Changes.

I cannot believe March 27th was my last blog post. I used to keep up with my blog fairly often, but things have been crazy busy with me and mine.

Things have changed so much since my last blog post that I haven't had a proper and sufficient amount of time to adjust to everything. Before I share all of the events and happenings in my life...

And an early Happy Fourth of July! Here are some fireworks for you!

Happy Birthday America!

Time is really flying by at an alarming rate! I wish there was a way to slow it down. One minute it was my birthday, and the next it's July!

I can't believe it's July 4th weekend!

I'm exhausted and unable to focus today so I thought I'd compose a blog post.

This is how I feel 99% of the time.

Other than the trip to Washington DC and the brief visit to Delaware to see my mother and Arlene, March was fairly uneventful, so we'll move on to April. In April, I celebrated my 3?th birthday. My birthday also fell on Easter Sunday this year. That hasn't happened since my ninth year, so it was pretty cool. We didn't do anything special. I was exhausted, which is the story of my life. I ended up taking a nap around 6:30 PM. I told Doug not to wake me until 8:30 PM. The plan was to wake up, eat something, have a glass of Moscato, and watch a movie. Unfortunately several serious acts of drama occurred, which I do not feel like rehashing. They didn't involve us directly, but there were phone calls and text messages, so I didn't get to do what I wanted to do until after midnight. The result of one act of drama ended up changing my life and Doug's entirely.

Five days after I turned a year older, Doug and I became parents to a twenty year old young man. I know some of you are thinking maybe I got knocked up in high school and gave the baby up for adoption, and the kid tracked me down, but that's not the case.

We had planned to wait a little longer to become parents...

We've been involved in this boy's life since he was seven, and his mother has referred to us as his honorary parents. Now we're full time honorary parents. It's a bit of a long story, but it's my blog, and therefore I'm just going to be honest.

We have been supporting our honorary son since late February/early March. This young man's stepfather was starving him and verbally abusing him because he couldn't find a job.

 

The stepfather is a very sucky person.

The kid had a job that offered sporadic hours, but this greedy stepfather wanted money, and the boy was trying. I took him to put in applications, and to interviews over the past three years. I also redid his resume for him right before he graduated high school. This economy is bad. When I was job hunting, I had one interview in three years! That's why I started writing full time. I couldn't find a thing, even with my knowledge and experience. I know it's not the kid's fault. His stepfather, who desperately wanted him to get a job, denied him internet access. Most potential employers require potential employees to fill out an online application. This man took away my honorary son's ability to search for and to apply for jobs, yet he called him a lazy freeloader. When our honorary son stayed with us to watch our cats while we were in DC, he used our internet to apply for jobs. Does that sound like a lazy freeloader?

Like it's that easy...

Our honorary son had nowhere to go. His mother isn't in a position to take him in. After my year and a half of being homeless, I wasn't about to let that happen to him, so Doug and I agreed to taking him in. At the time, we lived in a three room cottage, which was a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, and a loo, and it immediately turned into a three room cottage, which was a kitchen, a bedroom, a bedroom, and a loo. Since I didn't have an actual office outside of our bedroom, I could no longer work on my book series or Insomnia, which was supposed to be released on May 31st.

At this point, I was calling everyone I could think of to help him find a job and a place of his own, but the government is useless and offered absolutely no help. They would have just sent him to the city mission. I've been to a city mission before. Thankfully I lived in a small town, and there was no one else there, so I didn't have to worry about anyone bothering me or my stuff. I've heard stories about the city mission here in the city where I currently reside from people who stayed there. Other residents stole their things, and they had curfews, and lousy food. Doug and I couldn't let our honorary son go there. So our family grew, which meant we would have to find a bigger house.

House hunting was not as successful as I expected it to be. Doug and I discussed how much rent we wanted to pay and the search was on. We found many prospective homes. One of them was perfect, but they only accepted one pet, and I wasn't about to choose who would go, Trinity or Moo Bear, so that was out. Many of the places we called did not accept pets, so we looked into purchasing a home. I didn't really want to buy a house here, because we don't plan on living in this state for the rest of our lives. I want to move closer to my family, but at the time, it looked like we were going to have to purchase a house in order to keep our cats. Moo Bear has been with me all but six months of his life. He's 16 and a half years old. He's on Enalapril (beta blocker) and Furosemide (diuretic). Trinity will be eight years old next month. I couldn't just get rid of them. They're not my pets. They're family.

I looked on Zillow for houses. I did look at houses for rent first, but that was a joke and a half. We found four houses that were in our price range, one that wasn't, and I contacted real estate agent on a house that Doug and I thought was perfect. It was in our price range, and it was two stories, had three bedrooms, and one and a half baths. I just wanted to LOOK AT the house, but the real estate agent insisted that I call some woman at the bank for financing information. I argued with her for ten minutes, telling her that I wanted to look at the house first before I made a decision about purchasing it. If it was falling apart or full of vermin, my answer was obviously going to be no, but she reiterated that I had to call the woman at the bank to discuss financing, and I told her that this wasn't going to work and hung up on her. Buying a house was now on our Anti-Bucket list. (It rhymes with bucket, I can tell you that.)

Just when I thought we were going to be crowded into a small cottage for the rest of our lives and that my career as an author was over...

Someone who had a house for rent that we had contacted actually contacted us. As if that wasn't awesome enough, pets were accepted! Doug and I met the landlord to look at the house. At first, we weren't sure it was going to work. It had been listed as a four bedroom, one and a half bath, but all we saw were two bedrooms and one bath, until the landlord said, "Check out the downstairs." We went down the steps and found the other two bedrooms and the half bath. We immediately decided to take it, which was a good idea, since only one other potential landlord contacted us. When we get everything unpacked, I'll post a blog with pictures. I have some of my new office, but they're on my phone and I'm on my lappy.

I was able to return to work once my office was set up. I'm happy to announce that Insomnia will be released Fall of 2015! I was so depressed and felt like I was dying during the time I was unable to work. Only other authors/writers would understand why. During the two and a half months I was unable to work, I learned something, or perhaps I presumed it rather than learned it. Everyone needs to have a purpose. As long as we have a purpose, we will wake up and see another day. I survived, but I wasn't a happy person. How I didn't just yell and scream at everyone with whom I interacted is beyond me.

I was so happy to get back to work!

So aside from becoming a parent and moving to a new and bigger house, there are other changes that resulted from having our honorary son coming to live with us. He's severely allergic to peanuts, which means I can't have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and plain chips for dinner. Comfort food is a staple during the warm months for me, because I have Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder. I get depressed during spring and summer. Nobody takes that seriously, because "that's not possible." Come and ambulate in my shoes and you'll see I'm being honest. Also, I'm never alone, which is good, because if I have a migraine and can't get out of bed, I have someone who can help me and look after me while Doug's at work. If a giant wasp or other scary insect shows up, instead of shutting off the room and leaving to go panic in a safe room, I have someone who can defeat it for me. But the best part of being a parent to my honorary son is that I have someone who loves me and thinks I'm awesome, even though I know I'm nowhere near as awesome as he thinks I am. (When he meets my mother, I'll become chopped liver. He doesn't believe me, but it's true.)

In other news...

We've had a few problems with the new house. For starters, I hate, abhor, and detest the kitchen. It's deplorable. It's just an ugly color, and it's about as small as the kitchen was in the cottage, only slightly longer. The light fixture needs repaired in there, but the handy man just had surgery, so Doug's probably going to have to do it himself. We also haven't set up the kitchen because the landlord gave us two fridges that didn't work properly. He finally broke down and got a new one. The former tenants took the fridge and stove when they vacated the premises.

The deck is unsafe for anyone to step on. The holes between the boards are large enough for me to simply slip through. The former tenants of the house trashed it, but the deck got the worst of it. They had animals tied up out there, and the dog house and leashes and stuff like that are still on the deck, but it's not safe for anyone to go remove those things. Once those things get repaired, all will be right with the world. Until then...

The good news is that the washer and dryer are now in a separate room! They were in the cottage kitchen before. Also, we have a dining room! I love dining rooms. There are some people who don't, but I like the idea of the dining table being in another room by itself. It's not a huge dining room, but there are three of us. That's not all, we have an actual wood burning fireplace! I may be doing a lot of writing in front of a roaring fire this winter. (I can't wait for fall and winter now!) We'll have to hire a chimney sweep to make sure it's cleaned and usable. It's difficult to say whether or not the former tenants trashed it. Stockings can be hung by the chimney this coming Christmas! (And not that I believe in Santa, but now he can actually come down the chimney and deliver gifts! *LOL*)

Not only did the space and the fireplace entice Doug, we also have our own carport and driveway! When we lived at the cottage, we had to fight for parking. Most of the time we lost, so we would have to walk a long way from the car to the cottage. It got ridiculous. We also had neighbors who refused to use their driveway. They would park one of their cars on the street and they would leave nasty notes on our car telling us that we had no right to park there when it was a public street! *smh* Thankfully I never found any of the notes, or I would have marched over there and it would not have been pretty. I also would have called the police and asked them to please tell our hateful neighbors that it's a public street and anyone with a car could park there.

I'm starting to fall in love with the house. The problem is that I loved the cottage so much that I don't know if I can give this house the love it deserves. Still, it's nice to have space, a fireplace, a dining room, an office, and our own carport and driveway. I'm not complaining. It's just that the cottage was where I published Dormiveglia, my first published book. I had hoped it would become my office where I would go and write when Doug and I visited family here, once we move somewhere else. Our landlady was awesome too. She's in her nineties and as sharp as a tack! (I want to be like that when I'm her age!) I should give my new landlord a chance. I don't know him yet. I'm just not much of a nonfictional people person.

Now that I'm finished talking about the huge changes in our lives, I need to stop and share some sad events that have taken place along the way.

On Good Friday (April 3rd), Doug's aunt (my aunt-in-law) Jo Kimble passed away. She was 86 years old. I'm not exactly sure of her cause of death, but she simply got sick and died. She still had her wits about her, which was awesome. I've seen and heard of too many people dying from dementia, and I hate it! I could listen to Jo talk all day. She had this amazing life. She got to see the world change dramatically before her very eyes as she grew up. She got to witness the birth of technology. Jo is with her husband George now, and while I'm thrilled to know that, I'm also still sad. She left her possessions to her family in her will, including me and Doug. She left us her van. We were not expecting that. I was under the impression that she was going to sell it, but we now have her van. I have a difficult time thinking about it as our van. To me, it's still her van. I cried the first time I drove it. While I'm thankful that we have a second vehicle, I'd rather have her here instead, but I know she's in a better place with her husband.

On May 19th, one of my new found loved ones that Doug and I had the privilege of meeting when we went to Washington DC, Mark Vandersluis passed away. He was 51. We found out that he was battling cancer during our visit. Mark was this amazing person. He was eighties music video cool. He was bright, and colourful, and funny, and intelligent, and random. He was devoted to his wife, his mother-in-law, and his church. I'm so glad I got the chance to meet him. Please pray for his wife, Amie, his mother-in-law, Charlene (he called her Charlie), his step-daughters, and the rest of his family, friends, and loved ones.

Now we'll move on to happier news. Doug and I had the most spectacular weekend last weekend. My niece Zoey, who was born on Doug's birthday last year, turned one this past Saturday! We were able to go to her birthday party and we visited my brother and sister-in-law. We got to spend time with them and our adorable niece and nephew.

Pauly is four now. He's gorgeous, and he's really well behaved too. He reminds me of my brother, but he's starting to look a lot more like my sister-in-law. (This is mostly his facial features.) He has my brother's hands (they're eerily identical), his build, and his facial expressions. And some of the things he does is like going back in time and watching my brother do them all over again. He's such a sweetheart!

Zoey is a lot louder and more opinionated than her big brother. We have no idea who she looks like yet, but she's beautiful. In some pictures, I see my sister-in-law. In others, I see my brother. This will continue to change until she's five or six I'm sure. She's definitely got my brother's face shape and eye colour. The jury is still out on whose nose she inherited. It might be my brother's. (Pauly's nose looks more like my sister-in-law's these days, but when he was smaller, he was an exact replica of my brother.)

While we were there, we went to the pool. The kids had a spectacular time. Doug did too. He would live in the water if he could. He got sunburned despite putting on sunscreen. I surprisingly did not burn, unlike when I went to King's Island water park with Crystal, Amos, and Yolanda, and I put on sunscreen twice and got one of the worst sunburns ever.

It was tough having to leave and go home. We live too far away from each other. I'm hoping one day that will change. Doug's more fortunate in this aspect. The majority of his family lives fifteen to twenty minutes away, including his mother. We're going to have to go back and visit soon, and if we can't get away during the warmer months, there's always October.

I think I've covered all of the events and happenings. A belated Happy Easter, a belated Happy Mother's Day, and a belated Happy Father's Day to my readers. Happy Fourth of July! Have a safe and happy holiday weekend.








Cheers...

Christmas Letters Part Four!

*All pictures are from weheartit.com.*

December 2013

Seasons Greetings!

I'm writing to you from our cabin. Peter thought some time away would be good for all of us. I think he was right. It's so beautiful and peaceful up here.

The cabin used to belong to Peter's parents. Peter bought it off of them in 2010, when his mother put it up for sale.

Peter's twin sister, Kate, and her husband, Spencer, decided to join us and get away from it all. I couldn't blame them after the whole Thanksgiving Day fiasco. But, what are the holidays without family drama?

Not much has changed for us.

Peter's still a congressman. Nothing new there.

I still work as an entertainment lawyer, representing celebrities who need legal counsel, and sometimes those celebrities who cannot control themselves. I've cut back my own hours due to Phoenix and his health needs. He's doing okay for the most part, but there are still lots of unanswered questions, which means lots of doctor visits. Phoenix sees seven specialists now. Seven.

Logan's fine. I call him, "Mini Peter" because he looks and acts exactly like his father! Sometimes, when he looks at me with those brown eyes, I see Peter staring back at me, and I usually give in to his demands. I know that's not good, but if he didn't look so much like his father, I would be able to resist him.

Peter's mother, Kim, is still a big name in the fashion industry. She's already working on her Spring, 2014 collection. Peter's father, Philip, still manages his wife's business affairs.

Peter's twin sister, Kate, retired from modeling at the beginning of this year, much to her mother's chagrin. And her husband, Spencer, is still a corporate lawyer who works for the same law firm as I do. (Leah's husband, Ryker, did, too, but he works from home now, so I don't see him much at all.)

Again, as you can see, nothing really new is happening. But I can show you pictures of the cabin!

The cabin. Peter and Spencer have spent most of the morning hours fishing in this pond.



The cabin at night. Look at this gorgeous view!



The ground floor hallway. When Peter called the staff and had them get the place together for us on such short notice, they were nice enough to assemble the trees so we could spend the first few days decorating. Peter and I had the boys gifts sent to us here at the cabin. We also purchased a few things for them since we've been here.



The den on the ground floor where Peter and Spencer play cards or have scotch and cigars after dinner.



The ground floor bathroom. Kate and I have spent so much time lounging in the hot tub since we got here. It's so relaxing!



The ground floor bedroom complete with wood burning stove.



The kitchen/dining area on the first floor. We don't take all of our meals here, just lunch and dinner. Peter and I usually have breakfast at the table in the sitting room of the master suite.



The sitting room on the first floor.



Closer view of the first floor sitting room Christmas tree. This is the first tree we decorated because it is by far the biggest tree. It's a real tree, too, so we don't spend much time in here with the boys due to Phoenix's health issues. He has allergies, but they have yet to be pinpointed, so we keep him away from anything that could remotely trigger allergies.



The first floor family room, where Kate, the boys, and I retire after dinner. The boys watch television until they fall asleep, which is usually between eight and nine o'clock. Peter comes in and carries Logan up to bed. I take Phoenix up to the room where we sleep, administer his medications, and put him to bed. It's easier to give him his meds while he's sleeping. Then, I take him to his bed and sit with him for a few minutes to make sure he's really asleep. Once I realize he's down for the count, I grab the baby monitor and take it downstairs with me so I can listen in case he needs anything.

The first floor bathroom. Logan thinks the tub is a swimming pool, (I can't blame him for thinking it's a pool, it's certainly large enough, especially to a little boy), and he's been asking me and Peter to take him swimming. I may have to break out his swim shorts and his life jacket and let him swim!



The hot springs right outside of the cabin! Peter and Spencer have braved it, but Kate and I are not interested in the least.

The second floor hallway. This is probably where we will open gifts first. The boys will head straight for this tree, while Peter, Kate, Spencer, and I will have coffee and admire the view. On Christmas morning, we will go about the cabin, stopping to open gifts at each tree.

The second floor bedroom with twin beds. This is where the boys sleep, in their "big boy beds" as Logan calls them. Logan starts out in the first bed by the doorway, but when we check on them before we retire for the night, we find Logan asleep next to Phoenix in the other bed. He's very protective of Phoenix, but so are we, so he's probably learning that from observing our actions.

The second floor bedroom with a king bed, which adjoins the other bedroom. This is where we sleep when we have the boys with us because the room where they sleep is just right through the other door of bathroom. We leave the door open so we can hear them, and if Phoenix needs anything, one of us can be there within seconds. If it's just us, we sleep in the master suite. There are two loungers across from the bed, so we put a boy on each one. Since Kate and Spencer came with us, we let them have the master suite.

The second floor bathroom, shared between the two second floor bedrooms. This is where Peter or I bathe the boys. The tub isn't as deep as it looks.

The second floor sitting room. This is where we sometimes spend the next hour or two after the boys go to bed, so we can be close by if Phoenix wakes up and needs something. I like to come up here, sit in one of the chairs next to the window, and thumb through magazines while admiring the view.

The second floor bathroom. I rarely bathe the boys here because of the fireplace, the candles, and the protruding stones. There are just too many things they can hurt themselves on.

The third floor is basically the master suite and a small hallway where the stairs end. Kate and Spencer are loving it!

The third floor master bathroom. Peter and I often lie in the tub and have tea. The two teapots, tea cups, and basket of tea bags are probably a dead giveaway. The tub has whirlpool jets in it, and if you make the mistake of adding bubble bath, you will end up surrounded by a huge wall of bubbles! The toilet and the sink are on the lower level of the bathroom.

The hot tub on the third floor deck with a gorgeous view of snow covered mountains. The four of us did come out on the deck and get in the hot tub, but there's a huge patio heater to help keep us warm, and there's always the steam room if we get too cold.

We've had a BLAST since we got here! We took the boys outside to build a snowman, we've shopped, we've eaten, we've been skiing seven times since we got here. The first time we went was great. We left the boys in the care of our butler and trusted friend, Jean-Luc, and we headed to the nearest ski resort. Kate is an avid skier, which is odd for someone who loves summer as much as I do. Peter's great at skiing, but he loves snowboarding more.

Before we went skiing, we did something I am good at (because I'm not the best at skiing). We went ice skating.



Ice skaters!


Then, we hit the slopes.



This ski lift contraption took us to the top of the slopes.


I can ski. I'm not nearly as good at it as Peter, Kate, and Spencer, but Kate patiently stayed by my side as I carefully navigated my way down the easy slopes. I do look adorable in my ski gear, though!

Peter and Spencer went snowboarding.



Snowboarders!


After Kate and I exhausted ourselves on the slopes, we watched our husbands snowboard until we got too cold and had to go inside the ski lodge and have hot chocolate. I called to check on the boys, who were playing. Phoenix was doing fine.



It started out as such a cold, overcast day, but it ended up being a gorgeous day!

After the guys were finished snowboarding, they came inside the lodge to warm up. Of course Peter's idea of warming up is having a glass of thirty year old scotch without any ice. He and Spencer finished their drinks and went into the gift shop. They returned with two microfiber blankets. Kate and I knew they were up to something, but we didn't know what, a man with a horse drawn carriage pulled up in front of the resort. Peter took my  hand and escorted me out to the carriage, which seated four. We took one seat, Spencer and Kate took the other. We rode in the carriage to a restaurant about two miles away from the resort, huddled under blankets and drinking hot chocolate all the way there. It was so nice.

We got to this restaurant, and it did not look like a place I would normally dine, but the food was amazing, and the service was top notch! We ate way too much. We got in the carriage to go back to the ski resort, and snow began falling, which made the ride even nicer.



The carriage we rode in!

We got back to the cabin to find Jean-Luc helping Logan and Phoenix wrap Christmas gifts for us. It was so sweet! Logan looked so serious as he fumbled with a bow, and Phoenix was singing a song he had made up on the spot. It was something like, "Yay, it's Christmas and I'm wrapping presents and there's snow, and there are places we can go, and snowmen, and Santa, and deer, and red flowers..." and he just kept going with whatever he could think to say about Christmas. Peter got it on video, thankfully.

We just put the boys to bed. Peter and Spencer are watching television in the upstairs family room. They've got the baby monitor so they can listen in on the boys, in case Phoenix needs anything. Kate, who was exhausted from the shopping she and I did, went to bed about ten minutes ago. I thought now was the perfect time to sit down and compose our Christmas Letter.

Now that I've given you the grand tour of the cabin, and told you about some of the things we've done here so far, I'll give you some updates about our lives this past year.

January was filled with appointments for Phoenix. (For those of you who don't know, Phoenix has some unknown health issues. He's seen specialist after specialist since he was born. He spent five months in the NICU after he was born. I went into labor at twenty-three weeks. The doctors at Wallace Memorial Hospital were able to stop my labor with medication, until I was twenty-seven weeks, when Phoenix decided he was ready to make his debut into the world. From that day on, our lives have been filled with appointments, medications, hospitalizations, surgeries and concerns, but also strength, joy, laughter, tears, hugs, kisses, and love from a beautiful little boy whose smile lights up a room.) We saw the neurologist, who prescribed a new medication for Phoenix to control his seizures. He has a combination of different types of seizures; absence seizures, simple partial seizures, complex partial seizures, drop seizures, (where he just drops to the ground but doesn't lose consciousness), and tonic clonic, also called grand mal, seizures. The tonic clonic seizures are the worst. I've seen him have that type of seizure many times, but it still doesn't make the next one any less scary. The medication from that visit did decrease his seizure activity dramatically.

We saw the endocrinologist. We've had no luck controlling his glucose level, which is constantly low. Everyone thought he was a diabetic due to some of his symptoms, especially the fact that he can't seem to get enough to drink. He can put away the fluids, so we were all surprised to see that his glucose was low. We have to give him glucose tablets. We check his glucose three times a day. He used to cry and run away when it was time to check it because he hates having his finger stuck, but now he looks forward to it. That's one good thing the glucose tablets have done. He will stand there with me until the machine beeps, and he says, "Do I get one of those grape things?" He's so disappointed when he doesn't have to eat one.

We also saw the ENT and the speech therapist. The ENT is pleased with the results of the surgery, which took place last November. (Phoenix had tubes placed in his ears.) The ENT was also glad to know that Phoenix has not dealt with constant ear infections like he did before. The speech therapist said that his words are much clearer, and that he's advanced in his speech for his age (which was eighteen months at that time). She doesn't expect to be working with him for much longer.

I spent the last two weeks in Milan as a guest judge on a modeling show. (That was the first modeling related job I've accepted since I retired five years ago as a supermodel.)

In February, Phoenix was hospitalized on Groundhog Day. He was showing symptoms of a cold before I had to leave for Milan, but he wasn't getting any better and had developed a fever, so Peter took him to the ER, while I stayed at home with Logan, who was now exhibiting cold symptoms. Phoenix was admitted and spent fourteen days in the hospital. We took turns spending the night at the hospital. He stayed the first night, and I stayed the second, and so on and so forth. One of us took care of Phoenix, while the other took care of Logan. (Believe it or not, I would much rather take care of Phoenix when he's sick than Logan, because while taking care of Phoenix is complicated and requires IV meds and finger sticks and more, he knows the drill and cooperates 95% of the time, but when Logan is sick, he's a tyrant, just like his father. He will scream, cry, and throw things because he doesn't feel well, then, he will hole himself up in his room, where he makes his demands from bed, and he's only three! He's Peter through and through.)

Our Valentine's Day celebration took place in the hospital cafeteria. They served a breakfast buffet for dinner, something Wallace Memorial Hospital does once a month (is it sad that I know this), which consisted of heart shaped eggs, heart shaped pancakes, heart shaped sausage patties, heart shaped Canadian bacon, heart shaped waffles, and fresh fruit cut into little heart shaped pieces. Our friend, Steve, who was working that evening (he's an oncologist) joked that the cardiology department was boycotting the hospital cafeteria because whoever made the food did not use the correct shape of a heart. He also brought us three sugar cookies which were shaped and iced like an actual heart, and even had different colored icing piped on them to look like veins and arteries. He said one of his colleagues made them and brought them in for Valentine's Day. We ate our cookies and took the third one up to Phoenix, who ate that cookie like it was his last meal.

Leah, Tallullah, and I got together on the 25th to throw Daisy a surprise party at the tea room for her 26th birthday. Daisy's doing so much better. She's still in remission. She's gained some weight back, and her hair has grown and is now touching her shoulders. (She can't wait until it's down to her waist again.) She looks amazing, and happy. She showed us pictures of her then five year old son, Declan. (She and Steve adopted him. He's lived with them since October 31st, 2011.) She loves being able to be a mommy again, and as Tallullah puts it, to do "Mom things". We had such a nice time. Then, Leah had to get back upstairs to Ryker. His father had a heart attack two days before Daisy's birthday. I had to get back to Phoenix and see about him.

March consisted of more visits to the doctor for Phoenix, concerning his hospitalization, and a referral to the pulmonologist after another struggle with pneumonia, which thankfully did not require another stay in the hospital. His visit with the endocrinologist was better this time. The glucose tablets proved to be working. More tests to follow.

March 2nd was Paul's twenty-seventh birthday. Peter, Ryker, and Steve took him to his favorite BBQ place to eat, then, they went to a boxing match.

March 11th was Ashtyn's second birthday. We took the boys over to celebrate her birthday.

On March 31st, Peter and his twin, Kate, celebrated their twenty-seventh birthday together. Phoenix wasn't feeling well that day. He had a seizure, so Peter and Kate went out to dinner together to celebrate while I stayed home with the boys.

We took the boys to the church Paul and Tallullah attend for Easter Sunday. They looked so cute in their little suits and ties! After service, the church had an Easter egg hunt. It was the first time the boys participated. They had fun. Phoenix found more eggs than Logan! Logan kept stopping to eat the candy he found in them, or pocket the money that sometimes fell out of them.

On April 10th, Peter and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary by taking a weekend trip to LA. We spent the week lying on the beach or poolside at our hotel. My brother, Braxton, and sister-in-law, Rhiannon, stayed with Logan and Phoenix at our place.

April 26th was Tallullah's 26th birthday. Daisy, Steve, Leah, Ryker, Peter, Paul, and I took her to that new extreme sports place. Tallullah's very adventurous. She was climbing rock walls and flying across the place on the highest zip line, and having a great time!

On May 3rd, Logan had his first visit to the dentist. He was very good during the visit and did everything the dentist told him to do. He's NEVER that docile. He must be learning from his brother. His dental health was excellent.

After the dentist visit, I picked Phoenix up from the house, and took him and Logan over to Zane and Zephra's birthday party. Peter was out of town that day, so he couldn't make it. Zane and Zephra's birthdays are a day apart, so Paul and Tallullah throw their parties on the same day. They both had a great time.

June 12th was Daisy and Steve's third wedding anniversary.

June 27th was Ryker's birthday, so the four of us went over to their house to hang out in their backyard, which is a private beach. Peter, Ryker, Steve, and Tallullah surfed, while Daisy, Leah, and I sunbathed as we watched them. Paul took all of the kids to hunt for seashells. That consisted of his own two children, Zephra and Zane, Steve and Daisy's two children, Declan and Ashtyn, Leah and Ryker's oldest twins, Hannah and Katherine, and their youngest twins, Madeline and Gregory. Paul helped them find shells. Then, he got them all involved in building a sandcastle. Logan and Gregory kept begging to act like Godzilla or King Kong and destroy it, but instead, Paul built them a city out of sand, and let them terrorize it. He even made little people who looked like they were running! The kids had such a good time.

We went back over to Leah and Ryker's house and spent fourth of July having a barbecue on the beach.

July 21st, Phoenix turned two years old. We threw him a Blue's Clues party. He loves Blues Clues, and he's so observant. Peter will sometimes bring bagels home from the bagel shop next to the airport, and he will hide them, but the minute Phoenix gets up from his nap, he will ask for a bagel! How does he know that? So I'll get him an Asiago cheese bagel. He eats half, and I eat the other half.

Phoenix had such a good day that day. He ate a full meal, something that's rare for him. He ran around the house with Logan and their friends, which consisted of Declan, Ashtyn, Zephra, Zane, Hannah, Katherine, Madeline, and Gregory. They were all running through the house giggling and squealing with delight. But that night was a different story. I woke up around two in the morning to check on Phoenix, and he wasn't breathing very well. So I called an ambulance and woke Peter. By the time we got to the hospital, Phoenix was fine. They went ahead and kept him that night to monitor him. The next day, they ran some tests, but they could find nothing. They referred him to an allergy specialist. I'll just add that doctor to his list. Poor guy sees enough doctors as it stands now.

In August, Logan started preschool. Phoenix could have went, but I'm not ready to let him go yet. Logan seems to enjoy interacting with his peers. Once he's awake, Logan can't wait to go. He asks, "Is it time to go yet," every five minutes!

August 29th was Steve's birthday. Peter got this fabulous idea for he, Ryker, and Paul to take Steve to Vegas. I won't go into details, but I was not surprised when Peter got them all kicked out of the casino.

September 4th was Logan's third birthday. He walked around declaring that he's a "big boy" now. He's just like Peter. You could see how proud Peter was when Logan informed him that he was now a big boy. We had a "big boy" party, with a "big boy" theme, which was sports cars. Logan loves sports cars, just like his father. He already wants a Porsche. I have no idea what I'm going to do with him and he's only three! The gang came over, and the kids played. Then, it was time to open gifts. Logan was thrilled to see the  "sports car" that Peter got him. He  got in and took each of his friends for a ride around the backyard! I didn't expect him to share it, but he did.

September 10th was Leah's birthday. Daisy, Tallullah, and I took her to the tea room, where we had an elegant tea party complete with Petit Fours, fondue, and all sorts of other goodies.

October came, bringing with it my birthday and Halloween. The week of my birthday, Peter took me to Tahiti! We spent the majority of our time in our thatched roof hut that is poised on stilts above the still blue waters! It had a private sun deck, and glass floor panels so we could see the Ogle Technicolor reef fish! One of the awesome things about being there was getting breakfast delivered from a traditional dugout canoe by Tahitian women wearing fragrant leis! We went on a shark and stingray feeding tour. I was a mess, but Peter loved every minute of it. We partook in a couples Tahitian massage, explored the heart shaped Moorea, sampled traditional Tahitian dishes, such as breadfruit, taro, Poisson Cru, which is raw tuna marinated in lime juice, and coconut milk. we visited a pearl farm, which I thought was awesome! Tahiti is famous for its black pearls, but not all of them are black. They can come in shades of blue, gray, bronze, green, and aubergine. We took a boat ride in Bora Bora among the Mt. Otemanu. It was gorgeous!!! We saw Polynesian dancers, and I gave it a try. I caught on really quickly, but Peter said he had more fun watching me than participating. We got on the plane to head home. As soon as we were free to move about the cabin, my husband told me to close my eyes. He placed a box in my lap, one last surprise. I opened the box and saw the necklace. Peter bought me a gorgeous strand of black pearls for my birthday. He said my eyes lit up when we were at the pearl farm. He spoils me so. I got with the girls for a day at the spa a few days after I returned home.

For Halloween, Logan wanted to be "like daddy". Peter was thrilled! And the best part was that he was home in time to go trick-or-treating with us this year! (Last year, I took them by myself, which wasn't easy because Phoenix had a seizure halfway through the night, and Logan was disappointed that we had to go home.) So I put Logan in his little black Easter suit with the red silk tie, and found him a small briefcase to carry around. Phoenix wanted to be a lion, like Logan was last year. I let him wear Logan's old costume. He looked so cute in it! He was walking around, yelling, "RAWR," in his cute little toddler voice. It was absolutely adorable. It was one of those nights where nobody would ever know that Phoenix was anything but a normal, healthy little two year old boy.

While we were out with the boys that night, we saw one of the nurses who took care of Phoenix last time he was in the hospital. Phoenix recognized her, because he ran to her, hugged her tightly, and said, "Thank you!" He's such a polite little boy! (Logan, on the other hand, is a different story. We have to remind him of his manners. One time, we were out somewhere eating with Paul and Tallullah, and Logan burped really loud. Peter asked, "What do you say?" And Logan replied, "Nothing." Of course, Paul and Tallullah thought it was hilarious! I wanted to die right there. And Peter was angry. He kept on until Logan finally said, "Excuse me.")

November started out with Logan coming home sick from preschool. Peter and I caught it. Phoenix didn't, which was a miracle! So the three of us spent the second week of November lying around the house, feeling miserable. Leah and Ryker took Phoenix during the day each day. (Leah's a doctor and well aware of his needs, so I don't worry about him so much when he's there.) He had a blast playing with Hannah, Katherine, Madeline, and Gregory. By the second week, we were all feeling better, and things were fine until the holidays began.

Paul and Tallullah celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary on November 9th.

Thanksgiving was when the real drama took place. Peter's parents came to New York to spend the holidays with us. Peter and his twin, Kate, were really hoping they wouldn't. If their father, Philip, had came by himself like he did last year, that would have been fine, but when their mother, Kim, comes in, there's ALWAYS drama. She's a clothing designer, very high maintenance, and nothing Peter or Kate do is good enough for her. Kate's not thin enough, and Peter should have chosen a career in the fashion industry, because according to her, that's all he knows. She's never proud of them. (She's always been like this, too. When Logan turned one, she came over for the party, changed everything, and invited people we didn't know!) So when they decided to come in for Thanksgiving, I knew there would be drama. I just wasn't prepared for this year's drama.

Kim announced that she and Philip would be having Thanksgiving in their upscale Manhattan penthouse apartment. She insisted we attend, but I had already planned our Thanksgiving in advance. My brothers, Julian and Jericho, and their wives, Melissa, and Corinne, were coming in from Boston, and Kate and Spencer were coming this year, since Spencer's parents were going out of town. Peter informed her of this, and let's just say the fan was hit. It finally ended with Kim stating that we weren't welcome, and Peter and Kate getting plastered while playing pool in the billiard room.

I went ahead with our catered Thanksgiving dinner. Black Manor was decorated accordingly. I made a few side dishes, Spencer brought his famous bread pudding. (Kate can't cook. Her mother said that was something "the help" did.) My brothers and sisters-in-law brought all kinds of food and desserts to our house. Dinner turned out great. We were sitting in the formal dining room, chatting away. Everyone fussed over the boys and how big they had gotten. And in the middle of dinner, the doorbell rang. Our butler, Jean-Luc, was our guest for Thanksgiving dinner, so Peter got up and answered the door. It was his mother and father. Peter brought them in. His expression was one of anger. Peter's mother, Kim, began her dramatic speech about how we did not invite them over for dinner. Philip hung his head, embarrassed. Kate was scared, and Spencer looked as angry as Peter. Julian, Melissa, Jericho, and Corinne, looked uncomfortable. Once the speech was over, Peter escorted his mother out of the room. We could hear shouting, but we couldn't make out what was said. Philip apologized for his wife's actions and left the room. I apologized to our dinner guests profusely. I was angry and embarrassed. (And before you ask, no, I'm not putting this letter in their Christmas card! They get a picture of the boys and that's it.)

Peter called the staff in Colorado and asked them to get the cabin ready for the weekend, and after Kate and I came back from our Black Friday shopping trip, we headed to the cabin. Peter's mother was angry that Kate and Spencer chose to come with us instead of spending the rest of the holiday season with them, but I can't blame either of them! I'm surprised Peter and Kate are as normal as they are after growing up in such dysfunction!

So here we are at the cabin. I think this was the best decision we could have made, getting away for a while. It has definitely done Peter and Kate some good.

I hear Phoenix crying through the monitor, so I must close for now.

I certainly hope everyone has had a great year, and a wonderful, drama free, holiday season!

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year,

Congressman Peter Dylan, Gabrielle Olivia, Philip Logan, and Phoenix Ryan