Our Trip to Tennessee

What a fun weekend! I can't believe that it's all over. You wait and wait and wait for a vacation to come and then it always seems like it's over in the blink of an eye. We had a whirlwind trip and got to see a lot of our Tennessee folks. On Thursday morning, we flew to Birmingham and then drove to Chattanooga. We were originally scheduled to take the second leg of the Southwest flight on to Nashville, but Lee came up with the idea to deplane early in Birmingham and it saved us a few hours of travel time. Ellie was no problem on the plane at all *thankfully*. She was glued to the window of the plane for the first 20 minutes and then crawled back and forth between us in the seats. Thank goodness we had the DVD player because she spent the last 30 minutes of the flight watching Sesame Street. Elmo always calms her inner beast.





As soon as we arrived in Chattanooga, we met Lee's aunt Judy for lunch and then an outing at the Creative Discovery Museum, which is a children's museum - maybe one of the best I've ever been to. We have one in Dallas, but it's nowhere near as nice as this one. There was an area called "Riverplay" which was set up for kiddos to play in the water. I've never seen Ellie so excited about something. We stayed in that one area for about 45 minutes and when we left, she turned around and ran back in the room. Didn't want to leave. I took a ton of pictures and you can see all of them here. She also loved the player piano and all of the scorpions and millipedes they had in the "Excavation Station" area.


After the museum, we had a meeting with our financial advisor where he told us that he had not lost us as much money as the overall stock market had. Thank you? I did not like to see him pointing to a number and telling me we'd only lost "this much". But I guess everyone has, right? I think I'm going to start investing in telephone poles or marbles or something that is at least tangible. After the "you've only lost 10% of your net worth" pep talk, we headed to the big party... Lee's grandmother, Mimi, turned 90 on Thursday. When I planned the trip, I though that maybe she'd like it if we were there on her birthday. After seeing her with Ellie, I'm so glad I planned the trip around her birthday. Mimi lives in a retirement community on a mountain and it is beautiful. We ate in the dining room and then we were treated to a tour of the facility. Later that evening, Lee met up with his friend from high school, Ronnie, while I stayed with Ellie at the hotel.




When we woke up the next morning, Ellie looked like she'd been slapped in the face. I still haven't figure out just exactly what went on... I can't decide if it it was some sort of a respiratory thing, a reaction to the padding on the pack and play the hotel provided for us, or an outbreak of eczema. We'll never know. She was acting okay and eating fine so we took a trip to the Tennessee Aquarium. Again, Dallas has an aquarium... but it's nowhere near as nice. The great thing about our outings to the museum and aquarium was that we were there on school days so we practically had the whole place to ourselves. Ellie couldn't get enough of the penguins, butterfly garden, king crabs, river otters, and giant turtles. There's so many other fun things to do and see in Chattanooga. I would suggest a trip there for anyone - especially people with kids.




On Friday afternoon, we drive to Knoxville to meet up with Nicole, Wayne, Miles, and Audrey. For those of you who don't know, Nicole is my cousin, Wayne is Lee's friend from college, Lee and I were bridesmaid and groomsman at their wedding, and the rest is history. Audrey is 9 months younger than Ellie so they're not really hanging out too much yet. Miles is three and Ellie was more into playing with Miles and his toys, but Miles was not so much into having Ellie play with his toys. I warned him that in about 9 more months, he was going to be back in the position that he was with Ellie there, but for now, he's happy living in denial. Miles is really into his trains and all things power tools. He even has a jackhammer, drill, and welding equipment. I was half expecting him to show me his little Union badge. Audrey may be the best baby ever (well, second to Ellie). That sweet child was so quiet, I forgot that she was even there most of the time. We had dinner at a nearby Mexican food restaurant on Friday night and then put the kids to bed. One of Wayne and Lee's college buddies, Hunter, came over and the five of us proceeded to have way too much wine. Way. Too. Much.


Saturday was "The Big Game" between Tennessee and Florida. Nicole planned a fun football watching party and I got to meet fellow blogger Erin and her daughter Eileen. It's strange to read all about somebody's life (as many people do about mine on my blog) and then actually meet them. It sort of felt like stalker meeting stalkee. Too bad I couldn't meet Raven too! Tennessee could not pull out the game and they wound up loosing 30-6 so in the end, Lee and I were glad we weren't there to witness the butt whipping in live technicolor. Nicole was such a great hostess and made the best pork chalupa. Even Ellie was a fan.



Nicole was so nice to buy Ellie and Audrey matching UT pajama outfits. Those will be great pictures to bring back out when they're 30. On Sunday, we went to brunch with the Erwins and then headed to Nashville for our flight. When we got to Nashville, there was go gas anywhere so we couldn't fill up our rental car. It was weird. Apparently, Atlanta suffered the same fate this week. Now I hear rumors that it's headed to Dallas... anyway, the trip home was without incident except for the slight kicking and screaming breakdown that Ellie suffered going through security. I had three bottles of opened drinking water with me and the guards just waved me through. I guess they thought I did not look like I had it together enough to pull off a well-planned terrorist attack. So Monday, it was back to reality... back to work, back to daycare... thank you Erwins! We had so much fun!

Hurricane Ike

Yikes - I could not believe all of the destruction that Ike did this week as it hit the Texas coast. It's so strange to watch all of the news video, and think "we were just there" every time they broadcast from a location along the seawall. I was really hoping some of my friends would agree to a joint vacation to Galveston next summer, but that possibility is not looking good now. Most of my Houston friends are okay except for the ones who still don't have power. We didn't get as much rain as we expect around here... but it's just as well. I didn't feel like being underwater. And with the cold front that blew through on Sunday, it finally feels like fall here.

I'm short on time this week, so I'm going to let the pictures do the talking. I'm so glad our friends Debbie, Justin and their little girl, Molly, moved back to Dallas. And they're so close! On Friday night we met for a wild dinner at Mi Cocina. While we were waiting for our table, Molly and Ellie met another little girl who lives in our neighborhood who is one month younger named Bessie and Ellie fed her Goldfish.

Since it rained Saturday, we mainly used it as a football watching/inside day. I need to figure out what to do with Ellie when it rains because unless we pack her up and take her somewhere, there's not a lot to do around out house. Lee had his perfect day of football... I like to call this picture "Touchdown Vols".

Sunday was beautiful so we took a long walk and went to the park. We live close to a great park with a pond that has a ton of ducks so we took some of Ellie's stale Cheerios and went there. The ducks were a BIG hit. Ellie had seen them before from the comfort of her jogging stroller, but had never gotten up close and personal. There was a huge white swan there and a black one too. Lee got them to eat right out of his hand, but I'm sure these ducks have a lot of experience being around people. We went to a park after we fed the ducks and let Ellie swing for a while. Every time we took we out of the swing, she'd run right back to it. We have big plans this coming weekend - I can't wait!

Word of the week: Turtle.

Hi! My name is...

It's amazing to watch kids develop when they're really little because they have big milestones like sitting up or crawling... but I think it's almost as amazing to watch Ellie develop now. It's especially interesting to listen to new words that she breaks out. It's seems like we're getting a new one almost every day now, and the one she blurted out on Sunday was "purple". I've been working on red, yellow, blue, and green, but she chose a color out in left field and went with purple. Then I wondered what she would say if I asked her what her name was. I'd never thought to do that. She pointed at herself and said "Eeh-yee". Those L's are proving difficult, but I was still impressed that she knew what I was asking her. She also added the words "bird" and "up" this weekend. She's really into talking on Lee's cell phone now. It's not on, but she holds it to her ear and says "Hi! Hi! Hi!". She was doing this on Saturday while carrying around my purse, so I went to Toys R' Us at lunch on Monday and bought her her very own pink purse and a baby stroller too. As you can see, they were a big hit. Her other new trick is that she learned to put her dirty clothes in her hamper. Next we'll work on dusting and pouring mommy a glass of wine.



Ellie played with so many friends this weekend. Mom, Ellie, and I went to The Heldebrandt's house on Saturday morning to visit with Henry, who is 9 weeks now. Grace is 3 and Ellie has so much fun with her - mostly emulating what she does and trying to eat Grace's play food. Ellie also has a thing for babies now and wasted no time giving Henry a kiss. She was pretty good right up until she bopped him on the head. She also tried to give him a drink from her sippy cup.


After the briefest of naps, Ellie and I went to to the mall so I could buy her some new fall shoes. We went to the sale at Nordstrom's and that's where I saw the cutest girl shoes I've EVER seen. They're shiny hot pink ballerina flats with a little strap across the top of the foot. Had to get them. That night we met our friends, the Hardemans, for dinner at Zushi Sushi. It was sort of slow at the restaurant, but that was good because it meant they didn't have to sit anyone within a 15-foot radius of us. It's always nice to go to dinner with other parents. They came back to our house afterwards and put Cooper to sleep in a pack and play in our study, but not before Cooper and Ellie had a bath together. Then we all watched Florida beat Miami. On Sunday, we celebrated Grandparent's Day by taking Ellie's grandparents to Lakewood for brunch. Unfortunately, my dad couldn't make it because he was traveling for work.




I've discovered the key to getting Ellie to eat vegetables - blend them up and put them in mashed potatoes. On Sunday, she had broccoli, spinach, and cheese mashed potatoes and loved them. I'd like for her to just the broccoli and spinach by itself, but it's not going to happen. And finally, Ellie is 100% paci-free now. I'm really glad I just did it. I was dreading it, but it turned out to be a case of me building it up in my head too much. Since I last wrote, she hasn't had any trouble and is sleeping through the night. But I may take it on our upcoming plane trip just in case...

Apparently I have too much time on my hands

I made some more "yearbook photos" yesterday. I can't stop myself. It's fun to make pictures of myself and Ellie, but it's even more fun with Lee. I like to call this one "Hair God Lee".



Some of you may know that Lee used to work at the Moon Pie Factory in Chattanooga. The next picture is one I like to call "Moon Pie Lee". In my mind, it's what Lee would look like if he was still working at the Moon Pie Factory.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Seems like every day more and more people are telling me that Ellie is starting to look like me.

I don't see it. Do you?

Update - In case it is not apparent (because it was not to my mother), the photos above are of me and Ellie with our heads superimposed on 1960's pictures. Yes, those are our faces. I created these fun little diddys on Yearbook Yourself. More to come.

Galveston and Gustav

I have the perfect reasons to blog tonight - we had a wonderful trip to Galveston this weekend and all that's on TV are political conventions. It's not that I hate politics or anything, I just hate conventions. This is because in 1988, I was staying at my grandparents house while my mother was in Hong Kong. For the week they were taking care of me after camp, the only thing that was on all four channels they received with their rabbit ears on the one television they owned was the Democratic National Convention. I defy you to find me one 12 year old that wants to watch 4 hours of Michael Dukakis for 5 straight days. So that pretty much ruined me. When I hear "___ National Convention", the only thing I can think of is unwaxed eyebrows and I want to run screaming. And By the way, if you ever said to yourself, "I bet Tiffany never posts a picture of Dukakis on 'The Bright Spot'", I just proved you wrong.

As I said before, we went to Galveston for Labor Day weekend. Before we left, we knew that there was a possibility that we may have to cut our stay short because of Hurricane Gustav churning in the Gulf, but we went anyway. Galveston is only about 5 hours away, so it's the perfect distance from Dallas when Ellie is napping for 2 of those hours. We stayed at the San Luis Resort, which is right across from the beach. We stayed in a one bedroom condo, and it was great because we could put Ellie to bed at 7:45 and then watch TV in our living area. I would not say Galveston is the greatest of places to visit, but it's got a beach and a fun pool so that's all that mattered to Ellie. When we arrived on Friday afternoon, we hit the pool. There was a water slide that Ellie could not get enough of and we bought some floaties for her so she could kick around in the pool.

On Saturday morning, we went to the beach. Lee took Ellie into the water, and my poor kiddo got stung by a jellyfish. The only reason I think it was a jellyfish is because her arm was red when she got out of the water. Lee got stung too. By Sunday morning it had started to blister and then by that night the blisters opened. It got her pretty good on her left hand and it's about the size of a quarter. It looks bad, but it doesn't seem to bother her. It bothers me. She didn't even notice it until I sprayed some Bactine on it. Now she has started poking at it. When she does I tell her to quit it and authoritatively she waves her finger back at me and says something in Ellie language. I'm afraid that someone is going to see it and think that I burned her with a cigarette or threw hot water on her of something. We'll see how the daycare ladies react when I tell them this tomorrow. Part of me is expecting a call from CPS.

After a Ellie had a good nap on Saturday, we took a shopping trip to the Strand where I bought my Christmas ornament. I have to buy two things wherever we travel: a silver charm for my already full charm bracelet and a Christmas ornament. I could not find a charm so I had to settle for the ornament. After an early bite to eat, we all went back to the pool. Ellie is turning into a water baby because she put up quite a fuss when we decided to go up for the night.

We left one day early on Sunday because we could tell Gustav was going to hit around New Orleans and did not want to get caught in the evacuation traffic. It took a little longer to get back as we were leaving because there were a lot of Louisiana people on the road. One of my co-workers was driving back from Houston at the same time and noticed something strange about the Louisiana folks - when they want to stop, they just pull over on the side of the highway. No need for a rest stop or a McDonald's - they just pull over. It's weird. We made it back fine, but it was just sort of a bummer that we had to leave early. I would like to go back again next year with a group of friends.

Right before we left for our trip, we found out that we were accepted as members of Lakewood Country Club so actually by coming back a day early, we we able to enjoy the last day of summer there with my parents. It's too bad we finally got our membership late in the summer, but we're already looking forward to next fall. When Ellie was in the kiddy pool, three little girls were playing with her, but started screaming "gross!!" when they saw her hand. Poor Ellie didn't know what was going on. I tried to tell them what happened to her, but they just looked at her like she had leprosy.

In other news, September 1 marked the drop dead date for Ellie loosing her paci. The doctor said she had to loose it completely between 15-18 months. I'm trying the cold turkey approach. She only has it at night now for about 6 months, but she's still had it. She was fine on Sunday night, but Monday night and tonight were a different story. She doesn't mind getting into bed without it at first, but she notices that it is absent after about 5 minutes. Then she gets MAD. I don't think it'll take long for her to forget about it and the sooner we loose it, the easier it will be. Another big pet peeve (in addition to baby talkers) is kids walking around with a paci hanging out of their mouth when they're 3 years old. I just want to snatch it out of their mouth. So I told myself Ellie is not going to be one of those kids. And she's not.

Fifteen Months

Ellie had her fifteen month check-up yesterday which could only mean one thing - more shots. Three to be exact. The good news is that she gets one more shot at 18 months and since she's right on time for everything, the next shot she'll get will be when she's four years old. I'll send Lee with her for that appointment because she'll actually be able to remember the shots at that point. Here are the vital stats:

Weight: 22 pounds 8 ounces (50th percentile)

Length: 32 5/8" (95th percentile)

Head: 17 3/4" (25th percentile) (I had to assure Lee this does not mean she has a small brain)

So she is tall and thin with a petite head. Life could be worse. I couldn't believe her weight - with all she eats, I thought she would weigh more. As we were waiting to be called back for our appointment, Ellie was fascinated by the fish in the aquarium. A little boy about 3 years old walked up to her and very sweetly started to pet Ellie's bald, little 25th percentile head. She reeled back, swatted him, and gave him her best "oh no you didn't" look. He ran off crying to his father and she turned around to continue to watch the fish like nothing had happened. My girl is fierce! I wanted to scold her, but I was laughing to much (which for the record makes you feel like a really great parent if you start laughing when your girl has made a boy cry). When we saw the doctor, I asked him what to do about her hitting, because it actually has become a problem lately. He told me that when she hits, hug her back and say "we hug, we don't hit" or if she bites, kiss her back and say "we kiss, we don't bite". We'll see how his hippie "make love not war/hugs not drugs" method works.

It was tax-free weekend in Texas last weekend so we took advantage of the sales and hit the stores to shop for Ellie's fall clothes. After shopping, we went to Sam's. This is were I met The Baby Talker. For those of you who are lucky enough to be around me on a daily basis, you know that I talk to Ellie like she is a Harvard graduate with an MBA. I DO NOT babytalk and it freaks me out when people talk like that. So I was making my way through the awesomeness that is Sam's Club when I encountered her. "Ooooooooo! Oook at ooouuu! Ou are oooo ute! How ode r ooouuu?!". When people ask Ellie how old she is, I usually give it a minute to see if she'll answer "fifteen months". When she doesn't, I have to pick up her slack and answer for her. "She's fifteen months", I said. "Ooooo! Big girl! BIG GIRL! Ou pretty girl! Ou PRETTY GIRL!". All right lady, move out of here. I don't want her to start talking ike ou.

On Saturday afternoon, we met Brandt, Jenny, and little Garrett at the club to swim. Garrett is the cutest boy - he's 19 months and looks like a little man. He was wearing giant water wings that were the size of his head. He didn't mind jumping in the pool and kicking around one bit. I think Ellie needs a pair. My mom and dad babysat for Ellie that night, so Lee and I went out to dinner and saw The Dark Knight. I was totally unimpressed, and I really wanted to like it. It's hard for me to sit through a 2.5 hour movie, so if I'm doing it, it had better be worth it. And this just wasn't. Heath Ledger was good, but Lee and I were both sort of bored. Since the weather was so awesome this weekend, Ellie and I went to Lee's soccer game. She loved to run around and meet everyone and is even pretty good at kicking a soccer ball. I know Lee will be so excited when Ellie is old enough to play on her own soccer team.

So that was out weekend - a diva, a baby talker, and the dark night. Where else but on the Bright Spot do you get characters like that?

"Bubble"

The floodgates are starting to open. Ellie said her first two-syllable word this weekend. On Sunday as I was putting the groceries away, Ellie went into the bathroom, grabbed her bubbles, came into the kitchen, handed them to me and said "bubble!", I just sat there and looked at her for a second thinking "did she really just say that or was that an accident?". But then I decided that it was too much of a coincidence that she was saying the word "bubble" and handing me the bubbles at the same time. She's also repeated it many time since so I know she knows what it is. She also has this strange ability now... (the video is a little dark, but hang in there)

The Olympics started this weekend so we watched the very impressive opening ceremonies. I've been glued to Michael Phelps, women's gymnastics, and everything else in between ever since Friday night. I wanted to start screaming when he was swimming in the 4X100 freestyle relay, but didn't want to wake up Lee. That guy is really amazing. I fell sort of bad for him though because the expectation is that he'll bring home 8 gold metals. That's a lot of pressure. We may have our own budding Olympian because Ellie is now able to jump from the side of the pool into my arms. She actually more hurls herself at me rather than jumps. I'm not trying to brag, but there aren't any kids in her swimming class that will do that. Okay, maybe I'm bragging just a little. Even if she gets a mouthful of water and submerges a few inches under, she comes up smiling. I see some more advanced swimming lessons in our future... the girl is getting past the point of singing "The Wheels on the Bus" while I twirl her in a circle.

Meg and Ruben got to meet Ellie this weekend. The last time Meg saw Ellie, she was one day old. We met them for lunch while Lee was at soccer practice and I thought Ruben was going to try to take Ellie home with him. It's good practice for Meg and Ruben since they're expecting one of their very own in early March!! So excited for them. I told Meg that she needs to get her own blog now so her mom can have daily stories of the little bambino...

We didn't do much else this weekend. I got a new phone which I'm loving. It's a Palm Centro. I would have gone with a Blackberry, but I've had a Palm since 2002 and all of the information in my life is in a Palm system so I'm sort of stuck. I can even check my new Facebook account with it! Lee thinks that's totally nerdy, but I think he's just a bit jealous. That facebook is addictive... I've already found a ton of lost high school and college friends with it. I wish it had been around when I first graduated from high school and college and that way I would have never lost touch with anyone.

Let the games begin!

HAHA! I love this picture. Doesn't she look like she's posing and ready to take off? I'm so excited that the Beijing Summer Olympics start today. 08-08-08 is supposedly a lucky number in China which is why they picked that date. The athletes are going to need some luck making their way through all of that air pollution.

It was always my dream as a little girl to go to an Olympics. When I had delusions of grandeur, I thought that maybe I could be an athlete, but after realizing that I could run and swim - just not that fast - I settled on the dream of being a spectator. We almost went to Athens for our honeymoon four years ago (and looking back probably should have), but that's as close as I've come. So now, my goal is for our family to go to the 2020 games. That's in 12 years so Ellie will be 13. If we went to the 2024 games, she would be 17 and most likely very embarrassed that I was her mother so that may not work. According to Wikipedia, the location of the 2020 games will be announced mid-2013. I'm going to start my planning then!

Kicking and Screaming

There she is... my sweet little Ellie. Having a meltdown. Last Thursday, I witnessed Ellie's first full-blown temper tantrum. I got home after picking her up at school, Lee came home, Ellie didn't get something that she wanted - whatever that was - kicking and screaming ensued. She got so mad that she stood behind the clothes hamper in the corner of her room and yelled her little head off. I tried to coax her out, but she would have none of it, so Lee and I sat on the sofa in her room and watched her. There was nothing else to do. After 2-3 minutes, she came out and put her head in my lap. I guess sometimes everyone just needs to stand in a corner and scream.

This happened again on Saturday while I was getting my hair cut. Ellie fell asleep while we were on a jog, so she only got a 45 minute afternoon nap. That always spells trouble. Lee was watching Ellie during my 3:00 appointment, and about 30 minutes into my cut and color, Lee called:

Me: Hello?

Lee: She's doing it again. She's screaming and flailing around on the floor.

Me: Just ignore her. She'll stop.

Lee: She's not stopping. She's been doing this since you left.

Me: Well, try distracting her with something.

Lee: LIKE WHAT?

Me: I don't know... take her outside and fill up the pool.

Lee: I don't know where her swimsuit is or anything!

Me: Then just take her outside and turn the hose on her.

Lee: This isn't normal, Tiffany. I think she has autism.

Me: She does NOT have autism. She's just tired and she's having a tantrum.

Lee: (BIG sigh) Okay.

When I got home, the pendulum had swung the other direction. She was in a great mood and was so sweet for her mom with lots of hugs and kisses. I think we're hitting the terrible two's 9 months early.

One of her favorite things to do now is to wait for her jack-in-the-box to open. Over and over again. And it's not enough for me to crank it - I have to put her hand on the crank and we both do it together. Every time it opens, this is the surprised face she gives me:

Then she says "Ooooohhhhh" and giggles and that makes me laugh because it's the same surprised face every time. Then we put him back in the box. And do it all over again.

We didn't really do much this weekend because it was so hot again. We met Lee's mom for dinner at R&D Cafe (overrated) on Friday night. On Saturday morning, the YMCA was hosting a kids triathalon near our house, so Ellie and I ran by during our jog to check it out. I was expecting to see kids riding around on their Dora the Explorer bikes, but not so. These kids had legitimate triathalon gear - speedos, road bikes, those aerodynamic bike helmets that are shaped like door wedges... and I swear I saw a seven year-old who had more muscles than Lance Armstrong. It was crazy. After scouting out the competition, I know I would have come in dead last in the "six and under" category. Ellie also had a swimming lesson, and I can almost get her to jump into my arms from the side of the pool. She'll stand on the first step and jump to me. I can't wait to take her to the beach - she's going to love running through the waves!

Side note: the little blue outfit she's wearing is what I was sporting this time 31 years ago. Yep - it was mine.

Fun at the Lake

It's so hot. I love living in Texas about 85% of the time. The rest of the time, it's July and August. I watched the forecast last night and they're saying it's going to be 102 every day until Saturday. The should forgo the displaying the actual high temperature and just show a little man with his hair on fire because that's what it feels like. The only thing that's making me feel a little less cranky is the new Jason Mraz CD I got last week. Love it. I think I'm going to burn a hole in it before the end of the summer. Listening to it makes me feel like I'm on a tropical island far, far away. I bought pre-sale tickets for his October concert this morning and I'm so looking forward to that. I'm starting to think of Texas summers as a bad "fun tax" we have to pay to get to college football season and awesome weather.

We had such a good time this weekend going to Cedar Creek Lake with the Hardeman's. Stephanie did a great job of capturing the whole weekend on her blog. It was actually a lot cooler there than it was here on our urban heat island. I think all of the trees and the breeze had something to do with it . The Hardeman's son, Cooper, is 2 weeks older than Ellie, so they're pretty developmentally even. It's nice to have friends who also have a small child because they don't care if your child has a meltdown, throws food on the floor, poops in her pants, or requires a nap at an inconvenient time because it's very likely that their child is doing the same thing.

We got there right before lunch and naptime for Ellie on Saturday. After the kiddos woke up, they were full-on playing outside. Ellie doesn't really play "with" other kids yet so much as she plays next to them. I think that's a skill she's still learning. She's also learning to share... something she hasn't learned from being an only child. Poor Cooper - Ellie thought every sippy cup and toy was hers. She missed her Saturday morning swimming lesson so we took her swimming in the lake. Lee and I would throw her up in the air back and forth and catch her. She loved it. We cooked out for dinner that night and after all of the kiddos went to bed, we took the boat out on the lake. Late night, Lee and Danny played each other on the Wii. I had never seen one before, but it was quite entertaining. I really wanted to see Lee and Danny box each other, but they stuck with golf. I think Lee may want a Wii, but we talked about it on the way home, and at this point in our lives, I don't know how much we'd really use it. I can't see us virtual bowling with each other that much. Thank you, Danny and Stephanie - we had a great time!

Ellie has been fairly cranky for the past few days. I think she's getting some more teeth added to the fact that she has a cold. It's been tough to get her to go to sleep at night. Ellie has a new boyfriend at daycare (sorry, Cooper). His name is Aiden and he's very cute. Today I picked her up and after I got her out of the classroom, Ellie and Aiden stood there at the window that opens onto the hall just looking at each other. Ellie blew him kisses and he just waved. I took her hand and lead her away, but she turned around and ran back to blow more kisses. Oh brother.

I have a new time filler - Facebook. If any of you out there are members, add me to your list! I'm under the e-mail thebrightspot@yahoo.com. Lee is on there too.

Making Deals With Elmo

I want to thank everyone for all of their kind words about Trudie. I miss my little pal, but I'm sure every day will get a little easier than the last. I especially had a lot of nice notes from the east Tennessee folks and I can't wait to meet all of you when Lee, Ellie, and I visit the Erwins this fall to watch some Vol football. I picked up Trudie's remains yesterday from the vet and they came in a nice little cedar box. I may get a just keep her for now.


On Monday morning, Ellie gave me further proof that she is a genius. When she woke up, the little brown fairy had not yet made a deposit in her diaper bank, so I changed her diaper and got her dressed for school. When we were getting ready to leave, she ran to me in the kitchen and I could smell that she needed her diaper changed. I told her to hang on because I was fixing my lunch when she ran over to her diaper bag and started rummaging through it. One of her favorite games now is drag everything out of the bag/purse/cabinet/toy box. I told her to get out of the diaper bag because I didn't want to pick up everything before we left. She then grabbed a diaper out of the bag, opened it up, walked over to me, spread the diaper out on the ground, and sat there next to it waiting for me to change her. At first, I thought surely she is not asking me to change her diaper... but I'm pretty sure that's what she was doing. This almost makes up for her pooping on our bedroom floor after her bath on Sunday night.



I looked up potty training on the internet and most sites say not to start trying until 18 months which is 3-4 months away. I think I'm going to start working with her to give a name to being wet or dirty so she'll be able to tell me. If she can tell me that a cow can "mmmoooooo", she can tell me that she just "ppppoooooooo". If that doesn't work, maybe I can figure out the sign language for it. I'm also going to get her a little play potty to get her used to the idea of a toilet.


Lately, whenever Ellie sees my cell phone, she has to have it. Nothing else will do. And she loves punching all of the buttons, so if you ever get a strange call with heavy breathing, it's Ellie - not me. I decided that she needed her own cell phone, so I bought her an Elmo cell phone on Sunday and it's so cute. It has this function that allowed me to download Elmo saying her name from a website and then use a mini USB cable to put it on the phone. It's so funny. Elmo says in his squeaky little voice "Hi Ellie! Can Elmo come over and play?" or "How are you today, Ellie?". She loves it. She holds it up to her ear and then puts it to mine so I can talk to him. I usually tell him I'm busy driving or making dinner and that I'll have to call him back.



When I dropped off Ellie at daycare on Monday morning, the kids were just sitting down to have breakfast and the ladies at day care asked me if I feed Ellie. Um, yes. At this point, I looked over at Ellie and they had given her a banana half. So then I turn around to talk to Miss Chelsea and she told me that every morning when Ellie gets to school she is so hungry and when they give her food, she eats like she has never seen food before. I told her I don't know why that is because on her way to school she has an entire cup of Cheerios. I turned around to look at Ellie, and the banana was GONE. My child took an banana half down in a minute flat. "See! That's what she does every morning!", Chelsea said. Then on Wednesday morning the kids were eating again when we got there. Ellie say down next to Grayson and I watched Chelsea cut a muffin in two and put half on Ellie's plate and half on Grayson's plate. Ellie reached out, grabbed both muffin halves at once and tried to put both in her mouth. I wonder if she's just going through a growth spurt? I really do feed her. I swear.

This is amazing...

I just found out that one of my pledge sisters has QUINTUPLETS 4 weeks ago. And she has a blog! I'm going to link it to my blog roll so we can keep track of all five of her kids... and most days I think ONE kiddo is a lot of work!

Goodbye, Miss Trudie

I had to make a really hard decision this weekend and that was to put my little dog Trudie to sleep. Over the past 6 months or so, I became aware of the fact that it would be a matter of when and not if I was going to have to do it. And over the last week, I realized that I was keeping her alive so I wouldn't have to be hurt by her loss, but she was suffering because of that. She and I were both used to her blindness, but about two years ago, she lost her hearing and she developed mammary cancer since whoever had her before me had not had her spayed. Years before, she could memorize a room and know exactly where she was going, but lately, she couldn't get around at all. She always had a wagging tail for me, but I could tell my friend wasn't having a good time anymore.

I guess it would be silly for every dog out there to get an obituary, but I feel like she at least deserves for me to tell everyone what a great dog she was. I found her on Tuesday, January 25, 2000 at the Brazos Valley Animal Shelter in Bryan, Texas. All of my friends had graduated and left College Station, and after my first semester in graduate school, I was lonely. I thought about buying a puppy, but I went to the pound instead. The first dog I saw was a little dachshund, and I pulled her card, but decided that I should probably give all of the dogs there a fair shake, so I kept looking.

As I was leaving, I noticed a kennel that was separate from the rest of the cages and saw a little scraggly white dog in it with cataracts. I asked the people at the pound what was wrong with her and they told me she was blind. They also said she was somewhere between 3-5, but looking back, I think she was closer to 5. I got her out of the kennel and took her outside and when I did, she jumped up on me with both paws and started wagging her tail. I could tell she wanted to go home with me. How do you say no to that? When I went back to get her the next day, the dachshund had been adopted so that was good. I remember getting in the car and she jumped in my lap. I told her we would always be together and I would always take care of her.


I took her to get fixed and then brought her home. I can remember how excited I was. I had gone to the crappy College Station mall and gotten her a dog bed, bowls, and a little Cookie Monster doll. I opened the door and literally showed her around like she was a new roommate saying, "Here's your bed! Here's the kitchen! Here's my room!". She probably thought some unstable freak had adopted her. But in no time, she was my best buddy. We took long walks together every evening and I came home at lunch every day so I could see her. I had a strict "no dogs in bed rule" for the first two weeks, but somehow she changed my mind on that. When I would go up to the lab late at night to finish my thesis, I took her with me. On the acknowledgements page of my thesis, she's listed right below my parents. I thought it was only proper since she put in so many hours too.


When we got moved to Dallas, I started volunteering as the SPCA and heard about a pet therapy program. I told Trudie she needed to get a job so she became a licensed therapy dog with the Delta Society. It was a win-win because I got to volunteer and hang out with my dog at the same time. We used to visit a retirement home and everyone loved her except for the woman who would always yell at me to get "that dirty dog" out of "her house" and the other one who thought she was a cat. But she didn't mind. She was always friendly and would let anyone pet her. Once I started working, I saved a little bit of money every month so I could get her cataracts removed, but when I finally took her in to the specialist, they told me that she had degenerative retinas and would never see. That broke my heart because I really wanted to be able to do that for her.

It was remembering all of the good times recently that factored into my decision on Saturday. She wasn't happy anymore. Since she had incontinence problems, most of the time she stayed in the bathroom or in her kennel, and that wasn't fair. I didn't want to her to go on how she was, and I wanted her to die with dignity. I kept hoping that I would wake up one morning, and she would have passed quietly, but it didn't happen that way. As I was waiting for the vet to come in the room, I thanked Trudie for being such a good dog and for always being so sweet. I thanked her for being my best friend for the year and a half when nobody else was around. I apologized for not being able to get her eyes fixed, but I told her that in doggie heaven she would finally be able to see and she would get treats every day. I also told her that there wouldn't be any cats there to drive her crazy and that her cousin, Abbey, would miss her a lot. And so would I. I clipped a little hair from neck where it was curly because I always thought that was so cute. I had her privately cremated, but haven't decided where I will spread her ashes.

Trudie leaves behind her mom, dad, and little girl, Ellie, two sisters, Morgan and Lucy, two dog grandparents, and dog cousin Abbey.

I found this poem on a blind dog website a few years ago and saved it. I'm not sure who wrote it, but I've always liked it.

The Blind Dog Poem

I cannot see you Mommy, when you cuddle me so near.
And yet I know you love me, it's in the words I hear.
I cannot see you Daddy, when you hold me by your side
But still I know you love me when you tell me so with pride.
I cannot see to run and play out in the sun so bright
For here inside my tiny head it's always dark as night.
I cannot see the treats you give when I am extra good
But I can wag my tail in Thanks just like a good dog should.
"She cannot see. The dogs no good" is what some folks might say
"She can't be trained, she'll never learn She must be put away."
But not you, Mom and Daddy You know that it's alright
Because I love you just as much as any dog with sight.
You took me in, you gave me love and we will never part
Because I'm blind with just my eyes, I see you in my heart.

Goodbye, sweet Trudie. I love you. You're a good dog. I hope we meet again one day.

Tuesdays at The Little Gym

My mom has been taking care of Ellie on Tuesdays this summer so Ellie only goes to day care 4 days a week. She calls it "Tuesdays With Connie" as a play on "Tuesdays With Maurie". Do you see where I get my keen sense of humor?

I signed Ellie up for classes at the Little Gym so Mom takes her there in the mornings. I met them today to see what the Little Gym was all about (it helps that my boss is out of town). Ellie had so much fun... they all sit in a circle and sing a few songs and then they run all over the place and play on the equipment. Ellie liked walking on the balance beam.

She also liked playing in the parachute...

And doing backflips...


And playing basketball...


And then helping clean up.

Keep in mind this is a 45 minute class. No wonder she gets a good nap on Tuesdays! Afterwards, we had a girls lunch together. Very fun!