Ronnisms

Ronnie told me tonight that he couldn't eat the crust on his sandwich because it had too many calories! Seriously?!

The chips, however, didn't seem to be a problem.

The puppy update

The puppy now has a home! At least a temporary one. He was accepted at Riff's Friends Dog Rescue which is a the doggie orphanage at Park Cities Obedience School and Daycare. It is a great set up for him because it they are a no-kill shelter that will keep him until he is adopted. The best part is that they will pay for his immunizations, neutering, and any other medical expenses he may have along the way. I feel really good about this set up since he was a stray and may have some health concerns (not that we noticed anything), but I would have felt terrible if we gave him to friends and then he ended up costing a ton of money for some reason. On a slightly different note, I had a VERY difficult time parting with him. He is a wonderful puppy, probably the best puppy I have ever seen. I mean he had the sweetest little personality and was just plain good. And he never peed in our house the whole time he was here! If it were any other time in our lives I would have tried to keep him, but I have my hands full right now with the boys and with the needy dog we already have. So, I think it really was in the best interest of everyone to help him find another home. We are all a little sad to see him go, well, Ethan was alot sad (when we got home he ran over to the crate and started crying). I hope you find a good home sweet Max! (That what I named him but I never mentioned it to Ronnie because I didn't want him to get too attached.)

The puppy

Yesterday afternoon as I was driving through the Super Target parking lot, I found a cute little puppy by the dumpster. Doing what any nice person would do, I picked him up and brought him to my house until I could A) find a home for him B) take him to a no-kill animal shelter. Anyone want a free puppy? Seriously, if you want him you can have him. He is sooo sweet. A little on the skinny side, but not sickly or anything. He loves the boys and trying to play with Lucy. I have no idea how old he is, definitely somewhere between 8 and 12 weeks though. He does great in the crate, and he only whined for 5-10 minutes last night when we put him in his crate for bed. The only thing about him is that he seems to be partially blind. Not sure if it is one eye that is totally blind, or if he is a little blind in both, but he runs into alot of things. He can definitely see some though because he follows the boys and me around and can get around mostly on his own. He is playful, but not annoyingly so. And he is cuddly too! I think because of the blind thing, he stays in the same room with us all the time. He will wander around the room, but he never just takes off wandering around the house. This might also be because he is in a new place and is a little scared still. He needs a great home with people who will love him and take good care of him.

I will try to post again if I find out more about him, like what breed he is or how big he may get. We can't have a puppy right now otherwise I would try to keep him. He already has me wrapped around his little paw.

He looks just like a mini-Lucy, it's crazy. He follows Lucy around everywhere, maybe he thinks so is his mom!

Puppy's first bath

Poor little guy! He was so scared he was shaking like crazy. We wrapped him up in a warm towel and gave him some good cuddle time to warm him up though. Ronnie thought it was so fun giving him a bath. He kept wanting to share his bath toys, but I insisted that puppies don't need toys in the bath tub like little boys do.

How does your garden grow?

Spring Break 2010

Day 1: have a picnic and feed the ducks at the lake

Can you believe how many ducks came over to eat our stale bread?

Day 2: the Dallas Zoo

We even rode the train for the first time.

(don't worry, no children were hurt in the taking of this picture)

Day 3: Northpark mall (to see the turtles and to slide on the sculptures), and a cookout with smores that night

Day 4: Stroller Skating

oh yes, you get to take your stroller onto the rink and push your kids while you skate

The boys LOVED it. At least they sat in the stroller and didn't ask for a snack for an hour... that's got to mean something. Ronnie tried to learn but decided he would rather sit in the stroller and be pushed. It turned out to be quite the workout!

Day 5: the Dallas Arboretum

And just when we thought Spring Break was over... Day 6: SNOW!

Ronnie made snow angels

Ethan was content to eat his banana on the porch

Ethanisms

Ethan: I love you, you are the best Mommy in the world!

Okay, just kidding. But I know he's thinking it :)

For real though, Ethan is starting to say lots of things. You probably need a discerning parental ear to understand most of it, but still, it's a start. Words he says so far... Mommy, Dada, Banana, Ball, he said Lucy once, and he tries to say pineapple. More than that though, he understands almost everything you say to him. He is starting to sign a few words too which helps him not get quite as frustrated at meal times. I'm sure it won't be too long before I have some real Ethanisms to post. The kid cracks me up already so I can't wait to hear what is going on inside that incredibly cute, little head of his.

Ronnisms

Ronnie: If Jesus comes to the door I can open it because he's not a stranger. Right mommy? We know who he is.

Ronnie (at the Chick-fil-a playground): Mommy, I want to go down the slide. Will you watch Ethan to make sure no one pushes him down?

Ronnie: Look Mommy, there's Ikea!!!

Maylin and Scotty

Many of you have been praying for my nephew Scotty over the past year. For those of you who don't know, he was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma cancer when he was just a few days old, and he started chemo when he was 6 months old. He is now almost 18 months old and he just competed his 13 round. Because of chemo and his high risk of infection, we have not been able to see him or his big sister, Maylin, in over a year. We have missed them so much! Ronnie and Maylin adore each other and they are such good friends so it has been hard to be away for so long. The good news though is that the latest tests are showing that the remaining tumors may be dead (that is not the official terminology but you get the point). Scotty is taking a break from treatment for 2 months and then will be retested to see if the tumors have changed at all. No change= he no longer has cancer and he is finished with treatment. Tumors grow again= he will have to start an even more aggressive treatment since his body is no longer responding to the old chemo. Please, please pray that the cancer will be gone!

You can read more about him and his fight against Neuroblastoma cancer at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/babyscotty

Since he is taking a break from chemo we were able to see him. We had so much fun with them, and the kids were in heaven. They were all going 100 mph every time they were together, they were just so excited to see each other. While they were here, we had to a make a little trip to the urgent care center where my sister, Julia, ended up meeting a fireman that invited the kids to tour the fire station. He had a couple of small kids of his own and he was really touched by Scotty's story, so he wanted to meet him and let him see the fire trucks. Ronnie loved seeing where the firemen ate and slept, although he fussed a little when I told him he couldn't spend the night there. Apparently he had already picked out which bed was going to be his! Thank you so much fireman Nick for your hospitality and for taking time to love on a sweet little boy. You have touched our family more than you know.

The big update

So not really the BIG update because there is really nothing big to update you on. However, I have lots of small updates and pictures to share that all add up to a big update. Here are a few pics to catch you up to speed since the last time I posted FOREVER AGO...

Ethan's first haircut

and his first lollipop... a sweet reward for sitting relatively still

Our first carrot at the garden... so what if it is a little dinky, it's ours!

My sweet little boy had a minor procedure at the beginning of the month. Here he is waiting to go back to the operating room. Poor thing couldn't eat for 12 hours before and his surgery was at 12:30 in the afternoon- he was starving! We just tried to keep him occupied and entertained so that he wouldn't think about it too much.

The big snowstorm

The boys had a ton of fun playing in the snow! Little did we know that we were about to lose power for the next four days, have a window broken by a branch that fell from the heavy snow, and that we would lose the majority of the food in both of our refrigerators. The funny thing was that we had already planned to go skiing that weekend, so we were driving out of town while it was pouring snow to go to a place with snow. Maybe I could add another verse to Alanis Morissette's song, isn't it ironic? Or not. At least the roads were wide open because no one else was crazy enough to be out driving in it!

About to hit the slopes... notice the lack of children with us. Yes, they were with their Grampy and Gramee. We had a blast!

So there you have it. Our month in a nutshell.

sick, sick, and more sick

We have had a wave of illness go through our home the past couple of weeks. It started with Ethan who, after a weekend of 103+ fever, was finally diagnosed with 2 ear infections and a cold, which was starting to turn into RSV. After a week of antibiotics he was much better, then Ronnie got sick. He was not nearly as sick as Ethan. He had a fever of about 101 for a few days, a pretty bad cough, and the personality of an irritated bear. I knew when I had been coughed in the face the 10th time at point-blank range that I had no chance... the illness was coming my way. Sure enough, a few days later Mommy was sick too. Ugh! I'm on the road to recovery now, thank goodness. But now Ethan has a fever again- 101.8 this time! Will it ever stop? Actually, I'm am pretty sure that Ethan's ear infection didn't get fully taken care of the first time around. And that is due to my own negligence. I started to get a little lacks on the antibiotics the last few days... he was all better and I just kept forgetting. Don't judge me! I know all that about taking antibiotics properly and if you don't your body will build up resistance and then they won't work when you really need them and all that... but it still gets hard to remember on day 10 when your kid hasn't been sick for a week and you're rushing out the door, trying to get kids fed, shoes on feet, and 100 things gathered you "might" need on your trip to Target. So there you have it, the ear infection is back, so please no "I told you so"s.

Here is just a cute picture from right before sick-fest. And yes, Ronnie is showing his chest to the camera. Ethan had discovered Ronnie's nipple right before this picture... a hilarious moment which was also captured on film but cannot be posted because of too much "exposure."

Unabomber

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when it was so cold outside. Imagine my surprise when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that the unabomber* was in Ronnie's seat!

*Dear FBI, please don't profile me because I wrote the word "unabomber" on my blog.

Ronnisms

Mommy: Let's read a book

Ronnie: Okay. (Turning to speak to his stuffed animals) Is everyone situated?

Mommy (Trying to avoid the play area in the mall because we were in a hurry): Let's not play in there today, it looks crowded and dirty.

Ronnie: I LOVE crowded and dirty places. Crowded and dirty is my FAVORITE.

Peacocks

While we were driving home today 2 wild peacocks walked across the street in front of our car. We have a street in our neighborhood where lots of wild peacocks live, they sort of camp out in front of one house in particular so I don't normally see them trotting down this road. They were BEAUTIFUL with their long, vibrantly colored tails. I can't help but stop and watch them for a bit. I think about the awesomeness of our Creator and the workmanship and artistry in His creation. Ronnie was very concerned that they were going to get hit by a car, and so was I for that matter with drivers speeding by on their cell phones. Now, I'm a cell phone talking kinda driver myself so I really shouldn't knock it, but the thought of one of those peacocks becoming roadkill (like the skunk we passed a few yards back) makes me shudder. They did make it to the other side safe and sound so you can all breathe a sigh of relief... ah.

Pardon the quality, I took this with my phone

This was a pleasant end to our outing, which had begun by me getting a $200 ticket for having an expired inspection sticker. Yes, I was stopped just for the sticker! I'm not sure if I was more annoyed that there was probably actual crime taking place less than a mile from where I was at the time or that I didn't take the 20 minutes to just get it inspected in the first place. Regardless, I will be making a trip to the car place tomorrow to get it taken care of. I only hope I get to pass the peacocks again to brighten my day, especially since my dining out budget is now shot for the month.

Caught in the act

Oh sweet boy, don't you know that Mommy has eyes in the back of her head?

Go Horns Go

I won't say anything about the game (sniff sniff), I will just post some pictures of the fun we had getting ready for it. Our good friends Jon and Amy came in town and some other of our college friends came over, so at least we pleasant company to take our minds off the disappointing loss.

Ethan is still working on his hook'em horns

Sorry there aren't more pictures of Ronnie, he was asserting his independence and refusing to have his picture taken

See marshmallow men below

Jon and Amy have a little boy who is 4 days older than Ethan. It was so fun to see them interact with each other... they are already best buds.

Cold day fun

It has been entirely too cold for us warm blooded Texans the last few days so we have pretty much resolved to stay indoors for the time being. I mean just to get a 3 year old and a 12 month old dressed and out the door in these subfreezing temps is daunting. Hats (which the little one takes off every 30 seconds to suck on it), scarves, coats, and gloves... they look like little marshmallow men with their arms sticking straight out. And then to try to fit all that in the car seat... I'll just stay inside thank you very much.

So, that being said, we have come up with all sorts of indoor games.

#1: Snowball Fight

Ducking behind furniture and overturned laundry baskets in

an attempt to pummel your loved one with a "snowball"

The ammo... paper balls

Even Ethan thought this was the greatest game ever

Who would have thought that a few wads of paper could be so much fun. Ronnie liked playing "snowball fight" so much that we had to save our snowballs and play again when daddy came home... and the next day... and the day after that.

#2: Wii Fit

Who needs to go outside to get some exercise?

In fact, you don't even need to change out of your pjs.

#3: Reindeer Games