A look into our lives

We celebrated the second annual "Thanksmas" party with good friends of ours last weekend - smack-dab in the middle of Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year we had Mexican food so we re-named is "Mas-Gracias". Pretty clever, huh? Here is a picture of Cora and I sharing a delicious sopapilla for dessert. We also had enchiladas, tamales, tortilla soup, homemade tortilla chips and various dips. All of it was actually homemade - and delicious!

Brad, Cora and I went sledding on the Mesa last week because there still hadn't been any snow in town. It was a blustery day and cold, but worth it for the fun of sledding.

Well, with more creatures in the house, there is definitely more cleaning that needs to happen. But there is also more love going around. Take a look:

We got the first snowfall of the season in town this week. It's been snowing almost every day...but also melting in between the storms. We've been getting out as much as we can to play in the snow while it lasts. Cora has really taken to it: this afternoon she looked outside and said "Out-hide(outside)...boots!" and then ran to the closet. A moment later she came back to me wearing her boots and carrying my boots, her hat and a mitten. She plunked my boots down in front of me and started putting on her hat and mitten. It was so amusing to watch her do all this and to realize how much she is really thinking for herself lately. Unfortunately we had to get groceries and couldn't go out to play...maybe tomorrow!

First Haircut

These are not great pictures, but it's all I've got. Cora's hair was getting pretty long in front and hanging in Cora's eyes and tickling her nose. I tried for a long time to keep it pinned back with a barrette or pulled up in a pony tail but it was getting so yucky on the ends it just needed a trim. Here it is all wet and ready to be cut.

I gave her just a little trim in front and a little bit around the back and sides where the ends were ratty. It's growing slowly, but at least what's there now lays a little more nicely and is less snarly!


She has been singing "e-i-e-i-o" (as in "old mac donald") all the time lately. It's so cute. It usually comes out "e-i-e-i-e-e-o". She often actually gets the tune right!
She also aften says "thank-you" (or "beenk-oo") on her own accord without being prompted. We love it, obviously! And she'll respond to herself with "welcome".
She loves to say "big-girl" and loves to drink from a big girl cup, use her spoon or fork like a big girl (although she still likes to use her fingers), and attempt put her own shoes on. After eating or drinking something she'll put it down and say "good" sounding very fulfilled (or "dood").

Her growing vocabulary is so much fun!

Her little imagination is taking hold, too: This morning she found a diaper and tried to put it on one of her dolls; this afternoon in the car she started pretending that a crab was biting her (a book that we read has crabs in it and when we get to the crab part we pretend our hands are crabs gently pinching each other...we haven't read the book for at least a week!) She loves to color and will often tell me that her scribbles are a cat or flowers or a horse. She is such a joyful little girl!

News, but not what you're hoping for

Well, everyone, even strangers in stores, have started asking or telling me that it's time for Baby Number 2. I know. We know. And now you know.

But we also know that all things happen in God's good time. We've been ready for a while but it just hasn't happened yet. So for those of you who are curious, or have been expecting an announcement to come any day, here's the word. We're not pregnant yet, but hoping it will happen soon. We welcome your prayers on our behalf!

I was really caught off guard when a Lowe's employee, who had been oogling about Cora, found out that she was almost two years old and said flat out to Brad and I "Well, it's time for another one! You make cute babies!" It was meant as a compliment but...

Now for the news: the Jetta needs to go. We've decided to sell it and replace it with something more reliable. Or at least something else. It's been a headache for too long and has turned into a full-blown migrane. The only relief is to send it away. Far away. I haven't included any details about our vehicles since the "big summer blowout". It's no fun to talk about these things...and most of it I don't understand. I just know the car has spent more time in the mechanic's garage than in our own. And more of our money is in the mechanic's pocket than in ours. Yuck.

I heard a great quote this weekend from a friend's grandfather: If there are cars in the next life, I know I went to the wrong place.

Let there be no cars in heaven...

The Rest of the Story

Gidget

Gidget is a 5 year old German Shepherd/Blood Hound mix, as best as we can tell. She weighs about 100 lbs but is 100 lbs of love. She is calm, quiet and sweet. She spends most of the day outside, by her choice, and loves to go for walks. She is a wonderful dog and we are so happy to have her!

Tom

Tom or Tom-Tom (aka "Bom-Bom" or "tat" by Cora) is a 6 month old Siamese/Tabby mix, as best as we can tell. He is loving yet mischievous. He is friendly and loves to cuddle and sleep on laps. At other times he darts across the house, bouncing of walls. Literally. He's fairly tolerant of Cora and puts up with just about anything Cora tries to do to him - pick him up and carry him, hold him, feed him, read to him, use him as a pillow. Sometimes he's feisty and lets her know it's not a good time to play. He's a fabulous cat and we're enjoying being cat owners - the first time for both Brad and I!

And now, here's the rest of the story:
After we came to terms with the fact that a puppy had not been a good choice for us, we tossed around the idea of a cat. For a couple months we batted it around and toyed with the thought of being cat owners. Seeing as how neither of has 5 years ago would have even admitted to liking cats very much and neither of us had ever owned a cat in our lives I wasn't so sure about it. I kept saying and thinking: What if just the right dog in the right circumstances happens to come along? Would we be open to that possibility? But the ease of owning a cat has it's appeals, too, so we kept thinking about it. One day in late September, Cora and I even went to visit the cats and kittens at the Humane Society, just in research mode. (We also walked through the dog kennels, hoping just the right one would be there...)

One morning in early October, Cora and I saw Gidget out in the front yard, sniffing around. I knew she belonged to our neighbors since she had gotten out of their yard a few times before. I said to Cora, "Come on, Cora, let's go bring Gidget home." We went outside and I called Gidget to me. She came galloping over, all smiles - or so it seemed. She sidled right up along side me and I pet her and patted her head saying, "Gidget, you're such a sweet girl! If I didn't know where you lived I would try to keep you. But since I know who you belong to I've got to bring you home!" She followed us as we walked to our neighbor's house.

I knocked on the door and Adonika, our neighbor, answered the door. "Gidget is such a sweet dog," I told her. She agreed but then told me how upset she was because she just found out they had to move and couldn't take her with and she couldn't find anyone to take her so she had to bring her to the Humane Society! I was heart broken and bumbled something about talking to Brad and just maybe...We'll see.

As we stood there talking, a beautiful little kitten came to the door. "Oh, what a pretty cat. I didn't know you had any cats," I said. Adonika proceeded to tell me she couldn't take them (there was another grey kitten also) with either but the Humane Society had so many cats they weren't taking anymore. I picked up the cat and found out how sweet he was and my heart melted.

That night I told Brad and Gidget and the cat (he didn't have a name at the time) and asked what he thought about getting one or both from our neighbors. We talked for a while and he kept asking me what I really thought. I had no convincing argument to offer. All I could say was "I honestly think it's crazy and it makes no sense. The only thing is that they are both wonderful animals, the circumstances are right and in the worst case scenario, if it doesn't work out, they were going to go the Humane Society anyway. We have little to lose." We went and talked to Adonika and played with both Gidget and Tom another time and our hearts were sealed. We brought them home a few days later.

We learned a lot of lessons from the last time around and made very few investments right away, in case things didn't go well. However, after only a couple days, we both knew this was a good thing. Cora in INFATUATED with Tom and he's very tolerant of her antics. Cora likes Gidget but other than wanting to take her for walks or let her in and out of the house (because she's just learned how to open regular door knobs) they don't pay much attention to each other.

Gidget and Tom get along well. Brad and I laugh often watching Tom groom Gidget or curl up in between her legs while she sleeps. He can only cuddle with her for a few seconds before turning and batting her paws and trying to get her to play.

We've been so pleased with both of them. It feels a little silly to say, but it really feels like one of those things we like to call a "God thing". We couldn't have chosen a better match for us and we probably wouldn't have ended up with a dog and a cat under a different circumstance but this...just works! We're so happy!