Our Traveling Dog Show

Steve and Pippin LOVE riding in the car. I enjoy it, too, because there is nothing cuter than my pups hanging out the windows with their ears and mouths flapping in the wind. The biggest challenge: me taking pictures while driving. :) All of these pics were taken standing still. Most of them were too blurry!

Pippin (L) and Steve (R) checking things out while we ran errands.

"Is this my good side, Mom?" Steve knows he's handsome.

"Hey Mom! Get a close up!" Pippin's such pretty princess.

It's okay if you call me the crazy animal lady. I gotta get my kicks somewhere and our three dogs and one cat give me smiles and love on a constant basis. Bigs licks & tail wags to all!

The Third Time is NOT a Charm . . .

. . . at least for us.

Thursday, 3/13 - we're pregnant. Numbers look good. Go Todd & Kristin! Monday, 3/17 - numbers don't look good. Chemical pregnancy at 5 weeks. Miscarriage #3. Shit.

My amazingly wonderful doctor called me after 5pm on Monday with my results. I don't know many doctors who will stay late to call a patient to tell her she's lost yet another pregnancy. My voice cracked and I asked him, "What next? How many times do I have to do this?"

What's next? Hell, I don't know anymore. Surgery is first. Most likely in the next few weeks. The name of the procedure is an acronym of four letters that I can't remember (when the doctor tells you that you're losing your third, your mind kinda shuts down). I'll be put under and the doctors will check all of my parts to make sure they are in working order. They will also remove a fibroid from my uterus that may be part of the problem. That's two of the four letters. I don't know the other two.

I'm a bit lost, but I'm in a fairly decent mood. I'm pretty frustrated, but I've had a pretty good attitude. I'm definitely in physical pain right now, but I thought this one would be easier since it's an early loss. In some ways it is easier, but I feel like absolute crap right now. The cramps keep hitting me like a ton of bricks. I have a pretty high threshold of pain, but they come out of nowhere and I just begin sobbing. Advil helps but only after about 800mg. I finally broke & called the on-call nurse tonight and she said it's okay to take my beloved pain pills. :)

Todd has been extra-sweet and so caring. How could I get through any of this without him? God, I love my husband. He's just an amazingly wonderful man. He's truly my blessing.

Am I sad? Sure. Will I survive? Yes. Oh, I've done this before ya know . . .

When will God hear my cries? Will we ever have the family we so badly want? Once again, I dont know. The one thing I do know - this sucks. Times three.

Stevie's New Friend

Our friends Glenn & Laurie and their three boys are visiting us this weekend. Josh, the youngest son who is two and a half, is very interested in Steve. He keeps calling out, "Steve-O!"

Steve-O just watches Josh and seems a little perplexed by this mini-person in his home. However, Steve has been very good with the boys (as have Mackey & Pippin). Judging from this photo that Laurie took yesterday, I think they've definitely made some new friends.

Kids Are So Funny!

We went to my mom's last night to celebrate my birthday. I told her I just wanted our family together since we weren't able to be together for Christmas. So my mom and Rick, Todd and I, Jeffrey, and Michael, Danielle, Aeva, and Will were there. (Pics to come) Mom made pizza & salad and there was cake & ice cream for dessert.

Well, little Aeva Claire has always had a wicked sense of humor. Although she's a few months from being five, she's been a funny kid since she learned to talk. Last night as we sat down for dinner, Aeva said, "I don't want the salad because it's icky." Danielle responded, "Aeva, it's nicer to say, "No thank you. I don't want any salad."

Aeva then turned to look at me and politely said, "No thank you. I don't want any salad because it tastes gross." I busted out laughing at that point. Sweet, funny little girl!

Ice, Ice Baby

Okay, so yesterday was more of a "Snow, Snow Baby" but there is no such song.

It started with me having duty after school. I can't say it was easy being pelted by mini snowballs falling from the sky while putting about 100 children into their cars to go home. I was so wet by the time it was over - but only the back of me. My clothes were soaked. Thank goodness for seat heaters.

I rushed my wet self out of school to get home before the roads got any worse. But, my car showed me we needed a pit stop:

Yep, no gas. That's okay. There's a station on the way home.

So I stopped at the gas station, opened my door, and WHOOSH! A huge gust of wind flung open my door - straight into a brick column. An expletive flew loudly from my mouth as the door flew open. Hopefully the wind carried it away from the 1000 other people getting gas with me.

Must get door fixed. Repeat expletive!!!

No problem. A car can be fixed. I can make it home safely. I'll just drive slowly and carefully. Like 20mph and no faster. Seriously. No faster.

That's okay. I only live about 20 miles away. I'll be home in an hour. (Note: It was 56 minutes.)

GO PEOPLE. UGH.

Streets were slushy, but at least I saw snow on my car. Will I ever get home? Why are my clothes still wet?

Must entertain myself in the process. Traffic? Check! Snow? Check! Entertainment? CHECK!!!

How befitting for this lovely day. God brought us snow. Robbie VanWinkle brought us music.

Welcome to Texas. It'll be 90 degrees tomorrow. :)

Kong, Ka-Kong Kong Kong

**For full effect of this post, sing title to the tune of the Thong song**

Our dogs have been barking like crazy since new dog-owning neighbors moved in across the alley. Today I pulled out the ever-neglected Kongs, filled them with some peanut butter, and let Steve & Pippin at 'em. Let's just say I revived a new trick to add to my bag. I hope it helps the barking some!

Steve was in love with his Kong but not too interested in me. I can't figure out how to rotate the video, so you'll have to rotate your head.

Pippin loved her Kong but was scared I would take it from her.

I knew in advance that a Kong would be challenging for Mackey, so he got spoon-fed. I became his new best friend for a short time today! :)

Happy dogs = Happy home!

What's Cooking?

We both had a difficult week of work. It's a VERY stressful time at my school as well as Todd's. Today I thought I'd make us some comfort foods. Although it looks like I was in the kitchen for a while, I wasn't. That was my favorite part!

For breakfast - Sausage Balls
I made a variation of the recipe on the Bisquick website. The recipe called for 1" balls, but I'm obviously a bit measurement challenged. They were so good though! (ps - There were twice as many earlier today!)

For lunch tomorrow: Grandma's Chicken Salad

My Grandma Tolle hooked me with her chicken salad. Of course, she doesn't have a true recipe. "It's just chicken, onion, celery, mayonnaise, and salt & pepper" is what she always said every time I asked how she made it, so I quit asking. Thanks to much practice and my food processor, I have it down and Todd LOVES it. He adds curry to his while I eat mine as is. I've thought of adding nuts or apples or grapes to it, but why mess with perfection? Cindy - if you read this, you can come over and have some. Only one sandwich though!

For dinner - Chicken Pot Pie

This is a variation of a pie a friend made for me once. It's so easy and so good. It's just two pie crusts, boiled & diced chicken, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup & Veg-All. When I asked Todd if Chicken Pot Pie sounded good for dinner, he responded, "Yes. My throat hasn't been feeling good this week and I think chicken would help." :) He wasn't sure as to why I was laughing. My mom's husband, Rick, swears it's the best he's ever had.

Next: Work on my food presentation skillz. I'm obviously not a professional chef or food photographer, but we don't starve around here!