When You're Given Lemonade.....Make it into Margaritas!

Well, the pregnancy has kicked in.  I am tired and very behind on my blogging duties!  I've had a partial draft of the blog below for about 10 days.  I have pictures to go with it, but I don't have the energy to upload them right now.  Could be because I've been in a training class for two days solid and have no 'brain' energy left, but easier to blame on the pregnancy!  :)  The pics will follow, soon. 

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Before we moved to Miami, a good friend told me to make sure we took advantage of the move and experienced all that we could while here.  I try to keep that in my mind all the time.  We love it here, but I can't imagine living here forever.  So, becuase of that, I'm going to do my darndest to make the most of it! 

We've had both grandmothers here over the past month, which has been awesome!  We love having visitors and Olivia loves being spoiled!!  It also gives Kyle and I a chance to get away for a few date nights, which happens much less than it did when we lived 5 miles from Gogi's and Olivia had her own bedroom at her house.  So, they are treasured. 

As for the rest of the weekends, for not knowing many people, we seem to have a lot going on!!  If we do stuff with people, it's one of two families for the most part.  I love hanging out with the Herman's.  They are the ones we met when we were house hunting this summer and now live two blocks away.  They are 'southern' people and we really get along great!  Barry loves to cook and is always trying new things.  He's a great cook!  And, when they come over to our house, I get to pull out all the new recipes I've been wanting to try and use him as my guinea pig!  It works out great!  Dana and Kyle get to reap the benefits!  Perfect. 

We've also been 'festival' happy lately.  I guess when it's 75 and sunny all the time, you can plan things all year round.  A month ago we went to this big Arts Festival down in Coconut Grove.  I think I already wrote about this (see note above), so I'll stop there.  We have this amazing park by our house.  It's H.U.G.E.  It has a big park, a river, a hike and bike trail, volleyball courts, circuit training, etc.  A few weekends ago, they had this community picnic.  There were a dozen gigantic blow up slides for the kids, cotton candy, hot dogs, BBQ, snow cones, music, arts & crafts, etc.  And, it was all FREE.  We couldn't believe it.  We went with Dana, her kids and Harper (Olivia's backyard friend).  Everyone had a blast. 

The next day, we went down to this Carnivale festival.  Hard to explain.  It's called Calle Ocho (8th Street in Spanish), although it's on this place called the Miracle Mile.  Turns out it's the prelude festival for the real one in Miami's 'Havana'.  Tons of Cuban music, food, arts, etc.  We decided to bring Eddie.  Good place to get a walk in for your dog, right?  Apparently not with a vizsla.  Everyone.  And, I mean everyone, stopped us to ask what he was, if they could pet him, etc.  We couldn't walk two feet without getting stopped.  Poor guy was so exhausted by the time we left, we had to carry him.  Then, he got sick in the car on the way home.  Think it was all the man-handling he had to suffer through! 

This weekend is the start of Olivia's spring break and we're heading over to Marco Island.  Staying on the beach in a hotel.  Olivia needs nothing else to get excited!  She can't wait.  Kyle and I are pretty excited too.  Will be nice to get away, even if only for a few days. 

Then, in a few weeks, Kyle and I get to get away for a few days.  I have a trip in Seattle, so we're heading out the weekend ahead of time.  The great part is that we have to connect through Dallas, so Olivia's coming with us on the first leg and staying at Gogi's for 5 days.  This will be a great time for all!! 

Come visit!!  We love visitors! 

Genes Can Look Very Different...and be very underappreciated!

And no, I don't mean the kind you wear.  Not a play on words above. 

My mom came to visit this past week and I had a startling revelation.  One that is very black and white and gives me pause to think about my own child(ren). 

My mom was a teacher by trade all of her entire adult life.  I say 'by trade' and 'adult life' for two reasons.  First, the majority of her career was spent teaching kindergarten, but in addition to that, she taught numerous other ages and studies (science, preschool, summer camps, etc).  And, although she technically retired almost 10 years ago, she has never walked away from the field.  It is in her blood. 

From a very early age, I knew that I would not be a teacher.  My high school drill team instructor even stood up at the Senior banquet and said something about my business tendencies as she introduced me.  It was evident then that this was my field.  I recently found my high school yearbook and in the line where it says 'In 10 years I will be....'.  Mine doesn't say 'Married with kids', mine says 'practicing international business.' 

But, now I have kids and I wish that I had even an ounce and I do mean an ounce of those skills.  They are key to raising kids.  They are very important in my child's development, not to mention 'fun' in the process.  I get it.  I know that at this age, I need to be working on Olivia's letters, small words, etc.  But, I don't create fun with it like my mom does.  Kids gravitate to her.  Kids want to learn when they're around her.  She gets on their level.  Olivia had off from preschool on Monday and she and Harper (the 5yr old next door) spent the whole day with my mom.  Doing. Fun. Stuff.  Harper said it was the best day of her life.  I don't think any kid has or ever will say that about me.  My mom shipped a whole box of 'fun' (arts and crafts) down to Miami so it would be here when she arrived and could create all these fun activities for Olivia and her friends.  I really don't think Olivia could ask for a cooler grandma. 

How could I come directly from my mother's womb and lack this very important gene?  It was not passed on to me at all.  I want a piece of it. 

I then start to think too....if my mom was a teacher and I'm a business person....what will Olivia be when she's older?  If I had to guess right now, it would be a Hannah Montana impersonator. 

And They Said We Should Name Him 'Bad Decision'

Nope.  Not talking about the baby that will introduce him/her self in Sept.  I'm talking about this adorable little guy.  Kyle received a text from a friend who will remain nameless, (hint... rhymes with 'Sal') that suggested we give this little guy that name!! 

Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen? 

Meet Eddie.  He is 10 weeks old this week.  I actually think he was born Christmas Eve, but I can't remember at the moment. 

How in the world did we end up with yet our 3rd Vizsla after my lengthy post a month ago about us not knowing what to do about a dog, you ask?  So, here's the funny story.  Funny to us at least.  A few weekends ago, we went to the Coconut Grove Arts Festival.  Very cool.  If anyone is familiar with the area, Coconut Grove is like the Austin of Miami.  A little bit hippie, little bit college town, and quite eclectic.  We love it.  This Arts Festival is a huge event lasting over 3 days, right on the water.  Probably even a little bit more fun when you can partake in adult beverages, but still very cool.  We went down and hung out for the day.  Didn't buy any art, but did see a lot of dogs walking around with owners throughout the event.  As we were leaving, Kyle turned to me out of the blue and said 'Seeing all these dogs makes me think I'm ready again for one.'  Music to my ears!!  As one not to sit around and wait for things to happen, I took Kyle, his mom and Olivia to Petsmart the following day when they have 'adoption day' from nearby shelters.  My chance to strike while the iron's hot! 

We saw a few we liked, but none that we really got excited about.  There was even one there that was part-Chow and looked a lot like Jackie.  Kyle liked him, but we found out he's not good with other dogs.  Not ideal seeing as how our neighbors pet sit with their dog when we go out of town.  So, we left and drove to lunch.  On our way, Kyle spotted a man coming up on the hike and bike trail beside us.  We pulled over to watch, like crazy people.  We even got excited.  Even Olivia.  The guy was riding his bike with his vizsla running right beside him.  I'm sure he called 9-1-1 after as we were sitting on the shoulder of the road with all our head's out the window!  And, we knew.  We knew without saying that we just really fell in love with this particular breed and wouldn't be happy unless we had a vizsla. 

So, we went on to lunch.  On the way, Kyle and I came to the decision that we would just wait until the time was right to get a vizsla.  For a number of reasons.  It could be 3 years down the road and we were both ok with that decision. 

Tuesday, I'm on the plane heading to Aruba.  When I go to the islands I turn off my personal phone until I get back because I get ridiculous roaming charges.  Right as I'm getting ready to turn it off, my phone rings with a number I don't recognize.  For some reason, I answered (not my normal protocol).  It was a breeder I'd emailed a month ago with no response.  She had one male pup left (the sex we wanted) and although she lived in the central part of FL, she would be in Miami Thursday for a Dr's appt and could bring him down.  Her price was 2/3 of the other quotes we'd gotten and we needed to make a decision by that night. 

Obviously, you can tell what our answer was in this situation.  And, we LOVE him.  He's already an awesome dog and overnight, Olivia has a new best friend.  We all do really.  But, these two are inseperable.  Even though he's a tiny puppy, he picked up right where Sam left off.  He goes in with us at night for bedtime stories and stays in there until about 9pm or so.  Kyle couldn't find him the other day while Olivia was at school.  After searching the house, he found Eddie curled up in a ball on a chair in Olivia's room. 

And, this is what he does when he's not getting into trouble. 

So, although many of our friends think we're crazy (which is probably true) for getting another vizsla, we are quite thrilled!