On a lighter note...

Here's a recent photo of Madeline, 10 months old, swinging at a local park. She is so full of life. It's a joy to pick her up out of her crib every morning because she's always so excited to see me. She has three teeth now, which she used to clench down and leave a small blood blister on my finger a couple of days ago when I was trying to figure out if she was getting her fourth tooth yet.

Erika turned 16 today. She's visiting her dad and his family in Las Vegas this week (Sept. 1) but we're going to celebrate her birthday next weekend with a marathon shopping session.

We have had a couple other losses in the past couple of months, in addition to our pregnancy loss. My cat, Sam, died in early August at the age of 17. He was the soul of our home and he's missed by all, although we knew it was for the best because he had gotten very weak. I had gotten him from a cameraman I knew in Nashville when I worked at a television show there. Sam was just a kitten, living underneath his neighbor's steps.

Also, our goldfish died, which had more lives than most cats. It had a deformed short fin and would often float upside down to save its strength. You'd think it was about to die when suddenly it would start swimming again. This went on for several years. It was nice, I must admit, to finally take the aquarium apart, clean and store it. It had been in our living room for many years, taking up valuable real estate.

I'm so excited to sign Madeline up for an Early Childhood Family Education class this fall. Even my baby is going to school this fall, which is fun. :) And Erika starts back to school on Tuesday. In addition to several college courses she's taking in high school, she has a child development class she's excited about. I have a feeling she might be taking Maddy as a class guest. I'm sure Madeline will love it.