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Sometime in the last couple of weeks, Nicole sent me an email with a link to a funny article about a dog. This dog apparently surprised the daylights out of a jogger in OK by jumping on him and licking him. I thought it was a cute story and really wanted the dog. I told the boy about this dog and while he thought she sounded great, I could tell that this wasn't going to be anything more than an "awww!" story.

This changed a few days later when the boy asked if I'd found out anything more about this dog. Where she was, if anyone had claimed her, etc. A drive to Oklahoma wouldn't be SO bad for a dog. Right?

I emailed the girlfriend of the guy who found this pup and she said a rescue group from Utah had heard about her and just picked her up. Utah. UTAH. That's... like... UTAH! So far away. We briefly considered a quick road trip with the girls. But then that left Pullo here and Mom stuck taking care of him. Also, that would mean 20 hours in the car EACH way with the kiddos. Argh. I love my girls but I didn't want to do a 40 speed-trip with them.

Just not meant to be, huh?

I suggested that the boy could find someone who'd want to take a quick road trip to go get the dog, if he really thought she was worth it.

Many emails with the lovely Lorraine from H.A.R.T. of Utah later, we were approved to adopt "Lilah."

The boy and Bryan left Saturday morning and drove aaaaaaaaaaall the way to Mesquite, Nevada to pick up this doggie. Yup. She's that special. Or Pullo is that lonely. Or we're THOSE suckers.

Anyway. After a brief standoff, the dogs have acclimated to each other and are apparently now the best of friends. They chew on each other's ears and faces and toes and Sophie has taken over every bit of Pullo's territory. I think he likes it, despite all the "aww, Mom!" looks he gives me.

Things I'd rather not be doing right now

The list is NOT a mile long, but it FEELS a mile long.

Dishes.
Laundry.
Putting all 250 4" balls back in the kiddie pool.
Hanging clothes in the closet.
Cleaning up the stove.
Sorting junk on the counter.
Sweeping.
Mopping.
Feeding the dog.
Vacuuming.
Picking up dress-up shoes, hula hoops, dolls, coloring papers, phones, books, purses, play money, the tent, the princess couch, blocks, dishes, stuffed animals, ad infinitum.

Yard sale is imminent. I'm thinking next weekend. Bye-bye baby stuff! Go clutter someone else's house.


Lily is walking everywhere. It only took her 14 months. ;) Unfortunately this means that it's also getting more difficult to keep an eye on her. And she climbs on everything. Chairs, couches, tables, play kitchen hutch, love sac. She has no fear. It's terrifying for me because I've made it 3 years with no hospital visits and she's gonna end up being the one getting stitches or a cast first.

Things I love to hear...

"I luh you so much, Mama"

"Good job, Mama!"

"I luh you, baby sister!"


Kids are awesome.

Counting down or counting up?

Do you count down to birthdays or count up to them? Count downs seem like they're normally for things you aren't particularly looking forward to. So maybe you count up to your 25th birthday and count down to all the rest.

Anyway. We're counting the days till Lily turns 1. ONE! I can't believe almost a year has gone by since we had her. Last night, I had a moment of sadness when I realized I couldn't really remember what I'd done all day with the girls just the day before. I finally figured it out but then I had to stop thinking about it because most of the days prior to that were just a blur and I didn't want to actually depress myself. I need to work harder at making note of the little moments, taking pictures and video, writing down all the silly things.

Lily has figured out waving. She waves backwards but it's so precious. And she waves with both hands. :) I think sometimes she's trying to figure out if there's a way to do it to mean 'come here' rather than 'bye-bye'... Adorable, no matter which she means. Chad caught her trying to climb on the couch the other day... she'd turned a little toy upside down and kept pushing it against the couch to stand on it. It won't be long till she masters the furniture. She's so quiet most of the time that I'm sure she's going to be the one getting into everything.

Izzy will be 3 in about 2.5 months. I'm so not ready for that! I don't know how I'll get around to actually sending her to school when the time comes. I absolutely dread it. I don't trust other people with my kids. :( At least I don't have to send her to preschool and all that. I'm convinced that a lot of kids have issues in school simply because our societal structure encourages parents to send them away to classes before they're really ready to adapt to that environment. Maybe I'm just selfish and I don't want to share my child's time.

Bring it on, Spring!

Every year, the time change surprises and annoys me. I'm ready for it to be done with already. Surely we could function just fine without changing our clocks twice a year. Would it really make that big a difference to people to just keep 7am where it is? Cows and such wouldn't know the difference, I'd bet you a dollar. That said, if changing the clocks makes Spring hurry up and get here, I'm willing to give this whole time-change thing another try. I've got the planting itch.

Speaking of trying things... I have some "Oikos" in front of me. Greek yogurt is WAY thicker than the yogurt I'm used to. Very odd. It tastes a little goat-y. Did I buy goat yogurt?? wth... it doesn't SAY it's made with goat milk but there's a distinctive upper-rear palate zest... Oh well. I'll live. At least it has blueberries in it. :)

Lily is 10 months old today. TEN! What happened to my tiny baby?? (Yes, I said it again. I will probably continue to say it, like every other mother, every 6 months for the rest of my natural days.) She's in what I call the perfect baby zone. Still roly-poly and cuddly but also learning how to snatch food, clap her hands and cackle at everything. 2 months till the big 1 and I'm getting excited. Also, starting to miss being pregnant but I'm sure that'll pass. All I need is a good session of both girls crying and maybe a muddy disobedient dog and I'll be SO glad to be done having babies.

Ugh... I have blueberry seed or skin stuck in my teeth and it's not coming out. How are we even aware of something that small being stuck in the crevice of a molar, anyway? It seems impossible... get a tiny seed stuck in your teeth and you'll know it but if your glasses are on your head, you'll continue to scour the house for 'em.

Soggy Mondays aren't so bad.

This morning, Izzy woke up at 7 like normal but after a bath and some snuggling, she went back to sleep. This NEVER happens. I was going to wake her up at 9:15 but she didn't respond to me stroking her hair so I let her lay there a while longer. I think Pullo must have thought I'd given up too soon because he went to check on her while I tried to get Lily to lay down and I heard cackling and 'Oh, Pullo, you so silly!' coming from our room.

The verbal skills of a 2.5 year old are always changing and impressive. This morning's fun sentence was "I did wake up and I want to get down and find and put on my tutu!"

Watching "Sid the Science Kid" with Izzy and the dog on the show isn't even a little bit anatomically correct. And they call this educational television. At least "Dinosaur Train" had an episode segment that was all about poop. Izzy thought that was pretty fascinating.

Lily is pulling up on everything these days. I'm not ready for her to be walking but it's exciting to see her reaching all these fun milestones.

Yesterday, Chad said something about having lots more kids. Izzy didn't take too kindly to that and told him "No, just two kids. 1 kid, 2 kids." I guess she figures she's sharing the spot light plenty these days.

No Gold for Team USA. :( Stinking Canada... I knew it would probably work out this way but it's still disappointing. Oh well. At least Brenden Morrow brings a shiny medal back to Dallas. Partial bragging rights are better than none at all! :)

New Year! New teeth!

Ok, not for me, tho... for Lily. She has two little tiny teeth and is just itching to use them on something yummy. She's working on learning to crawl. I wish I could remember being this age because it SEEMS like it would be terrifically exciting to be learning new stuff all the time. She looks like she's very pleased with herself when she gets up on all fours and starts to rock. Won't be long and I'll be wishing she didn't know how to crawl, as I chase her out of everything.

In 5 months, Lily will be ONE! I don't like to think about this at all. I was so thrilled to be having a second baby to enjoy all the baby stages again ad now she's moving along, inexorably moving towards toddlerhood and then childhood. Argh. Babies don't stay babies for long enough.

Tried out some new yoga poses today. Half Moon and... some sort of chair pose. Dear lord, it just about burned my thighs and calves up. I know it's good for me because I'm nowhere near as limber or toned as I'd like to be but jeebus... must it hurt so much? I'm determined to be in better shape, though. Not being fat isn't good enough, I need to actually be FIT!

New Year's resolutions: I didn't make any this year. Not even an Uber List. I need to, though. I have many crafts and projects I'd like to tackle this year, not to mention a kitchen/bedroom to reorganize and declutter. I'm determined to get rid of STUFF. If/when we have to move again, I don't want to have so much to pack or get rid of 'last minute'. It's exhausting to carry all this around.