Baby Stuff

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At the Car Wash

Some photos of the kids helping dad wash the car last Sunday. Looks like Lucy was more interested in washing her brother though.

And a couple pictures of Max eating Dilly Bars. You'd think it was summer around here all these treats.

Life has been busy all summer. We are now fully moved back into the basement after the great flood of August 11, 2010. 2 times in one year, if it happens again the For Sale sign is going up "as is". ugh.

Abby has been gone almost 2 weeks now. Sometimes I think it's getting easier every day and then we'll find things like a new box of dog biscuits Troy had bought that day, or Max playing in a basket of dog toys. Ironically when things happen to you, you tend to notice it in the news and happening elsewhere. The night she died there was a news clip of Mark Dayton (running for MN govenor) telling someone to turn the a/c on in his vehicle for his dogs while he did a press conference. The following weekend's "Sainted and Tainted" section had a couple articles chastizing people leaving their dogs in a vehicle during these hot days. I keep thinking, I know how it feels to have the shoe on the other foot. If you are so concerned about an animal being left in a hot car, don't write a letter to your paper, go in to the store and find the owner. Maybe that person was like me and was so absorbed in everything else going on at once, she didn't even know the dog was in the car. It's easy to judge when you haven't been in that situation, but I can tell you honestly that if I ever see an animal in a car on a hot day, I'm going in the store to find that owner!

To end on a happy note, my favorite time of year is arriving. It commences with the Great MN Get-together!

July 7, 2003 - August 12, 2010

Today we lost our dear dog, Abby. It happened tragically and I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it. I missed her at dinner tonight, not by our feet to pick up Max's scraps. Or when I shut the garage door tonight, when she usually runs in tripping the garage safety light. Or in Lucy's room tonight, where she normally lays while I read bedtime stories. I'll miss her crazy snoring at night. I just can't believe she's gone. I'll miss taking her on walks and her running to the street to greet every dog that walks by. I'll miss tossing her popcorn during movies. I'll miss her trying to shove herself under the bed during fireworks.

We haven't told the kids yet figuring we'll see when Lucy brings it up. Tonight at bedtime she told Troy to say a special prayer for Abby. Kids know more than we think they do.

As our hearts grieve for our family member, we are thankful for all the good years we did have. She was great with our kids and loved us all unconditionally. R.I.P.

Teef

Max has been running a fever for the past 2 days and screaming at night and not sleeping very well. A trip to the doctor yesterday says he's teething. I suppose that's right, he hasn't had any padoodles or vomiting that would speak of a virus and his lower gums look swollen. Just with the tooth would make it's appearance already. He's a poor whiney little fella that is difficult to console right now.
Last weekend I enjoyed my Mother's Day present, a whole weekend alone in my own house, and I enjoyed every minute of it! I am not ashamed to say that a break from the children and husband is a good thing!

Our house is chaotic right now with our master bedroom spread out throughout the house (repainted the closet and awaiting the closet system we ordered to arrive). After the closet is back together I have to decide on a wall color and just do it. The bedding is here and the wall color we chose, which we painted in the closet as a test, might be just a bit too much to have on all 4 of my bedroom walls, so need to tone it down a bit. The master bedroom has only been waiting a facelift for 4 years, what's a few more weeks?

Loving the sunny weather and trying to take it outdoors as much as possible. Not only is that Vitamin D good for you, but it apparently makes my kids sleep like a rock! (Unless of course you're teething.)

Looking forward to this long Memorial Day weekend followed by a week up at the cabin in June. Can't wait to be awoken by the loons and nature and not a screaming child :)

The picture above of Lucy and her big bun. Somehow a sandwich made on a bun is more likely to be consumed than an ordinary one on bread. And her face is painted, which is often a daily occurrence at our house now since the church spring festival. Oh well, it's free fun and gives me practice!

Have a safe holiday weekend everyone!

Valentine's Day at the Zoo

Took us a long time to upload photos, so the blog posts may be out of order. On Valentine's Day we packed a lunch and headed out to the MN Zoo.

Max's 1st Birthday Party

About 40 family and friends joined us Easter weekend for Max's 1st birthday party. We served Walking Tacos and a Build Your Own Sundae bar, both were a hit, LOTS of leftovers!

Uncle Duff and Papa demonstrating the sundae building:

Lucy, very happy with her sundae creation:

Time for presents!

Time for cake!

Birthdays

Max is going to be ONE. Where did the year go? The comparisons to Lucy at this age as to what she was doing (crawling, standing successfully, a few words) are so different than Max (butt scooting, yelling baby nonsense at his sister to let go of his toys...). We are planning a big open house type party Easter weekend (walking tacos and build-your-own-sundae bar...mmm) and counting down the days (26 to go?) til our trip to Disney World!

Lucy keeps asking if we're going today, like it's a car trip to the Mall of America. Her biggest news these days is she's potty trained. Well, to her mother's standards (still in a pull-up at night, and we do frequently remind her to take a break). Now that we're in "unders", she will proceed to take off her pants whenever and run around the house "free". I missed this, but when Troy brought her home from daycare the other day, she took off her pants and socks and said she was "exercising". Hey, whatever works!

Max's new favorite snack is Club House Crackers. I think the Easter bunny might put them in his basket. He will shove an entire one in his mouth and immediately grab another. It's like m & m's for the rest of us. Lucy's new favorite snack is Pretty Much Everything or Anything I'm Eating.

With the wonderful weather lately we've been taking lots of walks. Here are some photos from at the park yesterday.

Happy Birthdays and Easter Everyone!