Allie, our lovable pooch

After all the blogging I've done so far about our family, I realized this morning that I have been leaving out a very important... albeit furry... member who deserves a little space of her own. This is Allie, our 5 year old mutt that we picked up from the Humane Society before we had kids. She is kind of our "first baby", and seeing as how she survived in spite of ourselves (we can barely keep plants alive), we figured we were probably safe in deciding to have children.

She is a WONDERFUL family dog, Emily and Addison both adore her, and Allie puts up with all the hitting, pulling, tugging, and hugging that a canine should have to put up with, and never lets out a mean growl or bares her teeth! In fact, we are pretty certain that Addison's first official word is her own version of Allie. Over the last week, whenever Allie comes into view, Addison squeals in delight, crawls quickly toward her and says "Ada, Ada" over and over again.

Allie rarely barks, only when someone unexpected comes to the door, and is ALWAYS ready for sitting on your lap...literally. She does have the odd quirk here and there, such as only eating when the mood strikes her, she will sometimes go a few days without touching her food. When she does decide that she will dine, she takes only a few kibbles in her mouth, walks about 3 feet away from her bowl, and then drops them on the floor and eats them ONE AT A TIME.

If you look at the pics, most of them are of her in various sleeping states. Well...you would be tired, too, if you were constantly being harrassed by a toddler. And although he will NEVER admit it, Brian loves this dog (as you can see by the picture of them snuggling and sleeping). I have to say, however, that Allie is truly a momma's dog. She follows me everywhere, has to be in the same room as me NO MATTER WHAT.

Well, I guess that's enough about Allie, we love her, and hope you have enjoyed learning a bit more about a usually forgotten member of the family! Anne

The big "32"

I always laughed at people who said that after a certain age, you start forgetting how old you actually are....until this year. Yes, I hit the big "32" this past weekend on April 20. It's funny, there have been times when I really did have to sit and THINK about how old I was going to be turning! Oh, well....

We had a great time visiting Rockabye Nana (aka, my mom) in Houston and Emily had a fun filled weekend of feeding turtles, going to the park, playing in the baby pool, and just causing general chaos around Kingwood. Here are the highlights, enjoy!! Anne

Unfiltered Toddler Mouth

Well, it has officially happened. I have tried to avoid this phenomenon for a while now, and had kind of hoped we would conveniently "skip" over it, but there is no more denying it...



No, I'm not pregnant...



Emily has developed what I like to call "Unfiltered Toddler Mouth". This is a term that can be defined by many things, not the least of which is that adorable, maddening knack that toddlers have to say exactly what is on their mind, no matter the consequences.


You know what I mean, the time in a toddler's life when that "brain filter" is not quite engaged yet. This allows a toddler to say things that other people might only just THINK about saying, but wouldn't dare utter out loud. We could also call this a BAD case of "Open Mouth, Insert Foot". In some ways, it's so refreshing to see Emily's ability to just go right out there and SAY it, without a care in the world.


...On the other hand...it can be rather embarrassing at times.


Case in point: I went to pick Emily up from preschool today, and as usual, she came running over to me and gave me a big hug. When we walked back to a group of teachers to check her out of her class, she looked at one of the teachers (who will remain nameless) and pointed to her tummy.


Almost like a movie in slow motion, I saw the whole scene play out before me like I was dreaming...let me tell you, I wish that I was. Emily continues on and blurts out the most innocent of questions, "Do you have a baby in your tummy?"

Unfortunately, there were no rocks close by for me to crawl under and no trap doors to disappear beneath. I managed a half-hearted smile...which I'm sure did not disguise the horror on my face... and said, "Oh, Emily has been saying that to EVERYONE over the last week".

Now, this is actually true, she has been pointing to me and asking that question, Nana, and every other woman in her life. She even laid out on the couch one afternoon, pooched out her own tummy, and said with dramatic flair, "Mommy, I have a baby in my tummy". However, if you were the poor stranger that she said it to, would you believe me??? I don't think so.

Luckily, the teacher was very kind, and didn't seem to take any offense to it. Still, I can't wait for the day we are in WalMart and Emily narcs out some poor person who burps or farts in line. Can you just see it now? Or maybe you have experienced this already. If so, any tips on how to disappear quickly would be GREATLY appreciated.