Meet Thor...

We did it!  We got a puppy.  It was a difficult decision as we were not looking to replace our Rex, but Morgan was really depressed.  We looked at a lot of litters online and actually went and looked at two in person.  Of course we came home with the one male that was left and was ready to take home...  Who can go look at puppies and pass them up?!  Any worries or uneasiness about getting another dog so soon after losing Rex were put to rest when Morgan started playing again and bounding around the house. 

Our new puppy is also a boxer.  He is a male and his coloring is a flashy fawn.  He is 9 weeks old and he weighs 15 pounds!  When we brought Rex home he was 4 pounds, granted he was the runt, but still!  What a huge difference.  We decided upon the name Thor.  Though it might still be up for debate as Josh wants to make sure it really fits his personality.  It definitely fits his build! 

We of course miss Rex, he was a wonderful dog, but it is nice to have the house filled with happy, excited, and playful dogs.  An added bonus is that Lincoln LOVES him!  He woke up the first morning we had him and the first words I heard coming from his bedroom were, "WHERE"S PUPPY?!"  He now gives everyone kisses goodbye and before we leave for daycare in the morning (Morgan and "PUPPY" included.  Well, he isn't a fan of puppy taking his toys... 

Now begins the puppy potty training...  Good thing it will be done before Brooklyn gets here!

The Dog Whisperer

Getting over the loss of a pet is difficult!  You get use to their quarks and deal with them daily then they are gone.  Coming across their "things" puts a damper on the day.   Feeding one dog instead of two.  These are all almost daily reminders of what you've lost, but one of the hardest things to see is poor Morgan who is probably the most upset of all of us!  There for a while she did nothing but lay around and sleep.  She wasn't eating very much either.  She refuses to go to the kennel now and I can't really blame her. 

We have been talking about getting another dog so that she will have a companion again, but at the same time the loss of Rex is still so fresh!  I wish I could speak to my dog...  I would ask her if she is ready for a puppy to enter the house.  I'd ask her is she would rather we brought home a full grown dog or if she is starting to like being the only dog.  We have been really spoiling her lately. :-)

If we are going to get a puppy it needs to be within the next month or we need to wait until next spring.  I cannot imagine dealing with potty training a puppy, playing with a 2 year old, and establishing a routine with baby Brooklyn all at the same time!  No way is that scenario happening!  We've been looking at puppies online and are going to check some out this weekend.  I guess we will get a feel for what to do then.  Though really, lets not kid ourselves, who can really resist a puppy??  Especially a cute boxer puppy!

   
 

My Baby is Two!

I was realizing as I typed this title that I only have a few more months of calling Lincoln my baby!  Brooklyn will be here before we know it and she will be the baby...  So weird!  I can't believe Lincoln will be 2 tomorrow.  Its surreal to think how much our lives have changed in the last 24 months!  The big birthday party was yesterday and just like last year the rains rolled in just in time...  I'm not going to lie, the pregnancy hormones got the best of me and I was in tears about the weather as it monsooned in the morning, but perspective came shortly there after and we got to work on the preparations!   

The debate was whether or not to go with Toy Story 3 or Trains as the theme for the party.  Trains won. :-)  The trains are pretty much a permanent fixture in our living room window seal... 

Next was deciding on the invitation.  I found these at Snapfish and LOVE  them!  I was able to choose a photo and add the wording that I liked. 



My friend Amy used the invitation to inspire the cake design.  She did an awesome job!  The cake was white with raspberry filling and the cupcakes were chocolate with peanut butter frosting as requested by Josh.  Check out her work at Party Cakes by Amy.

All the little details...  I did not spend nearly was much time on planning the second birthday as the first, but I think it came together alright anyway.  I ordered bandannas, train whistles, and train suckers from Oriental Trading and that was the main decor along with red and blue serving wear. 

The party favors...  

The picture collage in the shape of a "2" did not turn out how I hoped, but an hour before the party was to start I still hadn't created it....  Oh well :-)

Amy was kind enough to bring over her Thomas the Train for the kids to enjoy during the party.  It was quite the hit!  Returning it should be fun....

Wouldn't be a party without the guests!  I am so glad everyone braved the weather and came to celebrate with us!  The kids were unfazed by the rain as usual. 

Lincoln even took time to eat his favorite foods, mac-n-cheese and berries!

Lincoln was very blessed or spoiled, however you want to spin it....  It took him a while to catch onto the fact that he needed to open all the presents and then play...  With so many kids everywhere it was very chaotic...  I was close to a breakdown, but held it together and we all made it through gifts!  

The last item on the agenda was to eat that beautiful cake...  Lincoln was really excited about that part!

We tried to blow out the candles...

When it came time to eat he preferred the white cake with raspberry filling....

Despite the weather it was a great day.  We skipped out on doing the pinata because of the limited space, time and weather and I think that worked out really well...  Now I just have to figure out what to do with a pinata full of chocolate... 

Happy early birthday to my beautiful boy!  We love you so much!! 

A Work in Progress...

It's funny how one moment you have all of these plans and ideas for your life and your family floating around in your head until one day you realize that God has other plans...  This was what happened with Lincoln's room.  Well, not just Lincoln's room, but really the idea of having more space in our home overall.  I had all of these ideas about what life would be like when we had two children and nowhere in my fantasy did they share a room...  However, we realized that with Josh still not being able to find a full time permanent job our plans to complete an addition on our house before baby number two arrived was put on the back burner.  I'll be honest I was very upset at first and took a couple of self pitty days, but I eventually pulled it together and began trying to make the best of our situation.  I've learned a lot through this time of disappointment.  I constantly remind myself of those that are facing things that make my problems seem like tiny grains of sand!  No matter how small I have learned a lot over the past few months.  As I am reflecting on this I realize the things learned were not earth shattering.  In fact they were things that I already knew, I just hadn't been forced to put them in to parctice.  I've learned how to not dwell on the negative, focus on the positive and to put all your efforts and energy into making the best of your circumstances.  So, all of that to share with you the room that Lincoln and Brooklyn will eventually share.  Mind you it is still a work in progress as I believe we all are as we go through life...  :-)

It was really hard to find a color scheme that would work for a boy and girl.  Especially when nearly every girl bedding set is pink or purple!  I'd say the room is pretty bright and original.  The paint color is a bit brighter than I was picturing in my mind, but I don't think it is awful...  We do have 3 more months before Brooklyn arrives so I suppose we could always repaint...  Nah!

I got the idea for the tree from a friend's pin on Pinterest (a great site I recommend if you are into projects, cooking, crafting etc.).  I guess you can buy the trees online and I've also seen them in Jo Ann's, but they are pretty expensive, so I painted mine.  The leaves are card stock cut outs with tacks glued onto the back.  The flowers are also card stock with a button sewn on them and a tack glued to the back.  The three main branches will eventually have brown shelves on them, I just need to find the right shelves and mount them...

Lincoln's bedding came from Ikea as did pretty much all of the decor on his side of the room.  I LOVE IKEA!!!  

The crocodile mirror gets a bit lost on the green wall so I am debating on possibly painting a chocolate frame around it to make it stand out more.  

We still have yet to hang the bookshelf...

Brooklyn's decor so far is two IKEA mirrors with flowers glued into the center and ribbon attached to the back for hanging.  We will eventually get the crib put together and her bedding on the bed.  Here is the bedding I picked out for her.  It was really the color scheme and the starting point for the entire room.    

   

Steam Train

These last few post have been out of order due to the craziness and sadness of life (losing our Rex), but after these I think we are getting back on track...  You never know though, today Josh called me on my way to work to inform me that the mirrors above our bathroom apparently are cabinets...  We have lived in our house for 5 years?!  Enough said... 

We took Lincoln for his first ride on the steam train last weekend.  At first sight he was very excited, but as we got closer to the engine he was a bit more reluctant to let go of me.  Once the shock of the first whistle had passed he was thrilled to be boarding the train.  Of course they weren't boarding fast enough and he nearly wiggled his way out of my arms to try and cut everyone in line. 

He was perfectly content sitting in his own seat :-)

Naturally we could not get him to look at the camera...

He got so excited every time the whistle blew.  All he wanted to do was stare at the engine!

Hawks vs. Raiders

We were blessed this last weekend with club seat tickets that a wonderful friend gave us for FREE!!!!!  They even came with a pass to park in the parking garage.  We were feeling like pretty high rollers until we asked about the price for the buffet in the Root Sports dining area...  $42 per person!  Oh, well, we had a great time and ate plenty of other delicious food and beer.  Well, no beer for me of course, but I did splurge and enjoyed a coke!  After the game we went to a local pub and enjoyed some more delicious food.  I had macaroni and cheese balls and a delightful hot dog with cream cheese, grilled onions and sauerkraut!!!  Yummy!  Then we stayed the night downtown at a friends apartment, slept in the next morning, and enjoyed a delicious breakfast before heading home.  It was a great end to the summer.  I am soooo excited for football season too!

Sondra and I waiting to get some food.

Beverage break...

Cameron and Sondra :-)

The National Anthem brings me to tears every time!



Brooklyn's first Hawks game!  The first of many I'm sure!



Rex, Truly Man's Best Friend

As I type this I am still in shock, but my mind keeps reeling, so thus here I am at my computer trying to get my thoughts into words.  Our family suddenly and unexpectedly lost our dog Rex last night.   I didn't awake this morning to his tap dancing claws on our hardwood floor because it was potty time.  He awoke last night whining, but I was asleep and didn't notice until Morgan (our other boxer) jumped on the bed, woke me up and then refused to get down.  That's when I realized Rex was whining.  His chest cavity was huge and bloated and he was having trouble breathing.  Josh rushed him to Olympia Pet Emergency and they said he had gastric torsion.  The stomach basically flips over on itself and expands with trapped swallowed air and fermentation gases.  Needless to say there weren't many viable options and he was laid to rest in Josh's arms. 

Dogs are the most amazing animals.  Not because they are all the sharpest tools in the shed because that isn't what makes them so special.  It's their loyalty.  Of course there is that beginning stage that is rough, potty training...  And even once that is taken care of they are a lot of work between feeding, finding a dog sitter when you leave for vacation, giving them attention when life seems to get so busy, but just like kids, they really become a part of the family.  To lose them is like losing a member of your family and it is ever so painful. 

Here is our tribute to an awesome, loving, goofy, loyal, Rex.

When we brought Rex home he was a whole 3 pounds and the last puppy left from his litter...

 Our first stop was to visit my parents who had just bought Rex's sister Sydney....  Needless to say when I saw the size difference (Sydney was 7 pounds...) I was sure Rex was going to die in the night!!

 He obviously did not :-)  He was quite a snuggler and wanted to be with you/right up next to you all of the time.  He would squeeze his way into the middle of Josh and I constantly.  We would always be baffled at where we would find him in the middle of the night!  He also hated to be alone!  For a long time he would have major anxiety and diarrhea if we left him alone...  Thankfully he grew out of the diarrhea thing!

He loved playing with his sister Sydney.  So naturally it was a blessing for him when we had to move into my parent's basement for a few months while I completed my student teaching. 

 He was spoiled to say the least...  Every Christmas he got a stocking.  This particular Christmas Josh had bought me some perfume from Victoria's Secret.  It came in a box that whistled when you would open it.  It freaked Rex out!  He spent hours tearing apart that box until it no longer whistled at him!

Camping was one of Rex's favorite things to do.  He would run around the cars as we were packing deathly afraid that we might leave him behind!  He loved the car ride and his favorite thing was the beach walk.  He got anxiety while we were camping though and would eat nothing...  He would actually dump over his bowl of food and attempt (it was really not a strong suite) to bury his food with pine needles using his nose...  He even tried to bury his water.... 

Below he is having fun with his sister Sydney. 

Another favorite for Rex was to sit in the yard waiting for a bird to fly by just so that he could go crazy chasing the bird's shadow!  This would entertain him for hours!

Below he is "shadow watching" with Sydney. 

Rex's life changed a bit when we brought Morgan home in 2008...  There was definitely some jealousy issues at first, but in no time they were best buds :-)  Rex acted as the "protector" while Morgan is a bit of a chicken!  He was her protection (along with Josh and I) from thunder and strangers.  Not that Rex would have done anything...  He just sounded tough and I guess that was good enough for Morgan!

 Here he is doing his daily duty of making sure no one/nothing is in the front yard that doesn't belong!

Our beach trips became even more fun with two!  A bit more difficult, but well worth the effort of keeping track of two dogs!

Not long after we brought Morgan home our neighbors got horses.  This became a new adventure as the dogs would play up and down the fence line with the horses.  It was so funny because the horses would wait at the fence if the dogs weren't out and visa versa!  It was really cute!  They came to know the word "horses" quite well!

We further threw Rex's world upside down when we brought Lincoln home...  He was very curious!  He even got to the point to where when we got home he would check every room in the house to figure out where Lincoln was. 

He was the best and words cannot express how much we loved him and will miss him.  I could type for days about the memories that we have.  When he got hit by a car and we thought we might lose him after just a year, how he hated the pot rack and the blinds on the slider (he would go running scared if they moved?),  how his food dish would occasionally send him running across the house because it made a noise, how much he LOVED cheese, how he would freak out and act like a spaz if you said "sister", "ride", "treat", or "Alex".   

LOVE YOU BUDDY!!!  Slobber and all :-)