I have been enjoying cooking lately. Made some beef vegetable soup for the first time in a very long time. Also have turkey soup in the crock pot now. Of course with the turkey leftovers. And the thanksgiving meal turned out beautiful. Even got a compliment saying the turkey looked like a picture in a magazine. Yea me.

The beef ribs turned out better in the crock pot than the ones in the oven so the next round will be in the crock pot. Hmmm, yum.

And of course it is the time of year for that friendship bread. I have a couple loafs in the freezer and one half gone on the counter. I am going to try different flavors, the banana has turned out well, so I'm getting the courage to try chocolate. Chocolate bread seems a little different for me.

Thanksgiving weekend is done. Lots and lots of food. Yum.

Christina ate like she had two hollow legs. She is a fan of turkey leftovers. And to my surprise she ate stuffing as well as she does mashed potatoes.

I am still concerned about the weakness in her legs and how quickly the Botox took effect in her arms. Her physiologist said that is normal, but I worry.

Christina and I have enjoyed telling stories to each other. I like to start with "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess name Christina...". Christina gives me a smile and once in awhile she can't hold back a giggle.

Bath time has been hilarious with Christina laughing so hard she turns red. Christina also finds it amusing when she messes the towels up and I need to grab fresh ones. I can't help but to laugh with her.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving. I made turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, yams, carrots, and lots of gravy. Dinner turned out well. Everyone ate a lot.

Christina looked beautiful, Angela had Christina in a pretty dress and her hair was done nice.

Daddy's Log 20101114

With the rainy weather and cooler temperatures we have been spending our time indoors, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Although it is the start of the feeling of being cooped up.

Christina has continued being more talkative and is taking it to the next level. She is more verbal each week. It seems speech is a favorite activity at school also. It is difficult to find a speech activity Christina is not willing to do.

Soon is Christina's surgery, it always gives me a queezy feeling as the time approaches. It has proven beneficial for Christina, but that feeling and thoughts of 'what if' swirls constantly. The doubts raise their heads higher and more often as the day of surgery approaches.

The next topic:
I have been working on some more web stuff. I am trying to consolidate pictures for everyone and make them easy to view online. The total is over 30,000. I'll figure out a reasonable layout and finish it up one of these days. I also setup another blog for a friend. You will have to be patient as he is learning to post and get the look just right. I will post a link here soon. I've been pondering doing more myself, but that would require a bigger step I am willing to take right now. Getting the pictures online done and updating the slideshow come first. I want to make the slideshow more customized towards Christina. I chuckle as that probably means I'll add some pink.

I have to share (again) a smile from Christina. I see it most often when Christina is walking and I am 'following' her. She turns her head and looks up at me with big eyes and a smile. Her eyes have a sparkle that says "I'm doing it dad". As I have said many times before children are pure and have an energy within them. Never could I have imagined the feeling when Christina shares that with me. Christina shares herself with every smile. And to add to my list of wonderful daddy moments, after supper tonight when I picked up Christina made me smile. Christina gave me a hug and I gave her a hug back, then she said "daddy", I replied "yes", and Christina followed with "I love you", I replied "I love you too". I had to give her another huge hug. As much as I run that through my mind and cherish every bit of it, the best part came after. The look on Christina's face as we looked at each other when she realized that I understood what she said and responded. That smile, the look in her eyes, the unspoken words "I'm proud of you daddy". That was the best part.

Time to update Christina's blog. Enjoy the day.

Daddy's Log 20101024

Saturday morning Christina woke up at 03:00. To quote an old movie; "what does the '0' mean, oh my god it's early". Christina was wide eyed and cheery. We sat downstairs for a little while and then I told Christina she had to go back to bed. I put her back in bed with some hugs and kisses and crawled back into bed myself. I listened until the princess fell asleep. She slept in until about quarter to nine. We had several choices of activities for the day, but took it easy. I don't want Christina to get sick. It was rainy all day. We played a little, read a little, worked on some letters and sounds. She took a long nap too.