Goodbye Solomon

Last week was interesting to say the least.  I am not sure where to start with this whole story...because I have not written about it yet. 
When Solomon was around 5 months old (October 2010), he was happily eating a meal out of his feeding dish and I found a piece of his food on the floor, and threw it back in his bowl while he had his mouth in the dish.  He let out a low slow growl and it made me jump back.  I must have gotten in his personal space so never did it again.  Didn't think anything of it, had no issues whatsoever until Christmas time.  Dave's sister Lisa was helping out by wiping off Solomon's mouth after drinking a bowl full of water.  She must have gotten to wiping his mouth off too quickly after he finished drinking because when she came close to him with the towel, he snapped at her and bit her thigh.  That sent her into tears (we were so thankful he didn't get a child), and that behavior got him banned into the garage in his kennel the rest of the time family was here.  Sure didn't see that coming.  We had not noticed any aggression issues since that one time he growled at me in October so to see him act that way towards Lisa was a shock.  Maybe it was the addition of many people in the house that got him agitated.  He is a guard dog by nature so he was guarding his food and persoanl space.  Infuriated and sad about what had happened, we called our dog trainer who was full of advice, so after everybody had left the house after a few days, we tried some tactics she suggested to help him lessen his food aggression.  We should have thought ahead about the next time it happened (why is hindsight 20/20?) but Calvin got the next bite.  Calvin walked by him while he was eating out of a small bowl on the floor and Solomon chomped his arm.  No blood was drawn but Calvin was pretty upset, I was in tears, and Dave was super frustrated.  We immediately reacted by putting him in his cage in the garage and calming Calvin down.  We called the trainer, and she again had lots of advice and things to try, but at this point, we decided we'd had enough and wanted to explore options for getting rid of him.  The kids seemed heartbroken at the thought of getting rid of Solomon, so we thought...we'd just try ONE more time.  Did lots of research online, talked to a lot of people, vets, trainers, etc...and ended up going a different route with Solomon.  Got him a gentle leader collar, and found it to be magic.  Amazing.  Why we didn't try it earlier is crazy, I wish we had thought of it before since our old dog Abby responded to it so well.  Anyway...all seeemed to be going really well.  The gentle leader head collar created a calm, peaceful, obedient, responsive dog, and didn't pull anymore on walks.  We thought "hey! this is great! we have hope!" We started involving the dog more with family events that did not revolved around food.  We moved his feeding station to the deck outside so the danger was removed from family.  Dave started taking him downstairs to hang out with him in his office during work ... and he learned to calm down in his office and take naps on the floor, entertain himself by chewing on toys, bones, etc.  We were finally starting to see the light at the end of this long Solomon tunnel...and all the care Dave (well, mostly Dave but me sometimes) had put into the dog was seeming to pay off as we watched him grow, calm down, and respond very positively to our family.  We always kept the collar on his head, a leash on Dave at all times, he was never allowed around the kids unsupervised and never roamed the house alone.
One relaxing family night last week, Solomon was laying on the floor with Dave, and the kids were near him.  Solomon seemed happy, responsive, relaxed, submissive, and we were finally starting to enjoy him.  Solomon found some masking tape that was stuck to the floor near him (the kids stuck it there...) and he started to pick at the tape with his mouth, pulling up little pieces.  All of a sudden, he snapped, and Calvin's ear was his target.  Calvin started screaming, Dave tackled the dog, I grabbed Calvin, Solomon went to the garage kennel, and we figured out what happened.  We just thank the Lord it wasn't his eye or his face or something worse.  A little scratch behind his ear was bleeding but no damage was done.  Solomon must have considered the tape he was pulling at to be his thing and his personal space and nothing to be messed with, and physical contact with Calvin was enough to make him snap.  Calvin calmed down, and went to bed easily.
That was it...our mind were changed...and our mission quickly became "how to get rid of this dog as fast as possible."  It would be irresponsible of us to keep him, simply because he is a danger to our family.  His guarding space issue was a big enough deal that we couldn't put up with nor did we feel we had the time to dedicate to training him out of it.  Our dog trainer agreed that we should probably go that route as well.  She asked us to write up a paragraph about Solomon and she agreed to post his story on her dog trainers message board to see if anybody she was connected with knew anybody who would be willing to take him.  So we did.  And the next day, something came to me.  I felt a very strong leading to tell my friend Miriam about Solomon and ask her if she knew anybody who wanted him.  Now I know the Lord strongly prompted me to tell her.  I hadn't spoken with Miriam in months...and she came to my mind.  Probably because she was at our house the morning after Solomon arrived at our house when he was a little 30 pound puppy and she thought he was so beautiful.
She texted me back with a few questions and said she'd put the word out.  Two hours later, she texted me back and said "Travis' dad wants him." (Travis is her husband)
I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that text.  I told Dave and his eyebrows went up.  Amazing. We worked out a lot of details, exchanged lots more information to them about Solomon, and kept communicating.  We agreed on an adoption fee, they said they'd buy the big kennel from us too.  We had just bought it a couple weeks ago since he outgrew the other one.  She said Travis' parents definitely wanted him, and we set Saturday as the day we'd make the exchange.  Dave spoke with them Friday, and we agreed to take Solomon to them so we could show them what commands he knows and help them get him all set up.  They are in their 50s and own two other pitbull dogs (they're kept in cages and they only let the dogs out separately). 
The Lord just worked it out.  Solomon responded amazingly well to the new owners.   He seemed very happy, wagged his tail a lot, and let them pet him right away.  Dave set up the cage for them and Solomon got in, and laid down immediately.  The new owners are calm and have experience with dogs, so we know they'll be a great fit for Solomon.  He needs a calm leader, not someone who is stressed and busy. 
Miriam sent me a message later that day explaining how it was a big blessing to their family.  Travis must have known that his dad was going to want Solomon when he heard we were looking for a new home for him the day I texted her.  Travis knew that his dad's dream was to own a mastiff someday.  I didn't know this, but Travis and his dad apparently have a little strife in their relationship together...not sure what or regarding what, but this exchange with our dog entering their family was a bonding experience for father and son.  Father saw Travis as one who thought of him in a caring way, and provided a way for him to get the dog he had always wanted, and Miriam told me that a big part of their relationship had been restored today.  She said she had never seen Travis or his dad so happy together before.
SO...amazing.  God is good, and worked out that whole thing on HIS own.  Dave is elated, I am happy, the kids do not seem to care that Solomon is gone, and the new owners are happy.  I can only imagine that Solomon is happier too.  Now who is wiser?   We feel like we can breathe again.
Dave has been enjoying some uninterrupted time on the couch tonight listening to his favorite music and reading his favorite magazines, something he has not done for 5 months.  He also said he is looking forward to spending more time with his wife and kids.  We could not agree more! We are a new family....goodbye Solomon!

Violet's 5 yr doctor check up

Violet was a chatterbox at her doctor's appointment.  The doctor asked her what her favorite food is and she answered "pickles".  That surprised me!  She hadn't eaten them or asked for them in months.  I thought for sure she was going to say macaroni and cheese.  The doctor asked her if she ate any vegetables and she answered "carrots".  She enjoyed wearing the "little princess gown" they had her change into that was way too long for her.  She got through her vision screening well with no concerns, and was a good helper for me when Vanessa got fussy.  She knows how to make her laugh by playing peek a boo and tickling her.  She already received her booster shots at her 4 yr appointment, so no big shots were necessary, but she did have to get a small finger prick to test her blood for lead, which is required by all schools.  She hadn't had that test done when she was in the 12 month range because her old pediatrician didn't do it and we came to the new office when she was 15 months old and they thought she had it done already.  She was a champ though, sat in the chair and talked up the lab lady and was very brave, didn't even flinch.  Her and Calvin fought over who got to push the elevator buttons on the way up and down, even though I tried prepping them in the car before walking in that I was going to tell them whose turn it was to push the button (there are multiple buttons, handicap ones to open the doors, ones to call the elevator, the button to get to the 4th floor, etc)..but once we got back in the car after the appointment all was forgotten, of course.  The doctor had no concerns and said she was a smart healthy little girl. :)

Anyway, she is 41 3/4 inches tall, and 43 lbs 1 oz (they got a new super accurate digital scale).  I think her blood pressure is 95/62 or something close to that, I didn't write that one down.

Here's some pics:

Announcing a visitor

I told the kids today that Grandma Jo and Grandpa Jon are coming to visit us on Sunday afternoon.  Calvin says "Ohhhh!!  I wub dos guys!"

Calvin's favorite shirt

He asks to wear it every single day, and if its in the laundry process, he does not accept that very well.  It is the "boo kirt wit no gains" - translated: "blue shirt with no trains".  Apparently he has an impression that his entire wardrobe has something to do with trains, so when he discovered this blue shirt that has a traced outline of a baseball player and a ball, he dove for it.  When I told him this morning that his "boo kirt wit no gains" was ready to wear, he was SO excited!  I love making my kids happy with such little stuff ~ this stage is going to over so quick, I better take advantage of it while I can.

Violet's 5th birthday

Today is Violet's 5th birthday.  Wow!  I feel like we just celebrated her 4th.  Time is just flying!  She had been crossing off days on her calendar and counting the days.  I put pink and purple streamers on her door last night before I went to bed, and when she woke up this morning, she said "Thank you so much mom for the streamers, that was so sweet of you, they are beautiful!" 
Calvin and Violet both had some muffins for breakfast that a friend of mine brought over yesterday.  Calvin ate 3 of them, Violet had 2.  They played for awhile...and then the doorbell rang.  Grandpa Jon and Grandma Jo sent over a big bouquet of balloons for Violet.  Calvin got to the door first and immediately let the person delivering the balloons in our house.  She was pretty excited to see those!  She said "Look mom!  It says "You're 5 today! with a big hand!" on a balloon. 
We worked on baking her cake, and I let her crack all the eggs and stir the ingredients.  She requested a pink cake with purple frosting, a butterfly on the side, the words "happy 5th birthday Violet" and a drawing of 5 balloons just like the ones she received that morning.  No problem, I can create that with a little food coloring and white frosting piped on the top!  Nothing fancy, she LOVED it! 
It worked out for us to all go swimming at a hotel pool down the road (Comfort Suites) with our friends Kim and Katie.  Kim's husband Randy was teaching a seminar at the hotel so they had access to the pool.  It turned out perfect.  There were more friends there she knew, and all the kids had a really fun time.  We went there from 1:30-3:30 pm.  I picked up Mcdonalds for lunch on the way there since I hadn't had time to feed them and they were happy to munch on chicken nuggets before swimming.  Everybody changed into suits and played in the water.  Violet took her life jacket off and on about a hundred times going from the hot tub to the big pool, because she can't quite swim yet on her own.  She is almost there though, I hope we can get her into swimming lessons soon.
Vanessa even went in the water with me.  She was a little fussy at first, but quickly got used to the water and splashed around.  She mostly chewed on a noodle toy and squirted water. 
When we got home, it was evident that I had two very cranky children on my hands (Vanessa fell asleep and took a nap in her bed)...so it was movie time.  V and C finished up watching their Little Einstein's video and started begging for supper, so I just heated up leftover macaroni and cheese and meatballs from small group the night before (she chose that menu too).  We served up her cake after singing happy birthday and letting her blow out all 5 of her candles, snapped a few pictures, and juggled the 3 kids, dog on a leash, and multiple phone calls from family wishing Violet a happy birthday.  She got calls from Grandpa Jon, Uncle Jay, and Great Grandpa Loren and Great Grandma Rowena.  She happily chatted with all of them, telling them that she is bigger, taller, looks different, and has all sorts of magical abilities now since she's 5.  :)  She wanted the piece of cake with the 5 on it, so I cut it out of the middle of the cake for her.  She only had a few bites and said she was too full. 
Next she opened her presents.  She got a couple more accessories for her Loving Family dollhouse, two new Leap Frog Tag books (Fancy Nancy at the Museum and Cat in the Hat), a Tag book carrying case, two Cooshie Boosters (she "let" Calvin have one), two Berenstain Bears books, and another present from Aunt Rachel which we haven't opened yet because Rachel wants to Skype with her while she opens it and explain it.
Dave helped Violet download the audio books to her Tag reader and she went through her new books while I put a very tired Calvin to bed at 7:30.  She was pretty tired too but of course, didn't want her birthday to end.  She eventually went up to bed at 8:30 and we tucked her in.  Goodnight Violet, welcome to the wonderful world of being 5!! 

A few pics:

First thing in the morning, she put on her "birthday hat" which she was given at preschool the day before:

 helpin' me make the pink cake:

the flower bud she has been monitoring for weeks decided to make an appearance on her birthday, she thought that was pretty neat!

Decorated cake according to her specifications...pink cake, purple frosting, a pink butterfly, the right words, and 5 balloons:

A surprised look when she opened a gift...I think that is the play kitchen for her doll house.  She said "Oh yes! they needed a refrigerator!"

Christlike Parenting

I read this book last year...but have JUST now started applying it.  I made this blog post so I would remember to write more about it when I get more time to sit down and write out my thoughts about it.  Its transforming my thoughts, changing my parenting approach, and transforming my kids.  Love it, love it, love it!

Calvin's 3 yr dr check up

Calvin went to the pediatrician for his 3 yr check up on January 14th, 2011.  I took Violet to preschool and Vanessa came along with Calvin and I to his appointment.
Stats:  He is 34 lbs, 38 3/4 in" tall.  His blood pressure was 92/56. 
His favorite part of going was running inside and pushing all the buttons necessary to open the doors for me.  He pushed the buttons to go up the elevator to the 4th floor, and ran enthusiastically to the child play area, and enjoyed playing in the little play house while we waited.  The doorbell in the little play house even worked (which he wanted me to press repeatedly and be surprised every time he opened the door to greet me).  He got to strip down to his undies and wear a little gown for the exam.  He said he was "preezing cold" when I took his clothes off, and when I put on him the little gown he said "dis is tho warm and cozy!"  During his vision screening, the nurse pointed at a picture of a tea cup from across the hallway he said "coppee cup".  He accurately answered the questions the nurse had while pointing to various things...a star, a circle, a square, etc.  He stayed cheerful the whole visit and was very chatty with the doctor.  She asked him if he was a girl or a boy, he answered "a boy". She asked him how old he is and he held up three fingers.  She asked him his name, and all he did was grin at her.  Later, he said to her "My name is Calgin."  So that made her smile.  She had no concerns and said he is doing excellent.  His growth chart projects him to be approx 6 feet tall at full height. 

These aren't the best quality photos because they were taken with my cell phone's camera....but they're still cute!  Getting his weight checked:

 Blood pressure taken:

 "All warm and cozy"

 Vanessa hung out on the floor and played with toys.

My 'lil peanut - Vanessa's weight at 7 months

16 lbs 4 oz at 7 months. :)

Update on Vanessa's ear

I went to our pediatrician this morning to have Vanessa's ear checked again.  At her 6 month check up the pedi found fluid behind her right ear drum, and wanted to see it again in a month to see if it was infected or not, or if the fluid had drained on its own.  She looked and had to pick a lot of ear wax out of her ear before she could see well.  There is a tiny bit of fluid left behind her ear drum, which is great news!  The fluid is slowly draining by itself, so there is no infection and no need to see an ENT doctor for further help.  Yay! 

Calvin was like a bug bouncing off the walls of a little cage inside of the doctor's office room.  He played with the toys in the waiting room but once we got into the little room we waited for the doctor to come in for close to 10 minutes.  He wanted to climb on the chairs, climb on the exam table, open and shut the garbage...it was nuts.  I finally made him sit on a chair and not move, even though he had a sour look on his face the whole time.  He enjoyed running up and down the halls and pushing the buttons on the elevator and the handicap accessible doors to go in and out of the building - I think that was the highlight of his day.  I accomplished a lot while Violet was at preschool this morning.  As soon as I dropped her off at 9 am (and in case anybody is wondering, yes, I did get up at 6:45 am and shower before the kids got up, best decision of the day by a mile, now if I could just squeeze in a devotion!), I dropped off a ton of recycling stuff, bought 4 gallons of milk at Hansen's Dairy, and went to the pediatrician's office in Waterloo.  I was waiting so long I thought I might have to ask Dave to run over and pick up Violet from school, but once the doc came in, the ear check went quick and I was on my way.  I pulled up to her school at 11:20 and waited 10 minutes, I was the first in line, that is nice...no waiting.  So that was my morning!

I've only had a couple poopy diapers the last few weeks..

...cuz I've been catching Vanessa's poops on the toilet!  She is down to going one or two times a day, usually after nursing after a long nap or after some solid food.  I hold her over the toilet and wait for her to go, usually just takes about 30 seconds or a minute for her to unload.  I love it!  Sometimes I miss...but if she starts going, she'll finish on the toilet.  Saves me cleaning off a cloth diaper. 
Violet did this too when she was a baby.  I tried with Calvin but life got too busy when the flood hit our home in 2008 moving from place to place.  I'm finding its easier with a girl because if she decides to pee I am not in the line of fire.  Violet got pretty regular and started telling me she had to go poop by 15 months...we'll see if Vanessa goes in that path, I sure hope so!

Vanessa's first food adventures

Vanessa is becoming increasingly interested in food, so here we go!  She has taken to everything I've given her (well, except for her first taste of cereal a few weeks ago) so far.

She likes:
-rice cereal mixed with warm water and smashed bananas
-chewing on thick pretzel sticks to help with teething
-rice crackers (mum-mums)
-banana chunks
-pulp from a clementine orange
-graham crackers
-multi-grain club crackers
-pizza crust (knaws on it)
-regular bread, given in small ripped up pieces
-tips of broccoli florets
-plain cheerios

She enthusiastically tries bites, mashes it up in her mouth, swallows, and wants more!  She is still breastfeeding quite a few times a day too.  I give her sips of water from a regular cup or a sippy cup with no valve.

9000 perler beads on the floor...

...apparently my lesson for the day from the Lord is patience..and grace...the dreaded happened and 9000 perler beads hit the floor.  I heard an "uh oh" come from Violet and I went to the laundry room...tried not to freak out...prayed for a good reaction and a graceful and helpful spirit...and just spent the last 1/2 hour picking up the beads with Violet.  Oh my.

"He's a great guy"

Last night we spent the evening with the Klunder family.  Dave helped Brook set up some email/internet stuff with Brook's new phone and the rest of the families played together.  Calvin took to Brook quickly, and snuggled up to him on the couch.  He also snuggled with their daughter Sarah in a rocking chair to watch a video.  Today he told me he wubs Sarah.  Last night on our way home from their house, Dave said to Calvin "Calvin, do you like Vada's daddy?" and Calvin answered enthusiastically, "Yeah, he's a great guy!" emphasizing "grrreat".  Made us crack up!
I could have predicted Violet's response.  She said also "He's a great guy!" from the back seat of the van, expecting the same burst of laughter, but she didn't get it.

Ahhhhh....

I just feel the need to write that.  I feel like life just springboarded into superdrive and everything is changing!  There is really no point to this blog post other than to just write down what's in my head because sometimes I can hardly believe where I am in life.  Husband, house, three kids, dog....wow.  The two older kids have catapulted into being "big kids" (talking up a storm every moment of the day, asking a thousand questions I probably have accurate answers to about 5% of the time, creating their own ideas and acting on them with out any forethought to how much energy or time it takes to do whatever they want to accomplish or how messy they'll get, fighting even more, learning to get along even more, etc...) and Vanessa is already sitting up, eating lots of solid food, and becoming more and more demanding, even though she is still the sweetest thing.  She smiles so big all the time, squeaks, squeals, and gets sooo excited about everything. 
My mind is swirling a mile a minute when the three kids are all awake (thank the Lord that Calvin and Vanessa take naps at the same time) with things to do on top of the second-by-second needs of each child.  Hands being wiped off, "help me fix this", removing day-old gross banana chunks from the high chair seat before putting Vanessa in it, strapping her in so I can go wipe a butt (also thank the Lord Calvin is potty trained!), telling Violet not to speak a certain way to her brother, then dealing with the attitude I get from telling her a corrective thing, get something for Vanessa to do in the high chair so she's not screaming, figure out where Calvin ran off to making sure he isn't in trouble or wrecking something that Violet took time to build with the legos...I could really just go on and on...but that is my day.  Just as I have written this blog post Violet has come to my side about 5 times to ask for help setting up her perler beads so she can make things for her friends.  She can't get the lid off with out my help and I don't want her to open it and splash 9000 beads across the kitchen floor.  I realize this is nothing new.  All moms with multiple kids do the same thing I am doing every day, and there are moms who have even more kids who have MORE on their plate...wow.  God gives just the right amount of grace, mercy and strengh for each day...no
Being a mom totally makes me appreciate my own mom (and dad!) and how much work it is to raise kids...and on top of "the daily grind"...there is the overarching thoughts we have as moms as to how we can shape and mold our kids in the image of Christ and teach them how much Jesus loves them so they will learn they need a Savior. 
No advice needed...really...I just had to get down somewhere what was on my mind.  I do pray about this daily and moment by moment just how to accomplish "life" right now.

Life is Rich

I am going to start using a different word than "overwhelming" when thinking about our family life.  We are so incredibly blessed, and I need to keep that perspective when I start to freak out and feel like I can not keep up.  Life is rich.  Dave used that expression a couple times over the last couple weeks as we've had both sides of our family over to our house.  A quiet boring house would be just that...quiet and boring.  Instead I have three joyful smiling children who keep the house buzzing with activity who make me laugh and cry all the time.  As a mom, my prayer and thoughts have been...LEAD BY EXAMPLE.  My words don't mean anything unless I am showing them the behavior I expect from them.

Yes, we're busy, but that sounds stressful.  Instead, we are blessed.

I have on my mind so many things in a day...I'll write them down just for the sake of it.  Maybe it'll help me unload:

- meal planning
- feeding kids
- laundry
- getting clothes that fit the kids
- cleaning (this entails a lot, I'll just leave it at that)
- appointments we need to be at (doctors, financial guy...)
- grocery shopping
- planning for things coming up (trips this spring/summer)



Dave has on his mind:
- work
- the dog, Solomon (feeding, letting him out, training)
- meeting with his friends for coffee and lunch re: accountability, friendship
- deacon responsibilities at church
- teaching Sunday School weekly

This morning I made a point to get up earlier than the kids so I could take a shower.  But my plan was thrwarted by Violet waking up earlier than I anticipated at 7 am and telling me Vanessa was screaming.  So I got Vanessa out of bed to feed her, and in the time I fed her, Violet and Calvin were both in my bed.  My shower went out the window.  So we migrated downstairs to have breakfast...2 hours later, the kids were dressed, but ended up fighting too much so they got some individual time in their rooms.  In that two hours I managed to get diapers out of the dryer and fold them and put them away.  Vanessa got hungry and tired, so while the kids were in their rooms I fed her and put her in bed for her first nap.  Once I got her in bed, I dropped everything to take a shower.  The kids obeyed and stayed in their rooms until I got them (yay!) so I made a deal with them.  They could watch their Little Einsteins video if they helped me clean the house and pick up toys.  They agreed ~ but fought over which toys they were to pick up.  I sent Violet to her room for being snotty and told her to come back downstairs when she was ready to be nice.  Calvin happily picked up toys, he did great.  He put the beads away, and all the large megabloks.  Violet wanted to do the small duplo legos because she wanted to use a dump truck to put them back in their storage container.  She came back down when she was ready to pick up so she did the small legos.  At one point, there was one large megablok left on the floor, so Calvin says "oh! one more big block!" and runs over to put it away.  Violet just had to correct him and say "Its not big!" so I taped her mouth shut with packing tape.  I am sick of her constantly correcting Calvin.  She just can't stand it when he is excited, or is correct about something.  I told her she was not allowed to speak to Calvin that way and being intentionally mean is wrong.  When I took the tape off her mouth 15 minutes later she seemed to have gotten the message. 

i'm gonna have to finish this blog later...if I get to it...their video is over and I need to start lunch!