My little guy is 5.

My Case. My Brax. My Casey. My Braxxie. I call him everything. And he comes a runnin' every time. He's my helper. My back-rubber. The one I call on when I really need some assistance. I can count on him every time. His little brain & body are 5 - yet he's so far beyond that number.

My little guy who everyone still wants to take home with them. My little guy who everyone sees & observes, & then looks at hubby & I & says "why is he not in commercials?"

My little guy who is so full of life & spunk. His photos are adorable. He is even more adorable in person.



My little guy who is always smiling. Seldom is he not. He is a ray of sunshine. My 2nd miracle.

Happy Birthday Audi. I love you more than you'll ever, ever know. ☺

All I want for Christmas - is a new family.

Excuse me 'while I whine' post.

Such a wake up call for me. I guess I'm so used to it I don't really pay attention or focus. For some reason I currently am focusing, though. Typically I do during the Holidays & it gets more magnifide the older I get.

Before I rant, let me say that my brother & sister-in-law always mail my children Christmas & Birthday gifts. This is the first year they are unable to do so, & I completely understand. This post excludes them.

But I have more family. A mother, a father (both of those terms used loosely because quite honestly, neither of them deserve the title), a step-mother who is still married to my father meaning she is still my children's grandmother, my oldest brother (who has never seen my children & will have nothing to do with me because we had a 'falling out' when I was Baptised), one Aunt, two Uncles, & 4 cousins. My Aunt, one Uncle & cousins I haven't seen or spoken with in years. And it flat out hurts my heart. But there is strife between my father & his brother & there's not a darn thing I can do about it. I sent my cousin an email a month or so ago, saying hello, & never got a response. I just need to let it go.

Yes my family is small. At times like this, I realize exactly how small my family is. My husband's family is huge, they all have excellent relationships & to tell the truth, I'm extremely jealous. Sometimes I get sick & tired of being around all of 'them'. And NEVER around or with my family. Once a year, at the most, & even then I feel as if me & my family are intruding.

My other Uncle, who is my mother's brother, lives in CA. I hardly ever see him. Haven't seen him in years, as a matter of fact. However, at Christmas time, he consistently mails my children Christmas gifts (we mail him a gift, as well). As well as a little something for my husband & myself. I think I have taken him for granted & as of 30 minutes ago, I had a reality check. I sent him an email & let him know how very much we appreciate him & all he has done for us/my children. From my heart I appreciate him & all he does & never again will he get overlooked.

For Christmas, my children received nothing from any of my family (except for the Uncle above). Not even a Christmas card. Not even a Christmas card from my own mother! I know not everyone can afford gifts & of anyone out there, I understand that. I am not a materialistic person (PTL - I consider that a blessing). But I do know Hallmark carries a line of cards for .99 cents. Add a stamp. Not even a card for Christmas? What about a phone call? They all have phones. So do we. Nothing.

And now it's birthday time for Audi, Jags & Mercedes. Ditto above. Nothing. I have a stack sitting here of gifts and/or cards to my children for their birthdays. All from hubby's family. Not one single, tiny gift or birthday card to them from a family member of mine. Phone hasn't rang. I doubt it will. Celebrations will carry on.

There is nothing else I can say other than it is utterly & absolutely heartwrenching. It hurts. It makes me extremely sad, but more importantly, as a mom, I hurt for my children. They are innocent. They are young. And they all know I have family. And they get not so much as a Happy Birthday phone call. A simple, 5 minute phone call.

I speak the truth when I say I would like to find a new family. I know it will never happen. But it would be a dream come true to find someone who truly loves me, my husband & my children. And would treat us like they do. I don't care that they would not be biological - love builds a family, not blood.

This too shall pass. Or will it ever? I suppose the hurt will never go away.

Blessings to you & all of your loved ones. Wish them Happy New Year, & tell them you love them.

Thank you for blessing me with your friendships. And please know, you are such a blessing to me!

2009 will be a great year!

Kidbits+.

This one here, well it's worth blogging. LOL

Miss Piper has a bit of a - well - let's say - flatulent problem. LOL Oh Lord have mercy it really ain't funny.

Tonight in the car, we put Piper back w/ Audi & Bentley since mommy here is tired of being pushed aside/squeezed out of her seat in the car by two dogs who think they're human. ☺

Husband & I giggled that we hoped Piper didn't release 'anything' while in the company of Audi.

Audi: Well, Piper sure hasn't tooted one time!

Hubby & I giggle quietly.

Hubby: She must not have gas tonight.

Audi says with much enthusiasm: Well look Daddy, there's a gas station wight in fwont of you!

Hahaha. The kid just didn't get it. Neither the comment nor the fragrance. LOL ☺

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Speaking of Piper, this dog is amazing. Carol 'One Hot Momma' (I got Carol & OHM confused) was right! Boxers are unbelievable. I sure didn't know they used to put the white ones down. So sad. My bil said they used to do the same with spotted Dobermans. :( Anyway, she is potty training like a champ! She must know how I am about my carpet. And she's growing like a weed - I'll try to get some photos soon. Ü

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Mercedes is headed to Dr. K tomorrow a.m. She is still on breathing treatments & even though she's better, she's not improving as quickly as she should. Her cold has regressed as of today too. I think she may need an antibiotic. Enough suffering. :( She's pretty much walking too! Our earliest walker @ 11 1/2 months old. ☺

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Cason will now have a birthday in 3 days with Cailyn's in 4 days. Am I prepared? Heavens no! I have a lot of work to do. Again.

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Have a great week! :)

Our weekend.

We're doing this.

Yesterday Mercedes' cold was better, but her cough was wicked. I knew she needed Albuterol. Which usually I have an over abundance of. But not the day after Christmas. So I called the pediatrician to get her in yesterday afternoon. The nerve. They were closed! So off to Cook's Urgent Care we go. I hate that place. It is n.a.s.t.y. I knew when I pulled up it wasn't going to be good. 4-5 hour wait. So while I sat there, I had hubby calling the pharmacy to see if we had any Albuterol on hold. We did. But for whatever reason, the dr. needed to approve it. Even though the dr. wrote the prescription. So he called the on-call dr. & while waiting for that return call, I called CareNow. 4-5 hour wait. But we could wait at home. So we did the web check-in (love that!) & came home to wait. In the meantime the Lord smiled down on us & the on-call dr. phoned in our refill of Albuterol. Sheesh! Even though Mercedes has never had a breathing treatment, I made a mommy call & went for it. I'm administering them every four hours & she is so improved. Yay! ☺

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Today we thought we'd drive around & see if we could find a new car. We're kinda spontaneous like that. :) I thought Mercedes might sleep some since she can sit up in the car. Who was I kidding. We went to several dealerships & I'll tell you this, they aren't hurting that bad to sell cars. I don't care what the news reports or internet says. We saw no difference/lower prices what-so-ever. Guess they need to pay for those expensive jets! ☺ We thought we could get some kind of deal being the car industry is suffering for sales (or so we thought) & it is end of the year (the best time to buy cars!). There sure weren't many people shopping for new vehicles, that's for sure. Not one sales person at any of the dealerships even came up to see if they could help us. LOL Off we went.

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I feel like I have been swallowed. My house is a complete disaster. Not to mention, a pigstye after having everyone over for Christmas Eve. Stuff is everywhere. Toys that have yet to be opened due to miniatures being distracted w/ other toys. The kitchen is semi-clean but needs completing. Laundry, which I typically stay on top of, is overflowing. And then there's my carpet. Have I ever told you our backyard alone has 14 trees? Uh-huh. Sure does. And our yard guy MULCHED the leaves! Oh my I almost socked him for that. But I love him so he was safe. :) But he's now fired. Ha! Mulch + rain + two dogs in & out = no words. I can't keep up. With any of it.

Hubby was nice enough to vacuum. Again. And Miss Mercedes still loves the vacuum. So he vacuumed her hair. She loves it. And believe it or not her hair style improves once it's vacummed. LOL Too darn cute.

This baby is the cutest ever. I tell her that & then I tell her not to tell her siblings. :) The photos do her no justice as to how precious she is. I can't imagine her not being here. God knows exactly what He is doing. ☺

And because I kiss her so much, & share my food with her (only because she's a baby LOL) I now feel like crap. I'm off to a hot shower & then to watch some HGTV in bed!

Have a great weekend! Ü

Kidbits.

After Audi's shower tonight, I informed him he will be 5 in 5 days.

I then demonstrated a nice frown & he says:

What mommy? You don't want youw kids to gwow up?

(He still can't pronounce his stinkin' r's properly. I'm beginning to think he never will.)

What I was thinking, but didn't say aloud, was "no Audi, I don't."

:(

Santa needs a vacation.

Sometimes I think I am Wonder-Woman but with four wee ones, two dogs (one being a puppy) & a husband that is swamped at work, I am quickly reminded that I am not. I am so exhausted it's not even funny. We had a fabulous Christmas & I hope you & your family did also. ☺

Side note - for years I celebrated Christmas without knowing the reason for the season. It was just Christmas. It was not CHRISTmas. At age 41, I am still quite angry & irritated w/ my parents because personally I find it unexcusable, as well as sad, that they cared none to teach myself & my siblings about Christ. And that I didn't know the truth until later in life. I hope some day my children realize how blessed they are that they are being raised knowing the truth, knowing the true reason for Christmas. I do believe teaching our children about Christ is the most amazing & meaningful gift we could ever give them. Without Christ there would be no Christmas.

Now then. In no particular order -

Divorce was mentioned briefly when I discovered my husband still working @ 1:00 a.m. Monday & we still had so much to do before his family arrived Wednesday. He kicked it into high gear though - how he accomplishes so much on so little sleep is beyond me. The only little mishap he had was when I discovered he had cleaned the wooden toilet seat with the wrong cleaner. Innocently he ruined it - it ended up all streaked & looking dirty when in actuality it was sparkling clean. The bad thing is I didn't discover it until after everyone left on Wednesday evening. I was horrified as they all might have thought the toilet seat was dirty. Ack!

Mercedes decided to have a bad sleeping night Tuesday. At 1:45 a.m. Wednesday I finally pulled out the chocolate donuts & sat there wondering how in the world I was going to get everything finished in time for family the next day, when I had had little to no sleep. When she got up Wednesday morning I discovered the culprit - she had a severe cold. Obviously when she laid down she got stopped up therefore resulting in no sleep. For either of us. I felt so bad for her & she hates having her nose wiped. Poor baby.

However, Mercedes did decide to take some steps alone! On Saturday the 20th, my sil & I caught her taking two steps without assistance. Christmas Eve my bil counted as she took three! Everyone was there & saw it so we all did the clapping & "yay"ing. She couldn't have cared less. LOL ☺ She may be our earliest walker yet. Audi walked @ 12 1/2 months, so we'll see.

Piper was a big hit & bonded quite well with my nephew who's 14. She got plenty of attention that day which made us both happy as I didn't really want to crate her all day. :)

Our dinner for Wednesday was supposed to be Mexican & Tamales. Did you know Monday was a Mexican Holiday? We didn't either. LOL We ended up with pizza & salad (& tons of other goodies) & actually it worked out perfectly.

I drank me some alcohol on Christmas Eve. Oh yes I did. :) In the past, I have tried to drink wine like all the big folks (quietly I was cringing at all the wine/beer/alcohol being brought into my home - typically I do not allow alcohol in my house. That said, husband's family members are not alcoholics, they social drink at family gatherings. Felt the need to point that out. LOL). I'd love to look all sophisticated even though I'm not. But...yuck. I attempted it again Wednesday & I thought I was going to throw up. :) Wine ain't for me. So I drank some hard liquor (haha) & thoroughly enjoyed it. LOL After 1 1/2 I realized I'm just too old to drink. Not to mention, uninterested. ☺

It dawned on me that this is about the 8th year I have not celebrated Thanksgiving or Christmas with any of my family. (Except for the Christmas in 2006 that we brought my dad back from the Valley.) It's really beginning to wear on me. I don't see my family often but for Thanksgiving or Christmas every now & then - come on now. Is that asking too much? Honestly, it breaks my heart for my children. I feel so bad for them. I know they don't understand & I'm thankful they don't question why we always see Daddy's family & never mine. I know a lot of people become depressed during the Holidays & I can see how that can happen. It's just sad.

Why is it so much easier to shop for girls than boys? I totally overbought for Jaguar so her birthday gifts are taken care of. Yay for me. Ü Now I need to take care of Audi & Mercedes' birthday gifts & we'll be on our way for birthday celebrations next week. Thank you God for my babies, but couldn't you have spaced their birthdays out just a bit? Heehee. ☺

Pink feather boas are so cute! Jags hated it. Piper loved it. My carpet looks (looked) as if we killed & cleaned our own Christmas dinner. Boa gone. Below is a Christmas gift I made all three. I stole the idea from Gayle. The kids love it! The sand is actually cornmeal. I don't do sand. Ha!☺ The marbles make me nervous w/ Mercedes so unfortunately this has to be supervised digging.

I'm so thankful I did Christmas shopping on Black Friday! That helped tremendously but next year I need to do even more tweaking. I do way too much at the very last minute. Like Halloween, new plan next year. :)

I was so tired Christmas morning, no one got dressed (something that is not allowed here unless one is sick). No cute, Christmasy clothes. No bows. No nothing. No one minded. :) My husband even cooked an entire Christmas dinner without any help from me. Not that I'm a great cook, but that's a lot of work for one person. It was awesome & I'm so grateful for my husband. :)

Now I'm off to bowl with him on the Wii. He challenged me, so it's on. ☺ I'll be the first one to throw the hand thingy thru our tv. Just wait. It's gonna happen.

Merry Christmas! xoxo

Christmas cheer.

Scroll down & click off the Christmas music before playing video! ☺

Heehee. I/we have heard many of these. ☺

Where are all the Christmas cards this year? For the first year ever, I did not mail out Christmas cards. I ran out of time. :) Instead they will be 'Happy New Year!' cards. ;o) Typically we receive about 25+ Christmas cards. This year, thus far, we have received about 8. LOL Ü

Holding it's own.

Update on Jaguar's tooth - not much to report which I consider a huge blessing. :) Her tooth is hanging in there, PTL. It does have a slight graying discoloration which basically means her tooth is dying. The tooth beside it, which also received some trauma, also has some discoloration. There still is no way of knowing if the discoloration is complete or if it will continue to deteriorate. We continue to wait & see. It looks good, doesn't look 'sick' or injured or anything & no infection developed. Hopefully, the damage is done & nothing further will result or occur. If it does, then I'm sure the tooth/teeth will need to be pulled. I have noticed that the tooth has not moved back into place but if that's all we end up with (& the slight discoloration), then that's fine by me. She returns to the dentist in 6 month unless we feel she needs to be seen sooner. Ü

She's still my beautiful, cutie patootie no matter what. Love this hilarious ball of spunk. ☺

(photos QS - auto w/ flash. Gotta love the tiny round dot in the eyes.)

Ears need cleaning?

Watching the news tonight.

"First ever full face transplant completed using the skin of a donut."

Me: Skin of a donut?

Husband: Melissa, skin of a donor.

Oh. LOL

Ba humbug.

This little guy right here. Whose behavior is completely unacceptable since Piper arrived. He's receiving non-stop lectures & scolding. Telling him what we expect of him. How he should be welcoming & cordial, showing his new sister the ropes. Instead he is being so very ugly. Which surprises me because Kosh, like my children, has never met a stranger. Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky 'come pet me & I'll kiss you'. But suddenly - he is so ticked. So ticked I never could have predicted it. He will have nothing to do with Piper. He will not look at her. He will not look at us unless we have a piece of food he may like to share. He will not even remotely get close to her. I do believe he would rather fall out the car door than share any part of the front seat(s) or console with her. Now I understand she has rained on his parade. He has been king of the casa for quite some time. But he just turned three. It's not like he's 13. One would think he would adjust. Will he? Husband says in time he will come around. But I'm not so sure. Part of me feels bad for him. Especially when Piper runs away with "his" toy. I'm thinking it hurts his little heart. Even though we have purchased all she needs, a toy's a toy. Hopefully in time they'll become buddies. Even when she's 60 lbs. & he's still 12 (lbs.). Ü

(Photo taken inside, night time, no flash on manual.)

Snug as a bug in a rug.

If you think about it, that little saying is a tad ick. Ü

A few weeks ago we braved the cold & attended our Town Square Christmas Tree Lighting. First year we have ever gone. I was truly disappointed. Bummer. But, I do have high expectations which means it was probably just fine. Ha! They did bring in a 'snow hill' & the kids got to slide down it in a tube. That was fun. Bad thing is, by the time Mercedes & I got back around to where I could take some photos, they were already sliding down so the photos I did get are horrible. :( They loved sliding down the snow hill, though. Yep it was real, packed snow! Right out of a truck! Heehee. Ü

Other than that we watched a lame 'parade of lights' (I call 'em as I see 'em & it was pretty lame ;o). Ü We literally froze our patooties off & unfortunately, we couldn't wait around for Santa to show up. He decided to walk up as we were walking out. I have no idea what took him so long as the parade had ended quite some time prior. I guess the chunky guy is just getting too darn old & probably has severe fibromyalgia. LOL I felt bad that my miniatures couldn't talk/sit with him but the line was unbelievably long & we needed to scadoodle.

Here are just a few photos from that lively event.

Mercedes in the car ready to go - she loves her little Gloworm. We leave her Gloworm solely in the car so every time we head out somewhere, her little face just gets so excited to see it. So cute. :)

Below photo she is actually smiling at the camera. See her right dimple? :) Check out those eyelashes too. She is just now beginning to suck a pacy. I don't think it compares to her two middle fingers though. No topping those for comfort! Plus they are easy to locate in time of need. But she looks cute w/ pacy. :)

Here are four of six waiting patiently for the parade. LOL Cracks me up to call it that - I reckon it was cute. Ü

I thought this was cute of husband in his beanie. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know I have a photo of him in his 'hat' (plastered on the internet) which I refer to as a beanie. Ü If he's reading this - get off my blog & get to work!

And here is Merc playing with her newly discovered toy. She loves the dishwasher. I let her play with it - heck what do I care. If it makes her happy. :) And she's getting really risky & brave yet quite talented in how she handles all the knives. Heehee.

Time to discuss her hair. O.M.G. At this age (11 months), Jaguar's hair was just now starting to blossom & it was completely controllable & precious. Not Mercedes'. Holy pickles. It doesn't know if it wants to be curly or straight. So it's a bit of both. It doesn't know if it prefers smooth or coarse. So it's a bit of both. It doesn't know if it wants to lay flat on her head, or fly like the wind. So it's a bit of both. When it's wet, the back is actually about 3" down her back. I do believe I'm going to have to kick the hair products in early & pray for the best. ☻♣♦☺☺☺☺ Oh look! I accidently found smileys (& a few others including a deck of cards LOL) when I hit the wrong keys! LOL Yay!! ☺ ☺☻☻♥ ♥ Oh a heart! ♦♣♠•◘○♀♪♫☼►♫↕‼§▬↨↓→↑←∟↔▲

Ok, I got sidetracked. Anyway, if you click on the photo you can see her flyaway hair. Very frightening. And yes, she's still quite...large. Ha! Ü

All photos are taken on Auto with flash. In other words, they're all crappy. ☺☺☺

I do believe we are fixing to receive some freezing rain, so I'm off to peer outside. My life is just one excitement after another. Ü

We named her Piper.

So much for not wanting a puppy. Ü



She's the runt. No one wanted her. We really didn't either. But with that face, & her crooked ear, who could pass her up? We didn't. Ü



She was born 10-17-08. She's been initiated. She came right home, went outside & walked straight into the pool. She sunk but hubby scooped her up within seconds. The water is ice cold. She wasn't happy. We weren't either. Poor baby. PTL she's just fine. Ü



She's the perfect bookend for our family. Ü

How's Kosh you ask? He's tee'd, to say the least. :)

I am so furious.

Getting Maggie has been somewhat of a challenge. I spoke with the lady Tuesday night (she contacted me). She sent me an applicaton. I completed it & sent it back Tuesday night.

Wednesday I sent her an email asking how long it would take to approve us (because I hadn't heard back from her yet). She responded with "not long at all".

Thursday a.m. I received an email from her saying she had found Maggie a home because she couldn't wait any longer on us. Which led me to believe she had never received our application. And she hadn't.

So I picked up the phone & called her. I resent our application. She got it. Her choice was us or the other family. She chose us.

She left a message on my machine last night to let us know the good news. She called my cell phone. She text'ed (LOL how do you spell/say that? Obviously I don't partake in it!) my cell phone. I phoned her back & we had an awesome conversation for almost 30 minutes. What a sweet Christian lady! How generous of her to let us have Maggie. For free. I sent her photos of Kosh, the kids & our home so she could be assured Maggie was coming to a loving home. We worked out all the details of us receiving Maggie on Sunday. I went to bed with a smile.

Then tonight I receive this:

I have some really bad news. I regret to have to let you know that Maggie will not be able to become a member of your family. I spoke with her current owner today and he has had a change of heart. I am so sorry! I know that this comes as a tremendous disappointment to you and your family. Unfortunately, my hands are tied. Thanks so much for offering one of my pups a wonderful home to be a part of. I wish you success in your search for the perfect boxer for your family.

Thank you for inquiring about R** G**** Boxers. We will be unable to respond to emails from 12-12-08 to 12-14-08. Wishing you and your family a safe and happy holiday season.

Happy Holidays from our family at R** G**** Boxers to yours!

So I sent this:

You have GOT to be kidding me. You're kidding, right? I have four children who are expecting Maggie on Sunday. We have been talking about her ALL day! We all are so excited to pick up a new member of our family. We have waited a long time for a Maggie. The timing is right. We found her! We worked out all the unplanned incidents (application mess, etc.). We spoke on the phone last night. And now you are telling me, we can't have her? Do you know how mean this is? Do you know how heartbroken our entire family will be? I'm speechless. I don't even have any words left.

(I like your signature you added. You won't be able to answer emails between Friday & Sunday. Funny though, as of last night, you were picking up Maggie on Saturday & then meeting us on Sunday. Like we can't read between the lines. That's just unacceptable & pathetic.)

Melissa

I am so mad. I promise you I have steam coming out my ears. People frickin' suck! How in the sam hills could she do this? And how lame is it she now won't respond to emails? What a cop out. How am I going to explain this to my kids? :(

Maggie. Update.

Is ours! Woohoo! AKC Boxer. Shots. Spayed. Housebroken. Crate trained. Did I mention...free? Ü

We pick her up on Sunday. It's a 2 hour drive (each way) but that's ok! Thanks for praying for us! Ü

**Michelle - she is 8 months old. Ü

My OCD '08 Christmas tree.

1.) Ornaments must hang freely, not touching any branches.

2.) Ornaments that are identical must not be located in the same proximity. Pretty much impossible with this many ornaments. I'm guessing...100 or more?

3.) Ornaments in similar color must not be located in the same proximity. Same as above.

4.) All open spaces in between branches must have an ornament.

5.) Smaller ornaments must be purchased for fill-ins.

6.) Every 5 minutes is review time; stand back, observe ornaments on tree, reposition/swap if necessary. And it's always necessary.

7.) Ornaments of special interest/expensive must be placed towards the top of the tree to avoid 10 tiny fingers. Or 40 tiny fingers if you consider I've got 4 miniatures.

8.) Always, always wear long sleeves when opening/separating branches.

9.) Praise the good Lord that my little Chocolate Truffle has absolutely no interest in either tree.

10.) Breathe a sigh of relief when tree is up, complete & gorgeous!

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I have seriously been MIA. Hubby was out of town again this week, left Monday & was not to return until Friday - low & behold they kicked bootie in MN & he got home today! So I have been super, super busy.

When I went to decorate the tree, I noticed that when hubby put up the tree, he opened the branches all wrong. More like ridiculous. He'll pull one branch up, one branch down. One branch up, one branch down. So it looked like a bunch of fork prongs sticking straight up & straight down. Um...no. So I had to redo the entire tree before decorating! Hence #8. My hands & arms are torn to shreds. That's the first thing he noticed when he got home - my manual labor scars.

I'm guessing it took approximately 6+ hours over a course of 3 or 4 days to decorate my tree because of all the interruptions. And Mercedes has a cold. And I'm searching for a Boxer which is entirely too time consuming. I had no idea. And every night I have gone to bed exhausted & extremely sad due to what I have read each night regarding the treatment of dogs. Craigslist is just flat out nasty, with people bickering & cursing each other, dogs being euthanized (posted by shelters) - I guess people get innocent dogs, decide they don't want them & then just give them to anyone who'll take them. And if those people don't want them, the process starts all over again. A hard lesson learned for someone (me) who is such an animal lover. Most nights I shook my head in disbelief. How in the world can people be so cruel to animals?

We still have a lot of Christmas preparations to complete & I'm beginning to stress because I don't think we'll get it done. But by the grace of God, every year we do.

Hope your week is fantastic! Ü

Ok pray for us! Update.

This is Maggie. This is the one I want! Perfect! Pray all goes thru...

**Rebecca - a few days ago I found some Dallas animal advertising sites (not Craigslist) & posted on some. This lady actually contacted me. Ü

My dryer threw up.

Yes my husband has been out of town. Again. Why do you ask? Ü

Kidbits.

How to tee off Santa:

I picked up Bentley the other day @ school & as he climbed in my car he rather loudly exclaimed:

"Hi Mom! What's wrong with your hair?!?!"

As all remaining teachers & students looked on in interest.

He's now on restriction until he's 23. Ü

(In my defense, nothing was 'wrong' with my hair. I have curly hair & that particular day I did not blow dry it straight. Sheesh.)

Song of the year.

Turn up the speakers. Listen.

(Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of my blogsite & turn off my Playlist first or you'll have 2 musics playing.)

Dancing reindeer & Jaguar update.

Miss Mercedes adores the dancing/singing reindeer. Her little face just lights up with joy. Until it's time to turn it off. When I shut it off yesterday (to save my sanity) this little almost 11 month old actually threw herself on the floor & preceded with a 2 year old tantrum! Kicking her feet & screaming w/ anger all the while lying flat on the floor. Ha! What kind of baby did we get blessed with, anyway? Ü

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The dentist appointment was pretty uneventful. We went to a new children's dentist because I fired the last one. :) I fire lots of jerks people. Ü

Dr. Bo took x-rays & studied the tooth/teeth. It's going to be a 'wait, watch & see' sort of thing. Since there is really no way of knowing how much trauma the tooth actually suffered, it's uncertain if it's going to survive. I have a feeling it is not because it is already discoloring. Dr. Bo seems to think if the tooth does survive, it will move back into place. Two fold - 1.) because the tongue will push it forward & 2.) Jaguar still sucks her thumb which will help move it forward. Worse case scenario is both front teeth will have to be pulled. If necessary, she will pull both of them so the big girl teeth will enter at the same time. If one tooth remains while the other is pulled, the symmetry will be unbalanced. Dr. Bo also prescribed an antibiotic to fight any infection that may occur within the tooth and/or her lip.

I've stated before that Jags has such a beautiful smile & I will be completely heartbroken & distraught if she looses her teeth. If you knew my Jags, when not being a spit-fire, she is very reserved, soft-spoken (way too soft-spoken!) & delicate. I can't even envision her loosing her teeth. Suffice to say her two pretty, tiny teeth add to her demeanor, if that makes sense. They have the same personality she does. :) I'm praying all will be ok & less traumatic for her, of course. Tonight she is fine but being three, she really has no idea what all this means. We return to Dr. Bo next week for a tooth check & annual cleaning. Thanks so much for the thoughts & prayers.

Speaking of children's dentists - I believe this to be true in our area, maybe yours? We have lots of fancy-dancy dentists (for kids) opening here. Outrageous upscale offices (inside & out), providing tv's on ceilings, top of the line video games, blah, blah, blah. I have learned that should I choose to visit one of those, the fee I am going to pay is above & beyond what insurance already covers. I honestly believe they charge more to cover all the extra, unnecessary expenses. Maybe that's a given & I'm just slow at recognizing it, due to the fact my children went to the same dentist for a few years...?

Personally I choose to visit a children's dentist that provides a comfortable children's atmosphere. Not needed are the ceiling tv's, video games, outlandish decor, etc. When I stick with the 'plain & simple', almost all of our dentist visits are covered 100% by insurance. Funny how that works. Or is it? Ü

For Daddy.

See how her left tooth has completely relocated towards her inner mouth? That tooth now has a tiny chip on the bottom but, that tooth does not seem loose. Weird. Her right front tooth is loose. Because her tooth has relocated/repositioned itself, I don't foresee saving the tooth. I don't think she'll be as fortunate as Bentley was. What I didn't tell you is that she was completely traumatized. Like...totally pale in color & immediately felt warm to the touch. Should that have continued, I would have taken her to Cook's. She seems to be ok now & she gobbled her food right up. I did cut it in tiny pieces though so she wouldn't use those teeth. :( :(

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Here are two photos I took before bed. She has one heck of a fat lip & the bruising is beginning to show. Off to the dentist tomorrow a.m. I'm of course hoping for a positive diagnosis but I'm afraid there isn't going to be one. I think this tooth probably suffered some nerve damage. :(

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I forgot to note that Jaguar was playing/running at dinner time, with socks on, & slipped on our marble tile. Obviously it happened so fast she couldn't catch herself & her mouth took the brunt. I've been fearful of this marble since we moved in so it will now be covered in rugs. Poor little thing is a trooper though & she's doing much better tonight. Pretty cute to hear her say "dintish" = dentist.