My 900th Blog Post!

I started this blog back in July of 2007 and I can't believe that here I am, six years later, still plugging away. Now granted back then I was posting much more often but back then I had two fewer kiddos and much more free time. Since starting this blog we have...

• given Bubba and Pooks two more siblings and have now completed our family. Hence where the blog address comes from...I never changed it after having Peanut because I knew it was highly likely that we weren't done having kids. After Sissy, we are done (necessary surgeries have been preformed to assure that!) but now if I move to a new web address I'll lose all my comments and I don't want that either so here we are, at Bubba and Pooks. Forever! 
• moved from small town Kansas, to bigger town Kansas, back to smaller town Kansas, to San Antonio, Texas and now we reside in Northern Italy. Five towns (2 states and 2 countries) in six years!
• re-homed one dog (our beloved chihuahua, Tito) due to Bubba's allergies and asthma (Tito had a genetic shedding disorder) and recently added a more asthma friendly, Maltese/Min Pin named Lucca to the clan. This is probably for the better as Tito was pretty skiddish around a lot of people and well, our family is a lot of people.
• successfully potty trained four kids. We have moved four kids up into twin beds. We no longer deal with night feedings, diapers leaking, breast-feeding, moving the crib mattress down or baby wearing. We don't have to carry car-seats into restaurants and we have no one rear-facing anymore. We go to the store without bringing along an ''Arf'' or a puppy or a blanket. The kids are growing up! 
• been celebrated nine wedding anniversaries. When I started this blog, we were practically newlyweds!
• finally became a full-fledged card carrying member of the Swaggerwagon club. In May 2010, we succumbed to the minivan. I wasn't sure it would ever happen but I can honestly say that the sliding doors are super convenient and the "stow and go" is genius. My only regret is not getting the model with the installed DVD player.

It's amazing how much can change in six years. It really is. With 900 posts I've learned a thing or two (I think) and I'm making a couple changes.

I am going to start using the kids' real names. When it was just Bubba and Pooks, it was easy to keep straight and it was cutesy...but now I have four kids. Four kids whose names I constantly mix up or smoosh together. Add in the four blog nicknames and it's four too many. I am no longer a new mom, new to mommy blogging or scared about people knowing their names. Granted I'm not sharing our last name, social security numbers or street address...but they will be Ryan (Bubba), Logan (Pooks), Connor (Peanut), and Maggie (who I will still call Sissy 90% of the time because that's her real life nickname too). For most of my readers this changes nothing as you knew the kids' names anyway.

I am also going to try very hard to play catch-up on the trips I haven't gotten around to sharing yet. I know Nanaw is waiting for the final installments of ''Nanaw and Papa visit Italy''...which has almost a year now (crazy!).

It seems really, really cheesy when people say ''They won't be little forever'' or ''Time flies, pretty soon they'll be graduating'' and you think ''Right! I'm going crazy waiting for BEDTIME" but it's true. It really is. A lot can change in just a few years and in just 900 blog posts...

Bubba and Pooks, Summer of 2007:

Ryan and Logan, Spring Break 2013:

And now I feel old!

Meet Lucca!

B and I have been talking about getting another dog since the spring. We really felt like as chaotic as our life can be, that we were missing out. Rascal had Tito for years and has been alone for awhile...we didn't like that and he seemed to be turning into a "grumpy old man" of a dog. He has always done well with the kids. Never a nip or bite, but he isn't exactly playful. He never has been. Tito had a "baby" that squeaked everywhere he went. He wanted to play tug of war and he liked you getting down on the floor and playing with him.

Rascal is the opposite. He has no toys, as he doesn't play with them. He doesn't do tricks or play fetch. He's great to snuggle on the couch with, he's protective and he's a great little vacuum. He likes to look out the window and late in the evenings he loves to be petted. But he seemed lonely. Lots of naps in his days!

So we had been casually keeping an eye out for a dog. Originally I thought we'd be able to adopt a dog from another US family that would be moving. Pets can be expensive especially when traveling and unfortunately over here several get "pushed aside" so to speak. Well our issue was we needed a dog that we knew Bubba would do okay with. While he is "allergic" to dogs, he's never had a problem with Rascal. It's long-haired dogs and heavy shedders that he has a problem with. So we couldn't adopt just any dog, it needed to be a min pin, a Yorkie, a Maltese or mini dauschaund... A breed that we knew he would tolerate.

So we looked for puppies...yeah for €800 no thank you. So I watched the shelters but again, mostly big dogs. Finally I found an ad online for a litter of 3 dogs, the ad said they were Maltese/Miniature Pinscher mix. Sweet! Maltese are hypoallergenic and we know Bubba does fine with min pins! I talked to our Italian friend Manuela who graciously agreed to help us out. She called the seller, made arrangements for us to come meet the dogs and then went with us to translate. Long story short, we got a puppy. He is two months old and we named him Lucca:

We have had him a week now and in that time he has learned his name, gotten so used to his kennel that he willingly rests in it, and seems to really understand the while house training thing. He hasn't peed in the house in two days, but poop is another story. We're working on it though. Once today and as soon as I said "Lucca No!" He stopped and headed toward the door.

While Lucca and Rascal aren't sharing a kennel and curling up together just yet, they do get along well. They share a food dish and lay near each other. Rascal hasn't nipped or barked at Lucca...he tolerates him well.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meet Gotti:

Yesterday, B went out front to grab the newspaper and this little guy came right up to him. He had been in our yard, walked straight up to B and wanted petted. He was very clean, no collar but just the friendliest dog. I had B put him in the backyard so he wouldn't get ran over. In the meantime we gave him food and water and he was very thristy/hungry. (He drank two bowls of water immediately!) While he was eating, I printed up two posters saying ''found dog'' with our phone number and placed them at the entrance of our subdivision. We live in a gated community with only 2 ways in...so the odds were pretty good he was from the neighborhood. I drove around asking people who were out walking, if they were looking for a dog. No one was.

I came home and the dogs were getting along. Rascal was immediately protective any time the new dog got near him, I or the kids (who were watching from the window). Didn't attack the new dog or anything, just growled. The new dog, would back up and just look at Rascal like ''Okay, I get it." Ron and I looked the dog over. We're pretty sure he's a Boston Terrier, he was neutered, clean. Short nails, no sign of fleas or matting. We introduced the kids to him and he did great. So after a while outside, we let him in. He stayed off the furniture, he knew commands like ''sit'' and when I said "I'm gonna take a picture, say cheese'' he actually smiled!

 By afternoon we still hadn't heard anything. I called the animal shelter but they weren't open. During nap-time, Rascal is put in his crate so he won't bark and wake the kids. I dug out an old crate from the garage and placed the new dog in it. He laid right down and didn't bark or make a peep. The dogs were kenneled for about two hours and both were good.

By this time, I made a listing on craigslist. I put our subdivision, that we had found a dog who weighed approximately 20-30lbs and to respond to the ad to identify. Three emails later and still no one was missing him. (though I feel horrible for the 3 people who may have gotten their hopes up). I took him on a walk and while many people stopped to admire, no one recognized him. I let him lead, saying ''lets go home'' but he never did. We came home and he settled right in, sleeping on the pile of dirty laundry.

So we decided to just keep him overnight and Monday morning I would take him to see if he was microchipped. Fast forward to his morning and I was there right at 8am. They scanned him and he has a chip! They logged into the chip company and reported him as found. His name is Gotti, he is a 24lb boston terrier. He had not been reported as missing. So I left my number, they called the owner and left a message saying the pet was found, with my contact info.

I opted not to leave him at the shelter. Firstoff, it's a kill shelter so if he isn't claimed or adopted within x amount of days, it's lights out. Secondly, he was happy and adjusted with us, so it seemed less stressful to just let him stay...for now. 

However, based on where tag registration says he lives the animal shelter thinks that either the people moved and now live in my subdivision (which if they did, why didn't they call me?) or  he may have been dropped off and abandoned in our neighborhood. His address is about five miles away, with two interstates and many big roads in between. Since he was clean and uninjured, it's unlikely that he ran away and made it that far. Since I walked around, drove around and then walked around yesterday and NO ONE recognized him and he didn't walk home, that seems a bit unlikely as well. Legally, if the owner doesn't contact me within five days, we can keep him.

So, now we're thinking...do we want to keep him? I mean we never planned on getting another dog after parting with Tito. But he is trained..he's not a puppy but not that old either. He has super short hair and doesn't seem to shed much. Animal control guessed around 3-5yrs old. Would we be crazy to keep him? Fours kids, two dogs and Italy?? Yeah...that seems kinda nuts. For now, we're keeping him because the alternative is the shelter. But I talked to Papa Barry and he might be interested in adopting him. He's been looking for a dog and since this one is already trained, doesn't barely bark, stays off the furniture and needs a home...it seems like a good fit. I have a crate for him, he walks on a leash well, he hasn't been digging in the yard or anything. The only issue is obviously Papa lives 12 hours from us. So we're gonna see if the owners claim him or not. If they don't Papa might come down for Thanksgiving and take him back to Kansas. We'll have to see how it all pans out. If Papa decides that he doesn't want him, we might just keep him.

Yeah, we'll have to pay the vet for shots and yeah, we'll have to pay for the plane ticket to Italy. It's not the greatest plan but the kids are smitten with him, as of now Rascal is ''tolerating'' him. I mean, they are curled up napping together but they aren't killing each other either. Gotti is good with the kids and the noise and the running and it seems kinda odd that a perfectly trained dog shows up on our doorstep who is good with kids and named Gotti...I mean, that's pretty Italian! Maybe it's a sign!? We'll see...but between you and me, I hope Papa can take him :). (B is totally wanting to keep him...how strange is that!?)

**UPDATED**3:31pm
We were able to return Gotti to his family. Apparently the side gate was left open and they didn't know it. He was very excited when his owner picked him up so as much as we liked him, I'm glad he is home.

We have a report date for Italy...

B applied for the job back in July, in August he had a phone interview. First week of  September he was offered the job. Now at the very end of September he was finally given a report date. Whew! It's quite the process.

While he was given an exact date, I will share that it is mid December! Before Christmas but after Thanksgiving, so I'm grateful for that.

Let me just say that this whole process is confusing, overwhelming and long but I know it will be worth it. Just to give you an idea of what's happened thus far:

Very first thing we did was apply for Passports. This should have been simple but I didn't have my birth certificate, my parents still did. So they sent that to me. We gathered up everyone's birth certificates, citizenship papers, social security cards and oh wait, B's is missing. We tore this house apart and could not find his SS card. Awesome. So he had to go to the social security office and request a new one. We finally had all of the required paperwork. We chose to take the photos ourselves, have them printed, and then we had to go on post to turn those in. All four kids had to be with us and we took the oath. (Not the kids, we just signed for them.) That was the second week of September.

After the passport fiasco, I started researching what we need to do to get Rascal to Italy with us. Trust me, for a 10lbs dog, it gets complicated. First all pets coming into Italy must be up to date on their rabies shot (which he is) and be microchipped (which he is not) and have had an annual exam no sooner than 21 days before entering the county but no longer than one year. He also has to have a health certificate deeming him healthy and free of any diseases, he has to have an airline approved pet carrier that he can stand up in, turn around in AND that can fit under the seat in front of us.

So I set to work. Started researching carriers, which ones are best for in-cabin and least likely to get refused at the ticket counter/by the flight attendant. Not an easy task because each airline has strict requirements but they vary, as does the carrier sizes. Some are $20 some are $120. I know we'll be using it internationally, for at least one round trip flight but I also know that I'm going to be paying a huge amount at the vet. I want something durable but not over $50 if I can work it. Meanwhile, I get him in to get him micro-chipped at the animal shelter (just $10!). While there, I was looking around and they had used kennels and carriers available for donation. Imagine my surprise when one of the carriers was the EXACT same thing I had been looking at the day before online (http://www.petco.com/product/8232/Sherpa-Roll-Ups.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch). Only the animal shelter was asking just $10! So I was able to get him microchipped, then get his airline approved bag for a total of $20. The next day, I took him to the regular vet and had his annual exam, vaccines, a new rabies shot (they must be vaccinated for rabies AFTER being microchipped), a heart worm check and talked to him about flying with a pet. Total spent on all of the above mentioned things for Rascal to be ready to fly: almost $200. Plus the airline will be charging us $125 for him to ride in-cabin. Whew! So now that is done.

Rascal with Tito (who is no longer with us but apparently I have no photos of just Rascal)

Moving forward...

Wait. We can't.

We cannot book flights, schedule movers, send the van, nothing without official PCS orders. Well just this week, the lovely Italian office calls B and says ''Hey I need the kids' birth certificates to cut your orders with the kids on the orders''. Well that's just great because we sent ALL of our birth certificates with the passport stuff to the state department. While I have copies of the older boys', I didn't think to make copies of the younger kids'. Okay, not a big deal, we now have to wait to get our passports back (should be done mid to late October), once we get those we can apply for our Visas and get our PCS orders. Once we have our orders we can do the above mentioned things like book flights (which because we're flying in cabin with a dog, we're suppose to do as early as humanly possible) and schedule the movers. Once we have the movers scheduled, I can call our landlord here and give her the mandatory 30 days required notice that we are not renewing our lease. Once I do that, then I will finally really feel like we are moving.

The passport office called today, there are four steps left until our passports will be done and ready to pick up. I'm not sure how many steps there were to begin with but at least we're processing! 

So that's where we're at, a full month in from accepting the job. I'm not sure if it's more or less complicated due to us being DoD Civilians who are PCSing or if it would be the same ups and downs if we were Active Duty.

Holiday Festivites!

Well, we're for the most part unpacked. Okay, that's a huge exaggeration. A better statement might be, "We're unpacked enough to live a normal day to day." Our garage is FULL of unpacked boxes that were previously items from our garage and basement. Our master bedroom has a bed, a dresser, bookcase and a ton of boxes. But this weekend we were able to unpack the bathrooms, linen closets, and living room. We haven't touched Sweetcheeks room yet (she's still sleeping in our room/with us) but since it's not priority we'll get to it last. We ordered a new loveseat and sofa; the loveseat is in our living room but the sofa will be here next week. I unpacked all the pictures that go on the walls but I want to switch out and update a bunch of the photos so the walls are still bare. But since we did work hard and get a lot done, we opted to take a break from unpacking and put up some holiday decor.

So far it's just our tree and stockings but I'm hoping to find my candles, knick knacks and stuff tomorrow. B and I are in a disagreement with the ourdoor lights; I want new ones and he wants to use the one from last year (which are LED and look blue...I hate that!). But I digress. On to the things we did do...

 Bubba was extremely excited to start decorating the tree! (which is new, are old one didn't light up...B won this one, we ended up with a multi-colored LED tree). This is the first year that we decorated the tree with the kids. Usually we put it up and have it decorated after they go to sleep and they wake up to the surprise. We decided they were big enough to help and other than having a very bottom-front heavy tree, they did great!

Pooks reminiscing about Tito

 Sweetcheeks hanging up an ornament

 

 

 

 

 Love their feet, especially Peanut's reindeer feet

 They did awesome! Minimal arguing/pushing and lots of helping and compliments

 and thanks to a self-timer, a family picture

don't mind my visible awkwardness, i had just ran and jumped behind the boys to be in the pic

After decorating the tree, the boys feasted on eggnog and sugar cookies while I read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

Then today, we walked down to our community park and met Santa and Ms. Claus. Bubba asked for a Lightning McQueen, Pooks asked for an Ambulance and a Tow Mater, Peanut asked for Tow Mater as well. We have all those toys already but apparently not enough...

a case of the monday's

*sigh*

i am not even going to post about everything that happened today, but it was definitely a monday. since becoming a stay at home mom the days all kinda run into together. is it thursday? tuesday? i usually don't know and unless one of the kids have a dr. appt scheduled or if grey's anatomy is on...it doesn't really matter.

but today was the kinda monday that you dread. you know its a monday.

first off peanut slept like crap last night. up at 3am, 4am, 5am, 6am and finally sound asleep at 6:30. i had/have a killer headache and just when i think i'll get a solid 2 hours sleep the older boys are awake by 7:20am. peachy.

then at 7:40, we had a slight garage door malfuction that resulted in some damage to the pacifica. great. called around and that'll be about $300 unless we can find a new rear spoiler and brake light at a salvage yard. add that to the list of things i wasn't planning on.

after breakfast i had to get bubba dressed and ready for his very first dentist appt. the potty training is going awesome, i should add. he's wearing real underwear daily now, and is usually accident free. he hasn't had a pee accident in 3 days! even at naps and overnight he holds it, then tells me. woohoo!! going #2 is a problem and i'm not sure how to fix it...he just won't go in the potty. he gets completely embarrassed, hates being cleaned up, hates pooping on his ''Cars" underwear but still won't go on any of the pottys. i don't know what to do about that. tomorrow i'm gonna watch him like a hawk and hopefully (cross your fingers) i'll recognize the signs and get his bootie on a potty.

oh and the dentist appt went well. he sat like a big boy, the dentist checked his teeth and everything looks great. no cavities, he has the all the teeth that he is suppose to have and he's to come back in 6 months for a check up and flouride treatment. aside from the fact that i hated that dentist office and will never go there again, all was well. i HATE that they talk down to him. well i hate when anyone talks down to him. i get that he is not even 3 yrs old, but he's pretty mature and understands quite a bit...so when you realize that he's able to understand basic commands and ''gets it'' stop acting like he's stupid. no he's not going to fall/jump out of the chair...does he look like he is? he's not even moving. when he asks ''whats that?" and points to the overhead light you don't need to look at me to answer the question...tell him its a freaking light! and when you give him a sticker for being such a big boy, don't tell him that the "little tooth is sitting on a toothbrush" tell the truth...the tooth is SURFING on the toothbrush...just like the sticker shows. he gets it, he knows what surfing is, he knows what water is. idiots.

we're all still adjusting to tito's re-homing. the boys naps were all off because they woke up so early, and they all fell asleep at different times so i didn't get to nap. my headaches are still bad, despite doing what the doctor said. btw, i don't think that i ever updated--they think my headaches are a hormonal imbalance and i was supposed to stop taking my mini-pill and they *should* go away. yeah well, its been over a week and i still have a headache. thanks.

pooks is teething and therefore not eating very well. you cannot bribe the kid to sit in his chair for longer than 5 minutes. you can buckle him in and he'll scream. i even tried letting him sit on his knees in the big chair at dinner and that didn't work either. he kept climbing down, feeding food to rascal, screaming...ugh. total all day today i think he had a bowl of oatmeal, a cup of soy milk, 2 mini hotdogs with maybe 2 bites of macaroni, a cup of diluted apple juice with a few cheddar rice cakes, and about 5 bites of a pork stir fry that b made for super with a sippy of water. if you know pooks, you know that isn't normal. usually the kid eats non-stop all day...or wants to eat non-stop. i know he'll be fine, but a cranky 20month old doesn't make your day any easier. then at bed time he's started this new habit of kicking me while i attempt to get him dressed. he thinks its hilarious, i think its painful.

i had a bad day.

peanut is doing better, i think he had a tummy ache last night...kept pulling up his legs and crying. he slept virtually all morning and went to bed tonight without a hitch. here's hoping that tonight isn't a repeat performance of last night. i sure hope not! the one positive about today's post that i wanted to share is peanut is now smiling ALL THE TIME and has even started giggling. of course, he only giggles when you make a complete fool out of yourself trying to make him giggle (ie- me singing backyardigan's songs while making silly faces). he has also started mimicking us..when we stick out our tongue at him, smile or frown, he'll do the same back. its very cute! here are some pics of the fat lil man getting a bath. i think its getting to the point where we won't be able to bathe him in the sink anymore!

a little smile at daddy

...and a giggle.
(i love all his chubbiness! he has little man boobs!)

we survived...

well, we are surviving.

tito was adopted on saturday and it was really hard for all of us. i know its best for him and his new family sounds great but that doesn't make it any easier to cope. going over his routine with the lady from the humane society, giving her his favorite toys, removing his ID tag with our address, then watching her leave with *our* dog was REALLY hard. i was crying, bubba was crying, pooks didn't get it--he was just carrying tito's dogtag around all day saturday. rascal initially didn't seem to bothered by it; at least not when they first left. by sat night he didn't want to get out of his crate, he wouldn't sit up by me on the couch like usual, he just kinda moped/paced.

over night he actually pooped by the front door, which he hasn't done since he was a puppy. i think its going to take awhile for him to adjust and to trust us. i mean, tito didn't pass away, he wasn't sick--rascal watched us let a stranger take him. if that doesn't cause some trust issues, i don't know what will.

today was a bit better. he laid in his doggy bed in the front room rather than his crate, he napped with B up on the sofa...he's doing better. bubba is doing better today too. whenever he thinks of tito he comes and tell's me how tito is at a new big house and he gets to play with big dogs outside and that he has fun. (the new family are attorneys and live on a golf course) we hung up a picture of tito in his room and he really likes that.

pooks doesn't get it, and won't until he probably just forgets. he'll go to the dogs' crate and stick his whole upper body in looking for him and i just have to remind him that tito went bye-bye...then he just goes back to playing.

i know it seems crazy but B and I got tito when we were dating back in 2004. he was a part of our family and we miss him :(

updates galore!

update #1--potty training boot camp: day 4
-we did not have any accidents today!! WOOHOO!! none as in zero. bubba went pee pee on the potty all day. now i'm trying not to get too excited, i know that pt'ing is a ''2 steps forward 1 step back'' kind of thing but you haven't heard the kicker yet....

update #2--we visited the nanaw's today (we were in the car for over an hour -twice!-and bubba didn't have an accident!)
-we went with nanaw to visit nanaw phew phew and great great nanaw today. they live an hour away and with great great nanaw being 97yrs old, she doesn't usually get to visit us so we surprised her. boy was she surprised! she loves it when the babies visit and i know she was excited to see all of us, but (you knew it was coming) i think she gets the biggest joy from seeing/holding peanut. she just loves her babies. the last time we saw her was Christmas day so it had been almost a month. we took lots of pictures. luckily peanut was awake and happy, he even laughed for nanaw phew phew!

the big boys of course had a blast. they love being the center of attention and spoiled rotten. they got to play with a ton of cars, they had everyones full attention and they had mcdonald's for lunch. in short: they were silly and hyper and typical toddler boys.

here are the pics:

peanut giving g-g-nanaw the eye

she was so excited!!

laughing for nanaw phew phew

making faces while being burped

looking bored while nanaw tries to make him sit up for a "normal" picture

i didn't take any of the b and p...they were so busy eating and playing and honestly, peanut was awake and happy so he trumped them in picture ''neediness''. i feel like i rarely get to post pics of him because he's always sleeping or making a silly face.

i do have pictures of the older boys from at our house this morning, i'll get those up tomorrow because they are on the other camera.

and lastly:
update #3--tito is being adopted
i know its techinically ''good" news (i mean if getting rid of your dog is ever good)...he really cannot stay here and i am glad that he will be going to a nice family. the lady from the humane society called today and announced that they found the perfect applicant for lil' tito--for the time being we are keeping rascal and seeing how bubba's allergies do, then go from there [it was too hard to find someone to place them together] we may end up having to put him up for adoption or we may be able to control his dander/shedding enough to keep him, we just don't know--anyways...the family sounds nice.

its a married lady with kids, she has an older dog and she had a chihuahua but he died of old age. she is wanting to get another chihuahua and fell in love with tito's profile. she passed all of their screening (they do background checks via the applicants vet to see if their animals are up to date on shots, well cared for, etc) and is really excited. and she must be REALLY excited because she lives 3 hours away and is driving up saturday to meet him. normally after the meeting tito would come back home and she would then have a bit to decide. well since she is driving 3 hours, the humane society lady wanted to see if i would consider letting them have tito that day, rather than having to drive again in 2 days. she hadn't told the other family yet, but wanted to check with me. i told her that i thought that would be best.

it is going to be so hard to hand tito over on saturday, period. i cannot imagine having to do it once, only to get him back for a day or two and then do it again. i don't know how i would handle it or how i would explain it to bubba and pooks. i know deep down that this is best for tito, this lady will probably love him and spoil him rotten...i mean she is driving 3 hours to MEET him and anyone who is that interested, serious and dedicated sounds like the right person. and i'm glad that she has an older dog that tito can befriend. but it doesn't make things any easier.

sad news...

most of you know that we suspected that bubba had a gluten allergy. we limited his gluten intake and things got better. since moving back, he's been having trouble breathing. at first they thought it was bronchitis but it didn't get much better after treatment; he was diagnosed with asthma. I had asthma when I was his age but gradually outgrew it. well he's been doing breathing treatments every morning and evening and he's been doing better. my biggest concern was why he had this sudden onset when we moved. the only thing that I could think of was since his birth, we've always lived in a house with mostly hardwood floors but this house has carpet. I wondered if the dust or dog hair or something was aggravating him. I talked to our doctor about my concerns; both the asthma and the wheat allergy. she agreed that it would be a good idea and drew blood, then on the 14th we meet with an allergist.

today, I got the results back. bubba tested positive for allergies, his highest irritant being: dogs.

we have 2 dogs, Rascal and Tito. we got them back when we were engaged, they were our babies when we thought we couldn't have babies, then when B was in Iraq they were all I had to come home too after school and work. i love them a ton. its been harder taking care of them since having kids (and losing the backyard when we moved here) but i've been bound and determined to make it work.

well, obviously we have to get rid of our dogs. I'm bawling just thinking about it.

i'm not going to keep something in the house that he is allergic too. i cannot rationalize making my 2 year old do breathing treatments, if he doesn't have to. i'm not going to put him on a daily allergy medication for something that isn't his fault. i realize that his asthma isn't going to disappear but it will be much more easily managed without their hair and dander everywhere.

the problem (other than having to get rid of them) is that they are SO dependent on each other. they share food dishes, water dishes, and they sleep in the same kennel. tito is very shy and timid both around other dogs and people. he's loving once he knows you but if he doesn't know you, he hides and shakes. I want to make sure that wherever they end up, its together. I honestly don't know how tito would do if he was separated from rascal.

DOES ANYONE WANT TO ADOPT TITO AND RASCAL FROM US?

we have everything they need, i still have some heartworm meds and flea and tic prevention meds. they are up to date on all of their shots and vaccines. you could have their kennel, toys, leashes and food. tito doesn't need a leash but rascal does. (he's been doing better and could probably be trained not to need the leash...he's gotten outside twice since moving back and he didn't run, he came right back when we called him.) they aren't puppies anymore in fact rascal just turned 4 in november and tito will be 4 years old in february. they obviously aren't security dogs with their size, but they are good watch dogs; they bark when ever someone is in/near the house and yard. they are good with kids, pooks has pulled their tails/ears and while they may yelp or growl, they have NEVER bitten or snapped at anyone. they eat pretty cheap dog and snacks and are obviously house trained.

rascal

together
tito

PLEASE if you are interested call me, email me, call my mom or B and let them know. i really want to know where they end up and make sure they go to a good family and home.

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So back to the allergy test results...

his highest marker was dogs, followed by milk and eggs. so I was wrong about the wheat allergy (although she said that he may still have a sensitivity) but I was right about a food allergy. she thinks for now we should just limit his intake--no milk in a cup, no scrambled eggs for breakfast--and see how he improves. for now we can continue using it in meals and such but we need to talk to the allergist about further measures.

honestly I'm really glad that we figured out what was bothering him. hopefully once we get rid of the dogs, steam clean the carpets, and change his diet he'll be a happier kid. I really hope we won't have to do daily breathing treatments anymore...that's our goal.

i just hate having to get rid of the dogs.

the boys being cute..

as usual :)

today the weather was a bit crappy, pooks is teething and we didn't really do much. we hung around the house, took a 2.5 hour nap (woohoo!!) and played alot. here are the pics:

pooks at breakfast, rocking the bedhead look

(poor guy, you can tell he doesn't feel good)

the boys eating a snack after their naps

(again, pooks is teething...can you tell? lol)

bubba playing with tito...he got the biggest kick of this

being silly. tito was giving him kisses and he thought it was hilarious

such silly boys!

so here are all the pics from the days we've missed

here are a bunch of pics. some are from our house, some from nanaw and papas house. there are some random, some cute and some silly and even some serious pics. enjoy :)

pooks riding his car with a evil little grin

my tough guy

i put pooks in his chair to have a snack so bubba won't steal it. needless to say it doesn't always work!

grumpy guys! (they were trying to watch thomas and I was interupting)

bubba and B

bubba on a digger that is by nanaws house

here are two very random pics that i took with my camera in manual mode. i'm just starting to really experiment but i love the way they turned out and i thought i would share. (these have not been editied either!)

bubba's thomas

tito