Parting is such sweet sorrow

Today is such a bittersweet day. First it is Benjamin's 2nd birthday! Sadly, though, we had to say goodbye to our first baby, Dixie.

Last week, on mine and Drew's anniversary (remember something sad always happens on or around our anniversary), we headed to my parent's house to pick up the kids and Dixie on our way home from Fayetteville. But when we got there, Dixie just didn't seem like she felt well. So she had a 4 1/2 hour visit at the Vet ER, and then spent a week at the vet on an iv during the day and vegging around the house every night this week. At first they thought she had pancreatitis, but then they decided it was probably something more considering she never changed from day to day. Early this morning, it seemed like she kind of went into a coma and went blind, with other symptoms that I'll spare you the details on. We were going to have an ultrasound done on her on Monday to get some answers, but God helped us with those answers a little bit earlier.

Letting go of anyone is never easy. But I am at somewhat of a peace considering how I saw her this morning and the state Dixie was in all week. I think the hardest part will be explaining to the kids where Dixie is and then getting use to a new daily routine that will not include our Dixie Doodle. If anyone knows me at all, I am such an animal lover, and I truly feel like I've lost a family member. She was such a part of our family for 7 years and we will miss her very much!

Baby, it's cold outside! (Part 3)

I know this was sooo last month, but I am finally able to blog with few interruptions right now. And man, it feels so good to be able to blog!

Anyway, we were snowed in for a few days the first week of February. For a kid and mom, that's great because we get to play together. But for a teacher, it stinks because it just means you have to make up those days at the end of the school year...boo! But I had fun being at home with my favorite two little people and my four-legged friend.

"Look, Mommy...more snow!"

"Dear God, thank you for letting me stay at home today and play with my mommy! Amen!"

"What? Did someone say we get to sleep in? I'll take care of that!"

Dixie didn't quite know what to think about the piles of snow this time. She mainly stayed near the deck.

We finally got to try our hand at building a snowman! The previous week, it started to rain and the snow turned to slush when we were able to try building one. This time, the top layer of snow was frozen, so you had to dig for the good snow.

ME didn't care what kind of snow she had. She loved building her snowman! The finished product...I know you're impressed!

ME saw the leaf pile and thought she needed to "sweep, sweep" the snow because she thought the snow was dirty. Helen, your hearth broom is such a hit!This is what a 2-year-old looks like when she's told she has to come inside for a little bit to thaw out. Notice the empty milk jug thrown on the floor after her little tantrum. :) Luckily, this was short lived, thanks to Dora and Diego!

Happy birthday, Dixie!

Dixie's first day with us

Dixie @ 2 1/2 years old

Well, at least we think it's her birthday. We adopted her on January 15th and she was about 8-9 weeks old then, so we said that November 15th would be her birthday. Being the loving mother that I am, I took her to the vet to get her allergy shot. Don't you wish that it was your birthday? :)

Welcome to the new yellow

I have FINALLY come to a decision on the nursery's paint color!!! After 4 samplings from Sherwin Williams, going to Home Depot and Paint Depot to pick out a million other possibilities, I actually made a decision and got the room painted on Wednesday. Thanks Terry and Mom!!! Sadly, the guys at Sherwin Williams now know me as "The girl with the yellow fabric swatch", or just shortened to the "Yellow Girl who wants to darken or lighten the color a hair, a dash, or just a smidge." My mom knows what I mean when I use those technical terms but unfortunately those boys didn't. You think they'd learn technicality at paint mixing school. Seriously, though, the guys were really helpful with me and my crazy measurements of yellows. I just need to come up with a name for the yellow that I created and tackle the daring task of painting vertical stripes on the walls. I know I have until December, but I only have about a month until my freedom is taken again by school.

On another note, I wanted to show y'all Dixie's new spot to get away from me and my craziness. At first, she moved to the new guest bedroom and hung out by the window to catch the sun rays since she doesn't dare go outside (she's not spoiled by any means!). But now she has resorted to hiding underneath the guest bed to completely get away from it all. I can't decide if it's stinkin' cute or just plain depressing. You decide!

Stop the madness!!!!

I'm not quite sure how Dixie is handling all of the changes that have been occurring around here in the past 4 months (I'm 16 weeks today and Little Bit is about the size of an avocado, by the way).
Let's see:

• It all began about 12 weeks ago when I first told her that she was going to be a big sis. She just turned her head and looked at me like "Why is this crazy human talking to me?"



• Since the summer has started I've been hanging out with Kerri and Will a bunch, and he's been helping get Dixie "child-ready". I just think Dixie isn't quite sure why all of these little people keep coming over here and wanting to feed her dog food from their tiny hands. :) Knock on wood, but she's been doing very well with the kiddos coming in and out of the house and chasing her around. But please keep those prayers coming!!!



• Then last week, Pop (Drew's dad) came in from NY for Drew's bday. While he was here, I put him to work and got him to move the office furniture out of the house because I have now changed the office into the new Guest Bedroom and am changing the old Guest Bedroom into the nursery. But the problem is, the office furniture consists of probably Dixie's most favorite spot...a very comfy worn in couch. I think Dixie has finally realized something is wrong -- she can't find her comfy throne anymore and the old Guest Bedroom is virtually empty with the exception of a few different TERRIBLE yellow paint samples slapped on the wall (I'll probably talk more about that later). So as I was blog searching tonight (yes, I've become a complete addict with this and it's fun since I can't go to sleep easily anymore), Princess Dixie decided that she is not going to give into all of these changes yet and she made her own little palette with some pillows in the spot of where her couch was. I thought her little prissy attitude was too cute not to share with you all.
  

This is Dixie's couch...it will be missed! :)