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6/5/07: Kelly did it! She graduated last month and has a shiny new Bachelors Degree in Anthropolgy. Of course, it is suppose to be a degree that only gets you into graduate school, but instead Kelly got an interview exactly one hour after submitting her first resume. We have now moved back to Lakeland so Joel can be close to his job. Everytime we think about moving out of Florida, Joel gets a raise or a promotion, so we may be for good. Our new e-mail addresses are [email protected] and [email protected]. We can't wait for July. All I can say is: 7th book and 5th movie, and if you know what we mean, you are either a parent or a dork.

1/20/07: For those not on the Foster side of the family, Rhiannon's great Grandma Glorida died this week. We are glad Rhiannon got to meet her last year. We took Draco to a fenced, no-leash dog beach this morning and he had way too much fun chasing other dogs and splashing in the water.

12/19/06: We brought home Draco today. He gets along with the cat and Rhiannon loves him. However, when we put him in his crate while we went to the store, he barked until we were out of hearing. When we came home he was sitting in his crate in a pile of feathers and cotton stuffing. He had also pulled the Christmas tree skirt off the tree and in through the bars of his crate. The only thing that survived was a fleece blanket.

12/9/06: Memorable phrases to hear from Kelly and Rhiannon in the other room: "How did you get toothpaste in your eye?" "Mommy, sometimes I just really don't feel like a person."

12/2/06: Almost finals week - we can't wait for this semester to be over. Of course, next semester will be even worse. Kelly is taking 18 hours to graduate and Joel is taking the harder sequel to the calss that he is barely passing. But Rhiannon got a play house from the neighbors who are moving, so she is all good.

11/4/06: It has been a busy two months. Kelly had had a very tough semester, Joel has worked a little less and managed to survive in one of his classes, and Rhiannon has been her usual bratty litttle angelic self, alternately frustrating and delighting us. She is growing a little after a long plateau. At least she feels heavier when she says, "Daddy, carry me!" for the 27th time, and some of her clothes are too short after two years in the same 18 months outfits.

8/27/06: School starts tomorrow for Kelly, Joel and Rhiannon. We all have a full schedule, so we will pretty much see each other in December and not much before then. Kelly has a full load of writing intensive classes, Joel has two online engineering math courses and Rhiannon is moving up to the 3 year old class. So far it has been a very quiet hurricane season (keep your fingers crossed). We can no longer hide at Bill and Geneva's house during storms because they are on the coast now. AJ and Brandon, be warned. You may have refugees soon.

7/15/06: Kelly's car was about to blow up so we bought her a new car, possibly one that is less than practical. Joel had a bad case of new car envy so he bought a new truck. That sums up the month.

6/21/06: E Gads its hot! I sweated 2.8 gallons today. This is supposed to be the wet season when we get cooling afternoon showers. So far the closest we have had is a tropical storm. Kelly has finals tomorrow and then she gets a whole week off before the second session of summer semester begins. Joel is working overtime and commuting an hour, so I do not see much of my girls. I am very proud of the fact that I refused to work this Saturday when asked.

5/27/07: Long Holiday weekend! We are an hour closer to the beach so guess where we are going. We are also close to several parks and boat launches on the river. Last weekend I took Rhiannon on the river for about 30 minutes, a few hundred feet down stream then up, and we saw six gators. We also saw needle fish in a small tributary. Rhiannon did a great job sitting still on the front seat. We got Kelly's friend Maria married off last weekend, also. It was a beautiful location and ceremony, although I missed the end because Rhiannon started shouting,"I pooped in my underwear (She didn't)."

5/7/06:     We have moved to Tampa so Kelly can be closer to school. Our new address is:
                                                                      15215 Livingston Ave #122
                                                                       Lutz, FL 33559
                                                                       813-972-4873
                 We are still unpacking and fixing up our trashy little back yard, but the place is looking nicer by the day.

4/2/06: We are going canoing this morning, so I will try to get pictures of Rhiannon in the conae on the web page. She has been out in the boat twice on short paddles. She enjoys it for a little while and then ghets nervous as the boat rocks a little and asks to go home. I think she will get used to it, especialy if we get her a toy paddle to help with. In other news, she is completely potty trained, but only when she is in the mood. She was very sick on Friday and also vomited in the potty. She made it a couple of times, but she also threw up in her bed, our bed and on the floor, as she will proudly tell anyone.

Later: We paddled on Lake John, a mining pond near us and next to park (April 2006). Rhiannon did very well and we went the length of the lake, about 300 yards. We saw a gator on the bank about 7-8 feet long, but we did not get a good picture because it was behind some bushes. After I put the camera away it splashed into the water and scared the bejesus out of us.

2/22/06: It feels like Spring! I have a farmer sunburn, Kelly is buying dresses and we have the porch open. Kelly made the Dean's list last semester and is still enjoying school (if you ask her on the right day). Joel is getting a little busier at work. Hopefully Joel will be going to school with Kelly this Fall, albeit part imte at night, because he has applied for the Engineering grad school. We will be moving to Tampa in April to get us both closer to school. Poor Rhiannon has just made friends at her daycare. She will enjoy our new apartment more, though, because it has a small fenced backyard. we are excited about other upcoming events: Bill & Geneva and Ken & Martha will all be visiting in March AND Kelly has given Joel permission to buy a canoe! Happy 1 year anniversary AJ and Brandon!

1/7/06: Christmas and New Years Eve were very nice. We drove to Asheville and spent Christmas with Bill and Geneva. Billy and Aunt Linda were also there and we got to see AJ, Brandon and Chris. We even got a little snow Christmas Day. New Years Eve Rhiannon went to Debras house and Kelly and Joel went to a Bare Naked Ladies concert in Tampa. Food and drinks were free so we tied one on fot the first time in a long while. We hope everyone had as good a holiday season as we did. Welcome to 2006!

11/28/05: Warm Fall Sunday afternoon - Rhiannon is napping and Kelly is at school finishing a term project. Kelly is approaching the end of her first semester at USF. Rhiannon is speaking very well but still cannot express her self as clearly as she wants. She halts mid-sentence and gropes for words. She usually ends up using a pronoun as a proper noun. Work is status quo for me. Everyone is out of town for Thanksgiving so we have not spoken to anyone except Becky, Joel's Mom. John has been very sick, between a serious infection and incompetent nurses. Hang in there John! We love you.

10/29/05: We took Rhiannon and her friend Dylan to Gauvaween in Tampa. It is a street party in the historic Port area that is child friendly before sundown. They showed of thier costumes and trick-or-treated at the stores. They also ran around shrieking together and being mistaken for twins. Tonight we are going to Seaworld for more trick-or-treating. On actual Halloween we will rest.

9/13/05: Rhiannon loves daycare. This past weekend she demanded to go to school and she refused to believe that the school was closed. Joel was working in the office today, which is three blocks from her daycare. He snuck in and kidnapped her after lunch, and they went for icecream. Rhiannon came back contented and sticky.

8/30/05: Rhiannon's 2nd birthday this weekend and she had a blast at her party. Only one other kid was there, her buddy Dylan, and Dylan's parents and Debra were also there. Everybody spoiled her rotten. Kelly has been in school for two days now and is still excited, but not impressed with the difficulty of her four classes. She is thinking of picking up a fifth.

8/22/05: Busy two months! We went to Idaho, Utah and Oregon for two weeks, where Rhiannon met her cousins, aunt and uncle, grandparents and great grandparents. Kelly is getting ready for school. Rhiannon started daycare today. She ran into the school ahead of Kelly, right in with the kids, and asked Kelly to leave. I guess there won't be any separation anxiety there.

6/19/05: We had a very good Fathers Day. We rented a canoe and took Rhiannon on her first canoe ride on the Hillsborough River in Tampa. She saw alligators, birds and turtles and got to climb a four-story lookout tower. Many Happy Birthdays in June: Martha, Sam, Nathan... and oh yeah, Joel. Rhiannon has had a head cold for the last several days and yesterday is the first day she felt better. None of us have had much sleep this week, because even if Rhiannon had let us sleep, she made us sick as well.

5/1/05: We took Rhiannon to Seaworld again today. She was a little grumpy and did not enjoy the animals as much as usual. She saw the killer whale show for the first time and got a good soaking. She cried from shock at first but after a while she realized it was fun. She got to play with Dylan, her play buddy, at our company picnic on Saturday. They held hands and blew bubbles and sat together in a chair.

3/3/05: This past weekend we married off the last of the bachelors (at least among the old farts over 30). AJ and Brandon got hitched in Asheville and are currently freezing their nuptuals off on the Carolina Outer Banks. All I can say is it took him a while, but he definitely found a winner. I got to hold the leash of his best man (Maize, a yellow lab) and I also had to hold Rhiannon, who tried to crash the ceremony by crawling between the bride and groom to get to me. We love Asheville and the mountains, but Kelly and I were very glad to get back to warmer latitudes. Once we hit Orlando I was finally comfortable in my shorts. I don't know how I survived five winters in Asheville.

2/20/05: We are having a very lazy Sunday and I am still in my pajamas. We spent yesterday in Tampa visiting the Florida Aquarium and having lunch outside on a deck near the port. Rhiannon loved the fish and critters, but she loved the other kids more. She also had a good time splashing in the water playground. It has plastic sea life that the kids can climb on and many fountains and water spouts, as well as a ship with water cannons and water slides. We did not take a swim suit so we had to carry her around wet the rest of the day. She will be a year and a half in one week. I do not know where the last 18 months have gone. We saw a newborn at the aquarium and I would not believe Rhiannon was ever that small if I did not have the pictures to prove it.

1/13/05: Happy New Year! We spent New Years Eve at Busch gardens watching fireworks and New Years Day at Seaworld. This past weekend we went camping for the first time with Rhiannon. We went to Ft. Desoto Park on an island in the opening of Tampa Bay. Rhiannon played at the beach and squirmed all night long in the tent. We learned that we need a bigger tent and thicker sleeping pads before we go again.

12/5/04: Well, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We sure did, but it is time to throw out the leftovers now. We had a fantastic dinner with Tracy and Walter in Palm Bay on Turkey Day, then had another dinner at home on Sunday. We don't have our Christmas tree up yet because they are so expensive down here, which is odd because there are more pine trees here than you can shake a stick at. We took Rhiannon around yesterday and took pictures of her in her Christmas dress, so check the December page.

10/31/04: Happy Halloween! May you drown in candy but not in dentist bills. Rhiannon had two costumes, a devil suit as a backup and a beautiful fairy dress that Kelly made from a onesy and scratch. We took Rhiannon to Guavaween in historic Tampa, where the stores let kids trick-or-treat and there are bands and displays. Rhiannon got a lot of oohs and aahs, and had her picture taken by a radio station employee holding 100.7 paraphernalia. Kelly's homemade costume was definitely a standout.

10/17/04: Well, it is two months later and I have decided to update the site despite our agonizingly slow computer. Rhiannon is going on her first bike ride this afternoon. We found a helmet to fit her and bought a bike seat yesterday. I have been waiting for this for a while. She is such a Daddy's girl. If I go to the car or to check mail and leave her behind, she throws a tantrum. She also does not like to hold hands in public, and throws a mini fit when we take her hand in a store or parking lot. Willful little brat!

8/15/04: Allison Claire was born in in Seattle on August 5th, 8 lbs. and change and 20 inches tall. Happy birthday Michelle! We got you another neice for a gift. We weathered the hurricane fine and only saw some tree limbs knocked down. Rhiannon now walks around the apartment constantly, sometimes just taking laps around the living room or following us.

6/26/04: Happy 0th bitrthday to Odin Conner, Tracy and Walters little baby boy, born June 5th, weighing 7 lbs. and change and 19¹/₂ in. long! Happy Birthday to Martha, Sam and Nathan (oh yeah, and Joel)! We finally uploaded portraits that our friend Rachel took of Rhiannon three months ago. Our summer is going along well, except that it is HOT as H - - L! and our car air conditioning is going out. At a job site the other day I thought I was going to get heat exhaustion. But the weekend is here and our apartment pool is fixed. Rhiannon now claps whenever we clap or say yeah! We are looking forward to spending a long July 4th weekend in Asheville.

6/5/04: No way 2004 can be half gone already. We are enjoying our summer. We found a park near here with a boardwalk around a large pond. We saw a large gator there last week. This past weekend we went canoeing on the Hillsborough River that runs through Tampa. We saw two gators and innumerable birds, squirrels and fish. As for Rhainnon, click here to see how badly she is into everything.

5/12/04: Happy Mother's Day! Sorry we have not updated the site for a while. We have been busy working and moving and watching Rhiannon crawl and get into everything. She now has enough room in our new apartment to crawl around and follow us from room to room, sometimes when she is not supposed to. It is very nice to be five minutes away from the office and close to downtown. We have not walked to the lakes yet, even though it was one of the features we were most excited about. Rhiannon now has her own room so she no longer wakes up from Daddy's snoring and keeps Mommy awake.

4/11/04: Happy Easter, everyone! We hope you found all your eggs. We have had a busy few weeks, with Becky visiting and then Bill and Geneva two weeks later, and Kelly starting a new job. Rhiannon pulls herself to her feet on the side of her crib and on the furniture. We had to lower her crib matress and she still gets her chin above the edge. She pent a day looking around after the grandparents left. She missed them until we could distract her. She loves company and the more people there are to play with her the happier she is. Kelly and Joel cannot go 24/7 for her like she needs.

3/6/04: I am afraid to jinx myself, but I think winter is over down here. It has been in the 80's the last few days and I need to buy sunscreen before my farmer tan turns malignant. Rhiannon may be going swimming today if I can find floaties small enough for her. Since our apartment pool is not heated, it will be a short swim, even in this kind of weather. It has been years since I could enjoy water as cold as Grandma and Grandpa's pool for more than a few seconds.

2/21/04: Our little boo-boo can scoot forward now but she can't lift her bum off the floor to crawl yet. We were about to make an offer on a house, then it fell through, but now we might be able to work it out. We are on the new home roller coaster and it is mostly our hopes going up and down.

2/8/04: Kelly is at work, so it is Daddy-daughter day. When she is done napping I think we will go to work. We are getting excited for Grandma Becky to visit in March, but Grandpa John will probably not be with her, and he is the one that all the babies attach themselves to. Grandpa Ken is feeling better after hurting his back. Hang in there!

1/29/04: Tony and Conny Carleton had a beautiful and very premature baby girl a few days ago. Baby and Mommy are fine. Amazing for 3 ¹/₂ lbs. Rhiannon sits up very well now, but she still needs watching, as Daddy found out when she rolled off the couch the other day. Please don't tell Geneva. She is getting more talkative every day. I quote,"Blahlahlahmamamabahbahpheeeeeeewwww..."

1/19/04: Rhiannon is going to have another cousin in August, which is when Nathan and Becky are expecting their third baby. We are very excited for them. Rhiannon is almost over her little angel phase and coming into her asserting her personality phase, which is generally demonstrated by refusal to go to bed and fake crying. But she is so cute when she is grumpy that we can't hold it against her.

1/11/04: We hope everyone had a good New Year's Day, and we are glad to hear that noone (that we know, at least) suffered anything worse than close calls and what if's in the earthquake. Rhiannon went to Busch Gardens both yesterday and today, and loved seeing fish, ducks and flamingoes. She did not much care for the hyenas, lions, hippos, chimpanzees and gorillas, because they were not brightly colored enough.

12/20/03: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! and all that rot... We wish we could see everyone for the holidays but y'all won't move every two years and follow us around for some reason. Rhiannon now likes to giggle when we poke her belly or sing to her. She is a very happy baby, for which we are grateful. She can also almost roll over onto her back from her tummy, and she sits up very well if we hold her feet.

12/6/03: We hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We enjoyed seeing everyone in North Carolina, but it was a very long drive. This time of year we wish we had never moved anywhere and that all our family lived close. Oh well, welcome to the information age. Rhiannon is growing up fast. She is constantly blowing rasberries with her lips and is always covered in spittle from the effort. She giggles when we rasberry with her, and is fascinated when we use our tongues to do it. We are often sitting in a quiet room, or in the car, and we will hear "phhhht.." from the back seat or the blanket on the floor. She also can lift her head to almost 90 degrees when she is on her belly. How she learned this is unknown to us because we do not give her very much tummy-time. She is getting to the point where she hates naps because she does not want to miss anything, and when she gets sleepy she gets very grumpy from the effort to stay awake (just like Mommy).

11/26/03: Rhiannon has learned to make rasberries with her lips, and when she is bored she will inhale and exhale rapidly making slobbery little farts and kissies. She also discovered her feet in the bath with Mommy the other day, and spent the whole bath staring as she wiggled them. But her funniest quirk is that she has made a friend of a box in the corner of our living room. It is next to the rocking chair, and when Rhiannon is with someone in the rocker, she stares at the box and occasionally talks to it. If she is fussy or squirmy, all we have to do is face her toward Box and she will be quiet. We are excited to go to Asheville for Thanksgiving, and looking forward to using Rhiannon's cold weather clothing, but not nearly as excited as Grandma Geneva, who calls every day just to make sure we are still coming.

11/16/03: Our little princess is asleep in my lap, so I am typing one handed. She is exhausted from being fussy and unconsolable all night, and we think she may be teething. Or it may be gas... a new parent never knows, and all symptoms are alike. She is tall and chubby, about 23" and 13 lbs, and her hair is thicker than mine. She loved Grandpa Ken and Grandma Martha's visit. She spent the whole week grinning and cooing for them. She only has two more grandparents and two great grandparents to meet, but innumerable aunts, uncles and cousins. For them she will need a flow chart and flash cards.

10/19/03: Rhiannon smiles sometimes now, and she recognizes us and gets excited when we come into view. However, she poops explosively and will not sleep more than a few hours at a time yet. Kelly says she is more mellow on weekends when we are both home, probably because we can pass her around longer before we try to put her down.

10/05/03: Rhiannon is going through a growth spurt. She eats once an hour, is always fussy, and has gained almost 3 lbs. and 2 inches. We took her to the park today in her little princess dress to take portraits. She wouldn't wake up and when she did, it was too muggy and she cried all the way to the car. But she has the cutest little chubby cheeks and jowls.

9/8/03: We had a busy weekend enjoying visits from AJ and Brandon and Kelly's parents Bill and Geneva. Kelly gets to play with her folks all week while Joel has to go back to work. C'est la vie. Rhiannon is feeding a little better. She is still fussy about breastfeeding, and Kelly's milk has not fully come in, but the little girl is healthy and gaining weight. She was up 2 oz. in the first week since laving the hospital.

9/1/03: Rhiannon has been home for two days now. She is not taking to breastfeeding and we are giving her formula after breastfeeding attempts. We were worried for a while because she was not peeing enough and sleeping too much, but she is improving and has more energy.

8/27/03: Wednesday at 11:11 AM Rhiannon Glory Cornwall was born at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. She weighed 6 lbs 9 oz, and was 19 1/2 inches long. She was delivered by cesarean and her mother is recovering as well as can be expected.

weighing baby

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8/22/03: There is good news and bad news. The good news is that we know the exact date Rhiannon will arrive. The bad news is that this is because she will be delivered by cesarean on Wednesday, August 27. She is already a rebel and has refused to stay upside-down.

8/12/03: Oh yeah, the baby dropped, so we are getting close.

8/10/03: We had our Lamaze class on Saturday and we are a little more comfortable about what is coming. Maybe we know a little too much, because we are now seeing symptoms of pre-labor in every twinge Kelly has. We have the nursery set up (a corner of our tiny bedroom), we have a car seat and clothes to bring our little girl home. All we need to do now is be patient. Then Kelly gets to squeeze a watermelon through a garden hose and I get to stand there and pretend to coach her.

7/19/03: Our friends Nathaniel and Raus were successfully married on July 12th and are now on Maui celebrating. Joel enjoyed two whole days with family after that weekend. Kelly's Mom Geneva spent that weekend in Lakeland, hitting the beaches and Seaworld and being way too nice. Little Rhiannon is always trying to crawl up under Kelly's rib cage, or sticking her bum against Kelly's belly and making it lopsided. We cannot wait for her to arrive. Kelly has an appointment to arrange an epidural, and we have a Lamaze class in August, so we are getting everything set. Joel came home from Washington to a desk full of new projects that will have him pulling out his hair in a few weeks...Be careful what you wish for.

7/6/03: On the 4th we went to the fireworks display at Mirror Lake in downtown Lakeland. The crowds were not bad and the show was a lot more than we expected from a small city. The next night we saw more fireworks at Seaworld. We have let the cat out of the bag as far as our baby's name, so we can now publish it. She will be Rhiannon Glory Cornwall, and she had better have Kelly's hair to match the name. Kelly is slightly uncomfortable, but absolutely normal so far. As long as her doctor visits stay short, we are happy. Joel will be in Washington for a wedding on July 12th. Nathaniel Shephard and Rauschel Poling, the two sweetest people in the world, are tying the knot in Mount Vernon.

6/1/03: Joel has been at his new job with BCI for three weeks now, most of that time at jobsites in the field (which is a good thing). Kelly is feeling very pregnant, but as long as we keep the airconditioning cranked up she is okay. Our little girl is expected about September 4th. The cat gets the occasional lizard that wanders onto the patio, which molifies her now that we have made her an indoor cat.

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