Wake-Up Call

This morning I woke up to the sweetest little phrase being said over the baby monitor: "UUUP?? PEESE??"


Ahh . . . It's gonna be a good day . . .

Oh, Eli . . .

Anyone that knows me knows that Eli was the other 'man' in my life. That little 7 pound, long legged, skinny, hair-ball was my little shadow. For the past six years we went everywhere and did just about everything together. Take a look at him and you'll understand why I never stood a chance at becoming the Alpha Dog in this relationship.



Everyone told me that once we had a baby our dogs would become just that: dogs. Even though that was partly true, I was determined to keep them apart of the family - even if they were no longer the center of it. From the get-go Eli was fantastic with Addison. He would cuddle with her & I in the rocker during Addison's early months. As she got older and more coordinated, Eli would actually play with her - but always kept a safe distance just in case she went for him. Afterall Addison does outweigh him by three times!




Eli was always the first to get to Addison in the morning - I think that this was his favorite part of the day. He would hear her on the monitor and would just get so excited. When I opened the bedroom door Eli would rush to Addison's crib whining and jumping. Eli's excitement was always matched by Addison's; she'd smile and laugh at her little buddy while exclaiming, "E! E! E!" So much for "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" :)




While they were good buddies, I never trusted the dogs 100%. Eli had come so far. He despised kids before Addison came and now he would actually accept them. But still, he is a dog and their behavior can be unpredictable.

It turns out I was right not to put all my trust in Eli . . . Last Saturday Addison cornered Eli and was going for Eli's eye (what is it with kids' obsession to touch eyes??!!) then before I could stop her Eli went for it. As soon as he 'attacked' he realized what had happened. He laid down next to my crying baby and you could just tell that he really wanted to take back the past 20 seconds.

I swooped Addison up and she had little cuts on her nose and cheek. Her lip had also been cut open and it had already ballooned into quite the fat lip. The entire left side of her face was swollen and had instantly turned black and blue. Addison, of course cried for a bit. She was in pain and I'm sure she was confused about how it all played out. I know that she doesn't remember the incident but I still wonder if she ever realized that Eli was the one who had hurt her.

After a quick response from my family, Addison had completely forgotten her new owies and was showing off for Grandma, Grandpa & Uncle Kyle by spinning around in circles, singing, and laughing. She clearly was not going to have any physical or mental scaring from the incident.

Once I realized that she was okay and wanted to show-off rather than cry, it was my turn to cry. Nothing is worse than seeing your baby get hurt and not being able to help her in time. When i was running to stop her from cornering Eli it just felt like I had concrete feet - almost like the world around me was in fast-forward and I was in slow motion. I just could not get there quick enough. Then to see my baby hurt, bleeding and swollen . . . I would have given ANYTHING in the world to take her pain away.

And after dealing with all those horrible feelings, I had to face the fact that Eli - Eli did this!! How could he? Doesn't he love her as much as we do? How could he have done this? I do think Eli loves his Addison; but he is 'just a dog.' His instinct was to defend and that is what he did. Now that we know his instinct is so strong we can't take the risk of this happening again . . . which means that Eli needs a new home.

That night Eli stayed with Kyle and then has been with my parents ever since while we get this whole thing figured out. I know that there are a lot of people who don't understand . . . they expect me to hate Eli now. . . . Believe me, for the first few days I was so mad that I didn't want to see him or talk about any of it. I just cried. My little side-kick had hurt the most important person in my life! But it's useless to be angry at him, it just makes the whole ordeal even more difficult.

The next few days I cried because I missed Eli. When I would go to get Maybel her treats during the day, I would always grab two bones out of habit. I hate putting the second one back - its a cold reminder that Eli is never coming home.

To all those who have called and emailed new home suggestions for Eli: I thank you. As for now, it seems that we may have found an appropriate living situation for Eli.

A week after the incident, Addison has a faint bruise left on her cheek and the rest has healed nicely. She occasionally walks around looking for Eli (usually when she has one of her toy balls that he just loved) but I think in a very short time she won't even remember her "E."

Addison comes first and she always will. With Addison's safety being the most important thing in my life, we cannot allow Eli to come back home - but that doesn't mean that my heart isn't breaking without him.

Best Visit All Summer

What is better than a visit from the Hubbells? Not much. Jennifer, Billy & Will stayed with us for several days earlier this month and we had a GREAT time with them here!



Will is such a wonderful kid. Addison wants to do everything Will does - and I don't mind that one bit! Addison is at the point where she mocks everything she sees, which often times scares me. But Will is always on such good behavior I certainly don't mind her picking up traits from him!


Sharing, of course, is a concept Addison has yet to master. I guess it takes a few years; right?? Anyhow, Will did a great job being patient with Addison and as always played very gently with her.


Addison seemed okay with Will playing with her toys; but her chair was off limits - it's all hers!



Kyle was able to show Will the local fire trucks. Will seems to think that the firefighting gig is an ok way to go . . . . Well, actually he thinks it's the ONLY way to go. The kid loves his fire engines. But to be honest, I'm not sure who had more fun - Kyle really enjoyed showing off the station's goods.





Will was only a few weeks away from turning 4 years old when they came to visit - and since we were not able to make it up to Anchorage to deliver his gifts; we decided to throw Will a 'Practice Birthday Party.'


Will carefully decorated his cake with sprinkles and 12 candles - thats 3x the practice blowing them out; duh!


What Practice Birthday Party is complete without presents?




Will sang us a song before blowing his candles out.


Will had asked me if I had made the cake for him and I, without thinking, told him that I had slaved all day making this cake. I don't know why I said that - comments like that are so lost on little ones. I forgot how literal they think. And then I felt bad that I hadn't made the cake. But buying the cake was such a safer option - I just have no baking skills!


While it was great going to the park and other fun places, the company of Jennifer, Billy & Will was what we enjoyed the most. Thanks for coming guys!! We hope you come back SOON!!


Oh! And I have to thank Billy for the great pictures. I had a few camera mishaps so most of these are from his camera!

One more thing . . Will: I think Addison might miss you singing her to sleep at night!

Fun at the Terminal

While at the Terminal both Sean and I got to take Addison around to meet a lot of great people. It had been quite awhile since we had been out there to visit.




I love these pictures! We got a picture of Addison with Michelle in her 'blues.' Addison REALLY digs Michelle!




Addison checking out Dad's helmet. She was pretty happy as long as he kept it on his head. She wasn't too impressed with the helmet on her head!



With Ms Paula! Paula and I had A LOT of conversations about being a Stay At Home Parent while I was pregnant. She gave me a ton of insight and support during that part of my life.

Chief Major

Chief Major is retiring as the Fire Chief and we were able to attend his retirement ceremony at the terminal. I could go on and on about what a great man Brian is and how much fun working with him was - but honestly, it'll make me miss those early years of my job and all the cool stuff we got to do and got DONE!!! So instead, I'll post a few pictures and rather than reflect I'll look forward to all the great things I have ahead as a Stay-At-Home-Mom and that Brian has ahead of him on the line!


Brian with his wonderful family - don't you just want to hug baby Hailey??!!

The Park . . . Finally

With less than a handful of sunny days this summer we just haven't spent much time outdoors. Last month we had one (yes, ONE) nice day - which is one more than we've had so far this month!!! Addison and I made the best of the nice day and we took Uncle Kyle to the park, a LONG walk and we all hung with Michelle in her backyard for hours. In effort to soak up every ray of sun possible, Addison took her afternoon nap in her stroller, yeah I know, I know: bad Mommy! Hey, if you spent the summer here you'd understand!













Maybe we'll get to go back again this year . . . rumor has it we may get a few days without rain this next week . . I'll believe it when I see it!