All dogs go to Heaven -- but especially Wilson.

On Monday morning, we said goodbye to our family dog, Wilson.  Last May, he was diagnosed with a tumor in his spleen.  Eleven months later -- eleven great months filled with so many family memories -- Wilson's spleen ruptured and he suffered an internal bleed his poor little body couldn't recover from.  My dad was with him when he collapsed at home and immediately rushed him to the vet, and my mom, Gavin, and I were able to spend time with him and say goodbye before we had to let him go.  It's somewhat comforting that he was surrounded with so much love in his final moments, and I know my parents held him and told him what a good puppy he was as he drifted off to sleep.

I'm crying as I write this, even four days later.  He was honestly that good a puppy.  Truly the best.

Wilson was everybody's favorite dog.  It wasn't just that he was adorable -- though he certainly was -- but more than that, he just had the sweetest personality.  He always wanted to hold hands and cuddle, and he was amazing with Gavin.  Stephen and I did our best to teach Gavin how to be gentle with animals, but he's a toddler, and sometimes his petting would get a bit...zealous, shall we say?  Wilson never seemed to mind.  Wilson was Gavin's little guardian puppy, and I'd like to think that he still is.  I hope it meant something to Wilson to see Gavin one last time and have Gavin's little toddler hands pat pat pat on his back.  It meant something to me.

My parents are amazing pet owners, and this loss has hit them very hard.  Wilson was the way Wilson was because my parents took such incredible care of him.  His demeanor was so gentle because he was given so much love and attention from the very beginning.  But there was something innately special about Wilson too -- something that set him apart from all of the other dogs our family has had over the decades.  It's something that will never be duplicated, and something that leaves us all with a hole in our hearts in his absence.

We love you so much, sweet puppy.  From the time you joined our family until the time you left us, you were as loved as any puppy could ever be.  We miss you terribly already and will always remember how much you brought to our lives in the short eight years you were here.

Joanna's Visit to Cincinnati

One of my best friends from college, Jo, came to visit us this weekend!  I hadn't seen her in nearly three years -- though it wasn't for lack of trying -- so she hadn't even had a chance to meet Gavin yet.  Needless to say, I was really excited to see her, especially amidst all the changes in both of our lives recently!  I've been pretty nostalgic for my IU friends lately, especially those I sang with in Ladies First, so this visit was just what the doctor ordered.

On Saturday, we ate good food (sushi followed by Orange Leaf yummm), saw a GREAT show at Playhouse in the Park, and spent lots of time playing with Stephen and Gavin.  Today, we made an attempt to see the Butterfly Show at Krohn Conservatory -- but after driving all the way to Eden Park and shelling out $3 per person, we realized that the Butterfly Show doesn't start until April 20.  So...we took some pictures, walked around, and grabbed a quick lunch at Don Pablo's before sending Jo on her way back to Chicago.  It was a whirlwind for sure, and never enough time, but it was so nice to see her and catch up.

Hopefully we'll have a chance to get out to Chicago soon(ish) to see her -- we've tried before, but every single time we seem to be foiled by illness or bad timing -- but until then, we were thrilled to get to share our little world here with Jo.  Here are some photos from our quick adventure!

In quick Baylor news, we were supposed to have a 3D/4D ultrasound on Saturday morning, but our little girl is clearly as stubborn as her big brother.  Gavin always had his hands in front of his face for ultrasounds, or his legs crossed (in the case of our gender scan) -- and sure enough, Baylor was positioned spine-up, with her arms smack dab in front of her face.  We couldn't see ANYTHING.  It was disappointing for sure, but we get to go back next week and try again.  Hopefully she'll be more cooperative!

Splinters

Horror of horrors -- today, I found a splinter in Gavin's pinky finger.  A pretty large one at that.  We've been playing hard at the park these past few days, so it wasn't a HUGE surprise, but it certainly wasn't something I enjoyed seeing.  Gavin got a splinter in his foot when he was six months old, and -- I kid you not -- I called my brother (the surgeon) to remove it.  Don't get me wrong, I can deal with a lot of things.  I'm usually the one forced to restrain Gavin when he's getting shots or having his ears checked at the pediatrician.  I'm usually the one covered in vomit and/or other bodily fluids when Gavin is sick.  I'm usually the one armed with Q-tips, medications, and other forms of toddler torture should sickness or injury occur.

But splinters...  Splinters I don't do.  Something about digging into my child's skin is just too difficult for me as a mother.

So today, as I stared at this splinter in Gavin's pinky, I was faced with a dilemma.  My brothers have both moved, so calling them wasn't an option.  It seemed unreasonable to call the pediatrician (and pay a $20 copay) for her to remove it.  Which left me with...my dad.

My dad is a fantastic doctor.  He's an even better dad, and beyond that, an even more incredible grandpa.  That being said, he really fears Gavin associating him with any sort of pain.  (I think I probably scarred him from all the nasty things I yelled while he chased me around with flu shots when I was little.  I'll be real -- I didn't make it easy on him.)  When Gavin tugs at his ears, my dad won't even take a peek inside for fear that Gavin will associate him with his fear of doctors.  I get it, I totally do.  But the splinter had to come out, and Dad was the only one for the job.  So as I headed to work, leaving Gavin to eat lunch with my parents, I asked my mom to kindly persuade my dad to save my child's hand.

An hour later, I received this text from my mom:
"Splinter out.  Both cried.  Both comforting each other.  Both very brave."

(I'd like to take this moment to also thank my mom for her role in the splinter removal.  While Dad manned the tweezers, my mom restrained a crying, screaming toddler.  Not an easy feat...nor a fun one.)

Ten minutes later, I received this picture:

See, Dad?  Gavin is a lot of things, but he's not a grudge-holder.  There's nothing that can't be fixed by a good book and some cuddles from Grandpa.  In the end, Gavin's hand was saved, and grandpa and grandson were able to read their pre-nap stories in peace.

(For the record, when I picked Gavin up later that day, the first thing he did was hold out his little bandaged finger for me to kiss.  The kid loves sympathy when he's been through an ordeal.  He is his mommy's child, haha!)

Spring has Sprung!

FINALLY -- some beautiful weather here in Maineville!  We've taken every opportunity to bring our family fun to the great outdoors this week, whether by hiking around Landen Lake or spending the evening at our neighborhood park.  Here are some photos of our little boy enjoying the new season:

And after an evening spent rolling around in gravel, what's better than a BUBBLE BATH?

 

This week, we had some new neighbors move in next door, and they have two little girls (one of whom is only six months older than Gavin).  Our neighborhood is literally bursting with friends to keep Gavin entertained and active!  Our house might feel small -- (smaller by the second) -- but we really couldn't ask for a better neighborhood to raise our babies in!

HAPPY SPRING!

THIRD TRIMESTER...whoa!

Today I am 26 weeks pregnant.  According to my What to Expect app, Little Miss Baby is now the size of a cucumber, 15" long and 2.2 pounds.  I've never seen a cucumber that big, and it sure seems like a downgrade from last week's eggplant estimate...but what do I know?  26w6d marks the start of the third trimester, so I'm going to go ahead and congratulate myself and Baylor for making it this far together in what has felt like the blink of an eye.

Last week's belly picture --

I had an appointment with my OB last week and was reminded that after April's visit, I will start seeing the doctor every two weeks for appointments.  It's weird, because at this point in my pregnancy with Gavin, I had seen every OB in my practice at least once and felt like the two-week (and one-week) visits would never arrive.  With Baylor, I've only seen 3 of the 6 doctors and am already staring the two-week visits in the face.  It was a serious awakening that we are not that far from meeting our little girl.

In light of that, we decided we should probably start preparing.  Like, really preparing.  We had the bedding, some room decor, and clothes (of course) -- but we hadn't yet ordered B's crib, glider, dual-screen monitor, etc.  And then there were the little things -- bibs, pacifiers, bottles, diapers -- that you ordinarily get for shower gifts with a first baby and therefore forget you need with subsequent babies.  So we took care of all of that this week!  Stephen and I found a crib/changer we love and also ordered a beautiful custom glider for all those nights we'll be spending in B's nursery willing her back to sleep.  I got off work early on Friday, so my mom and I had fun shopping for the rest of the essentials -- sleep sacks, hooded towels, pink Dr. Brown's bottles, burp clothes...everything imaginable.  Stephen and I honestly felt 100% better when we sorted through all of Baylor's new things, realizing that there isn't much left to purchase.  We have to get some sort of lighting fixture/fan for her room, and custom room-darkening shades (since her room has that weird semi-circle window)...but other than that, it's time to start cleaning out the old, organizing the new, and getting it all set up!

We have a 3D/4D ultrasound in a few weeks to see how Little Miss has grown, and after that we'll be at the ten week countdown.  We'd better enjoy our sleep now, because while Gavin oftentimes lets us sleep in until 9:30 on the weekends, something tells me those days are numbered...

Gavin's First Disney Adventure

I've spent the better part of this past week thinking of how to sum up our Disney vacation in a blog entry -- how to do it justice, how to capture the magic of Gavin's joy, how to explain the sheer exhaustion (and perfection) of taking a toddler to the Happiest Place on Earth.

I've edited hundreds of photos.  I've created a Shutterfly book (shared on this blog, below).  I've thought constantly about how fortunate we were to have gotten to spend a full week focusing on nothing but our son and his love for all things Mickey.

I could take a few approaches here -- I could summarize what we did day-to-day.  I could post endless pictures of our precious child giggling on rides and while watching street parades (let's be real, I'll probably do that anyway).  I could write a how-to for navigating the parks with a toddler.

Instead, I think I'll just say this:

When we told people we were taking a 15-month old to Disney, people thought we were pretty crazy.  "He won't remember it," they said.  In our opinion, that ended up being the #1 reason we were SO GLAD to have taken him at 15-months.  He won't remember that Mama didn't do her research and forgot about Daylight Savings, so we had to wake him up at what felt like 5:00 am to leave for the airport.  He won't remember that we had no real understanding of the layout of each park, so we spent a lot of time just aimlessly walking around looking for various rides.  He won't remember his fear of Tigger at the Crystal Palace character dinner (though somehow he still loves Winnie the Pooh).  He won't remember the things we know now to change for our next visit.  He also won't remember some really great things -- like his SHEER JOY upon seeing Mickey Mouse for the first time, or his excitement on the Dumbo ride.  Stephen and I will remember those things, but he won't.

Going into this trip, we knew it wouldn't be perfect.  We had two strikes against us -- a pregnant woman and a toddler.  We also knew it wouldn't be relaxing.  It was a total learning experience, and for us, it was just what we needed.  With our daughter arriving in early July, we needed a week to really focus on Gavin.  This trip was about him -- giving him our undivided attention, doing things that were fun and special for him, making sure his needs were met.  And honestly, that goal was 100% accomplished.  Our expectations were realistic -- never for a minute did we think we'd hit every attraction, or manage to stay at the parks for the nightly fireworks.  We went back to the resort for a nap every afternoon, never pushing Gavin to sleep in his stroller or "tough it out" when he was tired.  If he wanted to walk -- which he did, often -- we'd let him.  We wanted him to explore, to experience, and to ENJOY his time in Florida.  And as a result, we truly enjoyed seeing him so free and happy.

Once we got back home, it was back to the daily grind.  Stephen and I went back to work on Monday and life resumed as though this magical week never happened.  Gavin has his well-baby pediatrician visit (and shots) tomorrow morning, and I have an OB appointment later in the afternoon.  It really feels as though our week in Disney existed in its own little "bubble" -- and the memories we made on our special trip will carry us through until we are afforded the opportunity to travel again!  (Where to next?)

Our Disney Shutterfly Book -- ENJOY!

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