It's Complicated

Or so I thought it was until Friday night.

Given our current situation:

no kitchen

the entirety of our kitchen packed up in our living room and dining room

large plastic sheet wall blocking off the above said kitchen

a temporary bathroom kitchen

dust everywhere

a 2 year old and two 7 month olds

and...

us trying to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas, by heading to the Zoo Lights with friends.

So...

I was a little shocked when Paul came home from work with these:

No, we are not adopting two more dogs. Our precious Abbey has been spending her days and nights at my mom's for weeks now to keep her out of trouble here.

In fact, I don't like little dogs. I don't dislike them, I just don't like them.

Except this one:

But apparently I've rubbed off on Paul after 10 plus years of marriage.

I've picked up my fair share of lost/stray/run-away dogs.

I just haven't ever brought two home to him when we had three kids!

But I'm not one to turn away a dog, even if it's a little one

...or two.

Thankfully we got word out today through our neighborhood association and found their owners before I rode around and put up signs.

Who doesn't micro-chip a show-quality,breed-worthy, in heat dog and then leave them outside on a deck?

...and really think they won't run off?

Apparently it's complicated.

My Little Champion

Ok, so she's technically not a champion. She really didn't win anything. And in all actuality, her obedience test went worse than I could have ever imagined! Yes, I'm referring to our dog Abbey, not our child, Addie! :) In case you haven't met her, meet our 7 year old Golden Retriever. Spoiled. Rotten. Golden Retriever.

The evaluation requirements:
Heel (walking on a loose leash, fast, slow, right turn, left turn, about turn, halt and sit)
Stand for exam (without moving feet)
Recall (dog comes from across room off leash to a sit position right in front of you)
Finish (dog returns to "place" or "heel" position)
Sit/Stay (for 1 minute)
Down/Stay (for 3 minutes)

You have to understand, our dog is a runner. If she gets loose, she's gone. And boy can she run! She also has this thing with her tail. Apparently it's been accidentally stepped on a few too many times (or pulled on by a loving one year old). So, she sits crooked in hopes it won't get stepped on and pops up to make sure you don't step on it if you try to walk around her! All of these present significant challenges when you're trying to meet all of the above requirements.

But...she met all the requirements and passed Novice I. Whoohoo! So, therefore, she is my little champion! Oh, and a pretty well behaved dog too thank.you.very.much! We're going to try to get her Canine Good Citizenship Certification next Thursday.

Christmas in Augusta: Part 1

I have a lot to learn about my new lens. I've had a blast playing with it...but I've missed a ton of great shots because of my lack of knowledge! It's frustrating to see a great pictures only to realize it's completely blurry! I guess that's what I get for wanting a lens that's main purpose is to blur the background of a picture!

I recently read some great advice about taking pictures: "shoot like there's no tomorrow." Fortunately I took that advice and out of the over 800 pictures I took, I have found a few I liked :)

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We had a great time in Augusta. Our 1st few nights/days there we spent with Addie's Grandpa (Mike). She's his 1st little girl, and I believe he's completely smitten with her! I can't wait for her cousin to be born in March, and we'll get to see him with two baby girls! He gets a kick out of me taking pictures, hoping that I will get the perfect one for him to show the women he works with the proof of what a handsome (and fabulous) Grandpa he is!

I love how Addie is looking at her crazy Uncle Jay here

Addie's Grandpa decided that he needed a camera! Of course, I jumped on that, found him one online, sent him the link; and by the next time we came to visit, he had one! Now the story has changed...that I made him spend money on a new camera. Hmmmm...well, as you can see from the picture below...it takes great pictures and he's constantly using it! Maybe he did buy this camera of his own volition after all! :)

Mommy, Uncle Jay, Aunt Millie, Daddy

We had Addie playing in the living room while dinner was being made. Before we knew it, she had crawled into the kitchen so she could be in the center of all the action.

Of course she found the stool and started to pull up. Her aunt Millie held onto the top of the stool so it wouldn't topple over, and Daddy spotted her from behind so she didn't topple over!

Playing with Christmas presents is so much fun...for everyone!

Addie ate lunch with us at the big table...carrots, turkey, dressing, potatoes, and cranberries...yummy! Oh...and juice :)

Addie definitely still looks like her Daddy, and although some have attempted to claim her eyes as theirs, her Daddy and I still maintain that they are mine!

...this is such a Mommy look

we brought Abbey along with us, especially after she (we) had such a rough week with Mollie

More Christmas pictures to come...from Paul's mom's, Atlanta, Christmas morning, and my dad's..that might get edited sometime in the next year!

Ugh. Double Ugh.

***Final Update
Our sweet baby didn't make it. I knew there was something not right when we saw her earlier today. She was just still too sick. Dr. Armstrong called at about 9:30pm to tell us. They let us go up to the clinic and see her. She was very peaceful looking. In fact, Cade said she was the last animal he checked on because she was so peacefully sleeping. There's really no explanation except that her body has been through a lot in the last six weeks. She was diagnosed with an immune disease and had been on prednisone for weeks now. It was all just too much.

She was an amazing dog: so gentle with Addie, loved to play, always went to get the mail with me, a perfect guard dog, and more thankful than all four of our other pets combined! We just hope that her last two years with us were significantly better than the first year of her very young life. If heaven-bound dogs could remember...that's what we would want her to know.

We're very grateful for our vets and know she's comfortably resting in a better place. In fact, I'm quite sure she is playing fetch with her favorite frog, sleeping on a big soft blanket, and eating nothing but doggie treats!!!

***Update #2
We went to visit Mollie late this afternoon. The vets were very pleased that they had found the blockage. So much for laproscopy...she has a 12 inch incision on her belly. She's extremely septic due to the infection the foreign objects caused; so they are pumping her full of liquids, antibiotics, anti nausea drugs, and pain meds. She was, understandably, extremely lethargic and virtually unresponsive. She was p.i.t.i.f.u.l! She's definitely not out of the woods but is in significantly better shape than she was this morning. The next 12 hours will be critical. She'll be in the vet hospital for the next several days, and we were planning on boarding her there while we're in Augusta. Thankfully...we know she's in excellent hands! More later.

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***Update: Success!!! The vet found a few pieces of plastic and cloth in Mollie's stomach. Who knows with all the dog toys and baby toys (and paci's) around here! Poor baby! Hopefully in a few days, she'll be home as good as new!

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Mollie started throwing up two nights ago. I resisted the temptation (and Paul's urging) to call the emergency vet. That tacks an extra $150 onto an office visit. We put her in the bathroom to save the remainder of our rugs that she hadn't managed to throw up on (that would be two times on one rug and one time on three other rugs...not including the hardwood floor and tile). I took her in first thing yesterday morning.

She managed not to throw up again until yesterday afternoon...and then again and again and again and again. We oked an x-ray, hoping it would tell us something. Nothing. By the time the on call vet saw her last night (even having been on IV fluids and having had a shot to stop the nausea), she was in bad shape.

So after having 3 vets look at her case, they greatly encouraged exploratory laproscopic surgery. Surgery. Exploratory. On our dog. To get out a probable obstruction. Which may result in nothing.

My gut: we have no option. Paul's gut: what are the other options? My real gut: I want to puke! Don't get us wrong. If you've read much of our blog, you know we put up with a lot from our perfectly somewhat well behaved dogs. They are a part of our family...but within reason.

Much longer story short, antibiotics and more shots probably won't do the trick. In fact, we'd be risking her becoming weaker and increasing her chances of not making it through the surgery. I decided I needed to see her, so my mom came over to keep Addie while she napped and I headed up to the vet. When I walked in, she didn't budge. No jumping. No wagging tail. No smile. No licking. No movement. She barely raised her head.

So now I'm sitting here with:

a knot in my stomach,

sweaty palms,

a bouncing sweet baby girl,

and anxiously waiting for the vet to call to give us the results of the surgery.

We love Mollie so much; and as you've seen, will do a lot to care for her. But of all the things I'm sitting here doing or thinking or worrying about...we have the most priceless gift anyone could have: our bouncing baby girl.

We'll update once we hear something.

{{hugs}}

Laugh, Baby, Laugh

Addie loves to laugh...but we never know what will set her off?
Sometimes it's what she sees.
Sometimes it's something we do.
Inevitably it's the dogs.

Here are a few videos of Addie laughing:

with the dogs

with her Mommy

with her Gramma

at herself!

with Abbey
(this ones a little long, but the first 30 seconds are pretty cute!)

"Not me!" Monday

I did not forget to do a "Not me!" Monday post until my mom reminded me!

My child did not wake up in the worst of moods Saturday morning. That was certainly not the day we were getting her Christmas portraits done. She did not whine and cry right up until we got to DiAnna's house, only to walk through the door and end up in the best of moods. Nope...not my daughter!

My sweet friend Rachel did not accuse me of getting her addicted to reading blogs. And she certainly did not accuse me of getting her addicted to reading blogs of people she doesn't even know and will probably never meet! And I certainly don't read blogs of people I don't even know and will never meet! Nope, not me!

I did not leave my plate on the chair to go get Addie when she woke up. I'd never do that with two dogs in the house. Abbey was certainly not waiting patiently for me to let my guard down and she did not immediately eat the remainder of my sandwich as soon as I walked away even with my mom sitting right there! I'd never do something so stupid silly! Nope, not me!

Now what did you not do this week?!?!?

Make sure to visit MckMama's blog and read her conversation she recently had with her husband about their baby!

Have a happy Monday!!!

Pots and Pans

So...obviously I have 2 problems:
1.) I cannot seem to chose my favorite picture/s of Addie, therefore, I post a bunch.
2.) My child likes pots and spoons far better than any toy we own. (Well a.) that's not a problem and b.) I can't say it's entirely true...but she sure does like them!)

After a rough few minutes of toys flying all over the kitchen floor and Addie being unable to reach them (without face planting into the floor), I pulled out a pot and a plastic and a wooden spoon for Addie to play with in an attempt to finish the soup I was making. Needless to say...she has a new favorite toy! And if I'm not mistaken, this pot was actually Addie's great grandmother's (her Mommy's Mommy's Mommy ;)

smiling, smiling

what a mischievous look

(if you click on this picture...you can see two toofies!)

yummy...?

...everybody had to get involved. Mollie is still pretty pitiful. She's sleeping a lot, but she followed us around all day (and actually jumped at the cheese that contained her 4.5 pills). I think Abbey was secretely waiting here until I wasn't looking or picked up Addie so she could nab a toy and sneak away with it. Did she...? Not this time! I picked everything but the blanket up before I left the room with Addie! (I'm learning...slowly.)

6 Month Portraits

We spent Saturday morning with DiAnna at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Gardens taking Addie's 6 month portraits. Addie was mostly cooperative, although most of her smiles included her tongue sticking out! :) We had so much fun though! We can't wait to get the proofs!

(my favorite!)

DiAnna had a wonderful idea, starting with Addie's 3 month portraits, to take Addie's picture on a bench in a park in front of 1st United Methodist Church in Old Cloverdale (near where we live) and watch her grow.

(here she is in her 3 month portrait session)


DiAnna was so brave and let us bring Abbey and Mollie to the Old Cloverdale park for our photo shoot. We are so thankful she's an animal lover too!!!

Make sure to check out DiAnna's blog and website to see more of her beautiful work!
She also has one handsome grandson who just turned 6 months old!

"Not Me! Monday"

yes, I am fully aware that it is Sunday...but I missed it last week!

I did not have to rush my dog to the vet at 6pm on a Saturday night because we were truly afraid she was going to die on our deck. The doctor did not tell us we would be looking at a minimum of $500. He certainly didn't have to do 2 CBC's and give her 2 bags of fluid because her platelets were low and a liver enzyme was high. And he certainly didn't diagnose her with an autoimmune disorder which requires her to take steroids for at least 2 months! We wouldn't have such luck like that (if we believed in luck) on top of our diabetic cat. We wouldn't be such suckers for animals. Nope...not us!

(Mollie and Addie...NOT taken yesterday...for real)

I did not find an at least 3 day old bottle on our bedroom floor because one of our dogs (Mollie...the dog mentioned above) decided that if she couldn't actually EAT one of Addie's teething biscuits, she would at least get to lick the remnants of one off the bottle! That would never happen to me!

I did not drive most of the way to the dog kennel (which totals around 20 miles) to pick our dogs up on Sunday when in fact my mom had already gotten them! (but I was, however, quite grateful she had!)

I did not get upset when the mail lady took my package with her because it was raining, and she didn't want it to get wet. I also certainly didn't get overly ambitious the next morning and write her a note and put it in our mailbox to let her know we WERE home and to PLEASE ring the doorbell if it was yucky outside because I just couldn't imagine not getting my package for another day! And the package certainly wasn't more cloth diapers. I'd NEVER get so excited about something like that!

And...I did not spend an hour on Saturday night trying to video our daughter "dancing" while my husband pulled "old" songs off iTunes for her to dance to. Our lives would never have changed that much! (will post something on this later) :)

Make sure to check out MckMama's blog. She always has an interesting story to tell!

Happy Monday!!!

Overwhelmed...

So I'm finding myself a little overwhelmed in attempting to catch up on my blog READING. So I'm taking a break from long posts in hopes that I won't overwhelm others! :) Don't worry; I'm sure it won't last long!

Our dogs (Abbey and Mollie) discovered Addie almost 6 months ago. In the past 6 (ish) days, Addie has discovered them! We're already working on the concept of "gentle."

"ohhhhhh!" Addie says.

"Maybe 2 is a little more than I can handle," she observes.

I know she looks "fearful" here, but I can assure you everyone knows who's boss!

"I've got you now!" she screeches.

do note how Abbey's head is turned slightly...that would be due to the iron grip Addie has on her ear hair! Thank goodness we have "gentle" dogs!
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On a totally different subject matter:
Prunes don't just work for "older" people...they work wonders for babies too! I won't share pictures of what occurred less than an hour later...but I can assure you prunes are stronger than green beans and rice cereal! whew!

I do love how she sucks in her bottom lip...I think they are a little tart!

"yummy...?"

Tires, Teeth, Tylenol, Tablets, Toes, and Tests

so what do these things have in common? Tuesday

Tires: Paul got a flat tire while I was in Kentucky. It didn't much matter then because he could drive my car (and with all the rain, it was good that he didn't have to change a tire). So on "labor" day, he got out in the heat and changed his tire, realizing that the belt was showing (meaning to us who don't change tires: he needs a new one). That means at least 2 tires (because they don't usually just replace one). WELL...given that Paul drives a 1998 Buick Regal (bought 5 years ago to put miles on going back and forth to Auburn when we were in grad school), we decided we'd better get it checked out to see if it was even WORTH putting new tires on. (more about this later)

Teeth: Addie is definitely getting teeth. They are outlined on her gums, she's drooling more than usual, chewing on her tongue, fingers, and lovey (and anything else she can get in her mouth) more than usual, pulling at her ears, refusing to eat, and being cranky as all get out! It's the pulling at the ears that worried me (and the refusing to eat), having been on a plane and wanting to avoid the huge number of ear infections that I had as a child. So we head to visit the pediatrician. Clear ears and a clear throat! Yeah...but the pediatrician said she would have made me come in anyway given Addie's symptoms, so it wasn't a wasted trip. Bottom line, she's more attune to her surroundings (the nursing strike (test #1) and she's getting teeth (test #2). Ahhh...thank goodness for Tylenol and Teething Tablets

Toes: Not our toes, my mom's dog's toes. Really their toenails. They needed clipping. So after dropping Paul off at the doctor (remember, we're down to one car because his is being checked out), I go to my mom's to get her dogs. Long, long story short...they are running around the neighbors yard. They had broken out of the fence and were having the time of their lives! After wrangling them into the car (test #3), I take them to the vet (test #4). As I'm attempting to tell my mom what all is going on, I'm carrying on a conversation with the dogs: "sit", "no", "off", "sydney root", "no ma'am", "austen wamsted root", "i told you no", "quit slobbering on me", "you're in big trouble!" ...you have to understand, these dogs like to stand with their front two feet on the center console of the car panting and throwing slobber all over you (part of test #4). We get to the vet, and I cant figure out how to hold both dogs and get Addie out (without them ripping my arm off), so I put them BACK in the car, get Addie out, get them back out, and Sydney pulls her leash out of my hand. So I'm carrying Addie and the diaper bag, Austen is dragging me, and I'm trying desperately to step on Sydney's leash to stop her (because I can't lean down to grab it!) Thank goodness the vet tech saw me coming and came to my rescue. Successful nail clippings (no pottying on the floor). We head back to my moms to this:

So instead of getting to stay outside, they were banned to their crate!

the partners in crime!

Tires (part 2): As I'm checking out at the grocery store (in between Addie and Paul's doctor appointments), I get the call. It's about Paul's car. The list: the engine and transmission need to be flushed out (to the tune of $300), there's a crack in something (the engine block, I think), the windows no longer roll up/down, the breaks are bad...and to top it off, it doesn't just need 2 new tires, it needs FOUR! Ummmm...I don't think so. (test #5)

So...in order not to pick up another car payment, we're considering sticking with one car for a while. We did it once before (yes, without a baby), so we're giving it a trial run. Paul's even considering riding the bus or getting a bike (we'll see about that!).

Anyway...since this blog IS about Addie...
I thought this was a cute picture of her (after her doctors visit, grocery store, and vet run as I'm banning the dogs to their crate!):

4 Months Old

Four months seems sort of like "14" to me...no longer 13 (a preteen) but not 16 (and driving)...just a plain ol' teenager!. She's not 3 months but not 6 months...she's somewhere in between. And thankfully...not a teenager! Ok...so maybe I'm over analyzing 4 months here. Anyway...

A few milestones Addie has met over the past month...

• holds her head up
  
• rolls over...both directions
• found her hands, which are constantly in her mouth now
• scoots backwards and around in circles on her back
• found her tongue and makes some oh so unpleasant (unless you're a baby) but oh so cute noises!
• blows spit bubbles in mass quantities
  
• talks up a storm
• smiles when she sees Mommy and Daddy (no, it's not just gas)
  
• loves to "stand"
• doesn't so much love to "sit"
• laughs!!!

And a few things she's experienced...

• can put herself to sleep in her own crib (at night...but not at nap times!)
  
• takes a bath without the little infant hammock in her baby tub
• loves her new "jumpy jump"...and has figured out how to jump in it (in addition to turning endless circles)
• no longer "loves" her car seat and protests greatly (by arching her back and screeching at me) when I put her in (and we're not spending that much time in the car!)
• went to Tennessee (a new state)
• rode in a boat...3 times now (a pontoon boat and ski boat)
• has seen fireworks, twice
• met half of her "1st cousins once removed"
• outgrown a significant (or significant to Mommy) amount of clothes
• and I'm sure there are many things I'm forgetting!
  

So here are some "extra" pictures that I didn't blog about, but I still thought were fun!

reading with Daddy...either very interesting (ohhhhh!) or very boring (yawn) :)

Addie's actually started holding on. This felt more like a 1st hug! She can now sit (with me supporting her with great care) on my hip!


Addie's Nana (my aunt) sent her this cute t-shirt with ladybugs and a sweet message on it that she had made in Charleston...Addie loves her Nana too!


Mollie loves Addie
(yes, that's Mollie's tongue :/)
#1 I cant believe she's doing that and
#2 I can't believe I caught it on camera!


look at that head control! she must be looking up at the TV. The only time I let her watch it is when she's on her tummy, and I'm trying to keep her there for a few minutes at least!


We're not just kicking things with one foot, we're now grabbing them with both feet!

hanging on...even when she's asleep
(yes, we found her like this...we didn't stage it :)