One of those days............

Make sure I'm in the photo too!

"I'm afraid to touch this toy because every time I play with something, Sophia takes it away"!

We all have had them, one of those days where maybe nothing drastic happens, but you would rather just forget it, all the same. For me, today was just one of those days....... It really started last night at 12 am when I discovered that our dog, Marz, had snuck downstairs (it's gated) and proceeded to have a diarrhea episode in the middle of the rec. room. Now, he could have easily alerted me that he needed to go out, but I took his hanging around us as usual dog stuff. No whining, barking, or scratching at the door. Obviously the poor dog wasn't feeling very good, so I didn't scold him and just set about cleaning it up. But Marz's digestive issues were long from over and at 3 am, he did alert me that he needed to go out, and NOW! Then we repeated this dance almost every 1/2 hour until 6 am. We do not have a fenced yard and since he pulled a disappearing act a mere two days ago, I wasn't inclined to just let him out and hope for the best. I should have known then that the day wasn't likely to be one of my best.

Sophia is still amazing with Keenan, but she is starting to get jealous. Sometimes, she gets REALLY jealous and acts out by hitting or kicking Keenan. Thankfully, I have been watching her closely, so I have been able to intervene quickly. Her subsequent timeouts have been traumatic for both of us. In the past, Sophia has always handled a time out with minimal drama. She has been even known to put herself into her time out spot if she thinks she not behaving nicely. No such luck today and I have to say, I have never seen such a tantrum from this little spit fire. I guess we have officially hit the terrible twos and Sophia isn't waiting for the numerical reflection of said stage to actually equal her age.

To top it all off, it appears that Keenan might be cutting his first tooth. His appetite has been non-existent, he is chewing on every cloth in sight and will happily nab my finger for chewing practice if it happens to be near his mouth. He is also sleeping poorly and quite cranky. Everything I have ever read about teething talks about teething episodes only lasting a day or two. Personally, I think that nothing could be further from the truth. I just hope that said tooth (or teeth, as the case may be) break through, and fast. Oh well, no one ever said that life is perfect, nor are children, or for that matter, parents.....besides, all the kids have to do is look this cute, and it is hard to stay in a bad mood.

p.s. I apologize for the run on paragraph, but sometimes blogger will not recognize paragraphs, no matter how many spaces I put between them, like I said, just one of those days :)

After we arrested someone, we would take a digital photo of them back at the station. Sophia's look of quiet defiance echoes some of those photos. Since it was taken not long after she hit Keenan, I think she simply knew she had been naughty but didn't really want to own up to it.

Note that Keenan's chin is an angry red. Chomping on cloth all day will to that to a fellow......

A new hat from Nana

When we went to the butterfly exhibit, my Mom got Sophia the cutest hat for her birthday. Since she has been growing like a weed lately, Nana decided that it was better to give it to Sophia as an early birthday present.

These days, Sophia is in constant motion and it is almost impossible to get her to pose for a photo. Until we get a camera with a faster shutter speed, a lot of her pictures will be action photos, meaning often blurred or off center.

Hugs

A little nature walk

A couple months after we moved in, the 50 acres adjacent to our property was designated as a nature preserve. We breathed a sigh of relief that the land would not be developed and enjoy our walks through the woods.

I know this looks like fall time, but the trees really are starting to bud. That cold snap over Easter slowed Spring down just a bit.

Three years ago today..........

Three years ago today, Colin and I got married on a beach in St. Augustine. The wedding went off with hardly a hitch which was pretty amazing considering we had only been engaged for 8 weeks.

As many of you know, Colin and I met while working a flight on 9/11, so in 2003 we had already been together for some time. In March of 2003, faced with a possible job relocation to Chicago, Colin proposed to me under a ski lift in Lake Tahoe. We were in Tahoe celebrating my birthday and what a birthday it turned out to be. While I was in the ski lodge, Colin stamped out the question "Marry Me?" with his ski boots. The only problem was that it was snowing so heavily by the time I came out, I couldn't read most of it and he had to scramble to rewrite some letters. I flung my arms around him and said yes before he could change his mind :) We intended to get married that coming summer.

Soon after, Colin left to train in Florida for 6 weeks. I had some vacation time on the books and I went to visit him and we drove up to Jacksonville to see his brother. While we were there, we visited St. Augustine and I immediately fell in love with it. We decided it was the perfect place for a wedding and that we should do it before Colin became too busy flying.

We rented a house on the beach and invited our close friends and family. Those who were able to make it on short notice made their way to Florida and we all gathered on the beach for the ceremony.

As it has turned out, it was just the beginning of our journey and we are now blessed with two more members of our family. What a difference three years make, heck, what a difference a year makes!

Happy Anniversary honey, you are a wonderful husband and an amazing father, what more can a girl ask for?

Everyone who attended.......

And then there was four.............

Going to the dogs...........

Midnight (aka Louie Downtown), my kingdom in a horse.

When I see these photos of Sophia with Marz (taken in January) and contrast them with the photos of her on the blanket (taken last summer), I can truly see how much she has grown.

Donna, at http://2happy.typepad.com/ has a new photo challenge...pets. Sophia loves our Border Collie, Marz, and he loves her, for the most part........when she pulls his tail, maybe not so much.

So far, Sophia has been fearless around Mambo. She loves giving him kisses on his soft muzzle. Mambo has been very sweet with her but I can't help but wish that Sophia had been able to grow up around Midnight (pictured above). In a lot of ways, he was the reason I finally figured out that I could be a Mom. Unfortunately, Midnight passed away four years ago this May. Mr. Midnight, you had more heart and soul than most people and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of you and wish I could wrap my arms around you, just one more time.

Poor, poor, poor Marz. Sophia decided to give him treats to make up for the humiliation he was enduring.

The resignation is written all over his face, or maybe it is guilt because Marz isn't supposed to be on the couch, and he knows it.

"Marz, what do you think of our Christmas tree?"

"I thought dogs were just small horses"

Keenan doesn't look too sure about this furry creature Dad is making him touch. Most of the time, he just likes to watch Marz but he is not yet appreciative of Marz's kisses.

Puppy Love

Keenan's new moves

Yes, Keenan actually does have clothing other than sleepers. It looks like this outfit is getting pretty tight though so he'll have to wear it a lot in the next couple of weeks before I can't button the snaps anymore :)

Even though Sophia graduated from this toy over 6 months ago, now that Keenan has been using it, she has decided it is of great interest to her again. Even though she is on the small side, she has grown quite a bit and she practically has to kneel whenever she is in the jumper. Keenan enjoys watching his big sister. Whatever Sophia is doing, Keenan wants to check it out and seems to be fascinated by this bundle of energy.

Keenan had his six month doctor's appointment this week (even though he is almost 7 months). The doctor asked if he was sitting unsupported yet and I told him that Keenan could only last about 3 seconds on his own before tumbling over, forward, backwards or sideways. Well, Keenan must have taken umbrage with this assessment because not long after I got him home that day, he sat in front of his little mirror for over 30 seconds, all by his little self.

Since then, he has been sitting on his own quite a bit. I still have to watch him because when he loses his balance, he doesn't do a great job of catching himself. It is still wonderful to see him take this big leap forward.

"Look Mom, no hands"........well, at least only my hands.

The Easter Bunny Finally Arrived

Easter got a little delayed around our house because Colin was working. Yesterday, while Sophia was napping, Colin put together her little big wheel and gave it a test drive, which gave me a good laugh. In the meantime, we set out an Easter egg hunt for Sophia, leading her to her basket and to her new wheels.

She found every single egg and had a great time doing it. Sophia loved the sounds and the turn signals on her new bike, but she wasn't sure about riding it, however, she did love putting all her eggs into her bike basket.