Lucy

Today I went with my mom to take my beloved childhood dog Lucy to be put to rest. Lucy had a good 14 years, despite having no eyes for the last 6. As we sat in the empty vet's office holding her, I thought back to all the times that Lucy got herself on the dining room table to finish the leftovers, eat a stick of butter, or open and devour a 1lb bag of peanut M&Ms. (and they say chocolate is deadly for dogs...) She's spent the last year or so ailing and we knew her time was limited. When she couldn't get up today and was crying and yelping we knew that today was the day. It was time to let her go. Despite knowing this, it was still incredibly hard to say goodbye. I can remember the day my mom surprised me with her when I came home from a babysitting job and she was in a little puppy kennel in my bedroom. I cried on our first day together because I was worried my other dog would be jealous, I cried on our last day together because I miss her already. To say goodbye I gave her one last cookie at the Vet's office, which she ate with delight, then sniffed around for more. I'm posting this tonight to release some of my raw emotion and remind us all that life is a gift. No matter how hard it seems at times, it is a gift and we should all find something to rejoice in each day. Goodnight my Lulu.

Playing Doctor

Why is it that the words "Playing Doctor" makes some people giggle like pre-teens in a sex ed. class? Maybe because pretty much everyone I know has that perverted cousin that always wanted to play doctor in the upstairs bedroom. Or was that just me? Anyway, this post has nothing to do with a perverted cousin, so get your mind out of the gutter and keep reading:

Joey got one of those little doctor kits for his birthday. It the handy carrying case is a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, knee whacker thingy, thermometer, and a plastic band aid. We've been playing with this set a lot lately and he loves to use the stethoscope and blood pressure cuff on us. Tonight while we were cleaning up after dinner I looked into the living room and found Joey with a baby doll turned over on his lap and the plastic thermometer shoved into it's cloth-covered butt! At least it was a doll and not one of the real live babies that live here...

The Longest Breakfast

It's amazing what a weird television show and being confined to a high chair can do to an otherwise energetic toddler at breakfast time. Joey is making a record for the longest amount of time a child takes to eat a meal. Currently we are at the one hour mark. He is so enthralled with watching "Imagination Movers" that he keeps forgetting to eat!

Tired

Tonight I need to sleep. I've dedicated a lot of time to blogging lately, and my sleep has suffered because of it. So, no funny story tonight. Sorry. I promise I have something VERY exciting for tomorrow's readers so be sure to check back!

Warning: Dog Water Can Grow Tadpoles

During my morning cleaning today I decided it was time to rinse out Daisy's water bowl and give her some fresh water. As I lifted the almost empty bowl to the sink I noticed many little black things floating around in it. Crumbs, right? WRONG! When I took a closer look I realized that the crumbs were not floating, they were swimming. Wait, crumbs don't swim. Something has to be alive to swim. These crumbs were most definitely alive. Yes, there were LIVE organisms in my dog's water this morning. Very alarmed and a little bit intrigued, I poured the water into a clear bowl so I could get a better look:


In the water were LOTS of little tiny tadpole looking things. Most of me was terribly disgusted, embarrassed, and worried about the health of my dog and children, but a small part of me was slightly excited and felt like a microbiologist examining scientific findings. Ron assured me that this was NOT a reflection of my cleanliness as I started to get upset that I had a "dirty" house. He also assured me that it was NOT a problem with our drinking water, therefore it was not necessary to contact the local news channels, the Department of Public Health, or the Police. And yes, I contemplated calling the police. Like they would arrest the tadpoles or something... (More likely, they'd probably arrest me for negligence and animal endangerment)

Ron's explanation was that this happens outside all the time when water is left standing for long periods of time, and with all the crazy rain we've had Daisy probably just carried something in on her beard. Her water bowl is one of those self-filling kinds and since she is so little, it lasts for a really long time before it needs to be filled again. Probably a week or more... So I guess a that's enough time to grow tadpoles. EEEEWWW. I am still grossed out when I think about it, and will be using a Brita filter for all of our drinking water... just in case. Oh, and I'll be changing her water bowl with A LOT more frequency from now on.

Noodle In The Nose

I think every mom has a story like this. Tonight Joey and I were alone for dinner while Ron continued to work on the bathroom masterpiece. Towards the end of the meal I went back in the kitchen to retrieve more corn for Joey. At that time he decided that was a perfect opportunity to experiment with his food. And by experiment I mean put it in his nostril. And by food I mean a macaroni noodle. I only panicked slightly as I looked up his little nose and saw the end side of one of those skinny noodles stuck way up. He was completely calm about the whole ordeal. In fact he just kept saying "noodle nose mommy." He even continued to eat his corn by the handful. After trying unsuccessfully to get Joey to blow his nose while I covered his other nostril I realized that I was going to need to get in his nose to get the noodle out. As I walked away to get some tweezers I heard him sneeze. I turned around with excitement and saw one lone boogery macaroni noodle on his tray. I looked up his nose to be sure he didn't shove more than one noodle in and was glad to have an unobstructed view of his nasal passages. Some might call this gross, I call it relief as this particular incident did not require a trip to the doctor or Emergency Room. As I said, I'm pretty sure every mom has a story like this. So let's hear it!

A Place to Pee

Ron has been working feverishly to remodel our main bathroom. Something we should have done long ago instead of living with it looking crappy for all this time. Call it our own version of "Designed to Sell." (maybe...) Anyway, I am glad to report that the toilet is installed! I hate having to go upstairs to pee all day. To some, this may be interpreted as pure laziness. However, with a toddler who can't be trusted to not climb the walls when left unattended, my bathroom visits have been rushed and stressful during Joey's wakeful hours. I've been literally running up the stairs, into the bathroom, praying all the while that Joey doesn't break something, color on something, hurt himself (or someone), or decide that today is the day he'll attempt to hang from the ceiling fan. That being said, I'm glad to have the convenience of a toilet on the first floor back in full effect for tomorrow.

The Bee and The Key

When Joey starts to get tired or cranky, he always looks around for his binkie ("bee") and blankie ("Key"). This morning he selected the closest set he could find: Cousin Mollie's binkie, and Baby Katelyn's blankie. The pink/purple color scheme didn't seem to bother him one bit.

Cute Baby, Can I Borrow 10 Bucks?

This morning I was totally excited to go to the hospital to visit a friend of mine who had a baby this week. I was feeling pretty good, and enjoying my time alone without any kids. After parking my car in the garage, I tossed my keys into my purse and realized that my wallet was missing. It was at home, in the diaper bag (which would normally be accompanying me, but it was a rare solo excursion for me!) Crap, I thought to myself. How embarrassing is it to go visit someone in the hospital and have to ask them for cash to bail you out of the parking garage? I really felt that I had no other choice, though. So I proceeded into the hospital, visited with my friend, held her sweet little daughter, and on my way out of the room said, "Oh yea, can I borrow some cash?" She only had a 10, which I promised to bring over to her house next week. I'm thinking I'll be bringing over dinner as well to make up for being such a dummy...

The Birthday Outing

Today is Joey's 2nd birthday. Ron and I decided that we would take him to one of the children's museums in the area, and then out for lunch. At 10AM Joey was completely out of sorts from waking up too early, so we put him in his crib for some quiet time. Every so often I heard him making some noise up there, and I decided that since he didn't fall asleep, we might as well get ourselves and the babies ready to go and head out. I showered, dressed, did my make up and hair, fed the babies, packed the diaper bag, grabbed the Baby Bjorn, all the while under the impression that he was up in his crib playing and reading books. We were all set to go, I go upstairs to get Joey, open his bedroom door to find him sound asleep.

He Won't Starve

Anyone who has a toddler knows that getting them to eat can easily turn into Mission Impossible. These tiny people often cycle through periods of being quite cooperative in trying new foods, eating well, and being a pleasant meal companion to being the worlds most obnoxious and stubborn food critic. Joey is no exception to the rule.

Last night dinner was not going well. It was mostly our fault, as we missed the golden window of opportunity and sat down for a family meal a good 45 minutes behind schedule. Joey said he wanted noodles so I served him the same pasta dish that I had prepared for Ron and I. He took one bite, and decided that was enough. Ron had fixed him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich earlier in the day which he did not eat, so we tried to give him that instead. Already overtired from a long day of playing outside, a lot of whining, "NO," and covering his mouth ensued at this point. We pushed a bit more, Joey's tantrum got louder, the babies got upset, and no one was enjoying our family dinner. I suggested that Ron take him up for a quick bath and put him to bed and he gave me a look that said, "Off to bed with no dinner? Not on my watch." I just raised my eyebrows, shrugged my shoulders and said, "I'm pretty sure he won't starve before morning." He reluctantly removed the high chair tray, picked up the now hysterical child, and left while I turned back to my food and my babies trying to remain calm.

Once upstairs, Joey settled down and I listened to him enjoying his bath, reading, and night time songs with Daddy. I heard Ron say goodnight to Joey, and he came downstairs looking considerably more relaxed than he did when he left. He placed the plate that previously held the PB&J in front of me and stated that he ate every last bite. In the tub. Then he walked out of the room looking oh so pleased to have won the daily food battle.

Learning more about the world of blogging

Today I came across a great blog called The Meanest Mom. She gives away great stuff, including this fabulous package of goodies from The Body Shop. For a chance to win it, click here: http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/2009/07/body-shop-giveaway.html

And the word of the day is...

NOOOOOOOOO! To get the appropriate pronunciation though, you must shout it out using your upper register, and be sure to add just the right amount of 'whine' to get it right. Joey must have yelled NOOOOOOOOO at me 347 times this morning before I finally decided he needed to go back to bed for a long winter's (or summer's) nap. I offered him milk, he said NO. So I switched it to juice, he said NO. He asked for toast. I made it. He said NO. He handed me his new Elmo book. I started to read it. He said NO. He asked to go outside. Outside we went. He said NO. NO bubbles. NO sandbox. NO water. NO trucks. NO NO NO. Finally I said, "do you want to go night night?" And he said NO. At this point I reminded myself that I am the adult, he is the child, and off he went. And he's sound asleep. In the meantime I'm gearing up for the next round of trying to tame the toddler...