We remember.

It has been very hard for us to want to update the blog, as though moving Diamond's goodbye entry from the prime spot might take her even farther from us.  It has been a hard week for us, though each day does get better than the last.  We have shared a lot of memories with each other, like the time she broke through the screen door (without her wheels) at the apartment and "ran away" while chasing another dog, and when Cortney finally got to her the man standing nearby was on the phone with the police who were offering to send a patrol car to get us to the vet in a hurry (try explaining over the phone that the dog that just ran away is not injured but paralyzed...).  And we remember all of her antics in the car on our way to California and back (let alone her antics outside of the car on our way to California and back), and the similar antics on our trip to Washington D.C.  We rmemeber her love for tennis balls, rawhides, and neck scratches, and of course the walks around the block, which entailed so much sniffing that we affectionately referred to them as "sniffs" instead of walks.  And as we remember these things, and so very many others, we realize that it is okay to update the blog because clearly she will always be with us in our hearts, and we don't need a blog entry for that.  But we still weren't quite there today, so this is another entry just for Diamond, and tomorrow, maybe, we will move on and write a letter to Calvin, who turned 10 months old today because the world does keep going on, even in the face of grief.

So this is another entry for you, Diamond.  We miss you dearly, we love you still, and we hope you are busy playing soccer just beyond the rainbow bridge. 

 

One last Christmas dinner

Who doesn't want Christmas to lsat for days on end?  We really like to spread out our Christmas joy.  In fact, tonight we realized that somewhere along the way Christmas really changed for us.  It seems to us that when we were Children Christmas was a one day event that we waited for all year long.  Now, as adults, Christmas isn't a day, it's a season, and we find ourselves trying to spread the spirit out across days, or even weeks.  And Christmas is less about the gifts we get and more about the gifts we give, and even more about the people we share it with.  With that in mind, tonight was Christmas all over again!  Tonight we had our traditional Christmas dinner with the extended Hiller family, only this year the table was graced by three members of the next generation.  Calvin was the youngest baby there, his second cousin Iris is five months older than he is, and Iris's cousin, Dylan, is about ten months older than he is.  And we also enjoyed the company of family who travelled from all over the world, including California and The Netherlands.  Calvin even received a very speical gift from his cousin (once removed) Kate, who brought him a Dutch children's book, something we will enjoy sharing with him to help him embrace his heritage.  It sure would be nice if there could be a little bit of Christmas every day.

He does exist!

Santa does exist!  It may have been years since either of us was visited by the big man in red, but we know he exists because he was in our house last night and he left a bounty of gifts for little Calvin!  He graced our sitting room with the evidence of his visit in the tradition of the Hiller family - a full stocking and a handful of special gifts left unwrapped by the tree.  The stocking itself was a big hit with Calvin, who thought emptying it was more fun than the trinkets he pulled out from inside (including, his own soft cell phone and camera so he can be just like mommy and daddy).  He did get a kick out of the learning home (read: door with lots of kiddy gadgets) that Santa left, though, and his parents really enjoyed that one, too. 

And after a quick overview of Santa's drop, we headed to the Hiller household for a Christmas morning including stockings, great food, and gifts all around.  We had a wonderful time and Calvin was on his very best behavior - he just loved all the activity and all the interesting boxes and toys (even the ones that didn't belong to him).  The best gift we got that morning?  Calvin took both of his normal naps (9-11 and 1-3) while we were there without any difficulties - yay!

We finished off the day with a Christmas evening at the Ophoff household, including a beautiful dinner and dessert.  We had a wonderful time opening gifts in front of the fire there and, again, Calvin was really on his best behavior.  The best gift we got that evening?  Calvin took his normal evening nap without trouble - yay (do you see a pattern here?)!  We had started the holiday expecting to deal with the stresses of a long and grueling day away from home, and the consequences of a fussy and over tired baby, and we were pleasantly surprised and pleased to return home with a very happy infant.  Calvin really revelled in the attention and the stimulation of the day and that is more than we could have every hoped for, and his happiness was the best gift we could have asked for.  It was a true Christmas miracle!

A week before Christmas!

And we finally got the pictures back from Calvin's six month photo shoot, which was also our family Christmas photo shoot.  These are some of our favorites, and you can see all of them in the Calvin's six month photo shoot album.

  

 

Happy...Black Friday?

Okay, that just sounds wrong.  We understand the premise, but it's a rather dark moniker for a fairly cheerful day (fairly being the operative word here - we're sure it's not cheerful if you are getting trampled in the opening lines at some super store).  We have always enjoyed the day after Thanksgiving.  In our home it is the start of the Christmas season and traditionally we have spent the early part of the day shopping and the latter part decorating followed by a nice dinner.   We did things a little backwards this year, but we still got all the major ingredients in there.  And having Calvin sure has added a lot to the spirit of the season.  If nothing else it added the not-to-be-missed impromptu visit to the pediatrician's office over a holiday because, of course, that is when children opt to get sick.  Luckily Calvin does not appear to be sick in a contagious kind of way, but he sure has been struggling with his reflux over the past few weeks.  We thought to head off any necessary holiday doctor visits with the appointment we made earlier in the week, but even after several days of the new medication in his cereal he was really going downhill and was having all kinds of trouble eating.  After this morning's appointment we will be returning to the first medication - the one that was working before we were told to stop it (don't get us started).  We are praying that this will make a difference soon, and it might already have - he was full of smiles for all his adoring fans as we traversed the crowded mall with Curtis in this afternoon!  So, happy black Friday!