Niko the Engineer

Mila was playing and building a pretty intricate system of toy gears. And as we were cleaning up, I put Niko down on the mat next to us. And when I turned around I saw that she was happily playing with the gears, turning them around and around.

Please pardon the phone conversation that you can so clearly hear in the video. If I knew how to remove isolated audio components of the video, and if I had a few free hours to learn to do such a thing, I'd remove it. But regardless, look at how sweet Niko is here. Isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen? I think that I've completely gone off the deep end and have fallen flat on my delusional mama face... because she's the cutest thing since Knut the Polar Bear.

George Mark Children's House Fund-a-Bed Campaign

I know that I have not been on here for a very long time. So naturally the first thing I do when I pop back on here is... ask for money of course! 

I want to share some information about George Mark's new campaign that they are calling Fund-a-Bed. They are trying to raise $288,000, to underwrite the cost of two beds for an entire year. George Mark Children's House is the Hospice/Respite care center for children with terminal diseases. We owe a lot of our sanity and quality of life to them. And for that I'm eternally grateful. 

Please know that there is no pressure to contribute. I just want to share this with you so that you can have the information and... you know... pass it along to those who may be in the position to donate... to those who might have a particular compassion for medically fragile children... you know... to those with a heart!  :)

And if you do have a desire to contribute, doing so in Niko's name would help contribute to Niko's legacy. Her full name is Nikola Dobrovolsky. Donate here.

Below is an appeal letter that highlights that work that they do for Niko. She looks pretty damn cute in the letter if I have to say so myself.

Winter in Santa Fe 2015

It's been a while...

But rather than try to play catch-up and fill the post with what we've been up to this year I'll just post some fun photos from this week. 

We are in Santa Fe. Niko is behaving like an angel. It's been a literal Winter Wonderland. We've had a gentle (and at times not so gentle) snow storm over the last few days. And for a San Francisco city girl who rarely sees snow, I felt like I was inside a snow globe. It was just magical!

Happy Holidays! And Happy 2016! 

P.S. I do actually have a lot of catch-up to do here. SO MUCH has happened this year. I'll get to that when I have some time. Time have been such an illusive bastard lately. But I'm savoring every minute I've got. 

Happy Halloween

It's been a super long time since I've posted. And I have so much to catch up on. However I'll save that for a when I have a significant chunk of time on my hands.

For now, I want to say Happy Halloween. I am an absolute FREAK over Halloween. I geek out like crazy and spend an embarrassing amount of time making costumes. It's my guilty time splurge of the year. We should all indulge in such madness. Here is a recap on all the halloween costumes I've made for Mila. I've made a few less elaborate costumes for Niko, but she's usually asleep and covered up by the time we go trick or treating so I don't have too many exciting photos of her in costume.

RIP Mikey

It's been a long time since I've posted. I think I've lost the posting bug.

And part of it is that too many I-Cell kiddos have passed in the last few months. I used to write a little about each kid who passes, to note their short time here on earth. I wanted to share the beauty that I saw in each of their faces. But however I tried to focus on the overwhelming joy they all brought to their families and beyond, it's just so sad. I don't need to repeat how much each passing hurts me.

But just recently, Mikey passed away. Mikey had an older sister, who also passed from I-Cell just before she turned 5 years old. And even though he was getting up there in age for an I-Cell child, I still can't believe he's gone. He was almost 9 years old.

I have always thought of Mikey as the spokesperson for I-Cell. I thought of him as our "Ambassador of Spunk". In fact, I mentioned this to his mother, and lo and behold, she created a Facebook page to honor this title, which was made official by the 18th congressional district of Florida. 

Mikey receiving his official title from Congress - thanks to Lisa Lickstein!!
Posted by Mikey, The Ambassador of Spunk on Thursday, March 19, 2015

Mike had a larger than life and undeniably lovable personality. He deserved his own TV show. I thought that perhaps he was the most capable of expressing the wonders of I-Cell children, even to those who don't know us. I imagined that if people met Mikey or watched his videos, they would understand "us". And hopefully if his mother continues to share those videos, the world will understand I-Cell through Mikey. 

In my house, Mila will sometimes ask me out of the blue, "Can we watch some Mikey videos?" Here are a few of my favorites. 

Not always rainbows, kittens and unicorns!'
Posted by Trish Doyle on Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Mikey will never walk but my son can move!!
Posted by Trish Doyle on Wednesday, February 22, 2012

BAWK!! Uncle Fwankie at it again
Posted by Trish Doyle on Monday, March 16, 2015

Step aside KC!!
Posted by Trish Doyle on Thursday, September 4, 2014

Rest in peace Mikey, Ambassador of Spunk. April 26, 2006 - April 3, 2015. 

Photo dump

Photos and videos!

Mila getting ready for Chinese New Year

And Mila messing with Niko's hair again.

A cup of Niko in the morning: light and sweet.

This past weekend we got a chance to see the Ross and Watson families again! Even though we had a short time together, it was so great to see the families.
The sprouting kids are a reminder of how fast time flies, as the saying goes.

More I-Cell Coo Coo People!

Many people talking at once, including the dad book reviewers.

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year from the little sheep Niko!

Bonus Photo

I really should not let Mila do this to her, but she thinks it's beautiful.

And it's really too funny.