All things canine

Geez, can't anything just go smooth and easy as planned?

Um, NOPE.

Ok, well our current standing regarding our dogs...

Rio: 
How many puppies is she carrying?  Drumroll please.....

1

maybe 2

What?

Honestly, I was thinking I'd shoot for 3.  Nice low number, then I'd be pleasantly suprised if there were more.

Never did I think that we'd end up less than that.

They don't know why this is happening, as a female of their breed should typically carry 6-9 pups.

Whatever, can't change it.

Moving on.

Boone: 

He's been a little "off" for about 2 months.  Pretty lazy, lethargic even.  Weak stomach, throwing up

frequently after eating his food.  Doesn't want to hunt more than an hour or two (really weird!).

Yesterday, we took him to the vet to get him checked out.

After lots of exams, and x-rays, and blood work, (and $$$) they think they've figured it out.

Addison's Disease

Basically it's an adrenal insufficiency.  His cortisol level is really low, but currently his electrolytes are remaining stable.  He's still at the vet right now getting a cortisol stimulation test, which will tell us what type

of Addison's he has.  Currently, the treatment would be prednisone, probably lifelong. 

This is not a great diagnosis, however, it is substantially better than what we initially thought.

Anyway, I have lots of other little here and there's I'd like to post on, but that will have to wait for another day.  I do have a few cute pics to share from Saturday, but for some reason it's not letting me upload photos.
I'll try again later!

Thankful

I have many things to be thankful for.

The last two days I enjoyed spending time with family and being grateful for all the blessings in my life.

We had brunch Thursday morning with Ryan's family and then headed to my Dad's to spend the evening with him and my sister.
Good company, good food, love.... what else is there?!

What am I most thankful for?

My family: Ryan, my love, my best friend.  Lila, my first born, my independant woman-in-the-making.  Elaina, my little snuggle-bug, my sweet baby.

My parents, my sister, my in-laws, extended family in all areas, I love you and am thankful for you!
(Also, a Happy Thanksgiving Day Birthday to my Stepdad, Alan, and nephew Brady!)

My friends: I'm blessed to be friends with some amazing women (and men too) and thank you for everything you are to me!

My home, my job, my health... the list could go on and on, this makes me feel wonderful!

Blessings to everyone and thank you for keeping up with our family!

I'm thankful for YOU too!

Mmmm, I love them!

Really, I do!

Boogers beware

A monster is loose!

ME!

I am the Booger killer!

My husband believes I love torturing my children.

The truth is that I hate boogers.

I realize, hate, is a strong word, but it's the only appropriate word for this situation.

Seriously.

I hate them.

Both the girls have runny noses right now and it makes me crazy.

Lila has become quite accustomed to me picking, swiping and helping her blow her nose.

Yesterday, she actually came over to me with her head up and said "Mommy, boogies."

And I got them!

Elaina, on the other hand, pretty much wigs out anytime you come anywhere near her nose.

This is a problem, you see, because she has very little nostrils,

and even the smallest of boogers can plug her up.

The poor thing sounds like a snorty pig at night.

I understand that kids are messy, and I can handle dirt and most of the other stuff

kids manage to get on their hands and faces....

but boogers...

Nope, Never.

I will hate them forever.

I heart Kleenex!

Friday fun

My sister came down today for a lovely visit.

I love when she visits!

She helped me clean my house.

Do I need more of a reason to love her company?

I have more.

Lots more!

She's funny.  She's lets me wear my hideous sweats and doesn't mind. (too much).
She loves movie/TV quotes as much as I do.  She eats chips and salsa with me.
Lila LOVES playing with Auntie.  She loves my girls.  I mean, REALLY loves them.  

It's the best!

Alex, please come to visit Anytime!  I love you!

Today I started getting out my Christmas decorations!

YEAH!

Don't judge me.

It will take me almost to Christmas to figure out where exactly I want everything, then it will be time to take them down.
I don't care.  I love it!
Especially the darling Little People nativity that Lila loves playing with.
Ellie too (actually she just liked chewing on the baby Jesus).

The day could only be made better if the hubs was home.

He's off again playing with the boys.

Ryan, the Pheasant Slayer shall return Sunday night.

I'm off to bed, hopefully the girls give me a repeat of last night and sleep until 7am!

Dancing at the Movies - Music Video

This is just too fun! Wish I wasn't at work, so I could get up and shake it! mmmm, maybe I will anyway! ;)

Snow and stuff

I'm not sure how everyone else feels about it, 

but I LOVE IT!

Waking up to the snow Saturday morning was wonderful!

You see, 

I love the holiday season!!!

And this, well, it just makes it feel that much closer!

I'm almost squealing like a little girl right now.!

Seriously!

I do wish we would've gotten our Christmas lights up already, but have you no fear...

they WILL appear!

(as soon as the hubby can get up on the roof!)

Saturday morning, our dear neighbor Lisa watched the girls for a short bit so I could go and snap 

pictures of Ryan and the pups doing what they love to do! 

Pheasant hunting is supposed to be the best in the first snow, or so I'm told. 

This however, did not turn out nearly as I had hoped.

Probably because that snow I mentioned loving earlier...

was blowing and gusting so hard in the field, that I had to walk backwards quite a bit! Ha!

I still managed to get a few I liked.

Nothing prize worthy, but memories for Ryan and I regardless!

Boone is smiling!

Rio pointing a bird (what you can't see, is Boone is UNDER the snow! no joke!)

getting some love from Daddy!

The rest of the day was spent shoveling, cleaning carpets, and attempting to clean our house. Fun right?

Lila helping Daddy shovel!

Whoops!  Tipped the shovel a little too high! Haha!

Sunday was pancakes, paper, and coffee... some other boring stuff

and then...  drum roll please.....

WE went to see SANTA!!

Oh, so much fun!

Of course, Ellie cried right away and Lila was stuck like glue to my leg, 

but Santa is a patient man and we managed to get a few pics with everybody smiling!

They even got toothbrushes as a present.

What?

No chocolates, or candy canes?

Nope.

A toothbrush.

uh, ok.

Anyway, the whole way home, Lila kept saying "Santa tonight" (ie. we saw Santa tonight) and 

"Santa Nice!".  So cute!

We have now spent our day playing ponies, folding laundry, and baking a fresh apple crisp!  Most of that was done with Ellie in my arms or in the carrier, interspersed with changing a dozen poopy diapers. (Gotta love teething). Lila just went down for a nap, which of course means, Elaina is just waking up. Oh well, I intend to sit and snuggle them both as much as possible today, since it's back to work tonight for 3 nights.  Oh how I miss them when I'm gone.

Happy Monday!

Helping mommy peel/slice apples!  I LOVE that gadget!

Quality control before going in the oven

Snuggle with the dogs while it's baking!

The delicious end result!!! YUM!

Chatty

Just a cute video of the munchkin!

(I don't know why she's nodding her head like that?  Just being a typical weirdo!)

Veteran's Day

I'm a very proud wife and daughter of patriotic men.

I feel so blessed to have men and women out there who CHOOSE to help us lead better lives.

I'm not going to ramble, I just thought it very important to Thank all the soldiers.
(yes, I know I'm a day late, but it makes this no less important)

So, THANK YOU!
From the bottom of my heart.

 

James Otto sings a wonderful song that gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wVEfN_0tVg

Take a listen.
It's wonderful.

Here are the lyrics...
Grand-daddy came home in a B-52
In a pine box covered in red, white and blue
He was one of the brave and the proud and the few

Twenty-one guns helped us say goodbye
I stood there in silence tryin' hard not to cry
As the preacher, he quoted, lines written in red
And then he folded his bible and in a broken voice, he said

There's only two people who's every died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell, beared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell

They never picked the fight, but they're there
To pick up the pieces

God only knows who we'd be without soldiers and Jesus

It seems like the news loves to run 'em both down
But whenever we need 'em, they're always around
So don't hand me a party's political views
'Cause they're a left side, a right side, and then there's the truth

There's only two people who's every died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell, beared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell

They never picked the fight, but they're there
To pick up the pieces
God only knows who we'd be without soldiers and Jesus

To me, they're both heroes for the path that they chose
'Cause one fights for my life, one fights for my soul

There's only two people who's every died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell, beared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell

They never picked the fight, but they're there
To pick up the pieces

God only knows where we'd be without soldiers and Jesus
Soldiers and Jesus

These are some photos Ryan took years ago when he was on active duty at Andrew's Air Force Base.

Boone and Rio

As much as I complain about my dogs (and yes, I know I do it A LOT), 

I really do love them.

I love them, A LOT!

Boone is my boy.

My handsome, handsome boy.

He has plenty of quirks, but he was our "original" baby.

I.  Love.  Him.

Rio is our spaz.

Patient, sweet, snuggly.

She whines and wiggles to no end, but she's great.

(and pregnant again, did I mention that?)

I. Love. Her.

We were out playing in the yard last night, so I shot a few photos.

Then again today as the girls were playing with Rio.

Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday!

Ready...

Set....

Go!  (and I love that the ball is actually going Backwards!) Ha!

Rio in all her patient glory!  Being sat on while having her ears pulled!

Lila-isms

Our oldest daughter is really starting to suprise us on a daily basis with her vocabulary.

She throws out something new every day!

Most days it makes me proud and happy, even a touch sad at the babyhood getting more and more distant...

     "Daddy fly away" - in reference to Ryan's trip to California

     "Bye mommy, love you" - as I get ready to go to work

      I point out the moon to her one evening driving home and she says,  "WOW,  that's special mama!"

"Too hot mama"- whenever the sun is in her face in the car

(she will then usually cover up her face with a blankee when we have it with!)

      She does a pretty decent rendition of ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, and You are my Sunshine.

      She knows all of our family "names" (daddy=Ryan, mommy=Ana, sister=Elaina) and can kinda say our last name, although it comes out sounding a little like a swear word...

Then there are the occasional moments that put a big, no, make that HUGE, mirror in front of my face in regards to my own language.  Such as the past few days whenever the dogs start barking, we now hear our eldest say 

"SHUT UP RIO".  

Nice.

Okay, so my PRE-New Year's Resolution.... watch what you say, you officially have a sponge in the house.

My Little Pony

I was a My Little Pony girl.

I had it all, oodles of Ponies, the Castle, the Nursery, the Dance Studio

complete with all the little accessories.

They were my first true love.

Then my little sister took the majority of my friends into the bathtub with her

and they got moldy, nasty, and gross to the point they ended up in the trash.

Tear :(

Now I have a little girl

She happens to like ponies.

I decided I would let her play with the few I salvaged and see if she liked them.

We have spent a large part of every day since then, playing My Little Pony!

She's a girl after my heart!

(Not that she didn't already own it completely!)

This is the face I get when I tell her it's time to pick up and put Ponies away...

"Don't want to"

Sweetness

Today I picked up the girls from daycare and got the news that Lila " had a rough morning".

Oh crap.

What does that mean?

Well, basically there were lots of "no's", "don't want to's" and pouting, complete with tantrums!

Lovely.

This is my third night with the girls all by myself.

This is not what I wanted to hear.

However, with only one minor "reset" moment, the evening went fairly smooth.

Lila was a pretty good girl and Elaina wasn't overly freaked out every time I stepped away for a second.

I actually got some laundry folded (in the same room) while Lila sat in the rocker and "read" to Ellie!

It was just pure sweetness cuddled up in that chair!

Sweet from head to toe!

So sweet it makes my heart hurt!

These are moments I want to carry with me forever!

Sweet!

Hello November!

I feel that I must make the obligatory Halloween post, but I must confess something...

I did not take very many pictures...

GASP!

What?

How dare I?

Well, I spent the evening attempting to get the girls to nap at my mom's.

Then... I have 2 under 2.

And one of them moves.

A LOT!

Plus, by the time we got to head out for Trick or Treating, it was quite dark out and nothing quite turned out. 

So I decided to give up on the camera, and just enjoy watching my little devil take it all in!

Lila actually did quite well and got the hang of it quick!

She was VERY good at saying "Thank you" to everyone and only got scared once

(by a tiny Yorkie no less... ?)

Lots of people commented on how cute her little "brother" was...

sigh...

apparently unless a small child is dressed in pink ruffles, it must be a boy.

Never mind the darling snuggly bear I was carrying had pink bows with rhinestones.

Whatever.

Anyway, all in all, we had a good night.  I was looking back at last years post  and can't believe how much has changed!  I look forward to next year when both girls can enjoy it a little more!

Elaina is our snuggle-bear!

Lila our little Devil!

photographers, please don't judge on the auto settings and flash.

I threw in a few "Halloween-y" pictures from the past few days.

I love her little pumpkin butt!

Lila and her kitty mask she made at daycare!