Catching up!!!

I am going to try and catch up on the last few months. I know I've been a bad blogger and to the 2 people that read it, I am sorry. ;O) Anyway, lets begin with my Moosey girl. We travelled to TN for Christmas and my poor girl couldn't pee. Jason and I both noticed that she was wanting to go outside every 5 minutes. Honestly, that is nothing new. Our lab is a little psychotic. She gets stress UTI's every time we travel pretty much. This time was very different though. She was going outside and trying to pee but she would squat 10-15 times in one outing. It took me a while to realize that just because she was squatting, didn't mean she was actually peeing. I noticed that she would dribble just a little bit at first and then no matter how many times she squatted, nothing was coming out. SOOOOO, the next morning I told Jason we had to take her to the vet, something was very wrong. I was afraid of her bladder rupturing more than anything by this point. We packed up the van and took our little Moose to the ER Vet. $400.00 later we found out that she had MULTIPLE bladder stones that were blocking her urethra. In the process of taking the x-rays we found out that our 5 year old little girl has VERY advanced hip displasia. Broke my heart when I looked at the x-rays. I cried like a baby. Anyway, we came home, paid for a second opinion and then called around for the best and financially responsible surgeon. $800.00 later, my little girl is peeing like a champ. Here are some pics of the surgical incision.



Here's how my girl normally spends her days.....not rotten or anything!




Yep, that's my girl!!! She is such a good dog with AJ. I came out of the shower the other day to catch AJ sitting on her back yelling at her to "giddy up!" Of course he was ordered OFF the dog and I had to explain that she may be as big as a horse but she really wasn't. She just laid there and took the abuse! What a good girl. Yes, all 75lbs of her sleeps in the bed with me. She will sleep all day on the weekends just to be with me. She tucks her bum right up against mine and we sleep like babies. If I'm sick, she's right by my side. She even cuddles in my lap while we're watching TV. She is my baby girl. And with a third man soon to be in my house, I need all the girly support I can get!

New Addition..........

For those of you that read the blog, just wanted to give you an update.

Jason and I are expecting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just found out a few days ago. We are very excited. Jason breaks out in a cold sweat just thinking about having a little girl and AJ keeps saying he wants a baby sister. I'd go for a girl this time but there's less of a learning curve if we have another boy! LOL I'm good either way! We just ask that you keep us all in your prayers if you will. We give all the praise to our Heavenly Father for allowing us this opportunity.

Love you guys!!!

First Snow Day Jan 19, 09

I woke up this afternoon to a wonderful suprise. SNOW!!! Jason woke me up at 3 pm, like I asked him to, and I was very reluctant to get out of bed. Night shift does a number on your sleep pattern. AJ ran up and kissed me "good morning/afternoon" and I finally wriggled my way out of the covers. It was beautiful. Not much snow but it's about an inch. Enough to cover the ground and make things look beautiful. We all dressed up in our snow clothes and out we went. Poor AJ looks like the Michellin Man!! I dressed AJ up in the same snow suit when we had snow last year. It was so big on him then, if he fell over I had to grab the back of it to pull him up! LOL. This year it fits much better. He just looked so cute!!! Took him a minute to get used to the snow/cold but once he figured it out, it was ON!

AJ making his first Snow Angel:


Daddy taught him how to make a snow ball. After that, it was ON!!! We threw snowballs the entire time we were outside. We even snuck up on daddy while he was shoveling the sidewalk to bombard him with snowballs. In order for me to get AJ back inside I had to tell him "Two more snowballs then we're done!" After our last two snowballs, he ran back, threw one more at daddy then said "OK mommy, all done" It as GREAT!!!


I love this picture.


AJ left these tracks with his boots! He couldn't even lift his feet up all the way out of the snow and it was only an ince deep! I go a wee bit overboard on keeping him warm. I need to do something about the gloves though. Maybe tuck his shirt into them next time. These snow gloves kept his hands warm but snow got on his wrists.


AJ loving life!! Even after we went inside, he kept running over and flipping the blinds up to make sure the snow was still there. Can't wait until we get enough to make a snowman!


AJ went down the slide. It had a little bit of ice under the snow. AJ flew down the slide. Jason even tried it. I thought he was going to break himself the way he hit the ground! It was great.


AJ and daddy in full attack mode!


My little snow angel waiting for his hot/warm chocolate. He liked that. I had to convince him the Hot Chocolate wasn't hot, but once I convinced him I wasn't going to scorch his taste buds he finally tried it. "I like it" was his response.


He was worn out after all this. I was upstairs doing my exercises when Jason came up and told me AJ had fallen asleep. When I came downstairs, I found AJ sitting on the couch in a sitting position, sound asleep. It was precious.

Hopefully I'll get the holiday pics up here soon. I'm running out of room on the camera!!

First Christmas Train

Preface:
We put up all of our Christmas decorations up prior to Thanksgiving this year. The in-laws were up for Thanksgiving and my brother and sister-in-law were transfered back over to Germany the Sunday after Thanksgiving so we had Christmas early with them. While shopping for a new tree (ours was >12 years old and split right in half last year) we found one that had a train going around it. AJ fell in love with it. We had to have a choo-choo going around the tree. He loves his Thomas trains and tracks but we had to have on that went around the tree. AJ and I went to his Gym class this Wednesday and then went shopping at Big Lot's for some Christmas shopping. AJ was constantly talking about getting the train. I explained to him that "Daddy wanted to buy the train track with him and if we bought it without him it would hurt daddy's feelings." For the rest of the day he would say "want the train track but don't wanna hurt daddy's feelings." This went on A.L.L. day. Finally Jason gets home from work around 5:30pm and AJ was sound asleep on the couch. I was telling Jason how AJ was all day and he said that he would go ahead and get it that night. AJ woke up and I told him daddy was home. AJ sat straight up on the couch and exclaimed "TIME TO GET THE TRAIN TRACK!!!" Jason took AJ to Lowes and the beloved train track was purchased. I was cleaning the house when AJ comes barreling through the front door, runs into the kitchen looks at me and yells..."MOMMY, DADDY GOT THE TRAIN TRACK!!!" He was so excited it brought tears to my eyes. So that night daddy put the train track up for AJ. He was ecstatic. Well, then I had this train track and a hole in the middle of it. We decided to go ahead and put the tree up Wed. night and put the decorations up Thursday morning.

watching the train go round and round with his daddy.


This child was so excited.


Daddy and his buddy.


Chooo-Choooo


First year AJ helped to decorate the tree.


AJ hanging the Christmas balls.


He loved when Daddy would hold him up high.


Fixing the train track around the tree.


Mommy and her monster.




My two guys after a long night of tree decorating and train playing:




These two guys are my heart and soul. I love them both so so much. Some of my favorite times are watching the two of them together. Right now Daddy is AJ's buddy. He waits for him when he comes home from work and gets so excited. As soon as Jason comes in the front door they are running around the house. One of my favorite times during the day is when Jason first gets home. I'm cooking, trying to get dinner on the table, the dog is barking and AJ and Jason are running around the house. AJ's so excited because Daddy's home. The way the house is set up they run around in circles. They're both yelling, AJ is squeeling. That's the sound of a happy family. Those are some of the memories I will keep with me forever.

Kitchen renovations

Just wanted to post the hard work Jason and I both did for the kitchen. When we first bought the house, the kitchen didn't even have the island there. It's taken some time but the kitchen was painted, curtains put up, island put in, and my multi talented husband *with my help* did all of the tile work himself. I helped with the grout. This is the first time Jason has ever done tile and it looks professional. I was so proud of him. The next room we will be working on is the family room. Jason is going to build a fireplace mantel and we are going to paint the room. We're hoping that gets started after the New Year.

Here's a before pic of the kitchen without the tile. This was AJ's 2nd birthday. The island was already in but the tile wasn't started.

Settings....

I think I have successfully fixed the comment security setting. I believe you can now leave comments on my blog. Sorry about that. I've had so many people write me actual e-mails. Now you don't have to do that. Let me know if you keep having trouble. Thanks!!

Halloween '08

We had a great time this Halloween. Last year AJ was old enough to start grasping the concept of A) ring doorbell B) get candy.... This year AJ grasped the concept of A)go to as many houses as you possibly can to get as much candy as he possibly could. He was so excited. We spent most of October getting him used to the idea of "funny" monsters. Anyone that knows me knows that books are very popular at this house. Between GG and I, I think AJ had about 4-5 Halloween books. I also had a music CD that plays the Monster Mash and Dem Bones ect. AJ can sing every one of em. I want AJ to understand that Halloween is about dressing up and having a good time. I don't want a skittish little boy. Anyway, AJ is a trooper. He will shake the "monster's" hands in the store and tell them, "it's not scarey, it's funny" Even when he was looking to me for assurance, I would laugh and say, "they're so funny" He really did great this year. He's just scared enough to be cautious, yet he's not a screaming mimi either.
We bought his costume weeks in advance because I didn't want to be looking around at the last minute. He had already gotten a sword from Busch Gardens when GG, AJ and I took our vacation in August. I figured a "Knight" costume would be perfect. He was so cute!!! I just kind of threw a vampire costume together and AJ loved all of the scary masks at Wal-mart. He picked out Jason's scary mask and I can't believe I didn't take any pics of it. The only one in our house that did not like the mask was Moose. She hated it and subsequently tried to eat anyone that wore it around her. At least I know she's a good attack dog.

Mommy's vampire costume


This picture was taken at the gym parade but it shows his helmet.


AJ's knight Costume. Yes we did pull him around in his wagon. The walkways and driveways in the neighborhood are L.O.N.G.

The night of Halloween, my awesome husband whipped up a pot of chili and we had some of our friends over around 6 pm for fun and food. We left the house around 7 pm for Trick-or-Treat.

Bobby, Myself, Jennifer with her youngest Andrew


Bobby and Chase Man


Jennifer and her youngest Andrew


All the kiddos

Mike and Jennifer came over with their two boys Ryan and Andrew, Bobbie and Adam came over with Chase Man and Regie came over with Leah and Solomon. Regie came right at 7 pm and we didn't get to visit as much as we would have liked to but he had workers come to the house right at 6:30 pm. Amanda, Jason and their monster Landon could't make it. Landon apparently was givin his mama a fit that night. She did manage, however, to make the best crock-pot of hot apple cider we've ever had.


My Cape, Jason actually took this picture. I'm glad he did because it shows the silver on it. It was a spider web pattern.


AJ ringing another door bell. Note the Apple Cider in my hand. Perfect for a cold night and Oh So Delish


AJ Grinning like a possum


The Loot!!!

It was a good night and a good time had by all. We even went and visited with Mike and Jen after the festivities. We're so blessed to have so many friends here. I'm so thankful that AJ is going to have so many friends to grow up with.