LILLY!

The story began this past Saturday. On my way to visit our neighbor in the hospital who recently had a baby (WELCOME TO THE WORLD BABY CODY!) I saw a stray dobberman. For anyone that doesn’t know Geno really wanted a dobberman. I, on the otherhand, was skeptical because of the reputation they have.  Well, this dog was the SWEETEST dog I had ever met. She allowed me to get right next to her and when I went to grab her collar she sat down and just looked at me with a “Ok, you got me” expression.  Turns out she was in the yard next to her’s so I called the number on her tag and reunited dog to owner.  Well, that got me thinking that maybe a dobberman wouldn’t be so bad. After talking to a few people who owned dobberman’s the most consistant thing I heard was they are great dogs that are products of their environment. So we set out on Saturday afternoon to look for a dobberman.  We headed to quite a few “shelters” and pet stores.  I ended up looking in the newspaper. It was then that Geno & I came to the realization we don’t have the $750-1,000 for a pure bred dobberman.

That is when Aqua-rama came into view. We had stopped in there before when we were first looking for kittens.  This time we saw “her”.  She was beautiful and when we held her she just layed there comfortably. You could tell she was nervous or scared because her whole body was shaking.  We decided to think about it, taking into consideration money and commitment (dogs are like children in a sense).  Geno and I talked and decided that if she was still there Monday (today) we would get her.  So this morning after Geno had his flight physical and we grabbed something to eat we headed to the store. Sure enough she was still there.  That is when we realized we may have a problem. Two cages down from her was a litter of husky/shepard mixes. There were four of them and they were absolutely gorgeous. Three seemed a little to rambunctious for us, however, one tan one was calm.  We thought we might have to flip a coin, however, that dog turned out to be a boy and my only request is that the dog be female… so we paid for her and promised to be back later that afternoon (with Xavier) after getting the necessary “supplies”.

So introducing…Miss Lilly… she is a beagle mix, however, we can’t decide if it’s a shepard/beagle mix or a lab/beagle mix…any suggestions?

This Easter was the first Easter Geno’s been home!  Sounds crazy but so is the life of the Army.  We are just glad to have him home. We have come to terms that the Army’s needs come first so if they need him we must say our goodbyes and let him know that we support him in every way.

Saturday (day before Easter) Geno, Xavier and I headed up to Raleigh for my md appointment.  On the way home we stopped at a new upscale outdoor mall in Raleigh’s “North Hills” area. It was a beautiful area and Geno and I decided to visit again without an almost 3 year old for lunch and a movie, possibly.  After looking at several of the shops there we headed to Jordan Lake.  I have been wanting to stop at the B Everett Dam, hoping it was like Alum Creek Dam in Ohio (it was not).  I took some nice pictures though. 

We headed home and while Geno took a nap, Xavier and I also cleaned out the nasty neglected fountain. To our surprise a black widow spider had set up a home in it. Lucky for me after finding a dead slug I didn’t stick my hand in it again - that could have hurt.  So Xavier and I got the spider spray and set out on a mission to get the spider. After about an hour of searching, spraying, and flooding the fountain we finally found her and ended her residency in the Lolli garden. Each morning since Xavier’s gone to the fountain and asks if there are anymore spiders in there.

Easter morning started with Xavier and Derrick getting their Easter Baskets - basketball oriented for Derrick and dinos for Xavier.  We then headed to church. Geno has agreed to go to church with us twice a month, once at my church and once at his.  Easter was celebrated at his church.  We then came home and to our surprise while Xavier was helping me with a load of laundry the Easter Bunny came and hid Easter eggs in our front yard - sneaky bunny!  After Xavier found every egg (both plastic and hard cooked) we headed inside.  I did make sure Geno knew the count of the hard boiled eggs so we could make sure Xavier got all of them.  I do remember (barely) back when I was younger I was searching for eggs in our livingroom (a tradition we had) and my mom couldn’t remember the number of eggs she hid.  Needless to say a couple weeks later the last egg was found - phew!  While the boys played video games I cooked a “traditional” Easter dinner - ham, dressing and rice, greenbean casserole, and a cheesecake recipe given to me from an old friend.  Dinner was eaten, belly’s stuffed and naps taken - naps for everyone but Xavier and I…. We vegged out on the couch and watch “Yo Gabba Gabba”..

Yesterday we went to Lowe’s to look at flowers. We didn’t take the truck so getting mulch and flowers were out of the picture.  So we looked, I picked out the flowers I wanted and was disappointed that they didn’t have any black mulch - only red.  We decided we would go back today with the truck and get the garden things. We headed back home and relaxed by watching a movie (Valley of Elah) before heading to get Xavier.  The minute I stepped outside I knew something was wrong.  I smelled fresh laid mulch!  I couldn’t believe it!  Picerne (our housing people) sent a newsletter stating that if there were any foreign objects in the flowerbed then it wouldn’t be touched. Well, turns out they were wrong.  I was almost in tears - ok, I did tear up a little.  They were so quiet we didn’t even hear them!  So needless to say we went to Lowe’s today and just got flowers. I thought about pulling all the crappy mulch they put down but then decided it would be to much work - and take to much time and money.  It still looks nice… Xavier helped dig the “tunnels” for the flowers, plant them and water them. Tonight after he goes to sleep I’ve got to go out there and get the lights that work and put new lanterns in place of the ones that don’t.

So that’s about it for the last few days…. here’s a few pictures of Xavier looking for Easter eggs and eating cheesecake batter…

I must apologize for the delay in writing an update. It’s been such a crazy few weeks and now that Geno started his 30 day leave things will hopefully be MUCH more relaxed (key word: hopefully). Geno arrived safely on March 1st. He had a 21 day stand down which means 2 weeks of briefings… Pretty much classes that talk about drug, alcohol, spouse and child abuse.  This past week they did absolutely nothing…even cleaned their weapons TWICE…lol  Now he’s all ours the next 30 days!  We don’t plan on going anywhere to far. The only planned trip is Mrytle Beach in April for Xavier’s birthday. We paid for it last year and thought this would be a good time to go.

Derrick started his spring break dealing with strep throat. So he’s on bed rest until tomorrow while the medicine starts working.  Poor kid, this is the second time this year that he’s had strep. Geno and I are going to talk to his doctor when he goes in for his yearly physical about getting his tonsils and adnoids taken out (like Xavier had last year). 

Speaking of Xavier… he’s doing really well.  The teachers at daycare say that he is ready for the next room up once he’s potty trained.  We’ve tried on and off but so far he has a few good days followed by a trend of bad days. He’s getting so big… we had to go shopping for new clothes when his 3T jeans became to tight! So believe it or not he’s in 4T now which is just crazy!  He is a tall kid.  We took a rough measurement while doing Derrick’s room and he was about 38in tall. He likes to get on the scale and see how “big” he’s getting.  Last time he got on he was a little over 35lbs.   He says the funniest things and it’s great to teach him new phrases… like “whatever”, “ride’em cowboy”, and “not yet”.  On days he doesn’t want to go to daycare he tells me the whole ride over that “daycare is closed mommy”. 

Well, sorry this is so short but bathtime is almost over and we’ve got to get the little one to bed.  I just heard Xavier throw a soaking wet washcloth at Geno. Here are a few pictures (more pictures on the flickr account)…