The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In my head over the last week or so I had been working up a post about all the things that have changed in our lives over the last 3 (4?) years.  I can't do it.  I just can't.  It would take me forever, and inevitably I would forget something.  I've got too much going on in my life to keep up with it.  Right now there's back to school, working on a weighted blanket for Quinn, laundry, getting set up for Wee-Cycle, scanning in a million (probably underexaggerating) pieces of work from my kids from LAST school year, because I made a stupid promise to keep all their stuff, and this allows me to not keep an entire dead rainforest's worth of papers in my house, getting ready for doctors appointments, surgery, dog training, trying to keep a clean house, and my sanity, along with a slew of other things I know I'm forgetting.  (Didn't I tell you this would happen?)  And that's all in the next 2 weeks.

So the condensed version is this:

We moved (bought a house, actually.)

We gained a new family member! :)  (Jasper)

We lost a few family members.  :(  (Dakota, and Landon)

We got 2 puppies! :/ (Gus and Ludo.  Happy we have them, sad that it was due to Landon's death.)

Had a few vehicle swaps, and accident, health problems, drama, school and I'm sure a bunch of other stuff.  But that's the gist of it.

Buckle up, it's going to be an adventure!

Changes are coming.

My fairy-blog-mother came to me the other day and said that I need to get this thing up and running again.  A lot of things have changed since my last post... a LOT of things, so as I try to get reacquainted with this whole blog thing, please bear with me.  Updates coming soon!  :)

Eleven Months... One year... A Year and A Half... and Two Years.

Dear Harper,

I know I skipped your 11-month blog, and I feel bad about that.  I also skipped your 1-year blog, as well as your year and a half blog, which I feel even worse about.  In all honesty, though, it is not my fault.  You see, you are a tiny little terror dressed in a cute, chubby cheeked, smiley faced, giggling ball of adorable costume.  To those on the outside, you look like a sweet little girl, but to me, I can't turn my back on your or shut my eyes for even one second, because there you are getting into trouble, you are a whirlwind of energy, and awesome... but also mischief.  Lots and lots of mischief.

So, here is your 2nd year of life blog (with some additions from the previous ones that I should have written.)

By the time you were eleven months old you had successfully started walking.  I would love to say that you are an old pro at it now, but you’re not.  You can walk, but you definitely got the klutzy gene from every side of this family possible.  We’ve joked about renaming you Grace a few times because you are covered in bruises.  You can just be walking along, and fall out of nowhere.  You always pick yourself back up, and rarely cry though, so I have to give you credit for that I just can’t believe how 75% of your time you are walking and 25% of the time you’re falling or tripping, or some other mishap.  You poor thing.  You had bowed legs until you were about a year and a half old.  I was starting to get concerned but was told repeatedly that you would probably grow out of it, so I had to hold off on taking you to a specialist as long as I could, and then, magically, one day, they seemed to be gone.

We enrolled you in swim school, which was at Daddy’s work, and it was a 4-week class right before you turned one.  I was actually rather shocked by your reaction to the class.  You love taking baths and playing in the water, so I thought, naturally, you would love swimming too.  You didn’t hate it, but you didn’t really seem to enjoy it.  You just kind of tolerated it.  Maybe it was because your parents had to come with you, and you couldn’t just be set free (to be fair, the water was about 4 feet deep, we kind of needed to be there) but you didn’t like all the silly games, or songs that they made us do with you.  (That’s ok; we didn’t really like them either.)  Outside of swimming classes, we got to swim in a pool one other time that summer, and you really just wanted to ride around on people’s backs as they swam.  This year though, we’ve taken you to the splash pad, and we have a little pool set up for you and your sister, and you really enjoy those, so maybe it is time to give the big pool another try, because we didn’t do swimming lessons this year.

For your first birthday, we chose the appropriate theme of monsters.  You really liked it.  It had many colors, and the monsters were super cute.  You had a pretty messy smash cake, and the frosting that didn’t make it onto the floors, walls, or your mouth, was all over your face.  The majority of the frosting was a lilac color, but there was a smidge of black for the eyes and mouth, and some green for the trim; once it was all smashed together, and you got to work your magic on it, it looked like you were a lumberjack, with a full facial beard in a lovely shade of brownish greenish black.  You really dug in though.  You were eating cake like it was some pretty serious business.  I finished your blanket just in time for your birthday so you got that, along with a few other gifts.  We took you to the aquarium in Jenks, Oklahoma, since you really seemed to be interested in our fish tank at home.  You love just sitting in front of it, and one of your first few words was “fish.”  I think it was too crowded and possibly a little overwhelming for you because you seem to enjoy our fish tank at home a lot more.

About a week after your birthday, your dad had to go to Texas for some work stuff for about a week.  I freaked out a LOT because this would be my first time alone with both of you for a REALLY long period of time with no breaks.  So, for a week, we moved in with Granddad and Nana so that I made sure we all survived!  I tried to get some pictures of you and your sister, and while you were really good, and cheesing it up for the camera, Quinn was not.  She was throwing a fit for almost 3 hours while the poor photographer, Nana, and I tried feverishly to get not only a good few pictures of her, but a few good pictures of you two together.  It didn’t work.  This time was also the birth of your beloved Taggie.  You see, for your first Christmas, we got you a Taggie with a lion’s head on it.  Quinn had her own Taggie when she was a few months old, and you occasionally showed some interest in it, but not really, so we were just grasping at strings when we bought the lion for you.  The lion Taggie was a source of comfort a few times a week when it came to getting you to sleep, so we had it on our little adventure to Granddad and Nana’s house while Daddy was in Texas.  Well, Granddad and Nana also had a new puppy in the house, and she chewed off the ears of your lion.  While it wasn’t a huge deal Nana insisted that we buy you a replacement one, even though the lion was ok and just had nubs for ears.  I searched high and low for Taggies in general, and all the places that I had seen them they no longer carried them.  When I finally did find a store that still had Taggies I was upset that I couldn’t find the same exact one you had so that we could actually fully replace it.  Instead, I found a special edition owl one that you fell in love with immediately.  You take it everywhere.  You cannot fall asleep without it, so I guess it was a blessing that the dog ate the other one.  Even a year later, you still take it with you.  No other will do.  Trust me, we’ve tried.  Once we realized just how attached you were to this one, we tried to get another one just like it in case another accident happened somewhere down the road.  Special edition means that you will NEVER find it every again.  Needless to say, we have a few more Taggies in our collection now, that all get ignored, and shoved away when we can’t find your owl one.  Panic hits about once a day when you’ve misplaced it (or hidden it so well, even you can’t find it) because sometimes that’s the only thing that will calm you down.  It is really your best friend.  You still mumble and groan when you’re nodding off to sleep, but now, you’ve added in the Taggie to your routine which you rub all over your face, and you put your fingers in the little tag loops so you can hold it tight.  Sweet moments to watch.

The rest of the time between then and now has pretty much been a blur.  You are quite the escape artist, and there is not much holding you down.  Our living room looks like a tiny prison, yet you still manage to break free of the walls.  You either climb them, move toys to jump over them, lift up the actual pen itself and crawl under, or you just simply push until it is meeting the ground and walk right on over.  It makes me incredibly nervous because baby proofing the house has seemed absolutely pointless.  You can get those plug protectors out better than we can, and you’ve almost mastered the doorknob thing too.  Most of the time on your escape route, you stop and hide under my desk.  That is your favorite place to hide.  Sometimes you go into the spare bedroom (which is filled with boxes, and plenty of places to hide) and hide in the elevator (the closet.)  One day though, I could not find you anywhere…  I was home alone, and panic had started to set in even though all the doors were closed and locked, I had no idea where you had gone.  Well, I found you in the refrigerator, with the door only open about an inch or two.  Barely noticeable.  That has been your new go to place for a while, and it really pisses me off.  You claim every time you’re in there, that it’s too hot.  The truth is, it’s cold.  You’re generally naked.  See where I’m going here?  If you manage to make it all the way in there (I’m not doubting you can) one day, I’m afraid it may be a while before I can find you.  Luckily, you usually do this when I go to the bathroom, or go to change your sister.  What if I was taking a shower?  Who knows how long you would be in there?  Ugh.  You’re going to be the death of me.  That’s for sure.  

In December we travelled, by car, because we’re insane, to Arizona to visit Grandma Lynn for Christmas.  I’m not sure how, but we survived.  The trip there was pretty smooth.  Both of you were exceptionally well behaved, even though you were trapped in a car for two (very long) days.  I would like to thank the manufacturers of portable DVD players for that one.  There weren’t too many meltdowns, and you either watched movies (a lot!) or slept so that was somewhat nice.  Your sister was sick half of the trip on the way there, so your cooperation and good behavior was much appreciated.  Once we got there, we got to see a lot of family and friends that you had never met.  It was a pretty good time; it even snowed on New Year’s, which is pretty crazy for Arizona!  The trip back was miserable.  Everyone was sick.  Only you and your sister were diagnosed (ear infections) so momma and daddy had to drag the trip out an extra day (so three days total, ugh) before we got home.  We were also pulling a trailer, which had a ton of stuff for you guys from Christmas, and all the toys that Grandma Lynn had stashed away.  Once we finally got everything unpacked and thought everything was “back to normal”; wouldn’t you know it, we all got the flu.  It was the first time you have ever been sick (like, really sick) so it was nerve wracking for me, because I didn’t know what to expect from you.  You ended up at the ER one night because the flu medicine made you sick (kind of silly that’s a side effect) so we made sure you were hydrated, and they gave you something to help keep it all down.  Again, we all survived, and sometimes I’m not sure how.

We’ve recently discovered the joys of indoor play areas and the splash pad.  The indoor play areas are nice because… well, they’re indoors and it keeps you focused on the play area and not everywhere around it.  You mostly like them, but you are still timid when it comes to them getting crowded, and prefer to stay where you can see us, which is ok, you will get adventurous outside of the house someday.  We already know how adventurous you are inside of the home.  The splash pad I think has been one of your favorite water experiences.  Water shooting everywhere and you can run around like the crazy little thing that you are.

As for food, you have always been a good eater.  You are willing to try most things, and you and usually pretty good about eating what’s in front of you or at least putting in a good effort.  A few months ago, you decided that you really like “fry fries” which are French fries.  You also really like chicken nuggets and mac and cheese (you say it “mach an cheese!” with excitement, but you will eat mostly anything, especially if someone else is eating it and they let you steal it off their plate.  You are a VERY messy eater though.  You like it dirty.  The messier the better.  For instance, if you’re eating a peanut butter sandwich (butters sandwich, as you and your sister like to call it) more of it ends up on your face, your body, your hands, and your hair, than in your mouth.  Same deal with spaghetti or mac and cheese… pretty much anything that can be smeared, you get it anywhere, and everywhere you can.  It’s ok though, I’m starting to get used to it, and my ability to clean you up is getting quicker by the day (unless it’s one of those REALLY bad situations where we just throw up our hands in defeat and try to get you into the bathroom without letting you touch us, the walls, the dogs, or pretty much anything in your path.)

Your second birthday was held at the YMCA because they have a birthday room, and we could rent out the indoor play area, so it was dedicated playtime for just you and Quinn.  It was a small party, it was just Quinn, Daddy, Nana, Grandad, Grandma, Pappy, and I, but you seemed to really enjoy it this year.  You were running around and giggling almost the entire time.  Your theme was minions because you absolutely LOVE minions.  You are minion crazy.  We can be in a crowded store, and you could spot a tiny little minion sticker from across the room, and shout and get super excited until you get close enough to see it.  The day before your birthday, we took you to your second movie theater experience to see The Minion Movie.  Your first was earlier that year when we took you to see Home.  The first experience was miserable.  You didn’t know how to hold still, you didn’t want to hold still, and you just wanted to crawl and play on the movie theater floor.  Yuck.  Lucky for us we were pretty much the only ones in there besides one other couple.  The Minion Movie was a little better, but it was a LOT more crowded.  You almost made it to the end before you started getting antsy, and you were definitely captivated by it a LOT more.  I am telling you… you only have eyes for minions!

Most of your adorable chub has been exercised off.  You never stop moving.  You still have some delicate chubby cheeks though, which are super kissable.  Your hair is starting to grow long, and you no longer have a crazy little Mohawk.  For a while, you had a mullet (sorry!) but we got through it-- your hair has always kind of grown in a weird way.  You are starting to show your sparkling little personality, and it is great.  You have such a sense of humor, and are so kind most of the time.  You love kisses and hugs (receiving and giving) and are always willing to make someone smile.  You still haven’t gotten rid of the Scofield Scowl, but it makes an appearance much less than it used to.  You also still have your little heart between your eyebrows.  It has started to fade a little bit, so I hope that for your sake it continues so you don’t have to deal with anyone making fun of you.  It does seem to stand out when you are upset about something, but other than that, it’s not something that is easily noticeable anymore.

I can’t believe how much you have changed our lives (for the better!)  I can’t believe how much you have changed, and are still changing before my eyes.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you, but at the same time, I wish time would just slow down already.

Love you little squidget.

Love,

Momma

Eleven Months

Well kid, you’re almost all grown up.  This is the last month we can say that you’re “so many months old” you’re rackin’ up your time, and pretty soon we’ll be saying, “She’s a year old,” and then two, and so on.  STOP IT.  Stop growing up on me!

 This month has been a crazy one for us.  We’ve all been sick, and currently are still sick.  Your parents were lucky enough to share bronchitis, while you had some mystery illness that left you with a fever for almost a week, with no discoverable cause.  It’s been fun, let me tell you.  We’ve had two snowstorms that have closed school for you, so you’ve officially had your first two snow days, although they weren’t closed for snow, but for the amount of ice on the roads.  This month we also took our first extended road trip, which was quite interesting. 

We had to travel to Durant, Oklahoma (which is right on the southern border of Oklahoma) for your great-granddad’s funeral, so we figured we’d just do the hop-skip-and-jump over to Dallas, since it was only an hour and a half more.  In theory it worked on the way there, but not so awesome on the way back.  On the way there, we stopped in Durant for 2 days.  We took our sweet time, took as many stops as needed, and it was only about 3-3 ½ hours.  No rush.  We stayed in a hotel the first night, and although you were fussy in the hotel at night, the car ride was smooth.  The next day we had the funeral, which was mid-day, so we packed up, headed to the funeral, hit a few bumps in the road, and ended up leaving for Dallas probably around 6ish.  This car ride was also smooth, because it’s just a little bit longer than the distance; we travel to go to Tulsa.  Our second hotel was not so awesome, but you did great in it, and slept through the night.  Too bad we had obnoxiously loud neighbors the entire night until about 4 am.  If it’s not one thing, it’s another.  We left the hotel around 9:30, and went shopping at a few places we don’t have in Oklahoma that we missed from Arizona, and had lunch, and were headed back on the road to home.  We couldn’t be as lax on our way back home, because I had to be to work the next day.  You did great (aka slept) for the first few hours, but you made the last few hours double, and we stopped every 20-45 minutes due to your screaming, and just wanting to be out of the car.  I get it, I totally understand, but ugh, I much rather would have had that on the way there when I had a day or two to recuperate than getting home so late on a Sunday, unloading a very unhappy you, the car, having to do laundry, and then get up and go to work the next morning.  We will work on it though.  You really didn’t care about some of the places we went, but we went to IKEA to look for dressers and you loved it there.  You loved the entire store, from the cafeteria when we had breakfast, to the children’s section.  I think it’s just the way the store was made.  You were all smiles all the time.  IKEA makes us happy too.  We ended up buying a whole lot of crap we didn’t need, and not picking up dressers because they wouldn’t fit, but we did find some nice stuff to get eventually… on our next trip to Dallas (haha.)

When I took you to the doctor earlier this week, you were 19 pounds, 7 oz.  You’re almost at the big 2-0!  I’m not really sure what we’re supposed to do at this stage, because when you hit 25 pounds, a lot will change.  We can no longer use your changing table or the changing thing on your playpen, and we can’t use your swing, and I’m sure there’s a few other things we won’t be able to use anymore, and then our world will end.  I’m not sure what will we do without you swing because honestly, we still use it when you’re being super difficult at night, or even during the day, and most of the time it works.  I suppose that’s all part of growing up. 

 You aren’t quite walking yet, but you are getting around quickly.  You’ve started standing and letting go, until you realize that you’ve let go, and then you panic and either fall, or quickly grab on to the nearest thing.  You’re close though, and that’s scary.  I’m not ready for you to be so mobile yet; you’re exhausting enough as it is.  You’ve also started eating more solid foods.  So far, it’s just puffs, and cereal like items, plus some freeze-dried yogurt bites, but you’re getting the hang of it.  I think when you get more teeth it will be a little easier for you.  You really want to try a lot of different things; your little mouth isn’t ready for it yet.  You really gave me the eyes on four different occasions, all when I was eating a pastrami sandwich, so I don’t know if it just looked good, or smelled good or what, but you looked at me like a ravenous animal, and licked your lips for each sandwich I ate.  You constantly try to grab what I’m eating, and sometimes I will give you a little taste, but it’s never been like that.  You are a silly little thing sometimes.

You are still the happiest baby I know.  Tons of things make you happy.  Seeing the dog I think tops everything.  He just exists in your presence, and your world is complete.  You still love baths, and seeing daddy pretty much every time he walks in to the room.  You even know that at night when the phone rings, he is calling for us to come get him from work, and many times, you will talk to him from across the room.  You love to run around in your walker, and it’s giving you an opportunity to bond with the dog as well.  He is getting less skittish with you, and I think that’s in part to you learning that you need to be gentle with him.  You’ve learned that if you stick your hand out, and let him come to you, he will be more patient with you, than if you were to just go up to him.  You love “group hugs”, and if it was possible for you to explode from happiness I think that being in the middle of a group hug with Momma and Daddy, or seeing the dog would do it.  You love to ride on top of Daddy’s shoulders, and you love your newfound freedom of not having to go everywhere in the car seat, because now you can (almost) fit in highchairs at restaurants, and in the carts at the grocery store.  If the weather were nicer, we would probably take you on walks outside more, because you love to ride in the stroller as well.  We still constantly hear what a pleasant and happy baby you are, and you truly are (except in the middle of the night) and I am not sure how we got so lucky to have such a delightful baby.

I love you baby girl.

Love,

Momma

Ten Months.

You are almost a year old, time is whizzing by!  I guess we need to start planning your very first birthday!  Unfortunately, for everyone this month was full of more sadness than happiness.

January 4th you, me, and both the dogs were sitting on the floor one evening.  Everything was going peachy.  You were sitting still for once, not trying to crawl around, or bang on things, and out of nowhere, one of our dogs, Lucy, was on top of you growling.  It happened in a split second.  There was no warning, no provocation, nothing that should have caused this.  Instinct kicked in.  You weren’t hysterical yet, until I stood up to get the dogs in their crates.  That’s when the screaming started.  Things were ok.  I gave you a brief look over, no blood.  Good sign.  Got the dogs in their crates.  You’re still hysterical.  You must have been screaming pretty hard, because once I picked you up, that’s when the blood started flowing.  I realized that Lucy had bit you.  In the face.  That’s when panic kicked in, and instinct was gone.  I didn’t know what to do.  You were hysterical.  I was hysterical.  I had to put you down, because when I called for the voice of reason (Dada) I couldn’t’ hear a thing he said.  It didn’t matter.  According to him, all he got out of me the first few seconds of the call was, “Oh, god, oh god…”  I don’t even remember saying them.  Eventually, I pulled myself together enough to grab your stuff, grab you, head to dad’s work, and get to the emergency room.  Since it was a dog bite, the police were called.  The emergency room took for what seemed like forever.  It was probably only 2 hours, but they were an exhausting 2 hours.  People were constantly in and out of our room.  Police.  Nurses.  Doctors.  Hospital staff.  It seemed like we saw everyone in the hospital that night.  Turned out, it wasn’t so bad.  You didn’t need stitches.  There was no real permanent damage, but there was more damage than I had originally seen.  You could tell where the top of Lucy’s mouth had punctured your skin, and where her bottom teeth had punctured it, which is the part I originally saw.  This was no accident, and Dada was hell-bent on putting Lucy to sleep the next day, which we ended up not being able to do because she was in quarantine for 10 days.

This was almost a week after.

January 7th at about 9:45 in the morning I get a call from daycare, repeatedly telling me that you’re ok, and there’s nothing to worry about because you’re ok… and, and, and…  I seriously just wanted them to spit it out because I got probably a good 3 minutes of “She’s ok but… she’s doing fine… but...  she’s ok…” and on and on.  One of the teachers at daycare wasn’t paying attention, and the other two were busy with other children and so they weren’t paying attention either, so when she opened the door, and you were in front of it… she ran over your poor little chubby hand.  They said you cried, a lot, but eventually napped after a while.  If course you did, you probably wore yourself, out.  When I got to daycare that afternoon, I was furious.  We have continually had issues with them and I cannot wait to have your little brother / sister so that I can stay home with you two, and take care of you on my terms, and not have all these issues to deal with anymore.  Your hand didn’t seem to both you too much, so it probably looked a lot worse than it was (Dada thought it may have been broken upon his first inspection) but it never seemed to stop you from getting into everything, and using it as you would have any other time.

It was actually bruised a lot worse than it looks here.
This was taken 3 days later.

January 9th was my 30th birthday.  The majority of people I know forgot it, which made a hard week, even harder.  I pretty much snapped when I got home, and started crying, and couldn’t stop.  When your dad got home, we talked more about Lucy, and your Uncle Jacob had offered to take her, so I was more than thrilled at that prospect.  Not only did we not have to put her down, but she was going to a home where she could still be a part of our lives.  Yay!

January 20th was the day that Jacob was supposed to take Lucy.  He ended up not being able to do it.  A little devastating, but we thought we had found another alternative, someone that could take her, work with her, and place her with a good family, with no children.

January 22nd you were in your walker, which is in front of the dog’s crates, out of nowhere, Lucy starts growling, and lunging at you.  This upset you, understandably.  And we realized we really needed to move on the whole rehoming Lucy thing, but we still hadn’t heard from the one person we were able to find in our area.

January 23rd we saw your doctor for you 9-month appointment.  (On time, I know, get used to doctors pushing you around, you’re at their mercy, and they can move your appointments around so far that you’re being seen at almost 10 months old for your 9-month appointment.)  You are right on course for being a healthy growing girl!  You were 19 pounds and 6 ½ ounces.  You measured in at 27 ½” (which is a little over two feet!)

Happy girl!

January 24th at 3 am you woke up for your middle-of-the-night bottle, and almost immediately, didn’t keep it down.  Some nasty bugs have been going around, so we decided to keep you home.  Dada stayed with you, and you kept that up pretty much all day.  The next day, you still hadn’t kept anything down (formula, food, or water) and you were grumpy because you were hungry, but then you’d throw it all up, and that upset you too.  So after trying to get an appointment with your doctor, and being unsuccessful, we took you to the emergency room.  We were there for three agonizing hours.  You were still hungry, and they didn’t provide us with any answers until the very end.  You didn’t have the flu, which was good, but you did have a viral infection, which they can’t give you anything for, which was awful.  They did give you a prescription for something to keep you from throwing up, and put you on a Pedialyte diet for at least a day.  You were so happy to have something in your tummy; you sucked it down every time we gave it to you.  That night, when Dada went to feed the dogs, Lucy snapped at him, and we decided, with very heavy hearts, that it was finally time to let her go.  She was getting worse.  We didn’t know why, or how, or even when it really started, but it was time to say goodbye.

Poor, sick, little ER baby.

January 26th at 8:28 am, I called the vet to make an appointment.  They could get us in at 11:30, and they would accommodate our requests for Lucy’s final moments.  Uncle Jacob came over to watch you while we took Lucy and Landon to the vet.  They got to play a little bit before we left, and then we headed out the door.  My feet felt like lead.  It hurt to even move to get to the car.  But it was something that had to be done.  She was a danger to you, and a growing danger to others around her.  We got her into the vet, and when the time came, Dada was in a lot of pain, and could barely bring himself to bring her to the room.  We had a few moments to say goodbye, and then they put her to sleep.  It was a painless thing, but incredibly painful at the same time.  Lucy felt no pain as she passed.  But we felt the world come crashing down on us.  Landon was also in the room, and he got a chance to say his goodbyes to her as well.  It has been a few rough few days, and without your smiling little face, I don’t know how any of us could have made it through this extremely difficult time.  Although she hurt you, and we love you with all our hearts, we also loved her.  We had her for over 5 years, and she was a huge part of our lives, and family.  I hope that someday you will have a pet that you love and cherish as much as we did Lucy, and do Landon, and that you can understand how much joy they bring us.

Lucy loved you, and you loved her.

January 29th, the month of terrible happenings was almost over.  We were looking for a fresh start.  Unfortunately, one more bad thing had to happen.  Your Great-Grandfather, Ray, passed away late on the 29th.  Unfortunately, you never had the chance to meet in person, but he was a wonderful man.  We all had a chance to Skype for his 90th birthday, so you did get to see him once, but you won’t remember.

Raymond Leroy Holtzen died 1/29/2013 in Marble Falls, Texas. He was born 10/7/1922 in Fairmont, Oklahoma as the youngest of 13 children of John and Margaretha Holtzen.

Raymond served proudly in World War II in Europe with the U.S. First Army Signal Corp. He met Jean Betty Duncan in England during the war and they were married by proxy 9/22/1945 and in the church on 8/9/1946.

Raymond worked as a Construction Supervisor of numerous soil conservation dams in Oklahoma.

Upon retirement Raymond and Betty moved to Lake Texoma. They were members of the Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Durant, Oklahoma,.

They enjoyed arts and crafts and traveled to many craft fairs selling their handmade wooden toys and crafts.

Raymond moved to Marble Falls, Texas in 2012 to be closer to his daughter Jeannette Wilson.

Raymond was predeceased by his wife, Betty and a son, David Lee Holtzen.

He is survived by a daughter, Jeannette H. Wilson and her husband, Jim of Marble Falls, Texas; A son, Colin Ray Holtzen and his wife, Tracey of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; A grandson, Jason Ray Holtzen and his wife, Amanda and great-granddaughter, Quinn, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the American Heart Association would be appreciated.

As for some good news.  Your two little teeth finally broke free, and you love to show them off with your smile.  You love to smile.  You also love to get into everything, and bang your spoon on whatever objects you can find to make music for us.  You still love to talk our ear off.  Sometimes we wake up in the morning, and who knows how long you've been awake, but you're in your room just babbling to yourself happy as can be.  I love you baby girl.  I’m sorry this was such a depressing entry, but that’s what happens in life, which you will figure out soon enough, if you haven’t already.  I hope next month is better for all of us.

Love,

Momma

Why do I cry?

Why do I cry, and seem like a bitch on this day: January 9, 2013?  Let me tell you.  I don’t even know where to begin.  I cry because at 9 days in, it’s been a horrible year, and I can’t wait for it to be over.  Nine days in.  I cry because I come home from work, and I take my dogs out.  I have to take my dogs out one by one, because they can no longer be together, despite the fact that they are the best of friends.  I cry when I take the first one out because he has no idea of the heartache and loss he will soon feel; it will blindside him, and my heart aches for him.  I cry when I take the second one out because it is due to her actions that she is quarantined.  It is because we were all sitting on the floor Friday night, and at 6:48 pm she decided to lunge and bite my daughter on the head, for no apparent reason.  My world stopped at that very moment.  I cry because while she has to be quarantined, since she is ours, and bit our daughter, we at least get to keep her for the 10 days that she is stuck in this hell.  I cry because the moment he heard what happened, my husband condemned her to death.  I cry because she is so vibrant, and full of life, and I have a week left with her, and she has no idea what is about to hit her, and it’s all at our own hands, and it was all so random, so out of character.  I cry because my daughter so desperately wants to play with her puppies, and I cannot let her, despite the fact that she reaches out and joyfully screams for them.  I cry because today was my 30 birthday, and while I feared 30 would be horrible, I had no idea how horrible it would be.  Not only have I been trying to get through day to day without making a scene, I then have to deal with this.  I wake up next to my husband, no words.  I am dropped off at work, no words.  I greet him, and take him to work a few hours later, no words.  At 1:13 in the afternoon, I get a call, “I forgot to tell you something important this morning,” he says.  “I know,” I say, almost at the verge of tears, but I am at work, so I fight it off.  After some conversation these exact words come out of his mouth, “I didn't realize it was today until a little bit ago.”  My own husband.  The man I married.  I got a Happy Birthday from 1 friend, 1 parent, 1 sibling, and eventually 1 husband.  Because my year has not already been rough enough, I get to sit at home, forgotten by those who would be hurt should the same happen to them, with my dog who is on death row, my dog who is being punished for something he didn't do, and my daughter, who has no ideas about the cruel world she lives in.  So yes, I cry.  Yes, I was a bitch today.  No, I don’t care.  No, I don’t want anyone to make it up to me.  There is no making it up.  Just leave me alone at this point, and let me cry.

Six Months

Today you turned 6 months old.  Half a year.  The time has flown by.  I can’t believe how old and big you are getting on me, and so fast too.  It makes me a little sad that you are growing up so seemingly fast, but it is all part of life.

No matter where we go people love you.  You are usually smiling.  You seem to like old men the best.  You always flirt with them, and giggle and coo, and of course, flash your gorgeous smile.  We went to Chili’s last Monday because it was their annual St. Jude’s night.  We were there for almost 3 hours.  It was crowded, and noisy, but you were so good.  Good enough for some of the staff to come over and tell us how good you were, as if we don’t know!  We were with some of daddy’s work friends, and so they all got to see you, and a few got to love on you.  Not once did you get fussy.

Most days you are an easy baby.  I think it’s only when you don’t feel too well is when you’re really fussy, and even then, it’s not too bad.  We are such lucky parents.  You are such a joy to have around.  So far, you are good-natured, happy, go to bed (for the most part) on time, and without much fight, you try not to wake us up in the middle of the night, and you are always ready for cuddles!  We really couldn’t ask for better.

At day care you have made a friend, her name is Lilly.  She is about 3 or 4 weeks younger than you are, but you would never guess it for her size.  You two like to hang out on the floor and play with toys.  Her mom told me how you guys were playing a few weeks ago, and I didn’t get to see it until this week, and I must say, it is pretty sweet how you two are to each other.  One morning, we came in, and your teacher was already there, holding her, and you reached out and gave her a big wet kiss.  It almost brought tears to my eyes; it was such a beautiful moment.  Another day she came in right about when we did, you looked at her, took a hold of her dress, as if to say, “I love your outfit,” and you smiled at her.  You are getting such a personality.  We saw pictures last Friday of you two playing together, and you both had such big smiles on your faces.  I’m glad you’re able to make friends easily.  I love the fact that you are so loving and so caring already.

One of the downsides to this month was that we thought that you had some sort of bladder / urinary tract infection.  I will say right now, I am so sorry we had to put you through that.  We still don’t know what the problem is, but the way they test is horrible.  They had to put a needle into your bladder, and of course, they have your parent (only I was there) hold you down while they do it.  It was awful.  You cried, before, during, and even after when I was holding you, I almost cried right along with you, but I tried my hardest to stay strong.  It’s been almost a week, and I still feel bad that we put you through it, although I am thankful that nothing was wrong.

Today we signed a lease on a new (to us) house.  This one is bigger, and we won’t be living in fear that we may have to move on a whim because something went wrong.  You are getting the bigger room because we want you to have all the space you need for all the toys that you have.  Don’t worry though; I am sure your stuff will still be all over the house so that no matter where we are, you are entertained.  My biggest fear at this point is that the place has stairs, steep ones, and although you aren’t walking yet, they make me a little uneasy.  I’m going to be a nervous wreck anytime I walk on them with you.  I’m a nervous wreck walking on stairs alone.  Another concern I have is that the cat, Jack, will be in the house with us.  Since you were born, he has been living in the garage.  He likes it, the dogs can’t get him or his food, and that’s just the way it’s been.  This new house has no garage, and the storage addition to the house has no ventilation.  You are not a huge fan of Jack by any means, and I don’t think he is a huge fan of you either, so it should be interesting.  I hope that we won’t be dealing with tear-filled nights like tonight, every night.  Maybe you two can just leave each other alone.  I am super excited about finally getting to decorate your room the way it deserves to be decorated.  We have had a ton of stuff to put on the walls for your room since before you were born, but knew that where we are now, was not the place to put them.  This new place feels like home, even though we aren't living in it.  I cannot wait to personalize your living space, and show you how much we love you!

At this point in your life, we are starting to explore food.  So far, we've just experimented with cereal.  Most of it ends up your nose, so we have to work on that, but you really just want to help, and get in there.  You love to do things with your hands, period.  You love sitting in the bathtub splashing water, you love grabbing toys, you enjoy just making grabbing motions with your hands on various surfaces, and you get a little irritated when we try to help you hold your bottle, because you can do it!  I love your chubby little hands, and all that they are exploring.  You never stay in the same place for long, not even when you’re sleeping.  You are never in the same area we left you in the next morning.  

I love waking up to your face, even at 3 am, because I know that these moments where you need me, and you want me and only me, won’t last forever.  I love being your comfort.  I love the fact that you smile every morning when I come to see you, and most of the time if you are upset, and I come to get you, that makes everything better.  I love everything about you.  I am your world, and you are mine.  Occasionally I share you with dad too… but not too much.  

Love,

Momma

Sweet, or sickening?

I don't know if I just witnessed the sweetest, or the most disgusting thing ever. I had just put Quinn into her swing, and she spit up (a fair amount) all over her shoulder, and it was starting to run down her front. No burp cloth in sight, I had to go to the other room to grab one, and as I leave I hear the noise of a dog licking her. I yell at Landon to stop, come back to the room with burp cloth in hand, and dog and baby have bigger smiles than I have ever seen on either one of them... and no puke for me to clean up.

Ugh.

Four Months

Four months.  A third of a year.  My little growing Quinn.  You are starting to get SO BIG.  I notice it so much more now than I did in the first few months.  It makes me happy and sad at the same time.  Happy because I love watching you grow and develop into the fun little person that you are, but sad that you are starting to become more and more independent with every moment of every day.

I haven’t really been paying attention to the “milestones” you should be meeting.  I don’t want to be that crazy parent who is like, “YOU SHOULD BE COOKING FULL MEALS FOR YOURSELF RIGHT NOW, YOU’RE 4 MONTHS OLD!”  I just soak in what you do every day, and know that you are going forward and not backwards.  I’m not sure if that’s good or not.  You can’t detect it until you’re 14 months or later, but I worry about autism every day.  I don’t know why, you were born a perfect little baby, and we really haven’t had many issues thus far, I just worry that this good streak will end, and something will go wrong.  So just keep moving forward… and I think we will be good.

You love to grab things.  You may have loved it last month… but you really love it this month.  You always have things in your hands.  It doesn’t matter if you’re moving it around, or if it makes noise, you just want to hold on.  Sometimes, it’s to your disadvantage, like if you lose one thing in your hand, you go to your binky and you rip it out to hold you sometimes get upset, because you can’t quite figure out how to put it back in, but you’re getting there.  You have the motion right, just not the direction, so sometimes you just end up chewing on the handle.  One day last week, you were just sitting in my lap sucking on your binky and taking in the world around you.  I was topless since you had just spit up down my shirt, and into my bra (another thing you are awesome at) you took your binky out, looked over, and latched on and started eating.  This is something I will always remember and cherish, and will probably gross you out every time you hear the story, but I already know you are going to be a woman in charge someday.  You knew what you wanted, and you took it, all on your own.  No waiting for other people, just do it!  You also love to grab on to shirts, hair, and to thumbs.  You love to hold on to people’s thumbs and stand on their laps.  You love to use your little legs so much; I’m starting to think you may be running marathons before you ever learn to crawl.

Two weeks ago, we bought you an activity center where you sit in the middle, and the little seat turns around and there’s stuff to do all around you.  While you meet the age requirement, you are a petite one, and we’ve stuffed it with blankets, and put pillows underneath you, but I think it will be at least another month before you can even fit in it.  You are finally starting to chunk up to everyone’s relief.  You are a skinny little girl, and not in a sickly way, but somehow, everyone just expects babies to be chunky… and you are starting to get some rolls.

All in all, you are a pretty happy baby.  Only when you are really tired or your tummy hurts do you really cry.  Most of the times when you need something you just make noises (screams or just random shouts.)  It makes it easier to take care of you, and know when you are really hurting.  We had a tough few months in the beginning with all the crying, and not being able to figure out what’s going on, so I appreciate the break.

For whatever reason (and I am not complaining at all on this one) the car seat has become far less traumatic for you.  Instead of crying and throwing a fit 100% of the time, it’s only about 33% of the time, and it’s usually only when you are tightened in it.  I don’t know if you are realizing that you like the car, or you’ve just given up, because you realize that no matter if you’re crying or not, you’re not getting out of your car seat.  You still sleep on most of the car trips we take.  If you don’t, you rarely cry.  I don’t know if you get to see anything around you, but you seem to relax on car rides, and sometimes we can hear you chatting with yourself.  I hope you keep that, as you grow older.  Daddy has some vacation plans for you, and it would be awesome if you weren’t one of those bratty kids on car rides.  Haha.  You still insist on keeping your 2 am bedtime, but hey, at least it’s routine.  A few nights a week you will go to bed a little earlier at 1 am, and sometimes if I’m really lucky, you’ll even go to bed as early as midnight.  Baby steps though, you’re working on it.

Whenever we go out, everyone always compliments on what a beautiful baby you are.  I know, I see that precious little face every day.  Tell me something I don’t know people.  I may be a little biased though.  They also comment on how good you are.  You really are a pretty well behaved baby.  Your dad makes going out a little bit more dramatic than it needs to be sometimes, but overall you’ve never been a bad baby to have out and about.  You’ve had one melt down in Wal-Mart (who doesn’t want to when they walk into that store?) and it turned out you weren’t feeling well.  Only once has daddy had to take you out of a restaurant.  Even then, he didn’t need to, he just couldn’t get you out of your car seat fast enough to his liking, and so he literally ran out with you in the car seat, got you out, and came back in.  He’s silly like that.  All you wanted was to look around, and you were content once you were able to see over the table.

The highlight of this last month was a joy that I can’t even begin to describe accurately.  It was about 11:30 at night, and you and I were sitting on the bed while daddy was getting ready for work.  Landon and Lucy (our dogs) were running around the house being themselves.  Sometimes when he gets ready for work, your dad will play with the dogs, and this was one of those nights.  When your dad had stopped playing, Landon decided that he wasn’t done.  He picked up his toy, and began shaking it with his head ferociously, and throwing it up into the air.  You thought this was the funniest thing, and we heard you laugh for the very first time.  Landon caught it too, because he kept doing things to make you laugh, and it went on for about 5 minutes.  It was such a magical moment; you have such a sweet, precious little laugh.  Daddy loved hearing it so much, he was almost late for work that night, and bragged about your laughter to his co-workers.  Sadly, you’ve only laughed one more time since then, and it was caused by the same events.  Daddy and I have been trying in vain to get you to laugh at us, to no avail.  It will come someday I’m sure, and someday, we will forget to enjoy your laughter as much as we did on that day, because we will hear it so often, but I will never forget that moment that we all three got to share, and neither will daddy.

Today also marks the day, one year ago, that I found out I was pregnant with you.  I thought I was full of joy and love for you then, but little did I know what was to come.  I love you more and more every day.  Sometimes I feel like my heart may explode when I look at you.  You are so amazing, and I am so glad I had a part in creating you, and that I can call you my daughter.

I love you,

Momma

Jason is home...

More Dog Videos

Because I know everyone loves them. :)

This is how Landon and Kaylie play almost every day. She's so stinkin' cute. I love her, and I think Landon may have a crush too. ;)

You can see off to the right that Lucy tries to join in on the fun, but she pretty much doesn't really get it, and goes off to do her own thing.

So far away...

So Jason was stumbling around the internet and found something where a kid went away for a while and after 5 months the mother let the dog Skype with the kid, and then took a picture of this after the entire thing was over:

So guess what we got to do tonight. After a month of not seeing his wife and dogs, my husband decided that he needed to Skype with his dogs because he missed his babies so much. (Thanks Jason...) Lucy played shy, and Landon was pretty determined to figure out what the heck was going on. At one point he almost knocked my laptop off my lap to try and get the squeaky toy out of it, that Jason was obnoxiously squeaking. It was really cute, however, they could only hear Jason as he has no webcam, but I think he enjoyed getting to see his dogs.

Why the move?

Well, a few different reasons. First of all, not being able to host a website from the comfort of your own server can get costly. You also have to pay for domain names, etc. So, since I have been a bad blogger, I figure it can't hurt to host it on a free site, especially one as super as Google. Another nice feature that this new blog will provide is that off to the right, there is a spot where you can put in your email, and when this is updated (which I hope will be more) you will be notified instead of having to check back on a regular basis to see if we have magically lost "the lazy."

On to the move! We made it, well I made it, and Jason went back to Arizona. It's been about a month now since we've seen each other. I still don't have a job, and honestly only one true prospect, which I am kind of losing hope on. Being that Bartlesville isn't the biggest place in the world, there aren't that many jobs out there. I had an interview on Monday that lasted almost 2 hours. Yikes! They told me that they would call me for a second interview, but they still had another person to interview, but they should know by the end of the week. Being that the other interview was Tuesday, and Wednesday went by without a word, I'm not holding my breath. I think I have to bite the bullet, and start to look at retail jobs. It's not that I think retail is below me, but #1 I am just not a big fan of it, and #2 I've been having more and more problems with my foot. I'm not on it much as it is (because I pretty much sit on my ass all day, and do nothing) but when I am on it, even for only an hour or two, it kills me. Being that most retail jobs keep you on your feet the entire time, I'm worried about making it worse, and also, being in pain all day, which would be miserable.

The dogs have adjusted well. They love their backyard, and run in it constantly. They are slowly adapting to all the people that are around, and the fact that they don't want to hurt them. I'm slowly getting them to stop barking at every little thing, which believe me, has been a chore in itself. Landon has always liked Lawrence, but Lucy who is pretty much scared of everyone has really warmed up to him, she even dances when he comes over, so that is a massive improvement for her. The cats are aloof, and Damien is being more of a pain in the ass than he has ever been. I don't know if he's just more noticeable, or he misses Jason or something, but he is driving me crazy! Every time I turn around, he's on the table or the counter, and knocking something off. Every morning I walk into the living room / dinning room and there is a whole new pile of whatever he's knocked off high places from the night before.

In my spare time, I've been knitting, and watching a lot of Netflix. So far I've watched the first 2 seasons of Damages, and 60 episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and a slew of bad horror movies. I'm getting really bored, but I am still a home-body. Somethings will never change. :) As for the knitting, I knit a little Android for Jason, and I am currently working on an octopus for a friend's little girl. Knitting the same thing 8 times (the legs) gets pretty tedious.

That's all I have the energy for, for now.

These guys, they crack me up.

Just A Dog

I stumbled this today, and it rings true.  :)

 

Just a Dog
From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a dog," or, "that's a lot of money for just a dog." They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a dog."

Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a dog." Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a dog," but I did not once feel slighted.

Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by "just a dog," and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a dog" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.

If you, too, think it's "just a dog," then you will probably understand phases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise." "Just a dog" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. "Just a dog" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person.

Because of "just a dog" I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a dog" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.

"Just a dog" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.

I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a dog" but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being "just a human."

So the next time you hear the phrase "just a dog." just smile, because they "just don't understand."

Awesome.

Today, minus how I physically felt, I felt awesome. Several people came to me for advice, and some I felt like I may have given some worthwhile insight to on some things, which for me is rare.

I got a haircut, which at the moment I think is cute and ready for summer, but I do kind of want to lighten it a bit before I think I will be completely satisfied.

The animals have all flocked to me tonight, for whatever reason, and are all being extremely cuddly, which I love, but is rare for me to get out of them.  I have actually had to push them away at points because it got to the point of overwhelming.  C'mon guys, I am here all the time, spread it out a bit.

And lastly, I am going to bed motivated and ready to take on any challenges that I may face tomorrow. For the first time in a long time I am excited to see what the future has in store for me.  Lets just hope I wake up like this tomorrow.

An epic of epic proportions (but not.)

So I started to write a post, but then I went back to the website to see where I had left off last time, and then I got distracted trying to add a date to all post (which I have done, success!) but now, it is 9:45, and I don’t have enough time to write out everything I had to say.  So, in regular TV fashion:

Coming up on the next episode of Jason and Amanda’s epic saga:

• Anniversary


• Blizzcon 2010 / California


• Sleep Study Results


• Phone


• Landon’s Surgery


• Brewfest 2010


• Work Drama (for both of us)

Until next time (which is hopefully soon, since I have a crappy memory…)

P.S.  Enjoy the date which is now at the bottom of every post, it took me about 13 minutes to learn how to code that correctly and not break the page.  :D

Broken, broken, broken.

Sometimes I feel like I am a disaster… or a disaster maker.  Everything around me seems to be breaking lately… or just… bad things are happening, and it is driving me insane!

#1 – My phone hasn’t been working correctly for a few months.  This sucks for several reasons.  First, we’ve had to take it a Sprint repair center numerous times.  This is pretty much a hassle because you can’t just take it to a Sprint store, which happens to be across the street from us… we have to drive about seven miles to a Sprint Service center, drop it off, and leave it for an hour or more, and then drive back there.  This also sucks because they reset it, and while they back up your contacts, as does Google, they don’t back up any of your customization, which takes an hour or so to re-download everything and get it set up to almost how you had it set up before (because I always manage to miss something.)  They have replaced the battery, and this last, and final time, they told me that the software was broken.  Now, I have to wait until Tuesday to get a new refurbished phone.   I have had my phone almost 9 months, and I really hope that these issues don’t reappear on the other phone.  Grrr.

#2 – We took Landon in to see a specialist yesterday.  There’s good news and bad news.  The good news is that it may not be his hip that needs to be replaced.  The good/bad news is that it may just be his knee, which also would need surgery, but it’s only about half the cost.  The bad news is that while knee surgery may help it, it may NOT be the final surgery he would have to have, but in order for them to do hip surgery, he would need to have knee surgery anyway, due to the dynamics of him only being on three legs.  Unfortunately, down time for him would be about 6 weeks, of him not only being severely restricted in activity, but he will have to be toted around in a sling for an undetermined amount of time in that period.  I would love to have his surgery next week… but we are going out of town in October and I’d hate to leave that burden on anyone, much less my mother who will be taking care of the dogs while we are gone... and I am sure he will make it challenging for anyone who tries to get in his way, including us.  He is one of the most stubborn dogs I have ever met!

I’m sure there is more to complain about… but those were the two important things.  Tomorrow, I am going to see a sleep specialist to find out why I can’t sleep.  I’m semi-excited, but also semi-nervous because I really don’t want to be hooked up to a CPAP machine for the rest of my life.  :(  Wish me luck!

Reasons why I loathe thee.

Basically, it isn't any new fact that Jason and I hate our house, and everything around it, including our neighbors, here is why:

I will start you off with this lovely diagram.  Each square represents a house and a front/back yard.  Our houses are not literally wall-to-wall on all sides.  We have a back yard, which backs up to our back-neighbors back yard, and a side yard that is next to another neighbor and so on.

8	7	6	5
1	2	3	4

1)  We hate you, because recently, despite the lovely No Trespassing sign that we had posted (until it "mysteriously" broke) your wretched children-beasts come on to our property.  Not only that, which already upsets our dogs enough to make them go crazy... you then start waving things, such as sticks, in front of their angry little faces.  When we open the door to find out why there is such a ruckus, you run off, because obviously, you know you've done something wrong.  Last time, we caught you, you little bastards.  Jason was kind enough to hop our fence, and walk over to your house STEAMING mad.  I'm pretty sure if cartoons got the idea of an angry person blowing steam out of their ears, it was from Jason, at that point in time.  (Yes, I am saying that cartoonists traveled forward in time to figure out that's what a REALLY mad person looks like.)  He spoke to your parents, who were probably the same level of pissed off as our dogs, but nowhere near Jason.  I don't think it has resolved the issue completely, but it has lessened it a bit.

2)  Ah, the neighbors directly to the west of us.  Thanks for owning a dog.  A dog that never goes inside.  Not in 120° heat, and not in the rain.  I really do feel bad for your dog, and it really is no wonder he barks at every gust of wind.  I just wish you would get rid of him.  It make us feel like assholes if we should happen to get home late, or want to do something in our yard early in the morning when its cooler, because YOUR dog won't shut his yap because YOU won't let him in the house.  Also, thanks for providing him with that kiddie pool in the backyard that it is clear he never uses, and is also a lovely breeding ground for your other pets, mosquitoes, they sure do love that green, algae ridden standing water.  They also love us, and imagine how joyfully surprised we were when we found out the source of them.

3) That's us.  We just hate the house.  We can't really hate ourselves, although we do kick ourselves every now and then for buying this dump.

4) Ah, the overly loud obnoxious neighbor to the east of us.  Did you know that her father's birthday was on our wedding date, and that means that he not only approves of our marriage, but also that we are living in his house?  SO GREAT TO HEAR!  Ugh.  Not only that, she really is LOUD and OBNOXIOUS.  Like, to the point where we are in our house, and if she is talking to someone outside, we can clearly hear her... and so can the rest of the neighborhood.  We avoid her at all costs, but sometimes resistance is futile... because the nervous glance in her direction and then away... just won't work.

5) I don't think we have a problem with you... you just happened to get grouped in with the rest, just like poor ol' #8.

6) You know, when we discussed paying HALF to get our fence fixed because your 3-90 pound dogs continually jumped on it, we were serious?  We didn't mean for you to fix your front yard, put your dogs there, and then buy five 6-month old puppies and put them in the back instead.  We still can't use our backyard, because the new dogs also jump on the fence, pushing it more and more over.  I'm glad you got your front yard fixed though.  I'm also glad that before you moved your bigger dogs, one actually climbed OVER our fence, destroyed my above ground garden, you walked into our yard, got your dog, and didn't even bother to tell us until we confronted you about it.  Oh yeah, and thanks for all the dead birds you keep throwing in our yard too.  That's always nice to walk into.

7) You have the loudest, most yippi-yappiest dog I have ever heard.  You must be related to #2 because you NEVER let your dog inside, and at 2 am, or 11 pm it doesn't really matter the time "yipyipyipyip" is all we ever hear.  I wan't to do a special covert operation over the corner of your fence, and shoot it... and I am not an advocate for killing animals... but yours needs to go.

8) Sorry you got stuck in here with the rest of the idiots.  I like your 2 black dogs.  They are very well behaved, and quiet.  I enjoy driving by them when they are outside every now and then because they always looks like they are in anticipation of you being home and being a super owner who actually gives a shit about their dogs.

I can't wait until we have enough equity to get the hell out of this place, or we win the lottery.  Freedom!

Happy Birthday Lucy Bob!

Why yes, yes I am one of those crazy people who celebrate their dog’s birthday, with a beef and bacon cupcake!  I can remember when I first picked up Lucy, in Tucson, and Jason wanted NOTHING to do with her (because he hadn’t seen her yet) and now he can’t spend a day without her.  I can’t believe she is 3; she is growing up so fast.  *sniffle*

<3 the Lucy Bob

P.S.  I will be working on this theme over the next week or so, so don't worry, you won't be blinded by this hideous bright green forever.  :)