The Dwyer Patch: August 2013

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Peli the Pelican

This past weekend was super fun. We had a family photo shoot with a photographer I have been trying to book for a while and I can't wait to see our proofs. It was outside from 9-10 and we were all drenched in sweat by 9:15am. From now on, no more outdoor photo shoots in the summer months as it is jut too hot.

Logan is totally into finding Nemo these days. We stop at Pet Smart and Petco every chance we get. He loves looking at the aquariums and deciding what particular fish is indeed Nemo.

Bob is still one of my best friends and I use him almost daily. Now that the kids are getting older, they like to get out and push the stroller a lot. It is a great game as they get exercise and so do Brian and I.

On Sunday, we splurged and purchased a Pelican that Logan has named Peli. We have seen him at HEB for months now and finally decided we wanted to bring him home. He is supposed to live in the back yard but Logan and Catherine prefer for him to live inside. The funny thing is that he is eating a fish and Logan can't quite understand that. He keeps asking if Peli is friends with Nemo and I keep changing my answer (after he asks 15 times in an hour). For now, Nemo and Peli are good friends that will not eat each other and Logan enjoys hearing any story about their adventures.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Not a good day

Last Saturday was not a good day. It could have been worse, and I thank God it was not. But all in all, it was not a good day. Winston bit Catherine's lip while he was eating a dog treat. The truth is I did not even see it happen. I gave him a treat in the kitchen (kids were in Logan's room) and the next thing I knew Catherine was screaming with blood all over her face. I almost passed out just at the sight of my precious baby girl bleeding so much. It took me a full 5 seconds to realize that I had to help her as she was not going to be able to help herself.

A small piece of her lip was missing. It could have been a lot worse, I do realize this, but it did not make me feel any better. She calmed down pretty quickly and I wish I could say the same for her mother. This is where I started balling. I was crying for her and for me. I was doubting my ability as a mom to protect my children from harm. I was also convinced my beloved puppy had turned Cujo and would need to be euthanized. Because Brian was out of town, I was solo in the decision making department. I finally got it together and made my way to an Urgent Care facility. The doctor advised us to go to Children's because she would need to be put under so the lip could be "realigned" and we needed a pediatric oral surgeon to do this.

Once Brian got home, I made my way to Children's and after 8 hours, Catherine was all stitched up and ready to go. The surgeon made me feel SO much better in that 90% of dog bites are from the family dog and food related ones are considered better. I guess if a dog bites a toddler with no known cause then you have a bigger problem on your hands.

Catherine is well on her road to recovery and hopefully will have minimal, if any, scaring. Winston and her are still best buds however any and all food given to Winston is now outside. I am thankful for the medical treatment we received and obviously thankful it was not worse. I am praying for all the kids at Children's Hospital, that had or have life threatening illnesses, that they may continue to find strength and hope. I am also praying for their parents as well.

Nola Fun

We just came back from a quick 5-day trip down to New Orleans. The kids and I rode down with my aunt so she could get some dental work done at our favorite family dentist. Brian stayed in Houston and we all missed him a bunch. Traveling is fun when we have a one on one parent to child ratio. It definitely is a bit more challenging with out Brian! Some things I noted while on my trip:

· I love me some Brian. Traveling without him truly makes me appreciate all that “Papa” does for us.

· My parents are actually a really cute couple! I am so thankful they are still living and happily married now for 39 years and counting. I look up to them now in more ways than I ever realized I would.

· Birthdays really are fun. It is a gift to celebrate another year on this earth. We did a cake for the ladies as Catherine, my mom, Aunt Wanda and myself all have birthdays within 3 weeks of each other.

· Café Du Monde beignets are truly divine. Logan has a hard time accepting that they are square with no hole but he eventually did.

· Both grandmother's in the same town really does bring joy to Logan's world.

· Catherine is going through a I-AM-TERRIBLE phase at restaurants phase. When she wants out of her seat, that’s it. She is adamant about not being restrained so restaurant dining is limited and challenging.

Note the finger

Funny picture

Swimming with second cousins at Mimi's house

Melting down while trying to escape Zia's

These two insisted on sleeping together

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Happy Birthday Catherine Anne!

Birthday lunch at Chick-Fil-A

Catherine Anne turned two on July 30^th. She sung “Happy Brithday to me” all week and Logan helped her sing as well. We had a cake on July 4^th weekend when we had family in town so for her actual birthday we defrosted some left overs. Of course the kids did not mind.

With Catherine, I find myself better able to appreciate the age and stage she is in. I think it is because I am keenly aware of just how fast it will change. We were in New Orleans last week and she wanted to hold my hand while walking up and down the stairs at my parent’s house…over an over...morning, noon and night. It never got old. The nice thing is that I was thrilled to do it because I know the next time she visits Granny and Grandpa, she will not need me to climb those steps.

Every age comes with highs and lows. I love that she can talk now and tell me what she is thinking. I love that she participates in or replicates a lot of our daily duties, from cooking and cleaning, to reading and working. A low for her age would be attention span. Logan and Catherine take a lot of turns doing things, and although Catherine understands this concept, she will and does sometimes have a melt down if she is not ok with it being Logan’s turn.

Likes- She likes to call daddy at work and make other miscellaneous phone calls. She adores taking care of her stuffed animals and baby dolls. She lays them out on blankets, wipes them with diaper wipes and then changes their diapers. She likes to read and is always bringing books with her and pretending to read them to us. She is still completely enamored with Winston and can be quite demanding with him, saying things like “Winston come, sit here now.” And she will get very upset and emotional if Winston does not do what she asks. She is very independent and insists on doing most things stating “me do it.”

Dislikes- She can’t stand loud noises. I guess it is an ear tube thing because Logan is sensitive to them as well. She will get really scared if there is a loud noise such as a whistle or thunder. She also asks if a background noise is going to get louder.

Sleeping/ Eating- Catherine loves to eat and she really does eat anything. There are times where I will make something for me and if I don’t offer it to her she will have a fit! I made kale the other day with a lot of onion and garlic and just kind of assumed it would not be to her liking and she insisted on eating her own. She sleeps solidly through the night and still takes a 2 – 3 hour nap daily.

Speaking- She is speaking a bunch. We can’t always understand everything but she is saying the words. She call’s Logan “Yoyo” and it really is too cute! Favorite sentences that I have heard recently: “I love you my mommy.” & “Watcha doing?” She also loves to sing and will sing on her own. Favorite songs right now include Happy Birthday, Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABC’s, Bingo & 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed.