Raia and I have been going to the pool several times a week since summer started. She is quite the little fish! She even started this scary going underwater thing, and I got really freaked out and called my friend Kim. Kim is a hard core athlete. She got a full scholarship to Auburn University for swimming, and won all kinds of awards. She now teaches swim lessons, and is a swim team coach. She and her sister both compete in triathlons. Kim is actually pregnant right now, and so she has slowed down just a little LOL! She is due any day now, I can't wait!! Anyway, back to the story. I called Kim and she graciously offered to give Raia a free swim lesson and helped me learn how to teach her myself. After that first lesson, Raia was doing so much better about listening to me, and following the rules. If you know my child, you know that she has NO FEAR. Before the lesson she was jumping off the side of the pool and not wanting to be caught when she would jump into the water, she'd even run alongside of the pool to get further away from me. She was going underwater without taking a breath first, and holding onto the wall not wanting to come up! Scared me to death! I kept thinking back to that little boy who died two years ago from dry drowning. Call me paranoid, I don't care, I just want her to be safe. Kim told me that what Raia was doing was perfectly normal, and I feel a little better. She even ordered a swim belt for Raia to wear in the pool. It isn't a life vest or floaties or anything like that, this will actually teach her to swim on her own because she will have to learn to dog paddle and keep her head up while wearing it. Kim has been such a good friend to me, and her 2 girls just love Raia :)
A few weekends ago we went to Galveston. We went to Stewart Beach, and you have to pay $8 to get in. You would think that since you have to pay to get in that it would be a nice beach, right? WRONG. It was so disgusting. And SO crowded. There was trash all over the beach, even a dirty diaper right near the water (GAG!). We promptly turned around and left. I asked Nathan to stop and get our money back since we had only been there five minutes. Luckily, they gave it back. We drove a short way down the beach and parked and just went down to the free beach. It was nice, and we had a great time. It wasn't crowded at all, and it was clean. Tell me why people would pay money to go to Stewart Beach?? I still don't understand it!!
I cannot even believe I am posting this pic of myself, but please, pay no attention to me!! Look at the cute little girl in her Little Mermaid suit!! Pretty cute, huh? We didn't take many pics, sorry.
I really need a new swim suit, this one I think is about 8 years old, and had I known how terrible it looked on me, I'd have never worn it out there!! Not sure if you can tell in the pic or not, but I got my hair cut. I actually have bangs now! I haven't had bangs in YEARS!!! I am really liking it :) I can finally cover up my forehead LOL!!
A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine posted on Facebook about an 8 week old puppy that was in a local kill-only shelter. He looked so much like our Gibson! I saw the picture, and thought "if only....". I showed the picture to Nathan, and he he said "Aww, he does kinda look like Gibson."
The next day I logged into Facebook and another one of my friends had him posted. His day to be put to sleep was two days away (that day, and the next day were his two days). I immediately called Nathan at work and said "Please can we get him??" He was surprised I hadn't already asked. He said to make the call, and so I did. The lady told me that she hoped a rescue group would step up in time to go get him out of the shelter. *(The way it works at this particular pound/shelter, there are NO ADOPTIONS. It is a kill-only shelter :( If you want one of the animals there, you must contact a rescue group, or in my case I had the number for a volunteer who worked with all different rescue groups and she forwards potential adopters information to the groups, then they decide if the people are "good enough" and are people who can care for an animal, then they will go rescue it from the pound, and you adopt straight from them. Make sense?) I waited about 4 hours, and I was getting anxious so I called her back. Long story short, we played phone tag all day, and by that night around bed time I heard that a rescue group was going to the shelter the next morning, the morning he was to be put to sleep, to get him. The lady I had been talking with all day said she had put a "rescue hold" on him, so he was safe. The next day I met the rescue people at a local vet's office, and after he was checked over and was given a wormer and a couple of shots, we were able to bring him home.
In Gibson's case, we had to wait I think 10 days before we could bring him home, but since this was a special case we were able to bring him home right away. He is still too young to be neutered, but he is getting fixed on August 17th, along with a microchip. I can't tell you how important it is to SPAY & NEUTER YOUR PETS!!! Microchips are also invaluable, and very cheap!!
Luckily, this little guy is healthy as a horse! (Why do they say that? How healthy are horses anyway?) If you remember, almost a year ago when we got Gibson, he was so very sick. Thank God he pulled through. He and I formed a very special bond while I was caring for him. Nathan was out of town for a week, and Gibson was knocking on Death's door. So I am so thankful this little puppy is healthy! We have had him for almost 3 weeks now, and not a hint of a cough or anything else he may have brought home from that yucky shelter! He did have worms, though, and has already been treated twice, and we are not seeing any more wormy poops (YAY!). He and Gibson both have an appointment on Friday with the vet for shots and check ups. Gibson just LOVES the puppy. At first we weren't so sure...I think now he just loves the attention and the play time. They are both getting great exercise just from playing. Gibson is so much bigger, too, I worry sometimes, but he is like a big brother. He has never once hurt the puppy. We keep a close eye on them when they play, and they have separate kennels to sleep in at night and when we are gone. Hopefully this crate training (potty training) will work as quickly with pup-pup as it did with Gibson!
I haven't told you his name yet. We couldn't figure out a name for him, but had tossed around Fender (to go with Gibson) or Dexter (like the Showtime series). When I was making the vet appointment, the girl asked what the puppy's name was, and I felt awful that we hadn't named him yet. So I said "Dexter". Nathan had not really
expressed much interest in 'Fender', but had mentioned that 'Dexter' was OK. So Dexter it is.
This past week, I discovered the Kingwood Library! It is brand new, and fabulous!! Since having Raia, I haven't had time to read like I used to. I really miss reading a novel a week or more. I really do. Not that I would trade being a mom to my little "Raia sunshine" for that, I just miss it is all. And now that she is getting a little older, I want to try to read more. My Bible study book keeps mentioning The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, and I am intrigued! I went on a search for this book, and found myself at the new library. We have been 4 times in the past week, and I am not the only one who loves it, Raia does too!! We can check out up to 75 items at a time (LOL) - not that we ever would, but now I know my limit. They have DVD's too, so that saves us some money when we want to watch a movie. It has been great! They have story time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we are going to try and make that a regular thing too. Here is Raia at the library, she just plops down in the aisle when she finds a book she likes.
I have several cake orders coming up next weekend, and my sister-in-law's baby shower is next month, so be on the lookout over on The Sweet Life for them! I will leave you with a few silly pictures of Raia.
Fun with paint
This child fears nothing - she is jumping from her bed to mine, and back!
Beautiful girl, she is really growing up fast :(
And now it is bedtime for Miss Raia. I am off to go read some in my book before I hit the hay, too. If you don't mind, could you please be in prayer that my headaches get better - they are starting, once again, to rear their ugly heads and are getting more frequent. I hate asking for anything for myself, there are so many other things that really need prayer at this time - the Gulf Oil Spill, our servicemen overseas, deadly childhood diseases that so desperately need a cure, etc. Speaking of the oil spill, a local Christian radio station here (89.3 KSBJ) posted on their Facebook page: " Not sure how to talk to your kids about the oil spill? Here's how one mom not only helped her kids understand, but also empowered them to help out." Click here --->Craft Hope for the World I thought it was really neat :)
And one last thing before I go, speaking of being crafty, I made a bow holder for Raia out of something that she and Grandma made. Grandma got her this name plate thing, you put letter stickers on it to spell a name, and it's just cute. Well, Grandma let Raia put the stickers on, and on the back, Raia left a very sweet little message! I had to make it functional, something we would use and see every day, and she needed a bow holder, so....
I only have pictures of it without the bows, but one of these days I will remember to post a pic of it with all the bows on it LOL!
Thanks for checking in!
xoxox~
P.S.
I realized after typing all of that, that the title for this particular post is "Not much going on", and then I end up writing a novel about all that's been going on. Hahaha. Figures.
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