3 months (and a few days)

With being out of town for Easter weekend I didn't get this blog done on Easton's actual 3 month "birthday". So it's a little late. Anyway, I can't believe how much he has changed in 3 months! Although I'm not a mom that claims to know what her baby's cry means I can tell when he is going to start crying because he starts "swimming". I can usually tell when his cry is going to be brief or go into a full blown scream. I pretty much have his schedule down to a T and know when he'll be napping. This month has been special because he got to experience a lot of firsts. So many, in fact, that I couldn't fit them all on the chalkboard. I also didn't get his weight despite him going to the doctor last week.

This is my brother at 2 months and Easton at 3. They could be sumo wrestling twins!

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!