Paloma has received two personalized gifts. The thing that makes this interesting is they're from my sisters, and no one in my family liked her name very much. ("Go back to the drawing board," my mom said.)

Allison made her a necklace with her name spelled in beads that I can wear... it's a nursing necklace, something for her to fiddle with (hopefully instead of something like the little spot that Gabe called my "hurt elbow")

and Amy sent us a beautiful blanket with Paloma's name, our names, her birthdate and stats. She told me not to send her a thank you note so I'm posting this instead! If you look closely, you can see it says "Sweet dreams, Paloma!"

When I found this drawing in Carmen's trash (yes, I have to check to see what she throws away in the wastebasket at her drawing table--lots of marker caps, etc.) I was alarmed and immediately went to find out about it.

I've only seen two drawings of hers sadder than this, and that was in July when her cousins didn't stay overnight with us as long as planned.

I was relieved to find out that the red eyes and tears were her description of being sick. To the left of her face are glasses of juice, her school and a bottle of medicine. To her right is the humidifier.

I also found it interesting how short she drew her hair! She had it cut only a couple of weeks ago, but she's definitely made the change in her self-concept!

On the back of the drawing are large red hearts and the words, "Yay Meadow Creek" and "Dear Carmen". Unfortunately it bleeds through a little when scanned.

Wednesday was parent conference day at her school and David and I were delighted to see her journal (lots of great drawings and one sentence per drawing) as well as hear how she's doing at school (she works hard, follows directions and is kind to her classmates). Her teacher was glad that we were laughing when we talked about another kid cutting her hair in class last week. We found out about that when we received a note in Carmen's binder from the parents of the boy who cut her hair! Sometimes she forgets to tell us all about her day! But at least we find out the important stuff through her drawings, if not through our conversations.

Gabriel, on the other hand, will not even pick up a crayon! He is intimidated by Carmen's drawing and frustrated by what he can't do. I have discovered he is a little more interested in markers, so we'll try that.

Paloma is easygoing enough to let her big brother and sister swim one more time before the weather cooled off. We later learned that the day's high temperature was 104 degrees, setting a new record for the 28th of September.

Note Gabe's mischevious look--he never lives up to that!

Happy birthday, Lety & Tom!
We had a great time at Macaroni Grill. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins and Paloma met Joe & Susan!

The day Paloma was born, my brother-in-law's father died. My sister Allison said the following week that she expects Paloma to take his place on this earth as a philanthropist.

So far, while she is a peaceful baby, as her name would suggest, Paloma's presence has not caused domestic tranquility around here.

Carmen & Gabriel were both sick when she arrived. (Carmen's been sick three times in the month since school started!)Keeping them away from her for the first two weeks was difficult, especially because they weren't receiving the attention they are accustomed to.

When we went shopping to redeem a gift certificate, I held up a cute little (Paloma-sized) outfit to show Carmen and she frowned at me. Later, I showed her something in her size and she said, "Is that for Paloma or for me?" When I answered that it was for her, she dropped the attitude.

And after a stranger oohed and ahhed over Paloma in SuperTarget, Gabriel remarked that he didn't like it when people say Paloma is cute. However, the way he fusses over her is very cute. He says her name, "Pa-LOOOO-ma" and cracks us up.

We have enjoyed over a week of dinners, meals on wheels provided by several friends from church and work as well as my sister Amy. But again, the kids are getting a little testy because things aren't the normal or routine.