It's THAT Time of Year!

I meant to post this yesterday because yesterday was the official first day of fall!!! My favorite time of year...especially here in Texas. Now we haven't gotten a cool-down yet, but I hear it's coming. And I am sooooooo ready! How could you NOT like fall? You got football, better weather, beautiful trees (well, somewhere anyway), Ian's birthday, fall festivals, our anniversary (11 years this October). Did I mention football? Oh, yeah.

I'm hoping to get brave enough to take the kids to a pumpkin patch thing this year. I'll let ya know if I have a major break-through and decide to do it.

What is this Beautiful Picture?

This is one of THE most beautiful pictures residers of parts of Texas could ever see. DEAD FIRE ANTS! Sick, I know. This mound, which we have poisoned at least twice, came up looking like this after a day and a half of massive rain. Now, unfortunately there are two things we can be sure of. One, for each one of these dead ants there are at least a thousand more live ones seeking vengeance. Two, those lives ones are searching out a place in our backyard to reside. Horrible little creatures!

Introducing Ellie

This is Ellie. She is an 8 week old Labradoodle (mostly lab looking), and she's ours. What possesssed us to get a dog, you might ask...and many have asked. Well, a husband that caved and a friend who was packing her up to go before we had even decided....she's great that way.







We went to our friends' for dinner. That's Jennifer in the picture above. They're dog had 9 pups. Jim was, "no way are we coming home with a dog." I wanted one...mostly the thought of one. There are things about having a dog I just don't miss...mainly dog hair, vet bills, spending money, and figuring what to do with it when we go out of town. So, off we go, planning on coming home with the same number we left with.

Jim goes into the room to look at the pups and walks out with one in his hand. I knew we were in trouble at that point. He said he wasn't expecting any of the pups to look have the smooth hair of a lab. He doesn't like the way Labradoodles look with the wiry, curly hair. (Sorry, doodle owners). So, very quickly, my friend Jennifer starts packing up the dog food and her husband gives the dog her shot and de-worming thing. Whoa! Then came the real kicker. First, they said we could do a trial run. If after a week things just didn't work out, we bring her back. Second, when we go out of town, we take her there for them to take care of. Gee, what more could you ask....besides paying for vet bills. :)

Now, most of you don't the history of us and dogs. Before we had children, we got a dog. You know...the, 'having trouble having kids, so get a dog syndrome'. So, we spoil the dog for nearly 2 years. Then we begin having kids...one every other year. Long story short, Dante (the dog) did not like it. Then add the FX on top of it and it was a mix for disaster. Dante began loosing his hair, gaining a lot of weight, and peeing on the floor. In a nutshell, the vet said he was stressed. So, we gave him to a good family. No more dog. Never planned to get another dog. Hmmmm.

Well, all the way home, Ian and Avery were blurting out name ideas. Avery wants to name her every princess there is, and Ian...well, he just blurts out names. Avery's favorite was Cinderella. Ian's favorite was Jesus. It was quite cute. So, as we were going through all the video characters they know, we finally settled on Ellie (the name of the female mammoth on Ice Age 2).

She's doing great so far. The kids don't seem as interested in her as I thought they would. Avery likes her and will read to her. Ian's indifferent. Benjamin most of the time doesn't like her and will cry because she, of course, jumps and nips. Potty training, you ask? Well, I don't want to jinx it all (if you believe in that), but it's almost like she's already potty-trained. She's only had 1 small accident in the house. Otherwise, pees and poops outside....but despises the heat! Who can blame her? She has black fur!

So, we'll see in a week if we still have a dog.

Bad News, Really Bad News, More Bad News, Good News!

Bad News: My cell phone fell in the toilet. I quickly, without even thinking grabbed it, ripped the battery out, and began drying furiously. Yes, the white dot turned pink.

Really Bad News: It was AFTER I pee'd.

Really Really Bad News: Ian saw the whole thing and thought it was funny.....anyone besides me see him tossing a cell phone in the toilet anytime soon?

More Bad News: After realizing the phone wasn't coming back on, I called to file a claim with the phone insurance to get a replacement phone.....they say I don't have insurance on it! Argh! My mistake when I hooked up the information when we 1st got the phones. Must have overlooked the insurance part.

Good News: I TURNED ON MY PHONE AGAIN AND IT'S CURRENTLY WORKING!

Needles Update

Thanks for the responses from the help entry I posted. I actually ended up getting my answer from the doctor. Imagine that. I've had such not appealing luck with doctors, I almost just don't trust their 'opinions' anymore. However, a friend referred me to our new pedi and she's great...so far anyway. She's actually familiar with fragile X. She not only did not look at me weird when I told her that Benjamin had not any shots yet, she also wisely helped out with where to start. Basically she suggested to get the ones that are pertinent for today. For example...she says they don't see cases of Hib much these days, but do see Diptheria, Pertussis, Tetnus stuff. Therefore, skip the Hib for now and go for the DTaP. Okay, you get the point.

So, we pull up to the dr. office and I tell Avery (who has been a brave girl thus far) that she can take her bear in to help her feel better. She told me she didn't think that would make her feel better. I asked her what she thought would help. She says, "Mommy, the only thing that will help me feel better is if I don't get the shot at all." Smart one.

We get in there and she diplomatically tells me all the reasons Benjamin should go first. She had done so well....until....the nurse came in with the shots. Eyes get big and filled with tears and the pleading begins. After finally getting her on the table, she proceeds to hold her arm and scream and scream and beg and beg. Ultimately, the nurse and I won and she had 2 shots before she knew what hit her. I felt so badly for her, but she did eventually recover. This was her first time to get a shot in the arm. Typically, she had gotten them in the thigh and couldn't walk for the rest of the day (drama queen). When we got home, she told me she didn't want to walk. I told her she didn't get the shots in her leg so she would be fine to walk. She held out a limp arm and said, "But Mommy, when I walk, my arm moves." How could I argue that? By the end of the day, she was all better.

Benjamin, you ask? He was a trooper. Zero tears. Of course, he didn't know what was coming, so he was all relaxed and didn't tense his muscles. Hope he stays doing that well in the future!

So, we all recovered the whole immunization thing once again.....until next time....

Need Help Quick!

We are getting ready to start Benjamin's immunizations. We chose to wait until he would be entering the germ infested atmosphere of school. That time is about to start. He's 3. I believe that some of the earlier immunizations are dud now at his age. So, I'm looking for information on a schedule/immunizations to go by at this age. We opt not to do the MMR. The book I've read doesn't really give an alternative schedule this late, except for a few of the immunizations. If you have a good website to go to, a book, or a good email help, please reply back quickly. I have his appointment to go in this Friday. Yes, I'm a procrastinator. If I have to, I can cancel his until I get more information. Just thought I'd check with you all first. Thanks!

My Little Angel is 5!

Ok, now that we're back from vacation, I figured I post about Avery's bday party from the 10th before our vacation details.

Avery had a great time. This year, we decided to make it a 'kid friends' only party. So, she picked about 7 or so kids (and their parents) from school and then we had 'non-school' friends (and their parents). She's the only summer bday, so she gets the swim/cook-out party over at grandma and papa's. Everyone swimmed, ate burgers and hotdogs, and had loads of fun. And we got an extra surprise because I thought my family wasn't going to be able to make the trip. They called the night before while I was away making the cake to let me know they would be here, but Jim forgot to tell me. So, it was a nice surprise to me the day of the party.

The highlight of the party actually happened before the party. See, I've had all the kids' bday cakes made by a friend of mine (who does an incredible job!) or by me (who does a decent job). I was so disappointed in the cake I bought for Ian's first bday, I decided no more. Well, after 6 years of having all the cakes made, I decided maybe I would go ahead and just buy one this year for Avery. Then I decided I just couldn't do it. It's kinda become a tradition now. Therefore, I decided to make my first icecream cake.

I needed to make it over at my in-laws so that Avery wouldn't see it and so that it would already be in the freezer. I wish I could go into every single detail of that evening and the next day. Hilarious doesn't cover it. The cake was supposed to be a sandcastle icrecream cake. It ended up looking like a sandcastle AFTER the big wave hit it. My MIL was laughing so hard I thought we were going to have to take her to the hospital. Needless to say, we had tons of fun making it. And you know what?! It tasted awesome and Avery loved it!

Avery's 'big' gifts were her violin, by mom and dad, and purple dress to wear while 'playing' the violin, made by grandma. She was thoroughly excited and missed both her violin and her dress while we were on vacation.

Another birthday gone. Another wonderful year with her has passed so quickly. I love you, sweet Avery!

Avery loves being thrown in the water
The dog cage was a big hit for the kids too!

Avery and her cousin enjoying a ride on the alligator
Grillin' Papa

Avery in her purple dress ready to play her new violin
THE cake! Remind you of Amatyville Horror House?
This was an extra special gift from Grandma and Papa that arrived after we got home from vacation!!!! Was actually a gift for all the kids. Wahoo!!