Incredibly thankful For 9 months, Sophie grew under my heart. Yesterday marked 9 months that Sophie has grown up in the world. I could not, in my wildest dreams, have asked for a more amazing, happy, beautiful, clever, sweet, and wonderful daughter. Every day she astounds me and her daddy with something new she's figured out for herself; a new way to play with her toys, an attraction for the ottoman (just the right height to practice standing up on), new sounds to try out. This morning it was figuring out how to open an almost-closed bedroom door and crawl around the hallway. She is our biggest blessing that either of us has ever received, and we thank God every day for the amazing gift that is Sophia Grace. (Blessings 2 and 3 are doing just fine, too.) Tuesday is her surgery (barring any last minute colds) and it has her dad and me up all night, worrying. The important part we have to keep remembering is, she will be able to see properly. That's all I really care about. So you want to see lots and lots of Sophie pictures? We've finally updated her page - so get your Sophie fix right here.

Woo hoo!! The Shop is up and running! Choose from 5 different sets of cards, all in gorgeous full color on glossy stock. All images are my original watercolor and colored pencil paintings, with a brand new, never-seen-before card for 2003! Come check them out!

"Let it Be... Naked" premieres tonight on the radio Okay, I heard most of it already on Q104, and from what I've heard, 'The Long and Winding Road' on its own is already worth the price of the album... it's gorgeous. It's being World Premiered across the country tonight, so get out your tape recorders if you go to bed early like me. ;) So... how pregnant are you? Okay, this is bad... I heard "Butterfly Kisses" on the radio yesterday, a song I abolutely loathe, and it made me cry and cry... all I could think of was of Sophie growing up and dancing with Paul on her wedding day. On my wedding day, my dad and I danced to "Unforgettable" and talked about what we'd be eating once the song was over. Naturally, we sang it to each other... there was no crying and weeping and "you're all grown up now." So the fact that this other song made me lose it is a sure sign of hormonal excess. And 6 more months to go... And what about the cards already? My shipment of envelopes just arrived (the printer forgot to send them) and we've hit a glitch in the online-store-taking-credit-cards department. But it all should be up and running by Monday, God willing. I promise, they're worth the wait!

My Christmas cards arrived from the printer. And they're GORGEOUS!

More about Sophie's surgery Well, we just got back from meeting the surgeon. She's very nice and we feel confident that she'll do a fine job with Sophie. However.... she thought Sophie's case was more serious than we originally thought it was. We've been thinking, "Okay, a little tuck and she'll be perfect," and it's not going to be that simple. They are concerned about Sophie's lack of muscle tone in that eyelid; they also can't determine whether the eye itself can look up all the way. Apparently, the fact that her eyes move left, right, and down together has no bearing on whether they move up together or not. So we'll find out if the eye muscle is also damaged/didn't develop/whatever. It's not something we'd ever thought of - we thought her eye was just fine (and it might be - but we can't tell yet). So here's what we're doing: On Dec. 2, the doctor will perform surgery on Sophie (I HATE saying that!) and will tighten the muscle and her eyelid so that it's open. She may not be able to close it all the way, but we'd rather have her see. She will have dissolving stitches and it will be an outpatient thing - she won't be in the hospital overnight and they want her eye to be uncovered by bandages so that she can work on her vision as soon as possible. We also opted for a procedure where one of us will be in scrubs and will hold Sophie while they administer the anesthesia (gas) - the alternative is that they would give her a medication that would make her really happy and not care what they're doing (so they could give her gas), also it would give her a temporary memory loss. But we feel like (a) she's not going to remember any of this anyway and (b) we don't want to give her two medications when she only really needs one, so we're not doing going that route. There is a very strong possibility that she will need another surgery when she's 2 or 3. The next step is to make a sling that holds up her eyelid and attaches underneath her forehead - she would open her eyes further by lifting her eyebrows. (This is all under the skin, nobody would see anything.) The second part of it is that some doctors like to do the same procedure on the good eyelid so they match. Our doctor feels (and we heartily agree) that nobody should mess with a good eye. But there is a possibility that she may need the sling procedure when she's older, if this first surgery doesn't do what we hope it will. That's the latest... you now now everything we do. We promise we'll keep you posted. Please, please, please, start praying like crazy. This all may sound like we're really calm, but we're pretty upset. The only one who doesn't really seem to care yet is Sophie, who flirted madly with everyone in the waiting room and charmed them all. (Naturally!)

No respect! Sophie's new word is Dada. Forget the fact that she said Mama first, all she wants to say now is Dada. An example of a typical conversation: E: Sophie, can you say Mama? S: Dada. E: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmama! S: Dadadadadadadada! E: Sophie, who carried you for 9 months and then gave birth to you after 5 hours of hard labor? S: Dada! E: (thinking)..... Sophie, who loves your Mama more than anyone in the whole world? S: Goooblurzrbrtzzzzzzzzzz! I can't win. String Theory: Make sure you don't miss this: The Elegant Universe on PBS tonight. "Eleven dimensions, parallel universes, and a world made out of strings. It's not science fiction, it's string theory." Absolutely fascinating even if you know zip about physics like me. I love PBS! And the rest: Thanks for all the comments and well-wishes. I have truly been feeling like garbage lately and the warm feelings really help cheer me up. We hope to have pictures to post soon! The cards are being printed and should arrive by the end of next week - which means I have to get my form up and working. If I can do all this when I'm nauseous and exhausted... imagine what I could accomplish when I'm back to normal?