Off we GO and some SAD news

We will be leaving for Latvia on Thursday and staying for 18 days. Yes, 18 days. It will be Kiyahs first ride on an airplane. It takes about 24 hours to get there. We have 3 seperate planes with layovers in Chicago and Sweden and our longest plane ride being 10 hours. I fully expect by the time we land that Karlis and I will want to kill each other. Which is not good since there are only so many people I can talk to once there. We will make it though. We are going for his first cousins wedding and Kiyah will be Christened there. All the plans have been made and everything sounds beautiful. It will be a great memorable time.
We were both excited to go and then our little awesome french bulldog Zamboni died unexpectedly. He would have been 5 next month. We guess it was just his time to go. He wasn't sick, was eating well, going to the bathroom, all the things that dogs do. Karlis came home one afternoon while I was out of town in Memphis with work and found him in the backyard. He had gone through his doggie door and was laying under a tree. It has been one of the hardest things to get used to. We miss him so much. I can't imagine how much longer it will be until we are happy again. He was our first baby and one of the best dogs ever. So that has made everything seem a little sad. I am sure once we get going and get to Latvia it will be great but I worry that we will know that once we return he won't be at home waiting on us. Losing a pet is one of the worst things. It is like a part of you is missing and will be forever. I could go on and on and on but won't, it is too sad. So.....

Here are a couple of pics:


Look what I found in the dryer..............


Slim and Kiyah (best friends)

First year Dr Appointment

Four shots!!! Which totally stunk. She screamed of course and bled and now has bruises. So pitiful. She weighs 25 pounds (93%) and is 31.5 inches (99%) in length. A very big girl. She is closer to a 2 year old in size. Everything looked good and she is healthy. We can start milk now but I am going to put if off until we are back from Latvia (more on that later). She LOVES to dance. It is more like a very very fast really wide stance march. It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Her face gets very serious and then when she finishes she will smile or laugh. And when she does it she does it so hard and fast her little cheeks bounce up and down. I am going to try and get a video and download it so I will have it forever.
What she is up to these days……………
Goes to bed between 7 and 8 and gets up around 7. She has become obsessed with her bunny rabbit and wants to drag it with her everywhere she goes. She got this as a gift before she was even born and it is the softest sweetest thing. It is the Jelly.cat brand. When she started becoming attached to it I bought 4 more of them. It is something she would have trouble going to sleep without. She really likes blueberries and strawberries. She loves to open and shut doors, drawers, cabinets, etc. She likes to hand something to you and you hand it back over and over again. She started saying “ball” and “ight” for light. It is the sweetest thing to hear. She knows what her baby doll is and who Slim is. If you ask her to go and get something she will and bring it back. She loves to play outside, naked, with the dog water bowls. She picks them up and dumps them all over the concrete then splashes the puddles with her feet. Oh and stairs. She would climb 100 of them if we had them. She can climb about 15 with me standing behind her just in case she falls backwards but she never has even wavered.
She is loads of fun. I can’t imagine how it was before her. It is a lot of work but so rewarding.