Death-Defying Weenie Dog

We all know that dogs cannot fly. It is common knowledge that in the world of reality, they cannot. In fairy tales and Disney movies, maybe, but not in my world.
Apparently nobody told Summer that. Seriously.
Day before yesterday Danielle and I loaded up Kyle, Weenies Summer & Sadie, and her rat terriers Belle, BJ, and Joe into my way-too-small-for-five-dogs-and-a-baby car and headed to the park for a nice walk. It was a beautiful day. Nearly 80 degrees, and at the beginning of February no less. Anyway, we turned onto the road that takes you into the park and drove along at a leisurely 25 mph as per the posted signs. I had both Summer and Sadie on my lap, paws on the window sill, lapping up the joy of a car ride on a nice day. And then, boom.
Summer JUMPED OUT OF THE WINDOW!!! While I was driving! I hit the brakes, looked in my side mirror, and proceeded to watch her roll a minimum of 5 times. The poor thing yelped every time she went full circle. I opened my door as soon as I came to a complete stop and she promptly landed on her feet, trotted to the car and jumped in.
She seemed fine, especially considering everything she had just gone through. We went on our walk and about 3/4 of the way through the walk she started acting like her right front leg was hurting. Because of her excellent sad-dog face she got to ride the rest of the way to the car in the stroller with Kyle. They were both more than happy with the situation.
So anyhow, she is OK. I was worried about her back and her legs, but at this point she is not showing any signs of being in pain. Everything else is back to normal too, so hopefully she did not do any long-term damage. And hopefully she will only ever do it once. Dumb dog!

Octuplets!!!

OK, I simply have to blog about such an interesting, controversial subject.

The news all over the world is reporting that the woman in California who recently gave birth via c-section to octuplets is single, in financial ruin, and has 6 children already. Now, it is pretty much a fact that she is all of those things, unless the mother of the woman is lying to the news.

Might I be the first in my little world to say WHAT THE HELL!!!! Larabee and I are taxpaying citizens who provide a loving, stable environment for Kyle and it is going to 'financially strain' us to have 1 more. This lady, on the other hand, gets to have 14! Where does her income come from? It says she is going to school full time- who watches the kids when she does that? And who pays for it? California taxpayers? And if she is going to school and not working, where does she get the money to support her family? Welfare? I just do not understand.

It makes me think of our a person I know who 'loves kids', but screams profanities at her 4 children and hits them and God knows what else. And she is probably pregnant again for all I know. Why does she, who is in no way prepared (intellectually or financially) to have 4 children, GET to have as many kids as she wants? Why do I have to limit the number of kids I have because my husband does not want to strain our family financially to have many children? Why can't we just get our kids paid for too? We obviously provide our children with a much more stable environment. You have no idea how tempted I am to tell Larabee that we are declaring bankruptcy, moving home, getting on welfare, and having 10 kids. If we did that though, we would not be providing for our own.

Going on welfare because you have fallen on rough times is one thing. Rest assured my dear friend, it is not you I am talking about. Had Larabee not gotten this job we would have been in the same boat. You, however, do not plan your family around the system. You do not take advantage. You use it for what it is there for- to help you out when you need it. Good for you!

Ok, this turned into a rant more than anything, but honestly, unless this woman is independently wealthy or something, she should be fixed. Those children should be raised by a mother and a father, not by a mother, a grandmother and a grandfather because they have NO IDEA who their father is. *eye roll*

Too Many Pictures?

Is there such a thing as too many pictures? I used to think so because they take up so much room, and then they get out of order and it is very hard to keep them all neat.
Not now! Thank heavens for digital cameras! Yay for downloading pictures to your computer into neat, chronological files. Yay for always knowing when the picture was taken and for being able to easily find the ones you are looking for! Yay for having over 2500 pictures of your son's first year of life!
My husband laughs at me for how many pictures I take but I do not care! When I decide to print all of them out, then he will have room to talk because THAT would cost some moolah. As of now, he is only out batteries, and even those dont die that often. And Kyle will never have to wonder what he did as a baby or what he looked like at any point in his life! Oh yeah, and I am bound to have a few that will make him blush when I show them to girlfriends!

Stress and dealing with it

I know that everyone thinks that I have no stress in my life. Everyone thinks that I am in Texas and I don't work outside of the home so life is perfect. Please do not get me wrong- I know that I have it pretty good and that my life, in comparison to a lot of people's, is A-OK.
That being said I want to express the fact that I get stressed out too. I try not to show it. I try to hide it. I try not to dwell on it. Most of the time I am pretty good at all of the previously mentioned tactics. Most of the time. But most of the time is definitely not all of the time. *sigh*
In my starry-eyed youth I thought that my life as a twenty-something would consist of a family, a career, a home, and fantastic luck. Luck being when preparation meets opportunity, of course. I thought I would simply be superwoman and that, because I wanted it to be, everything would simply fall into place and be perfect.
Not once in all the time I spent daydreaming about my future did I consider the possibility that my husband and I would be 20K in debt for something that our insurance *should* have paid for. I paid our premiums every year before they were due and in full. I followed all of their rules. I had blind faith that because we were doing our part they would do their part. That is the way it works, right? Wrong.
Not once did I think that by the time I was 25 I would know what it was like to be a project coordinator and a construction manager, all without being paid to do it! Not once did I think I would owe money that could have paid for my child's education, and not because I got to go out and have fun spending it in the first place. I look at people in debt that spent it all on Gucci handbags and manicures and feel sick inside. We were responsible with our money and they weren't. We planned, we followed the rules, we didn't spend extravagantly or live above our means. Why u? Why did this have to happen to our family?
Not once did I think that I would know how the legal system works if you want to file a lawsuit against an insurance company. I feel so disheartened. I also know that just because you know something is not right doesn't mean that you will ever get justice. That is just a plain fact. Plenty of people get away with crimes and plenty of insurance companies get away with not paying for things because there are so many legal loopholes.

OK. Thanks for listening to my rant. I know that I have a ton to be thankful for. I have a happy, healthy, fantastic child. I have a husband who loves me unconditionally and who gives to his family selflessly. I have family and friends who love and support me and who would travel the world to rescue me if I need it. Our bills are paid, even if the credit cards are getting there more slowly than we would have liked. We don't deal with drug or alcohol addiction, mental or physical abuse, or crime in our daily lives. We don't have to worry about so many things, but likewise have to worry about things that 99.9% of people will NEVER have to deal with in their lives. All in all, I would rather be 20K, or even 100K in debt than have a horrible illness in the family or have us hurt or destitute. There are so many things that could make life worse for us. I definitely need to drop the attitude I have today and get back to my "glass is half full" mentality. This has been very cathartic.

Diary of a weenie dog

My name is Summer. I am a daschund. I am spoiled. Not as spoiled as I used to be, but spoiled none the less. I love kids, especially my Kyle. He is so funny. He loves kisses and laughs when he tricks me. By tricking me I mean this- the takes a piece of food, pretends he is going go give it to me, and then runs off laughing when he decides not to. I am OK with it though, mostly because I know I could take him down if I really wanted it. Like maybe if it was a piece of jerky. Or a hot dog. I love to go for walks and am getting used to the idea of running beside a bike for a weekly outing with the family. I like being in front though. I am not that much into chasing the ball, but I love a good game of tug-of-war as well as going crazy on the rope. Yep, I have it pretty good.

My name is Sadie. I am a chiweenie. I am not sure if I am a Mexican, a German, or an American. Or what language I understand. I am the first child, though I did have to give up some of my attention when Kyle was born. I told my mom that she was in labor, but she didn't listen. Now she realizes that I am not the only one that doesn't listen! That Kyle, man, he is a goldmine. He sits in his highchair and always shares with Summer and I. Mostly me though, because surely he loves me more. Right? I live for the ball, which is funny because I did not care for the ball when I was itty bitty. Now my mom says I must be part Lab. Like Summer, I love to go for walks and runs on the bike. If I am in the back though I am determined to get into the lead. I could probably pull mom and Kyle up a hill by myself if my darn collar would not choke me! I cannot help it though, it is in my nature. I am spoiled too, especially since I get to sleep in the big bed with mom and dad. I tunnel way down to the bottom of the bed and sleep on dad's side. He calls me his little foot warmer. I wont sleep on mom's side because she kicks too much. I learned that fast!

If we ever do anything funny I am sure that mom will update this blog thing for us. What is a blog? Can we eat it?

Mommy Musings

Do you ever look into the face of your child and feel so much love that you just burst into tears?

I have done that so many times in the last year that I couldn't keep count if I tried. I know it is abnormal because I am not an overly ga-ga woman when it comes to babies. However, when it comes to my baby I am a total sap. He smiles a certain way and it makes my heart melt. He cries because he is hurt and it makes my heart break. He sleeps in absolute peace and my heart is at rest. Amazing as it may seem, one little person can invoke any emotion imaginable.

Do you ever look into the face of your child and feel so much frustration that you simply feel like bursting?

Oh sometimes that boy is, well, such a boy! Today I had him throw his own diaper away and for the rest of the day he thought all his toys belonged in the garbage too! I guess I am just a good teacher, huh? Lately he has been fussy for seemingly no reason too. It is never predictable. It is always at sporadic times of day. I hope he is getting more teeth because then I have a reason and it makes sense. In the meantime it is hard not to just get frustrated. "Hold me Mommy" is his motto in the afternoons, which is great since I have 6 hands to get dinner ready with. This too shall pass. Someday I will be wishing that he still needs me so much.

Boys are gross!

I know that boys are made of snakes, snails, and puppy dog tails. I signed a contract when I brought Kyle home from the hospital stating that I would not deny him snakes, snails, or puppy dog tails. Much to Larabee's dismay (he hates snakes, which is funny because he is also a boy....strange). Also, much to Sadie and Summer's dismay. Their poor tails....

Anyway, about boys. Kyle loves gross things. I mean it too! He loves to let the dogs lick him. On the mouth. IN the mouth. He will 'kiss' them with his mouth open so they will lick him in the mouth. What is up with that?

Umm, he still puts everything in his mouth. And I mean everything. Sidewalk chalk (thank God for non-toxic), dog bones, sticks, rocks, his toys, other people's toys, his shoes, his socks, his toes, MY toes. Honestly, if he will put anything in his mouth why on earth does he still have a problem with eating rice. I dont get it!

Now this is almost too embarassing to write. I must now though, because I dont want to leave you hanging. He has always been infatuated with the dog's water dish. We tell him no on a regular basis and have even instated time outs to deal with this issue. Well, we have a new issue. If the bathroom door is left open Kyle will go play in his newly found water dish. Also known as the TOILET! I wash it often, but gross gross gross ick ick ick. I am soooo thinking of Disney's Tarzan when the baby elephant says "Are you sure this water is sanitary? It looks questionable to me!" Yep, that pretty much hits the nail on the head. Then, to top it off, he has to get his hands washed. Do you think that is punishment? Ummm, no. Not in the slightest. In fact, I think the last time he got into the toilet was because he knew he would get to play in the elusive running water if he did. The kid is smart, but if he only knew......