Goodbye Good Girl

I asked Rob if he was going to blog about Holly but he said he just couldn't do it. He's the type that needs to move on without talking about it much. So I will blog what I was going to blog last night.
I had heard about Holly for a year and a half before she became a part of my life. I knew that Rob had rescued her after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The guy he had rescued her from had lost everything in the hurricane. Rob says that it was the best $1000 he had ever spent. According to the stories I've been told, Holly went everywhere with Rob and quickly became his best friend. They were duck hunting partners and she was the best!
Fast forward to Christmas of 2008. We had driven to MS when I was 3 mos pregnant so we could bring her back with us. We already had my dog, Roxy, at the house so I wondered how they would get along. After getting to know each other, they became best friends. When we had to put Roxy down Holly moped around for quite awhile.
Holly was not just a dog. She was a family member. She watched over and protected P when he was born (Although she did get grumpy with him a couple times). She went places with us. She loved to cuddle with everyone that came over. She could spend all day with her head on your lap as long as you were petting her.
Right before we moved we thought she wasn't going to make it. She had become lethargic and was having a hard time getting up once she had laid down. But once we moved she rebounded and we were thankful we hadn't put her down after all. She enjoyed taking walks to the creek and to see the roosters. P, Holly, Ruby and I went exploring a lot. I became concerned last week when we had gone for our "King of the Mountain" walk and she refused to even attempt the hill, something she's always done with ease. Then the other night Rob called for her when he fed the dogs and she wouldn't come. He brought her her food and she refused to eat. It turns out that she had cancer and her stomach was full of blood when Rob took her to the vet. Putting her down was the hardest thing he's ever done. I wanted to be there to say my final goodbyes and support Rob but we knew P couldn't handle it. So I said my goodbyes to her after P and I had given her her final bath. It broke my heart because she was such a great dog. Selfishly I wanted her to live forever but I'm glad she's not suffering and glad that she's keeping Roxy company up in heaven. They're playing fetch together and hopefully she's teaching Roxy how to be the best duck dog.

Goodbye Holly Girl! You will be missed!!

 

 

Goodbye Ole' Girl

Today we lost our beloved Holly Girl, a treasured family member. We had seen it coming but it doesn't make it any easier. Last night P was an absolute mess about her dying so today when Rob took her to the vet we told her that she was going to spend the night there. If he asks again we're going to tell him that the vet was lonely and that he wanted to keep Holly so we let him. P can't deal with her death so a little white lie won't hurt anyone. I'd love to write about Holly and what a great dog she was but I don't want to take away from what Rob may want to write since he's known her a lot longer than me.

How's your day going?

Ever have one of 'those' days? I'm having one as I write this. Holly is dying. Monkey ran away and it took 15 mins to find him (luckily we did before he found the hwy or a coyote found him). And as I write this I'm currently stranded on the side of the highway with a baby and preschooler with no tow truck even close to making it my way. As I got out of the car to get my screaming baby out of his carseat my preschooler locked me out of the car. I'm glad I had cracked the windows before getting out so I was able to talk him through taking the keys out the ignition and handing them to me through the open window. I'm thankful that I was on my way home from the store so I had plenty of food for P. I'm thankful that I nurse Easton so I was able to feed him. I'm thankful that I had a loaded diaper bag and P has some toys in the back seat so both boys are taken care of. I'm thankful that it's beautiful weather so we can roll the windows down. I'm thankful that, for the first time since getting him, Monkey was not in the car with us. The only thing I'm not thankful for is that about 100 cars have driven by and not one driver has stopped to offer help. Rob always stops to help others but yet when his own wife is stranded there is not a Good Samaritan in sight. But if that's the worst I have to deal with I can handle it. So, how is your day going?

A Fun Family

Awhile back a lady called me and asked me if I'd be willing to do a family portrait session for her. I quickly said yes and then she explained that it might be their last as her husband has terminal pancreatic cancer. Between everyone's schedule and his reactions to his chemo treatments it took us a few weeks to actually get together. All the way there I prayed that I'd be able to capture their family on "film" the way they live it every day. God answered prayer because this was, hands down, the most fun I've ever had at a photo shoot. I didn't even have to come up with many of the poses because they were naturals. They had me laughing most of the evening together. The head of the household, Tom, looked great and I'm hoping to get more pictures of them in the next couple months once the Spring colors start popping up around town. Here is a sneak peek from last night's photo shoot.....

Parenting 101

Today my boys reminded me of two important lessons as a parent. The first lesson was brought to me by my oldest. We were in the car, talking about something. He kept asking me to repeat myself and I got frustrated. I snapped at him and his reply was, "Mommy, you're driving me nuts. Just lax!" Immediately I started laughing and thought of a song I sing with him that goes, "Be careful little ears what you hear....." because I heard myself in him. I was reminded that I need to gauge my words around him, lifting him up. I don't want him to think that I'm always telling him to be quiet or that he's getting on my nerves or that he's driving me nuts or whatever else I say without realizing it. I need to follow the teaching rule of 3 positives to every 1 negative. I want him to hear all the love that I have for him.
The other lesson I was reminded of happened this afternoon. I always have a HUGE "to do" list every morning. I try to prioritize what needs to be done but there's usually a hiccup in our day. This morning I awoke to find Easton's eye shut closed with nasty gunk. Once I cleaned it I realized that he possibly had pink eye. So I made an appt to get his eye checked out. That led to a bacterial pink eye diagnosis which led to stopping by the pharmacy to get a prescription filled. Between that and scouting out a photography location for a photo session I did this afternoon (more on that in the next day or two) our morning was shot. We got home and I immediately put Easton in his bouncy chair to start making P his lunch. After lunch I left him there to start laundry and clean the kitchen. As I was rushing around Easton was just sitting there, watching me. All of a sudden a quote my mom has said several times came to mind..... "Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow. For babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep." I immediately stopped what I was doing, picked Easton up and spent some quality time with him. Too often I put him down so I can give P attention, not wanting him to feel left out. Or I put him down with the intention of just doing one thing but it quickly turns into 2 or 3 or.... while he just sits there. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings when P is at preschool I want to squeeze in time on the treadmill as well as time with Easton. But once again I don't spend the quality time with him that I should. I am thankful that both of my boys taught me important lessons with their childlike innocence today. Lessons that I need to be reminded of more often! I don't want to look back 18 years from now and realize that our house is clean, the dishes are done, the laundry is folded but I haven't spent quality time with my boys showing them how much I love and cherish them.

Monkey the Dog

Today we got a new addition to the family. His name is Monkey and he is a 3 year old lhasa apso/shih tzu mix dog. Ever since we made our labs outdoor dogs P has been asking for another dog. At first Rob didn't agree to it. Then he said when we had to put Holly down we could. Then in the past month he realized that P really wanted a small dog so he gave in. I had visions of getting a puppy and doing the newborn thing together all over again. Been there, done that and it made me sad to have to give the last puppy away after a month or so. I'm a firm believer in "Once you adopt an animal it is your responsibility until it dies". So I wanted to do my research and find us the perfect forever dog. I had to find one that didn't shed and was good with kids and other dogs. I emailed 1-2 dozen people about dogs that I had found on the Internet but without much success in finding our perfect dog. P and I even drove an hour to some guy's house yesterday to look at his dog but we walked away knowing he wasn't a perfect match for us (It did break my heart to leave the dog though, knowing its living conditions were less than ideal). While the boys napped yesterday I got on Craigslist for the upteenth time (I traded my addiction with FB for an addiction with Craigslist). That's when I found Hotchi. I immediately called his owner after reading how perfect he is. Luckily I found the listing for him so quickly because his owner said she had several people calling about him and one lady begged her to come see him. The only glitch was that he was in Sacto. I called my parents and asked if the boys and I could stay with them last night so we could get to the lady's house first thing this morning. As soon as we pulled up and saw Hotchi I was in love. As was P. The lady told us that she had had Hotchi for a couple months. He had lived with an older gentleman who only fed him people food for his entire life (Sound familiar anyone?? HA!). Recently the guy got to the point where he couldn't care for Hotchi and took him to a shelter. Brenda (the lady who we bought him from) fell in love and immediately adopted him. She taught him to only eat dog food and to do his "business" on the lawn instead of the cement. She fell in love with him....but her older lhasa didn't. He attacked Hotchi last week and got his eye pretty good. Brenda realized that it wasn't fair for Hotchi to be in a house where he'd be attacked. That's where we come in. We adopted him and P quickly renamed him "Monkey". He's now home and the entire family has fallen in love with him (Other than Holly who has yet to meet him and may not ever meet him). Monkey follows P everywhere and stands at the door, whining, when he goes in the backyard without him. I'm very thankful that our patience has paid off. I think that Monkey is going to be the perfect addition!

 

Teacher No More

I guess 'once a teacher, always a teacher', right? That may be but today I officially resigned from my current district. After having Easton I decided that being a SAHM is way better the second time around! When I stayed home with P the first year of his life I did not enjoy it very much. Not that I didn't enjoy him but I didn't enjoy the solitude. I had very little social life and was stuck on top of a mountain with a baby that needed quite a bit of medical attention at the time. OK, maybe 'stuck' isn't the right word but it was a rough year. Being a SAHM wreaked havoc on my marriage and our finances. So I guess God knew what He was doing when he made us wait and space the boys out 3 1/2 years because now I love staying at home. Maybe it's because I don't just have a baby to talk to every day (The conversations get a little one sided when it's just a baby and mommy). Maybe it's because I have a social life and have adult interaction pretty much every day (other than Rob). Maybe it's because we have so much less debt than we did 3 years ago. Maybe it's because I'm more secure. Maybe it's because Rob and I have a stronger marriage. Maybe it's because I have my photography so I don't feel like I'm just a mom (Not that there's anything wrong with that). I don't know what's different this time but it did feel good to submit my letter of resignation to my principal and the district this morning. Once the boys are in school full time I'm sure I'll go back to the teaching profession because I do enjoy it but for right now I am more than happy being a teacher to 2 young boys that are my world!

Anger to Laughter

It's amazing that a 3 year old can make me angry one minute and have me laughing the next. Both happen, ironically, when he's overly tired. Today was a perfect example. This morning I was inputting info into the computer. P is obsessed with computers, remotes, electronics, etc lately. So I purposely told him not to touch the computer (I saw him eyeing it when I first stood up) while I ran up to get Easton from his bassinet. When I came back downstairs P had indeed touched the computer, messing up the page and making me have to redo it. I was livid because we were on a time crunch and more importantly because I had specifically told him not to do it. He had been in the middle of playing games on my Kindle, which I quickly grabbed out of his hands. His response was to pick up his toy sword, swing it at me and tell me he was going to cut me because I took him games away. Needless to say the sword went in the garbage and P threw a wing dinger of a temper tantrum. Fast forward to this evening. We were over the computer/sword fiasco and P had me laughing. Rob was holding Easton while I was preparing dinner. P was in the kitchen with me and asked if he could have Cheetos. I told him no because it was dinner time. A few minutes later I heard Rob ask what P had in his hands as he ran to his room. Lucky for us, P is still a very honest kid (99% of the time) so when I followed him into his room and asked what he had he was quick to show me the stash of Cheetos he had hidden behind his toy bins for later. I literally had to bite my cheek to keep from laughing because that's something I so did as a child. Although I don't think I was quite smart enough to start doing it at 3 years old. Later I was running on the treadmill and he was upstairs with me. He picked up his binoculars, pointed them at me and then yelled. He said, "Oh, I thought it was a monster but it was just you Mommy." Well played son, well played. To top off the night I was helping him get ready for bed. Rob and I were talking when P walked out of the bathroom, crying. I asked what had happened and he said he wasn't paying attention and had fallen in the toilet. I looked down to see his PJ bottoms wet and I couldn't help but to bust up laughing because, again, that's something I would've (ok maybe still would) done. It's nice to know that he may look like his daddy but he inherited my gracefulness. I know we are blessed with a good boy. A strong willed boy? Indeed, but a sweet, funny boy none the less.

Spring is in the Air!

 

Spring seems to be here and I love it!! The boys and I have been taking advantage of the warm weather by getting together for park play dates and taking lots of walks around the property. This morning we went to our friends' house because she wanted pictures with the lambs. P had a blast playing in their backyard with all the kids and Easton loved being held by everyone. Here are a few pics from our morning....

 

Small Places??

Whenever I complain about how small our house is Rob likes to remind me that loves grows in small places. That may be so as I feel our marriage is stronger than ever. However, since Easton's come along I feel our small place is causing me to be claustrophobic. I do not get to enjoy alone time to unwind unless all the boys are asleep and I stay downstairs. I can't sit in my favorite overstuffed chair and read at night because it's less than a foot away from P's bed. I can't run on the treadmill at will because it's about 10 ft from P's bed. Since we only have 1 bath tub I can't even relax in our garden tub because P's toys are all over it. Although  I'm not a huge TV fan I do like to watch TV in bed for a few minutes before falling asleep. However I can't do that because Easton's bassinet is in our room. I miss my ME time. I feel like I'm surrounded all the time. (Even as I write this, P keeps coming in for various reasons.) I'm not the only one that has to deal with it. P doesn't really have his own space so I'm always nagging him to clean up. Easton doesn't sleep that well at night and I think it's because he doesn't have his own quiet room. He goes to sleep around 8 but then I have to get ready for bed as does Rob. By the time Rob is done with his bath and we're done lying in bed, talking, it's close to 10 and then Easton wakes up shortly after to nurse. Now that Winter is behind us for the most part I'm remembering things I like about this house.....but they're all outside. When I make a count down chain for P's 4th birthday (when he's magically going to turn back into our sweet angel)  I'm also going to make one for us moving. My goal is to be in another, more spacious house Memorial Day weekend. The countdown is on!!!

More From the Blog Below

For some reason I can't put all the pictures on one blog so here are the rest from our fun filled trip..... (See below for details from our trip)

 

Down South

While I took the boys down to San Diego, Rob went down to Vegas for 24 hours of fun at the NASCAR race. My weekend consisted of a science museum, lots of beach time, a rain storm, Seaworld, a treasure hunt, a birthday party, great Mexican food, a walk around my alma mater, time at the pool and a ton of memories that I will cherish. I'll let the (unedited) pictures tell the story.........

Weekend Wrap Up

When people ask me about Easton's schedule I want to reply, "Schedule? What's that?" With P I was so organized and on top of a schedule with him. He took 2 naps a day until he was about 18 mos old and my day revolved around those naps. I take for granted that Easton's such an easy, go with the flow kind of baby and make it hard for him to maintain any type of schedule. Let's take Thursday for example. After dropping P off at school I had 2 back to back appointments that went until it was time to get P. We came home long enough to have lunch and a short rest period before heading off to meet Rob for a tax appointment. From there Rob took P while I took Easton to book club. By that point Easton was so exhausted that he cried uncontrollably, forcing me to leave after a few bites of dinner and well before the book was discussed. I tried to lay low with the boys on Friday so Easton could catch up on sleep. Once Rob got home and we had dinner I left him with the boys so I could go cash in on a massage, which relaxed me after a busy week. But then Saturday was busy again. First we went to breakfast as a family and then we took the boys to their first college basketball game. We had to leave early so Rob could attend a dinner with some of our friends. By the time I put the boys to bed last night, I realized that having a go with the flow kind of baby isn't always good. His minor cold that he had had early in the week was now getting worse. He had a hard time breathing most of the night and woke up this morning very raspy. Instead of going to church I headed off to pediatric urgent care with him while Rob stayed home with P. Luckily, the doctor didn't find anything seriously wrong but he recommended breathing treatments for the next few days as a precaution. By the time I picked up Easton's prescription and got home it was lunchtime. After making P and myself lunch I laid down with the boys because I, too, was exhausted from a rough night last night. By the time we woke up Rob was getting ready to take off again for another dinner with friends. I would like to say that this week will be calmer but that's not the case. I am going to lay low with the boys again tomorrow in hopes of Easton feeling back to normal. I have a million projects to do around the house because Spring fever is hitting me and because I am EAGERLY anticipating our move in the next few months. So that will keep me busy. Tuesday and Wednesday will be a fine balance between running errands, getting ready for a family trip and making sure that my boys stay rested. And to think.....most women work outside of the house and still keep it all together. How is that possible? HA!