Yes, We ARE Crazy!

So I walk into Ryan's preschool last Friday, and two of his classmates, Berik and Bowen, have brought a new puppy to school for sharing. Talk about wild five-year-olds. As I get closer I hear their mom say, "Yes, we're looking for a new home for Daisy - we just can't keep her."

9 Week Old Daisy

Then for a brief moment, I lose my mind. I don't know exactly what happened, perhaps I just left it in the car with my purse, but I said, "Well, we weren't going to get a new dog until next year, but if you can't find a home for her, we'll take her."

And I didn't stop there...I had to add, "And we have four acres, all fenced. She'd have lots of room to run and play."

What a Day

So I give Berik and Bowen's mom our phone number. Then I tell Tracy what I have done: "She's a Labradoodle. She's really cute."

Understandably Tracy thought I had lost my mind. No - I just forgot it in the car...

Anyway - over the weekend the idea started to grow on us. That was a good thing because yesterday I got a call and before you know it, Daisy is ours. Someone is very excited.

A Boy and His Dog

Smiles

Karis is getting big, big, big. As of her eight week doctor appointment she is over 12 pounds and 22.8 inches long. She still hasn't figured out that we sleep at night and stay awake during the day...but some nights are better than others.

Tonight is not one of the good nights.

She sleeps well, I just need to get her to sleep well during the night on a regular basis. I'm not complaining, though. She is still a very easy baby, and she is only two months old as of January 27th.

One of the best things that has been happening for the last few weeks is her big, toothless grin.

This is one of her first smiles that I actually got on camera.

This was the first day that we sat in the bouncy chair - she was excited about that...for about ten minutes.

Sitting on Dad's lap always brings a big smile.

What is this White Stuff?

An Entry By Chase

Today we woke up and there was this strange white stuff falling from the sky. Mom said it was snow. Ryan said that it was definitely snow - said he'd actually played in it before. He promised it was a lot of fun, too.

After mom got all of our clothes on we got to go outside. I wasn't so keen on the big white flakes hitting my face at first. Those things are cold! After a while, though, I realized that they didn't stay there for long so I let Mom carry me out to the little barn so I could get some toys to play with (I was having a bit of trouble trying to walk with all my winter garb on).

Ryan first tried to drive his John Deere around the yard. This proved to be unsuccessful and he ended up pushing it more than riding it. Mom must of thought this was funny because all she could do was laugh.

I decided to do a little snow golfing. I told Mom that I couldn't grip my clubs with my gloves on. She argued with me, something about it being too cold. Whatever, Mom. I finally won, though, as I have mastered the fine art of crying until I get my own way.

I soon found out that it is pretty easy to lose your ball in this snow stuff...so I just decided to start mashing the snow until I could find my ball. Come to find out mashing snow is more fun than snow golfing anyways.

Mom tried to teach us how to roll big snowballs around on the ground in order to make snow people. She made a Ryan, a Chase, and a Karis snowman. I didn't want to hurt Mom's feelings so I didn't tell her that they didn't look all that much like us.

Overall, I like this snow stuff, but I really don't like gloves. Mom finally made me come in because I wouldn't wear my gloves and my hands were turning red. I think Mom might be catching on to the whole crying-to-get-what-you-want thing, though, because I cried as hard as I could and she still made me come in and take a nap.

Makes You Think

So Tracy and I are watching TV and an ad for auto insurance comes on the screen. It seems that one company not only insures your car in case of an accident but also your dog. This is great for dog owners, but it does bring up a few questions:

1. What about cats? Is this bias insurance that only covers dogs and not all pets? How about snakes, hamsters, or ferrets for that matter? Box turtles? Are they covered?

2. Does it cover pet messes? What if your dog gets carsick and ruins your upholstery? Is that covered?

3. What happens if your dog is hurt in an accident and the vet bills are more than the dog is worth? Can you imagine that conversation with your insurance adjuster:

Adjuster: Well, we got the bill from your veterinarian.
You: Oh, good.
Adjuster: Well, actually it's not so good.
You: What do you mean?
Adjuster: The bill comes to $3500, and it seems that your dog's fair market value is $25...
You: So?
Adjuster: Well, we decided to total out your dog.
You: You totalled my dog?
Adjuster: Yes, but you'll get full fair market value for him.

Hello 2008

Well, if you are like me, you've already mailed out some checks with 2007 on them. They've all cleared so obviously the banks expected that,eh?

Sorry it's been so long since our last entry, but Karis has been trying to get her days and nights set up on the same schedule as the rest of our family. She's kind of stubborn, but I think she's understanding that the other four of us aren't going to wake up at 11:45 PM everynight to hang out with her. Just Mommy does that, and thankfully she's getting bored of me so she's started to give up that fight. Last night I got my first full night of sleep since before she was born.

Yes, I woke up in a panic at 2:30 AM to make sure she was still breathing.

Tracy and I are going to do some demo in the kitchen and get it ready for our contractor to widen the doorway. We are going to connect the dining room and the kitchen to make it one big, flowing space. Vic and T.K. are going to come down in March and help us finish out the countertops, cabinets, paint, etc. So hopefully by the middle of March we'll have a fresh, new look in our kitchen. I'll take before and after (and inbetween) pictures for you all to look at.

Then after that I get to start attacking the flower beds outside. I promised Tracy they would look good this summer. What was I thinking???

Ryan is back in preschool and very much looking forward to his birthday party at Pump It Up. He's going to be five and he's very excited. If you would like to witness 25 little people going crazy in inflated toy world, please let me know - we'd love to have you.

Chase is starting to really develop his personality these days. He has turned into a real tease, especially when it comes to picking up his toys. He also thinks that big brother is the best thing since sliced bread and must have whatever toy Ryan is playing with at the moment. Taking Ryan to school and picking him up is also the highlight of the day three times a week. Plus, we think we might have a first haircut around his second birthday. Imagine that - Chase with hair!

Karis is growing like crazy. She has already grown an inch (as far as I can tell) and is starting to sleep better (yippee!). She also has started to smile. You forget how precious the first smiles are, especially the one you get when your baby first wakes up and recognizes it's you picking her up. No matter how sleepy you are, a smile like that makes everything a-ok.

I'll post some pictures this weekend of the kitchen as it is now, and as we tear down the bricks...but the real destruction starts the first week of February when the wall comes down and I start experimenting with microwaving all our meals.