no longer a zoo keeper - but a hair CUTTER

Julia has decided that being a hair cutter is a much better vocation than a zoo keeer... here are some before and after pics of what my sweet little 4 year old did with 4-5 minutes of free time... Annas cute little bob - and her after...

Julia's beautiful long hair... and her after....


Julia is just miserable. She is harder on herself than I ever could be. One look in the mirror and she realized it was gone - and her "princess hair was gone". She thought it would grow back like her teachers (her teacher had hair extensions put in!!!!) :)

Anna now looks like a 3 month old boy... NO hair! Julia's is ok - it's a choppy mullet look. I took them to Great Clips to help even it out. Oh yeah - that is correct - Julia did chop off those bangs that she took a year to grow out.

Julia actually climbed up the cabinet to get her craft basket down - and with dull as hell safety scissors - managed to give both of them a trendy new do - in less than the 5 minutes it took me to use the bathroom and make a phone call!

OH MY!

WHOO HOO!!! I did something today!

Not much - but it was something!!!! I put together the armoire for our living room... wow - I did something.

I feel pretty decent today - still shaky and dizzy - but hey - morning sickness isn't too bad today.

I've had some emails from some of you letting me know that you "miss" my old blogging - and I just want you to know that I WILL get back to it - but right now - I just don't feel funny - introspective or interesting... so this format is hard for me at this time... I'm doing ok but just not feeling chatty! ;)

I made reservations for the Nutrcracker for this year - I can't wait. Julia is already excited!!!!

Parent/Dog Update (m)

My dad has his appointment with the general practioner today - and was told it will be another 4 weeks before he'll be cleared to fly. My dad is now in charge of his medications (another relief for Mel!) and is doing pretty well.

Mom sounds like she's doing ok - tired - but it was bedtime...

Sweetie Pie had her re-check today and they said she is doing fine. After a month of being on them - she'll finally get off her antibiotics... She's doing really well.

So that's it...

Thanks again for your continued support and prayers!

het

More fun with hair...

Ok - I truly feel that God sometimes answers our prayers best by not giving us what we want! I always hoped for a little girl with curly blond hair... with Dan's super curly hair I assumed it would be pretty easy to get. Considering both my girls have stick straight hair with almost NO curl - save for the irritating cowlick - I think it's safe to say that curls are not in my future.

SOOOOoooooo - Julia decided yesterday she wanted to have curly hair today. With her fragile, super fine hair I did not want to fry it on a curling iron - so I decided to go with my mom's answer to curl super straight hair - sponge rollers. :)

Last night Julia was a peach while I rolled her hair into this little purple curlers (mine used to be pink)... and then let her go to sleep...

OH MY! This morning I thanked God for my little straight hair-ed girls. Julia's hair was in tiny curls - they were stuck tot he side of her head! It took 20 minutes to get them separated and then pulled back into a ponytail. :) CUTE - but I'm glad we just get to brush the hair and run out every morning! I can't even think about what it would be like to wash/brush and care for that curly hair all the time!

I have pics - but can't get them to load right now...

Libby Lu

Julia and her friend Saige had a great experience today - they were made over into Rock Stars!!
I was tough with the rules - no drugs, no booze and no groupies!

We went to Libby Lu - where the staff did their hair, makeup and nails. My daughter - (now to be known as the Twisted Sister -- hee heeeeeeeeee) decided instead of the pretty little princess with a tiara and pink fluffy dress that she originally wanted -and mom thought would be sooo cute - she chose a "rocker" look - sprayed neon pink (this would be the crack rock smoking portion of the day - since the fumes from the hair spray and hair color spray definitely gave me a contact high!)! She chose this very ROCK little black sequin number. Amazing how much fun 2 little girls with makeup and fun music can have. They had the store to themselves and had a blast. It was fun watching Julia's creative and fun side come out of her formerly timid little self.

They then got to pick out potions for in their new little purses (a lotion, shampoo and perfume) that they mixed themselves. I like to refer to this as the booze portion of the day...

After they were all dolled up - they were able to do a little dance (they chose the limbo) and danced their little booties off (yep, you guessed it - groupie part of the day). They were precious and had so much fun. Who knew you could do the limbo with a pink feather boa!!

Then - as if that wasn't enough fun for Julia - she finally decided it was time to get her ears pierced. I've been offering for months - but she kepts saying she didn't want to. Today was the day. She chose little pink flower studs - and was soooo brave. After they did it she teared up a bit but didn't really cry. She says she'll never do that again! So - I told her it hurts WAY more in the nose and everywhere else... :)

Hours later - she already morphing back into the sweet little quiet girl I know - the pink has faded out of her hair - and she's chipping away at her pink sparkly nail polish - but I know she still has some of that ROCKER in her - maybe it's the thigh high black socks with a sequin buckle she's wearing under her little dress! HA!

Dr. appt today

So - I had my first OB appt today. It was fun and uneventful for the most part. I'm 13 weeks 3 days pregnant. In my 2nd trimester!! Yeah ME!

My blood pressure was high again - so lucky me - I'll be medicated for it - and be under the care of a perinatologist for this pregnancy. I heard the baby's heartbeat - and it was great 165... so probably another girl for the Dougherty's!

My next appointment is Oct 4 - and then my U/S is scheduled for Oct 20. I can't wait!

Now it's time to watch Lost.

Parent update -

nothing new to report - which is good. They are doing better each day. They got their new glasses and I think that helped. My dad has his dr. appointment with the Primary care guy on Friday - so he might get a good idea on when he can fly back after that.

Sweetie is doing well - she adjusted quickly to the family. Her lump on the top of her head has gotten larger over the last 2-3 days so we're going to take her into the vet this week and get it looked at.

That's all here!!

Obsess much??

It's not even October and I have already mostly planned and purchased all of the fun things for Julia's Halloween party. I LOVE HALLOWEEN! Julia has decided she wants a spooky ooky party - so we're going to have it at dark this year.

She wants to invite 12 little friends (2 of which I'm pretty sure can't make it because of the date) but I don't think our house will handle 10 kids and 10-20 adults. So - I think we're going to make it a Kid only party. I'm nervous since I don't know a lot of these kids all that well and I know the parents will probably feel weird about dropping their kids off -but I just don't have the room. I am going to ask my friends daughter (she's 13) if she wants to come and help out. I think she'll be a huge help. She can entertain Anna if nothing else!! :)

We're also having a chili contest party in November - and then I'm having a cookie exchange in December - so I will need to have a clean house at least 3 times in the next 3 months!!!

I signed up today to do a craft fair with my good friend A. Should be fun. I'm going to make a couple holiday napkin baskets and lots of hairbows to sell. My friend has a great little website with her gift cakes... check them out, they are SO COOL! http://giftcakesaz.tripod.com/ She's going to have her gift cakes there with me. It's the same day as Julia's Halloween party - but I'll have plenty of time to get ready after the craft show.

HUGS

YEEEE HAW!!!

SO I had my first ultrasound today... the baby looks great. I'm SOOO relieved! I measured 12 weeks and 3 days - so I'm out of my first trimester this week!!! YEAH!

My new due date is March 26.

Now I can relax! I have my perinatologist appointment tomorrow and then my first OB appointment next week!

WHEW!!!

Anna's First Haircut...

So - after many jokes about my mullet headed baby - we went ahead and got her hair cut. It's absolutely precious! Here are some before and after pics!











Don't ya love her short sassy do???

When it rains - it pours...

Obviously my family is going though it's share of ugly stuff right now - but I've been talking with a LOT of people close to us in the last 3 weeks and I'm amazed at how many people are going through very difficult and trying times, and I don't even know anyone that was affected first hand by Katrina!

I've always believed that things come in 3s - you know - 3 bad things - 3 really good things... I've totally given up on that now. Maybe a new theory needs to come into play ---- things come in 9s or 10s????

I don't want to air other people's trials and situations on this blog - but suffice it to say - I have many people in my prayers these days. I have faith things will get better. They have to - right???

HUGS!

Back to life... (m)

My parents are doing well - same old, same old I guess! Mom seems a little cranky, and Dad's chatty. They really appreciate all the cards and calls they've received.

We spent the weekend at their house taking care of a few things. It was so weird being in their house without them there. Julia was hilarious though - she said "Meemaw and Poppa are gone - let's destroy the house and steal their things!!!!" Dan said to me "Note to self - Julia will never be allowed to stay at home alone!" :) I'm not sure where she got that from - but it was funny.

The dogs have all met - and there is a significant amount of butt smelling going on - and I'm not talking about Anna! Sweetie and Trooper seem to be giving each other a bunch of nasty glances and the occasional growl but other than that - they all seem to get along fine. Savannah and Trooper are FAT from 4 weeks in the kennel - and Sweetie Pie is her lean, trim self. She's about a foot taller than T&S and almost a foot longer!

I feel weird going back to my normal blog format - so for those of you just visiting for an update - I'll try to keep mom and dad updates separate from my normal random chat. :)

Some pics of our trip...

Here are some pictures from our trip - Julia and Anna by the lake by Dan's parents house in Midland - and the girls in Coronado at the Silver Strand Beach.

We're in California..

Dan decided to have us stay at Loews Coronado Bay Resort - so we're here until early tomorrow morning. It's a beautiful resort - and the girls had a great time playing in the ocean yesterday. Anna mostly ate sand - Julia had fun playing in the waves with mom!

We're heading down to the pool to have some more fun with water.

Sweetie Pie is with us - and in heaven. Loews knows how to pamper their pets. They sent up a doggie amenity for her - with a doggie place mat, food and water bowls, Fiji Artesian water, gourmet dog biscuits and a list of all the dog friendly beaches and restaurants. She's doing great - Anna LOVES her - she keeps saying "sweeeeeetie" :)

My parents are continuing to improve - both were cleared with their most recent cognitive evaluation and neither are a candidate for occupational therapy right now. My dad will require surgery on his middle finger when he returns to Arizona. Mom is doing well. Both still are having pain issues and are tired. Ben and Mel are doing ok as well - I think Mel is in love with one of the health aides who is whipping the place into shape.

We are so fortunate to have this down time to relax and spend some time as a family before we head back to our busy lives in AZ. We'll be at my parents this weekend tying up some loose ends for them - and then back to our house.

I can't begin to tell you how much your support, love and prayers have meant to my entire family. I have been passing them along to my parents - and they are very touched by the outpouring of love for them!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Sad news

Unfortunately, we learned this morning that there was yet another car accident - and this time Gretchen was killed very close to the location where my parents were in their accident. A car hit her on I-94 near where my parents accident was.

We are all upset - after all the time we spent looking for her in that area - it pains us to know that she was there after all. I hope she is hanging out with Mo and Jake and that they are all doing ok together.

Thanks for all your prayers and support during this time.

It's Friday!

Ok - I've tried to update a couple of times - but between connection snafu's and a power supply problem - today is the best I could do!

Mom and Dad arrived at Ben and Mels on Wednesday. Home health care started Thursday - and so far so good. This is going to be a difficult process for Ben, Mel and Caleb - but I think it's all going to work out fine. The home health care aides appear to be good quality helpful people. I think they are looking to do 6 hours a day for a week or so and then we'll see.

Dad's problems are still pain related and needing to have more confidence in his abilities.

Mom's doing great - tired and sore but doing better.

Sweetie Pie's laceration was quite something - it was all the way down to the skull! We saw her yesterday and she hid from me but ran right to Dan. She was so well behaved the entire time - she climbed right into the car!

Dan, Julia, Anna and I are going to fly out to San Diego on Wednesday - and hopefully Sweetie Pie will follow later that day. It's too hot for her to fly into Arizona right now. So we'll be driving back.

No word on Gretchen.

That's all the news from here - we're picking up China Palace and bringing it down to Ben's house for dinner tonight. Tomorrow will be our first day off since we've been here. Dan has to finish his 2006 Business Plan and then his Final Exam and the girls and I are going to visit some old neighbors.

Thanks for all your support. Please feel free to email me for Ben and Mel's address and home phone number.

HUGS!