this weekend to look at a few houses that are up for rent. I think the plan, as of right now, is to rent a cheap one bedroom apartment for Drake really close to work. He's bringing his bike up with us this weekend, so if we can secure him an apartment, he'll ride his bike to and from work and continue to search for homes on the weekend with someone from my family. (We only have one car and I need it since I'm going to be the one with the kids) We'll stay here in San Diego until we can secure a place to live. Our lease here is up at the end of September, so we need to find something by then. So, the kids will be starting school here, then will probably be moving a couple of weeks after school starts. I had really hoped to be moved before school starts up where we're moving, but it starts Monday and it's just not possible.

So, anyways, that's the update from us. Kinda crazy, but very exciting.

Have you ever had a time where something makes you think back to something you did as a child, that makes you want to call one of your parents and apologize for something you didn't even think about back then, but you now realize was a pretty big deal?

My mom made my dress for my seventh grade graduation from elementary school. (My elementary school went through seventh grade.) I LOVED this dress. It was absolutely PERFECT. While my friends went to the Gunnysaks outlet in San Francisco to pick out their dresses, my mom MADE mine. I actually truly did appreciate it...even at the time. I hope that I expressed my gratitude for it back then because it really meant so much to me.

This made me want to make a dress for Caitlin's graduation. I have been working on it for MONTHS. From picking out the perfect pattern, to going from store to store to store, trying to find the perfect fabric that I knew she would absolutely LOVE. Finally, I had the pattern and the material. The pattern didn't come in her size, so I spent quite a while transferring the pattern to different paper, making the proportions right, making sure it would all fit together and fit her. I cut out the fabric...the outer, the lining, the underskirt, etc. For WEEKS, I've been staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning, cutting, sewing, ripping seams, sewing again, all to make it perfect. This has all done without her knowledge because I just KNEW she was going to love it and I wanted it to be a surprise.

Graduation is Wednesday. She came to me today, frantic because we HAD to go to the mall to buy her a dress for graduation because graduation is NEXT WEEK and she just HAS to find the perfect dress, and she can't believe we've been putting it off for so long because now she probably won't be able to find the PERFECT dress. I told her not to worry, that I have been making her dress without her knowing, so she HAS a dress and I know she's just going to love it. Her response? "I want to buy a dress. I hope you don't mind," then she just walked away. "I hope you don't mind." Of course I don't mind. That doesn't make it any less heartbreaking. Here, I thought I was doing something that she would love. SO much thought, time, energy and love has gone into this dress, and without even looking at it, she dismisses it and says she doesn't want it.

As I sat in my bedroom, holding her dress, crying because I was so disappointed, I thought back to how many times I must have done this to my own mom, without even realizing it. I thought about the quillow that she made me. It was SO perfect for me. The front was made out of a music themed fabric. The back was stitched to the front in the design of a treble clef, and other musical symbols. I don't think I appreciated it back then as much as I do now. SO much time, thought, love and effort must have gone into that quillow and I probably gave her no more than a "Thanks, Mom!" and it probably didn't sound very sincere.

One year (1992, so I was 13) I decided I was going to make a quilt as my Young Women's in Excellence project. I made a quilt made out of 6"x6" jean squares. I cut out all of the squares, arranged them how I wanted the quilt made, sewed all the squares together. This took FOREVER. The night before I was supposed to be finished, I was so tired that I just couldn't finish. I still had to add the batting, sew on the back, then tie it up. I didn't even know HOW to put a back on a quilt. I went to bed, disappointed because I wasn't going to be able to finish because it was so late and I was so tired. I woke up in the morning, to the quilt completely finished, only needing me to tie it up. I don't even know if I said thank you. I didn't think about how late my mom must have stayed up, if she even went to bed that night, finishing MY project for me because she knew how badly I wanted to display it that next night. I remember thinking it was nice that my mom did that for me, but I didn't realize just how big of a deal it was and how hard she must have worked that night to do that for me.

One Christmas, I was really hoping for money as my big gift. When I got my big gift, I could tell it wasn't money. It was a box that held something. I opened it up, and in it was this: (Well, something similar to it...I don't have a picture of the exact one)

I was disappointed. I really wanted money. I'm sure the disappointment showed on my face and could be heard in my voice. What a spoiled little brat! I know my mom must have spent so much time thinking of the perfect gift for me. I had been taking German classes in school for years and I LOVED that class. Honestly, it WAS the perfect gift for me. I just didn't know it at the time. I still have that carousel. I put it up in my house every Christmas. It is the best gift I have ever received. Not only does it remind me of a class I loved so much, but it reminds me of just how well my mom knew me and that, even when I was being a self centered brat, my mom loved me and did so much to make me happy.

When I was 18, I called my mom and told her I was pregnant, was getting kicked out of college, and was going to get married. I know I broke her heart. For the next few months, she did her best to talk me out of getting married. She wanted so much more for me. She wanted me to finish college. She wanted me to live life more. She wanted me to at least wait until I knew this boy better. I wasn't hearing any of it. I loved him. I was pregnant. I was getting married...end of story. Even though I made her so angry/hurt/sad, when I asked her if she would make my wedding dress for me, without hesitation, she said she would. I found a pattern that was a little like the dress I wanted, gave it to her and told her, "This is kinda what I want, but I want the sleeves to look like this, the bodice to look like this," etc. etc. etc. She was angry with me. She was sad for me. Yet, she took my ideas and made the wedding dress I had been dreaming of. It was perfect. I know that had to have been hard for her. Not only because she basically had to create this dress from scratch, but because she knew she was making this dress for a wedding she didn't want to happen. She did it, though, and it was perfect...because she loves me. I know I didn't appreciate how difficult it must have been to make that dress for me. To me, she knew how to sew. She had made my seventh grade graduation dress. She had made my Senior Ball gown (yet another thing I probably wasn't anywhere near as appreciate of as I should have been). So, to me, it wasn't that big of a deal for my mom to make my wedding dress. It was, though, and I know that now. I just wish I had realized it then and been as appreciate as I should have been.

So, Mom, if you're reading this, I'm sorry for all of the times you put so much effort into doing something for me, only to have me not appreciate it. Thank you so much for doing all of those things that I remember and appreciate so much more now than I did back then. Thank you for all of the things you did that went completely unnoticed, but made my childhood one that I look back on and wonder how on earth I'm possibly going to be as good of a mom as you are.

that make you realize that they're not quite as smart as you had originally thought.

So, I swear, EVERY mother thinks their child is gifted. Super smart. Better than your average bear. EVERY mother, at one point or another, has said, "Wow, would you look at that! Other kids their age aren't doing that yet, s/he must be GIFTED." I have six children. I know not every child is gifted. Some children excel in one thing or another. Some excel in many things. Some are average, but have their moments. However, I can almost guarantee you that every mother has thought their child might be gifted at one point in another. Now, this is no slight to mothers who actually have gifted children, so don't fill my comment box (you know, all you millions of readers out there who diligently follow my blog) with comments about how your child really IS gifted. I'm sure they are! (That came out sounding a LOT more patronizing than I meant for it to...I'm actually being sincere.) I've met some very gifted children. I'm not talking about the moms of those kids. :) These are just some of my observations from interacting with a variety of different mothers everyday on the message board I help run, and out here in the "real world."

I try not to be one of those moms. You know the ones. They're the ones that, when they're child rolls over at 2 months, 29 days instead of 3 months, exclaim to anyone that can hear that their child is GIFTED! Gifted, I tell ya! However, I have found myself, more and more thinking like one of those moms. Allie is almost 2. She has been talking since she was about 5 months old. She's been talking in full sentences since before she turned 1. Those thoughts...those thoughts that I mock so much...those, "My child is GIFTED!!!! Gifted, I tell ya!!!" thoughts started creeping in. A few weeks ago, when she sang along to Miley Cyrus' "Hoedown Throw Down," they started creeping in a little bit more. A couple of days ago when she started going upstairs and I asked her where she was going and she responded, "I'm checking on Daddy," then when she came downstairs and exclaimed, "I couldn't find him!" those thoughts came creeping up.

Yesterday, my beautiful, spunky, wonderful, GIFTED Allie walked up to me, said, "My arm hurts!"...and grabbed her leg. Ahhhh, yes. Whenever I find myself becoming one of those moms I like to mock, my child brings me right back down to earth.

So, I don't know if I mentioned before, but my older girls are in a knitting club at school. They are LOVING this. I'm a bad mommy and haven't taught them how to knit. I figure that they learn to talk/walk/whatever through being immersed in it and not actually having to be taught (by the way, this is the same approach I take to potty training. I don't train them to do it...they just figure it out on their own eventually) that the same might apply to knitting. They see me do it everyday...they should eventually just pick it up, right? Okay, so really, I'm just a terrible teacher, with very little patience. I do believe they would have eventually picked it up on their own, though.

So, they're knitting! Not only that, but they're LOVING it!!! (Did I ever doubt that they would? Who doesn't love knitting?) Apparently, the past couple of days that the club was supposed to meet on, the principal (who is running the club) had meetings, so she couldn't run the club those days. Well, instead of just running off to recess like other kids would, my girls got went into the classroom that kids can go during recess to play games or whatever, sat down on the couch there, and just knit away. Not only that, but they brought yarn to donate to the club and used it to teach their friends to knit!

So, anyways, we were in Target yesterday and the girls told me they need knitting bags. Apparently they were getting tired of carrying their yarn and needles to school in grocery sacks. lol So, they looked around at all of the handbags and they both settled on the exact same purse, in the exact same color.



It's large enough to carry their yarn, needles, and has a pocket that can hold accessories. They LOVE them. They are going to the movies today and I had to tell them that they couldn't bring their knitting bags to the movies and knit while they watched. I know, I know, I probably should let them, but they're not to the point now where they can pay attention to something else while they knit and I don't want them to miss the movie!

So, I was sitting there at my girls taekwondo class tonight, happily knitting away on a pair of baby booties, when all of a sudden, I hear the "click" of a camera phone. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the approximately 8 year old girl, who I know has been watching me knit, phone in hand, looking away so as not to look as though she just took a picture of me knitting. lol The phone, still pointed towards my hands, was a bit of a give away. I'm thinking of bringing along a set of extra needles and some yarn next week and asking her if she'd like to learn to knit. She sits there during the two classes that I sit through because her parents are in the classes. She usually brings along whatever crocheted thing she is working on, but she didn't have it today, so she just sat and watched me knit. Too cute.

Doesn't it seem like every time I post, there is a similar title? Crazy, crazy, crazy. That's what it's been like around here. You'd think that with so much going on, I'd have something to post about, wouldn't you? Well, sadly, I really don't. It's really just been a whirlwind of school, friends, activities, etc. I did get around to writing a Christmas letter this year and will post it when it gets the final approval from Drake.

Drake is currently in Boston. Well, I take that back. Drake is currently flying over the United States somewhere between Nashville and Phoenix. He has been in Boston the past few days for work and is flying home tonight...supposedly. His first flight ended up being diverted to Nashville and now it isn't getting into Phoenix until after his connecting flight has already left, so I have no idea what he's going to do. He may be stuck in Phoenix tonight, which really sucks, because I really wanted him home. It has been a while since he last traveled for work. I'm not used to it anymore, and I miss him. Not that I didn't miss him when he was traveling a lot, but at least then, I was used to it. Now, I'm not and my stress levels are through the roof. It doesn't help that it has been raining, which means the kids haven't been getting outside to play at school, so they're all antsy when they get home, and then are stuck inside at home as well. Not fun at all. They're driving me absolutely UP THE STINKIN' WALL!!!!

Cole recently had a chalazion removed from his lower eyelid. It had been causing some trouble for him, so we decided to have it removed. He came through the procedure remarkably well and can't even tell that anything happened now, except that his eye doesn't bother him! Yay!


Caitlin had her first band concert the other day. She did brilliantly!


I made an unrealistic knitting list for Christmas and have yet to decide who can do without this year, so in the meantime, I'm just knitting away like crazy during all my free time...because, you know...there is oh so much of it.

We leave to go up to my mom's house on Sunday! The kids are SO excited! They have a paper chain that doesn't count down to Christmas...it counts down to Grandma's house. lol They're cute.

So, Adelaide tagged me a while ago, but I wasn't fully online yet, but I'm here now and going to do it!

10 years ago...1998
Five Things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. I was going to college in Rexburg, ID
2. I was getting kicked out of college
3. I was getting married
4. I was pregnant and then having Caitlin
5. I was moving to Santa Cruz, CA so my husband could go to UCSC

Five Things on my to-do list today:

1. Put the seats and carseats back in the car
2. Do four loads of laundry
3. Scrub the kitchen floor
4. Take Cole to his opthamology appointment
5. Get some Christmas knitting done

Five snacks I like:

1. Ben and Jerry's peach cobbler ice cream
2. Home made guacamole with hint of lime tortilla chips
3. Pineapple
4. Thai young coconut
5. Orange juice

Five Things I would do if I was a millionaire:

1. Buy a home near my family
2. Visit family in Hawaii
3. Go on a cruise with Tracey
4. Buy a Prius
5. Put money in my children's college funds
(Not in that order, though)

Five Places I’ve Lived in (for various lengths of time):

1. Fremont, CA
2. San Lorenzo, CA
3. Rexburg, ID
4. Mountain View, CA
5. Santa Cruz, CA

Five Jobs I have had:

1. Ice cream scooper at Baskin Robbins
2. Customer Service Representative at Hollywood Video
3. Day care worker at 24 Hour Fitness
4.
5.

Yes, I realize it has been AGES since I last updated this thing! Things have been crazy hectic around here. I have four in school, with two different drop off times and four different pick up times. We moved. The kids have been sick. It's all just crazy. Would you believe I haven't even picked up any knitting in over a month? So sad. I have SO much Christmas knitting I've been planning, but have started on almost none of it, which means I'm going to have to pick and choose what I'm actually going to do. I'm okay with that though because I know that other than my mom and my husband, no one will really appreciate just how much time and effort go into a hand knitted object. (Just ask my husband, who has been patiently waiting for his second sock for almost six months! lol) There is no way I'm going to finish Drake's Christmas present on time...especially since I haven't found the perfect yarn for it yet.

Is it pointless to knit something for someone that you know they will probably never wear? I want to knit Ice Queen for my mom. I think it would look incredible on her. However, it's SO not something she would wear! Also, I have the yarn, and it's fairly scratchy. Even if she would wear it, I'm not sure she'd be able to handle it on her neck! I certainly wouldn't. However, I think it's gorgeous and while it may not be something she'd wear, I think it is something she would appreciate for the effort it took me to make it and it's beauty. But, I feel strange giving a gift I don't think the recipient will ever use. However, I really think that's going to be her gift because it's telling me that it wants to be.

The kids are all doing well. Caitlin ran for school president. She lost in the primaries, but I think it's wonderful that she ran. She's having some difficulties with friends. I'm hoping that it will pass now that the actual elections are over. She was very vocal about her hope that prop 8 would fail. Her friends, being the good Christians that they are, basically told her that God hates gays and that she's going to hell for not wanting prop 8 to pass. Not only that, but we must not forget that Obama wants to rewrite the constitution and kill babies and that she's just as bad because she wanted him to win. Thankfully, she is a strong, opinionated little girl who doesn't falter in what she believes just because others don't agree with her. She told me that her friends are allowed their opinions, just like she's allowed hers and she doesn't believe the government should make laws based on the Bible because not everyone believes in the Bible and that the government should make laws based on what is fair and right. I'm incredibly proud of my little girl.

Emma is also doing very well. She was chosen, along with a friend of hers, to be class representatives in the Student Council. She LOVES this. She looks forward to every meeting and takes it very seriously. She loves being involved in school and takes a great deal of pride in her responsibilities. She recently had 16 inches of hair cut off to donate to Locks of Love. This was SUCH a huge deal for her. She has had long hair for as long as I can remember and she LOVED her hair, but she just decided that it was the right thing to do. She looks adorable with her new hair cut and she LOVES it! She also loves how easy it is to take care of and how it has cut her showers down by about ten minutes. lol

Cole is Cole. He amazes me every single day with his academic abilities. In school this year, the younger kids are taking a test that usually only the older kids take. It's called the MAPs test. It stands for "Measure of Academic Progress." It basically allows the teachers to see where the student is, if they're progressing at the rate they want them to, etc. It's taken on a laptop and is dynamic in that when you get an answer correct, the next question is a bit more difficult. If you get it wrong, the next question is a bit easier. This allows them to really see where you are at, academically. I spoke with Cole's teacher about his results and she said that he got the highest score possible on the test. For the older kids, you just keep going and going until the test decides it has determined where you are at academically, just getting harder and harder until it decides you're at the right level. Unlike the older kids though, the younger kids test has a ceiling. Cole hit that ceiling on the math portion. He scored the highest in his class in both math and reading. Ooh, speaking of reading...he's reading the same book that my girls are! They're all reading "Twilight," by Stephanie Myers. (I think that's how you spell the author's name, anyways.) Caitlin isn't all that interested, but Cole and Emma are both really enjoying it. I thought it was a bit too advanced for Cole...especially being 500 pages long, but he's really enjoying it and actually "getting" it. I talk to him about each chapter after he finishes it to make sure he understood what he read and he definitely does!

Ethan is such a fun kid. He's LOVING school. He's doing really well in math. He was Superman for Halloween and LOVED it. He loves super heroes. He absolutely adores his teacher. I just wish he was a bit more organized. That's definitely something we need to work on with him! He's always SO happy, which makes life easy for me!

Sera is getting better about Ethan being at school. Every once in a while she'll still ask if we can go pick her best friend up from school, but those days are getting fewer and further between. She's had some awful night terrors lately, which is so sad. :( She wakes up just screaming and sobbing. Drake has taken to sleeping with her, so we're hoping that helps. She's such a huge help with Allie. She absolutely adores her baby sister and loves that Allie calls her "Sissy."

Allie is...well, Allie. She's...trying. I love her. She is so much fun when she's in a good mood, but she's almost never in a good mood. She screams, she hits, she scratches, she bites. If she doesn't want you near her, she lets you know, and she almost never wants you near her. She's just plain mean to Sera, which is so difficult to see because Sera loves her so much. My one saving grace, at the moment, is that she is REALLY good at going to bed. lol When she gets tired, she just starts climbing up the stairs saying, "Bye, bye!" and walks into her room and stands by her crib until I come in there to put her in and she always goes right to sleep. It's SO nice! lol She really is cute and cuddly when she's in the mood to be, though. She's taken a liking to stuffed animals lately, which is really cute. She carries her monkey, Yim, around with her everywhere. Occasionally she will give you kisses, and tell herself, "That's so nice..." because that's what we always say when she gives hugs and kisses because she rarely does it. She usually hits you in the face if you try to give her a kiss. She's talking up a storm. She has names for each of us, she can tell me when she has a dirty diaper, and her favorite word is "NO!" She can also use sign language to tell me when she's hungry or thirsty...which she always seems to be. lol

So, that's our update!