Meet Chewie!

We got a puppy! Meet Chewbacca "Chewie" Bailey, our 10-week old yorkie poo. He was a somewhat spur-of-the-moment buy, as we had only barely discussed Chuck entertaining the idea of a small dog, but then Chuck called on some yorkie poos for sale and Wednesday night the breeder brought over the sweetest little puppy you've ever seen:) We all fell in love and couldn't not keep him. He does bear somewhat of a resemblance to a certain furry creature from Star Wars, so we named him Chewbacca and call him Chewie for short. He is about 4 lbs right now and should be about 8 lbs when fully grown. He is so soft and sweet and most importantly I've not had any allergy problems at all, which is wonderful for me! I told Chuck that I think this is the first time in my life that I've been able to pet and hold a dog without sneezing and itching.

Chewie is a really sweet puppy who loves to cuddle and be held. He seems to be very smart for a little guy, and has gotten potty training almost right away (just a few accidents after the first day). He is especially playful (like all puppies are) and loves his rope bone and his little toy monkey. The only issue we're having at all is that he doesn't like his crate at night, but since he's not 100% potty trained yet we can't really have him sleeping in our bed. I hope he gets better about the crate, but I know it will take time. Our cats, Zoe and Bailey, have not yet once come downstairs to brave the "ferocious creature" and we ended up just moving their food upstairs since I didn't want Zoe to starve (it wouldn't hurt Bailey to lose 1 or 10 pounds, lol). I hope they adjust eventually, they are both getting older (Bailey is 7 and Zoe is 9) so I know they don't appreciate a new face in the house (especially such a cute one who is getting so much love and attention!) I can't wait for spring and summer so we can play with Chewie outside and take him with us to the park.

The kids love him and are very sweet and affectionate. We're trying to teach them to be loving without OVERloving him, lol, he is a small guy after all!

Still here...

I've been such a bad blogger lately. I am sorry, we're still here. I haven't taken any pictures lately either. I am terrible! But we are getting ready for a short trip to MI on Thursday to visit my sister and my parents, so I am sure I'll take some pictures then. I really miss taking pictures, but it feels like everything is so dreary and gloomy and there isn't much to photograph!

The kids are doing great. Ava has really had a mental growth spurt suddenly and is very interested in doing her 24 piece puzzles, which is great. She's also starting to show more interest in learning the alphabet and numbers, and is making progress with her speech too. She is a chatty girl by nature, but she's starting to make much longer sentences and strangers aren't having such a difficult time understanding her anymore, so that is great! Aiden is as bright as ever. He loves doing his 100 piece puzzles and has become a master colorer. He colored a picture for Valentine's Day that is probably better than I could do, lol. He's working hard on learning to write and starting to take an interest in reading basic sight words (I'm trying not to push him too hard, I don't want to get reading started off on the wrong foot). He is constantly surprising me with the little things he's learned from either school or (sadly, lol) tv. The other day he said to me, "Mom, I bet you didn't know this. There are 50 states in our country and I've lived in two of them, Georgia and Ohio. Isn't that neat?" I was so impressed, he was just so matter-of-fact about it, lol. He loves attempting to tell silly jokes and both of the kids new favorite thing is to watch American Idol with me (I DVR it and then watch it the next day without the commercials). Aiden always wants the silliest contestants to go through to the next round and Ava was so cute, every time someone got a yellow ticket she applauded and yelled, "They did it! They got a ticket, they got three yes's!" She can be so sweet sometimes.

Both kids had their dental check-ups today and no cavities! Ava was scared because of her recent Dr. check-up (she had two shots) and she screamed bloody murder when the dentist came in and told him, "I DON'T LIKE BOYS!!!!" (he thought Chuck would be happy to hear this news, lol). Aiden, however, was AWESOME and told the dentist and the tech all about how he is in love with the new girl in his class and they both couldn't get over how smart and adorable he is:) Two people in the waiting room told me that my kids were the most polite pre-schoolers they'd ever seen, and of course it always makes a mom feel good to hear that from strangers! Lol.

I'm rambling but I thought I would do a quick update on us. Just waiting on spring and excited to visit Lansing for a few days this weekend. It's supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow, bring it on!

S.A.D.

The "winter blues," the doldrums, call it what you will. Until this year, when people would tell me that they suffered from "Seasonal Affective Disorder" (also known as SAD), I would think to myself, "Well, yeah, no one really LIKES winter." I didn't really believe that SAD was real.

I was wrong.

Perhaps it is because after 5 mild winters with virtually no snow and above freezing temperatures, I have been thrown into a dark, dismal abyss of snow...more snow...and more snow. I thought I was prepared for this, but clearly, there is no way to prepare yourself for staying indoors all day, every day. Particularly not after I spent perhaps the best summer of my life outdoors 90% of my waking hours. No, no way to be prepared indeed.

But there is little to be gained from complaining about the seasons, or as I have now taken to referring to this winter in my mind: the 5th ring of hell. It is time to lift my chin up and get on with things, as wallowing has never served me well. I've upped my Vitamin D supplement, I'm trying to get to the Y a few times a week (it seems the snow has other plans, but I do try) for exercise for myself and the kids. About once every two weeks I manage to convince the kids to play in the snow, which means 20 minutes of outfitting and preparations for usually 10 minutes of actual outdoor play and then another 20 minutes of de-outfitting and mopping up water and laundering soaked clothes. Though they do enjoy the hot chocolate afterward:)

Anyway, you wouldn't know it from a quick glance at this post, but I do promise that I am trying to take on a more positive outlook. Snow IS quite beautiful to look at, after all. We are blessed with a warm house and warm hearts within it. I have a solid, sturdy car with newer tires that takes me where I absolutely need to go. And I have countless happy memories to call upon of warm, languid stretches on the beach, splashing in the waves with my happy, tanned children, soaking up all the vitamin D that we can handle. It will be here again, eventually.

If you're looking for a fun website, this one is great. It's called 1000 Awesome Things and I read through a few pages today and it made me laugh and smile, two things which are hard to come by these days. http://1000awesomethings.com/.

My Awesome Moment of the day? Ava's "Diaper Dance." Every night she gets a pull-up on before bed (she's 100% potty trained during the day now--go Ava!--but still has accidents at night). Tonight she did this spastic dance and little song, "Diaper time, diaper time, d-d-d-d it's Diaper Time!" It's actually a disturbing little diddy from an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia that I must have sung at some point and she picked up, but it was hilarious none-the-less. :) AWESOME!

A Concert for You

Oh yeah, if this doesn't induce a headache, I don't know what will, lol. I made the kids "guitars" out of cereal boxes and rubber bands and Ava wanted to put on a concert (try not to judge me by the really unhealthy cereal, lol). Don't you love her "singing voice"? Chuck and I call it her "squeaky voice" and it's the voice she uses whenever she is playing with her toys or singing a song. Awesome, right? Lol.

On a completely unrelated note, Aiden is so excited about the SuperBowl. Like ridiculously excited, he can't stop talking about it. He told me yesterday, "Mom, I can't wait for the SuperBowl. I get to stay up late to watch it, right? I want the Packers to win. Not because I like the Packers, but because I hate the Steelers, so I am going to be a Packers fan for one day, ok?" Someone (hmmm, I wonder who? cough...cough...Chuck...) has been coaching him well, lol.

Enjoy your concert;-)

Losing My Religion

I had a whole big post written, but it just didn't sound right. Any of it. And some days, that's ok too. So I hit the delete button and decided to just post this cartoon, which I love. Some day I'll write my big religion post, and it will be perfect....eventually.