A Story with a Happy Ending

On a cold rainy Saturday in early March, Stephen was headed out the door to go to work when he saw that young black lab was sitting on our porch by the front door. She was wet, cold, hungry and had no collar or identification. Eliza and I took her to a local vet to be scanned, in the hope that she was micro chipped. No such luck. She was officially a lost dog. Being the dog lovers that we are, we knew that there was no way we could take her the SPCA, so we set off to find her family. Eliza decided that she needed a name and she started calling her Lucy. I don't why she picked the name Lucy, but it did seem to suit our new found friend.

We tried very hard to find her family . . . .signs in the neighborhood, calls to local vets, and a posting on Craig's List. It soon became very obvious that whomever once owned Lucy did not want to be found. Our focus then became finding Lucy a "new " family. We briefly toyed with the idea of keeping her, but in the end we knew two dogs was just too much for our family. I know that Bob is very grateful for this. He is much happier being the only dog.

After twice getting our hopes up that we had found Lucy a new home only to have things not work out, we finally made contact with a lab rescue organization that was willing to help us find her a home. The rescue group would pay for her to have all of her shots and be spayed and we agreed to continue fostering her until we went to be with her "forever family." She ended up staying with longer than we had expected but at the end of April we learned that Lucy would be leaving us (and Texas) to live with another foster family in Connecticut. (I am not exactly sure why a rescue organization in Texas would be the companion of a rescue organization in Connecticut.) However the Northeast was apparently where Lucy needed to be to find her new family.

Lucy now lives in Katonah, NY - a small peaceful town about 30 minutes outside of NYC - with her new "parents" and her older brother (also a lab rescue). This town is also the home of Ralph Lauren and Martha Stewart - so perhaps Lucy will be wearing designer duds and snacking on gourmet treats.

Since I don't personally know Lucy's new family, I didn't feel comfortable putting their faces on the blog, but they do look like really nice people and we are thrilled that she has such a beautiful area to run around in. We truly hope that Lucy has a great life with her new family .

The Visit

In December, my grandfather decided to relocate to the Austin area. I know that it was a gut wrenching decision for him to leave the city he had lived in for over 60 years but I am so glad that he has moved closer to my family, as now we have so many more opportunities to see him and spend time with him. Recently, we were able to cash in on one of those opportunities and we spent the day him.

On the drive down there, Eliza talked nonstop about how she was going to see her Great Granddad. Eliza and my grandfather became pretty good pals while we were all at my mom's house during Christmas and she was so excited that she was getting to visit him at his new house.

My grandfather treated us to lunch at Red Robin and we were lucky enough to be joined by my cousin Stephanie and her sweet family.

(Side note - Did you know that kids eat free if you buy an adult meal at Red Robin? I did not. Thanks so much Stephanie and Andy for sharing this tidbit with us!)

I really enjoyed seeing Stephanie and her family. Megan and Trevor are great kids and they were super sweet to Eliza. Enjoying time with family is a great way to spend a Saturday. Eliza has been asking if we can go visit Great Granddad again, so I am sure we will be heading back that way soon.

Pinkalicious

Was there really any doubt as to what color Eliza would choose for her cast? She had about 10 colors to pick from, but no matter what color we suggested her answer remained , "No! I want pink!" Thankfully most of her clothes will match!


Our appointment with the orthopedist went very well. Our doctor is the husband of one of my co workers and he was super nice. Even though she broke both bones, she will only need to wear the cast for 3 weeks and then 2 weeks in a brace. The growth plate was not affected in the break and there is no need for surgery or physical therapy. Thank heavens!

The cast goes all the way up her arm but it certainly hasn't slowed her down. She is still just as active and crazy as ever!

3 Years 2 Months 1 Day

At 3 years 2 months and 1 day, Eliza experienced two firsts that every parent hopes and prays their children will never have to experience. On Monday May 16, 2011 Eliza made her first trip to the emergency room due to her first broken bone.

While playing outside at school, Eliza tripped (we are unclear as to what she tripped over) and fell landing on her wrist. As soon as I saw her arm, I knew that we were ER bound ASAP. It was obvious that she was in pain, but with her trusty dog, Coco by her side, she was able to put on her best brave face.

After getting changed into a gown, they brought the X ray machine to her and took her films right in the room. The X ray confirmed that she did indeed have a broken arm. She broke both her radius and ulna at the wrist.

The ER doctor put her arm in a splint and we will see a pediatric orthopedic specialist soon. In the meantime, we are all in awe of how extraordinarily well she is handling all of this. She is one tough little girl and her doctor at the ER said that she won the "cutest kid" award as well as the "toughest kid" award.

Since the break occurred on her left arm and she is right handed, she is still able to enjoy her new favorite hobby . . . . playing on the I Pad. After this traumatic experience, she was so happy to have some I Pad time that she didn't even seem to mind having the ice bag on her arm.

She hasn't been a big fan of her wearing her sling, so we went to Michael's to find some iron on decals to "girly"it up a bit. She picked the oh so girly pink ballet shoes for her sling.

You Dance a Dance Class

Last Thursday during Eliza's dance class, Miss Amanda began teaching the girls their routine for "show week." Getting a group of 3 and 4 year olds to anything in unison is truly a feat and Miss Amanda has the patience of a saint. Some of the girls were able to catch on and followed along, others were much more content to just do their own thing. As you might have guessed, my child was the one who was very content to just do whatever she felt moved to do. At one point , I am pretty sure I even saw her doing some John Travolta Saturday Night Fever moves! As I watched them, it made me think of a scene from the first season of Friends where the girls take a tap class . Eliza's approach to her routine was very "Phoebesque". I found the clip on YouTube but it wouldn't let me embed it. Here is the link if you're interested. http://youtu.be/ipsgYiyTpNc

Project Life: Week 12

Project Life: Week 12

March 19 -25, 2011

March 19, 2011: Eliza loves to play with her Uncle Richard and she especially loves it when he helps her build card houses.

March 20, 2011: This was the perfect day for Eliza to enjoy some time playing outside in her playhouse. (Thanks again Miss Pam and Miss Deidre . . . . this playhouse is a hit!)

March 21, 2011: Eliza is fascinated with the moon, so when her friends Greer, Harper and Sloane gave her a miniature moon model for her birthday she was so excited. Today she was teaching Coco about the phases of the moon.

March 22, 2011: No picture and I have no good reason for its absence.

March 23, 2011: Having a little I Pad time before bath and bed.

March 24, 2011: Eliza's favorite thing to do in gym is to do her bear crawl on these bars. She was actually going backwards in this picture. Therefore the crash that looks so immenent was indeed avoided.

March 25, 2011: I apparently forgot to take a picture of Daddy and Eliza movie night this week. The feature of the week was Beauty and the Beast.

Children's Festival

One of the things that I love best about living in Houston is the fact that there is always some kind of great event happening. Each each year during the spring, Houston hosts a plethora of festivals. . . . art, international, Greek etc. Today we took advantage of the incredible spring weather and headed downtown to the Children's Festival. This festival, which draws huge crowds, is held each year with the proceeds benefiting Child Advocates of Houston. This was our first trip to the festival but it won't be our last. Our first stop was the Ronald McDonald bounce house.

As we made our way from zone to zone, there were all kinds of great activities for kids. Eliza wanted to go to all the booths that had a prize wheel you could spin. She was all about spinning those wheels.

I think it might be law that you must have face painting at all carnivals and festivals and this one was no different. Eliza was very excited about having her face painted and she very quickly decided that she wanted one pink heart on her cheek.

After the face painting, we headed to the stage area so Eliza could see her "boyfriend" . . . . Diego. We didn't get any pictures of Dora and Diego because it was crazy crowded but she got to see them do the hokey pokey and the chicken dance. It was certainly a thrill for her.

As we were headed back to the gates to leave, we ran into Eliza's first love . . . . Elmo!

It was a great way to spend the day!

Birthday Party Fun

In January Eliza decided that she wanted a Scooby Doo party at The Little Gym. I loved the idea of having someone else do all of the prep work and clean up so I quickly gave her party wish the green light. Overall it was a lot of fun and Eliza was thrilled to see all of her friends (and family) there. The kids ran all over the gym during free play and then cam time for Eliza's favorite part - the parachute and the jump track. Special thanks to Aunt Mare and Uncle John - not only did they come all the way from Arizona for her party but they were on camera duty during the party. Thanks guys!

After running around and making a lot of noise - it was time for cake and presents.

The cupcakes were supposed to be Scooby Doo faces . . . . didn't quite get there but the kids didn't seem to care and they were very tasty.

It was a great day and Eliza had a blast.

Eliza Day

As a kid, birthdays in our house were always a big deal. Our parents went out of their way to make our birthdays special. I want to do the same for Eliza. Since her birthday always falls during Spring Break, it was the perfect opportunity to devote the entire day to doing super fun and super cool things for her.

We started our day we her favorite breakfast - pancakes with butter and syrup and a yogurt smoothie. After we got ready, we headed out to the nail salon for Eliza's first mani - pedi that only included the painting part. I I told her she could pick any color she wanted and was prepared for some wild colors but she picked two lovely shades of pink.

The ladies at the salon were very sweet to her and even put cute little flowers on her big toes. She loved all the attention, but didn't quite get the part about letting the paint dry. There were several touch up jobs needed.

Her favorite part of the mani - pedi was the aquarium and the giant fish. She was pretty obsessed.

After the nail salon, we headed to Build a Bear. One of her friends had given her a gift certificate and she couldn't wait to go and pick out her newest friend. I thought for sure she want the pink bear but she surprised me and picked a dog. She was giddy with excitement as she watched them put the stuffing in her dog.

She decided that her dog was a girl and her name was Coco. She also decided that Coco needed bows and a dress.

After we finished at Build a Bear, we met Stephen for lunch at a yummy burger place near our house. After lunch, we headed home for presents and ice cream and cake. She had a few presents from us but the majority of the loot came from Eliza's grandparents. She is a very lucky little girl to have so many people who love her.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent in the hot tub playing with her Dad. All in all I think she had a great day.

Project Life: Week 11

Project Life: Week 11

March 12 - 18, 2011

March 12, 2011: Eliza had a Scooby Doo themed birthday party at The Little Gym. She had a great time at the party and LOVED being the center of attention.

March 13, 2011: Eliza had the best time hanging out with her Uncle John and Aunt Mare, however I was never able to get a good shot of all three of them. This was the best I got.

March 14, 2011: Since we were on Spring Break this week, Eliza was able to attend a make up dance class on Monday. Since this class is during the day, it is not an option for us but Eliza enjoyed all the attention she got in this class.

March 15, 2011: HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY ELIZA!

March 16, 2011: After her 3 year check up at the pediatrician's office we headed to Old Navy to do a little shopping. Eliza was more interested in playing with the mannequins than shopping. It was not easy getting her away from her "friends".

March 17, 2011: Eliza celebrated St. Patrick's day by wearing the new nightgown that her Aunt Kristen gave her. She calls it her Monkey Hula dress. She also felt the need to wear her tap shoes for St. Patty's Day. Perhaps she was trying to do some Irish clogging.



March 18, 2011: This was the day Eliza had been waiting for! Stephen told her that once she turned 3 that they could have a Daddy - Eliza movie night once a week. They watched 101 Dalmatians in the man cave and mommy was not allowed to come in . . . . unless I was bringing them pop corn and soda!

**Just in case you are wondering - I didn't forget about Project Life weeks 9 and 10 but I was tired of playing catch up and I decided to just skip them for now and get back on track. I will at some point go back and do those weeks**