Happy New Year

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I'll try to post some pics and updates soon from ours. We had a good one, but Gabe came down with a fever on Christmas Eve and we ended up in the Emergency Room in Rockford on Christmas Day because his fever was so high. He's got a virus and is doing better, finally, but it's been a long week. It just makes me sad to see him so sick with fever and congestion. This is definitely the sickest he's ever been. Dan is just getting over a virus, and my throat started hurting last night, so it will just be nice when we're all healthy again at the same time! Thankfully we've had this week off.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year!!

Gabe and His Purse

Things Lately

So, I feel really bad lately because I haven't been keeping good track of the things Gabe's been doing or saying lately. Here's my attempt to summarize (this may get a little long, but it's mostly for my own documentation purposes):

• He's got names for almost everyone, and has for some time. Grandpa Tyo, Grandpa Hogan and Great Grandpa Hogan are all "bapa." My mom is "mamow," Joyce is "oma," our sitter Dorethea is "D," Christina, Patrick and Henry are "ana, pat and hen," respectivly (sometimes Sandi is "ana" also).
• He loves to "pay" (pray). He'll fold his hands and start naming family members that he wants us to pray for. Very cute. He usually starts with "aaaaaa bapas" (all the bapas) and goes down the list from there.
• He loves to talk on the phone. He'll blab away when he's pretending with the phone (i.e. "HI, Mamow!), but when you actually put him on with someone, he's pretty quite other than a big kiss in the receiver.
• He loves purses, throwing them over his shoulder and saying "bye, bye!"
• He's starting to "pretend." Particularly, he'll get a cup and some type of kitchen utensils from the drawers and pretend he's eating something (I've got a video of this I'll post later). He'll pretend he's taking a bite and then say, "mmmmm!"
• He's getting really good with letters and can usually pick out a couple if we ask him to (U and L).
• He likes to sing and dance. Like Nathan, he also love the "bus" song and does most of the sounds, (beep beep, swish swish, shh shh) and then will finish with "aaaaaaa townnnnn" (all through the town).
• He calls his diapers "ooooweeeee" because that's the sounds we used to make when we changed his diapers. If we ask him to, he'll usually go get the diaper for us out of the cabinet (I know, we're lazy). A couple of times he has even laid on his back and tried to put the diaper on over his clothes!
• He's still crazy about toots and thinks they're very funny.
• He calls himself "baby" (Gabie) and sometimes will point to himself and say "me!"
• He's definitely a chatterbox and will say or repeat almost anything. He's getting really good at phrases. Tonight on the way home he said "mama, dada, baby's house!"
• He loves to hold hands and take you by the hand and lead you (usually aimlessly) through the house.
• He's a little social butterfly. The last couple of times we've been out for dinner, he waves and says "hi" to those around us and "bye" to people leaving. Saturday he said thank you everytime the waitress brought something to our table (and was flirting and smiling big time!) Tonight leaving Panera he waved and said "bye, man" to this random guy. Pretty funny.
• He loves to play hide-and-seek and will say "mama hide," "daddy hide" and then come try to find us.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but that's some of the stuff I've been wanting to write down. I'll try to post some pics and videos soon.

Bathtime Buddies

We went to visit Christina, Patrick and Henry a couple weekends ago, and put the boys in the bath together. Gabe is a little nervous around tubs that aren't his own (and that don't have his Elmo bathmat), thus the face in this picture. But I thought the mohawks were cute. :-)

Batteries

About a month ago, my mom taught Gabe that when things don't work it's because they need batteries. He picked up on it really quickly, and even knows where to look to see if there are batteries. She also taught him to say "dangerous," (as in it's dangerous to go up the stairs by yourself). This is a short video of him with his dancing ducky (he calls him "Press" because you press his wing to make him go) looking for the batteries. Warning, this video is a little long.

What's your favorite Christmas cookie recipe?

I thought it would be interesting to ask this question. No pressure, but if the recipe is short enough and simple enough, feel free to leave it in the comments section. I'm always looking for new, simple recipes for the holidays. I usually get together with Christina and Joyce for a day of holiday baking, then we all get to take a variety of things. My new favorite last year (or maybe the year before) is to take a pack of Oreos and food process them with an 8 oz block of cream cheese. Roll the mixture into balls and dip them in melted chocolate for a truffle-like treat! They're super easy and are very good with MINT Oreos.

I also love all the classic that my grandma used to make - the green corn flake wreaths, buck-eyes (peanut butter and rice krispies dipped in chocolate), decorated sugar cookies...this list goes on.

Happy Christmas baking season!

I promise to post something soon...

I know I'm way behind on posting, so I promise I will catch up this week, so stay tuned. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Workshop

As you can see, I'm doing some catching up on posts! A couple weekends ago Dan spent the whole weekend cleaning up our basement and back porch. You might not be able to tell from the pictures, but it looks A TON better! It has basically been a mess since we moved in last winter - trim pieces, saw dust and drop cloths all over the floor. And, Dan made himself a workshop with a saved cabinet from the old kitchen. He even built himself a little work table and organized all his tools. Nice job, hon! Now we can find and return the tools and paint supplies that we have borrowed!

Is it a bad word?

One of Gabe's favorite questions is "what's that?" So, when he asked as I was putting on some diaper cream, I told him, "It's for your butt." Now when I ask him what the diaper cream is for, he says, "butt," as evidenced in this video? After I taught him the word, and encouraged him to say it, I started wondering if it's an inappropriate word for a toddler?

Baby Dinosaur

Here are a few pics of Gabe in his dinosaur outfit from Grandma Joyce. We celebrated Halloween a little early on Saturday night by going to my family's 25th Annual Chili Shoot-Out (everyone brings chili, kindof like a competition). It was a lot of fun. We also watch the same cheesy, scary movie every year called "Dark Night of the Scarecrow" and watch home movies of years past. My family gets together ALOT, but the Chili Shoot-Out is one of my favorite traditions.

Alf

We recently brought home some of Dan's old things from his mom's and discovered on old Alf doll that Gabe has been playing with (remember that show?...sometimes I miss the good old '80s sitcoms). The other day I asked Gabe, "do you know what Alf likes to eat?" He responded by putting Alf in his high chair. I will spare him the trauma of explaining that Alf liked to eat "maus." :-)

Toots & Giggles

If you are offended by discussions about "toots," then read no further. :-) Gabe has learned to use the word "toot" when someone passes gas, particularly himself or his father (not mommy, of course). So, a couple nights ago I was laying down with him on our bed to get him to sleep for the night. He was almost sleeping when he passed gas a couple of times (fairly loud :-)). In his drowsy, half-sleeping state, he whispered, "toot......toot." I almost cracked up, and then he drifted off to sleep. What a stinker (pun intended).

Fall Fun

Dan and Gabe raked some leaves yesterday and we snapped a few picks of Gabe helping in his new coat and hat. :-) I feel like I am way behind with posting, so I need to do some updating in the next few days!

Da Bears!

Is anyone watching the Bears game right now? Incredible! Go Bears!

(There's still 3 minutes left, so hopefully I'm not jinxing anything!)

Changing Seasons

It's super cold in Chicago right now, and yesterday was the earliest measurable snowfall in Chicago EVER. As usual (actually, a little earlier than usual) we've experienced our two beautiful days of fall and have gone straight to winter. I don't mind winter up until about Christmas, then I can't wait for it to be over so we can have our two days of spring. But, a changing season is always a good time for a fresh perspective and outlook on life in general. I'm so grateful for Heather and Aaron and the way they have emphasized through their journey that keeping your eyes on the Lord is the most important thing. I have to remind myself of that. Even today I found myself caught up in and getting angry over work stuff, when I know work is not the most important thing in my life. While I think it's important to do work to the best of your ability, I just don't think it's my life's purpose. This is getting deeper and more contemplative than originally intended, but sometimes I think through these things best when I write!

Gabe is doing well. He comes up with something new every day. He learned how to say "on" and "off" yesterday with my mom, and is using lots of words and some phrases lately. Today when I was getting him dressed, he tugged at his diaper and said "pee pee." He has been asking what "that" is, so that's what we've told him. Anyway, I thought maybe he was trying to tell me he was wet, so I took the diaper off and he ran away and got up on the futon bed (we were in the spare bedroom) - very amused becuase he was just in a shirt and no diaper - and before I knew it I heard "uh oh!" and he was peeing on the bedspread! I am wondering if he is starting to know when he has to go potty? At his eighteen month checkup our doctor suggested that we start potty training and we bought a chair, so maybe we'll start trying. We'll see.

We'll Miss This Little One

Baby Payton went to be with the Lord early Friday morning. What a blessing she was in her brief stay here. She and the faith of her parents have had an amazing impact on so many. We will miss her very much. Please keep Aaron and Heather and their families in your prayers during this time. In case you hadn't seen it previously, you can read their blog at www.aaronandheatherjones.blogspot.com and see a beautiful slideshow of their family at www.hollypetersphotography.com/payton.

A Heart for Payton

Heather called at about 6:30 tonight and said they have a heart for Payton en route from South Carolina, due to be there an hour from when she called! Heather asked for prayers over the next few hours as they'll be proceeding with the transplant surgery shortly after the heart arrives. Please pray for Payton and her surgeons and doctors, and for Heather and Aaron during this time. It's such great news and God has been so faithful to them during this process, but there will still be a lot of risks associated with the surgery. But, we know that He is good and that He has carried her this far, so we entrust baby Payton once again to him tonight.

Curious George

Ok, I am on a posting and video uploading kick tonight, but this will be my last one. This is a video of Gabe with his Curious George Jack-in-the-Box, which he calls "da doos." We can't figure out why he calls him that, because it doesn't sound like Curious or George, but he uses the same names every time. As you can see, he loves him, as he showers him with hugs, kisses, high fives and "nice."

Grandma Joyce brought Gabe a new Elmo book this weekend, and it has The Count at the end of the book. We told Gabe that The Count goes "one...ha, ha, ha,...two...ha, ha, ha..." so this is a (very) short video of him imitating the count.

Eighteen Months

It's hard to believe Gabe is a year and a half already! Time has gone so quickly. I still feel at times like he's my "baby," and then I'll see another baby and realize what a big boy he is! This is a fun age because he's learning a lot and talking a lot. He's starting to use some two-word phrases like "tay too, mama," and "no, no, no, maus." He still likes to show his muscles, he's still obsessed with Elmo and still loves "bob" (Veggie Tales). He can repeat a lot of the words we ask him to say (or will at least try, if he's in the mood). He is definitely starting to get a little shy around strangers, but knows his family for sure (most of them by name. He also likes to play "biddyball" with his new Little Tykes hoop from my mom (I'll try to post a video of him and his nerf hoop later). I just realized the other day that while I have hundreds of digital photos, I don't think I have really printed many since he was about three months old! I really need to get on top of that and do some scrapbooking, but at least I have my blog to document the milestones, and I can go back and fill in his baby book later!

More on the "Maus"

The "maus" are doing well. They are running free now; we originally had them locked in our bedroom most of the time until we were sure they knew how to use their litter box. We did "lose" them once last weekend for about a half an hour - we found them in the cabinet of the entertainment center (they had gone in from the back)! Gabe is doing well with them...he likes to play with them on his terms, though, so he doesn't like them climbing on him, etc. and he has given them the occasional shove and "no" when they are doing something he doesn't want them to do (like laying on his huge Elmo doll). Here are a couple of pics. One of their new favorite places to sleep is Gabe's high chair. :-) I think we're still undecided on the names, but thanks for all your input!

Nifty Fifty

Last Saturday was my dad's 50th birthday. We all came to town to spend the weekend with him and had a great time. We ate all of our favorite foods and just got to hang out and spend some good quality time together. Beck has some pics from the weekend on her blog, but here are a few recent pics of "bapa," as Gabe calls him. Happy Birthday, Dad! You look pretty good for 50! :-)

Kittie Video

Here's a short video of the new kitties (and a little bit of Gabe's booty shake).

Help Us Name Our New Meows

We've been contemplating a new addition to the family by way of pet (no, not another baby just yet). We've looked around casually at cats and dogs, but everytime we do we're a little apprehensive at the thought of the training, maintenance, etc. However, Gabe LOVES "meows" (sounds like "mau" when he says it) and Jamie's cousin's cat just had a new batch. So....we stopped by Saturday morning just to look and ended up taking two! I must say, they were just adorable and we couldn't resist! Plus, we felt better taking them away from their mommy knowing that at least they would have each other. But, we don't have names yet. We think we will call the fluffy one "meow" since that's what Gabe calls them, but haven't decided on another name (we also aren't sure if they're boys or girls). If anyone has any name ideas, we'd love to hear them! More to come on the meows, but for now here are a few pics of the new little ones.

Pweeeeeezzzzz????

I've been meaning to post about this for a while now, but I keep forgetting. Gabe is really good with his "manners".....he usually says "peace" when he wants something and "tay too" when he gets it. Well lately, when we ask him for something (i.e. can mommy have that?) he'll say (very slowly) "Pweeezzz?" like he's telling us to say "please"! It's pretty funny. I haven't been able to catch it on video yet, but I'll try. What cracks me up is he says it so much clearer and more drawn out than when he is actually saying it to get something.

Pesto Presto

If anyone else out there has a gigantic basil plant and doesn't know what to do with it, here's an easy pesto recipe I found on allrecipes.com:

2 cups fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (I toast them in a little bit of olive oil)
Salt to taste

All you do is throw everything in a food processor and voila! Sometimes I add a little extra olive oil. We usually just toss it with a box of mostaciolli or penne and it's a pretty good meal.

Playmates

We got together this past Saturday with some college friends and their little ones - aren't the little ones cute? They all look so huge next to the new baby! We were talking about how when we used to hang out it was going out to dinner or watching a movie and now we're chasing after all the kids! But it's a lot of fun. Gabe was a little on the shy side, and wanted to keep the Elmo book that Kaitlyn gave Christine for her birthday.

Buckingham Fountain

Here are a few quick pics of our trip to Buckingham Fountain with Gabe. We went downtown about a week and a half ago so I could drop something off at work, and we walked around Grant and Millenium Parks for a little bit. We also got dinner at the new Rock & Roll McDonals - it's HUGE and very cool.

Dancing with the Stars!

I'm not sure if any of you out there are fans of this show, but I've become quite addicted. The new season started tonight, and despite all the work I need to do tonight, I was transfixed. I must say, I think I'm rooting for Joey (Joey Lawrence) and AC Slater (Mario Lopez). :-) Watching it makes me really wish I could dance, and I can't to save my life. Maybe I'll take lessons some day....

Sweet Baby Girl

I just got back from spending a few days in Rochester with Heather and little baby Payton. It was great to see them both. Payton is even sweeter and more beautiful than she looks in her pictures, and Heather is just such a wonderful mom. We got some good girl time in and overdosed on chocolate cake last night. :-) Please continue to keep them in your prayers. As a family, they continue to amaze me with their faith and strength.

I hadn't realized how much I missed Dan and Gabe until I got home and saw them in the front yard. It seems like Gabe looks so much older than when I left! He was really happy to see me and gave me lots of hugs and kisses. He kept taking me by the hand and pulling me into the living room to play with his toys. I was glad because whenever I tried to talk to him on the phone while I was gone, he would get really angry and upset and I thought he might be mad at me when I got back!

Dan taught him how to bump fists while I was gone, which is pretty funny. If you hold your fist out to him he'll come up and punch it with his fist like he's a very cool dude. :-)

Links!

Ok, so I finally figured out how to add links to other blogs (see left sidebar). Now, I just need to figure out how to format the font for "Links," and I'll be all set!

Muscles

The other night while we were making dinner, Dan taught Gabe how to show his "muscles," and they were also working on catching a ball. This one really makes me laugh! :-)

Saying No

I know it won't always be so cute when Gabe says "no," but at the moment we think it's pretty cute. Here's a short video of him at the Children's Museum saying "no."

Time For Another Haircut!

Family Fun Day

As you can see, I am catching up on some posts! Last Friday Dan took the day off for a Family Fun Day. :-) We get free membership to the Children's Museum at Navy Pier through my work, so we went down early and had breakfast at McD's and them went to the Museum. I was really impressed - it's like a toddler playland where everything can be touched and played with, etc. I would highly recommend it! After that we went to the humane society to look at the doggies and "meows" (Gabe's word for kitties). Then home for nap and to the Brookfield Zoo in the afternoon. It was raining at the Zoo, but not too hard and we still had a good time. Here are some pics from our big day.

My Adorable Nephew

Here are some more pics of our morning at the park the weekend before last. Aren't these pics of Henry adorable?

My Seester Has a Blog

You can visit at www.rebeccalynn22.blogspot.com. I finally talked her into it. I also need to figure out how to add links to my blog!

Please Pray for Payton

My friend Heather's little girl, Payton, is in desparate need of a miracle. Please pray for her, especially this evening and through the night, as they decide if she is able to be a candidate for a heart transplant. If not, they have been told that she cannot survive other than on life support - she is currently on a heart/lung machine after another heart surgery earlier this week. We know, however, that God is capable of miracles, and we entrust baby Payton to Him tonight.

You can read more about Payton at www.aaronandheatherjones.blogspot.com.

It's raining...in the living room?

OK, so I am clearly on a video kick now that I have figured out how easy it is (you don't even have to wait anymore)! This is a video of what happened to us last weekend. We woke up Friday morning and came downstairs to find an odd wet spot on the rug. It wasn't a huge spot, but I know it wasn't a spill from Gabe or anything because we had just come downstairs together. After a couple of seconds we realized where the water had come from....the CEILING! We looked up and the ceiling was dripping water and was pretty bowed like it was holding a ton of water. If you've ever seen the movie "Money Pit," I had visions of the bath tub falling through the ceiling and shattering on the floor. Dan had read in one of his home improvement books that it's best to poke a small hole to allow the water to drain, which is what you will see in this video. Yikes! We immediately figured we'd be gutting the bathroom and starting the renovation last weekend since it's something we're planning on anyway, but we decided to figure out what the problem was first, which involved cutting a HOLE in the living room ceiling. It turns out the bath tub drain was leaking - the seal was totally gone. So, Dan ended up cutting the old pipe and replacing the entire drain assembly, which ended up being only about a $30 fix. Now, we just have to replace the ceiling! Oh the charm of an older home!

Elmo

Here's another video of Gabe and his new best friend, Elmo.

Counting and Animal Sounds

Here's a video of Gabe showing his counting skills (sorry, it's just a black screen for a second or two). He has learned to say "two" after you say one. He's also getting better with letters, especially "b" and some other made up letters, which you will hear in this video! At the end, he does some of his favorite animal sounds. It's crazy how quickly they learn things at this age! Now that we're back on Google Video (thanks for motivating me, Christina) I'll try to post some more of he videos we've taken recently.

Reunion Pics

At long last, here are some pics from the reunion. I actually didn't get that many, so if anyone else has some they'd like to share, that would be great! These are my best girlfriends and their husbands, and my friend Carla that I grew up with (do I look a little pale?). As you can see, everyone looks just lovely!

Cookie Monster

Speaking of Cookie Monster, Gabe has now learned to say (and point out) Elmo and Big Bird. He learned that over the weekend at Grandpa Tim and Grandma Sandi's after playing with their Sesame Street radio. We have some Sesame Street placemats, so he'll point to them and say "Elmo" or "Bi Bu."

Dismissed!

Dan's tickets were dismissed in court today because the cop didn't show. Yay and thank the Lord! I think he's going to write about it in more detail on his blog (www.dsghogan.blogspot.com). Thanks to everyone for their prayers!

Say a prayer...

Dan goes to traffic court tomorrow at 11 a.m. for his tickets. We'll let you know how things turn out!

Anne's New Baby

My friend Anne called tonight to tell me her second baby girl was born at 2 a.m. this morning - four weeks early! She was very healthy - 6 lbs. and I think 12 oz. and 20.5 inches long. Her name is Mikayla Anne. She was born only 4.5 hours after Anne went into labor and only 2 hours after she got to the hospital!

Congrats Matt and Anne! Can't wait to meet her!

Better Nigh-Nighs & Naps

For a while now Gabe has been waking up sometime during the middle of the night or early morning and we've been bringing him into our bed to sleep - he konks right out as soon as he's in bed with us. Clearly, we may have started a bad habit and I have been really stressing about how to break it. On Monday night, I woke up early morning and was surprised that he was still sleeping...in his crib. And the real kicker was that he kept sleeping...in his crib...until 7:30 a.m.! I even got up, took a shower and got dressed before he woke up - I don't know if I've ever done that before! Then, last night he slept again through the night in his crib, but this time only until 5:30, but then he dozed with us again until about 7. So, maybe there's a light at the end of the tunnel afterall! His naps have been pretty consistently around 2 hours - close to 2 1/2 on Monday, so those are getting better, too. Still just one, which we have pushed back to somewhere around 11:30 usually. Things are smoothing out, but he still fights once in a while. Tonight, though, Dan read him a couple books on our bed and then I laid with him for a while on the bed and he was really playful and smiley and then I took him in his room and just swayed for a couple minutes and he was out. It was nice to have some time where I felt like I wasn't fighting to get him down, so I'm feeling optimistic.

It's been a while!

I know I haven't posted in a while...I've actually been having trouble posting pictures from Dan's computer (where they're all saved). Hopefully we'll get that figured out soon so I can post some pics of the big 10-year reunion last weekend! In the meantime, I'll post some things that don't require pics. :-)

Reunion!

This past weekend was my 10-year class reunion in Rockford. There was a kid-friendly day event at a park, and then a dinner at Giovanni's in Rockford. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since high school. What's even wierder is that they said the next one won't be for another 10 years - we'll be almost 40 then! The same amount of time that has passed from high school until now is the same brief period that will pass before I turn 40!

Anyway, we had a great time. It was fun to see people...and their kids! The thing about our school was that a lot of us went there from kindergarten through graduation, so it's like we grew up together and have that bond, regardless of what we now think of our experience there. To those from the CLHS class of 1996 reading this, it was great seeing you and please keep in touch (even if it's just through blogs)! I'll post some pics as soon as I can.

No More Ba-Ba & Other Fun Things

Today was Gabe's second day without a ba-ba (bottle). He had only been having one in the early morning (originally so he might go back to sleep, but now so we can get a few extra winks) and one at bed time (to soothe him a little bit for bedtime). It was definitely more for us than it was for him, which I had to admit to the doctor when she asked if we were just using cups now(we were supposed to cut him off at 12 months). So far so good - he doesn't seem to miss it at all, and he never really fell asleep on the bottle anymore anyway, so I guess we don't really miss it either. What a big boy he's becoming...

He's saying lots of new words all the time. He says "bye" and "bye-bye" really clearly now when he shuts a door, puts on his shoes, or waves, and is really getting good at repeating words that we say. His new favorite thing is sitting in his little chairs. He'll back his butt right up to them and sits down and sometimes crosses his ankles like he's just relaxing. I'll post some pics of that soon.

The other thing I'm sort of ashamed to admit is that he has memorized certain parts of our Veggie Tales Silly Song Countdown DVD. There's a part where Junior Asparagus says "cheese" for a pictures, and Gabe will say "cheese" a couple seconds before. There's another part at the end of the Hairbrush song where there's applause and he'll start clapping right before they do. He'll also sing with the Cebu song (except he things they're saying "say boo" so he'll just sing "boooooo..."). It's really funny, but makes me think he's seen it too much! We try not to let him watch more than one video a day. I know they say no TV until 2 - any opinions from other moms reading this?

Fifteen (and a half) Month Stats

Gabe had his fifteen-month check-up today (even though he's technically about 15 1/2 months). He weighed in at 28.2 pounds and 33 inches long. His head circumference is still off the charts, but they're not really concerned about it anymore. His height and weight are in the 90th percentile, so if those were lower, his head would probably be "on the charts." He's just a big boy all around! He did pretty well for the appointment, but it's definitely getting harder to keep him occupied and still, especially when the doctor takes a while. He also hated being prodded, particularly with the little ear scope light thing. All in all he's a health boy. Two shots today, and I'm pretty sure they said that would be it until kindergarten, which is great because he just HATED it and the nurse had me hold his leg down as tight as I could (he still managed to squirm and move..I think she wasn't that impressed with my restraint abilities). But as soon as the shots were done, he was fine and has been in a good mood this afternoon.

Toddler Mom Confessions....Part 2

I was swiffering under the couch last night and found 2 sippy cups, a cookie cutter and a chip clip. Maybe I need to start cleaning under there daily instead of weekly! I also found Gabe's Tylenol in the tupperware drawer last week.

We'll Miss You, Lucy....

On Saturday morning our family pet, Lucy, had to be put to sleep. My aunt Thea found her as a stray almost 9 years ago, and we took her in. She was a very sweet kitty...she loved almost anyone and loved to cuddle (she did have a bit of a drooling problem when she was really content :-)). She had not been doing well and the vet basically said her organs were shutting down and she had been losing control of her "functions." We will miss her dearly (Gabe loved her, too), but we did not want to see her deteriorate or suffer. She is now resting in peace next to our first kitty, Tiger, in my parent's back yard. :-(