"Boo Boo Ride Car"

"Boo Boo ride car" again this morning for his last trip to the vet for a while. He was diagnosed with a type of Pemphigus - the "good" type, that is. While still an immune disease, Pemphigus is not as bad as Lupus. The vet had thought he would probably be on steroids indefinitely, but with his diagnosis, we are trying steroids for only 2 weeks to jump start healing on his falling off nose. This is also good news as the steroids are hard on little doggie bodies. He will be on a vitamin and antibiotic 3 times a day, indefinitely, but we'll take it. The vet hopes he will be able to come off of them eventually. In the meantime, the steroids should make him very hungry, so we're hoping he'll fill out a little, and the antibiotic is supposed to be taken either with a meal, or a piece of hot dog, peanut butter, etc. so I'm sure Bear will be quite pleased with that :-) I'll be sure to post a picture of the little guy as soon as his picture won't gross you out.

It's a good day for Boo Boo!

We Were "Those" People

Sometimes early in the morning, or anytime of day for that matter, a meal without protein just doesn't come close to cutting it. So this morning after we had a family run to the grocery store for our St. Patricks Day feast tonight, we stopped by McDonalds for a biscuit. We noticed the menu had lunch/dinner food on it, and thought that was strange. We ordered a biscuit anyway and we were rejected. It was 10:06 am. So, I got a happy meal instead, which is what I really wanted for breakfast, but didn't think I could get. (Breakfast of champions, right?) As we pulled up to the next window, the two of us were talking about how weird it was that they were already serving lunch. I'm sure you see where this is headed. Seeing as how we were at McDonalds, I decided they must not know what time it was. Yep, we were just the kind of people you would expect to see at McDonalds. The kind that have never heard of daylight savings time, or so you would think.

In other news, and in more important news, John Dickson had a terrible horrible no-good very VERY bad day yesterday. It all started with a family trip to Walmart. We turn into the parking lot and John Dickson throws up. Over. And over. And over again. All before we can park. We pull into a parking spot and get him out of his gross little seat. He had already taken his shoes off (surprise surprise) and so we just plopped his little bare feet into the next parking spot and stripped him down to absolutely nothing. We were also just the kind of people you'd expect to see in the Walmart parking lot. We wiped him down, gave him a new diaper, and dressed him in a pair of clean jeans we had in the car, a jacket, and some dirty socks. John Dickson had thrown up on his rain boots, and kept saying "uh oh boots". Yeah, the boots are the problem here... All I can say is thank God Adam and I were both there, and we couldn't have picked a better parking lot - a store full of cleaning supplies.

It doesn't stop there. Well, the vomit does. I went to go get my haircut yesterday afternoon, and when I got back, John Dickson was on his way to a black eye. Thankfully it did not turn into a full fledged shiner this morning, but it is a little puffy, a little bruised, and a little scratched. And unfortunately, the story doesn't sound much better than little dude looks. You see, he is mildly obsessed with "roun and roun." He LOVES to have Adam make the ceiling fan go "roun and roun." And so Adam had him up there and was spinning the fan and John Dickson was cracking up, and then they got too close and John Dickson took a fan blade to the eye.

Still not done. We have these picture frames that are animal shaped and they have the little clips that come up from the top and hold a picture. We don't have any pictures in them, but John Dickson loves to play with them. He has recently learned to link them all together, and he was just kind of swinging the 3 of them around, when all of a sudden... he whacks himself in the mouth and busts his gums open on the inside.

It was a rough, rough day for that little man. His appetite is almost back today and he is drinking like a champ. He pretty much has taken all of it like a champ.

Oh, and remember this?



Yeah, we don't recommend it. Turns out those Propst thighs can squeeze through the bars on the bottom and get VERY stuck. Then you have a screaming toddler, understandably so, and two adults sitting on the floor of the grocery store trying to be make shift jaws of life.

It's actually been a rough weekEND. Good thing DSS doesn't make surprise visits to our house. What can I say? We do the best we can.

Ahhh Single Parenthood...

I'm not sure we ever explicitly explained what our current situation is... After much searching in the upstate area for any job remotely related to wildlife biology, and after expanding our search to Columbia and North Carolina, I came across a really random job posting. There was no employer listed, and no job description. It simply said they were looking for a biologist/geologist. So two days later Adam got his career consultant (me) to update his resume, type up a cover letter, and send it in for him. I need a raise... anyway, they gave him a call the very next day and scheduled an interview for the following week. They made him an offer on the spot and two days later he accepted. There was a big bonfire to burn a lot of Trutech shhhh-tuff(remember, this is a family friendly blog), including all of the clean shirts, returning only the dirties. Try as we may to erase any and all traces of Trutech ever in our lives, little reminders continue to pop up around our house. But one day... one day... it will all be gone. In the meantime, Adam is loving his new job, and he's treated like a human being again. It's wonderful.

So... Adam is currently living with my sister and her husband during the week, and we get to see him on the weekends. You would think this would get easier as time goes on, but everytime he leaves it is only harder. The weekends are just never long enough - not that they ever were. Adam is the only person John Dickson will talk to on the phone, and he loves to call Daddy to say night night and give him tons of phone kisses. When Adam is gone, I get to be the favorite for a few days, but when he's back, its back to Daddy.

I was a little concerned about the work week single parenthood thing, but so far it has been really great. The greatest challenge is just logistics. Keeping a house ready to show with 2 indoor dogs and a John Dickson is a full time job in itself. That on top of working busy season and devoting approximately 10 hours a day to feeding myself and Henry has kept me busy. After work we come straight home and its dinner, bath and bed. I never realized before how much I took quick trips to the grocery store or to run other errands for granted. I try to limit that to Thursday nights now as that is pretty much the designated skip bath night. Today at work I had a deadline that was down to the wire, and had to pick up Bear from the vet and John Dickson from school. I got to both places with minutes to spare. Today was the first time I really didn't know how it was going to work... but it did.

"Family dinner" is definitely not a nightly occurrence in our household and we're lucky to hit it twice a week. John Dickson is usually so hungry by the time he gets home that its impossible to cook a meal. So he usually eats his own thing and then Adam and I eat after he goes to bed. With Adam gone, I usually am just warming up leftovers and so John Dickson and I eat together almost every night. I definitely wish Adam was there, but its nice for John Dickson not to eat alone. After we are living together again that is definitely something to work on!

So... when will we be living together again? In a few weeks I do hope! There has been a lot of talk about me going back to Blanchard, but everything is very up in the air right now. If they aren't able to bring someone on, then I'll be keeping my current job and hopefully living in Columbia - although I imagine that would be a lot of back and forth. I guess it also depends on the daycare situation. We think we've finally found a place - a lady who keeps kids in her home, but she can't even guarantee she has room. I really know very little about my life. Good thing Im not a worrier, huh? Well, except I worry about death more than normal. That's sorta a problem.

So, if you are still with me at the end of this long winded post... Bear had his biopsy done today. The vet took a wedge from his nose and two round spots from both of his ears. Bear did very well, and his blood work came back great. The anesthesia didn't seem to affect him too much, as he wolfed down a hamburger when he got home. Henry too. A sympathy hamburger. I. eat. all. day. long. We should have the results from the biopsy by the end of next week.

We've got a busy weekend planned, including shopping for a birthday present for someone turning two in a few weeks. TWO! Can you believe it? Two... So until next time...

No wonder he wasn't asleep...

An Update on the Golden Child

Bear went to the vet this morning, and she believes he has what google had us fearing he had... Lupus. It's not life threatening like it is in people (I think it is in people...), but it can be "disfiguring". I'm not entirely sure what that means beyond what is already happening, but Adam is going to call the vet tomorrow to ask more questions. I was so bogged down in trying to decide what our next course of action was that I didn't ask the appropriate questions. Anyway, his nose started showing a line of pink tissue on the very top sometime over the summer and it has progressively gotten worse. I took him to the vet twice, same clinic different vets, and they both kind of shrugged it off. Now his whole nose, including in his nostrils, and the insides of his ears (but not down in his ears, thankfully) are cracking, peeling, and even bleeding. The vet didn't think he was in pain, but just uncomfortable, based on his reaction to her touching him. It could also be another disease that attacks the immune system, or possibly something else, but the something else sounded the least probable. He returns Friday for a biopsy and we should know more next week.

Also, she wants him to put on 5 lbs. Ellie is supposed to lose 20 and Bear is supposed to gain 5... sheesh. She suggested putting him on the active dog dog food because it is more calorie dense - now why didn't we ever think of that? Eventually we'll get the two of them evened out. Ellie has been slimming down quite nicely and she may even be close to her goal.

When John Dickson woke up this morning I told him Boo Boo was going to ride in the car, and until we left, he was like a broken record "Boo Boo ride car". I tried to put John Dickson in the car before I got Bear, and he was very insistent that no, "Boo Boo ride car." It was maybe the best ride to school ever.

And in other doctor news, I'm getting bigger and Henry's heartbeat remains strong in the 140-145s.

All Caught Up

Here are a few more pictures from our Sunday afternoon. After our picnic and before the zoo, we hit up the playground. As always, John Dickson loved the steering wheel.



We thought he'd love the slide, but it doesn't really appear that way, does it?



We arrived right at feeding time for the elephants. Let me tell you, I've never seen elephants in captivity move that fast. John Dickson was mesmerized.



On the way home, that little man was tuckered out! (Remember that sleepless Saturday night?) His window had been down and his hair was all blown up from the wind. I thought this was impressive until I snapped the bed head pictures this morning. Suddenly this is child's play.



Sweet anyway, right?

Aaaand the obligatory bear picture:



And that's it! You're all caught up on the Kelley's. Until tomorrow, of course, when I take Bear to the vet to see what we can do to keep his nose and ears from falling off. Poor guy. And I go back to the doctor as well for my 5 month check up. Crazy.

Picnic

The weather was so beautiful on Sunday we decided to stop by Publix and pick up a picnic to take to the park. (We also went to the zoo for the 1000th time this year). John Dickson got bored at checkout and passed the time by inventing a new way to ride in the cart:



Seriously, all him.



We tried to make him eat his lunch before he could have some Cheetos, but he finally just decided to quit asking and start eating, without looking at either of us, with this perfectly innocent expression on his face.



I swear, the kid gets away with whatever he wants sometimes... we are powerless against "the face."

Morning Sunshine!

Big Boy Bed Update

Number of times waking up last night: 1
Number of tears: 0
Number of minutes to fall back asleep: .25
Culprits: Ellie and Bear
Time of crime: Absolutely no idea

It's 6:30 in the morning and John Dickson is STILL ASLEEP! WAHOO!!!! He's absolutely not in his bed and is lying on the floor, but he's asleep. What an excellent way to start a Monday :-)

Big Boy Bed! Sort of...

The big boy bed - we only had a few hours to improvise, so its just his crib mattress on the floor - looks pretty pathetic, no?



Ready for bed with his puppy



Even more pathetic, no?



Last night was sleepless. John Dickson went to bed around 7, woke up at 8, again at 10, again at 1, again at 4, and again at 7. At his 1:00 awakening, I left his door open and our door open so that he could come into our room. Adam woke up at 4 with John Dickson in the kitchen pathetically calling "Mommy..." He was lost in the dark. So pitiful. So tonight we let him cry it out, for all of 3 minutes - we were so impressed! When we went back to check on his quiet self, he was back in his bed. We put a sheet on tonight and tucked him in like a bug in a rug, hoping it would keep him from rolling off again. He has 2 pillows by the side of his bed. We'll see! Here's hoping for a full night's sleep!

Backtracking - Part III

Last weekend John Dickson and Adam had bonding time at the zoo/playground/Zaxbys.

Thanks to Adam getting to know a few members of the zoo staff, John Dickson got to go inside the orangutan exhibit!



Just kidding.

On the playground



Look of determination

Backtracking Pt II

John Dickson with Papa and Aunt Barbara at Ella's baptism. John Dickson was all about some Papa that day!



With Granna and Papa - I love this picture! The expression is priceless.



With Granna and Aunt Erin who I like less now because look at how skinny with a 3 month old. Who does that anyway?



We didn't get a family picture, but here is me and Adam with Ella!



Kissing the baby - we have come a LOOONG way since December!

Backtracking with Pictures

While you will just have to take our word that these pictures were in fact from the circus, here they are -

Ready for the show to start



Clapping for the acrobats



What in the world is going on?



Laughing with Daddy



Mesmerized

Today has been...

interesting.

John Dickson woke up around 7:30 and had a big bowl of oatmeal that somehow wound up all over the front of his body and in his hair. Outfit change #1. A little while later, Adam and John Dickson are throwing the football, and Adam goes to kick the ball - somehow his standing foot was on the bottom of his pajamas, and both feet went up in the air, kicking John Dickson in the head on the way up and knocking the two of them flat. John Dickson was fine and it so it was very funny. For me anyway. Around 11:30 John Dickson went down for a nap. He was yelling "be doh be doh be doh" in an unusually loud and spastic way, so I went to check on him. He was laying across the side of his crib railing, long ways, feet crossed. He heard me open the door, turned to look at me, and fell off the side onto the floor. There was no nap. The crib is in the attic. Shortly thereafter, John Dickson came happy squealing and running down the hall with none other than a thumb tack. No clue where he got it. Thankfully no injuries. He then enjoyed a cup of milk in our bedroom until he yanked the top off and his full cup of milk went all over the carpet. Being kicked down by Daddy and falling out of the crib - no tears - spilled milk - crying. John Dickson later had a tantrum because he wanted grapes, but by the time I got them all cut up, he was so crazy in his tantrum that he couldn't remember why he was upset in the first place, and he actually made himself throw up from choking on his own tantrum. Not spit up. Throw up. After being spun "roun and roun" approximately 359840 times and then piling his toys, ball and boat into the swivel chair and making those go "roun and roun" 68923 times, the day is finally winding down.

Whew. We're exhausted.

Whoa

23 months today for John Dickson and 20 weeks for me! Halfway there!

That's all.

New Things

John Dickson has been changing so much lately! If we thought his talking was taking off before, we had no idea! He is starting to put together 3 or 4 words at a time, and is majorly taking advantage of it. He knows we are suckers for "Peez help" along with a "mommy" or "daddy". He also asks for sauce and a "boon" (spoon) and eats his sauce with his spoon. And its so dang cute, we let him. He says "Henry" in the cutest way imaginable, and as if the name wasn't already set in stone, there is absolutely no changing it now! He has also taken a huge liking to the phrase "Oh wow" (an Adam Kelley daily staple) and he uses it to tell you how impressed he is at Olympic skiing ("Oh wow" - "oh wow" - "all done" - clapping - and 100% unprovoked), or to tell you how amazing he thinks Costco is (walking in is like stepping into Disney World for this dude). He LOVES "air pay" (air planes) and even points them out when they are just white streaks in the sky. He figured that out on his own - child prodigy this one is! I've already decided that task #1 when we move to Columbia is to set up a picnic near the airport and watch planes come and go. Of course he still loves trains,cars and trucks, but he has also developed a love for water and turtles. We thought he was asking for the moose in our closet the other day because it sounded like he was saying horse, but when we pulled it out, he immediately identified it as a moose! And he knows what alligators say and does the big clap thing with it - we didn't teach him those things - so I guess college - er - daycare tuition is paying off. HE LOVES EVERYTHING THAT GOES "ROUN AND ROUN". Period. The microwave. The washing machine. The vacuum. Making turns in the car. He's gotten very good at asking for "hep!" The other day he closed himself into the laundry room while we were eating dinner and he hung out in there for a while before he finally uttered a little "hep" and we opened the door. I'm partial, but they pretty much dont come any cuter than that.

Last weekend we went to Ella's baptism. We hadn't seen Ella in 2 whole months and she has gotten sooooo big already! She's got the perfect amount of chub in her little cheeks and is the perfect size to hold. I didn't think I'd break her this time, but she was still so tiny. The baptism was great and John Dickson let us enjoy the entire thing (no help from his apple jacks, of course...) He then went up for his first children's sermon with his Papa. He looked pretty handsome in his tie and british boy hat, if I do say so myself. He then went out with his grandparents where he discovered the bird on the playground that I believe you kind of rock on, and it was a one track mind for the rest of the afternoon.

Also last weekend was the greatest show on earth! John Dickson went to his very first Ringling Bros circus - and it was a success! He lasted for the entire thing. He asked for more when these guys did some sort of acrobatics on these flimsy pole things, and he told us with his hands that he didn't understand much else. He didnt know what was going on, but he did love it! And just when he started to get really restless, the elephants came out and John Dickson was absolutely in heaven! He wasn't too impressed with the tigers, and neither were we. Don't get me wrong, 10 tigers in a cage sitting on stools and not eating people - impressive - but that was the extent of it. They didn't do what they were supposed to and their only tricks were sitting in the begging position. Bear knows more tricks. Bear.

Pictures to come... I had more to say, but I typed it all up and it got deleted and I have to get remotivated to type it again...