HELP!!!

It's official, I have a newborn. If I'm not holding the creature, she pees on my floor, and chews on things she really shouldn't, if I lock her up she bawls, and she does not get the leash, at all!!!! It's snowing outside, and too cold for her to be out for any length of time. How am I supposed to clean bathrooms, and mop my floors? There is only so much you can do one-handed, and like a newborn, she bawls after a while of that too. I think I'm re-thinking the dog purchase, just 5 days too late! Ruby is wonderful, just not on cleaning days!! My oldest child's idea? "let's get another one, so she'll have someone to play with." Brilliant.

Ruby Delilah

Welcome the newest Ekker girl to the family! We finally have a baby girl in the house! She's a Shih-Tzu, she's covered in dark fur, she demands attention, and she responds well to baby talk! The girls are in heaven, and the boy is coming around to her.

Easter in Moab

We had the best Easter weekend in Moab, with our great friends who were so good to invite us. We hiked to some of the most fabulous places, and saw some of the most beautiful stuff, the entire weekend was smashing. The girls had a blast, as they always do, my favorite quote of the weekend came from the eldest of the Ekker girls who said "Kids who are spoiled don't have very good lives. All they get is toys, but we get to go to these cool places."

All Pink Kitty

This is my "all pink kitty". She found a catalog last Halloween that had a pink cat costume in it that more resembled lingerie than anything I'd let my 3 year old wear, but she would not give it up. She wanted the "all pink kitty" costume. So, we finally talked her into my version of a Utah-weather, would cover more than 25% of your skin, pink cat costume. She went for it, and really hasn't taken it off since. If it's clean, she wears it, at night, she'll take it off and hide it so that it will be ready to go in the morning, because seriously there is nothing worse than wanting to put on the all pink kitty, and it in the hamper under stinky wet wash cloths.

Daddy Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!

Our friends were recently "blessed" with 6 Shih-Tzu puppies. Our girls have been begging (to put it mildly) since Alice the Hamster died last year, for a dog. Their parents are not animal type people on the other hand, and so the answer has been no, until I saw them, and oh my goodness. they are so stinking cute. So then it turned into "You have to ask Dad." My darling husband has never really been able to say no to his girlies, and proof that miracles still happen, we have been given permission to buy a dog!!! We picked out a little female called Daisy. We can have her after Easter. Heaven help us. Any potty training tips for notoriously stubborn and not easily trainable dogs would be much appreciated. Daisy is the one being held by Xanadu on top, and is in the middle of the lower photo. She is chocolate, with a little white spot on her chest. I don't know if "Daisy" will stick as the girls have also come up with "Tulip", "Tallulah", and "Alice" ... again, sentiment.

More Pink Please

With four girls and only one boy in our house, we've been feeling a lack of things "pink". We therefore decided to devote a room to our favorite color. Here is the room before, and after. We have one very happy chicken, and two sort of jealous ones. I learned an important lesson doing this job, if you intend to cover "botany beige" with "swan lake", use a primer first!