I'm Back

Yeah so it's been a while...sorry. I noticed my last post regarded Papi, and I'm happy to report it was still a good decision. Life truly has been easier (though we do miss him).

I've had some people ask me recently what Noah looks like these days and I realized it really has been a while since I've posted and it's unbelievable how BIG Noah has gotten in the past few weeks - crazy! His 6mo. birthday is coming up in a few days and I'll post more on his development, but for now, I'll leave you with a Noah story:

The other day I watched three of the kids little friends for some friends of ours. Three little girls, the youngest of which is 4 years old. She used to LOVE holding/carrying/playing with Lincoln, but recently she's become way more attracted to the likes of our little Noah. She always wants to feed and hold him (and she does these very well for her age!). We even all went swimming before lunch and she just wanted to hold him instead of swim - so sweet.

When we got home from swimming, she was in the floor laying beside Noah while I changed Lincoln and she goes "Mrs. Melissa...do you think I could maybe marry Noah someday? I'd like to marry him..."

Oh my goodness. SO SWEET. So there you have it - Noah's got his first proposal.

The above pictures were taken with my phone (hint the size) but are of the day his little friends came over...

Another fun thing we just started is the "babysitting co-op" with our fun new neighbors! Jason and I walked the kids over last night and they watched them (and Lincoln got to play with his friends all night - win/win for him!) while we went to a movie. Tonight was going to be our turn, but their son got sick today. Bummer. But we're super excited to have this little arrangement with them!! God has really blessed us with some fun neighbors in moving here.

And of course...some pictures.

This is Lincoln "kissing" Noah...

And if you'll notice Noah's face in the next picture, he doesn't always like those kisses (it depends on the level of aggressiveness)...

The Final Goodbye

Well our Mr. Papi is gone...he's enjoying and getting to know his new family. They came over last night to just "meet him" (and let us meet them), and I must say, that as the hour approached, Jason and I turned truly pessimistic thinking the worst and coming up with "ways to get out" if they did not seem fit.
But then they showed...
And they were perfect.
Without going into many details, it became so clear and evident that God had provided a loving home for Papi and gave added reassurance he would be taken care of.
It was still hard to say the last goodbyes, but I had a joy in my heart for where he was going.

Now - semi-rookie parents here: Lincoln was still awake when they came (but it was past his bedtime), and when they left, we all walked Papi out to the car and said goodbye. Papi jumped in (he loves car rides) and I was holding Lincoln and we were just talking to the couple a bit more...then we said goodbye and they started getting in their car.
Lincoln - bless his heart - started going "Papi? Papi? Papi!" And then he started crying - "PAAAPIIII!!"
And I thought I was going to lose it.
He stopped crying when we got inside and we put him to bed.
At 2:00am, we heard him wailing in his room suddenly (very atypical). I ran in there and picked him up and he said he wanted to lay with us...the whole way to our room, he was saying "Papi...dog..." over and over again. So I'm not sure if he had a dream and was sad or what, but it truly was pitiful.
So lesson learned - put the baby to bed before you give his dog away. Oh my word!

Sad Goodbyes To Our Papi

Three years ago...June 2007...Jason and I had only been married three months and I was three weeks away from leaving for Ukraine for 2 weeks...

We saw a local animal rescue service had set up shop at wal-mart trying to find rescue dogs a good home...

We stopped...

And this little guy came right over to us and jump on me like "Pick me! Pick me!"

Of course we did, and we named him "Big Papi". But Big Papi was soon shortened to just "Papi" because, well, he never got over 50 lbs.

He was our adventurer...our bundle of energy...

Our cuddler... Mr. Playful...And our guard dog. I've called the police three times when he's barked because I know he ONLY barks if someone is there. This last time, a few months ago? Turns out were getting robbed, and thanks to Papi, had the cops there in 5 minutes. This ended up saving us close to $7,000.

But don't be fooled...if the robber ever came IN the house, Papi would run, hide, and shake like a leaf.

When we brought Lincoln home for the first time, we introduced the dogs one by one...Papi was the best: most concerned, most gentle, and most affectionate. Lincoln still loves his Papi...Tomorrow a couple is coming to take Papi to be a part of their family, and hopefully enjoy him as much as we have. We are truly sad about this, but also know it is for the best. Perhaps a very hard part is going to be when Lincoln wakes up in a few days, asking for Papi, and he's not there...or perhaps it will be tougher when Lincoln no longer asks for him...
I got one last shot of Lincoln with his buddy. We Love You Papi!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sleep Tight

Our whole family is currently plagued with the scratchy throat/runny nose business, but poor Noah and Jason seem to be hit the hardest. Noah has thus been sleeping a lot more the past few days, but is also having harder times falling asleep for all those naps. Last night he was all stuffy and was not falling asleep easily, so I propped his swaddled self upon the bed while I worked on my computer. It also just so happens that the bed we were on (in the guest room) is where we have found Bruce (more times than not) napping.
So in good ole Bruce fashion, he plopped himself right next to Noah as if he knew our little man was in need of some comfort :)
This picture was taken in the dark, with my phone (thus you understand the quality).

Summer Days

Yesterday the BHS coaches and their families came over to swim and cook out which means a total of 8 crazy kids - super fun! Lincoln got to try his first popsicle (update: he LOVED it and that little white tank top now has a new home in the trash can).

After all the friends left, I thought Lincoln was playing in his toy room, but no - he decided to play in Papi's cage. Of course.

The Weekend

I'll begin this post with a picture of Noah so he doesn't feel left out...he slept through most of the following festivities. Speaking of "sleeping" and "Noah", I will take a minute to note that for the past FIVE days now, he has slept STRAIGHT from about 9:00am - 8:00am!!! And let the roar sound. This has been heavenly and I pray it lasts!
We went to Aunt Amy and Uncle Na-Na's house (their new GORGEOUS house) the other night where Lincoln got to play his little heart out.
He got jumped over...

Thrown toward the clouds...

And swung perpendicular to the ground... Enough action to turn our husband's into sweaty messes and wear the Big Boy out Lincoln's little friends, the Stadel girls, came over to play and swim the other night, too. One of my favorite things has been seeing Lincoln play with other friends - I love it. Sometimes Jason and I will sit in the nursery window at church and just watch him play without him knowing we're there. He adores all three of the Stadel girls and they're so sweet and patient with him! By the way, Ive never heard such high pitched SHREEEELS as when High School Musical 3 randomly came on TV. Oh. MY. Goodness.

My husband the trooper. :)

And we successfully worn them all out. I have noticed I never really have much clever to say anymore....that I tend to only "write" post (if you call it writing even) when I have pictures of the kids and stuff we've been doing. So if you don't like pictures, I apologize. They are getting me through this "I just don't have much to say" slump.

In a Papi update, the person we had found for him backed out yesterday...so I have re-advertised. If any of you have ideas, let me know - we're also throwing in his large cage (over $50 value) for free! He's been doing great. Is just a house dog now (which is fine cause he doesn't shed) and we put him in his cage when we leave.

Papi

Papi has had quite the blogging journey. He's our darling chocolate lab (mix) that we rescued three years ago and he has definitely seen some dark days, but we have crazy fun memories with this pup! Full of energy and life, "playing" was his favorite. He was the dog (we have 3) that was always the best with the babies when we first brought them home; the one who played well with other dogs (he was our mediator), and our big-time cuddler. From the start, he was most comfortable when snuggled as close as possible to your side or right up to your chin.
He did have a few vices - never leave shoes out cause he'd chew them up quicker than you could imagine, and he loved to run. This was a trait he learned form his older brother Benny. Benny was always the digger and the runner (but when he went missing for 4 months and then came back, he has never done this since). When Benny was gone, Papi stopped running. His vices subsided and life was good. However, since we have moved to Centerton, something weird has happened with Papi. He always was a TERRIFIED dog - skiddish of lawn mowers, vacuums, etc...
But since living here, he's seemed to have a hard time transitioning and just seems scared. Then 4th of July happened. Our neighborhood was relentless with fireworks and it felt and sounded as if we were being bombed for three straight days through even the wee hours of the morning.
Papi, you can imagine, was on the verge of a heart attack for these three days and literally had frayed nerves. We felt terrible because we didn't know how to help him stay calm through it all, but he did what he used to do when he was scared - he ran.
Only this time, he ran in a different city - one where they are apparently ON TOP of animal control. He ran, and he got caught.
It cost us $60 to bail him out the first time.
We blocked his holes, but he moved the bricks two nights later in the midst of a fireworks spray, and before we could find him, they caught him again. This time he made his way to City Hall and the mayor called the pound.
When I went to pick him up, the lady was seemingly irritated with me and coldly told me it would be $100 to take him home this time and that if they caught any of our dogs one more time, we would be fined a small fortune and have to go to court, possibly risking losing all of our dogs!
I cried. Instantly.
No holding back (and I never do this)...but i let the tears flow. So uncontrollably that I could not even make sentences to communicate with her.
First, we didn't have the money. Second, I knew this meant we might not get to keep our beloved dog anymore.
I asked her if there was any way to give us another chance or show some kind of mercy, explaining that this is not typical and we think he's having a hard time with the move.
Nothing.
In fact, she got her supervisor on the phone to tell me the same thing, and he further told me if must leave a copy of my license with her before I go. I asked why and he said "because when people get over-emotional, they sometimes do things out of the ordinary and we need as much information on you as possible".
Double embarrassing, and double blow. That one hurt.

I left with Papi, still crying uncontrollably, and proceeded to literally cry the entire day. I had no phone because my new one had not arrived, so I couldn't talk to Jason about this. I just cried and posted adds on craigs list, called some shelters, and tried to consider our options.

Jason came home later and saw what a mess I was and instantly prayed with me about what to do with Papi. Both of us know he is now a financial burden and there is no way we can guarantee the city he will never get out again. It's a 3 strikes, you're out system, and we used our first two in a matter of 3 days.

I think I cried so much because I know that no one is going to want him being that he has a dislocated knee and digs out...not to mention he's 3 years old and not a full-blooded lab. When I posted on Craig's List, there were a dime/dozen "free labs"...

But then last night, a girl named "Melissa" in prairie grove called completely interested in Papi as a playmate for their 5 year old boxer. I pretty much tried to talk her out of it - even exaggerating some of his vices and going into more detail about his knee..."We want him! Can we meet tonight?"
We had plans already so last night wasn't an option, but we tentatively said next week. I got off the phone NERVOUS about it. Second guessing their reasons...are they good people...why would they want OUR dog? Then I realized, God's trying to answer our prayer and I'm second guessing Him. We've been praying that a home would come and that we wouldn't have to take him to a shelter...and here I am second guessing.
Jason had tears come to his eyes when I told him cause Papi's been a big part of our family, but both of us agree that God's trying to answer this prayer for us and we need to let him.

We haven't finalized any of it and there's even another family where Jason grew up that may be interested. But that's the story with Papi. For now, he doesn't get to stay in the backyard, but rather in the house ALL THE TIME (I think he's loving it). It's going to be hard, but I think we have to do this or we risk losing all of them.
We love our Papi!!!!!!!