Party

Wanna bite?

YAY!

It was hot...we were tired....We had SO MUCH FUN!

We couldn't have asked for a better first birthday party for our boy!

Jack is One!

The big party is not until this weekend, but we let him open our gifts on his very special day!


We had a fabulous cupcake party at Mrs. Kim's with his class

We pre-partied the day before his birthday by pulling up and banging on the trash can

The weekend before his birthday, we ate this on the 4th

We had nanny in town for a few days for much needed help and company

And the weekend before that, Jack hung out a little with Rayna at Van and Jim's basement grand opening party!

The past few weeks have been very hectic, but not to hectic for Dan and I to look back in absolute awe of the past year. Having Jack in our lives has been such a miracle to us both. It is so amazing to have this little guy be a part of our world every day. It sounds so cliche, but the truth is, it is hard to imagine our life before him. It seems like he has always been a part of us. He is so precious to us both. He is such a good and happy baby and we count our lucky stars every day for that. He is so soft, sweet, and snuggly. I love his curious nature and laid back temperament. His bubbly giggles melt away all the days troubles. I will always hold this first year of his sweet life close to my heart.

POOL PARTY!

Aiden Gates just turned 1!


I know he looks all young and innocent, but let me tell you, that little guy throws a mean pool party!


Jack had so much fun drifting away the afternoon....


Goofing around....

Making new friends.... (or making them cry- what did you do to the little man in the middle?)

Enjoying the company of old friends....

And just hanging out!

When we go to Alabama, it is always a whirlwind of visits. We have to keep a strict schedule if there is any hope of seeing even half of the folks we would like to see! I am so glad there was room in the visit for Aiden's birthday party. It is always so nice to see the Gates'. We lucked out and got to see the Carlisle's, too!

Great job on the new pool and...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDEN!

Boom Boom Pow

For the past 5 weeks I have been entering my calories on the Daily Plate on www.livestrong.com. I am pretty competitive with myself, so anytime I am counting calories or points, IT IS ON! After a couple of weeks, I realized that I could eat more if I exercised more to burn some of the calories I was eating ( who woulda thunk it?). I started walking in the morning. After a couple of weeks of just walking, that got boring so I decided to spice it up with some music. I downloaded some cool songs for a work out playlist on my i-pod. "boom boom pow" by the Black Eyed Peas is my favorite! I mean, anything with a clapping machine is pretty much gonna land on my fave list, and this one is front and center right now!
FYI- I programmed my calories on the Daily Plate to lose 2 pounds per week. After 5 weeks, I am pleased to report I am down about 10 pounds! I HIGHLY recommend it!

Summer Summer Summerti-me

Jack has been having too much fun lately!


I just love Summertime!




I cannot believe he will be a whole year old in 3 short weeks- It goes too fast:)
Stay tuned...pictures of Aiden's first birthday party and Jack's first pool party to come!

Our Heros!

Jack hanging out with his Grandma and Grandpa




He sure loves them!





They have been to babysit many times, now!






Seems like whenever we have the slightest little wrinkle, they are there to swoop in and make things just a little bit easier. Even if it is as simple as being in town to keep our precious boy while we go out and enjoy ourselves. Sure, we could get a ton of people around here to keep Jack for an evening. But really? It is SOOO nice to come straight home to a baby who is already sleeping soundly in his very own bed. And BONUS....get to sleep in while grandma takes the morning shift!
Or sometimes they help with things that are A LOT more complicated. Specifically keeping our boy Sam while he recovers from his amputation. I miss my dog and wish that I could see him and nurse him back to health myself. I know it is best for Sam to be where he can be cared for throughout the day while I am at work. I couldn't be more grateful that John and Joanne have selflessly volunteered to be there for our Sam when we can't.
We are so grateful for the help we get from them. Whew...whenever I think I am tired and ready for a break, I remember how I would feel if I did not get the breaks they give us.
THANK YOU!

My First Babies

Sam and Lucy-First Christmas


They still try to lay on my chest like this- just look at how cute and snuggly they are!

Sam...my crazy, sensitive, male dog. He is such a beauty. I have always loved the way he looks. I picked him out at the breeder. I wanted to call him Spot. Sam and I have a special relationship. He is my boy. I was a little concerned about how he would react once Jack was born. Would he be jealous? Would he act out? Mark his territory or some other crazy male dog thing? We brought Jack home and there was nothing but love from Sam and Lucy. They adore Jack and let me tell you, the feeling is mutual. Jack loves them too!

A few months ago, Sam hurt himself while Dan was out of town. He ran into a stick or something and got a horrible gash on the side of his head. In a moment of vanity for my beautiful boy, I actually considered taking him to the vet for stitches for the sole purpose of making sure it would heal with no scar. Since I was home alone with baby Jack, I opted for the liquid stitches and hoped for the best. It healed nicely and we went about our business. A few weeks later, Sam ran into something else and gashed his head and eye. It was bad. Dan took him to the vet and we put 5 different gels and drops in his eye and gave him antibiotics and pain pills for a few weeks. He got better. Then, on April 18th, Dan went to let Sam and Lucy in from the back yard and Sam would not move his leg. When I saw him, I knew. He had dislocated his shoulder. As recommended by our regular vet, Dan took him to an emergency vet where they put Sam under and put the bone back into place- or so we thought. The next day, Sam broke out of his bandage, so Dan and his dad took Sam back to the emergency vet where they checked him again. He was fine according to them, he had not pulled the bone back out of place. Whew! Or so we thought. We kept Sam bandaged for two weeks per the vets orders. After one week, we took him to our regular vet for a bandage check. All was well. I finally realized that something was not right under Sam's bandage. I could just smell infection and could see his skin was red and raw around the edges. Dan and I took his bandage off on Sunday night and took Sam in to our regular vet on that Monday morning. They treated him for what they called "hot spots" and gave us a spray to help with it. All was well- or so we thought. At the end of that week, Sam was not using the leg. At first I was not alarmed. I mean, his leg had been immobilized for two solid weeks. It made sense that it might take a day or two to get things moving again...but after a full work week, I knew we were in trouble. I took Sam toout regular vet that Saturday morning. Things were not good. The vet thought it looked like the shoulder was out again and that we should go see an orthopedic vet. Okay....this was not good. Dan's parents were already in route to take the dogs to Alabama while Dan was out of town. It was time for a second opinion. Well, Dr. Bryan in Decatur said Sam needed to see a surgeon. Joanne took him and the news was not good. From the looks of things, it appeared as though the bone had never been set properly back into place. While we went about our business, Sam had been hanging out, bound up, getting hot spots, with a dislocated shoulder that had never been set back. The cartiledge does not receive nourishment when the bones are out of place. It was surely dead. If the cartiledge could not be repaired, the sensible option according to the surgeon, was to amputate. WHAT? Surgically remove my beautiful dogs' leg? My coursing dog who loves nothing more than to just run at 35 mph? Needless to say, I was devastated. Still am. When the surgeon got in and had a look, it was worse than he expected. Poor Sam. He lost his leg on May 20th 2009. He has been recovering nicely ever since at John and Joanne's in Decatur. They are bringing him home tomorrow. I cannot wait to hold him. I have longed to hug and hold him for so long now. They say he is back to his old personality- in a word- spunky. I have butterflies I am so excited!

Sam- I have missed you and can't wait to have you back!