Analysis

I discovered something about myself today. I am a bad pet owner! All growing up, my family had pets - a few dogs (at different times), guinea pigs, turtles, rats, fish, worms, etc. I was always so excited to have my own family and house so that I could have a dog all my own. A year into our marriage, I begged Mike to 'just go look' at a litter of puppies. Little did he know that I had my check book ready in my purse. Using my great power of persuasion, we came home with a 6 week old puppy...Taz.

Taz has really been a great dog the past 3 1/2 years. He doesn't bark, bite, whimper, etc. He has never once snapped at Dylan; shoot, the poor dog never even whined when his eyeball almost exploded (no joke, it almost did)! He potty trained very quickly and has maybe one accident a year in the house - and that accident is usually my fault for not letting him outside when I should. He doesn't beg for table scraps, he doesn't chew shoes/clothes/furniture. He is a REALLY good dog who loves to snuggle up next to me, Mike, or anyone who will give him attention.

A few days ago, Dylan had a strange bump show up on his leg. It has changed shape, form and color over the past 4 days and I was beginning to worry that he may have been bit by a deer tick or worse that he has some form of staph infection. So, I called the nurse at his Dr's office this morning to discuss the situation. I am now putting Hydrocortisone cream on the spot for the next 5 days and if it doesn't go away, call back and take him in. We are thinking it is a reaction to the chicken pox vaccine he received at his check up a couple weeks ago.

You're probably wondering why the Dylan story is relevant to my being a bad pet owner, well here is the reason. Taz has had a red belly for several months now. He is constantly licking and scratching at it. He is also a couple months overdue for a vaccine. So, I finally took him to the vet today to get the vaccine. As an afterthought, I decided to ask the Dr about his itchy belly. She took one look and discovered that Taz has a really bad yeast infection on his skin. She then proceeded to tell me that yeast infections will typically start in the dog's ears. So, she cleaned out then peered into his ears. Sure enough...yeast central! So, this poor dog has been walking around with a pretty serious infection for several months now because of my neglect. Dylan has a spot for a day and I freak out. Taz, however, has to suffer silently for half a year! $214.00 later, Taz should be on his way to recovery...finally.

Like I said, bad pet owner award should come my way.

Surprise Winter Blast

Last night, while watching the news, we were informed that sometime during the middle of the night our area of North Carolina would be under a Winter Storm Warning. The meteorologists were predicting between 2-4 inches of snow. To most of you, I know that is no big deal...life would continue as normal, just with snow everywhere. Here in the Raleigh area, however, this is a Winter Storm! Last year, we saw a light dusting of snow that melted within 20 minutes. Growing up in Ohio and Michigan and then attending college in Utah, I was quite accustomed to snow accumulation and ice storms. It has now been about 4 years since I have experienced a good snow fall...not exactly something you see much of in Las Vegas and apparently not in our section of NC either. I have to admit, I was very excited at the prospect of some snow...mostly because I wanted to see Dylan's reaction.

Schools started announcing closings last night, as did some businesses. Mike got up this morning, as usual, and started getting ready for work. While he was showering, I turned on the news to check road conditions. The newscasters began the report by saying that anybody who doesn't have to go out today, should not go out. So, Mike had a snow day! We have ended up with around 5 inches of snow. This area is simply not equipped to handle it...fun, fun.

After Dylan's nap, I bundled him and myself up and we ventured outside for some snow fun. Here is our backyard in the middle of the storm.

Dylan was very hesitant to step out into the yard, but he was more than happy to stand on the patio and try to catch the flakes.

Being the mean Mom that I am, I decided to throw a couple snow balls at Dylan to see what he would do. I think the pictures explain his reaction.

In his attempt to escape my snowballs, he fell on his knees and couldn't figure out how to get up without putting his hands in the snow. He just whined until I went over and helped him. I must admit, it was pretty funny.

While Dylan wasn't as into our Winter Wonderland, Taz was having a great time. He was trotting all over the place and took a couple breaks to eat some of the snow.

Mike has no clue where his Winter gear is hiding, so he only joined us for a moment. It was long enough for his hands to be cold, so he warmed them in the hot tub.

The New House

We're finally at a point where I feel comfortable posting some pictures of the new house. We are absolutely loving the extra space and being out in the country. The only drawback I can think of (so far) is that Mike's commute is horrible right now. Once he gets out on his jobsite (hopefully soon), he should only have a 15-20 minute drive as opposed to the 1-1 1/2 hours he drives now.

Welcome! This is the front. It's a little deceiving from the outside, but the house is about 2400 square feet and sits on a 1/2 acre lot.

Here is the back patio, deck, screened porch and hot tub!

Our AWESOME, fully fenced backyard

One view of the Master Bedroom. Mike and I are not used to having extra space in our bedroom, so it feels kind of empty. We love it.

Part of the living room. It's difficult to get a good shot of the whole thing, but this room has a 2 story, vaulted ceiling.

This is (obviously) the kitchen and breakfast nook.

The dining room just might be my favorite room of the house...mostly because it's painted my favorite color - Navy Blue. I love the contrast of the dark and the white. The other side of the room also has a bay window.

Here is part of Dylan's surfer room. I love that there is tons of space for his toys so that I don't have to have them all in the living room. His bedroom also has a HUGE walk-in closet.

The other side of Dylan's room.

The third bedroom is the guest room, but there is also room for me to have a scrapbook area.

Where you'll be sleeping if you come to visit. This room also has a huge walk-in closet.

We have converted the bonus room into our exercise room. There is also a nook area where we have set up our computer desk.

I really like the floorplan of this house. The upstairs hallway is open to the downstairs. Dylan loves being able to watch TV from the upstairs.

We really just need to rearrange some things in the garage, finish hanging a couple things on the walls, put down an area rug in the living room and then we'll be done. Phew!

My Big Boy

I finally took Dylan to the pediatrician for his 2 year check-up today. A little late, I know, but she has gotten super busy and this was the earliest I could get him in...I made this appointment in October! I digress...

Dylan is growing perfectly. He has gained 1.5 lbs since his 18 month appointment and now weighs in at 29 lbs (65%). His height increased significantly; he is now over 35 inches tall - that is a 4 inch growth spurt in six months! The percentile is somewhere in the 80's. This was good news because I was worried he was going to have my height and Mike's head size...not a good combo! His head is now in the 80-something percentile; down from 98th. Some might say he is growing into his head. Along with these measurements, I took him to get some new shoes yesterday and discovered that he has downgraded from an extra wide to simply a wide foot. Hooray! That means that I don't have to buy ALL his shoes from Stride Rite...at almost $50 a pair, that gets mighty expensive. Especially when you consider that I have bought him a new size shoe 3 times in the past two months.

The Dr was very happy with his motor skills, comprehension, and vocabulary. We do need to take him to see an allergist because the poor child has a perpetually runny/stuffy nose and headache because of allergies. We need to figure out what is causing his reactions so we can manage things a little better. She also recommended that I take him for a speech evaluation. Dylan has a hard time pronouncing certain letters/syllables that really shouldn't be a problem at his age. He's also not speaking in phrases/sentences. She made sure to point out that he could just be a little behind the curve and could get these things on his own over the next year (he was a late talker anyway). But, he could definitely benefit from speech therapy and since I am a taxpaying citizen, why not take advantage of a benefit offered by the county/schools. If anyone has had a toddler in speech therapy, I'd love to hear from you. I'm just curious to know about your experience and find out a little of what they do to help someone so young.

All in, my big boy is growing up and is strong and healthy. I really can't ask for a better report.

A Merry Little Christmas

I realize I'm a little behind in getting this up, but things have been a little crazy around here. Between illness, traveling and moving, I've barely had time to sleep let alone be online. Better late than never, I suppose.

We spent Christmas in Delaware with the Elkington's this year. I really dislike traveling around the holidays, but I enjoy being with family...especially at their house. I am a terrible hostess, so it's nice to let someone else do the cooking, cleaning and entertaining. We drove up Christmas Eve day and as luck would have it, it was a really easy and quick trip. Dylan was a complete angel in the car and didn't make a peep the entire 6 hours! That itself could be considered a Christmas gift! We arrived just in time to have a yummy dinner.

Christmas morning was pretty relaxing. Since Dylan was the only young one there, we were able to take things slow. He's still too young to realize what's going on until it's actually happening. I suppose things will be much different next year. Kent and Jamie made an awesome breakfast of french toast and bacon. Then we all gathered to open presents. We spent the rest of the day watching movies, visiting and playing games. I finally broke down and let Mike teach my how to play Risk. Wouldn't you know...I conquered the world on my first try! Guess women should rule the world, ha ha.

Friday was spent doing much of the same...eating, sleeping, playing and watching movies. Saturday we packed up the car and headed home for the big move. We had a very nice visit and feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Karen bought Taz and their dog, Annie, matching long john's with their names embroidered on the back. I really wanted to get a picture of the two of them sitting next to each other, but they don't really get along. So, here's Taz modeling his.

It is very rare to get a picture of Mike and I together. We both look somewhat out of it, but beggar's can't be choosers.

I think Dylan was more entertained by ripping the paper than the actual gifts. Well, until he started opening all the trucks he received.

Dylan started to get distracted while opening presents, so Mike started helping to hurry things along.

For inquiring minds...we are moved into the house and things went fairly smooth. Once we have stuff a little more settled, I will post some pictures. Until then, just know that we are enjoying the extra space and the BIG yard!