My heart hurts

Bolo has been going down hill fast. I know the time has come, but I just cant seem to keep from thinking that maybe he is just having a bad day, and tomorrow will be better. Besides his Cushings Disease, he has been having a few more problems as of lately. 

He is still anorexic. The food that I do force feed him, 6/10 times will be thrown up. the water intake is threw a syringe...if he doesn't throw up also. He has now been suffering this past month with Canine Cognitive Dysfunction. CCD is Alzheimer's in dogs. His symptoms consists of getting lost, walking in circles, standing in corners, being trapped in certain places, and sleeping a lot. 

He could stand in corners for hours...in till I pull him out or he falls over from falling asleep.

I just cant even imagine my house without my baby. The thought of it is tearing me apart. 

I really don't want him to suffer any longer, but with him growing wings, comes my heart breaking. 

Fresh Air

This 50 degree weather has been taking us outside a bunch lately. 

This little guy is the first snake that I have seen in West Virginia. I heard there was a bunch here, so we will be needing to be careful when playing outside...especially with the poisonous ones.  

Vitamin D

I decided to take Emma to Plum Orchard Lake again because the weather was so nice. It is a beautiful lake that is only about 40 minutes away from us. All the other lakes are over a hour away. 

Last time we came her it was in the middle of fall. 

It was beautiful! 

This time wasn't as pretty with all of the colors in the trees but it was still such a quite, peaceful place that I know we will be coming back to over and over again.

The sun hitting the water perfectly. 

I brought Bolo with us because I knew there wouldn't be much activity except for watching Emma on the playground. 

The butterflies were in full force. 

I stood here and watched them for awhile.....then I realized what they were feeding on...

dog poo

I didn't know they liked that... I learned something new. 

This photo melts my heart. 

With all the problems Bolo has been having while growing old, I hope he knows he is still loved unconditionally. 

Vitamin D 

This area is so pretty. I cant wait to come back here and do all of the other things that the lake has to offer.

The Bunny Came!

We decorated eggs the night before the holiday. 

Emma had a blast

I know I went overboard!

I tried to make this holiday special this year. I thought that she was really going to have fun collecting all the eggs hidden around the house.
I think I hid to many eggs though. haha

She was bored with picking them up after about 5. After finding her baskets, she sat down and started playing and wanted nothing to do with hunting for the rest of the eggs. 

The rest of the day was pretty low key. We went for a hike after we cleaned up Easter morning. After nap time we hung outside and then I made Easter dinner.
Overall it was a pretty nice holiday. Hopefully next year we will be able to spend it with our family though. 

22 weeks

can you tell its a Easter egg?

Don't mind my unkempt look. It was a long day and I needed to get take this photo for Easter. 

Mike painted my belly on every holiday when I was pregnant with Emma, so it needed to happen with this pregnancy also...even though we missed doing it on St. Patrick's Day. :(

Anyways. I have 2 more weeks till I hit the 6 month mark. 

I feel pretty big!

I think that might have a lot to do with my wardrobe at the moment. In Hawaii I wore dresses all the time so I never bought maternity clothes. This time around, because it is still pretty cold out I have been just squeezing into jeans...mostly not buttoning the top button. I really don't want to buy jeans now with summer almost here. Iv gone this long so I am hoping the days start getting warmer to I can finally be comfortable.

Baby boy is kicking like crazy. I love the feeling so I always hurry to put my hand there to feel. This is probably going to be our last baby, so I am talking it all in. 

We are 75% sure on a name. The middle name is 100%, but there is still a little back and forth on the first. Mike is a really good at persuading.

With a toddler running around this pregnancy is flying by! I have absolutely nothing for him yet. I feel so bad because with Emma, we were stocked on pretty much everything by now. Granted, the crib and odds and ends that we are reusing for baby #2 are taken care of, but other then that...notta. 

I have a doctors appointment next week. I know I will be getting another ultrasound and a couple more tests done so I am sure I will have a lot more things to update on.

Happy Easter!!!

Easter is coming!!!

The work up to Easter is always so much fun. 

One of Emma'a Aunts sent her a personalized coloring book filled with Easter related pages. It is such a cute story that goes along with all of the pages so it has been fun for her to color while listening to her "name" as a character in the book. 

The bunny didn't go so well. We talked quite a bit about it before hand, but that didn't work when it came down to it. 

I still talk about him coming to visit and leaving eggs for her, and all she replies back is "no". 

We went to egg-stravaganza at our "art museum" type place. This is the only thing that I had heard about that does something for Easter. It was of course super crowded but my membership covered getting in, so we spent a little time there.

She got her first tattoo. 

This was a activity for the kids while they waited in line to see the bunny. Em of course did not want to see him again, so we just explored the activity and went on to something else. 

I am so excited to hide eggs this year for her. I think this year she will enjoy collecting and caring them around. 

 We are dying eggs tomorrow, so that will be a later post. 

This doesn't have anything to do with Easter...except maybe my belly looks like a egg. 

I just thought my handsome boy was looking sweet. I have a picture of Em in my belly with him on top of it, so it is only right to document this time as well. 

And once again...has nothing to do with Easter...just the fam enjoying The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

Warmer Weather Finally

It has finally been starting to get warmer here and let me just tell you, I AM LOVING IT! 

Even tho it wasn't a bad winter, any winter in my book is not wanted....Mike and I am going to have a problem fining a permanent home once he retires...he loves the snow. 

Anyways... Of course the babies and I have been spending time outside. I try to take them outside everyday, weather it be at home, to the park or a new place we have never been to expore. 

I have really been looking forward to this summer. Kayaking, fishing, boating, camping...you name it and we probably would have been doing it. 

There is just one thing holding me back a little.

The Zika Virus.

What the heck!

Being pregnant, do I want to take these chances? 

I could wear all the bug spray in the world...would it work? 

Mosquito's love me, and I tend to get quite a bit of bites because I am usually by places where they breed. 

I haven't asked my Dr. about it yet but there are already cases of it found in West Virginia. 

I am not willing to risk my baby's health, so inside it might be for me. 

If that's the case...its gonna be a long summer! 

pee-a-boo

Looking at this photo makes me sad. I still like to take him places because I think he still enjoys it. If he is awake when we are leaving the house, he usually tries to walk out the door with us, so I take that as a sign of wanting to be involved. When he does come, we take it really easy. 

This month I have noticed that he has started displaying signs of CCD. 

Doggie Alzheimer's.

I am just still not ready to say good bye....I probably will never be. 

Thank goodness we have a park semi close to us with quite a few things to do. 

Well, I am soaking up the spring weather before the mosquito's are born here. 

Stupid things are going to ruin my summer! 

Spring Time

For some reason I have been so lucky to make friends with people that take amazing photos wherever I move. I had just recently met this new friend (that has a son just a little older then Em) and she is definitely the right person to be friends with when being "new" in town. I swear, she knows EVERYONE. Granted she has lived here her whole life and is a very friendly outgoing person so that is why, but I feel like she has made this last month a little more stress free. 

I wasn't thrilled with Emma's doctor...I asked her and she recommended a new place....and I love her new doctor now. Just things like that, that make life easier knowing someone that knows the area well. 

Anyways, lets get back to the pictures.

I had Googled about a month ago, flower farms in my area. The search came up with all the states surrounding West Virginia that had them, but absolutely nothing in WV. I was bummed but I could just think of another spot to take photos of my little girl. 

Little did I know, my new friend was going to show me photos she gets taken of her family every spring in a daffodil field a month after I searched and came up empty. 

I should have just asked her! 

So, she took me to the spot (that was not even 10 minutes from my house). It was someones actual yard, but the yard was large and their house wasn't even close so they don't seem to mind.  

WV was suppose to get frost that night, so we pretty much had to take the photos that day...even if the sun wasn't right. 

I still think they turned out great. 

I am not a huge "poser". I always need to be directed on the stance and what looks good. That's why I tend to be behind the camera instead on in front. It is really nice to have photos of myself with my baby though. I don't have many of those.

Emma had such a good time picking all of the flower and pretending to smell them. 

Like I said, I am so lucky to have met this new friend. She definitely has a eye for the camera and all the awesome hidden spots in my town.

I have a Big Girl

too busy jumping to take a non-blurry photo

I wasn't quite sure if Emma was actually ready for a "big girl bed" yet because she is only 2 and a month. If you asked me when I "thought" a child should be transitioned into a toddler bed, I probably would have said 2 1/2 years oldish...maybe a little older?.? I am still learning on things like this so I question myself a lot. 

Mike and I had discussed getting her transitioned into a new bed before our little boy is born for two reasons. 1. We didn't want to buy another crib and 2. We wanted her comfortable and adjusted before the new arrival. 

We also decided on a twin bed over a toddler bed for the sake of not wasting money on another bed after she has outgrown the toddler bed. It just made sense to us...even though the toddler beds they make now a days are super cute. 

When we brought the bed home we had set it up in the "new baby's room" for a couple of days before we put it in her room for again...2 reasons.  1. I needed to get out and buy twin bed sheets and 2. I wanted her to play and lay on it before it was a more permanent object in her room.
(she really enjoys pretending to sleep so beds are always a hit with her...the fake snoring is the best) 

So, yesterday was Em's first night in the big girl bed. I thought for sure it was going to be terrible....and boy was I wrong. She surprised the hell out of me. 

We did our normal routine...and she went right to sleep and slept the whole night. 

I was shocked! 

I thought for sure she would have been up ever hour playing instead of sleeping .

"OK...well that went well", I thought. So nap time..that is going to be the difficult time, I bet. 

Nope! 

I was wrong about that too.

Easy-Peasy! 

Tonight was her second night and once again it was perfect. 

I had read that kids sometimes need about a week to settle in and feel comfortable with the transition. I am not going to lie. I was dreading that with how tired I have been lately.

Thank goodness I have been so lucky with how she has reacted. I guess she was ready and age really doesn't mean a thing on some things. 

I also think that the bedding has a lot to do with how much they love their new bed. She knows she gets to sleep with Anna and Elsa and she looks forward to that.

Now...if only potty training can go as simple...

Getting Outside

We are wrapping up the winter season in West Virginia, so I wanted to wrap up the memories that I still needed to write about.

Mike, Emma and I took a walk in the woods to enjoy some fresh air. About 10 minutes after this photo was taken, and a little deeper into the woods we were, the weather changed drastically. It was the craziest thing watching it happen before your eyes. We ran back to the car while having a mixture of heavy rain and sleet drenching us. 

Emma and I went to one of our favorite parks. It had just rained so the small river was flowing nicely. 

The lake sure didn't look to appetizing though. 

This small waterfall is the overflow from the lake so the water level has to be high after a big rain. 

I swear this child never looks back to see if I am still there. 

This is not the picture that I wanted to put up because 1/3 of us is smiling and only half the bridge is in the photo...but my internet sucks and this is the only one I can get up. 

Anyways... the famouse Fayettevill bridge from a view from the bottom of the New River. 

We hiked a little in the area but couldn't do the whole thing. Emma had swimming lessons and we were about 1 1/2 hours from home. 

Kaymoor Trail

 There are a total of 800 steps to get to the bottom.

I wish I was able to put up the photos that I had edited. They have much better color and brightness to them. 

This was a old coal mine site. 

We explored the area a little but but wasn't able to finish the whole thing because of swimming. this one will be done again. I have to see the bottom. 

I wanted to get Bolo outside a little so I decided to take the kids to a really easy walk along the Elk River. 

It was a beautiful sunny day so it felt so good to be outside.