I didn't get any pecan pie

So Thanksgiving didn't go as planned this year. Phillip and Ellen went to North Carolina which was planned; however, I did not plan on George having bladder issues while they were gone... thus changing my plans. The fun began on Wednesday when I noticed it was taking him a long time to pee. It was dark outside when I got home from work so I couldn't tell exactly what was going on, I just knew it was not normal. So I let him out periodically and watched as best I could in the dark. I let him out at 2 AM and then 3:30 AM. It was at 3:30 that I realized he had peed all in our bed and there was a trail from the bedroom to the back door. I was very worried at this point. He would never pee in our bed so I knew he must be having major issues. Thursday morning I called the pet emergency line (our vet was closed) and talked to a guy named John. He said there was really nothing I could do but make sure he still had access to water. So my Thanksgiving plan of going to Wal-Mart, Cracker Barrel and the movies (not necessarily in that order) did not happen. I stayed home to care for my sweet George. In the daylight I was able to see what was happening. He was peeing in a fast drip and not in a steady stream. I made sure he drank throughout the day and made sure he peed every time he went outside. Things got better as the day went on - he started peeing in a weak stream and didn't have any more accidents in the house. I went to work on Friday since we have a new attendance/tardy policy and being the day after a holiday, a lot of people were scheduled off. I felt bad leaving him. I did end up taking an "occurrence" and left work at 3:00 to take him to the vet. He seemed okay when I got home but I knew he should be checked. There was only one other dog in the waiting room which was a blessing since George doesn't do well when there is a full house. The vet needed a urine sample so a tech and I went outside to try and get him to pee in a tray. I wasn't so sure this was possible but I am thankful it worked. The test came back negative but there was a lot of protein in his urine. The vet was concerned about this since it usually indicates the start of a bladder infection. I was to watch him and if he seemed to get worse, get a urine sample and bring it to the vet today. The doctor did not want to put him on an antibiotic since the test was negative. I wish we knew what caused the problem. I answered a lot of questions about the food and treats we give him but there didn't seem to be a correlation. The good news is that George is peeing normally and appears to be fine. I am so thankful!

By the way, George weighs 69 pounds! I've been saying/thinking for the longest time that he is 50 pounds. I was just a little off.

From Our Family to Yours

Gobble Gobble

On this sunny (but kind of chilly) Thanksgiving Eve afternoon, my heart is full of thanksgiving. I am thankful for so many things, especially my family. I wish we could all be together tomorrow to feast and fellowship. I will be missing you and thinking about you.

A special xoxo to my P and my E.

Good Riddance

Disposing of our pumpkin about 3 weeks too late. The off and on warm temperatures turned our pumpkin into a science experiment similar to one I did with grape juice in 8th grade. Talk about moldy! (you don't even want to know what the inside looked like, trust me)

I can't believe he touched it

I love this girl

And she loves to run!

"Baby wear sunglasses too?"

Pleased with herself! (Also quick to take her sunglasses back!)

Grumpy Gus

Our early riser is usually happy-go-lucky in the mornings... but not today

Failed attempt at trying to get her to hold up a recent creation

It's over

Toy Crazy

We are almost finished with our Christmas shopping and wrapping. We saved Ellen for last - partly because we were still deciding what to get her and partly because of me. As I knew it would, all of this shopping is getting to me. I used to shop a lot. Loved it. I always bought things on sale so I wasn't spending a lot of money all at once, but I was regularly bringing home a little of this and a little of that. I have drastically changed my ways over the last few years. I don't even like to shop anymore. But Christmas gets me every year. I start out on task but slowly get off track. Usually it is because while shopping for others I see all of this great stuff I want for myself but can't afford. It makes me a little sad but I eventually move on. This year my weakness is Ellen. I thought I would enjoy shopping for her... and I am, but I wasn't expecting to also feel so depressed! It isn't that I want her to have everything, or even think this is necessary or healthy, but it is still hard for me to see all of the great toys available (educational and fun) and not feel that Ellen is "missing out" because she doesn't have some of them. It has been hard but Phillip is definitely keeping me in check :)

At the Car Wash

This headlight got really really clean

Daddy's little shadow

Back to her favorite spot

Celebrity Sighting

Everyone and their brother sees all kinds of celebs around here (mostly country stars) except for me... until yesterday. I went to Whole Foods at lunch to grab some of their delicious cornbread and decided to go ahead and eat it there since I had some time and I didn't want to get my car all crumby. The bar in the eating area faces the checkout lanes. I was people watching and eating my cornbread and noticed Keith Urban in line. He looked normal - not wearing a hat or anything to try and disguise himself. Two girls in line behind him got the checkout guy to take their picture with him. He and Nicole Kidman are seen a lot in Green Hills. I think it is neat they are seen in public on a regular basis doing normal things.

I have been in the proximity of a few famous people because of the area I work in: Jessica Simpson, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Vince Gill, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and a few more. But I usually hear about it after the fact..."Guess who I just saw at the mall?" or "Guess who went into the movie theater a few minutes ago?"and that type thing. One day Jessica Simpson was eating lunch at the restaurant next door and once the news got around the office, people practically ran out of here. It was so funny. People in my department are tied to the phones so we couldn't leave but a lot of people got to catch a glimpse of her.

There is actually a movie premiere here tonight for The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. They are setting up for it now but we will be gone by the time the celebrities arrive. Should be fun trying to get out of the parking garage though!

Happy Holidays!

Every morning around Halloween Ellen and I passed big blow up decorations in 2 different yards on the way to daycare. There was a pumpkin with 2 ghosts sitting on top of it in one yard and at the other house there was a family of 4 pumpkins. Without fail, Ellen always asked to see the "pumpkin lights" as we were getting in the car. Now that Halloween is over, one of the houses replaced their blow up pumpkins with a fall-like scene: bales of hay, a scarecrow and some real pumpkins. So now we have to go see the scarecrow every day.

I just know she is going to love Christmas decorations and lights. I have a lot of wonderful Christmas memories from my childhood. Growing up there were a lot of Moravian stars glowing on people's front porches at the holidays. Andrea and I used to count them, and Christmas trees in windows, on the way to and from church. Just thinking about it makes me want to do something neat at our house this year. My mom used to go all out with the Christmas decorations and we always had the most beautiful tree. It was different every year. It reminds me of the year my parents got a fake tree for the first time and tried to hide it from me. They thought I would be upset. I have always loved picking out and decorating the tree (except the lights-my mom likes a BRIGHT tree) and as Andrea and I got older, we took charge of the tree. There were certain ornaments I liked to put on the tree every year. This particular Christmas I was in college and the tree was lit and decorated before I came home for break. I didn't even notice it was fake! In my defense, to keep the secret, my parents would make comments about how good the tree smelled. They even talked about needing to water the tree because it was getting dry. A few days after Christmas, Phillip and I came back to my house and as soon as we walked through the door we were told to go into the living room. This was very strange. Phillip, knowing about "the tree", caught on to what was happening and encouraged me to stay in the living room. After a few minutes (that is all I could take) we went into the den. My parents and sister were dismantling the tree and did not want me to see them. Maybe you had to be there or maybe you have to know my family, but I thought (and still think) this is so funny. I am not sure why they thought I would be upset that the tree was fake, I wasn't, but I love them for thinking they needed to spare my feelings and for trying so hard to do so. They almost pulled it off! They have used the fake tree ever since and it always looks great. I do prefer real trees but we have a little pre-lit one that we have used for the past 5 years and it has worked great for us. I think we will start getting real trees as Ellen gets older.

I am looking forward to getting out all of our Christmas decorations. Is it too soon to start?

Growing up right before our eyes

George, the best dog ever

Sorry Lucy - but you know it's true

In all my glory

Not so fast little girl

There will come a day when she doesn't want to dump out all of her toys and play on the floor. Or climb in and out of her toy basket over and over again. There will come a day when she no longer says "I want to hold you" and dozens of other phrases that I cherish. There will come a day when she realizes her name isn't spelled E-L and she will learn all of the letters. There will come a day when faithful friend Night Night isn't needed at bedtime. There will come a day when she won't want to sing 10 verses of Old MacDonald or read book after book after book. There will come a day when she doesn't ask me to draw her a kitty cat. That will be a sad day.

"Pacifier Broken"

We have made it through 6 nights with no pacifier - barely. Ellen has been sick with a cold for over a week so our timing wasn't the greatest. At one time we had 5 pacifiers (used the same ones for 1 1/2 years) and suddenly they all started cracking and had to be thrown away. I bought 2 more a month ago. We lost one and she bit the tip off of the other one. That left us with 2 options: buy more pacifiers or stop cold turkey. We decided it was time to say goodbye to her trusted companion. She hasn't used one at daycare in well over a year so it only impacts naps at home and night time. It is going ok. She still asks for it but falls asleep without it. The hard part is her waking up in the night and not having the pacifier there to help her go back to sleep. I think she said "Mommy" at least 250 times starting at 2:00 this morning. We finally got her settled. I wish this never ending cold and the demise of the final pacifier had not coincided. I wonder how this would have gone down if the circumstances had been different.

Side note: Phillip HATES when people say "paci" so it is "pacifier" all the way in our house

Ellen and Nana