Busy Times

As most everyone knows, our house is on the market. We have been getting at least 2 showings a week. In this market that is really good. We are glad, but it is very time consuming keeping the house in top shape at all times, just in case. We had a visit from Jen and Bill, Brian's sister and bro in law. It was a good time, but short. We tried to go up to Mt Rainier but were greeted with rain and pea soup fog. River loved getting to know his Aunt and Uncle and they were great with him. We leave on Friday to go to Virginia to visit them and the rest of the family. It will be good to have so much time to spend together.

With everything going on life has been busy and it seems one day flows in to the next with more little things that need to be done. We are glad that we can get away from it all and slow down over vacation. River is changing so much now we don't want to miss it. He does so many cute things I can't even remember all of it by the end of the day. He has been going thru a phase of being scared at nite. He has had to sleep with his light on the last few nights. After we put him to bed he cries and says the neetopper is coming. He repeats it a few times. Don't ask, because I have no idea what the neetopper is. I think that he was scared one nite and realized that brought me back to his room so he keeps it up to prolong bedtime, mixed in with some genuine fear. We comfort him and leave his light on and I think he is getting over it. He is really turning out to be such a little love boy. Tonite, Brian and I took some time out to just hang out with him on a blanket on the floor. I gave him a kiss and he kept going back and forth kissing each of us. Then he told me "I Love my Daddy" and then he kissed me and said to Brian "I Love Mommy". Heart melting. However, he can turn into a little "terrible two"in the blink of an eye. He was born testing my limits and makes it a point to do so regularly. It is so frustrating but I also admire his determination and strength of will.

The weather here has been nothing but overcast, cold and rain. I think it has only been that way for a week and a half but it feels like forever. Today the wind was blowing and it was raining, it really could have been a winter day.

I haven't really mentioned much about my Dad and what is going on with him, but I am happy to be able to say that he is off chemo for now. He has been on it since the beggining of the year. Things look like they will be good for some time. It will be great to have him feeling better. After such a long time it had really started to wear him down. Defiantly a reason to be thankful!

Questions

It has always been Brian and I asking River questions, are you hungry, tired, happy? Tonite Brian came home from work and sat down at the table with us while we were coloring. He yawned, briefly. River, without looking up or missing a beat, asked, Are you tired? Brian and I looked at each other like he just asked the most profound question ever. It just struck us how much he can talk and how much he notices and processes. He changes so much recently it's hard to even keep up with him.

Quick Update

River was diagnosed with a single ear infection and strep throat. Today is the first day he hasn't had a fever. His appetite also returned. I think after a good night's rest he should be much better in the morning. We had to take Jinx back to the vet on Tuesday. She hadn't really improved. She was diagnosed with anxiety again. Brian and I think that she might be scared of River. He is loud, moves fast and is full of mischief. We will have to see.

River and Jinx

OK, it has been a crazy weekend. I am tired but I wanted to give everyone a quick update. To start with River started running a fever Saturday morning. It started out at 102. It took a dose of both Tylenol and Ibuprofen to get it down. I think he has an earache. Just my hunch. Anyway, he napped at 12:30 and slept until 5! Poor guy. It was a hot day so it was nice that Brian and I got almost the whole day to take it easy. We took turns getting some sun in the one spot that gets sun on our back deck. We had music playing and just did a lot of nothing. Haven't done that in a while. It was so hot that we went out to get some teriyaki after River woke up. He seemed better. He even wanted to play outside when we got back, but soon after his fever had spiked to 103.7! Whoa! We gave him a coolish bath and fever meds. It took awhile but it went down. We were up with him off and on all nite. He mostly wanted comfort. He slept in until 10 this morning. Normally he is up by 7. Again he seemed better. Just a short episode of 101 fever. He was energetic and playful for the rest of the day, but had 102 fever again tonite. Don't worry, I am taking him to the Doc as soon as possible tomorrow. In the past I would have taken him to urgent care but as he gets older he usually gets over a fever in day or so by himself. I really thought he was over the hump I didn't think he would have a fever at all tonite, especially not 102. We will see what happens tonite, we may end up at the ER yet.

Some time late afternoon, early evening we noticed Jinx panting heavily and shaking hard. She had been in the cool basement for most of the day so we weren't worried about her overheating. We put her back downstairs and she seemed fine. I let her out this morning and showered. When I went outside she was doing it again. We monitored her for the rest of the day. No improvement. I started to get worried and ended up taking her to the ER vet. The one here in Olympia had a 4-5 hour wait so I had to go to Tacoma. They were so nice. Turns out she just needed a tranquilizer. Jinx has always been easily frightened but she is still a pretty normal dog. I guess sometimes a dog like her can get freaked out and no one knows why. The weird part was as soon as I put her in the truck and drove for a few miles she calmed right down. Immediately stopped panting and shaking. As soon as I opened the door to the vet (she has never been to) she started up again. It is all very weird. Something at home is upsetting her, I wish I knew what it was. I am interested in any opinions or experiences any one has had with anything like this. Brian stayed at home and took care of River, fed him, bathed him and got him to bed. Then gave him Tylenol for his fever. I am glad I did not have to handle a sick baby and crazy dog all by myself.

Our family has kept us guessing this weekend, but so far all is well. I will be happy to get River to the doc tomorrow and see what is wrong with him. I guess we will have to put him on antibiotics. I hate to, but if he needs them....I don't want him to be sick anymore.

By the way we had a weekend of super weather. Nice Friday, hot (like 90) Saturday and a very pleasant 80 today. We are expecting rain again this week, but we'll see. Hopefully the next time we get a taste of summer everyone will be healthy so we can go camping or spend the day at the lake together.

Dog Fence Drama

Things have been busy around here. About 2 weeks ago we decided to purchase an invisible fence to keep our dogs contained to our yard. We are lucky enough to have wonderful neighbors who like our dogs visiting but I don't think they enjoy the "presents" the dogs leave behind. They would never say anything though. We have always let our dogs roam the area and it has never been a problem until recently. In the past they always did their business in the woods, not the neighbors yard. So, the new purchase. From the start it turned out to be way more of a problem than expected. It took us going back and forth across town from store to store trying to find one. We finally got one at Cabela's. Brian spent the afternoon installing it in the double loop formation described in the directions. This is used to keep the dogs only in the back, instead of the entire property. Long story short it ended with Brian laughing as the dogs yelped and me very upset. The use of the fence is put on hold, I research and decide that we need to do a single loop around the whole property. We wait for the rain to stop to try again. Finally we get a sunny day and it's a Saturday. Brian did a quick and FANTASTIC job of redoing the wire. He even put up the flags, that was supposed to be my job. I ended up house hunting, another story. Sunday evening I find time to train the dogs to learn their boundaries. I walked them on leashes around the perimeter physically pointing out all the boundary flags. One mild shock each and we have dogs who seem to "get it". Our neighbor's dog even came by and the dogs stayed in the yard and away from the perimeter. I feel confident that it is all over and done with. Silly me. Today I had the dogs out, they are staying around but are a little too cautious to explore the entire yard. As I pay close attention to them I call them to various areas of the yard. Everything is great, until I relax. I am enjoying myself helping Brian wash our windows. I go over to the neighbors to return a toy and I hear Jinx cry out. She ran thru the dumb fence!!!! In the meantime Kelsy is freely wandering the neighborhood with her collar on! What? I guess that her collar was not on tight enough. Jinx is still traumatized, hours later. She hasn't stopped panting and shaking since the incident. I hope she doesn't have a heart attack. I remain determined to make this whole thing work. I have to say I think the product is great but some how, somewhere I have failed to grasp some important concept. The worst part is I have been driving Brian nuts with my research, testing of the fence and collars all to make sure everyting works properly. Back to the drawing board.

Sunny Days

The sun has made an appearance in our gloomy state. Friday was a nice day, slightly brisk and very sunny. Warm by the afternoon. River and I met some friends at the farmers market, grabbed a bite to eat and walked to a nearby park. Good to see friends, good to be outside and best that my sister was able to meet us at the park as well. As the park fun came to an end, my friend Lindsay and I took our little ones for a stroller ride around Capital Lake. It was just to nice of a day to go back home for naps. We did eventually make it back for naps and Brian and I wrapped up the evening enjoying the fresh air in our yard and playing with River.

Today was AMAZING!!! It felt so warm. I haven't checked to see how warm it got but it was almost HOT! It felt close to 80 degrees. Unbelievable. We started the day with a bike ride on the Chehalis Western Trail. Brian only wore a t-shirt and felt a bit chilly at first. We stopped at our halfway point to let River stretch his legs and we all had a snack. We sat in grass and soaked up the sun. River ran around in the grass and stuck close to us and listened to us when we told him he was going to far. He really is getting to be a good boy. We could feel it warming up with every minute. Had an enjoyable ride back. After we got home, Brian mowed the grass and cleaned out the garage. I did my usual house work but found excuse to go outside here and there. We actually had to WATER our grass! After River woke up we drove to Safeway, got some bottles of water and walked from there to a park. About a 25 minute walk each way. River played at the park and climbed the little hills he called mountains just so he could run back down. Brian joined him in the mountain climbing adventure. River even got some pink cheeks from all the sun. When we were at the park a slight breeze came up and it still felt so warm! We didn't leave the park until 6:30 or so and it was almost hot walking back. After River was in bed I stepped out on our back deck in a t-shirt and I was completely comfortable and warm. So hard to believe. Just Thursday I went walking at the Nisqually Refuge and had to wear a jacket because it was just chilly and grey. Now today was like a summer day. I loved it. So did Brian and River. I love these kinds of days because River just plays so hard and doesn't have the energy to test limits. We are thankful for a break from the grey weather that is so constant here.

Happy Birthday River

Tuesday the 1st of April was River's 2cnd birthday. We had planned to have a big hamburger party for him. However, I was recovering from being really sick, Brian had a minor cold and so did River so we had a "just us" celebration. We ordered Pizza and had peach pie. While Brian had River outside I put his presents in a pile on the floor. When he came in he saw them and got to open them. It was so fun. He first told us to open the presents but opened them all on his own after we told him he had to open them. He got a Thomas train, monster truck, farm animals, books and movies. He also got a really cool work bench with foam "wood" and a working drill/screwdriver. He wanted to look at each present before moving on to the next. After we finished pizza we sang to him and had him blow out his #2 candle. I think that he liked the singing the best. I can't describe how he looked but it seemed like he really felt special at that point. As we were cutting pieces of pie he was singing Happy Birthday to himself. Very cute. It was a relaxing evening and a good birthday celebration. Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins will be coming on Friday for an official birthday party!!! Can't wait!!!