Soooo...I guess you've probably noticed a few changes around here. Nothing too drastic...I'm just dreadfully tired of playing around with the HTML of my old template. There are so many new and fun looking gadgets to try and they just didn't work with my old template...and I didn't have the time or energy to sit and play with the code until they did work. So I decided to simplify and go with one of the drag and drop templates that blogger offers. AND while some portions of it are much easier, some of it confounds me. So just bear with me and I'll get the hang of it eventually.

And let's not forget that I am THE perfectionist so I've already been into the HTML of the new, improved, easier to create blogger...and changed some of it to my tastes. I hope it works in your browser otherwise...you have my sympathies!

Change has been the theme around here for the last couple of months. Too much so if you asked me...wait...did you ask me? First we had Hope starting school, which she still loves by the way. Next came new socks. Why is that significant? Welllll...my girls have been wearing socks with "grippies" on the bottom since they came home from China. You know...the ones from Old Navy that say Old Navy on the bottom along with their size in rubberized letters to keep the kid from doing a header on the hardwood? It seems Hope has outgrown those and is now into "big girl" socks. I know...I'm nuts...but it bothered me. After that came the ceremonial removing of the protective bed rails on her bed. I had tears with that one. Getting rid of her crib was less traumatic to me. She looked so tiny lying there in the center of that bed...so open and unprotected. I went into our bedroom and cried...she fell asleep and hasn't fallen out of bed once.

Claire, who is still in the crib is growing like a weed and will be in need of her big girl bed shortly. We are tentatively setting the date for that big event for her third birthday in March. Here's praying that the whole process will go smoother than it did when it was Hope's turn. Don't remember any of that? Take a look at this post.

Out of all of these things I think the one that bothers me the most is the lavender lotion. Before Hope came home we chose this incredible smelling lavender lotion and baby wash for her. I used them in China, not only on Hope, but on myself as well, so that we would have something in common...something familiar...something to help form a bond between us. When we came home we continued to use them until she developed eczema and we needed a gentler soap and a richer lotion...and I cried...my baby didn't smell like my baby anymore! Fast forward to Claire...Garry took the famous lavender lotion and wash to China and used them on her as well. The day Hope and I went to the airport to pick them up, we had covered ourselves in the lotion...again...something to help her transition...something familiar. About a month ago we ran out of the lotion...and I can't find it anywhere. I went to every store I could think of and smelled all the other lavender baby lotions they have...nothing is even remotely close. It was devastatingly sad! That scent that has been so central in our lives since January 2004 is gone. Before I threw the bottle away Hope asked to smell it. She inhaled deeply and said, "That smells just like Claire!" Exactly...exactly. We have a new lavender lotion now...it smells good...but if I ever find the other brand...I'm buying several cases!

Until next time...hugs!