Screaming

Nicholas has taken to screaming in excitement on a pretty consistent basis through out the day. It is not a mere squeal of joy, but an "I'm riding a roller coaster and having the most fun of my life" scream. It is very jarring to one's nerves especially in our combo living/dining room which is not yet furnished. He does it while playing with Patrick, while chasing the cats (which I strongly discourage) and when any appliance is turned on (vacuum, blender, coffee grinder, etc.). I have always said that we were a quiet family of three until he came along. Since about four months of age, he has brought quite a bit of attention to himself through vocal expression.

We have been on spring break this week and Chuck was home for the last two days installing new ceiling fans, a new garbage disposal, arranging the garage, building shelves in the closets, doing yard work and installing a new faucet. I am sure there was more but it is making my brain hurt to think about it all. Let me say again how much I love this place we are living. It is so well planned. There is a park/tennis court/pond combo almost around every corner. There are trees and wildflowers blooming everywhere. The walking trails and convenience of shopping/dining is wonderful. We have neighbors that are actually close to our age and have kids Patrick's age.

Now I must close with some disgusting occurrences of the past week involving Nicholas this time instead of the pets. Monday, Nicholas threw his tooth brush in the toilet. Tuesday, Nicholas played in the litter box while I was cooking dinner. Yesterday, Nicholas picked up a big piece of dog poop in the neighbors yard and when I said "No, Nicholas!" he proceeded to scream and run away.

Here are a couple of old photos I meant to post before we moved....

Sadness, today

I can't sleep. We have had a great weekend. Chuck's boss is not a morning person, so Chuck has been going in early and has been home by 5 or 6 for the last three days. We feel so blessed to have moved to this street with so many children Patrick's age. We had dinner with neighbors last night and felt like a normal family. However, on the way to our neighbor's house last night, Chuck informed me, why, his best friend, Brian, had just called. He and his wife, Dee, are divorcing after 10 years. They met while we all lived in Austin 15 years ago. Brian was Chuck's best man and then 2 years later Chuck was Brian's best man. I am heartbroken. One good thing is at least they don't have children. The other sadness is that my mom's best friend Betty died today. Mom called last night and told me that they didn't think she had much longer. Betty and my mother met when they were 6 years old and were friends from then on. They both moved around early in their marriages but manged to both end up in WF. Betty was always a wonderful constant in my life. She would waltz in our house smelling of cinnamon gum and perfume dripping in gold jewelry with not one hair out of place and say, "Hey there, Margot!".I loved how she was always so upbeat. She will be greatly missed and remembered.

Goodbye old house...

Hello new...

Master Bed

Master Bath

Loft

One of two identical boy's rooms

Boy's bath

Front Living Room

Dining Room

Den

Kitchen & Breakfast

Pool

Back of house...Hope you enjoyed the tour. Oregon pictures hopefully coming soon!

That Darn Cat...

got out for an hour last night and somehow managed to get bitten on his hip. Now, besides the traumatic tail accident 5 years ago, this is the THIRD time he has been bitten on a the hind quarters by another animal. It is so weird because he is the most laid back scared cat you would ever meet. So, we are back to the vet tomorrow. He is still on his laxatives and we are monitoring his trips to the litter box (Correction: I am doing the monitoring, Chuck is completely irritated by the expense this darn cat's bum has cost us over the years!). We will be boarding all three animals for the next 5 days, anyways, as we are going to Oregon for a family reunion with my dad's side of the family. My grandmother, Valentine, just turned 91, and my brothers and I have not been to see her since 1998. I can't believe it has been 10 years. So much has happened! Chuck was with us on that trip, however, Brandi wasn't because her and Richard had just started dating and of course there were not any great grandchildren yet.

I finally found the charger for the camera so pictures of the new house should be coming soon. Nicholas is really a cutie pie these days. He is always looking like he is up to something. He is ready to engage in play at any moment and is always flirting with strangers. I really have to watch him as he charges toward escalators with out any concern or climbs to the top of the big kid playscapes squealing with delight as I tell him to come back only to have him laugh and go further. He has also mastered the fine art of blowing his nose. It was funny the other night when I heard Patrick yell, "Ew, Nicholas, stop blowing your nose on my robe!". He is loving drawing, dancing and helping clean. I am fortunate to have another great little helper. The other morning in church, it warmed my heart when I opened the pew provided red Bible, and he insisted on closing it, saying "Bible" and patting it. We don't have a red Bible. Even though we were visiting a new church, I felt happy that he understood where we were.

Toto, we are not at Lake Cities anymore...

Yesterday, the boys and I visited our one and only Church of Christ in our township. Two words...old school. Upon arriving, I tried to make eye contact with the throng of people we were passing through to enter the building, yet still no one greeted us. I was a woman with a six year old carrying a toddler. Doesn't that scream "Hello, how are you?"? Upon sitting down in the back row, I noticed the pulpit was sporting the token COC over sized wing back chairs. The song leader approached and started leading singing (BTW, he was of an older generation...much, much older). Then, everyone stayed seated during the singing. I was quickly having flashbacks to my mom's hometown church as we sang "He is Everything to Me, to Me.." in a slow funeral type dirge. Next came communion. I was really missing Lake Cities when the children go up front to give and are dismissed to children's church. It has been a long time since I have visited churches. I feel blessed to have been part of such a great congregation. Anyways, the boys were really good during the service, but I am afraid that this will not be our church home.

De*bstipation

I learned a new word yesterday...deobstipation. I will spare you the gory details. I think I should just rename this blog "My Three Disgusting Pets". I forgot to mention in my last post that the day of Nicholas' unfortunate encounter with the coffee table, Bentley had to go to the vet for a double ear infection. Apparently, Springer Spaniels are quite prone to ear problems due to the fact that their ear canal is always covered. So, over the last week I have had the job of cleaning out Bentley's ears with a bulb syringe of chlorhexadine soap, rinsing with ear cleansing solution and then applying antibiotic ointment twice a day. This has not been that bad, so perhaps Bentley wouldn't really make the disgusting pets blog. However, Baby Kitty would definitely be at the top of the list. Baby Kitty lost his tail 5 years ago in a very traumatic accident that I will refrain from posting about as to not turn your stomachs. Anyways, yesterday morning I realized that Baby Kitty could not poop and had not been pooping for a few days. We found a nearby vet and after anesthesia, deopstipation, an enema and $271.00 later, he was as good as new. We are to give him an oral laxative twice a day for the next week. New house with new carpet, wood floors and tile...nice.