PopCorn Time!

I had to share these pictures, because this has become one of my favorite parts of our day. It's at night after she has had her bath and we are starting to unwind from the day, this is how it goes.....Jolee do you want some popcorn? She runs to the pantry and waits on me to get it out, she then goes and stands at the microwave and watches it pop, while I fix our drinks. She takes her cup and a napkin, I take my cup and the bowl of popcorn and we go sit on the couch. We eat popcorn, we talk (meaning she jabbers to me, and I listen, or we go over our different body parts, that we are learning, such as where's your nose, eyes, ears, hair, and mouth, and I will say so proudly... she knows where all of those are.) and we watch some TV together. Now, you can't tell me that's not so sweet. I guess it has become a really special time for me, because I remember when I was a little girl and my mom and me would always fix and eat popcorn together, talk and watch some TV (after we put my brother to bed, sorry Joseph). It was our special time of the day, and it has stuck with me thru the years. (We still even like to eat popcorn and talk, when we get together now.) I know you are thinking, Tara its just popcorn, but its special to me, because I remember doing it with my mom, and now I'm doing it with my little girl.

She is becoming such a big girl, and it is happening way to fast!

Jolee's 1st Shiner!

No, its not pretty is it? Bless her heart, her 1st real shiner, right on top of her forehead. It's not something we are proud of, but we thought it was blog worthy, because she is one tough little girl. It happened on Sunday, she was running and evidently was running so fast she tripped herself up and hit the wall, I heard the loud hit, and then heard crying with some screaming mixed in. Daddy ran and got to her 1st, and when I heard him say...whew, baby that's going to leave a mark, are you ok, that's red already and puffed out. I knew it was serious, because usually if Daddy picks her up after a fall he says... your ok, be a tough girl, shake it off, (doesn't that sound like something a Daddy would say). So it was red, with a little cut in the middle of it, with some bruising.....until yesterday, when we had been outside for maybe about 3 minutes and she fell again, on the concrete, and her head hit the exact same spot, when we got her and picked her up, WOW! So now to describe her poor little head, it is red, with some bruising going on, and has a concrete print scrape on it. Poor Girl, I don't know if she has fallen so much due to her having an ear infection and her equilibrium being off, but whatever the reason, I really feel sorry for her, and her head just looks so pitiful.

I love this look on her face!

All these pictures were taken after the 1st fall on Sunday night, I just don't have the heart to take one of her right now!

She's an Animal Lover!

Last week Granna and Pappy were down for a visit, and boy did we keep the roads hot! I think this was one of the only visits they have been to see us, that we could actually call a vacation! Because usually they are coming down to help pack us up or move us somewhere. So we fit in as much stuff as we could (It was even said... by Pappy he would have to go back to work, so he could get some rest)! We had such a great and wonderful week being together, laughing, and going, going, going! It is always a huge help when they come, its like I get a vacation too, because they help me out so much with the house and Jolee. And last week my car even got washed and cleaned out (thanks dad), Jolee's closet got organized and cleaned out too (thanks mom), so see we were productive some. So that should explain to you all why I didn't blog last week!

Last Wednesday we took Jolee to the Jacksonville Zoo, and she absolutely loved it. She talked and jabbered more that day, than I think I have ever heard her before. She would run up to the fence or the glass and point and start talking 90 to nothing, and then look at us and point to make sure we saw what she was looking at. It was HILARIOUS! We laughed and laughed at her all day. I love the zoo and always have, but to take Jolee and see her love and enjoy it so much, made this trip to the zoo the best one ever. She is definitely an animal lover. (She gets the love of animals from her Uncle JoJo and Granna).

I absolutely love this picture of Pappy and Jolee!

She chased birds!

She pointed!

And looked!

She passed out while riding the train!

And stayed asleep for about 30min after the train ride, she didn't even wake up when we got off the train and put her in the stroller. She was 1 tired little girl!

Family shot at the zoo! Pappy, Granna, Jolee, and Me!

It was kinda freaky that the whole time he drank his water, he stared straight at us!

Granna and Jolee!

Me and My Girl!

This is Erwin, he is the same age as Jolee, but at birth he weighed 120lbs, and was 6ft long!

This big "ole" thing scared me to death, I was filming and all the sudden he came by and hit the window with his fist right where I was standing. Needless to say I jumped and screamed and the camera filmed anything from the trees to the ground for a little bit, till I got my composure back.

Jolee wasn't sure about the carousel at first. See her death grip on Pappy's arm.

But then she loosened up and started waving and pointing! Although she did keep looking back, we figured she was wondering why all those animals were chasing her!

And yes, she found water at the zoo and yes, she wanted to get in!

Those were some huge fish!

Still looking around!

A wet shot of Jolee with her Granna and Pappy!

Yep, we got pretty wet! We were at the back of the zoo when it started pouring and had to run through it to get back to the car. We had a great time and have to go back one day to finish seeing the rest of the zoo.

Only I could have a dog....

Looking at the above, cute little picture of our Sophie, you wouldn't think she has issues, but oh does she have issues! That's why I titled this post, Only I would have a dog! Because only I could have a dog that is allergic to fat....and can only have reduced fat treats and food. Only I could have a dog that can't go on walks, due to getting too hot and throwing up afterwards. Only I could have a dog, that has anxiety, yes I said anxiety! Only I could have a dog that has panic attacks. And only I could have a dog that is on human strength ZANEX! That's right my dear Sophie has been put on Zanex by the Vet.

So here's the low down on Sophie, bless her heart! She has always been a little weird about things, but now it has gone overboard. When anything is out of place, she barks till you put it back, if you leave the ref. door open she barks till you close it back. And the final straw for me was when she stopped eating her food out of her bowl, she walks around it and barks, but will not get close to it (and no, to answer the question I know you all are thinking, we haven't changed her bowl). She will now only eat her food on a rug in the kitchen, spread out and not touching. Another issue is...when we put her in her kennel she pants as if her heart is going to pop out of her little doggy chest, this is all going on while trying to climb out of the top of her kennel or while trying to dig out the bottom of the kennel. I know you are probably laughing right now, but it is really sad, I tell you. When we took her to the Vet. my exact words were.. Somebody's getting some pills today its either me or her. So when the Vet. asked me where he should call her pills in to, my reply was I really don't know, I have never used a dog pharmacy before and while keeping a straight face he said no hun where do you get your prescriptions filled, so yes he called them into Walgreen's! When I got there to pick them up I said picking up for Ford please, and the lady said.. would you be picking up medication for a dog.... yep, that's me! And on the bottle of Zanex it is written "Sophie Dog Ford"! So see why I said, Only I could have a dog like this!

And evidently, Jolee even feels sorry for Sophie, because some days Jolee feeds her out of her hand, pebble by pebble!