Macy the Magnificent

In case anyone missed the short reference in our Christmas posts......WE GOT A PUPPY!!! Yay! Actually, it was MY gift for Christmas. I love dogs (and animals in general).
Before we moved from Coalville, we actually had 2 dogs. One of those dogs, Tiny, we got as a puppy and raised to the age of 5 before we could not keep her. It is hard to explain to non-animal lovers that special bond you can get with a pet. Tiny was part of my heart and parting with her was simply devastating. After 3 years, I still think about her and would occasionally search for her just to see if someone was giving her away and we could take her back.
It took me a long time to feel ready to get another dog. I knew if we were going to get a family dog I wanted to do it in the next couple of years so that the kids and the dog would all leave home about the same time and leave me free to travel. This year was the year. We got Macy a few days before Christmas. I found her on Craigslist. Just a couple in South Austin who had 2 dogs (and now had 4 more!). Christopher contacted the landlord and made it happen. We were quickly on our way to pick out a new addition to the family.
We knew we wanted a female so that narrowed our choices to 3. The kids picked Macy right away. She let them "pick her up" (this term is used VERY loosely as the kids are still really young) and seemed very affectionate and not skittish. She WAS all white.....honey colored spots have since developed on her ears, and one right above her tail. She is a mixed mixed breed. Everyone who sees her thinks "lab" immediately, but I think she looks like the RCA dog or Wishbone. Actually her mom was a terrier/dachsund mix (12 lb) and her dad was a small border collie/lab mix (30 lb). The vet expects Macy to settle around 20 pounds. The last time we took her to the vet, she was 11 lb. She also has a somewhat long body (not terribly noticeable unless you know her family history).
She is very sweet and very smart. She bonded to our family very quickly and for a puppy is training rapidly and is much more calm and relaxed than I expected. (Don't get me wrong, she can still run around and be all crazy...she is still a baby....just for her age she is doing wonderfully). Does she get along with the cat? Yep, in fact Patch is THE BOSS! (another reason we wanted a puppy). The downside is, since the cat is her rolemodel she totally fights like a cat (swinging her paws at your face), sleeps in a cat bed, and does cat things. LOL Pretty funny!She does great going potty outside (as long as we take her when she whines right away) and really wants to please. She knows SIT very well and will even respond to the kids. I can also get her to do LAY DOWN, ROLL OVER, and SHAKE, but these will take more work before she does them readily for anyone giving the command. She loves to cuddle with anyone who will sit still or lay down with her. And she really loves running and playing with the kids. I really love watching Dallin run around the yard and giggle uncontrollably because she is running with him (or see him pretending with her). Here he is dressing her up as Super Spy Macy. Most of these pictures are older so she has grown since then, but you get the idea. We are happy to have her as part of our family!

Remember When....The Holiday Hair Massacre of 2009

This Remember when occurred December 5, 2009. I am just now able to bring myself to blog about it. LOL So, many of you are aware that I love love LOVE girling it up with my Kate (who is about as girly as they come). I have been doing her hair since she had enough to style and have often done some really fun and intricate dos with her. I even make her bows to match her outfits....exactly :) So, as her hair has grown I have gotten practically giddy with excitement over the new things we are able to do with it and how adorable she looks. Her hair was finally past her shoulders and looking especially cute about a week before her dance recital in December. In this picture, she had it all crimpy from french braids the day before and she was wearing the little peppermint bows I made her. Then...the unthinkable happened.
Dallin experimented with scissors and hair :( No, he did NOT have the decency to experiment upon his own head of cow-lick city hair.....he CUT OFF Kate's hair. I was sick that day and had lingered in bed as Christopher had said that he would take care of the kids. I woke up with a sick feeling in my stomach for a whole different reason when Kate walked in and said "I'm so pretty! Look Mommy! Dallin cut my hair!" I was furious and heartbroken. There was hair EVERYWHERE! I bawled and bawled as I scolded him for cutting anyone's hair or ANYTHING besides paper and her for LETTING him. (Seriously, the things she lets him do.....like a lamb to the slaughter) Apparently, he convinced her that grandpa and grandma would think she was even more beautiful if he cut her hair short. Once I started crying like a crazy woman, Christopher was up with a start and quickly gathering up the long pieces of hair all over the house for me to keep. Dallin was sent to his room for safekeeping (I did not DARE lay a hand on him because I was so upset) and Kate started to cry.
I called my mom (who does haircuts for Christopher and the kids) and through my sobs told her what happened and asked if she could come fix it. Kate looked like her head had been caught up in a fight with a weed whacker. It was level with her ears or slightly below in most areas, but it was way above her ear on one side. My mom came over right away and picked her up. Upon seeing her, she decided she needed to call in the professionals and she rushed Kate to the beauty shop. She told them it was a hair emergency and apparently, they dropped everything and 3 of them worked on Kate to salvage all they could of her hair. They were very sweet and understanding. They said it was a good thing her hair was so long as he had cut off sooo much. If it had been shorter, she would have had to have a boys haircut and it wouldn't have been able to be salvaged into a cute little girl do. Kate's hair turned out totally cute in her little bob (but I am still pining for it to grow back ASAP) and you can hardly notice the spot by the one ear where it is really short. All in all, it turned out ok. I am glad it was hair and it will grow back, but I hope it NEVER NEVER happens again.

Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight!

So, Kate is my clingy child. We put her to bed....she comes to our bed. We put her back...she comes back again. This can happen 3 or 4 times a night--every single night. In the morning, she still ends up in our bed 75% of the time and we have no idea how she got there. She has been sick for a couple of days so I have been taking her to bed with me. Well, today she missed her nap and had been sent to bed (twice) already. So....she carefully crept down the stairs and sat there. Within minutes she was falling asleep sitting right there on the stairs. I kept thinking that she would fall off any second. Christopher finally took pity on her and took her up to bed so she wouldn't fall asleep and fall down the stairs....LOL Enjoy the video! She's "not tired"!

Friends Forever

I just loved this picture of the cousins so much, I thought it should get its own post. I absolutely adore that our kids are growing up together. It is so much fun to see them grow and interact with each other. They fight. They love each other. They share. They steal toys. They clammer for attention. They kiss each other's boo boos. They antagonize one another. They encourage one another. Maddie is "one of the kids" now. She and Kate have actually been caught playing a few times without Kate being insanely jealous of Madison. Dallin still dotes over both girls and is very protective. He especially likes to "watch" Madison. I hope the cousins will always be close and a strong support for each other. Cute little stair steps!

Just Like Daddy

Dallin has always wanted to be BIG. Since the day that child was born, he was not contented with being a baby. He was ready to be a big guy. Consequently, he always wants to do everything that the big guys do and strives to be just like daddy. (which is not going to be too tough considering he is a little clone). Dallin insisted at the tender age of 2 that he HAD to wear a tie to church on Sundays because daddy did. And he has been trying to shave almost as long. I have posts from way back when of Dallin all bloodied from "shaving". So this year, we got him his very own Spiderman shaving kit for Christmas. He really wanted one and was sooo excited about it. It is really precious because he takes shaving soooo seriously. He does it religiously every morning (just like daddy) and will come and show me how smooooth he is (while rubbing his hands all over his face). He is so proud, I just don't have the heart to tell him that his "razor" has plastic blades and his face was already that smooth and handsome. What a cutie! I love watching him shave so seriously. After he got the kit, Christopher took him upstairs and "taught" him how to shave. He will even do his upper lip just like daddy. It is too precious! Unfortunately, he is getting a little liberal with the shaving cream lately and I have seen him with it down his neck and even shaving his chest one day (ummmm....) A little cream is good....so A LOT is just amazing, right!? He is pretty good about cleaning it up though. What a little man! Here he is dabbing cream on his face (back when he used it more sparingly and was more cautious)Shaving the cheek very carefully. Don't forget the chin! See how serious he is!? I love you, Dallin!

Sunday Photo Shoots

I got this idea from a friend of mine. (Shout out out to you big mama Z!) She takes these totally adorable pictures of her kids doing all kinds of cute poses every Sunday. I thought "hey! what a great idea!" They are dressed up looking sooo cute....might as well take advantage of it. Some days they are more cooperative than others about posing (hey, they are still learning ;) And some days we are in too big a hurry to get the perfect shot, but it is fun and cute nonetheless. I have actually taken the pictures several times and since I have not always been a diligent poster--here you get 3 for the price of 1! Enjoy!No, she is not allowed to wear the shades into the church building. LOL Yes, he is spiderman. Is there anything else he could possibly be.....ever? He wasn't being terribly cooperative and this is the only good shot he really gave me.
She was totally in love with this dress (and so was I)....especially the long flowing lavender ribbons. Different day....same suit....looking better than ever and taking some GREAT pictures!

Kate's Recital and Professional Dance Pictures

So at the end of the season, there was an optional performance opportunity with Kate's Dance Class at the Round Rock Family Night Christmas celebration. We totally jumped on it! It was a very nominal fee to just cover a cheap costume for the kids who wanted to perform. The theme for the Kinderdance group was Santa's Christmas musical. Kate's little Kindertots class was assigned "Jingle Bells". They practiced their dance every week starting in October until the performance mid-December. Basically, their routine consisted of skipping in a circle, then holding hands and walking in and out(Kate is directly to the right of the teacher in this shot) , and finally shaking jingle bells on their wrists in various positions. (Kate is the last one in the green on the right in the above and below picture) It was very cute and very basic for such little kiddos. This was good because it took them several classes to manage anything that looked close to skipping....lol Their costumes were super cute (but very short) so they had to add a red tutu underneath to cover little bums. Here is Kate before it was her turn to go on.
Unfortunately, it has been an unreasonably cold winter for Texas and that night it was bitter cold. Here she is before leaving home in front of our tree. It looked very festive! There was even talk of snow. I bundled Kate as best as I could under her little costume. I think she wore 2 or 3 pairs of thick cotton tights and 2 long sleeved shirts underneath her costume. I also had her wearing 2 coats and hood until it was almost time for her to perform. Her class went on first and she did wonderful! She didn't even stop for too long when another little girl stood on "her" piece of tape. (At rehearsal this made her stop and full on start crying and refuse to dance anymore) She was the very best skipper :) She was very happy to watch all of the other performances in spite of the weather (it even started drizzling for a bit) I felt so bad watching some of the other classes (who had much chillier costumes) because the little girls were just FREEZING. They were shivering and shaking and their little lips were turning blue. Some of them wouldn't dance at all. All in all it was pretty cute, and I am looking forward to a spring recital....INSIDE! :)
Also, we had her dance pictures done at JC Penny. We went a little hog wild since it was her first season in dance and she is so darling. Hope you enjoy them! We borrowed props from her dance class that they used in class and brought along some music for her to dance too. She LOVED it. I thought they turned out great. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! I love how her hair is flying in this poseThis one turned out beautiful and just reminded me of my princess Kate- who is in every way perfectly princess! And what is a photo session with Kate without pouting?
With her maracas! Dancing to Jack Be Nimble. Jump Jack Jump! Another beautiful action shot. Look at the flying hair and the twirling skirt! Dancing with ribbons. We used this shot on a fun poster for her room! Very cute full body shot of my tiny dancer. It took a whole season, but she got the butterfly legs down! Look at that classic ballet pose picture. Love it! Too bad you can't hear her saying "ewww stinky toes....pu!" (that was how the teacher got them to do the pose) or see her spray her feet with stink spray and do it again! Too cute!

Tiny Dancer- Kate's First Season of Dance Class

This is a "REMEMBER WHEN" post.....something I meant to post about, but never did and still deserves mention before it is filed away in proper order :) The pictures and videos were taken over the course of the entire semester (sept through dec)

Fall 2009, we enrolled Kate in her very first dance class. She was only 2, but since Dallin was starting soccer and they are so close in age...we wanted her to have her "special" things too. I loved dance as a young adult (and took some as a child) and I honestly have been biting at the bit for a dance class since I found out we were having a little girl. Here she is being a ballerina in the living room before class. She didn't really get the concept of rounding her arms...LOL Too cute! I was really hoping she would like it (but preparing myself to be ok with it if she didn't....after all...it is HER special thing and not mine). She seemed to enjoy dancing naturally and being somewhat petite and less active than her brother, we thought it would be a good choice. The only dance class available for 2 year olds was Kindertots dance class available through Kinderdance at the Recreation Center. This was fortunate for me in many ways because it was MUCH MUCH cheaper this way. Here is her tiny leotard. I will say that it is very challenging to find them this small! Her first pair of ballet shoes were soft and more like little slippers. They both fit in one hand.
The class is very basic. It is more about movement to music than "dancing". They focused on improving coordination and motor skills. Here she is doing some mat work on the obstacle course. They did cute little "dances" to jazzed up nursery rhymes, and popular kid music like the Wiggles. Here they are stretching out. Kate never got the concept that your legs should be straight to stretch. LOL She found it much easier to touch her toes with her knees bent. Smart girl! Here she is getting ready to get down with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! She loved any dance with props! It was simply adorable to see all the little ballerinas every week. I think mine was the prettiest of all...but hey, I'm a little biased.
The first class, Kate did AMAZING! She was so adorable and all smiles. The second class, she became more aware of parents in the room watching and kept freezing up and getting really anxious. By the third class, she mostly sat on my lap and whined or cried. She would watch, but would not participate. This went on for a few classes. I tried being understanding (you don't have to go to dance class if you don't want to....but she always insisted she wanted to go). I tried being threatening (we will leave if you don't dance). I was about to pull her from the program and was feeling frustrated that we were paying for her to be a whiny wallflower. I don't care if she is not good or if she doesn't like it, but I do want her to try until what we paid for is over (then she never has to do it again). Finally, at the end of my rope, I leveled with her. I told her that if she didn't start dancing at her class then I would not be taking her to dance anymore. I told her that we were not going to pay for a class and take her for her to cry and not dance. She looked so surprised......BUT......the next class she started timidly dancing and by the end of the 1st term (each semester has 2 terms), she was one of the best little dancers in the class. Here she is dancing to Jack Be Nimble. Yes...I know the video is sideways....I don't know how to turn it....just turn your head.
I loved watching her progress during the season and seeing the big smile on her face everytime she did a dance. During this term, she learned how to skip(she is doing that in the above picture), tap her toe, stand on one foot, do a crab walk, do the butterfly legs all by herself, and more. She will be dancing again this semester and I am looking forward to seeing her progress even further!
Oh and lest we forget, here are some of her most fun ballet hairstyles!

Kate before her first ballet class.....awesome hair! And a back view!

Kate before her 2nd dance class...cute hair!
View from the top!