Pet Grooming!

Most of you all know that we have a rotten Boston Terrier (Biskit). He is 5 years old now.(Brian says 35 but I say he is in kindergarten) He is a short hair so he is easy to keep clean and doesn't really shed unless he's nervous. His nails grow out of control but the are sensitive so I don't cut them myself. Thus the reason for this post! I have a friend that I went to high school with who is a groomer. She owns Groom and Go mobile pet grooming. She is certified, bonded all of that. She inherited the business from her mom after she decided to retire so she's been around it all of her life. Her and her husband take vans out and will come to your home and wash, clip nails, clean ears, etc... on your dogs. It takes about 35 minutes and they pull right up into your driveway! It is the greatest thing ever! It costs us about 40 dollars when we took him and had to leave him at a few other groomers and it costs 55 for Tracy to do it at my house. She is based out of North Knox. but she goes everywhere. If anyone wants to have her come to your house and do it instead of taking your dog somewhere else let me know and I'll give you the #. She has all new state of the art grooming equipment and it is very clean too. You must give it a try!!

Sensitive Toddlers

Almost Friday!! I hope all is well with everyone. Just a little update on things. Potty training is going splendidly with my little Zane. He gets on the potty with no objection and I give him some of his favorite things to play with that normally he can't have so it is incentive to sit and potty. Then he talks to me and sings and after a few minutes he will go pee pee. Then he says "All Done" and off he goes.

He has come a long way in a short amount of time. I'm sure most of you know that Zane is very, very sensitive and has had a hard time adapting to change. Most toddlers do, but he has really struggled with it in the past. I read all the books on having a sensitive toddler, different personalities of toddlers and I learned a lot. You would think I would already be aware of all that considering I work with toddlers that have special needs, but I still learned a ton. I think often people look at little ones and categorize their fussing, crying, stubborness, and refusal to do certain things as trying to control, being sleepy, being spoiled, needing to socialize etc... Some of that some of the time is true, but each little person has a different personality, some high intensity, some super sensitive, some slow to adapt, some know no strangers, some easily distracted etc.. If you will take the time to read a little on your childs personality then you may not be so easily frustrated by some of the things they say and do. For example: When Zane goes into a room full of people, even some he may know, he does not like everyone paying him all the attention. He needs to watch and listen and sit with me or Dad and just observe and take it all in. Then when he is comfortable he will make baby steps to get down and socialize. I don't force him to talk to adults or even acknowledge them at that point because it will only exaggerate the reaction. It is not an act for him it is his way of adapting. If something is scary to you and I, it is real, for toddlers it is the same. We may not understand why getting a haircut, sitting on a potty, going to a family Christmas party with 20 people in the room, or even the doctors office waiting room is unnerving since we have done it 500 times before, but it is and pushing the issue will only make the fear greater. I have worked with toddlers that were so opposed to change that they had to wear the same shirt and shoes every day or else they would lose it. After about 3 months of that they went onto something else and it was not an issue anymore. The motto around our house is "Pick your battles." Some things may be worth confronting but some are not. The last year I worked at Brickey, when I had Zane, I had a child whose parents thought he had special needs because he wouldn't eat foods with any texture to them like applesauce or hamburgers. He was evaluated over and over and it turned out that he was just extra sensitive and needed a little help adapting to rough, grainy textures. He didn't have special needs he had parents with preconceived ideas about what a normal, good toddler should and shouldn't do and like. With a little maturity and growth he was fine and ate what everybody else did. The lesson is don't label your kids as "backwards, shy, difficult"etc.. for you are creating a label they will feel inclined to live up to.

What a pose!

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This is supposed to be our bed!

As you can tell when it's bed time at our house we have to begin the wind down at 8:00 because it takes until 9:30 to get everyone in their spot! I guess it's a good thing we have a king size bed, even the dog gets in on the action. Oh well, one day it will only be the 2 of us in the bed (and maybe 5 more Boston Terriers). When we finally do get everyone to bed, and Brian and I spend some time together, then I go use my Cardio Twister for about 45 minutes 5 days a week. It is the greatest exercise machine I have ever seen! That's my unwind time (at 1:00 am)! I can't really focus on me time until all the babies are sleeping peacefully and I know they won't need me for a few hours (I hope).
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Bouncin with Spongebob

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Happy Valentines Day!

My very sweet hubby bought me the biggest bunch of flowers on the planet for Valentines Day. He knows I love an assortment of flowers so he bought a huge one with a dozen roses mixed in it. He also bought my mom a bouquet as well. We don't usually do a whole lot for Valentines Day because we try all year long to remind each other how much we love and appreciate the other one but we did go out to eat at Smoky Mountain Brewery and left Zane with my mom for a couple of hours too. We had a good time and really enjoyed that restaurant.
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Thanks goodness it's Friday!

Zane got a race track from Papaw Jim the other day when he came by to visit. The car goes along the groove in the track all by itself. He likes it a lot but he really likes to let the car run down the hallway or under the couch and asks me to go get it!
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New blocks from Nanny

Zane also got some new cardboard blocks from Nanny. My kids at Brickey had these in the classroom and they really loved building different things. He can knock them down after building them up and they don't hurt as much as the heavy wood ones.
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Chillin in the tub

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New bath toy!

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Yucky Weather Wednesday!

I just wanted to say hello and post a tag I got from a friend of mine today. She said I had to or else. So here goes...

My 9 favorite t.v. shows:

-Law and Order SVU
-CSI Miami
-The Biggest Loser
-Real Housewives of Orange County, Atlanta, New York or wherever else. (can't believe I admit to that)
-Damages
-Nip/Tuck (or that either)
-Reruns of The Sopranos (Brian and I want the box set)
-First 48 Hours, Forensic Files etc...
-Joel Osteen sermons on t.v.

9 things that happened to me today:

-watched Barney with Zane
-changed 15,000 pull ups
-put Zane on the potty several times
-walked Biskit in the wind which scared him senseless and he would not poop!
-talked to my hubby on the phone
-picked out Valentine presents for Brian, Elijah, and Zane
-looked for a picture for Elijah's 5th grade yearbook ad that is not embarrassing!
-opened up a box from UPS with my new living room rug in it!(yeah me!)
-posted this silly tag on my blog!

9 things I am thankful for:

-my 2 healthy boys
-my unbelievably supportive husband
-the opportunity to stay home with Zane for a little while
-God's abundant blessing for my family
-my cardio twister (it makes fat melt faster)
-my Boston Terrier Biskit
-protection, grace, and favor for my family in the midst of economic and social turmoil
-my handbag collection
-our new flatscreen t.v. in our bedroom so we can watch it while we drift off! (not very profound but true)

Okay, enough about me, Elijah was sick this last weekend with a stomach bug but he is better. Zane is in desperate need of a haircut but refuses so I will have to sedate him or hold him down whichever will work best!! I bought a Cardio Twister a couple of weeks ago and it is the coolest piece of exercise equipment ever. It twists your upper body while your lower is stepping. I do it 5 times a week or so. It has sped up my weight loss a little bit so I am happy with it. Well that's all for now. I will have more later!

Zanes monkey face!

He was really into his Barney video apparently! He is the most animated, full of expression kid I think I have ever seen. You can't help but laugh at him!
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Bouncing on his ball

He will sit and bounce up and down on this ball his Uncle Shane got him for 2 hours. He loves to jump and bounce. The ball will move all around the room and he goes with it bouncing along!
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Zanes new diaper bag!

I got this bag on Ebay a few days ago. I sell a lot of things on Ebay for fun and extra money and I found a lady that makes these by hand and sells them so I got her to put Zanes name on one. It turned out really cute. Elijah picked out the colors. It is just the right size for short outings when I don't want to carry my pocket book and a big diaper bag I can grab the little one. I have her link if anybody needs a new diaper bag.
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Brian and his Granny for the last time

Brian went up to Maryville to see his Granny on Saturday afternoon. She passed on this afternoon around 4:30. She was still very much aware of what was going on around her. He took her some pictures of the boys on Saturday so she could keep one by her bed. We brought the boys up once a month or so to visit her at the nursing home and she enjoyed playing with Zane. She went about as peacefully as someone can.
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We got a lot of snow (finally)!

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What a surprise to get all of this snow! It was a good opportunity for the boys to play outside. Zane is not crazy about it he fusses when we get him ready but he likes to watch Elijah roll around in it!
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