Introducing: Beau

When we began the process of buying the house, one thing was clear to both James and me: we wanted a dog. Both of us had always had dogs underfoot growing up, and the lack of canine companionship due to strict rental guidelines had begun to wear on us.

Initially, we discussed getting a younger puppy. Ever since the dog attack 2 years ago, Cadence has been terrified of dogs and we wanted her to feel comfortable with our new family member. We thought a young puppy would be a good starting point for her. However, as we browsed the local shelter's adoptables list for beautiful, sweet-faced puppies, I was simultaneously looking at "how to crate train" and "how to house train a puppy".

We almost adopted a puppy Wednesday afternoon, but lacking sufficient proof of address for the shelter's requirements, we went home empty-handed and I was surprised to find myself relieved. I finally admitted I was overwhelmed with the idea of taking care of a puppy and three young children in a new house. That evening, James and I looked at some older dogs and Thursday afternoon, the kids and I went to a different shelter and met some older dogs and signed paperwork for "Beau". He had to stay a few days to be neutered and get his shots, but Sunday afternoon we picked him up.

A few details: He is a 1 year old, catahoula leopard hound mix. He was a stray, technically, but after a few hours at home, it became very clear he was a lost pet. While it's a little sad to consider someone may be missing their dog, we're pleased to have him in our home. He's already mostly house-trained and it took him no time at all to pick up on the rule that he is not allowed in the dining room when we are eating. He even took to his crate without an issue overnight and we were able to leave him crated to run errands with no problems this afternoon.

The kids already love him. Cadence took a little time to warm up to him, especially when he was energetic and exploring for the first few hours in his new home. In truth, she spent the first hour sitting on the couch screaming and crying every time he attempted to sniff her and I feared for the worst. Megan was attempting a game of fetch with him within an hour and eventually Cadence decided to try as well.

We were very pleased to find Beau's only reaction to Connor climbing over him to be some curious sniffing. We were a little nervous about introducing him to the cats, but there was no aggression, only eagerness to play and disappointment when both cats hissed and ran under the bed instead. I expect in a few weeks, Taz will forgive us and might even adopt him in her fashion. Hanna will forgive us and ignore him.

Connor is 1 (+1 day)!!!

Connor's first birthday started off with a treat: A doctor's visit and four shots. Yay?

Chunky Charlie followed in his sisters' footsteps and slipped on the charts another percentile group for weight, but kept his height up. The doctor suggested it was because he was walking and because of his recent bout of strep (the whole family got hit with it a week ago, yuck!) causing a little weight loss/slimming down. Either way, nobody is concerned. It happened to the girls and he's still growing like a little champ.

Height: 30.5" (just above the 50th percentile line)

Weight: 21 lbs, 9 oz (a bit below the 50th percentile line)

His noggin was so large the nurse felt the need to measure it 3 times before she would accept the number. I just laughed to myself and let her shake her head over it.

The rest of his day went much better once he forgave me for pinning him down so the nurse could put four different needles in his legs. We went to the local humane society and admired dogs and even picked out one to take home. It'll be a few days until we can pick him up, which is actually kind of perfect. There will be pictures forthcoming when we have him!

Then, around dinner time, we packed up stuff for dinner and went to the new house. James and I discussed moving things that evening, but I decided I wanted to take it easy and just focus on a little family time. So, using boxes as tables, we had dinner and cupcakes and a little birthday celebration for the boy. He got a toy car and a preschool basketball hoop. He ignored the hoop until we took the car away (the girls loved the hoop, though).

So, our little man is 1. He is exhausting, by the way. He is already a momma's boy, which is part of it, but he also thinks his dad is pretty much the coolest person ever. Everyone we meet adores his cheeky grin and blue eyes. The pediatrician and her resident each called him adorable at least a dozen times. Despite reaching toddlerhood and the required tantrums that accompany it, he really is the happiest little boy (as long as things are going his way).

Connor's favorite thing to do is climb. Climb the stairs, climb onto the table, climb onto the fireplace or even attempt to scale the back of the couch (he's unfortunately getting very good at this). When that's not an option, he loves ot climb over people if they'll lay still long enough. It's not uncommon to look over at him and find him doing a headstand and peeking at you from between his legs. Which is another favorite thing of his. He loves playing peek-a-boo through surfaces. He'll hide under the table just to peek out at you. Or at the park he loves to find holes to reach through and shout at me through. Lacking that, he'll put a random piece of clothing on his head and grin at you like he's the smartest little boy in the world.

He's not a baby anymore, and that's becoming more and more apparent. He gets mad if I don't give him a fork or spoon like everyone else. He wants to play with the girls every chance he gets. He even refuses to eat at the high chair anymore, but wants his chair up against the table with everyone else. Though he still crawls, it's usually only because he's been pushed over or something and doesn't feel like going through the effort of standing up again. I can't wait to see how his personality blossoms over the next year!

Our New Home

It's been a long four days here. A long month, really, but the last four days have been the longest. We were all set to close first thing Monday morning... until about 7pm Friday evening.

Lots of phone calls, lots of emails, and lots of pacing, but finally around lunchtime everything fell together and this afternoon we walked into the title office and signed a mountain of paperwork. Well, okay, not a mountain, unless a mountain can be an inch and a half tall.

About twenty minutes into the signing, I was crackings jokes about how I should have started off with a simpler, sloppier, faster-to-sign signature.

However, it's done. It's ours.

Here's some pictures nabbed from the real estate ad. Once we've put our mark on it, you can bet there will be a lot more to share.

Also, fair warning, there might be a post in the next couple days introducing a new member of our family. A furry one, that is. Keep an eye out!

Houston Children's Museum

We braved the children's museum today. I have been wanting to go for almost as long as we have lived in Houston, but never got around to it until today. Coming home... I remain unimpressed. It might have been different if I had gone before we had Connor or if I had James to help out. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't that much fun and a lot of that is because I felt outnumbered in many ways.

It also didn't help that there were a large number of school groups who tended to take over once they were set loose. When my 4 & 5 year old are being crowded out by older kids without direct adult supervision... *sigh* Also, when I attempted to go to the tot spot to let Connor have some roaming time, they refused to let me in because the girls were too big. I understand they don't want big kids playing there, but there was no option for the girls to sit quietly somewhere and let their little brother have a moment. So, basically, Connor spent the entire trip in the stroller, since when I let him out he tended to shove legos and plastic cubes in his mouth...

The point was to stretch and touch 4 lights at once before they changed. Megan just danced.

The girls got overwhelmed early on, so we took a break to color.

Finally found something the girls would do without hanging on to me. A mini obstacle course.

With apron strings snipped, the girls braved the rock wall.

They didn't get very high, but they were so proud of how high they did get.

Playing with water and PVC pipes. Mostly just water in Connor's case.

Admiring the newly hatched baby chicks right before another school group crowded us out.

Connor's new little friend. The little guy hopped right over to him.

A reason for my silence and updates

It has been a long time since my last post for a good reason.

Days after Valentine's Day and our trip to the zoo, we put an offer in on a house. As anyone can imagine, this experience has consumed me. Not only am I going through a ton of paperwork and making a dozen phone calls a day, but I'm also sorting through a thousand what-ifs. We are about to clear the final hurdle before our sprint to the finish line: The appraisal. If that goes through for us, the house is as good as ours. If it goes sour, well... that could potentially become a dealbreaker. So, understandably, I am a bit of a mess waiting for the appraiser's report.

The girls are excited about the upcoming move. They got to go with us to the inspection and had a blast running through the house.

The girls running wild in the new living room (Entry way to the right, master bedroom to the left, kitchen behind the wall in the middle)

Connor's first birthday is right around the corner, though. Poor boy has had his first birthday entirely consumed by my house thoughts, since closing date is a few days before and our move date is a few days after. So he'll turn 1 while we're in transition. Everyone tells me not to worry, he won't remember, but I'm a sucker for making memories and documenting them. Even things like first birthdays.

So, while his actual birthday may be overlooked, he'll certainly have a birthday to remember. If things work out, the boy is getting a puppy for his birthday. ;-) Well, that and a toddler basketball hoop. And probably a toy car, since he loves all the ones we find at various playdates.

These darn kids insist on growing up!

Cadence is so ready for kindergarten it's not funny anymore. We drove by the school we would be zoned for after the move (knock on wood, cross fingers and pray) and pointed it out to her. Rather than whine about not wanting to go as she has done in the past, she kicked her feet and grinned. Yesterday, she sat down and worked her way through an entire book. It took a little coaxing on my part to get her through the last few pages, but we did it. She was so proud of herself when I announced "the end!" When we talked about school, her first question was "will it have books to read?" Yes, my dear, there will be dozens of books to read. She's slowly gaining confidence.

Her art skills remain above par. During church, James kept tapping me on the shoulder and pointing to her drawings with a look of shock on his face, because even he could recognize the characters she put on paper. She was able to draw the main group of ponies from "My Little Ponies", except she was drawing them from the back, because they were looking at Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. You could recognize each of them due to the little details she put in. Next, she drew Elsa and Anna and Olaf from the movie "Frozen" and added sparkles and snowflakes.

Megan is right behind Cadence in so many ways. She tries to keep up, but she doesn't quite have the knack for fine motor skills Cadence has. She wants to read with us, but she's so eager she gets her letters mixed up still. However, if I help her sound it out, she can blend them in an instant (that was the part Cadence struggled with) and tell me what the word is.

She has the most amazing imagination, though. The stories this girl can tell! She carries around an old cell phone of mine and tells me her prince is going to call, then I'll catch her "on the phone" talking about a dance. I giggle a little when she tells me her prince is going to kiss her in an excited voice. I warn her not to let Daddy know and she'll laugh and run off. The other day I caught her in the bathroom talking to her reflection, who I was informed is actually her friend from the mirror world. I still remember 2 years ago laying on the couch as she pointed out the friendly red dragon flying around on our ceiling and discussing how he bit her once but it was an accident.

And Connor... He's such a character. He loves stairs and gets mad when I block them off. He loves food and gets mad when I don't share. He loves remotes and cell phones and all things babies love and gets mad when I take them away. He adores his sisters and wants to be with them at all times, unless he's getting tired and demands to be in my lap while he refuses to sleep. He loves to climb and wrestle, though he hasn't quite figured out that just because someone's on the floor doesn't mean they want to wrestle. I have to sit on the couch to fix the girls' hair now because he tries to play with us.

His new trick is putting things in buckets, whether that's where they belong or not. I put Megan's laundry on the floor by the closet and when I went back, Connor had put all of it in their toy bucket. Yesterday while cleaning, he found puzzle pieces on the floor in the girls' room and attempted to put them in the doll bin, much to Cadence's distress. We could not convince him to put them in the smaller bin. He wanted to put it in the big one. Once we moved the doll one out of his reach, he contented himself with putting the pieces in the smaller one and dumping them back out again. And no cupboard of mine is safe, anymore. If I forget to put the kitchen baby gate up, my pots and pans are rearranged by my little helper.

No place is safe from this little dare devil! Climb, climb, climb!

He's much like Megan in his walking, though. Two months after his first step, he finally got around to figuring out the walking thing. So, now he's walking everywhere. Unfortunately, he feels that he should now get the same treatment as his walking sisters and wants to walk whenever we go out into public. He doesn't want to be held. It's impossible to keep pants on him with all this walking, too. He's got his father's build, all torso and shorter legs. So pants that fit his waist are too long and he'll step on them until they come off.