Merry Christmas Eve

Yesterday Colton had his picture taken with Santa... Actually, Colton and Mommy had our picture taken with Santa. After the second time through the line and $10.95 for a 4x6, we got an acceptable picture with the man in red. Colton was fine talking to him and giving him high fives with me holding him, but did not want to sit with him. No surprise to me...

Loving all the cards coming in... wish all year was like this. I've got some cookies to frost and a house to clean. We'll be going to Chuck's brother's and then out to Grandin and back home for Colton to open up gifts from mommy and daddy and watch 'A Christmas Story'. One of my favorite! Tomorrow it's open Santa's gifts, church at 10:30 and dinner with my family. Friday Colton and I leave for Stephanie's with a stop in the cities for some shopping. Lots of loading and unloading of the vehicle the next couple days!

Colton talk

'Follow me...'
'Good job, mommy/daddy
'You good helper, mommy/daddy'
'I show you...'
'Tip toe, tip toe... shhh quiet.'
'Colton tummy full/tummy empty'
'Colton tired.'
'Up, up, up and away!'
'Let's count.'
'That's enough!' (As he's pointing his finger.)
'Hi girls' (To Morgan and Renna)
'I funny boy.'
Helicocker (helicopter) Chuck thought that was hilarious!
Talks in third person.
Loves daddy's 'fishy' kisses.
Counts up to 13 unassisted and then the next number is always 17. Forgets 14, 15, 16...
Loves 'stickers' (tape) just like mommy!
Calls Chuck and I... 'guys'. He was going downstairs and he told Chuck and I, 'See ya later, guys!'
Hates his teeth brushed.
Loves sausage... says its 'haashish... almost sounds like 'hotdish'

Cookies

Colton and I decorated cookies last night.... he LOVED sprinkling his cookies as you can see. Not sure those ones are edible. I haven't decorated cookies in a really long time. I'm not sure if my cookies are edible either!

Colton's finished product...

Updated Rooms

Entry


Our bedroom


Another view...


Colton's playroom

Downstairs bath

Some pictures of rooms that have been recently 'refreshed'. The master bath hasn't been painted yet and I still need to buy new rugs as well. Colton's room to be added shortly...

Organic

I was reading a article and it said if you're going to try and go organic the top five products to start with are:

1. milk
2. beef
3. potatoes
4. apples
5. peanut butter

Thought I'd pass along this info for what its worth... These apparently are products that have the most manmade products applied to/in them. I do the milk and peanut butter already and I'm not sure if our beef is organic (we get it from the local cold storage which processes everything there, guess it depends on where they get the animal from). I usually buy range free eggs as well, but from what I've read recently that's not all it's cracked up to either. It's a start... I'm trying to be a more informed consumer, but sometimes what I don't know is better for me.

The Tree

Our small (narrow) tree... I was going to buy a big one last year, BUT I thought we would be moving and I didn't want to move anymore than we had to. I'll be buying a bigger one when they go on clearance after Christmas. It works well for our small living room.

Gingerbread House

Since we're stuck at home because of the big blizzard Colton and I made a gingerbread house... a sad looking gingerbread house. Doesn't look anything like it does on the box... oh well, we tried out best. Colton loved the frosting... big surprise. It was fun.

Holidays Last Year

Year ago today.... right after Colton's first haircut.

___________________________________________

Not much to report.... busy finishing up Christmas shopping. Still need to get Colton to see Santa and get his picture taken.... will probably do it next week.

Getting ready

We're getting ready for Christmas... our cards were ordered a month ago- looking to get those out next week sometime, most of the presents have been bought and we have our tree up and a few decorations around the house. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find our stockings and some important ornaments... obviously they're somewhere around the house, but I can't seem to remember where I put them. The most logical place I should have put them would have been with the other decorations, but apparently I like to make it hard on myself.

___________________________

I've been doing a little painting and redecorating around the house.... I figure if I have to live here for a while longer (hopefully not 'forever' longer) I'm going to do the things I planned to do to it if we were to permanently stay here. The downstairs bathroom has a new color scheme- shower curtain, towels, pictures, mats, the playroom has been painted, the entry has been painted, the upstairs bath will get a new paint job before Christmas along with mats and pictures and I bought a new comforter for our room along with some new accessories. Colton's room was painted a couple months ago and he got some new pictures on his walls, too. When everything is 'done' I'll post some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

___________________________

See everyone soon for the holidays... enjoy all the running around!

Another new baby

Lacey Victoria-Joy

Stephanie and Greg had their new baby girl on November 21 @ 8:02pm weighing 7lbs 8oz and 20.25 in. Congratulations to the both of them on their newest addition and Kylie on being a new big sister! LOVE YOU! Can't wait to see you all....

Release

Chuck made it back from hunting... he said it was the least fun he's had out there since he started going annually with his friends. I think this trip was just set up to be not the best. (I know, not the best grammar...) He took some of Champ and Raven's ashes with him and found two special spots to release them. After releasing Raven's, while walking away a rooster got up and he shot it. The rooster she would never have a chance to get out there, Renna and him here able to do it for her. Renna is Raven's namesake, "Renegade Raven's Memory" (in case you didn't know). Both us thought it would have been even more special if Morgan could have been there with him to watch a part of her best friend and one of her little girls go off into the wind.... So, with no Champ, Morgan at home and saying a proper goodbye to two great dogs, it was a difficult trip for him to say the least. There's always next time.....

Morgan's Leg

This was taken I think less than a week after surgery.... it looks much better and has healed nicely. Chuck took her for a long walk yesterday and she did really well at putting weight on her leg.

Randomness

Colton slept in his toddler bed all night on Sunday... I was up multiple times checking on him so I didn't get any sleep. He still prefers his crib, although if we took it down it wouldn't give him an alternative place to sleep. The pacifer is 95% out of our daily life... he will still ask for it, but it's not a constant battle to have it anymore... yea!


I do have pictures of Morgan's leg that I've been meaning to post.... some little guy at our house broke the air card for the internet and it'll cost $240 to replace because we didn't put insurance on it... so until that's bought, no internet at home. She wants to run and when she does that she doesn't put any weight on her leg... when we can get to walk slowly she's starting to put some pressure on it. I was doing to exercises with her last night and Colton was watching... I turned to take care of Jackson and I hear her wince in pain and Cole standing beside her. Not sure what he did.... The biggest thing with her is to not flag her leg out... we need to keep it in the same position as it would be when she's running/walking. When Chuck gets back from hunting he needs to work with her more on just walking so she's more comfortable putting pressure on that leg all the time because as this point it's just causing more stress on her other leg/hip.



My friend Stacy was home for a couple days from CA. Spent a little time with her on Saturday night. It's always nice to see her... Stopped by the airport before she left and would have liked to spend more than the 20 minutes we were there, but Colton was being his typical 2 year old self. I love it! :-)

Post surgery

Morgan is doing pretty good considering.... She has about a 6-7" incision on the right back thigh. (Pictures to come.) I thought it was a simple procedure.... not so. She had a femoral head ostectomy, which is the removal of the ball portion of the hip joint.... quite invasive! Feel free to read about it. With this surgery a 'false joint' forms and once healed it will be less painful for her than than leaving the femoral head rubbing against the pelvic bone. She has to do leg exercises every day and be iced 2-3x a day for the next couple of weeks. She'll put a little weight on her leg but she mostly gets around on her one back leg for right now. Hopefully with her physical therapy and a smooth recovery she'll be able to be hunting again next year. She's a tough girl and has turned into Chuck's dog right now.

Pictures

Say a little prayer...

Morgan goes in for surgery this afternoon.... it's expected to take 2-2 1/2 hours. Hopefully this will help her in the long run and she's able to hunt again with Chuck. Chuck dropped her off this morning and will stop and see her after she goes into recovery later this afternoon. Renna was not happy about being the kennel all by herself apparently. Say a prayer for 'My Morgan'....

The vet asked about Jackson... I didn't get further into the conversation with Chuck as he had to go. I guess I need to talk to them myself get the information I'm looking for and put my mind at ease about the decision we need to make.

First Down

Some pictures of my date for the Bison game on Saturday. We stayed until half time after he started to get really antsy... he did pretty good... fell of the chair, got a bruise on his head and meet some other 'grandma's'... seemed to enjoy himself. A pro at yelling 'First Down'. He's getting to be such a big boy. I asked him if he wanted a sucker earlier in the game and he told me, 'No thanks.' Such a polite boy....

A photographer was taking free pictures at the Civic on Halloween for bringing a canned good. Of course Colton wanted nothing to do with it! This is the 'one' she was able to get.... blue mouth an all. (He's holding his balloon sword a clown made for him at the Civic as well.)

Happy Halloween

We had a fun filled night!

Dogs

Renna is very protective of her food... trying to get her out of this bad habit. Doesn't she look ferocious?

Buzz Cut

Colton's buzz cut.... wasn't looking to get it cut like this, but some little guy hates getting his hair cut and it was the fastest way to get it done.

And another...

Getting close to getting my Christmas shopping done.... the nieces and nephew are done along with my youngest sister and brothers. Just the grandparents left.... Ordered Xmas cards last night and got that out of the way. Whew....

• When asking Colton, 'What's your name'? He'll say, 'I'm Colton' and point at himself. We'll ask him our names and he'll, 'You Mommy, You Daddy.'
• He likes to turn on on the 'Wee Bee' with the 'mote'. (TV with the remote.)
• We got all the way out to the car yesterday and we had to turn around and go back into the house to give Daddy a kiss goodbye. Upset this morning that Daddy had already left for work by the time he got up.
• Calls a sucker... a sticker.
• Puts on my witches hat for Halloween and tells me he's a pirate. (That's what he'll be...)

Something in color

Pictures

You will see these pictures again... they're pics for our Xmas cards taken last weekend.

Random Colton

Colton's new bedtime routine the last couple of nights is to lay in his big boy bed first and then come into our room 5-10 minutes later and ask, 'What are you doing'? and then wants to rock and go into his crib. I'm glad he wants to lay in his bed, it's a good sign! I think the level of how tired his is will determine whether he actually falls asleep in the bed.

Colton sings and bops his head to the 'bum, bum, beedum, bum, bum, beedum, bum' part of the song 'Disturbia' by Rhianna. I'll try and catch it on video... it's too funny....

Chuck gives Colton zerberts (sp?) on his belly when he's playing with him, so now when Colton wants a 'werbert' as he calls them, he'll lift up his shirt and go to Chuck, 'Werbert'.

Big Boy

Colton fell asleep in his toddler bed last night... yah! I would have taken a picture, but both my cameras were in the car. He ran into his room and right to his bed, wanted his blankie and that was it. I left the room thinking for sure he was going to get up.... Five minutes later he was snoring away. I didn't leave him in the bed because I haven't brought the gate upstairs to keep him in his room if/when he woke up in the middle of the night. (I don't want him getting too far and starting wandering around downstairs...) The whole transition to the bed makes me nervous... I like that his crib confines him into one space during the night. He tosses and turns so much I know he'll be falling out of the bed, too. Anyway, this was a start, now we just have to get that darn pacifier away from him. We were doing so well for awhile and we seem to have gone backwards in our efforts.


The Escalade came just in time... while the car sat at the shop, many notice it was leaking transmission fluid and oil. Turns out, the car had a bad seal and if I had continued to drive it, I would have probably seized up the motor.... Never noticed any leaking before, although it's really difficult when you park on gravel... divine intervention....

What's new with Colton:

• Names all the kids in his daycare.
• He asks me, What's your name? and What's your name, Mommy?
• Notorious for saying, 'Okay, Mommy' when asked or told to do something, but it's a 50/50 chance he'll actually comply.
• Now calls is pacifier his 'Paci'... he always had some other sort of weird name for it and we've never called it his 'paci'.
• Gets through most of the ABC's with help.
• Loves shapes and colors and playing with is playdough. Circles, triangles and diamonds are his favorite.
• Building 'towers' with his blocks.
• Counts to 13.. the rest of the numbers after that are just teen, teen, teen
• Sat on Mommy's lap and listened to a WHOLE story for the first time.

Brief Update

Morgan will be having surgery to remove the bone spur that has formed on her hip November 3. Morgan has a form of hip displasia, but hers was a result of the inverted hip she was born with, not genetics. She will have to rest for 3 months before we can start any exercise program with her. The vet recommends she swims this summer. She may never hunt again depending on how well the recovery goes. Chuck doesn't want to jeopardize the longevity of her life and the health of her hips just to have her continue hunting. She's been whining all morning after Chuck had to leave her behind to go hunting. Meanwhile we'll have to really watch her weight as any extra weight will add more stress to her hips. We're suppose to try and get her to loose 5 lbs before surgery as she's a little overweight.


Jackson's condition is grim. He has advanced hip displasia. Chuck said looking at his xray he wanted to throw up. His hips have multiple bone spurs that have essentially fused his hip bones. There is nothing we can do... The vet said he is in pain and if we think he's in pain just looking at him, the pain he's feeling is considerably worse. Cold weather will make it tougher for him as it'll make him even more stiff. It's heartbreaking to watch him walk. The vet was willing to put him down on Thursday, but I think Chuck and I need to come to terms with it first. I want him to feel better, but there's nothing we can do 'here' for that to happen. I don't want him to suffer... We don't know the 'when' yet, but we know the end is near....

Dogs

Chuck took Morgan and Jackson into the vet today to get checked out. Morgan's been limping on her back leg... the same leg that's always been a little bit of a problem all her life. She apparently has bone spurs on her back joint and will be having surgery soon to remove them. Hopefully this will fix the problem. She probably won't hunt this year and will never be able to hunt hard like she used to after this. Jackson... he's been limping and showing signs of immobility in his legs... from the little information Chuck could tell me, his hips are bad, really bad. The vet said if we think he in pain (which we do), multiply it by 10 and that's what pain he's actually feeling. This is the news we were sort of anticipating, but the reality of it sucks. I don't know how winter is going to treat him as the cold weather will make him more stiff. I sort of think maybe this is the reason while we're still in this house.... Chuck and I were very concerned about moving Jackson into town because he so dearly loved living out in the country.... I don't want to think of what is inevitable, it's just too soon after Champ's passing. I'll find out more information from Chuck when I get home tonight. He was too distraught to tell me anything more.