October 31, 2008

A Weekend Apart...

So this weekend I am heading down to Waco for Baylor Homecoming!! I am so excited to get to spend tomorrow with my best friends and go back for all the Homecoming fun! Even though we are not staying a night, I figure tomorrow will be a long day away, so Allie is staying with my co-worker Beth for the weekend...

I am not worried about Allie not enjoying herself--next to Sasha, Beth's dogs are some of her favorite to play with! We went over once a week in May to babysit their son and then spent a weekend at their house in August dog sitting. They have 4 dogs and 2 of them love to play as much as Allie-girl does!

We went over this evening and I stayed for a while so she could get settled. I went with Beth to take her son trick or treating, and I decided to let Allie take her costume for a whirl--everyone LOVED the dog dressed up as a pumpkin! She did so well, even though she is very skittish, she managed herself pretty well!

I am just a little nervous about leaving Allie because of her escape habits! The only times I have left Allie were over the summer with my brothers (on 2 different occasions) and both times she got out [see Allie's Adventures for more details!] and one of those times she nearly got hit by a car. Now never in all the time that we've spent at Beth's house has Allie even tried to get out--she's so entertained by the other dogs! And there is nowhere around their fence where she can fit. So I have no reason to worry--I just am a little anxious. I'm just a nervous little mama this weekend, but I know she needs to learn to be left!

Hopefully she will have the time of her life this weekend and when I come back tomorrow night things will be great!

October 27, 2008

Guess Who's Ready for Halloween....


Allie was begging for a Halloween Costume...















And she even sat so pretty for pictures!

(Honestly, it doesn't even phase her--she walks around as if nothing has changed--like she's not dressed up as a giant pumpkin...)

October 25, 2008

Change of Scenery...

This weekend, Allie and I packed up to spend the weekend at my brothers' house (that's only about 10 miles away!) Jeremy and Aja are in San Antonio this weekend for a wedding, so we are here staying with their dog Maggie to keep her company! It has been a very interesting weekend, but has gone pretty well considering everything.

For those of you who don't know--Maggie is not particularly fond of Allie. Maggie's favorite thing is to just lay around and cuddle with people--Allie can't be around another dog without trying to play! So maggie tends to get annoyed with Allie pretty easily! And it has been hard for Allie because every time she realizes there is another dog there, she tries to go play.

But the girls have done very well and are handling things well! The only drama was figuring out where to sleep last night--they both wanted to be right next to me, but not next to each other so it was interesting! But this morning we went to the dog park (we spent half our time in the big dog park for Maggie and half in the little dog park for Allie!) and so they spent most of the day napping while I lounged and watched TV (which felt so good after a crazy week at work!)

Tonight my brother Nick came over to play Aja's new Wii! He was very patient to teach me how to work everything--and patient with me even though I am not very good at all! We had a good time playing Mario Kart! Now the "girls" and I are off to bed! Have a great weekend!

October 20, 2008

My Favorite Family to Catch Up On...

Thanks to the wonderful creation of DVR, I am able to watch many shows throughout the week. If you were to look through my series recordings you would find a variety of shows that I follow. Every Thursday I tune in to the laugh at the latest antics of the Dunder Mifflin Employees on The Office. And then I flip over to catch up on the lives of the doctors on Grey's Anatomy. And every Sunday I stay up "late" to watch the Walker family on Brothers & Sisters. But my favorite family to watch is the Gosselin Family on Jon and Kate Plus 8!

It's a reality show about the lives of Jon and Kate Gosselin and their 8 kids-- 8 year old twins and 4 year old sextuplets. This family quickly stole my heart after my mom introduced me to the show a little over a year ago. I was intrigued by their daily schedule and how this family held it all together! It probably doesn't hurt that 3 and 4 year olds are my absolute favorite and the little kids happen to be just around that age! Those of you who have heard me talk about this show know that I absolutely adore little Aaden-- I think it's a combination of his little glasses and all of the random facts he knows! (although Leah is giving him a run for his money as my favorite lately!) But all of their kids are so cute and funny. I have been captured by this show!

This past weekend I was at Walmart and saw the book that they recently wrote called Multiple Blessings. I decided to buy a copy--and I sat down and read it all! It's basically just a more in depth look at their story and how they got to where they are. It is a very powerful book and it brought me to tears many times! I really enjoyed it because they were able to go into much more detail about the role that faith has played in their lives. Basically the whole book is about how God has brought them to where they are--the many ways He has provided for them, the lessons He has taught them, and His perfect plan for their family. I highly suggest this book--it was a great read!

Now I am off to finally eat some dinner and tune in to watch Jon & Kate Plus 8!

October 18, 2008

State Fair!


Today Erin and I headed off to the state fair! We have been planning to go since this summer and have been saving our money to be able to enjoy it all! We went in with the plan to not worry about riding rides, but to try as much food as we could! We started off the day in the Chevy test drive area--they had it set up so you could test drive any of the Chevy vehicles around this parking lot and even do some "off-roading" on hills and dirt. So I hopped in and Erin drove us around in the Chevy Silverado! The best part was that this was free--by far one of the coolest things at the fair and it doesn't even cost anything!

Then we set off to get started on the food--we decided to start with something somewhat substantial, so we had a lunch of hot dogs and corny dogs! We were also determined to try some of the crazy fair food. There were many contenders for what fried food to try--fried coke, fried honey buns, fried cheese on a stick, fried banana, and of course this year's popular chicken fried bacon-- but we settled on trying fried cheesecake and fried oreos... and both were amazing and did not disappoint!

We also rode the Texas Star (the big ferris wheel) and spent times walking around all the exhibits. We ended the day watching a dog show where they had "doggie freestyle" and they brought out dogs that danced with their owners.

It was a very fun day and the weather was gorgeous for a trip to the fair!

October 17, 2008

Happy Birthday Allie!




Today is Allie's 1st birthday! I can't believe I have had her 7 1/2 months! Here's a glimpse of Allie on her first night home:

So last night we had a little party for Allie! Erin and Sasha came over to play and the girls enjoyed brownie sundaes (Aunt Aja made Allie some brownies last weekend!) and played hard! Here are just a few pictures of the evening!


Today Allie is spending her day playing at Doggie Day Camp at Petsmart--occasionally I take her there for the day and she absolutely loves it! So I figured what better way for her to spend her birthday. Oh she is just a little spoiled!

October 7, 2008

I love my job...

I love my job because I feel like everywhere I go I see something that relates to what I do...
Here are just a few examples!

*In my Bible Study last week it talked about how crucial and influential the first 3 years of life are! (which, just by the way is exactly why I work where I do--because we believe early is best!)
*I opened my email to find an article from Nicki about SIDS which is a very important issue for babies! (nicki and I both work every day with kids--even though they are different ages--we always end up sending each other things like this!)
*In the book I just finished last night, Sheila Walsh's Get Off Your Knees and Pray! she talks about a mom she knows who has a son with down syndrome and his precious spirit-- she discussed the struggles that this family faces, but she ends it by saying "I wish I could show you a picture of this young man's smile." And if you only knew how much I wished that for each of you too! Every day I work with kids who have varying degrees of disabilities, but they are some of the sweetest natured and most loving kids--kids who have smiles that can just make your day!

I also love my job because kids always come up with the cutest things...
*Today at an evaluation I had a little girl come and sit next to me and lean back on the couch just like I was and just look at me as if to say "are you watching me? I'm trying to be just like you!"
*At a visit today, one of my little boys just busted into a fit of giggles over nothing at all that was so contagious that his mom and I ended up laughing on the floor with him!
*Last week at a visit one of my little boys was pretending to take a bite of grapes from the book, and he refused to let the speech therapist turn the page until he had given a bite of grapes to mom, me, brother, and everyone else in the room!
...My job has been pretty stressful since the beginning of the summer--but those are the moments that make it worth it--the laughs and smiles and watching them grow and gain new skills!