Last Thoughts of 2010

This afternoon, I was preparing to bring in the new year with the my boys and had sudden moment of reflection - to be honest it actually caught me off guard. I was watching them curled up so cute counting their sheep or at least cuddling with them. :) It just got me thinking... 

Wow - what a year! It's been full of ups and downs... not to mention the many challenges and rewards. Through it all, I'm so grateful our family and all we have been given! 

This is the time we are supposed to reflect on things we can do better in the upcoming year. So many of my life lessons have been taught to me by Andre and Taylor. It's amazing how animals cope with adversity - we can learn a lot from them.

So here are some of my resolutions:

• Remember to appreciate everybody and everything - you never know when it might not be there
• Take time to enjoy the small things - including one last tug on a toy before heading out the door to work :)
• Throw a party and celebrate all achievements - no matter how small
• Say thank you and I love you more - people deserve to know they are appreciated, loved and needed
• When all else fails take a breath and smile, it's better than the alternative
• Laugh more - it really is the best medicine!

I'm sure I'll think of more as the new year approaches... but, I think this is a good place to start! 

Happy New Year! :)

Ready Or Not - Here We Come!

Ending the year looking good!

After a wonderful Christmas with family out of state - we are finally back home with our boys. They got to be spoiled by my mom and dad with walks, toys and puppy treats!



Andre got to end the year with his annual check up. Dr. Burns said his heart and lungs were strong and we're waiting on the blood work. With all of his medicines we do a work up at least once a year to check everything out.

Taylor is as crazy as ever! I know he was busy over the holidays because he has been taking lots of naps since we got home - in Taylor style there are big bursts of energy in between. :)

Pretty soon we'll be taking down the Christmas tree and lights getting things back to normal. Guess that means - ready or not - 2011 here we come!

Our Holiday Elves

Aww, look at my cute holiday elves! They have gone from naughty to nice... we are all ready for Santa at our house.

I wonder if the reindeer like dog treats? Maybe we'll leave some with Santa's cookies and milk.

Better get the stockings out!

The Holidays Are Getting Closer!

It's the week of Christmas and everything is crazy! I think it's time for a Starbucks break. :)

They boys are loving the extra doggie cookies around this time of year. They are just like kids trying to convince us they deserve another - they sit in the kitchen and stare at the counter top just waiting for them to jump on to the floor. Taylor even had a stomach ache the other night from too much fun. With those big eyes, he is a little con artist when it comes to treats!

A funny thing happened this morning... when I was driving into work - in the middle of the very light snow/rain there was a huge rainbow! I have never seen a rainbow before snow before. :) It was beautiful - must have been a sign that today was going to be a good day!

Medic... Sock Monkey Down!

On the good side, they won't be able to see or
hear the boys coming next time :)

WOW... the holidays are a battleground at our house!

The boys have been having fun getting into wrapped (and unwrapped) gifts over the last couple weeks as we are preparing for the holidays. They better watch out or Santa may put them on the naughty list.

In the middle of it all, they are finding their holiday toys and celebrating in their own ways. Unfortunately, the holiday sock monkeys are taking a beating. Looks like these two are off to surgery again! :)

The Best Present of All...

What is better than a toy sock monkey? A Tiffany's necklace? I can tell you! A clean bill of health from Dr. Burns - that is the best Christmas gift of all!

It's been six months since Taylor was first diagnosed with cancer. Multiple surgeries and a couple challenging recoveries later we were told today at our four month check-up... Taylor is looking great! Just what we wished for this holiday season - I couldn't be happier! :)

Our next check-up is in two months - we are just including it in our annual check-up to save an extra trip to the vet. We'll keep watching and checking for bumps... but at least we get to enjoy today and the holidays!

Rumor has it our Christmas cards are hitting the mailboxes... I hope everybody enjoys some fun photos of the four of us. We have a lot to be thankful for this year and our little family tops the list!

Thanks to wonderful family and friends we made it through 2010... soon it's on to 2011! (wait, we need to survive the holidays and my final class project first!)

Ready for My Close Up!

Ready for my puppaccino!

TGIF... I'm so excited the weekend is here!

Taylor got an early start to the weekend by spending the day with Jay relaxing and getting cleaned up. He looks so pretty and ready for the holidays! Too bad we already had his photo for the Christmas card, he looks so nice today with his new holiday bandanna.

Andre on the other hand really needs a bath... he is definitely the stinky dog today. Jay gave us an extra bandanna for him, so it looks like it's bath time! You need to smell nice when you get a holiday bandanna.

Thanks to my accounting guardian angel I have night to relax. My homework is turned in and I may finally get my Christmas cards addressed and in the mail. Then all of our family and friends can see how cute our boys are this year!

All I Want For Christmas

There are 17 days until Christmas and our boys are getting restless!

Andre wants my Tiffany's bag under the tree... honestly it would be nice if he would open it a bit more so I can peek inside! He is also interested in a couple other packages.

Taylor is still after our ornaments... no causalities so far (knock on wood) but tonight he is interested in the Rock 'em and Sock 'em ornament. Better watch out Bones... I hear they pack a punch! :)

Good thing Jim's gifts aren't under there yet... there would be no hope for them!

We finally have our Christmas cards after an error with the envelopes... if I could just get this week's homework done I could get started on addressing them. Let the fun continue!

Hello Cindy Lou Who!

"Cindy Lou Who are you in there?"

Our boys are so funny around the holidays!

Andre LOVES Christmas decorations. He comes running when I take out the totes and wants to check out everything as it comes out. Last night I even put a small wreath around him... I have never seen him shake/rip something off so fast! He went running away looking back like he was it trouble. Jim and I were laughing about it most of the night. That's what Andre gets for snooping around. :)

Taylor on the other hand, sits on the sidelines watching and after everything is up he back tracks and checks it out. For some reason this year he is loving my favorite "Grinch and Cindy Lou Who" ornament. It's at about eye level and poor little Cindy is pretty small. Every evening since the tree went up - he walks over and gives her a little kiss with his nose. I keep telling him the Grinch will get him if Cindy gets any bite marks! :)

The holiday shopping is in full swing, we are almost done... just a couple items left and some fun suprises for the boys!