Hank the Dog

Editor's Note: Um, yeah, we power washed the back of our house since the taking of many of these pictures. Also, I try not to let Ellie run around naked...too much.

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Loss

I just got back from the emergency animal clinic. I was woken up at 11:30 tonight by Hank the Dog having a seizure. He kept having one right after the other and it was the scariest thing to watch. By the time we looked up the emergency clinic, found a blanket to carry him to my car (he weighed 96 pounds), and drove him to the nearest clinic (15 minutes away), his body temperature was too elevated for too long. After doing a few procedures to try to save him, they ended up putting him to sleep. I feel like I have just had so much loss in the past two weeks, y'know? Maybe when I am not so tired (or sick, am coughing up a lung) I will be able to put it all into perspective and will quit feeling sorry for myself. But tonight (or rather this morning), I just feel very sad.

Bullets

• Our refrigerator went out yesterday and the earliest a repairman (or woman) can come out is next Wednesday. How can we live without a fridge for over a week? Also, I realized the fridge was out when Ellie told me her milk was "yucky." Does that make me a bad mother?
• A few days ago, Ellie and I played with two neighborhood boys that were around 7 or 8. Now they come over every day to see if we can come out and play. I think they really just like her pink Jeep.
• When we sat down to dinner last night, Ellie said, "Time to pray." We always pray before eating so this wasn't surprising, but when she proceeded to put her two hands together in a steeple and said, "God is good, God is great, Amen.", we were totally shocked. She normally folds her arms while we say a more original prayer. My guess is that they pray at daycare, but that seems to be a little insensitive to those students who might be Hindu, Agnostic, etc. And it's not like Montessori is known for being a religious school.
• Ellie has taken to grabbing our chins and saying, "Look at me, Mommy, look at me." Yet another thing we blame on daycare.
• Can you tell I am having a hard time letting Ellie go back to school? I hate the thought of anyone else raising my child. She does seem to be slowly adjusting to being back at school, although she still won't take naps. She is one tantrum after another in the afternoons.
• On a bright note, my classes are going rather well. My second year teaching is so much less stressful than the first. Of course, this is only the first week so maybe my little gangsta's are just hiding out.

Super Saturday

Yesterday was a busy day for us. Ellie and I woke up early and drove out to Spring Creek Park to watch the first cross country meet of the season. Ellie wore her little Nike's so she could "go running" and it was so cute to watch her little legs and arms pumping as she ran all over the course. A lot of the parents commented me on her good form and her status as a future runner. She is getting brainwashed early that running is the only real sport.
The finish line was right by the playground so Ellie was able to take a break from all her running and I was able to snap some pictures of the runners. Tom's team took first place in both Varsity and Junior Varsity. A great way to start out the year.
Ok, Ellie really did have fun even though she looks completely miserable in the picture above. What is with that face? Probably sick of me taking her picture every few seconds. After the meet, we drove up to the school to work in my classroom. Well, I worked while Ellie proceeded to pull everything out from my desk drawers and draw with chalk all over the tables.
Then, we went over to Sabrina's house so Ellie could dance with Kolby and Olivia. Sabrina's kids ask to dance to Momma Mia! several times a day and Ellie is really getting into it, too. I use the term dance loosely as they mostly just run in circles around the room. Naturally, I videotaped it.

Momma Mia! from texasholly on Vimeo.
After making sure Ellie was thoroughly worn out, I took her home for a nap and then we all reconvened at Dan and Sabrina's in the evening to play games and eat ice cream cookie sandwiches. I am so addicted to the Ticket to Ride game so I pretty much made everyone play it even though it takes forever. And then I threw a spectacular fit when I lost. No, seriously, I threw a fit. It was quite embarrassing. It wasn't so much that I lost, because I am used to that, it was just that I was so close! Ah well, it was still the perfect way to spend my last Saturday of freedom before school officially starts on Monday.

This and that

Ellie is still struggling in the mornings when I drop her off at daycare. On the way there, she tries to talk me out of it, saying things like, "Go to the library, Mommy? Go to the store?" Like if she gives me better alternatives then I might suddenly change my mind. And when we pull up in the parking lot, she will usually start begging me to "Stay with me, Mommy, stay with me." Heartbreaking, I tell you. But she is always happy when I pick her up and she will tell me how she likes her teacher, Mandy, and how she had fun. Her teacher told me that during singing time, Ellie will belt out a song, but it will not be the song the rest of the class is singing. I just smiled and nodded because Ellie does that during church, too.

Tom and I both had the day off because of training we had completed during the summer so we spent the morning working in our classrooms and then took in an early matinee showing of Momma Mia!. I loved the music and made Tom stop at Best Buy on the way to get Ellie so that I could buy the soundtrack. The one song, Slipping Through My Fingers, made me think of Ellie and tear up.

I got my hair cut yesterday in a dramatic way. I dyed it a warm, dark brown and cut bangs. When I walked in the door, Ellie turned to me and started to say "Hi!" but then just stopped and stared in total confusion. She kept looking away and back again as if trying to figure out what kind of magic had totally changed my hair color. Tom likes it, though, and he compliments me like every 15 minutes. So sweet.

Back to school

Today was Ellie's first day back at school. I had Adam Sandler's back to school song stuck in my head the whole way there. I hated dropping her off, though. She plopped right down on the ground and refused to get up. I spent my whole day worrying about her, but when I picked her up she informed me, "I had fun at school, Mommy! I a big girl!" I noticed on the way home that she kept coughing. Surely she couldn't have caught daycare cooties already?

They moved her up to the transition class where they potty train the kids. I don't know if it is coincidence or not, but Ellie went poo poo in the potty for the first time this evening. We made such a huge deal out of it, you would think she won the Nobel Prize. Also, how lame am I saying things like "poo poo in the potty"?

Where a kid can be a kid

I managed to come out from under the covers long enough to take Ellie to Chuck E Cheese's this weekend. Places like that tend to make me shudder, overcrowded, loud, and cardboard pizza, but Ellie was in heaven.

More things that make me smile

Sabrina called and told me to open the front door and what do I find on my doorstep, but the most thoughtful gift bag ever:
She left a pint of Ben & Jerry's, a box of Thin Mints, an uplifting book, bubble bath, a People magazine, and a really sweet card. She accidentally grabbed People en espanol which totally cracked me up. Is she not amazing? I feel so very blessed to have family like her.

Meet Levi Daniel

I am having a really sad, sad day, but this makes me smile:
My new baby nephew being held by my adorable niece. He looks EXACTLY like his daddy. I can't wait til I get to meet him in person!

My poor abused child and other stories

This has been a sad week for me because it is my last week of freedom before returning to work. I worry about how Ellie will adjust to going back to school. I know it will be really hard for me to leave her. Sniff.

Today we made our last trek to the library, meeting up with Rosie, Sabrina, and the kids. Ellie was especially wild today, running around screaming while I sat back and chatted. Basically, I was one of those parents that I complained about when I worked there.

Ellie woke up this morning with a scratch beneath one eye. And then I accidentally gouged her other eye with my fingernail. So, by the time we got to the library, she looked like a cat had attacked her face. Plus, she insisted on wearing my sports watch which was ginormous on her little wrist. I am sure all my former coworkers at the library were really impressed with my parenting skills.

Onto more exciting news...my lil sis is at the hospital right now having her baby! Little baby Levi. I am so excited and nervous. Her timing was perfect....today is her due date and the day my mom flew in. I spoke to my mom a little bit ago and she sounded really excited. Considering this is her 19th grandchild, you'd think the novelty would have worn off by now. I'm glad it hasn't.

Twilight Party

Ok, this is my last Twilight-related post, I promise, and then I will go back to discussing Ellie's poo.

Last night, Sabrina threw the most fabulous Twilight themed party. It was so fun, I don't think I have laughed that much in a long time. Tom, Mark, and Daniel all escaped to Mark's house with the kiddos, so it was just girls' only. I came over an hour early to help set up and I was blown away with all the detail Sabrina put into it.Just check out those werewolf cupcakes Sabrina made. I feel exhausted just looking at them. She also made the main course (yummy cheese stuffed shells) and everyone else brought a side or a dessert. There was so much food. Before dinner, we all posed for a fierce vampire picture. One of the guests really dressed the part, even having her dentist husband make her some very real looking vampire teeth! All of you who know her in real life are so not surprised.After dinner we played the trivia game Sabrina and I put together. My pal Cody gave me the questions and they were really challenging. Everyone had a good time and the competition between Team Edward and Team Jacob was fierce. Team Edward won, though, and were rewarded with clever gift bags Sabrina had put together (included things like Marble cake mix for Edward's heart, vampire fangs, a comb for Jacob, nail polish for Alice, etc.).I'd say the party was a huge success. And tomorrow we are having one more party to celebrate my dad's 59th birthday. Happy birthday, old man!

Who needs a pool?

Ellie asks to take a bath several times a day. She loves playing in the tub and will drag toy after toy to the bathroom to throw in there. I have saved the lives of several soft cloth dolls that were about to submerged. And of course she needs her floaties, you know, to ensure she doesn't drown. Seriously, she will play happily in there until the water is freezing and her fingers are shriveled. I like it because, now that she has given up her nap, this allows me a bit of free time. She also demands to brush her teeth about 10 times per day. What can I say? Clearly personal hygiene is one of her top priorities.

breaking dawn

I went to the midnight release of breaking dawn last night. I didn't even do that for Harry Potter. I just don't do crowds. But the lure of Bella and Edward was just too great. My sister in law Rosie went with me even though she had already pre-ordered the book online. We arrived at 10:30 and there was quite the line just to get into the store.
Once inside, it was so crowded that it was difficult to find the different activities planned. Rosie and I participated in the trivia and then she made me a "Team Edward" banner. I plan on sporting it for Sabrina's Twilight party next weekend.
You could even get a Polaroid taken with models posing as Edward and Jacob. They were really these young high school boys that looked NOTHING like I imagined Jacob and Edward looking. No way was I going to wait in line to get a pic with those young punks. The real craziness began at 11:30 when we were told to line up to get our copy of Breaking Dawn. Yikes. As happy as I was to get a copy of the book, I think I will not be attending any release parties in the future. Whew.

I spent my day reading Breaking Dawn and just finished an hour ago. Ellie was not too terribly neglected as she spent many happy hours playing with the dogs or with play-doh or in the tub (she took 3 baths today while I read on the bath mat). I even baby-sat my nieces tonight so she could get some human interaction. Anyway, the book does not disappoint (well, it disappoints a little) and I look forward to discussing it in great detail with Sheryl, Cody, Rosie, Sabrina, and anyone else willing to engage!