Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from our little family to yours!!!

i'm pretty sure all of our friends & family have received our Christmas card this year. So for all our bloggy friends out there:

the picture wasn't what I had envisioned, and the cards were sent out way later than I had planned .... but I couldn't let a year pass by without mailing out our annual photo card!

Thanksgiving recap

These are the two biggest blessings Jim & I have ever been given. They bring us more love and happiness than we could ever express. Nothing we've ever done will make us worthy of them, but we thank God for them and for the chance to parent them everyday.

who are you calling turkey?

Greyson enjoying his Thanksgiving day feast at school.

Luciana between my mom's two doggies, Alex & Emma. Luciana looks like she is waiting for a treat too! and no bow!! GASP!!!!

when i saw these pj's at Gymboree, i just couldn't resist! The puppy tooties look just like Alex & Emma! Although, I think Alex would object to a BOW on HIS head!!! ha!

she is just getting too big!

look what arrived at our local pet store. he was really a sweet boy! if our life wasn't completely full at the moment, i think we might have taken him home with us that night! Greyson completely fell in LOVE with him!

and last, here are two pictures from halloween that i meant to share......

yes, a photo shoot gone terribly WRONG!!! :)

school boy, report cards & 14weeks

It's official we have a school boy on our hands! Today Greyson brought home his first "report card" or pre-k developmental assessment. He received lots of A's (for applying). P's are for practicing, E's are for emerging, and N's are for not observed yet. Seems we need to work on staying on task and demonstrating positive self control. I guess we are all a little work in progress! :)

Look how well Greyson is writing his name!

Here is one from July 2008, he was just getting good at it!

From the same day Greyson & Grover... double trouble. I miss hearing Greyson giggle as Grover chased him. Or was it the other way around? :)

And while Greyson was at preschool this morning, Luciana was good to her mama and let me get some cute 14 week pics.

I bought this fringie off etsy back in june, so glad to finally use it for a few photos. It's really cool, one side is shades of blue while the reverse is mostly pinks and purples.

little turtles

luciana has been doing so well holding her head up lately. so i decided to go back and find a picture of greyson when he started holding his up as well.
it's amazing how she has turned into a "mini greyson" overnight!

saturaday morning

hope everyones' weekend is off to a good start! jim and i have just been hanging around sipping on coffee and watching that sweet girl give her big brother smiles. of course as soon as the camera comes out, they disappear...... doesn't that always happen?
now that things have slowed down around here, i'm excited to share LOTS of pictures soon from the past two months. i have been slacking. Greyson is loving soccer and school these days, and has learned to tie his shoes all by himself! Luciana is 13 weeks old, has been sleeping in her crib since 10 weeks, wakes twice during the night, and is super close to rolling over and giggling out loud. I will be back later with more photos, we are off to a birthday party and a soccer game. Here is one from Halloween just before we all left for "trunk or treat" at church. Greyson was originally going to be captain hook, but ended up choosing to dress as a knight. Luciana of course was a ladybug!!

This is by far the hardest blog post that I've ever attempted to write. Our beloved Weim, Grover lost his battle with Colon Cancer two nights ago. I wish I could explain the void that has been left in our hearts and in our home. Grovey was our constant companion. Always wanting to be where we were, and go where we were going. He was an insanely smart boy, sometimes too much for his own good. And we thought his beauty was that of no other than we've seen.
Life gave us only seven brief years together, but in those moments we gained memories that will last a lifetime.
For Jim and my first wedding anniversary we decided we wanted to give each other a puppy. So, because we don't usually do things simple like going to the local pet store..... we flew from maryland to philadelphia and then on to San Fransisco. Next we rented a car and drove all night to Brookings, OR to pick out our baby. It was love at first sight!

meeting your new brother asher.....

watching you with Greyson....

I loved these ears....

I loved those eyes......

that look...

that one too.

Yes, i did silly things to you....

because you were *loved* beyond measure

even though you were a mere fifty-five pounds, you fought like a trooper to the very end.

saying goodbye was by far the most difficult thing that I've ever had to do in my entire life.

there will never be another dog that could ever replace the part of my heart that left when you did.

happy birthday daddy!!

we love you all the way to the moon and back!! happy, happy birthday to the best daddy in the world! all of our hugs & kisses- greyson and luciana (mommy too!)

finally home and on the mend

Grover our 7 year old weimaraner became extremely ill in the middle of the night on Wednesday. By 7:30 the next morning he could barely walk, and was the sickest we’ve ever seen him. Jim rushed him to our vet and was there waiting when they opened at 9am. He called me about 30 minutes later to tell me that Grover was in shock, extremely dehydrated, and his body temperature was dropping but he was stable for the moment. X-rays were taken and it was discovered that Grover somehow contracted HGE (Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis) He was given IV fluids from Thursday morning until late Friday night when he was finally allowed to come home. He is still a very sick pup, and is taking three antibiotics but is getting stronger everyday.
For those reading that are pet lovers, you understand how upsetting it is when you are close to losing your pet. Not all dogs are lucky enough to make it thru the battle with HGE, we are so thankful that we got him to our vet in time and that God kept his hand on him and saved his life. Count all your blessings today, even those of your beloved animals!
Grover was our very first dog and is still our baby. He is and always will be a special part of our family. Luciana and he even share the same birthday of August 4th!

what we've learned in four weeks (and 18 photos)

What we’ve learned in four weeks:

that we have a passionate eater, who as of today weighs 8lbs. 13oz.
she loves her baths
is very happy in the morning, always flashing us a big gummy smile
is a big fan of her swing!
tolerates her bouncy seat for brief moments
does great on car rides, as long as she is asleep…
loves her paci
we have learned her fussy spell is between 8-9 pm every. night.
is very serious and quite often gives us “the brow”
eats every 2-3 hours
is a great nap taker, has one 4 hour stretch at night too!
she is going to have an outtie belly button, just like her brother
she is still wearing all size newborn clothing
and while she may keep us on our toes, she has filled a spot in our heart that we never knew was empty with her sweet spirit.
we simply can’t imagine this world without her in it.

two weeks old:

3 weeks old:

our sweet babies

miss bright eyes

i bought so many photography props, not sure i'll ever get to use them all. *love* this little tassel cap

one of the many cocoon wraps

smiles for daddy

relaxing on the hammock

4 weeks old:

two more from yesterday: