the view from here...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
This week in the Holland house...
We've been back home in Florida for one week now. We've had a pretty busy week considering we're on summer "break"! It's been a fun busy though, well most of time, and for me anyway...don't ask Nathan how his week has been. I've spent his money and put him to work this week!
We got home about 8:30 last Saturday night and boy were we all glad to get here. We'd stopped on Friday night in Mobile, AL to spend the night. Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and headed out for another 8 hour day in the car. It actually took us 10 hours to make what should have been an 8 hour trip. Emma had to pee EVERY HOUR!! Since I had limited the drinking I wasn't sure if she really had to go or just wanted to get out at a gas station in hopes that Nathan or I would have a weak moment and let her have some candy from those mile long candy isles they have. I would try to distract her and put off stopping but would see that she is either a great actress or she really did have to go. She'd squirm and whine and say "I haf to go weely bad! Pweese stop Daddy!" and then she'd get this deer in the headlights look (which she can do really well with those huge eyes she has) and she'd say "Oh no, heeah it comes! Heeah it comes!!" Her voice getting an octave higher each time. Before she could get it out all the way the second time, Nathan would be headed for the exit, an exhausted and perturbed look on his face. I'd quickly get Emma out of the car, dragging Taylor along as well to make her go too even though she would argue that she just went an hour ago and didn't need to go again. I knew it'd be just our luck that if I didn't make her go too, we'd get 10 minutes down the road and then she'd start in about needing to stop. So here we go again, into another disgusting gas station bathroom, me grossed out and aggravated dragging a sluggish and whiny Taylor in one hand and hanging on to a prancing, skipping Emma in the other hand. My aggravation growing with each drag and skip, knowing that there's no way Emma could be skipping and prancing like that if she had to pee that badly and wondering if Taylor could feel any more like dragging dead weight.
Finally on into the afternoon, the potty stops had slowed down and I was able to take a little nap. Which was a good thing considering the mood I was in. The day before I think I had cried all the way to Mobile pretty much...sad about leaving Arkansas and knowing I wouldn't be back there until Christmas and wouldn't see many of my family members until then and they wouldn't get to see my new baby until it's more than a month old...reflecting on the sadness we went through and were still going through after losing Memaw...knowing that I wouldn't get to see my sister-in-law as her pregnancy progresses and see my new nephew when he's born...add to that the hormones of pregnancy and as you can imagine I was a mess of emotions. So I really needed to nap to keep my mind occupied. Anyway, I wake from my nap to Nathan saying, "Oh, crap!" "Dang it!!" and we're coasting off to the shoulder of the road just 100 yards short of an exit ramp. The air in the car was hot and stuffy and I noticed the a/c was off. I groggily asked what we were doing to which he answers "I was trying to make it to this exit before I stopped AGAIN!! to get gas and we just ran out." I just stared at him and asked through gritted teeth, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!! AND JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING TO DO NOW?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ...blah, blah, blah, blah!!" I was so mad at him. To his defense, he had planned to stop at an earlier exit to fill up but when he got to the exit, it didn't have any gas stations, it was just an exit to another highway so he had to keep going and this was the next one we came to. So I laid it on thick about how he should've done things differently and then really poured it on when I realized that Taylor, Emma and I were going to have to sit there in the hot car on the side of the interstate by ourselves while he walked to the exit and then to the nearest gas station to get a gas can and fuel. He really didn't need all that from me since he was already aggravated about it and knew he'd have to walk in the heat and then have to spend extra money on a gas can (which by the way, those places will rip you off on! They know you're in need and desperate I guess, so they benefit from it.). So he left, cell phone in hand (I had insisted he take it in case someone stopped to kidnap us while he was gone.) on his mission to get us going again with strict instructions from me to "MAKE IT FAST, BUDDY!!"
So obviously, we weren't kidnapped and he made it back with enough gas to get us to a station. He was sweat soaked by the time he returned and mad about what he'd had to pay for the tiny plastic gas can but I didn't cut him any slack, you know. He got the silent treatment for a while, which he was probably more appreciative of than offended by considering the tongue lashing he'd received earlier.
Sunday morning was father's day. We all woke in a good mood and well rested after sleeping in our own beds for the first time in 3 weeks. We went to church and then afterward Emma informed Nathan that since it was his day he got to choose where we were going for lunch. To my pregnancy-induced-craving joy, he chose our favorite Mexican place down the street. Whoo-hoo, chips and salsa, here we come! :)
On Monday, I had my monthly doctor's appointment and got my appointment for my ultrasound for the next day. Taylor and Emma went with me and got to hear the baby's heartbeat. We were all excited about getting to find out if we're having a boy or girl on the next day!
When we got home, I started my quest to find bedroom furniture for Taylor and Emma. Since our 4th bedroom is used for Nathan's office, Taylor and Emma are going to share a room and let the new baby have Emma's smaller room. I wanted to find matching twin beds for their room and go ahead and get them settled into their room together as soon as I could so that they could have most of the summer to get used to sharing a room before school starts again and the baby gets here. I wanted to do it early because I wasn't sure how well they'd do sleeping in the same room. By Wednesday, I had priced furniture at every place possible and finally settled on some and ordered it online that morning. Much to my impatient glee, the furniture shipped that day!
Tuesday we all went to the imaging clinic for the ultrasound. All four of us plus the technician squeezed into the tiny room to see our baby. I'm only 20 weeks now so the baby still looked a little alien-ish. The lady got lots of pictures of her face and head, her foot and a picture of her with her arms up next to each side of her face. Then she finally got to the one picture we were all waiting for. First we made out the v-shape of her little legs and then in the center of the V, we all looked closely...and nothing. A perfect v shape with "no danglies" as the technician put it. Looks like we're having another girl! Taylor wasn't very excited about another girl, she really thought it would be a boy this time and she kept asking, are you sure it's a girl? Emma was glad. Mostly glad about getting out of that room to go to McDonald's for a happy meal though. Nathan and I were happy that it's another girl too. We didn't really prefer one to the other, just want it to be healthy whatever it is. Nathan's been asked several times if he is okay with another girl and not getting a boy. He always says that he's happy it's a girl, that he enjoys his girls and he also says "your girls will always take care of you." Which seems to be true.
Wednesday, I started my search for bedding for the girl's beds. Good grief, that stuff is outrageously expensive! Well, my taste in it is anyway. Nathan is much more conservative in this area than I am and I knew that since he'd let me get all the furniture that I'd wanted, I was going to have to find a bargain on the bedding. I searched and searched and couldn't find ANYTHING I liked, in the colors I needed that was in our price range. I just redecorated Taylor's room last year and got her a black and white printed comforter and made all of the accessories a combination of pink and lime green and black & white polka dots. So as to not have to replace all of those accessories, I wanted to stick to the black & white with lime and pink theme. This day, I didn't find one thing that would work.
By Friday, I had all of the girls furniture here! I was so excited that it had only taken two days to order it online and get it here! So my entire day Friday, I was cleaning out Taylor and Emma's closets and toys. It was an all day job, not exaggerating one bit! I took out 5 rubber tubs of clothes that no longer fit from their closets to save for hand me downs, 6 trash bags of toys and clothes to take to goodwill and four bags of things to throw away. I took apart Taylor's day bed and moved it and the mattress out into the hallway for Nathan to carry down to the garage. After I had stopped using my changing table with Emma, I removed the front rail and moved it into Taylor's room to use as a dresser and stand for her TV. So I removed Taylor's things from the drawers, took her TV out of her room (they no longer will have a TV in their room which will be a good thing!) and put the rail back onto the top. The good thing about having hardwood floors is that it makes it easy to move heavy furniture by yourself. I slipped folded wash cloths under the feet of the changing table and slid it back into Emma's old room. Sure, I could've waited until later that afternoon when Nathan finished working and let him help me but like I said before, patience is not in my vocabulary when it comes to this stuff. I'd much rather do it all myself. That way everything gets done how and when I want it to! :)
I definitely paid for my bull headed, stubborn impatience later that night. It was close to 7 pm and we'd not had supper yet and everybody was getting hungry. I waddled to the couch to lay down as by this time after all that I had done that day, I was exhausted and not feeling well at all. Nathan had told me over and over that day, you're doing too much, you need to slow down or you're going to over-do it. But, you know me, I just HAD to get it all done and couldn't wait on him to help me. So anyway, by this time I had gotten lightheaded, nauseated and weak and had to lay down for a while. Nathan went to pick up something for us for supper as he saw that I was in no shape to cook anything. When he got back with the food, I thought I was going to puke when I smelled it. I couldn't eat a thing. And if you know me, you KNOW that I must've been really bad off if I couldn't eat! An hour and a half later and I'm still stuck on the couch not able to move much without having the urge to dump my guts. Then I realized that Taylor's room was empty and she'd have to sleep with us if we didn't at least get her bed frame and mattresses set up.
So I convinced Nathan that it had to be done so we got up and got busy. I wasn't much help since I was still feeling dizzy and weak but we managed to get both beds set up so that the girls could sleep there that night. After getting their excited little bodies into their new beds, I headed for my bathtub for a long bubble bath soak! I felt a lot better after that and went straight to bed and crashed thinking for sure that they next day I'd be bedridden!
Saturday morning, after a cup of coffee, I was ready to get started again. Our day was spent putting together the girl's headboards, nightstand and dresser. We got those pieces put together and then it was time for Nathan to take Taylor to a birthday party. I couldn't take her to this one because it was at a skating rink and she'd need me to be out there to help her skate. Couldn't you just see that? Me out there trying to help her skate for the first time while trying to keep my balance. I have a hard enough time keeping my balance on my own flat feet, put me on wheels and you're just asking for a disaster! It didn't take any convincing at all for Nathan to see that it would be much safer for Taylor, me, and the unborn if he went instead! While they were gone I continued my online search for bedding. I finally conceded that I would have to just go with the same bedspread that I had purchased for Taylor last year. The black and white print that I got at Wal-mart. I wasn't happy about it because I really wanted these other ones at JCPenney but they were just too expensive. So when Nathan got home, I headed to walmart to pick up what I needed for their beds. When I got there, I found two twin comforters that were almost exactly like the ones I had wanted from 'Penney's' and they were on sale for $21!!!! (You gotta LOVE Wal-mart!!) I was so excited! Since I had saved money on those, I was able to get the curtain to match them AND found lime green throw pillows on sale for $4 too! Whoo-hoo!!! I also found the sheets that I wanted on sale at Target. Was it my lucky day or what?!! Nah, I don't think it was luck. I think God was rewarding me because I had finally decided to do what Nathan had asked me to and go with cheaper bedding. It had taken me a couple of days to give in but I had finally "submitted to my husband" and changed my attitude about it without giving him any lip concerning it. So yes, God had rewarded me. :) I got the girls beds all made up and looking pretty last night, just in time to unmake them and tuck them in. They were both excited about their new room and loved how it looked. I'll post a picture of it later, when I finish rearranging the pictures on the wall and get the curtain up. I plan to do that today! :)
And now it's Sunday. The day of worship and rest. I guess by now you've figured out that since I'm blogging on Sunday morning, I'm skipping out on the worshipping part. Now don't go judging me just yet! Some time around 7 this morning, Emma came into our room and crawled into bed with us. She does this every morning and wakes us up saying "My bewey is hungwy! Wet's go get some bwek fest, Mama! Come on, Mama, git up!!" This morning when I reached over to her to get some cuddle time, I noticed she felt hot. I couldn't find my thermometer so I had to use an old ear thermometer that I wasn't sure even worked anymore. I used it on myself first and each time I got like 96 point something so I figured it might be one or two degrees lower. I tried it on Nathan too, (as he lay there asleep..hee hee!) and it read 94 degrees. So I knew when I used it on Emma I would probably need to add a couple of degrees. Her temp. registered 100.5 in one ear and 101.5 in the other! I gave her some Motrin and she seems to be better now. She doesn't have any other symptoms so I'm not sure what's going on with her. So anyway, that's why we're home this morning. Nathan didn't go today either, he's getting his things ready to go to Oregon for a week. He has a training thing he has to go to with the Air Force. He flys out tomorrow and won't be back until Friday night. He's got to get his bags packed, get all these tubs of clothes out to the garage (good luck with that one! Our garage is going to have to be cleaned up and things straightened up first.) and then make a trip to the Goodwill store. Looks like the "rest" is going to escape us today too.
Well, you're probably sick of reading this by now...if you've not already hit the X box at the top of your screen. I'll post a picture of the girl's room once I get it finished today so you can see what I've been doing over the last week since we've been back home.
Talk again soon!
We got home about 8:30 last Saturday night and boy were we all glad to get here. We'd stopped on Friday night in Mobile, AL to spend the night. Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and headed out for another 8 hour day in the car. It actually took us 10 hours to make what should have been an 8 hour trip. Emma had to pee EVERY HOUR!! Since I had limited the drinking I wasn't sure if she really had to go or just wanted to get out at a gas station in hopes that Nathan or I would have a weak moment and let her have some candy from those mile long candy isles they have. I would try to distract her and put off stopping but would see that she is either a great actress or she really did have to go. She'd squirm and whine and say "I haf to go weely bad! Pweese stop Daddy!" and then she'd get this deer in the headlights look (which she can do really well with those huge eyes she has) and she'd say "Oh no, heeah it comes! Heeah it comes!!" Her voice getting an octave higher each time. Before she could get it out all the way the second time, Nathan would be headed for the exit, an exhausted and perturbed look on his face. I'd quickly get Emma out of the car, dragging Taylor along as well to make her go too even though she would argue that she just went an hour ago and didn't need to go again. I knew it'd be just our luck that if I didn't make her go too, we'd get 10 minutes down the road and then she'd start in about needing to stop. So here we go again, into another disgusting gas station bathroom, me grossed out and aggravated dragging a sluggish and whiny Taylor in one hand and hanging on to a prancing, skipping Emma in the other hand. My aggravation growing with each drag and skip, knowing that there's no way Emma could be skipping and prancing like that if she had to pee that badly and wondering if Taylor could feel any more like dragging dead weight.
Finally on into the afternoon, the potty stops had slowed down and I was able to take a little nap. Which was a good thing considering the mood I was in. The day before I think I had cried all the way to Mobile pretty much...sad about leaving Arkansas and knowing I wouldn't be back there until Christmas and wouldn't see many of my family members until then and they wouldn't get to see my new baby until it's more than a month old...reflecting on the sadness we went through and were still going through after losing Memaw...knowing that I wouldn't get to see my sister-in-law as her pregnancy progresses and see my new nephew when he's born...add to that the hormones of pregnancy and as you can imagine I was a mess of emotions. So I really needed to nap to keep my mind occupied. Anyway, I wake from my nap to Nathan saying, "Oh, crap!" "Dang it!!" and we're coasting off to the shoulder of the road just 100 yards short of an exit ramp. The air in the car was hot and stuffy and I noticed the a/c was off. I groggily asked what we were doing to which he answers "I was trying to make it to this exit before I stopped AGAIN!! to get gas and we just ran out." I just stared at him and asked through gritted teeth, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!! AND JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING TO DO NOW?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ...blah, blah, blah, blah!!" I was so mad at him. To his defense, he had planned to stop at an earlier exit to fill up but when he got to the exit, it didn't have any gas stations, it was just an exit to another highway so he had to keep going and this was the next one we came to. So I laid it on thick about how he should've done things differently and then really poured it on when I realized that Taylor, Emma and I were going to have to sit there in the hot car on the side of the interstate by ourselves while he walked to the exit and then to the nearest gas station to get a gas can and fuel. He really didn't need all that from me since he was already aggravated about it and knew he'd have to walk in the heat and then have to spend extra money on a gas can (which by the way, those places will rip you off on! They know you're in need and desperate I guess, so they benefit from it.). So he left, cell phone in hand (I had insisted he take it in case someone stopped to kidnap us while he was gone.) on his mission to get us going again with strict instructions from me to "MAKE IT FAST, BUDDY!!"
So obviously, we weren't kidnapped and he made it back with enough gas to get us to a station. He was sweat soaked by the time he returned and mad about what he'd had to pay for the tiny plastic gas can but I didn't cut him any slack, you know. He got the silent treatment for a while, which he was probably more appreciative of than offended by considering the tongue lashing he'd received earlier.
Sunday morning was father's day. We all woke in a good mood and well rested after sleeping in our own beds for the first time in 3 weeks. We went to church and then afterward Emma informed Nathan that since it was his day he got to choose where we were going for lunch. To my pregnancy-induced-craving joy, he chose our favorite Mexican place down the street. Whoo-hoo, chips and salsa, here we come! :)
On Monday, I had my monthly doctor's appointment and got my appointment for my ultrasound for the next day. Taylor and Emma went with me and got to hear the baby's heartbeat. We were all excited about getting to find out if we're having a boy or girl on the next day!
When we got home, I started my quest to find bedroom furniture for Taylor and Emma. Since our 4th bedroom is used for Nathan's office, Taylor and Emma are going to share a room and let the new baby have Emma's smaller room. I wanted to find matching twin beds for their room and go ahead and get them settled into their room together as soon as I could so that they could have most of the summer to get used to sharing a room before school starts again and the baby gets here. I wanted to do it early because I wasn't sure how well they'd do sleeping in the same room. By Wednesday, I had priced furniture at every place possible and finally settled on some and ordered it online that morning. Much to my impatient glee, the furniture shipped that day!
Tuesday we all went to the imaging clinic for the ultrasound. All four of us plus the technician squeezed into the tiny room to see our baby. I'm only 20 weeks now so the baby still looked a little alien-ish. The lady got lots of pictures of her face and head, her foot and a picture of her with her arms up next to each side of her face. Then she finally got to the one picture we were all waiting for. First we made out the v-shape of her little legs and then in the center of the V, we all looked closely...and nothing. A perfect v shape with "no danglies" as the technician put it. Looks like we're having another girl! Taylor wasn't very excited about another girl, she really thought it would be a boy this time and she kept asking, are you sure it's a girl? Emma was glad. Mostly glad about getting out of that room to go to McDonald's for a happy meal though. Nathan and I were happy that it's another girl too. We didn't really prefer one to the other, just want it to be healthy whatever it is. Nathan's been asked several times if he is okay with another girl and not getting a boy. He always says that he's happy it's a girl, that he enjoys his girls and he also says "your girls will always take care of you." Which seems to be true.
Wednesday, I started my search for bedding for the girl's beds. Good grief, that stuff is outrageously expensive! Well, my taste in it is anyway. Nathan is much more conservative in this area than I am and I knew that since he'd let me get all the furniture that I'd wanted, I was going to have to find a bargain on the bedding. I searched and searched and couldn't find ANYTHING I liked, in the colors I needed that was in our price range. I just redecorated Taylor's room last year and got her a black and white printed comforter and made all of the accessories a combination of pink and lime green and black & white polka dots. So as to not have to replace all of those accessories, I wanted to stick to the black & white with lime and pink theme. This day, I didn't find one thing that would work.
By Friday, I had all of the girls furniture here! I was so excited that it had only taken two days to order it online and get it here! So my entire day Friday, I was cleaning out Taylor and Emma's closets and toys. It was an all day job, not exaggerating one bit! I took out 5 rubber tubs of clothes that no longer fit from their closets to save for hand me downs, 6 trash bags of toys and clothes to take to goodwill and four bags of things to throw away. I took apart Taylor's day bed and moved it and the mattress out into the hallway for Nathan to carry down to the garage. After I had stopped using my changing table with Emma, I removed the front rail and moved it into Taylor's room to use as a dresser and stand for her TV. So I removed Taylor's things from the drawers, took her TV out of her room (they no longer will have a TV in their room which will be a good thing!) and put the rail back onto the top. The good thing about having hardwood floors is that it makes it easy to move heavy furniture by yourself. I slipped folded wash cloths under the feet of the changing table and slid it back into Emma's old room. Sure, I could've waited until later that afternoon when Nathan finished working and let him help me but like I said before, patience is not in my vocabulary when it comes to this stuff. I'd much rather do it all myself. That way everything gets done how and when I want it to! :)
I definitely paid for my bull headed, stubborn impatience later that night. It was close to 7 pm and we'd not had supper yet and everybody was getting hungry. I waddled to the couch to lay down as by this time after all that I had done that day, I was exhausted and not feeling well at all. Nathan had told me over and over that day, you're doing too much, you need to slow down or you're going to over-do it. But, you know me, I just HAD to get it all done and couldn't wait on him to help me. So anyway, by this time I had gotten lightheaded, nauseated and weak and had to lay down for a while. Nathan went to pick up something for us for supper as he saw that I was in no shape to cook anything. When he got back with the food, I thought I was going to puke when I smelled it. I couldn't eat a thing. And if you know me, you KNOW that I must've been really bad off if I couldn't eat! An hour and a half later and I'm still stuck on the couch not able to move much without having the urge to dump my guts. Then I realized that Taylor's room was empty and she'd have to sleep with us if we didn't at least get her bed frame and mattresses set up.
So I convinced Nathan that it had to be done so we got up and got busy. I wasn't much help since I was still feeling dizzy and weak but we managed to get both beds set up so that the girls could sleep there that night. After getting their excited little bodies into their new beds, I headed for my bathtub for a long bubble bath soak! I felt a lot better after that and went straight to bed and crashed thinking for sure that they next day I'd be bedridden!
Saturday morning, after a cup of coffee, I was ready to get started again. Our day was spent putting together the girl's headboards, nightstand and dresser. We got those pieces put together and then it was time for Nathan to take Taylor to a birthday party. I couldn't take her to this one because it was at a skating rink and she'd need me to be out there to help her skate. Couldn't you just see that? Me out there trying to help her skate for the first time while trying to keep my balance. I have a hard enough time keeping my balance on my own flat feet, put me on wheels and you're just asking for a disaster! It didn't take any convincing at all for Nathan to see that it would be much safer for Taylor, me, and the unborn if he went instead! While they were gone I continued my online search for bedding. I finally conceded that I would have to just go with the same bedspread that I had purchased for Taylor last year. The black and white print that I got at Wal-mart. I wasn't happy about it because I really wanted these other ones at JCPenney but they were just too expensive. So when Nathan got home, I headed to walmart to pick up what I needed for their beds. When I got there, I found two twin comforters that were almost exactly like the ones I had wanted from 'Penney's' and they were on sale for $21!!!! (You gotta LOVE Wal-mart!!) I was so excited! Since I had saved money on those, I was able to get the curtain to match them AND found lime green throw pillows on sale for $4 too! Whoo-hoo!!! I also found the sheets that I wanted on sale at Target. Was it my lucky day or what?!! Nah, I don't think it was luck. I think God was rewarding me because I had finally decided to do what Nathan had asked me to and go with cheaper bedding. It had taken me a couple of days to give in but I had finally "submitted to my husband" and changed my attitude about it without giving him any lip concerning it. So yes, God had rewarded me. :) I got the girls beds all made up and looking pretty last night, just in time to unmake them and tuck them in. They were both excited about their new room and loved how it looked. I'll post a picture of it later, when I finish rearranging the pictures on the wall and get the curtain up. I plan to do that today! :)
And now it's Sunday. The day of worship and rest. I guess by now you've figured out that since I'm blogging on Sunday morning, I'm skipping out on the worshipping part. Now don't go judging me just yet! Some time around 7 this morning, Emma came into our room and crawled into bed with us. She does this every morning and wakes us up saying "My bewey is hungwy! Wet's go get some bwek fest, Mama! Come on, Mama, git up!!" This morning when I reached over to her to get some cuddle time, I noticed she felt hot. I couldn't find my thermometer so I had to use an old ear thermometer that I wasn't sure even worked anymore. I used it on myself first and each time I got like 96 point something so I figured it might be one or two degrees lower. I tried it on Nathan too, (as he lay there asleep..hee hee!) and it read 94 degrees. So I knew when I used it on Emma I would probably need to add a couple of degrees. Her temp. registered 100.5 in one ear and 101.5 in the other! I gave her some Motrin and she seems to be better now. She doesn't have any other symptoms so I'm not sure what's going on with her. So anyway, that's why we're home this morning. Nathan didn't go today either, he's getting his things ready to go to Oregon for a week. He has a training thing he has to go to with the Air Force. He flys out tomorrow and won't be back until Friday night. He's got to get his bags packed, get all these tubs of clothes out to the garage (good luck with that one! Our garage is going to have to be cleaned up and things straightened up first.) and then make a trip to the Goodwill store. Looks like the "rest" is going to escape us today too.
Well, you're probably sick of reading this by now...if you've not already hit the X box at the top of your screen. I'll post a picture of the girl's room once I get it finished today so you can see what I've been doing over the last week since we've been back home.
Talk again soon!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Hello again...
Sorry it's been so long since my last post! We're in Arkansas right now visiting family. Nathan's grandmother passed away a week ago Sunday so we came up here a week earlier than we'd planned. We're here for 3 weeks now. Aside from sad days we've had since his "Memaw's" passing we've had a good time seeing everyone here. We've not been up here since Christmas so it was nice to come back for a good long visit.
I don't have long to write so I've got to keep it short. I have to tell you this one funny story that happened to us since we've been here...
We got to my parents house this past Saturday afternoon and when we drove up there was this little dog that walked up to our car. (My parents have never actually OWNED a dog however there have been several that have taken up residence at their house since I was a kid. They seem to feel welcomed here however you would not call either of my parents "animal lovers"~that is unless it MOOs!) This little dog is a cross between a Jack Russell and either a Corgi or a Dachshund. It has a fairly stocky body and would be an average sized dog but it walks on 2 1/2 inch legs. When I got out of the car, I just looked at this "so ugly it's cute" little dog and said to Nathan "What is that?!" It actually belongs to a neighbor from down the road (my parents live out in the sticks so there are no close neighbors really, or streets for that matter...just dirt and half paved roads.) Anyway, this dog belonged to him, the neighbor, but he works out of town or something and isn't home much to take care of it. So it has been hanging out here at their house for the past couple months.
My girls are just absolutely CRAZY about this dog and to be honest, the rest of us are pretty partial to it as well. It has the sweetest disposition and personality. It loves my girls and plays with them but won't jump up on them and isn't hyper as a normal Jack Russell breed is. He minds very well and is just a great little dog. (NO, we're NOT bringing it home with us...trust me the topic has come up several times from my girls! I like this dog but not as my own.) My girls get up every morning and look outside to see if "Jack" (whose real name is Cooter but we prefer to call him Jack for obvious reasons) is still outside. He has been every day and ready to play with them. They go out first thing, still in their pajamas to pet Jack and throw a ball for him.
Anyway, on Sunday afternoon Taylor, Nathan and I had walked across the pasture to my Dad's pond to fish for a while. ~and of course, Jack came with us. Nathan and Taylor decided to get into a little aluminum, flat bottomed boat and fish in it for a while. Jack and I stayed on the bank and fished from there. After a while I guess Jack decided that he wanted in the boat. So this little dog, goes swimming out to the middle of the pond and Nathan has to pick him up out of the water and put him in the boat. ha! It was so funny.
Later on they paddled over and I got into the boat with them. So all four of us are in this little boat, Taylor and Jack watching Nathan and I fish. Jack came up and was sitting beside me and as I reeled my bait in he saw it and jumped half into my lap and acted like he was going to lunge out and grab my bait on the end of my pole. So when I felt him do that, I took my elbow and tried to elbow him back into the seat. Instead, I elbowed him right off the seat and into the pond! He went under and wasn't coming back up! Taylor was screaming "Daddy, get him!!" Nathan was yelling "Why did you do that?!!" I was yelling "I didn't mean to just get him!!" All the while we could see Jack under the surface of the water paddling his little 2 inch legs for all he was worth but not making it to the top of the water. Nathan reached and reached and finally was able to grab hold of his muzzle and pull him closer to the boat but then he lost his grip on him. All this time, Jack has never broken the surface of the water...Taylor and I are still screaming. Finally Nathan caught hold of one of his legs and pulled him out of the water and into the boat. He had been under water for at least ten to fifteen seconds. Poor Jack coughed and sneezed up water for the next several minutes and then seemed to be okay. Taylor grabbed hold of him and said "Oh Jack, I was so scared for you! I thought my Mama had killed you!" ha!
Needless to say, Jack wouldn't sit by me the rest of the time we were in the boat. He sat really close to Nathan and even jumped up into his lap and laid his head on Nathan's chest. ha. He's doing fine now and is still playing with the girls everyday...however he doesn't get very close to me without lowering his body to the ground sheepishly and cowering down. Poor thing.
Well, that's all for now. Don't know if I'll be able to post again before we get back home on the 15th, but I should have plenty to blog about by then. Talk to you again soon!
I don't have long to write so I've got to keep it short. I have to tell you this one funny story that happened to us since we've been here...
We got to my parents house this past Saturday afternoon and when we drove up there was this little dog that walked up to our car. (My parents have never actually OWNED a dog however there have been several that have taken up residence at their house since I was a kid. They seem to feel welcomed here however you would not call either of my parents "animal lovers"~that is unless it MOOs!) This little dog is a cross between a Jack Russell and either a Corgi or a Dachshund. It has a fairly stocky body and would be an average sized dog but it walks on 2 1/2 inch legs. When I got out of the car, I just looked at this "so ugly it's cute" little dog and said to Nathan "What is that?!" It actually belongs to a neighbor from down the road (my parents live out in the sticks so there are no close neighbors really, or streets for that matter...just dirt and half paved roads.) Anyway, this dog belonged to him, the neighbor, but he works out of town or something and isn't home much to take care of it. So it has been hanging out here at their house for the past couple months.
My girls are just absolutely CRAZY about this dog and to be honest, the rest of us are pretty partial to it as well. It has the sweetest disposition and personality. It loves my girls and plays with them but won't jump up on them and isn't hyper as a normal Jack Russell breed is. He minds very well and is just a great little dog. (NO, we're NOT bringing it home with us...trust me the topic has come up several times from my girls! I like this dog but not as my own.) My girls get up every morning and look outside to see if "Jack" (whose real name is Cooter but we prefer to call him Jack for obvious reasons) is still outside. He has been every day and ready to play with them. They go out first thing, still in their pajamas to pet Jack and throw a ball for him.
Anyway, on Sunday afternoon Taylor, Nathan and I had walked across the pasture to my Dad's pond to fish for a while. ~and of course, Jack came with us. Nathan and Taylor decided to get into a little aluminum, flat bottomed boat and fish in it for a while. Jack and I stayed on the bank and fished from there. After a while I guess Jack decided that he wanted in the boat. So this little dog, goes swimming out to the middle of the pond and Nathan has to pick him up out of the water and put him in the boat. ha! It was so funny.
Later on they paddled over and I got into the boat with them. So all four of us are in this little boat, Taylor and Jack watching Nathan and I fish. Jack came up and was sitting beside me and as I reeled my bait in he saw it and jumped half into my lap and acted like he was going to lunge out and grab my bait on the end of my pole. So when I felt him do that, I took my elbow and tried to elbow him back into the seat. Instead, I elbowed him right off the seat and into the pond! He went under and wasn't coming back up! Taylor was screaming "Daddy, get him!!" Nathan was yelling "Why did you do that?!!" I was yelling "I didn't mean to just get him!!" All the while we could see Jack under the surface of the water paddling his little 2 inch legs for all he was worth but not making it to the top of the water. Nathan reached and reached and finally was able to grab hold of his muzzle and pull him closer to the boat but then he lost his grip on him. All this time, Jack has never broken the surface of the water...Taylor and I are still screaming. Finally Nathan caught hold of one of his legs and pulled him out of the water and into the boat. He had been under water for at least ten to fifteen seconds. Poor Jack coughed and sneezed up water for the next several minutes and then seemed to be okay. Taylor grabbed hold of him and said "Oh Jack, I was so scared for you! I thought my Mama had killed you!" ha!
Needless to say, Jack wouldn't sit by me the rest of the time we were in the boat. He sat really close to Nathan and even jumped up into his lap and laid his head on Nathan's chest. ha. He's doing fine now and is still playing with the girls everyday...however he doesn't get very close to me without lowering his body to the ground sheepishly and cowering down. Poor thing.
Well, that's all for now. Don't know if I'll be able to post again before we get back home on the 15th, but I should have plenty to blog about by then. Talk to you again soon!
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Perspectives of a Drama Mama by Julie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.