More From the Birthday Girl!

*****side note-blogger stinks and i can't remove the crazy spacing******

Evi's Well-visit went, well, it went well : ) !!! All good with our little bean and here are her big girl 12 month stats:

Weight: 20 lbs 5 oz. - 40th percentile

Height: 30" - 80th percentile

Head: 18" - 12th percentile

Ability to stay on the examining table - FAIL (she was like a damn flying squirrel)

Ability to leave that fun crinkly examing table paper in tact -Epic FAIL (it was like America's FunniestVideos when someone wins the 10 grand and all the crap falls from the ceiling. Except this probably had stomach flu bacteria on it and we got a bill instead of a check)

Ability to charm the socks off the doc. - A+++

Oh, and did I mention-

Ability to walk - solid B! She started taking a few steps here and there the last few weeks but yesterday and today she's starting to walk between furniture or people without being provoked (read: tortured into practicing)!

Saturday we celebrated her 1st birthday with a small gathering and let her dive into her very first cake. It was all sorts of wonderful...especially being able to share it with a few close friends/family.

One! One! One! One!

Little Miss Evi is one! My how time flies! And what an incredible, beautiful, sweet girl she is. Who would have thought given the rather rough beginning that she would be so healthy, happy and simply full of life. Man do we love this kiddo! She is a good dose of medicine each and every day with a smile that could win medals and a laugh that might trip up a mime. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you the gushing and share some photos of her big day! (stats later this week after her 12 month well-baby check).

Sadness

Today was a very tough day for our family. With very heavy hearts we had to say goodbye to our beloved Gabe. Most of you know that we found out before Christmas that he had a large tumor growing next to his heart. In the past few days he stopped eating and appeared to be in much greater pain and was having a difficult time breathing. It was very difficult to see him struggle and we know he is happier now. Painfree and trotting (nah, probably swimming) in heaven.

I write all of this as tears stream down my face. I cannot tell you how sad we are. Gabe has been with us for so long that he is as much a part of us as we are of each other. Dumb college kids with no concept of resposibility, Taki and I visited the local shelter one afternoon and couldn't leave without him. He was a tiny 7 week old puppy, could you resist? : ) Here we are, almost 13 years later. Gabe has been through everything with us. Moves to 6 different homes, 3 different states, a cross-country trek, and most importantly, the birth of our children. He has been the kindest, sweetest, most loyal dog and we simply love him so much. Gabe, we will miss you more then I can express with words.

(sorry for the picture overload, count yourselves lucky I didn't dig out the old prints and start scanning away....)