How many!?!......4!

I just got back from taking Bella into the Doctors to get her sutures out. She healed up perfectly & is so happy to have her bandages off. I am so grateful that the process of all over!

So this past weekend Melissa invited us to go up to Sundance & stay all weekend at the cabin. It was so relaxing & cozy. We all got to sit around & enjoy ourselves. I went a little crazy initially not having anything to do (lol). Thanks Melissa, we had a blast!

Last week Mickie was having restless nights & I was getting pretty worn out, but I just tried to brush it off because I could see that she had a tooth coming in on the bottom, right next to her two front teeth. The nights kept getting worse & she was getting really fussy so on Monday after getting back from the cabin I was playing with her on the ground & could see into her mouth when she laughed & decided to check & see if it really was just one tooth that was causing her so much pain & when I looked around (& felt around to double check that my eyes were working correctly) she had two molars coming in on the top! Wow, no wonder she was so uncomfortable. But then my mind got working & last night I thought, what if there were some on the bottom (because I didn't check, thinking that two molars were plenty & she wouldn't want any more teeth to come in for now, as if she had any control over it) & sure enough she has a molar coming in on the bottom..........yeah.....I know. Can you believe it. Poor little Mickie. How much does one little baby girl have to go through. 4 teeth breaking through, 3 of them molars!!!

Bella

Yesterday morning I took Bella into Dr. Parks (veterinarian) to get her teeth cleaned (little dogs have a tendacy to have dental problems so I wanted to stay on top of it) & they had to put her under anesthesia to do it. Apparently they don't have any other options so since they were already putting her under we had a growing concern with her du-claws that weren't removed when she was a puppy. They were getting sensitive to her & were growing all the way around & back into her leg again so since she wasn't letting me trim them because of the sensitivity I asked for them to be removed during her teeth cleaning session since she would already be under. It was a really long day. It was so hard for me to have her there, she get's very nervous anytime I take her to the Doctors or Groomer. The front du-claws are thicker & more sensitive to the dog to get removed. It's kind-of hard on them to have this procedure when they are older that's why they usually do it when they are puppies, but I knew it was necessary. They said she would be released at 4 pm but I had to check up on her during the day, I was going crazy worrying about her so I called at 2 pm & they said surgery went well & she was already sitting up looking around (so she had already come out of the anesthesia, yay!!) I told them I would be their early to pick her up & they consented. She was soooo happy to see me & I was soooo relieved to finally get to be holding her. She has a week of recovery time before she's fully back to normal, & then after 10 days she'll get her sutures removed. I am sooo sooo glad it is behind us & she will only be getting better from here on out. She woke up looking sore so I gave her a dose of her pain medication & she looked so much better. She started walking around & pulled both her back leg bandages off. She kept jumping up & down off of the sofa. She has her spark back in her eye. She's even barking at everything again like she own's the house. I Love You So Much Bella (xoxo) & am soooo thankful you made it through your procedure safely & are recovering so well!! Thank you Dr. Park, I can always trust that you will do a good job!

My week...

(Newlyweds)

This week has been interesting so far. Since we celebrated our New Year last week I decided that the beginning of this week would be a good time to start my resolutions. (I know....not a good sign. I'm already procrastinating the change that gets to take place in my life.) So on Sunday I got sick. Two days before this I was bragging to my sister-in-law how I haven't gotten sick this season yet & how amazing it was, then I had to open my big mouth. I don't have time to be sick, & I know everyone says that but Rick has a crazy busy week & I wasn't going to get a whole lot of help with Mickie so after suffering through Sunday & accepting that I really did catch a cold, I took care of myself the best I could (minus the naps) & I'm grateful to say that I am no longer sick. It only lasted 2 days!!! Can you belive it! Definately an answer to my prayers. I have never gotten off the hook like that. Usually when I get sick I'm sick for at least a couple weeks to a month. It just took till last night to feel good about being around others worrying it might come back or the slight trace of a cold might not really be gone...... What a blessing!

Tuesday Rick left at 7 am & was busy working till after 11 pm at his CCW class. So as you might remember we got "dumped" (quite literally) with snow & there was nobody to shovel it. Rick had done it before he left & it had to be done again. So I called up Rick & asked him how to get the snowblower started & did it myself. I am kind-of proud of myself. I never even considered using it before, it was always a man's job (it's crazy what you have to do when a man isn't around the house, it's scary to imagine what single women who are parents do) but it's a lot easier than shoveling (Except for all the fumes it puts out. Maybe I'm just being a wimp or I'm a lot shorter than Rick & I eat a lot more of them, but it was burning my throat.)

My brother had a birthday yesterday & he looks forward to them every year. It was good to see the family again after the hustle & bustle of the holidays. Also my Nana is leaving tomorrow after her extended stay since Dec. 18th. She always stays through Michael's birthday but I assumed it would be different this year because she was a newlywed but she is always thinking of others & knew how important it would be to Michael if she stayed for his birthday.

We will miss you Nana, but enjoy getting some well needed time to be a newlywed!

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was a very relaxing day but there are two things I want to remember always (& since I print out my blog periodically this is a good way of remembering it).
First of all I didn't want to cook dinner so we got curb take-out & we arrived a couple of minutes early & Mickie didn't want to sit in her car seat, so we got her out & let her stand in front of the steering wheel & she started dancing & I wished I had my video camera to record it because I've never seen her dance that dramatically ever! She was bouncing & then taking breaks to twist the knob on the radio up & down, up & down. Then she would turn all the temperature knobs the opposite direction they were set at. So the radio was blasting & the cold air was blowing. (LOL!!)People walking out of the restaurant were staring at our general direction probably thinking we were crazy punks & it was our daughter. (She cried the whole way home after we got her back in her car seat. Thank goodness it was only a couple of minutes away.)
Second, Rick's good friend from high school was lucky enough to be blessed with a little 7 lb baby boy last night at 10 pm. She was two days earlier than her due date & he has his Birthday on the 1st day of January. Isn't that an awesome Birthday!?! They let us run over and see there baby last night at 11:30. He had just been moved to the nursery when we got their so we got to see him get his sponge bath & all his tests done. He is sooo cute! I forget how tiny they start out. Congratulations Coby & Candice we are so excited for you guys!!!!

Our Holiday Season....

We all got together & made sugar cookies.

Enjoying pizza with family.

Enjoying Cold Stone. I don't know why but I almost enjoy ice cream more in the winter.

Rick & I helped Tiffany make chocolate dipped pretzels for her Christmas goodies to friends. (They turned out well!)

My cute little Christmas helper.

Mickie loves Bella. She follows her around when Bella's not hiding.

Mickie hugs & kisses Bella & gives her half eaten crackers that she's sucked on. Mmmm, lucky Bella! We took Mickie sledding for the first time. It got dark quick & she was tired & snow kept spraying in her face so I don't think she enjoyed it that much but we will try again in better conditions. She sure was adorable in her snow suit though!

Mickie's first Peppermint blow-pop sucker (well first sucker ever for that matter). I let her taste mine & she wouldn't give it back. She loved it!

Rick's Birthday. The holidays were crazy & Nana got married on Rick's birthday so we played it "low key" this year.

Mickie with Dad & Rudolph at lunch when we got to see Santa. (Thanks Melissa we really enjoyed the opportunity to go with you guys. It was a blast.)

Santa made his entrance in a Helicopter. You can see him out the window on the right side.

Can you see how much she was enjoying meeting Santa for the first time? (Yeah, not so much.)

On our way out from seeing Santa.

The two love birds wedding. It's so sweet to see my Nana in love at 80 & how kind Papa Joe is to her.

My munchkin. Doesn't she look like she's up to something? Like wanting to touch the hot fireplace!?!

Enjoying the Holidays with family.

My Gingerbread house this year. (Thanks Tiffany for all your work on the walkway!)

Mickie enjoying some sparkling apple Martinelli's. (Not really, it was empty. She just like sucking on the top of the bottle.)

Our annual family Christmas dinner.

My two favorite people about to dig into my bundt cake.

Our Dogs enjoyed their Christmas bones.

Even with all of Mickie's Christmas presents sitting around she was having a blast with this box that her kitchen set came in.

Definately Toddlerhood

I love this picture! It captures the feeling she's experiencing on the slide perfectly. She's SO cute!
My daughter has become a completely new child this weekend. She is all the more of a handful then ever before. I pretty sure she grew a couple of inches this week. She not only looks taller but keeps hitting her head on the table. She is becoming very clear on her words like mama & dada, adding to her vocabulary this weekend with such clarity the word "juice" which she seems to want all the time. Then there's the part where she has got a mind of her own & she is utilizing that to the best of her ability. She has also reached a kicking/hitting stage that I dislike terribly but when I tell her to stop after she's done one of the two, or both, (laughing like it's a game) she utilizes her female skills of leaning in for a kiss & laying her head down on my shoulder for a snuggle. (How do kids learn how to con us at such a young age?) Of course I'm going to melt when she's being adorable like that. Then she decided to stay up till 3 am two night this week. That's a record for her, of terrible nights in a week since she was a newborn. (Sigh) This too like all other stages will pass, I'll remind myself. I just can't help but Love her.

Funny!

I went down this slide right before he did & barely fit so I didn't know how he was going to but he wanted to go down it so I had to video tape it & he said when his feet reached the bottom his head was still in the tunnel so if he stood up he would have knocked himself out so he "rode it out." (He would only fit with his hands above his head.) It still caught me off guard to watch him come out so fast & just fall....anyway enjoy, it gave us some good laughs.