I need help with my dog

Alright, our dog Taylor is very close to finding a new home. She's had bladder issues ever since she was spayed as a puppy, but I have reached the end of my patience. Almost every night she pees on my carpet while everyone's asleep. It does not matter if you let her out before bed, or if you limit her water in the evening.

She manages to summon up some pee in the middle of the night just for kicks.

I've even changed her sleeping location because I thought maybe that one area of the carpet was where she thought she was supposed to use the bathroom. So, we put her in the basement for a few nights. You guessed it, she peed down there too.

My only other option is to keep her outside every night, but that seems mean. Especially in the winter time. Suggestions would be great.

sick sick sick

Little Cooper caught whatever Craig had and his little body just couldn't handle it. He ended up being admitted to the hospital on Monday with dehydration, diarrhea, bronchitis and an ear infection. His main issue was the dehydration though. They were thinking they'd give him fluids overnight and send him home the next day, but he was more dehydrated than we originally thought so he had to stay 2 nights. Poor little guy, all he had the energy to do was lay around. And I wasn't allowed to not be touching him either, which is unusual for him. He's usually very busy and doesn't have time to cuddle.

We did have an amusing experience. I put him in the crib so I could run to the bathroom (which is right in the same room) and he staged such a protest that the nursing student came running in to see what was wrong. haha.

We're home now, we've both had lunch, a bath, and a nap. He just looks so much better than he did Monday and I'm so glad. He had me very worried. Coop is running around now and playing with toys a little, and then he comes back to me and rocks for awhile. His energy is slowly returning, and I think if I can keep pushing the fluids with him he'll be back to normal before we know it.

small update

We had to reschedule Cooper's 1 year check-up because both boys ended up getting bronchitis. They were both taking breathing treatments every 4 hours for about a week.

Gabe will be starting T-ball in May, and Craig said he would be willing to help coach. Well, they're short staffed so now he's a head coach. hahaha. I think he's a little nervous. Unfortunately he doesn't know anything more because when the person left their number they were in a bad service area and were breaking up.

Cooper is nodding "yes" to any question you ask him now which is very cute. It's also different from what most kids do. Most of them are "no" kids. I'm glad he's a "yes" kid.

I ordered a bunch of picture prints from Cooper's birthday party and other stuff too, and they should be here today or tomorrow, and I can't wait to see them.

happy birthday to all of us

Dear C,

The little boy we all love is going to be one year old tomorrow. I know the date is carved on your heart and it's one you'll never forget. It's one I'll never forget either. I held him for the first time and I couldn't believe you'd given me that honor. He felt so right. He was instantly part of my heart.

You went through so much so bring him into the world. You are one very strong woman. I can't even try to explain how amazed and grateful I am that you chose our family for Cooper. I've experienced such an abundance of joy and love in this short year. He is such an awesome little person, and he is so so happy.

It makes me sad to think that you are going to be sad on this day that is always going to have such happy memories for me. It doesn't seem fair at all, and I don't know what to do except to tell you how much we love him. You can tell he loves his brother, and his brother loves him. All of us are super-excited to be able to celebrate his birthday with him. I am so glad you brought our family together.

When I think about my family I am so content. The best word to describe it is JOY. We are filled with joy. We were certainly happy before, but it's like all the good feelings have been doubled. Cooper is literally a little bundle of joy. :o)

We love him so much. Thank you for choosing to give us the privilege of being his parents.

the big kindergarten decision

So we have been going back and forth about whether we're sending Gabe to kindergarten this year or next year. He will be 5 before the school year starts, but just barely. We were also concerned that all the children he knows will be beginning school this year and didn't want him to be left out. We also felt like if we said we were going to wait a year, that we were saying he isn't smart enough to start kindergarten yet.

We know he's smart enough. He is eager to learn, and is confident around other kids and adults. We're just afraid that he's not physically ready to sit still and listen all day. Plus, pretty often he still needs to take a nap in the afternoon, so there was another clue for us.

We also don't want to start him too early and then have him fall behind in later years. It's a known fact, boys do develop on a slower timeline than girls. I don't want learning to be hard for him, and for him to grow to hate school.

Craig brought up some good points too: We know he'll be average or a little above average if we start him now. (this is just based on what kindergartners are supposed to know and learn, and what we know Gabe already knows) But we also know that if we start him next year, he'll definitely be ready and he'll almost definitely be above average. We want to make sure he'll be able to have a good handle on the information he's being taught so that school can be fun. Another point of Craig's was his physical development. He may fall behind in sports or the physical activities simply because he's almost a year behind his peers. That can be a big problem for a little boy.

So, bottom line is we're going to wait a year to start kindergarten. He'll still go to Tuesday school at church, and we will continue our learning at home. We are currently working on recognizing letters and the sounds they make, and differentiating currency. We'll just keep going with that and hope we're making the right decision for him.

FIRST STEPS!!!!!!!

Last night Cooper took his first steps, right into Gabe's arms! It was sooo COOL! And after Gabe caught him Cooper just kind of laid on him like he was just enjoying the hug. It was so sweet.

I think he only took about 3 steps total, but they were unassisted - it was all him. Right now it seems like he really still prefers to crawl. But, we're getting there. No need to hurry.

I can't believe he's going to be 1 on Friday. I feel like we just brought him home about 3 months ago! This year has really flown by.