Since I can't seem to post photos ...

Grrr ...

You all get a general update instead. :-)

In brief --

Another month has flown by and Nessa will be 13 months tomorrow. She is babbling a lot and we're now convinced that she does indeed say "mama" and "dada" with purpose and she seems to make some distinct sounds around the cats too but we can't quite make out if she's trying to say their names or imitating our constant request of her to be "gentle." Nessa is also getting closer and closer to walking and the last couple of days she has balanced on her own a few times although that sometimes leads to a hard fall -- especially if she doesn't realize to put her butt down rather than landing on her back/head! Nessa is enjoying all of her new toys and is surprising us with all of the things she can do with them including putting several of her mega blocks together and fitting the correct peek-a-blocks on her train so that the item in the block twirls around. One of her favorite things to do though is still emptying the bookshelf of most of her books while she "reads" them one by one.

Megan is being as creative as ever as she continues to dream up books, artwork, songs, make believe balls and a few schemes. Megan and I are using the "just do it" theory to exercising lately as we encourage each other by having fun dancing, playing tag, jumping rope, etc. (Megan told me I was acting like a kid ... now if it would just make the grey hair go away) and we are also trying to do just 10 minutes of stretching and strength training each morning. Megan is also starting her vision therapy this Tuesday (http://www.wkbt.com/Global/category.asp?C=52166 for some links from Family Vision Center)so we'll be adding eye exercises to the list as well.

This weekend was rainy but relaxing. Friday night Shawn and I had a date night where we just went out to eat and then hung out and went shopping for a bit. It was great and very much needed. Saturday we went to some rummage sales and then in spite of the rain kept our plans to visit the cemetery and put some spring flowers at Emily's grave. Later we watched a movie and had a relaxing night. Sunday I ended up napping after church and then played with the girls and got little else done all day (means more to do today!).

Last weekend it was so nice on Sunday that Megan and I wanted to go for a long walk and explore the walking trail near our house. We even took a picnic lunch and also stopped to play at a park near the end of the trail. It was about a 3 mile round trip walk plus play time ... so I got my first sunburn of the spring because I totally wasn't thinking about it when we left! Thank goodness Nessa was totally covered and Megan doesn't burn as easily as I do (just a bit of her nose and cheeks got a little red). My forehead even peeled a bit but I think now, a week later, it looks fine again. Sigh.

Those are all the little things that come to my mind --- please leave comments or send us an email to let us know how you all are doing. I'll post more as soon as I get photos to upload!