Quotes of the Week

Pick your words wisely :)


Hannah:  I'm going to wear that PJ top to school
Mommy: That's not a PJ top, that's a plain pink shirt
After the shirt is on
Hannah:  I can't see the plane.  Is it on the back?
Mommy:  oh, no.  there isn't a plane.  It's just a pretty pink shirt


Daddy's car broke down


Hannah:  PopPop didn't have a hammer
Mommy:  What did PopPop need a hammer for
Hannah:  To fix Daddy's car.  Now it has to go to the store


Pregnancy 101


Mommy:  You and Addie came out of Mommy's belly
Hannah:  Who's belly did Bailey come from?
Mommy: Bailey came from a mommy dog's belly
Hannah:  When I get older, Daddy's gonna come out of my belly


And the AWWW moment of the week


I was vacuuming, which scares Addie.  Normally I hold her while I'm vacuuming, but I was only doing it quickly to pick up a spill.  After I moved the vacuum into my bedroom (to not scare Addie because it's in the hall), I come into Hannah's room to check on Addie.  Addie is snuggling next to Hannah crying and Hannah is rubbing her back telling her it's OK. 


Would have been fabulous if I had the camera :)

Hardest Workout Ever (well at least in a long time)

Before I even start this, let me just say I can't stand laptops sometimes.  I just wrote this whole blog out and then my finger must have slipped and the whole thing disappeared.  Awesome. 

So, now onto the actual blog -

I recently started working out again and I've actually gotten a pretty good routine down.  Normally the girls are both asleep by 8:30 and I'm in the basement by 8:45pm.  Last night was raining and dark out, so I thought I would be able to put Hannah down a little early.  I got her down and then I got ready and was in the basement when I heard her yelling for me.  Normally I would put in the effort to keep her in her room and go to sleep.  But I knew if I did that, I wouldn't feel like working out after.  So I allowed her to come into the basement with me.

I set up a chair infront of the TV, thinking this would keep her occupied.  I was wrong (which is often the case with the kids, apparently we don't think the same way). 

Hannah ran, did lunges, girl push-ups, and squats all directly next to me.  Which doesn't really sound that bad, but when you are trying to concentrate on counting to 50, someone in your face asking your questions gets kind of tough. 

Our basement isn't finished, so the first batch of questions were about the basement - "what is the pole for" "why are there so many" "what's on the ceiling" "what do they do (pipes)".  Then I got on the treadmill "why is the mat moving" "what's up there (the time and distance clock)" "why do your knees go fast" "when is it my turn"

After about the 20th question, I asked her "Can you please go ask Daddy questions?"  Her reply "No, I'm a girl, I stay with you because you're a girl." 

But I did finish the work out :)

What have We Been Doing?

So while my original intention was to work on this blog weekly, I have already slowly been slipping.  I use to work on this blog at night, after the girls went to bed. 

See the problem with that, is that Day Light Savings Time kindly messed up that schedule.  The girls use to go to bed between 7-7:30, which gave me time to do general clean up and then do this one a week. 

Now bedtime has been pushed back to 8:30 for Hannah because she doesn't like to go to bed until it is dark out.  We actually debated about getting her darker curtains. 

But while this has pushed back my general routine so that I have no time between their bedtime and my bedtime, it does make our general playtime sooo much better.  Now when we get home from school/work, we can have dinner and then go outside to PLAY!  YEAH!

So I'm going to try to improve and get back in the swing of things...

Here are some things we've been up to:

• I come downstairs from putting Addie's PJ's on and ask Hannah if she is done coloring.  Hannah says Yes.  I say, why don't we go put all your markers away.  Hannah says "today's a special day, I'm going to sleep in my clothes today."  No, you're still putting on PJ's, not that I know entirely what that has to do with putting your markers away
• Kids 'professional' pictures are next weekend.  Hannah has been planning her outfit and decided that she has nice curls and wants to wear her hair down.
• Addie is walking all over and up the stairs.  She is really into books and being outside (loves the swings) 
• Hannah and Addie are actually starting to play together.  I'll come in the room and they'll be on Hannah's bed together playing/reading. 
• Hannah is really starting to be a great big sister.  She'll rub Addie's back when Addie is crying and tell her everything is going to be OK. She also will help get anything out of Addie's room (sneakers, socks, toys, diapers, whatever). 
• I say, "Hannah, I think that shirt's getting a little too small for you"  Hannah says "I know, but when it gets bigger, Daddy can wear it." 
• Hannah is really into Boys vs Girls.  Meaning, all the girls go for walks together (Mommy, Hannah, Addie, and Bailey) and the boys (Daddy and Foster) go next.  Or all the girls stay upstairs together and the boys stay downstairs. 

And as a random side note, Call Me Maybe is on constant repeat in my head for weeks at a time. 

See you all next week!  I'll try to put pictures up (our computer crashed and Kodak Gallery was bought out to Shutterfly, so I'm a little behind on getting pictures downloaded)

Happy Valentine's Day

For Mother’s Day this year, I wanted to do something outside as a family (and lucky for me, it was sunny and 80).  But while I wanted to be outside, I wanted to go somewhere that the girls could walk out of the stroller and not be in the way or run over. 

After playing around, I found the Lehigh Valley Zoo.  I was a little skeptical.  I’m use to the Philly Zoo.  The Philly zoo is BIG.  Big zoo equals big animals.  But I was pretty sure that the Philly zoo was going to be packed. 

So off to the Lehigh Valley Zoo we go.  It was an hour drive and we left about 20 mins before the girls nap time.  My thought was that they would sleep in the car. 

Hannah had other plans.  What does a 2 ½ talk about for an hour straight in the car, well, let me tell you:

·         Why do I call daddy Kevin and not daddy

·         Why are there balls in the sky (this was looking at the balls up on the electrical wires)

·         Are we going to the flamingo zoo

·         About 3 rounds of Baa Baa Black Sheep

·         About 3 rounds of Money on the Bed

·         Where is Thumbkin

·         I don’t know how to sleep in the car, so I’ll just relax

·         I’ll feed my peaches to the elephants, OK

·         Are there going to be boys at the zoo

·         I’ll feed the hippopotamus, OK

And there was LOTS more.  I gave up trying to keep the notes on my phone. 

The zoo ended up being great for the girls.  Both of them could walk out of the stroller, they saw animals, there was a playground, and we got around the whole zoo in 3 hrs.  It was perfect.  Here are some pictures J
Oh, and when Hannah woke up on Sunday morning, she said “Happy Valentine’s Day Mommy.”  Close enough :)

Take 1

Take 2

Feeding the Birds

Addie stuck in the stroller

Take 3 (after this I gave up getting them both to smile at once)

Sleeping on the ride home :)

Thanks for the Random Advice

On Saturday, after running errands, we decided to take the girls out to Friendly's for dinner.  We walk in and the hostess immediately explains that her goal is to win a stuffed animal out of the 'grab' game in the front of the store for her two year old son.  Walking us to our table, she remarks that we have two girls and asks if we are planning on having any more children.  While this is a little odd to come from a complete stranger, she was friendly, so we explained that maybe a little down the line.  She then asks if we are aiming to have a boy next time, because if we are, she knows the trick.  Again, to remain friendly, we just go along with her and say yes, it would be fun to have a boy.  At this point she goes off on a 10 min explanation about how her sister's sister-in-law works with fertility and that the trick is to drink Robitussin.  What?  Apparently she said that if one of us (she couldn't remember which one), takes the normal amount of Robitussin, it will guarantee a boy.  It apparently worked for two of her friends. 

So, while I will not be following that advice.  Um, thanks :)

Happy 1st Birthday Addison

Here are some pictures of you growing over the year J.  You are getting to be such a big girl!

·         24 lbs – 18 month clothing

·         4 ½ teeth

·         Curls are coming in

·         Becoming more picky about what you eat

·         Love to paint/color

·         Started walking about two weeks after your birthday (and now you are everywhere)

·         Love to go in the wagon and be outside

·         You think its hysterical to try to pet Bailey and Foster

·         Love playing ‘chase’ or ‘boo’ with Hannah

·         Just a happy little girl

Who Lives in the Ocean

I had a bachelorette party this weekend and was trying to explain to Hannah where I was going and what was going on:

Me:  I’m going to go help Miss Kate celebrate her wedding party

H:  Where is Miss Kate?

Me:  Miss Kate lives near the ocean

H:  Are you getting Miss Kate?

Me:  No, Miss Jessica is picking me up and we are going to go see Miss Kate for her party. 

H:  How you getting Miss Kate out of the ocean?

Me:  oh, no.  Miss Kate doesn’t live in the ocean.  She lives near the ocean, in a house.  Who lives in the ocean?

H:  Aunt Sarah

Me:  No, Aunt Sarah doesn’t live in the ocean either.  Remember, the fish and whales live in the ocean.

H:  And the pink dolphin. 

Hannah believes Aunt Sarah lives in the ocean, and has, for quite some time because I tried (like a year ago) to explain that they were going to the ocean for their honeymoon. 

And thank you Sprout TV for teaching my daughter that there are pink dolphins. 

3 Blind Mice

So as a follow up to the ‘Rabbit in the Grill’ story, apparently we didn’t actually solve the problem.  It seems that our little mouse must have had babies. 

While walking Foster outside, I only took one step off of my front step and I noticed three very tiny little mice.  So, of course I throw Foster back in the house (and the way he tried to attack them, you would think a steak dinner was running around on the ground) and go outside to figure out what to do with these little things. 

I decided that they would get stepped on because they were just lying out in the grass, so I found a bucket and added an empty paper towel roll, grass, some wood chips, and a clean rag to keep them warm and carried them into the house. 

After calling around to pet stores, they all said that the mommy mouse was probably eaten by a bird because she wouldn’t leave her babies that young. 

The mice were super small; about the size of a quarter.  Two of them didn’t even have their eyes open yet.  Based off of my reading, apparently this means that they would need to be fed by a bottle every hour to two hours.  Sorry little mice, I don’t have time for that.  But I also don’t have the heart to just let them outside to die.

Next phone call – the AARK.  First thing the guy asks me “What species of mouse to you have?”  My answer, “I don’t know, they are grey and I found them in my yard.”  Probably not helpful to him at all.  Thankfully the AARK (wildlife animal rescue) happens to only be 1.5 miles from my house.  So off we go to the AARK. 

I thought I would just be able to drop them off, but nope, I actually had to fill out basic paperwork for them.  And just incase I care to ever follow-up, they were given a reference number and I can call and check on them J. 

And while I am well aware this is way more than any person should ever do, this accomplished two things:  1. now the mice are definitely away from my house and not just in a hole outside my house.  2.  I don’t have to walk outside one day and see a collection of dead mice.  I call that a Win Win. 

Spring Weather!!

Yeah Spring Weather!  Get us outside!

We finally got to use the double wagon with two kids in it!  Not just Hannah laying down in it :)  I tried to get a picture of the two kids and the two dogs, but it's hard enough to get the kids looking the same way, let alone dogs too. 

And this was Addie having a snack.  Apparently Hannah, Bailey, and Foster were also hoping to have some.



Terrible Two's

I think the Terrible Two's came on full speed ahead in the last two weeks.  Apparently Hannah's favorite word is 'NO' and she knows everything. 

This has been causing very good times at home and school.  I actually wanted to cry when I picked Hannah up from school this week.  It's the first time I picked her up and heard that she was bad.  Like she spent time in Addie's baby room because she wouldn't behave.  Awesome. 

I was also told that she wasn't the only one.  It was her and another friend that she's been in school with since 5 months old.  I don't know if that makes it better or worse that she's not alone in the trouble making :). 

Hopefully with a lot of talking and making sure we are giving a lot of positive reinforcement this won't last until she's 3 :). 

Keep your fingers crossed!

Rabbit in the Grill

Way back on Halloween weekend we had a huge snow storm.  Also during that weekend, Mommy and Daddy had a wedding to attend so Nonna and Papa John watched Hannah and Addison.  When we came home, we were told that they saw a mouse in our garage. 

Fast forward to March, and we have still never seen this mouse or anything that would indicate a mouse.

This past weekend we have had gorgeous spring weather and Daddy goes to take the grill out.  Right before he lights it, he notices that there is red string hanging from the grill.  Open it up and there's a little mouse staring up at us.  Daddy wheels the grill out of the garage and not knowing what to do with the mouse, just leaves the grill out for a couple hours.  At night (now that it's around 30 degrees again) the mouse is still in the grill.  Daddy felt bad for the mouse, so he wheeled the grill and the mouse back into the garage. 

Round two of cleaning it out:  Daddy opens the grill and asks me if we should keep the mouse for Hannah.  Now here is someone that didn't want to try to save Hannah's pet fish, but he would save a random mouse and give it to Hannah.  (as a side note, the fish is alive and well :)). 

Both times we checked out the mouse, Hannah has seen it as well. 

Tonight we had grilled chicken for dinner (and yes the grill was taken apart, scrubbed, and then went through the dishwasher).  Hannah asked if we still had a rabbit in the grill.  Close enough. 

A growing girl

Addie is getting to be such a BIG girl. 


She looks like she is going to be walking soon.  Yikes!  She'll stand and take a little shuffle towards you and then a little more shuffle with the other foot :).  Hannah thinks it hysterical to keep her hands out to help Addie walk towards her. 


Addie has also taken up tub belly flopping.  She LOVES it.  The only problem is that the girls always get baths together; which means that Addie is belly flopping across Hannah's legs and everyone's squealing and water is splashing.  It's one big party! 


Maybe I should start giving them separate baths until a certain someone learns how to sit in the tub.

Anatomy 101

We had two anatomy lessons in one day last week.  While getting ready for school, Hannah asked why she didn't have a hole in her belly.  She then pointed out that Daddy and Mommy have holes and she doesn't.  I was explaining that Mommy and Daddy had 'innie' belly buttons and her and Addie had 'outie' belly buttons.  This led to Hannh wanting to check out everyone's belly buttons.  After careful examination, she said that she wanted a big hole in her belly like Daddy :). 

About a half hour later we are in the car and Hannah yells that I missed part of her finger.  To which, obviously, I asked her what she was talking about.  Hannah told me that I forgot to cut her toe nail off of her finger :). 

Weekend Fun

It's been a while since I've posted any pictures, so here's some things that we've been up to.


After a half hour of debating, Hannah decided she wanted to ride this new trampoline ride at our mall.  The girl running it was great!  She convinced Hannah it was like jumping on a bed and then strapped her up and helped her jump WAY up.  She loved it once she was going!

Addie is busy growing and working on the walking thing.  Her favorite food is still pasta and meatballs and her curls are all coming in.

Hannah's growing and entertaining :)
- I was telling her that I had completed 4 loads of laundry.  Hannah said "That's awesome."  It's great to know she appreciates it :)
- I was video tapping Addie walking with her push toys, and Hannah jumped in front of the camera to to the Pledge because she wanted to be on camera
- Hannah now 'reads' to us at nighttime'
- We're still working on sharing with Addie.  Its getting better.  Hannah now follows Addie around until she drops something and immediately picks it up and plays with it and says its her turn.


Hannah is also obsessed with Santa.  She really didn't into the Santa thing until AFTER Christmas.  We sing at least one Christmas song a day and every day she wants something, she tells me that Santa is going to bring it.  So far Santa is bringing the following:
- Leggings
- Matching bathing suits for her and Addie
- a Purple ladder to get to the top of her dresser
- Snow
- Hair Ties for mommy
And of course I can't remember any of the good ones because I'm trying to write them down.  I really need to write things down as they happen. 

Early Planning

Addie's 1st Birthday is quickly coming up! 


Hannah is super excited for Addie's party.  Every day she tells me what color she wants to decorate Addie's party.  So far its been Orange, Pink, Purple, and Brown and then back to Orange.  Hannah also has made it quite clear that I must have balloons for Addie's party because HER yellow balloon ran out of air and it had to go in the trash. 

Maybe I'll just let Hannah plan the whole thing.  She seems to have some good ideas :)

Valentine's Day

Hannah was really into Valentine's day this year.  Before the BIG day, we cut out hearts and painted in pink, red, and purple on poster board.  It is going to be hung up in her room. 

Valentine's Day morning was a little hectic.   The night before we made her Valentine's day bags for her classmates.  Hannah's part was to color the little cut out hearts for each of the bags.  All she really did instead was ask where her cookies were. 

So that morning she was dressed in all pink and red and got to bring in a special stuffed animal for Show & Tell.  We put Addie in pink pants and a white turtleneck with little hearts all over. 

That night, Hannah got her first lollipop.  We waited a long time to give her any candy.  We just don't have a lot of candy in our house and she never really missed it, so it wasn't a big deal.  But she loved that lollipop.  She licked most of it on Wednesday night and then it went into the fridge and she finished it on Thursday night. 
____________________________

Addie starts her new classroom on Monday!  Yeah!  She's moving up to the 'movers' room.  Addie is doing great with pulling herself up and now she's using the toys and walking around pretty steadily :).  I took a video of her moving.  Then I had to video Hannah saying the Pledge of Allegiance because she wanted to be on camera too. 

____________________________

I can't wait for Spring!!  This mid-mild winter is just making it difficult to wait for Spring to actually get here.  My goal is to try to get Hannah into swimming lessons early spring.  I really think she would enjoy it.  The best thing would be to get Hannah into the 8 week class, then do the Mommy and Me class with Addie the next session.  We'll see...

Midnight Race

Funny things happen when you're half asleep -

A couple nights ago around 1:30am, I can hear Hannah awake in her room and asking for me.  Normally if she wakes up in the middle of the night, she'll be awake for like 2 mins and then fall back asleep.  So I just stayed in bed listening.  Then I heard her little footsteps getting out of bed and I knew she was going for her door. 

Now, a little background - our bedroom door is open and both dogs sleep in our room.  Each of the girls sleep with their doors closed.  Since Foster is new to the family, he is not use to any door opening in the middle of the night without me actually doing the opening.

So, back to the story.  I hear Hannah walking towards her door and before I can get out of bed, she turns the knob.  Foster freaks out and starts barking and charging down the hall.  Bailey, not wanting to be left out of the fun, jumps out and starts running and barking after Foster.  Remember, this is 1:30 in the morning.  I'm now running and trying to not yell at the dogs for fear of waking Addie.  The three of us get to Hannah's door and I turn around and Daddy is standing there as well.  I tell the dogs to go to bed, tell Daddy to go back to bed and see what Hannah wants.  Never one to pass up negotiation skills, she says "Go downstairs for just 5 mins."  Sorry kiddo, it’s the middle of the night.  So I get her back in bed. 

In the morning, I asked Daddy why he got up.  He said 'everyone was up and running, so I got up and ran.'  Apparently he had no idea what was going on :). 

Warmer Days and Super Bowl!

I’ve been talking about my one dog a lot, and it will come up again later on today, but I thought I would focus the beginning on how the girls are doing. 

We had a couple ‘warmer’ days and Hannah finally had a chance to test out some of her outdoor Christmas toys.  She got to test out her new VW Beetle and drove it all over.  Only problem is that when she hits the gas pedal, she is always looking to see if I’m watching her, so she isn’t watching where she’s going.  But overall, did pretty well driving it.  We’re working on the whole steering thing.  Hannah also got to try out her tricycle.  Her feet almost reach the peddles!  She can get the wheel turned half way, which essentially means she can move forward about 2 inches and then move backwards 2 inches.  But she was super excited! 

On Tuesday night Daddy went to a Flyers game.  At dinner I was explaining to Hannah that Daddy went to a hockey game.  Literally that’s all I said.  And Hannah asks me if Daddy is going to wear a helmet (I sweat she’s a genius).  I explained that he is only watching the game and doesn’t need a helmet.  She then tells me that she is going to wear a helmet so she doesn’t fall down.  That’s when it dawns on me that she was watching football and is a little confused.  So I attempt to explain that.  But that doesn’t get me anywhere.  She was very determined that when she gets older, she’s gonna wear a helmet so she doesn’t fall down.  So my daughter has great aspirations to be either a football or hockey player.  Anything that requires her to wear a helmet. 

And my little Addie is speed crawling now.  We find her all over.  And we’re moving towards walking!  She loves to hold hands and walk, but when she has a toy walker, she’ll only go 1-2 steps and then kneel and kneel and push the cars.  The greatest thing she does right now is scrunch her nose when she is laughing.  I would love to show you all a picture, but for the life of me she won’t do it when the camera is out. 

Now I’m being asked what Addie wants for her 1^st Birthday!  Yikes!  I don’t know.  I still have 1 ½ months to plan and think about it.  Don’t make it come any faster!

And of course, we can’t go a week without a Foster story.  To keep a long story short, I’ll just number out the details – (background is we are hosting the Super Bowl party with 15 adults and 10 kids)

1. Projector lightbulb on big TV goes out at 7am on Saturday morning

2. Put TV on ground and we all run out to drive an hr to get a new lightbulb

3. Daddy gets TV all back together and put on TV stand and it doesn’t work at all

4. Something is dripping down the back of the TV

5. Foster peed on our TV.  On the back, into the wires. 

6. Daddy spends 5 hrs blow drying the back of the TV

7. TV works, cable box blows.  Daddy runs out to get a new cable box ½ hr before Comcast closes

8. TV works great on Saturday night and all day Sunday.

9. TV blows 5 mins before Super Bowl halftime. 

We did see the rest of the game.  Just on a much smaller TV.  Thank you everyone that was there for being good sports J

I need to start writing a little more frequently so these aren’t so long J

Stomach Virus and Dog Training

What a week!  I've been blessed in the fact that if either of my kids are sick, they don't act like it.  They don't slow down or stop eating too much and they still smile and nap the same.  Unfortunately, that makes it tough to tell when they might actually be sick. 

So Sunday Addie threw up in the car (in her baby car seat).  Then about 2hrs later, she threw up again, this time all over my sister's nice new rug.  Right before this, I fed her a bottle and then immediately picked her up to get her hand print on the painting we were doing.  So I thought I might have pushed her little belly a little too hard while picking her up. 

As a side note, I appreciate the fact that my sister and her husband use my family as a learning tool of things to come in their future.  In the 2 hrs we were at their house, one daughter threw up and the other one was painting on their new dining room table.  And even though we took precautions to keep it clean, she's still only two and likes to get up with paint on her fingers.  Thankfully, the only damage was to the rug.

Then on Wednesday, Addie threw up again at dinner.  I coughed this up to her gag reflex and gagged on a small piece of meatloaf.  We took a picture and sent it to my sister.  Addie was smiling and laughing and the table, floor, and Foster's head were dirty. 

By Friday afternoon, Hannah lost her lunch.  Then proceeded again at dinner, 9:30 at night, and a little of breakfast the next morning. 

So by Saturday afternoon, I had completed 5 different loads of laundry of just throw up.  Awesome.  All the while, both girls were still happy and playing, no fevers, and acting normal. 

Saturday morning we had our second round of a personal visit from a dog trainer, Lisa, to help with Foster's anxiety (he gets SUPER excited when he is outside and sees other dogs).  She was very nice and provided us with great training ideas to help us move in the right direction.  Our goal is to be able to walk both dogs, at the same time, with both girls, and get back into our family walks.  Lisa had 5 kids in 6 years and has 6 dogs!  Why do I think my life it hectic sometimes! 

Anyway, last week we decided to allow Foster to not be in a crate while we were out.  He did great last week.  We tried this again on Sunday.  We went to dinner at my parent's house and we were going to be out of the house for about 6 hrs.  When we got home, I was so excited because the house was still clean (nothing was chewed, no mess anywhere).  Then I went upstairs to put Addie to bed and I had to go into my room to turn the heat up.  I could smell something, but couldn't tell where the heck it was coming from.  Turns out Foster had an accident on our bed.  Our bedroom was the only door left open because his bed is in there.  But rather then pee on his bed, he peed on our bed.  So at 8pm on Sunday night, I'm taking off our down comforter and doing more laundry.  I got to sleep last night with a sheet and some knitted blankets.  We only have one down comforter.  Foster passed out cold in his bed.  Good boy. 

He's out the crate again for Monday - this time for 7 hrs.  Can't wait to get home today :)

1st snow of 2012!

Yeah!   We finally had some snow this winter!  Everyone got out to play - even if it did take us 20 mins to get out the door (all the while I'm praying that Hannah won't have to go to the bathroom as we are walking out the door :))

Hannah and Daddy went down one hill, but it was too rocky.  But she did enjoy getting in the sled and going around the neighborhood. 

The brown clump on Hannah's lap is Addison.  I might have over-dressed her :)  She actually couldn't sit because she couldn't bend at the waist.  At least she was warm!

Foster, Foster, Foster

Foster has been with us for a little over a month now and aside from a few issues, he is doing great with our family.  Our biggest issue with Foster is that he doesn’t do well with being locked up by himself.  We started with him in our laundry room with a blanket to sleep on – every time we left he had an accident and was slowly scratching away our molding around the door.  We then moved to a crate and put him in the same room as Bailey.  We thought this would be fabulous.  They can see each other and this should keep him calm.  Our first time leaving him locked in the crate (with a yummy peanut butter Kong), we actually videotaped him.  First 15 mins were rough, but eventually he settled down.  However, he still had accidents.  Now, a boy dog having accidents in a metal crate means that he kindly pees out of the crate on to our wall and carpet.  Perfect!  At least he settled down – we must be moving in the right direction. 

Saturday night we put the dogs in their crates with their peanut butter Kongs and go hang out with our neighbors.  About an hour into being there, Hannah comes running into the kitchen…”I see Foster”.  I’m like, “that’s right, you can see into our office from the window.”  Kev’s like “She has such an imagination.”  3 hours later, we go home and SURPRISE!  Foster greets us at the door.  I go into the office and Bailey is sound asleep and Foster’s crate is still locked on top, but he somehow got himself and his blanket out of the crate.  He’s 60 lbs.  The crate is metal and it wasn’t bent at all.  Still don’t know how he did that.  Good news is that the house wasn’t damaged at all.

Our new approach is to see how he does not locked up at all.  Sunday, we give them each their Kongs in their crates – but we don’t lock Foster’s.  He was home alone for 3 hours and for the first time – no damage or accidents!!  Maybe we’re finally making progress.  I’m pretty sure he stole Bailey’s sleeping spot on the couch while we were out.  And I’m well aware that it isn’t fair that Bailey is still in her crate and Foster is out, but Bailey also gets to sleep on the couch and bed and Foster gets the floor.  So I’m figuring that it evens out. 

We just received this letter from the shelter –

Susan --- My name is Celeste and Farson now Foster came from our high kill shelter to Almost Home and Carolyn shared this with me- I can’t thank you enough for adopting through a rescue and giving this boy a home- when he first came to our shelter and was picked up as a stray I was sure he would be reclaimed and someone was looking for him- he came in very clean nails trimmed so mannerly and obedient house broke and day after day he appeared to be looking for someone and soon became very kennel depressed and stopped eating and the shelter put him on the euth list- it made me sick- I loved this dog and felt so bad for him not being able to reunite him with his family- thanks goodness a friend of mine offered to foster him so he wasn’t put down until I could fine a rescue to take him - I had sent his pictures to many rescues begging for help with him and was thrilled when almost home said they could take him- it brought tears of joy to my eyes
when I seen this update and pics of him- he looks fabulous and I thank you all for loving him and giving him this wonderful home- he appears to love the little one in the home:) I shared this with my friend to - take care and give him a hug for me-

Almost made me cry. 

Dressing for School – Our weekday morning workout

Dressing a Two Year Old

Being two, Hannah is under the impression that she is completely capable of picking out her own clothing every morning.  Most of the time, we can agree on an outfit by giving her two choices and she gets to pick one.  Which works wonderfully; but on days when we have to get out of the door, we don’t always have the time to discuss each option and their colors, shapes, textures, and if it matches Addie’s outfit or not J.    This causes a major morning meltdown about everything.  She doesn’t like the outfit, doesn’t like breakfast, doesn’t want her hair brushed…. finally we get in the car and off to school where she is a complete angel…pick her up and its right where she left off…doesn’t like her outfit, rips her hair tie out, doesn’t like dinner…  It’s incredible that she has that much memory to literally pick up the crying exactly where she left off (and still was excellent at school). 

Last Saturday, we did allow Hannah to pick out her own outfit.  Hannah chose the below outfit:  Red leggings, a Red and Pink stripped hoodie, a bright blue t-shirt, Pink and Purple rainboots, and her Pink and White stripped headband…and our one errand was to Pet Smart and she was very excited that she got to wear it out J 

Dressing a Crawling Baby

Dressing Addie is like trying to dress…well I can’t think of a good comparison, because she is like trying to dress an active baby.  Trying to get her to sit is pretty close to impossible and lying down is completely impossible.  Addie’s has never liked to lie on her back and she flips right over, usually twisting the pants in the process.  Our general routine is her laughing and giggling and crawling away with me behind her trying to fit her pants on from the back.  Getting a shirt on usually requires grabbing arms as they are flying around looking for something to grab hold of (normally a toy; sometimes a dog’s tail, Hannah’s breakfast, or whatever else is in her reach).  

After the girls are dressed, time for hair and teeth.  And most days Hannah’s hair is pulled back nicely somehow, which is also a discussion and possible debate; as Hannah likes to leave her hair down, but she doesn’t know how to tuck it behind her ears yet so it is always in her face. 

This leaves me about 15 mins to put together a work outfit – usually includes a relatively close fitting outfit (sometimes too big, sometimes too small), minimal make up, hair usually pulled up, and nice heels.  I love heels.  They are normally the nicest part of my outfit J. 

And out the door we go! 

Good Things of the Week –

·         Addie can pull herself up to a standing position

·         Foster became an official member of our family

·         Hannah’s progress report from school was excellent

·         Hannah loves to do her after school ‘exercises’ – a fast paste round of Simon Says with jumping jacks, twirls, and leg lifts. 

Giggle Friday!

Time for Giggle Friday!  Quotes and Doings of this week...

Hannah -

• I ran over a stick driving her to school.  She asked what it was and I told her.  To which she responded "Be careful of the car Mommy."  Yes.  Thank you.
• When we left the house for school Daddy was still in sweats.  Hannah got in the car and told me "Daddy not work today.  He not dressed."  Because we all know that, unfortunately, we cannot wear sweatpants to work. 
• I put Hannah's hair in a high ponytail and she was very mad at me because it was a "short ponytail."  I didn't know what she was talking about, but I moved it down to a low ponytail and this made her much happier because now it was a "long ponytail."  Apparently if she can't run her fingers through it, her hair is too short. 
• Hannah just figured out that if she bangs a fork hard enough on the table it makes fork marks.  Mommy and Daddy were not happy.  Last night she told us a dinner "I no bang anymore."  Good, at least you listened. 
• Hannah is big on pretend.  Anything that she knows she's not suppose to have, she says "I just pretend."  So when she gets the nail clippers and starts going toward's Addie, she says "I just pretend."  Good try, but I don't think so. 

Addie

• Managed to spill Bailey's water bowl two days in a row.  The bathroom floor has never been so clean!
• Really likes meatballs and thinks its funny to let Bailey lick her hands before eating more food. 
• While sitting on the floor, Addie crawls up and on my lap and then flips her head back so she can be tickled. 

Happy Friday!!