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March 2004

She wasn't even two yet, but Addison Grace has always loved Zoe. The same is true for the reverse. A few days home from the hospital with my first wee one, I was sitting on the floor with my back propped against the couch. I'm not sure why I was down there, especially since I was holding baby Addi. But, Zoe came over to sit near me (meaning, her body pressed up against any part of me, almost on top of me) and when she turned to get just so, she tucked in that torturous-if-it-whacks-you tail. She'd never done that before and I'm not sure she's ever done it since. I already knew she was a great dog, but that kind, small act of gentleness around a new baby (the baby that had taken her place no less) made my heart swell with love for our dog.

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Merry Christmas

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Don't let those crumbs all over the floor bother you. They were picked up in a matter of seconds. When we still lived in Raleigh, my friend Diane asked if I let Zoe come in after mealtimes to clean the floor. That was something I had never even thought of doing, but am I ever glad she mentioned it! Zoe is too! :)

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I'm behind this week, which is nothing new, but that was my excuse to grab Sonic for lunch today. While we were waiting on our food, Libby suggested we have a picnic in our backyard. I know you might not think it from Libs outfit choice, but it's in the 70s...perfect picnic weather. (Ironically, she wore a sun dress and flip flops to walk Addi to school this morning when it was in the 50s!)

You can just see this picture would have been so cute if I'd actually looked at what I was taking a picture of and moved the cup!

And, this one would've been cute if Levi hadn't been trying to get away from Libby.

I'm sayin' this is a cute one even though Little Man has crumbs all over his cheeks.

Levi decided to share some grilled cheese with Zoe, which she gladly accepted.

And, then he shook his little finger in her face saying, "No! No! ZoZo!" Poor dog. :)

one of these i never like to do

i haven't had a chance to blog much. (i'm feeding the baby as i hunt and peck this keyboard right now!) so, you're gonna mostly get pictures today.

EASTER PICTURES (but i didn't get any of the kids in their clothes. i will though, near some pretty flowers, or something)

we've had our first "trampoline casualty" - ethan broke his leg a few days before easter while jumping, poor little guy

rise and shine, sleepyheads. it's time to hunt eggs on easter morning.

we had to wake the girls up pretty early so we could all be on our way to church by 7:30.

MY BIG BIRTHDAY SURPRISE - bryan arranged for a dear friend of mine from raleigh and her youngest daughter (who is absolutely adored by our whole family, but especially addi) to surprise us with a visit.

bryan took addi to the airport telling me he was taking her to breakfast for some "daddy-daughter" time. he didn't get a picture of her face when she saw salina. i know it was priceless!

i was a little out of it. bryan told me the present he'd ordered me was on the porch. when i walked out, addi and salina jumped out. i was so lost. i thought she'd met a new friend and the new friend looked so familiar. then diane walked out and i started to catch on.

salina "protecting" libby from zoe

LEVI'S NEW FRIEND, COURT - my friend ashley had her little boy a week ago. we were surprised how "grown-up" levi looked next to this new little guy.

i'll write a better post soon and maybe have more words than pictures in it!

Dog, anyone?

I just finished mopping my laundry room floor. I'm so angry. Not that it couldn't have used a good mopping, but I was forced to mop it. By our dog. Who urinated all over the place. All. Over. The. Place.

I'll start by letting you know that I dearly love this dog. However, I don't like having a dog in my house. I don't mind them in other people's houses, just not in mine. When we first moved to our last house, we had to have the dog inside because the backyard wasn't fenced. It about drove me crazy!

Zoe turned 9 in November and we noticed she wasn't dealing well with the colder days. She used to love snow and would splash around in frozen ponds. If it gets into the 40s or below, she just shivers and shivers, so I have relented and she has a little dog bed in the breakfast room where she sleeps on colder nights. This morning was overcast and cold, so after breakfast, I let her back in the house. Then it started to rain, so I let her out every hour or so to do her business and then back in. Now, I know she can hold it longer than that since she holds it all night when she sleeps inside.

While the girls where eating lunch, our usually well-behaved dog would not leave them alone. (This may have something to do with Libby loving to share her food with Zoe.) They were squealing and not eating and I was trying to get some laundry done and it all just wasn't working. I finally took Zoe into the laundry room, left the light on, and shut the door. She wasn't in there 5 minutes.

Now, if I thought for one second she did not pee everywhere on purpose, I wouldn't be mad enough to offer her to a kind and loving home. But, she did do it on purpose and then she had the nerve to skip off toward the park like I was going to reward her when I had to take her through the garage to get into the backyard!

Just so you know, I'm turning the comments off. As angry as I am with her, I do realize that if someone actually offered to take her off our hands, I would feel so guilty.

And, so, she's safe.

For now...

stuck

I looked out the kitchen window this morning and noticed Zoe was in a bit of a predicament. Somehow, she had climbed to the platform of the play set and couldn't get back down. Of course, I tried to coax her down the slide and I debated picking her up and (softly) dropping her to the ground. Neither of those worked. So, I called Bryan at work and expected to hear him ask what I would do if he wasn't around - a favorite question of his when he thinks I don't really need his help. Instead he told me to do what I had already tried. In the end, Zoe slept up there all afternoon. It's shady and I moved her water up to the platform. I did try once more to coax her down. I even climbed up and tried to force her onto the slide...I'm no match for a 85+ pound stubborn dog! Once Bryan got home, he picked her up and placed her on the ground. She leapt around like she was a puppy again. And, then, she excused herself to take care of pressing matters.

Because she's our dog

Zo-Zo doesn't get much love on this blog. Come to think of it, she doesn't get much love at our house either. She was displaced by the girls a while ago. Addi called Zoe "Z0-Zo" when she was little. Libby started doing the same, but now it sounds more like she's saying "Shadow". Zoe's momma was a yellow Lab and her daddy was a Dalmation. We blame her excentricities on her daddy's bloodline. She went through a stage a couple years ago where she loved to curl up in my big flower pot like a cat. Crazy dog!

Visit to the pediatrician + visit to Target = 3 hours??

I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't experienced it this morning. I'm remembering why I'm exhausted all the time. And, why I Never get Anything accomplished. Here's how it all went down...Believe me, I know y'all are at the edge of your seats for this one. Don't worry, Bryan (and Mom), there's a picture...maybe not one you're were dying to see, but it's there all right.

My day started out so nicely...up well before the girls. There is a little nip in the air today, so I brewed some coffee. Which is a rarity for me. We usually have coffee on the weekends since Bryan is home. He makes it and whew, is it strong! I have to add lots of sugar and milk to even get down half a cup.

But, that really has little, if anything to do with this tale. Back on point...

I had a little prayer and devotional time sitting with my warm cup in my comfy chair. Then, right before I walked upstairs to wake the girls, I checked my calendar to make sure I knew what time Libby's appointment was today. Of course, I had it all wrong. Somehow, I got 11:45 etched in my brain when really the appointment was at 10:00. We needed to be on fast forward and that, if you have children, is next to impossible.

So, I woke the girls, threw clothes at Addi (amazingly she didn't whine about the clothes I grabbed), dressed Libby, brushed teeth (Libby's and mine while Addi did her own), did hair (all 3...mine was still wet from the shower an hour and half earlier), fed Logan a bottle, fed the girls breakfast, doled out medicine, strapped all 3 kids into their carseats and backed out of my garage at 9:30...plenty of time if I hit all green lights and sped.

Yes, it takes us entirely too long to get to our pediatricians' office, however, our old house was much closer. Coming from a background of socialized medicine (ie, military medicine), our civilian doctors and their parent-patient friendly practices suit us fine. There are two pediatric practices within 5 minutes from our house, but we are loyal to the first doctors and nurses who treated us so well. Not that there is anything wrong with the doctors and nurses in military hospitals. Rather there is something wrong, quite a lot wrong, with "the way things are done" in those military hospitals.

Again, nothing to do with the tale at hand. Back on point...

Fortunately, I set my watch just a few minutes fast and the clock on my dash about 8 minutes fast and, apparently, our pediatricians set their office clock about 3 minutes slow. In short, we pranced in that office (huffing and puffing from the uphill hike through the parking lot pushing 45 pounds in a double stroller) right on time. Just how I like it :)

We settled into our chairs in the waiting room about the time we heard, "Reagan". Back into the stroller went Libby, back onto the shelf went Addi's book, and back to the exam room went the 4 of us, plus the nurse.

I must say the nurse was an angel...Again not really pertinent to the story. Addi told me she had to go to the bathroom as we followed Nurse Angel down the hall. I told the nurse we would be in the bathroom for the next few minutes if the doctor came looking for us. She said she would watch Libby and Logan while I took Addi. What! Oh, no! I wasn't trying to rope you into my duties...wait, would you mind?! Thanks so much! We'll hurry. And we were back well before the doctor even knew he had a patient waiting on him.

Waaaayy before. We sat in that itty bitty room for 30 minutes. I sat in that itty bitty room with a 4-year old who searched for every book we read every time we're at the doctor's while her little sister insisted on having a different book read to her while sitting by herself in the one of the two chairs not occupied by the 4-year old and the baby, who was perfectly content for about 5 minutes, decided to start screaming, just for fun, mind you, and throwing toys. For. 30. Minutes.

Good news, though. Libby is fine. So glad I broke my rule about never doing follow-up appointments for ear infections since "I would know if their ear is still hurting them!" Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to experience the insanity of 3 children and 1 parent at a doctor's appointment. Again.

About the time I was going to steer my car toward an exit leading to Super Target, I realized in the hustle and bustle of the morning, I left my list at home. Normally I can't remember a thing off my list. This morning I might have ended up screaming in the produce section from the sharp pain that would have been my brain trying to remember something, anything from my list. Instead we headed home. And, good thing since Addi needed to use the bathroom. Again.

My game plan was to pull into the garage, turn off the car, but leave the key in so the music could play, shut the garage door and run inside for my list while Addi ran in to potty. I told her to hurry and come back to the car when she finished. We waited and waited and waited. I impatiently honked my horn (something I am so ashamed to admit since I have been the object of a horn-honking many a Sunday morning by my less-than-patient husband). Then I walked inside and yelled her name. She yelled back that she was going poo-poo and "do not come in here, Mommy! It is stiiiinnnkyyy!"

Thank you for the warning. I'll just be waiting in the car with the two little ones who are more than sick of being strapped to their seats.

We finally made it to Super Target. Wouldn't you know from my short list of 13 items, they'd be out of something?! I'm making chicken burgers from this tonight (thanks, Becky!), so I had to run to another store for the chicken. That amounts to me getting 3 kids out of their carseats and putting 3 kids back into their carseats one more time.

We pulled back into our garge and I felt my tummy rumble. Lunch time. We left the house at 9:30 and got back at 12:30. All I could think about was the laundry I needed to catch up on and how much time was wasted from my day. Well, until I looked out the window to see what Zoe was barking at and saw something dead. More correctly, I should say, something Zoe killed. Yuck...perfect end to an imperfect morning.

So, without further ado, and because I have already wasted enough "laundry time", I present to you the photo of Zoe's kill.

And he, like the mouse, will be waiting for the Mister to return from work so he can be properly disposed of.

Callin' all pollen: Please, Go Away!

Addi has seasonal allergies. I do too, and so does Bryan. I'll be surprised if Libby doesn't start sniffing and scratching soon also. When we lived in Texas and Oklahoma, I had to take medicine pretty much year round, but since we've lived here, I mainly have issues in the Spring. Bryan, on the other hand has had a harder time here. We blame the pollen.

Well, the pollen is out in full force and has been for about a week. Everything outside is coated in a thick yellow powder. You can see it being kicked up as you walk through the grass. My front porch looks like the girls got after it with yellow sidewalk chalk because I decided to rinse it off while I was watering yesterday. It just pooled around the doormat and now we have a marbled-effect on the concrete...and a new layer of yellow powder all over the porch.

But, it is Spring Break here and the weather is glorious. How can we be expected to sit indoors all week?! Yesterday evening we met Bryan at a neat park and played for about an hour.

And, then at 2:26 this morning, I was awakened by Addi asking me to sing her a song. What?! Are you crazy?! I was dead asleep and you want me to sing you a song?! You're 4, sing yourself a song?! was what I wanted to say to her. But, instead I told her it was the middle of the night and mommy was sleepy. I took her back to her bed and layed down with her for a few minutes. In my sleepy haze I noticed she was clawing her eyeballs out and tried to scan my brain for some medicine we had that I could give her. It was really just too much for me. She takes Zyrtec and I couldn't remember what, if anything, I could give her with Zyrtec. I did think of some over-the-counter eyedrops we have, but vividly (and, believe me, this was the only vivid thing about last night) remembered her reaction when she was given eyedrops to dialate her eyes...not something I wanted to encounter ever again, much less at 2:30 in the morning. She was almost asleep, so I got up to leave and she asked me to sing her a song again.

Now, this seems so ridiculous to me thinking back on it, but I felt that I needed to stand my ground on this song thing. You know that whole "pick your battles" saying? Well, apparently last night I thought this was a battle worth waging. And, you can ask Bryan (and my parents) about how stubborn I am when I really want to win a battle :)

Of course, I told her no and she started to make herself cry, a trait at which she has excelled. At this point I felt ignoring her would be my best option, so back to bed I dragged...and layed there listening to her cry...and wondered if I should shut Libby's door before I had two crying kids and a grumpy husband. Why, on earth, I didn't just walk back into Addi's room and sing her a song, I will never know! But, I didn't and after a couple minutes, my grumpy sleepy husband woke and wanted to know what the crying was about. Now is when I really should have backed down and walked into that crying baby's room, but, you guessed it, I didn't. The longer this went on, the more important I felt it was to win.

Bryan huffed out of bed, stomped through the hall, mumbled something to Addison and shut her door. The crying stopped and we all went back to sleep.

That is why God created 2 parents...one balances out the other.

Nevertheless, Addison woke up this morning with bright red, swollen eyes. Not so much from the crying - it was a fairly weak, forced cry, after all. Her eyes are itchy and watery. In fact, this morning she asked me to give her eye medicine and was totally fine when I put drops in her eyes. (Thanks to Grandpa for that. She later told me that Grandpa put drops in her eyes the last time we were in Texas...baffles my mind how that all went down. It sure made my life easier today though)

Normally, red, itchy eyes would be a bit of a nuisance to her. Today, I panicked slightly because the girls had an appointment to have their picture made with real bunnies. Why does Easter have to fall during pollen-floating-around season?! The pictures went well and I'm sure there'll be some cute ones. The girls had a tea party with two bunnies, so they didn't actually look at the camera. The photograher did take a few of the girls smiling at the camera. Maybe the red won't show up or maybe I can get those in black and white.

I guess this is the price you pay for living in an area with lots of trees. Well, this and lots of leaves, sweet gum balls, needles and pine cones in your gutters and yard. I think a few weeks of scratching, coughing, blowing, sneezing, wheezing and redness are well worth the shade though!

The Chair

Addi has spent many hours reading books and watching movies while sitting in an adorable little chair that her Nana and Poppa got her for Christmas one year. Libby is now big enough to get herself into the chair and (for the time being) both girls can sit side-by-side in it. So, if we are home and the girls are awake, chances are the chair is being used.

It has been so cold here that we've been bringing Zoe in at night and making her sleep in the garage. It is a challenge every night as our usually so obedient and submissive dog hides out in the yard while we go hoarse calling her name. So, a few nights ago, I was feeling badly for her and decided I would let her sleep in the house for the night - instead of the chilly garage. After all, that "acting out" phase was so long ago. [Backgound: She lived in this house for a year or so after we moved in because we didn't have a fence. She pouted for that entire time because she wanted to go outside all the time and then started "acting out" at night and when we left. So, we had to start putting her in the garage anytime we left or at night to sleep.] I woke up the next morning without finding any chewed up toys or surprise "accidents". "Wonderful", I thought. "Allowing her to sleep in the house at night will surely assuage my guilt and knowing I don't have to worry about her behavior will allow me to sleep."

Then, last night, I walked back downstairs to turn out the lights and found her curled up in the aforementioned chair. Granted, she loves our girls and the chair is probably crawling with their scent, but we would like to keep it that way-bath times are too few and far between for Zoe :) After 5 minutes of coaxing, she crawled out of the chair. After 5 more minutes of getting scratched behind her ears, she followed me to the garage and only slightly hesitated before climbing the steps down to her cold concrete bed.

Goofy Dog/Cat/Human/Bird

Our family pet, Zoe has been around a long time. Longer than either of our children. Longer, in fact than our marriage. Bryan and I got her from one of his professors while we were still in college and still had lots of time for a pet. She is undoubtedly the Best Dog in the World! Zoe has endured being the runt of a litter and the one nobody wanted. When Bryan and I went to pick out a puppy, there were only two left: a playful chocolate lab/dalmation and a small, but overweight black lab/dalmation. Some girls grabbed the chocolate one before we could. I think Bryan was ready to leave without a dog, but there was something about that fearful, pot-bellied, little dog that was endearing. I remember driving straight to Petsmart with our new puppy in my lap. Bryan and I almost dropped her off on the side of the road when we were introduced to her horrendous gas :) She was constantly shaking from fear and snorting and hiding those first couple of months. Zoe was certainly not Bryan's idea of a good hunting dog! It was during those days that we discovered Zoe thought she was a cat. She would bat at things with her paws just like a little kitty and she treated my roommate's cat like they were companions. Again, not a quality that Bryan enjoyed seeing displayed :) She endured being moved between our houses and then moved to other college houses and then to Oklahoma, which was probably her hay-day. We had a large backyard with a big covered patio and we lived across the street from a park with a lot of room to run and a creek. In Zoe's world, the only things that would make that more perfect would be unlimited food and someone to constantly throw a tennis ball. She even had a few hunting trips with Bryan and became quite adept at riding in the back of Bryan's truck. We spent so much time with her there were days she must have thought she was a human. That is, until November of 2002 when Addison was born. Zoe made the transition from human to dog without a hitch. One of my favorite memories of Zoe happened when Addi was about a week old. We let Zoe in the house often after Addi was born and one of those times I was sitting on the floor feeding her. Zoe walked over and as she turned to sit next to us, she gently tucked her baseball bat...I mean, tail between her legs. I knew then that Zoe would be wonderful with our children. We took her away from her haven and into a backyard the size of a shoebox that flooded with the first drops of rain. She allowed Addi to pull on every part of her that would be painful to have pulled. She would wait patiently while Addi dug in her food bowl. Zoe endured another move to a house where she could not roam the backyard all day. We finally put in a fence at this house about 9 months ago and she's been happier ever since. Today Addi and I took a "birdfeeder" (bagel smeared with peanut butter and sprinkled with bird seed) out to hang on a tree. What do you know!...Zoe thinks she's a bird also! I caught her trying to eat the "birdfeeder". She first tried to reach it by climbing up the tree with her front paws, but she was still about a foot shy. Then she tried to jump while she was on 2 legs...Goofy dog! That was quite a site, but I wasn't quick enough to get it on camera. Someone should tell her she isn't a real bird. A real bird would use its wings to fly up to the "birdfeeder" :) Incidentally, this is not the first time Zoe has tried/suceeded to eat birdseed. Last spring Addi wanted to feed birds. The seeds barely hit the ground before Zoe licked them up. Addi still gets frustrated when she thinks about that experience! Another time our neighbors, who own a bird, were taking care of Zoe in their backyard. They noticed she seemed to be extremely bloated and found that she had devoured almost the entire bag of birdseed they kept under their deck. Bryan and I wanted a dog, but we got so much more :) We are all so thankful for Zoe. The day is coming when Zoe's patience will be tested again by a curious and not so gentle toddler. I am confident she will be just as patient and gentle as she was the first time around.

A Girl and Her Dog

You can tell from the pictures that Zoe wasn't completely cooperative while Addi "walked" her.