Grey Skies Can't Bother Me

This week was blustery here in Vegas.  We had a few storms pass right by us, and it made it nice and cold and windy.  Typical Spring for us.  Ick.  But, we've made it what we can.  The girls still go outside and play, but with their jackets on and tennis shoes.  Even that only lasts about 15 minutes.  I know, we're wimps now.  While it's dumping 20-30" of snow in the midwest, we're freezing our butts off in 50 degree weather.  

(Usually I woke up to a view like this - low clouds, raining or snowing over the mountains.  I loved this sight every morning.)

(Caylee, being cute, and loving her chocolate from Valentine's Day.  She is growing up so fast.  And becoming more tricky.  This week, it wasn't about scissors.  It was about putting Mommy's keys into the electrical socket to take the house for a test drive.  The bandaid on her finger?  Yup.  She got burned from the keys heating up.  I hope she learned her lesson.)

(I couldn't resist a little "Brother Bear" one morning when I walked out and found dew all over the cars.  Yeah, I'm THAT person.)

(I don't know how many more mornings the girls will have to wear coats to school.  We walk, or ride, with the girls next door.  All three have scooters and do figure eights as we walk to school.)

(Jocey took advantage of some arts and crafts on one blustery day, making this super cute mask.)

(Another day, she opted to just hang out on the couch with Bodie and snuggle for a while.  Bodie is getting pretty good and hanging out on the couch with us.)

(And this is how the evenings ended - a gorgeous pink and purple sunset on the clouds.  Absolutely lovely.  The only thing that would complete the picture are the majestic Wasatch Mountains.  Oh well, I'll take what I can get.)

(Bodie update: he is getting BIG!  Not quite the little ball of fur that we brought home almost 2 months ago.  Now, he goes running with Daddy every night and goes through 3 cups of food a day.  Holy crap, he's definitely teaching me things about having boys.)

Love

Ah, the week of LUV.  I wish that I had been feeling better though, enough to at least enjoy it.  But I still was able to squeeze a few things out.  While down, Jocey and I worked on her Valentines:

(We cut these out, had Jocey sign her name, and then put glow sticks through the holes.)

Then Caylee and I made cupcakes and Jocey decorated them for her school party.  Apparently they were a huge hit.

Jocey was all dressed up in pink for her school party.  What a cute kid.  She's growing up so fast.

(Jocey with her teacher, Ms. Curth.  She's had Ms. Curth for 2 years now.)

Thankfully, I planned a pretty simple dinner.  Grilled steak, baked yams, caesar salad, and homemade cheesecake.

(I was totally geeking out about the heart I made on the cheesecake with strawberries.)

Jon knows me pretty well.  I got a blender and Skyfall.  Kitchen stuff and James Bond.  I love my husband.  :)

And an update on Bodie.  He is now 3 months and 2 weeks old.  And he is growing like a weed.  He's able to jump on the couch now with no strain.  He can reach things on the table.  And he can jump like a little kangaroo.

This is what Jon calls "tucking in" - Bodie does this every time he falls asleep.  On his back, head cocked to one side, and legs straight up in the air.  It is hilarious.

One other major even that happened this week......

Caylee found the scissors and decided to use them, on her hair.  I am just sick.  I was hoping that her lovely locks would keep growing, that I could continue to braid her hair and put it in ponytails.  Not so much now.  I'm looking forward to a new week.

Superbowl, Sun, and Sick

My week started out like this:

(A little sushi - Seriously so good)

(The Superbowl! And the Ravens won!)

(I am so grateful that Jocey loves sushi.  She had a whole California roll to herself!)

 
And in the middle I had a little bit of this:

(This boy knows how to turn on the charm.)

(It's been a GORGEOUS week, and we've taken advantage of it with walks around the neighborhood and to the park.)

And this is how my week is ending:

Yup.  I'm sick.  Really sick.  Like pneumonia and ear infection sick.  I am so thankful for Jon's job that provides us with insurance which in turn provides me the ability to go to Urgent Care on a Sunday morning.  After 2 days of coughing so hard it makes me throw up, a killer ear ache, and almost falling over when trying to stand up, I finally gave up and went in.  And I'm glad I did.

Bodie is now 3 months old.  He went in for his second round of shots, and we found out that he has doubled his weight in just 4 weeks!  If he stays on this track, he'll weigh 80+ pounds by the time he is full grown.  He is starting to get longer in his body, he's stronger, and starting to learn some simple commands.

There has been a lot of drama going on around us, and I feel like my home is a little sanctuary right now.  I am so grateful for Jon and our relationship.  I am so thankful that I can trust him, that he is my best friend, and that he is a good man.  It's a scary world out there.  It seems like marriages are falling apart left and right around us.  And I am so glad that we have built our marriage on a foundation of friendship, trials, love, respect, companionship, and goals.  I just adore that man.

Sickies, dogs, and guns

We spent a good chunk of the week sick.  The neighbor kids had it, gave it to Jocey, and Jocey passed it on to me and Jon.  So, we all sat at home for the first half of the week, snuggled up in blankets, full of medicine for our fevers, and did nothing.  We got caught up on movies and took naps.  That was a positive thing.  

Bodie turned 12 weeks old this week.  He is getting big.  He goes into the vet this week and we'll see how much he has grown since we first got him 4 weeks ago.  He continues to crack us up, but is starting to add smarts and strength to his personality.  He took me and Caylee for a walk this week, taking a protective stance when we walked in front of a house with a pit bull in the yard.  He was all about protecting us from the bully.  I thought that perhaps his paws would not grow, but rather that his body would grow into them.  Not so much.  I think he will be 70+ pounds when he is full grown.  Possibly 80+.

The girls had fun together this week.  They pulled out their Nerf guns and had a good round of target practice on each other.  The only time they stopped was when they came to me to unjam their guns.  And then I got the occasional bullet to the rear.

We "laid" Shylowe to rest this week.  We had initially thought we'd spread her ashes on Lake Mead, but after a while, the thought of losing her again was too much for Jon and I to take.  Instead, we purchased a lovely urn for her, where we can keep her with us wherever we are.  We miss her so much, the wound is still very fresh.  We all have had our moments over the last month where we have had a break in the emotional dam and the tears have flowed freely.  We miss our sweet girl so much.

Peace week and growing puppies

They celebrated Peace Week at Jocey's school this week.  They had a different theme for each day.  

Tuesday was Red, White, and Blue Day:

Wednesday was Sunglasses Day:

Friday was Sleep In for Peace Day (Pajamas):

Jocey always likes getting dressed up for these fun days.  She could hardly wait until Friday so she could wear her comfy Christmas jammies.

Bodie is now 11 weeks old.  And he has doubled in size since we picked him up.  He is getting big enough that he can almost jump up on the couch, has cleared his exercise pen (24" in height), and is starting to mellow out a bit.  Oh, and he HATES the rain.  He was pretty ticked off at me when I made him go out in the rain.

Every night, Bodie "tucks" himself in.  He has a good exercise run with Daddy, then sprawls out on his back, puts his head to the side, and sticks his front paws straight up.  Even in his crate he does this at night.  Cracks us up every time.  I still have yet to capture him groaning every time we make a noise that wakes him up or whenever he moves.  It is absolutely hilarious.

And that is our week in review.  Besides lots and lots of rain, it was pretty quiet.

Baths, Ignite, and Homework

This week was fairly quiet.  It started with Bodie's first official bath, which was a family affair and quite the riot.  Check out our little wet rat, I swear he looks like he took off 5 pounds!

(Looking forlorn and pathetic.)

(I can't believe I got this shot!  If I could add a soundtrack to this picture....)

(Nice clean and soft puppy.  So freaking cute.)

I also started my second week of Ignite.  I love the Xyngular products and I can't wait to see what kind of progress I make this year on my health.

A captured homework moment.  I hope she'll remember the days when homework only took her 15 minutes.

And this is how we like to end our days, sweet puppy kisses from Bodie, for all of us.  He's really blending into the family well, adapting to playing with the girls.  It doesn't get much better than this.

Finally, a month where there is nothing really exciting to post about.  Just a bunch of cute puppy pictures.  I'll take that.

Bodie, Weather, and Teeth

This week was mostly about the baby boy that joined our family last weekend.  Bodie has taken to the family very well, turning into a momma's boy.  He follows me around the house, nipping at my pants, and telling me all about his adventures.  He found his voice this week.  Our favorite part about that voice is how he groans every time he stretches in his sleep.  He gets louder and louder every day.  It is hilarious.  He loves his big sisters too, cuddling with Jocey every opportunity he can find. He's still adapting to Caylee and not nipping at her all the time.  But she has started asserting herself with him, and he has started listening.  He really is a good boy, very sweet, and just a big fluffy ball of energy.

(Bodie LOVES his Kong, I had to get bigger treats to put in it though - he is way too smart for his own good.)

(Getting belly rubs from Daddy.  Jon is the only one that can do this, Bodie doesn't let the rest of us.)

(We had such nice weather one day, Caylee got out on her bike and rode around with Bodie right next to her.)

(The next day was super windy and cold, all Bodie wanted to do was watch the leaves blowing around on the back porch.  When I did let him out, he wouldn't do his business and come back in, he had to get in a good chase with the leaves.)

The girls had a pretty good week too.  Caylee is tired of Bodie getting all the attention, she wanted to do a little photo shoot of her own, poses and all.

Jocey lost tooth number 3 today.  She was pretty excited that she lost it on Grandpa Cook's birthday.  And her best friend, Jessica, lost her first tooth on the same day! She is starting to look like a little hockey player.

It's a boy!

Yesterday, we added a new member to our family - Bodie "Bodemeister" Yates.  He is an 8 week, 9 pound baby boy.

We adopted him from Adopt a Rescue Pet.  They rescued him, his 3 brothers, and their momma from a place out in Bakersfield, California.  They were 24 hours away from being euthanized.  The place was overpopulated and relocating, so they were going to euthanize most of the animals there.  So sad.

He is an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix (we think).  He is going to be a big boy when he grows up, probably weighing around 60 pounds.  That's 20 pounds heavier than Shylowe was when she was healthy.  BIG BOY!

He is so sweet and cute.  We just adore his blue eyes, his little bark, bounce, and cuddles.  Oh yes, he is a CUDDLE BUTT!  Oh, and Daddy's boy, already.  :)