Long Time No See

Apparently Instagram started taking the place of blogging in my mind.  Or it just was so much quicker and easier that it was the only thing I felt like I could squeeze in.  We have also had trouble figuring out how we want to manage and store our pictures, but I think we've finally got that down. I recently got really sad about some of the things I have probably missed that could end up forgotten, and I obviously don't want that.  :(  

I'm not even sure where to begin-I could blog about moving here, any of the many things we've done since then, Cason's recent birthday, or I could start with Neely, because it's the night before her first day of Kindergarten.  :(  I think I'll save that though, so I can include her actual first day in that post. 

Since Reed has changed and grown so much, we'll go with him for now.  He fits into our family so well but is also very unique.  He is still the most physical, not super high energy or anything, but easily the most active and always busy with something.  He expresses every feeling he has physically.  He's exuberant in most ways, but especially about showing his love.

 

When he feels especially happy he'll run around shouting about it, or my favorite-does a little jig.  He points both index fingers up, and runs around in circles in a gallop, just like you'd do if you were riding a stick horse.  It's so funny to watch.  When he feels affectionate AND excited he will jump on top of your back or head if you're sitting and give you the most vigorous hug you've ever had.  

 

Or he hugs multiple family members, alternating between us and then starts rapid fire kissing our cheeks.  When he's feeling calmer but still affectionate, he gives these tight hugs with his head on your shoulder, and/or rubs his cheek against yours with this exaggerated smile and that usually goes along with little squeaky sounds for some reason.  Ha!  Tonight Neely was feeling a little emotional because of Kindergarten tomorrow, so she called a family meeting and announced that we should havea  family hug.  Reed loved it and he kept saying "famee hug(family hug)!" and getting so excited when we all swarmed and hugged with him in the middle. 

One of my favorites that he has done for a long time now, is any time he spots Jess and I hugging he comes running up and hugs our legs and waits to be lifted.  We each put a hand under one of his arms, and team-lift him so he can join in our hug.  He loves it, and over time it evolved into him hugging us like that but then he gets this mischievous look in his eye and Jess knows what he wants.  So he(Jess) will slowly lean in to kiss me and Reed lets him get an inch or so away from me and then shoves him away at the last possible moment, while cracking up with his villain laugh.  He LOVES that one.  Eventually Jess tricks him and pretends to be about to kiss me but then veers suddenly over and plants one on Reed, who loses it and laughs SO hard.  

He is so fun and loving, but his feisty side has been showing lately too.  ;)  He has quite the little screech when he wants to, although thankfully most of his (nearly)three year old tantrums are silent and just involve him slumping to the ground and stubbornly arching his back to slip free when you try to lift him up.  He's also perfected his angry stomp.  He crosses his arms and puffs up his lips and literally stomps away.  When he's feeling sad or disappointed if you deny him something he wants, he does the super exaggerated sad Charlie Brown walk away.  Nice and slow so you have plenty of time to change your mind, just in case the guilt overcomes you.  ;)

 He is always so grateful when you give him something or do something for him.  He says "thank you" in the most genuine way.  It sounds more like "baytoo".  I probably hear "Baytoo mommy" or "baytoo Neenee", or whoever else he's thanking, a dozen or more times a day.   He's especially thankful for treats.  :)

He was the quickest to do everything physical, and is the latest talker in the family, although he's known how to say a TON for a loooong time now, and just preferred not to.  For one he liked chattering away in his own language, but he also is a quiet, thoughtful guy.  Loves to gaze out the window on long drives and you can tell some serious daydreaming is going on.  He's picking up a lot of stuff lately though and suddenly putting words together he wouldn't before.  The kids can ask him to repeat a word or phrase now and he actually LIKES performing for them and watching them all squeal and lose their minds over his cute voice. 

 He is a loveable fellow. 

PUPPY!!

I've wanted a second rottweiler for a LONG time.  We kept waiting, thinking we'd get Paige a cat first so the puppy would grow up around cats and avoid any problems there.  In (I think) February, we brought a kitten home.  The kids named her Cookiedough Susan.  :)  Unfortunately, half our family started sneezing.  Paige swears SHE is not allergic, but it's wishful thinking that has her convinced it was a coincidence that she started sneezing and her eyes were itchy.  ;)  After a tough weekend of struggling with what to do, we returned Cookiedough Susan.  It was hard on us and on Paige, but with promises of a puppy we got through it. 

Soooo I started talking to our breeder.  Several years ago we went to a show and she had a female with her named Flirt.  I LOVED that girl, and kind of kept my eye on her.  A couple of years later she had a litter and I came across one of the puppy's pictures online.  His name was Pilot and I immediately wanted him.  He was Wendi's pick(the breeder) and not surprisingly, since she's a wizard when it comes to breeding and picking rottweilers, he ended up becoming the number one rottweiler in the country, and was for a few years, before she retired him from conformation this year.  This is Pilot:

 Here is his Westminster picture(haha!)

Anyway, she had two litters in mind for a puppy for us, one was out of Pilot, and the other was out of one of Pilot's sons-Dante.  Dante is a 

handsome fellow too, and apparently has Pilot's awesome personality.

I was pretty tempted to go with the Pilot litter, but for a few reasons we ended up going with the litter of Pilot GRANDbabies.  The parents are Dante and Tessa.  They are both in Northern California, so I haven't met them, but have talked to both owners and seen pictures.

Dante:

 

Tessa, the mama, is also beautiful, with pretty, sweet eyes.  She's big, about 100 pounds.  (Gia is only 75-80 pounds)  I'm told she is very laid-back, calm, and sweet.  Sounds like Gia.

 

The puppies were due in early March, so we had a few months of waiting ahead of us.  Waiting isn't my strong point.  Ha.  The kids and I had a paper chain countdown for our puppy.  We also went back and forth a few times from boy to girl.  We ended up deciding on a girl, and one day in the future we'll get a little boy.  Jess and I flew to San Francisco and met Wendi at a dog show to pick Gia up when she was a puppy.  I looked into doing that again, but it was going to cost a ridiculous amount of money.  I was nervous about it, but we ended up having her flown to Vegas, and Tyra, Paige, and I picked her up on May 9th.  We were so excited!  

The night before we took the kids to the store to get things we needed-a crate and food of course, but also lots of toys.  They were VERY cute about choosing the perfect toys.

We went to Cason's baseball game in the morning and Tyra, Paige and I left from there.  When we got there, she was in her little kennel, and thankfully looked perfectly calm and happy.  No sign of her having been stressed out on the flight.

She was so good for the drive.

Paige and I fought over holding her, and Tyra drove us home.

 

She really liked the bunny we got her.

We made a few stops in Vegas, and Jess kept texting us to hurry up and get home.  Ha!  They were so excited to meet her.  

 

 This is blurry but I love Reed's face.

Gia was so happy to meet her, wagging her nub of a tail, and frolicking around in the grass with her.

She was less excited the next day when she realized the puppy was staying, and that sometimes she'd want to play whether or not Gia was in the mood.  Ha.  Gia had barked only a handful of times in her life prior to us bringing the puppy home, and now she barks that many times a day, in annoyance at her new sister.  :)  She loves her though, and is very patient with her.  They even play once in a while, but it never lasts long, since Gia is a tired old lady.  

I saw the sun rise more in the first couple of weeks of having her than I had in all my life before, combined.  Ha.  

That's okay-she's a cute little early bird.

We named her Mavis.  You can tell it's one of those names people either love or hate.  (or apparently have never heard before).  I've loved the name since I was like 8 years old, and learned to type with a computer program my dad had, called Mavis Beacon teaches typing.  (85 wpm at like 9 years old, not to brag.  Haha!) My love for the name was rekindled when Hotel Transylvania came out.  The kids were happy about the name for that reason.  So I guess she's sort of named after Dracula's daughter.  :)  It seems appropriate, now that we know her.  I call her my fruit bat sometimes.

If you haven't seen the movie, Mavis turns into a bat sometimes.  OUR Mavis also has a sort of bat shaped marking on her bootie.  :)

Mavis got sick a few days after we got her and I was pretty scared it was parvo.  Thankfully after fluids and antibiotics she was feeling MUCH better a day later. 

We had a hard couple of weeks with all the puppy biting, and the kids pretty much lived perched on top of the couch where she couldn't reach them.  Thank goodness that is mostly gone and she's overall a very calm puppy.  Just has a couple of bouts of craziness a day and occasionally forgets the rules.  :)

 Reed is hilarious with her.  The other kids squeal and run when she gets like that, which is exactly the opposite of what they should do.  Reed tells her "NO" or "Uhuh" and then freezes, holding perfectly still so she gets bored, and looking away from her so she learns it won't get her any attention.  He loves her, and calls her "May-muh" and sometimes "May May" which a lot of us seem do now too.  He also calls her "good guh" like Gia.  Gia still gets plenty of his attention, especially when Mavis is in an obnoxious mood.  

He gets frustrated when he tries to play with her toys and she thinks it's tug-of-war time. 

Mavis is a good girl like Gia.

She loves belly rubs.

...naps...

...car rides...

...and Gia.

 

One of my favorite things about rottweilers is how attached they are to their people.  They're really confident and stable, not the type to get anxious about separation, but if you're around, they want to be near you.   Mavis has proven to be typical in that way.  If I'm cooking or doing dishes she sleeps on the kitchen floor.  If I move to a different room she follows and plops down nearby.  If we're at the table, she's under it.

She goes somewhere with us just about every day.  We've been teased about that, but it's actually really important, especially with dogs like rottweilers that people are afraid of.  There are certain windows when you NEED to socialize them with different people and animals, and just get them used to weird things so they won't freak out as adults when they come across something new and different.  Some days it's her puppy class so she gets to be around other puppies and people.  Other days it's just a ride through a drive-thru with us, or the carwash.  She thought that was weird, but didn't mind, especially after getting lots of treats.  :)

She has a great personality, sweet and playful but overall calm(verging on lazy).  We love her.  She's growing so fast.  Her puppy breath and a lot of her super soft puppy coat are gone already.  :(  She weighs about as much as Reed does now, and it won't be long before she's bigger than all of them. 

Mini-Post

I planned to blog tonight, a longer one, but now I just want to get in bed.  So...here are a few teeny things that have happened around here.  

Playhouse got a few minor additions, like flower boxes in the windows.  Neely "wuvs" it.

 

A certain little boy started clapping his hands on the 12th.

He kept slapping his forearm one day, and it made me think about how I hadn't been showing him things like clapping.  So when I put him down for a diaper change and he slapped at his forearm, I clapped my hands for him and he got all excited and started slapping harder at his arm.  I realized he was totally trying to clap, and just didn't quite have the hand-eye coordination yet.  He managed a few hand claps in there between forearm slaps.  Veronica stopped by and while she was at the door I told her, so she clapped for him and he got all excited and clapped for her. 

Jess was on spring break last week, so we liked having him home.  He spent it mostly working on sprinklers and grass in the backyard, so it wasn't much of a "break" for him.  We were able to do fun things we usually can't though, like take the kids on dates... 

...and have lunch with Paige at school.   It was her show and tell day on Thursday, so we all got to go in and watch her read a story to her class, and then show off her brothers this time.  Pretty cute stuff. 

 She did such a good job reading to them, not shy at all, and making her classmates laugh.

Jess did a lot of work on the break, but managed a porch swing nap with Reed.

Reed had a few naps out there actually.  Once in a muscle shirt.

 Neely peeked under the cement one day and started shouting that Sammy was coming out.  He really was.

He's been put to work.

Finally...I'll leave you with pictures of Neely in her new pajamas.  They have superhero girls on them, so....