Sharing

Bella's getting better at it - she used to get up and move away if someone tried to share her bed. Now she not only lets Heidi share her bed, but Heidi is laying on Bella's front legs and it's ok!

The day after

We had a Kentucky Derby party on Saturday afternoon. While not as many people as last year, we still had a respectable turnout and our apartment was filled with people for about 8 hours. Add in prep time and cleanup time, and it was a long, exhausting, fun day.

This was the scene for several hours on Sunday afternoon.

Photographs

It's funny to me, the photos that the photographer really likes and the photos everyone else like. I think all photographers go through this.

This is the photo I was asked to print, that a number of people liked

This is the one I really like

Oh, dear - we missed Bella's birthday!

We realized yesterday that Saturday was Bella's 7th birthday! No celebrations, no special treats- poor, deprived girl :)

What? Mom, you forgot my birthday? How could you?

I'm disgusted with you people

Glad you still love us, sweet girl!

The photos we don't take

Our building is undergoing some renovations, which includes ripping up some brickwork and sidewalk outside the back entrance. I most often use the back entrance during the week so I got used to seeing little things as I walked by.

One of the things I saw was where someone had written in the concrete "Michael loves Andrew". I would usually have the same thoughts - did Michael still love Andrew? Did Andrew love Michael or was it one-sided? Obviously I'd never know but it always made me smile.

Now it's gone. A reminder to take a quick snapshot of the things that maybe aren't so photogenic but are part of the fabric of life.

That being said... I take a lot of photos that I don't post, so here's one that I wouldn't normally keep - Bella rolling her eyes at me because I woke her up as I was trying to take a video of her making noise and twitching as she was sleeping.

Happy Second Gotcha Day!

Two years ago today, Bella leaned against us and informed us that we were taking her home. At the time, we thought we picked her out, but now that we've been properly educated by our girl, we know she called the shots there.

You've gained lots more white hairs on your face, and given us some on our heads, but we're so happy to have you in our family.

Happy Gotcha Day pretty girl!