Busy with Nothing

I know I haven't blogged in a while. We have been busy with the usuals of life, plus the training of this new family addition. It has been interesting, for sure. He really is a sweet, laid-back dog and Miller is as happy as a clam with his new "brother". Murphy has just been shoved in and out of so many different homes that now he is just utterly confused. It took him almost two weeks to figure out that he could go in and out of the dog door by himself without our pushing and prodding. Now we just have to help him to understand that it is his responsibility to go out of it when he has to go potty! Add to that the fact that we're still weaning the prednisone for his itching and so he pees ALL. THE. TIME. I have reached my limit of cleaning up pee puddles, so we started crating him when we leave. That worked for a few days, but this morning he had an accident in his crate, which let me know that he really has little control over his bladder on this medication. I'm weaning him off and praying that when he goes back to the vet on Friday, they can give him something chronic for his allergies that doesn't affect his bladder. And I pray that all this peeing in the house hasn't conditioned him to thinking that it's OK!! I wish I could just fast forward to several weeks from now when I hope things will be evening out a little! But if I do that too far, it will almost be time for Jack to be here! Yikes!

Our New Family Addition (and it's not the baby)

OK, so let me explain. Oh, for the past couple of months or so, poor Miller and I have not been the best of buds. The honest truth is that he was driving me crazy! Now, I realize that Will and I did him a huge disservice by making him our baby for 18 months and then quickly demoting him to "dog" status when Anna arrived. However, there is nothing I can really do to go back and fix that now. So, he has never really gotten over his demotion and has been increasingly needy lately. Plus, Anna was definitely picking up on my feelings toward Miller and I didn't want her to think it was OK to treat a pet that way. I told Will that we just had to do something because I was not able to give him the attention and playtime that he needed now and certainly wasn't going to be able to in the future with Jack coming. We didn't know what to do. Enter my lovely sister, Sarah...

Sarah and Jason have two boxers, Riley and Harley, that they integrated into a family when they started dating and got married. These two dogs love. each. other.--it's so cute! They have also been sweet to keep Miller several times for us because Miller loves going over and hanging out with their "boys". Sarah kept telling me that Miller just needed a friend so that he would have another dog to play with and give him some of the attention that I could not. I was completely skeptical because in my mind, two dogs meant two sets of muddy paws on my carpet, two vet bills, two stays at the kennel, etc., etc. Plus, I had told Sarah that I would never do the puppy thing again and our wish list for a rescue was rather impossible: 4-5 years-old, hypoallergenic (non-shedding), good with children, low-energy, non-abused or aggressive, male, housetrained, and preferably with a mild food allergy so that we could have them on the same food as Miller. Yeah right!

Well, on the way back from our weekend to Wilmington to see Penelope, we were talking about it again, and Sarah decided to start doing some of her google magic. She found this rescue dog in Raleigh who fit our description, almost to a "T". She emailed them "for me" and asked for an application. Long story short is that I filled out the application, the whole time thinking that I had completely lost my mind, and they approved us, called and talked to me about this dog named "Snuggles", and wanted us to come get this dog for a trial period. Crazy!

Now here is where I need to stop and explain to you how awesome my husband is. In spite of the insanity of all of this, my sweet hubby never once said, "You are completely crazy for doing this". Through all of it, he just kept saying that if I thought it would help me with Miller, then he would support me. How amazing is that? I did get him to admit once that he did think it was a little crazy, but I thought so, too.

So, on Sunday afternoon (Halloween afternoon), Will gave up watching football to drive Anna and me and Miller to Cary to meet and pick up our new family addition. We were officially adopting Snuggles with the understanding that we could bring him back within a month if things didn't work out. And that's how we ended up with a new dog.

First things first was changing his name because Snuggles just wasn't going to cut it. For some reason, I felt a huge need for some alliteration, so we settled on Murphy. Miller and Murphy. I think it's adorable. The "boys" (as we now call them) have done extremely well. There has been the occasional growl for emphasis or warning not to take a certain toy. Otherwise, they are so cute together and have gotten along great. He is just a sweet, laid-back little guy. Anna did learn that she couldn't pull a dog's tail--he snapped at her and scared her half to death. I have been pretty diligent about observing them since and he has been nothing but sweet to her. I think that was a pretty good life lesson learned as long as that's all she wrote.

Now I'm just praying that all of this doesn't completely come back to bite me in the you-know-where. The good news is that Murphy is a sweet dog, but just needs the necessary training to get him used to our family. That will come with time. Miller has been so good through everything and I have come to realize how good a dog he really is. Plus, Anna is learning huge lessons about how to treat pets with love and care. And she keeps reminding us that Murphy's Mommy and Daddy didn't want him so that's why he came to live with us, so that he could have a family. I think the outcome has been pretty positive so far! Just keep praying for us, will you?

Halloween 2010

Halloween was a little bit of a blur this year. I think part of it was because Anna wore her Cinderella dress every second that she could between her preschool fall festival on Monday night and Halloween on Sunday night. By the time we put it on for trick-or-treating, it wasn't the big deal that it had been at the beginning of the week. She did look gorgeous, though! Plus, Anna didn't even make it a block down the street before deciding we needed to go back and help Daddy pass out candy. She had a blast watching all the other kids come up to the house and getting to pass out candy to them. Go figure!

Pumpkin Carving

We have pondered each Halloween about carving a pumpkin, but always decided that Anna was still too young to really get it. This year, however, after hearing 587 renditions of the "Mr. Jack-o-Lantern" song and reading umpteen books about Halloween, I knew we were at prime pumpkin carving age! This afternoon, Anna picked out the perfect pumpkin from our collection to carve. We took it out on the deck and started the process. It was so funny to watch her as we carved out the "hat" and scooped all the seeds out. She decided she wanted round eyes and a triangle nose. She was absolutely thrilled with the results! I have to admit that we did a pretty good job with Mr. Jack-o-lantern on our first pumpkin carving attempt as parents. Anna decided she was going to name him "Snowflake" (I don't get it either) and preceded to stand outside well past her bedtime telling me a story about how she had gotten all the "twinkle, twinkle stars" to go inside Snowflake and that's why he was so bright and happy. What an imagination! After a meltdown when it was time for bed, she had to give him a kiss and hug goodnight!

Preschool Fall Festival

Monday night was Anna's fall festival at her preschool. She was so excited because we pulled out her Halloween costume for the first time and she got to wear it. Cinderella was proud of herself! It was so cute seeing all of her classmates and actually talking to some of the other parents. Since she is old enough for the drop-off/pick-up line, I feel like I never see any of the parents this year! Mrs. Susan and Mrs. Jane had some yummy snacks and the kids showed off their classroom. It was so cute!

Anna and her "favorite friend" Bryce. When we asked her at the dinner table one night why he was her favorite friend, she responded with " because I just love him!". Will put his head in his hands and couldn't believe he was hearing this already! At the festival, they immediately held hands when they saw each other. Here we go!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

For old time's sake...

2008

2009

2010

My Niece, Penelope

This past weekend, Sarah and Anna and I raced to Wilmington to get our hands on Baby Penelope. She was born on Monday, October 11, 2010 after Johnna was rushed to an emergency c-section for a prolapsed cord! We are so thankful that there were skilled nurses and doctors there who were able to keep everyone healthy! It had about killed us to wait until Friday to drive down, but it probably was for the best. Johnna was feeling better and they all came over to Mimi and Papa's for an entire afternoon and evening to hang out. It was so much fun! And Penelope is absolutely precious! She is the best ol' thing--so content and relaxed anywhere but on the changing table! The funniest part was watching my brother, Jeff, be a dad. He was hysterical! Everything had to be just right for Penelope and poor Johnna was not getting to do a thing--Jeff had to do everything. It about killed him that all of us were holding her and he couldn't! I just never thought he would be this way--too funny!

Anna talked all week about how she was going to share her Bo-bo with Baby Penelope!

The proud cousin and big sister, Nia!

Sweet Nelly!

Proud Papa making sure everything is just right...

The Collins women fussing over the newest member!

Proud grandparents

Doling out some love!

Johnna finally got to hold her after Sarah yelled at Jeffro to give her up!

Wrestling with Uncle Jeffro!

It's going to be so fun to watch Anna and Jack and Nia and Penelope grow up together. Family reunions are getting much more interesting!!!