Two down...

Almost 3 years ago I made this post about Declan losing his battle with the wood floor and knocking out a tooth. I was SO SAD that day but his snaggle tooth quickly grew on us and fit perfectly with his quirky personality. Over the years the snaggle got knocked more than a handful of times and has been changing color. So I shouldn't have been surprised when, at our 6 month check up, we found out his tooth was infected. I freaked out! They wanted to pull it right then and there and I wasn't ready. You see, I had bad pediatric dentistry experiences and I wanted to scoop Declan up, go home and prepare him for the "big pull". The dentist encouraged me that it was no.big.deal.

So guess what? It was no.big.deal. Declan was hopped up on laughing gas and had to be told the tooth was out. He got his first visit from the tooth fairy (actually Mr Tooth Fairy forgot to place the cash but fortunately Mrs Tooth Fairy had a coughing attack at 5am and remembered to check). He is so proud of his "two missing tooth-es". I thought he couldn't get any cuter but.....

Mr. Personality

Declan is full of personality no doubt. Yesterday he decided he was going to dress up in "Easter clothes" before we went to the dentist. He also told everyone it was his new Easter outfit. (None of his clothes he wore were new....and none of the clothes were part of his Easter outfit...ha!)

"Sonic pose":

 Another "Sonic pose"... ;)

iPhone dump

Declan made "listening ears" at church and was oh, so proud of them.

Our drapes took 6 weeks to get in but are worth it. So happy and bright!

Sometimes I look over at Declan and feel like he's SO grown up. This was one of those moments:

Our new neighborhood lacks the trees like we are use to. This street makes me miss them!

Love this monkey:

Our office always has a March Madness/poker party. This was my first year participating and I left with more money than I brought. #winning

Fun play date with Dec's buddies! Shirts off? Why not?!

We are more than halfway through our Foster Care classes!! The licensing process require meds be locked away. I don't mind...I love organizing. ;)

Enjoying our days with this guy (he is in heart failure and won't be around much longer)

Lately...

We have had a couple days of warmer temps and I forgot how fabulous it is to play outside for hours (and the cat naps that ensue). It is back in the 30s again today. Boo. C'mon, Spring.

Lion King

This past Friday we went to Omaha to see the Lion King. I had never been to the Orpheum and it was stunning!! The show was fabulous. The costumes were my favorite. So fun!

Circus Time!

Yes our 4.5 year old had never been to the circus. He isn't much of sitter so we avoid those types of things but he loved it! We met the cousins and had a blast.

truth

My aunt sent me this and I nodded and said "yes" out loud so many times, it was worth sharing. We don't know the author. It's long but worth the read!

-If you want to fly and move on to better things, you have to give up the things that weigh you down, which is not always as obvious and easy as it sounds. Starting today, give up…
-Letting the opinions of others control your life. People know your name, not your story. They’ve heard what you’ve done, but not what you’ve been through. So take their opinions of you with a grain of salt. In the end, it’s not what others think, it’s what you think about yourself that counts. Sometimes you have to do exactly what’s best for you and your life, not what’s best for everyone else.
-The shame of past failures. You will fail sometimes, and that’s okay. The faster you accept this, the faster you can get on with being brilliant. Your past does not equal your future. Just because you failed yesterday, or all day today, or a moment ago, or for the last six months, or for the last sixteen years, doesn’t have any impact on the current moment. All that matters is what you do right now.
-Being indecisive about what you want. You will never leave where you are until you decide where you would rather be. It’s all about finding and pursuing your passion. Neglecting passion blocks creative flow. When you’re passionate, you’re energized. Likewise, when you lack passion, your energy is low and unproductive. Energy is everything when it comes to being successful. Make a decision to figure out what you want, and then pursue it passionately.
-Procrastinating on the goals that matter to you. There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them. Follow your intuition. Don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. When there is love and inspiration, you can’t go wrong. And whatever it is you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows. Trust me, in a year from now, you will wish you had started today.
-Choosing to do nothing. You don’t get to choose how you are going to die, or when. You can only decide how you are going to live, right now. Every day is a new chance to choose. Choose to change your perspective. Choose to flip the switch in your mind from negative to positive. Choose to turn on the light and stop fretting about with insecurity and doubt. Choose to do work that you are proud of. Choose to see the best in others, and to show your best to others. Choose to truly LIVE, right now.
-Your need to be right. If you keep on saying you’re right, even if you are right now, eventually you will be wrong. Aim for success, but never give up your right to be wrong. Because when you do, you will also lose your ability to learn new things and move forward with your life.
-Running from problems that should be fixed. We make life harder than it has to be. The difficulties started when conversations became texting, feelings became subliminal, sex became a game, the word ‘love’ fell out of context, trust faded as honesty waned, insecurities became a way of living, jealously became a habit, being hurt started to feel natural, and running away from it all became our solution. Stop running! Face these issues, fix the problems, communicate, appreciate, forgive and LOVE the people in your life who deserve it.
-Making excuses rather than decisions. Life is a continuous exercise in creative problem solving. A mistake doesn’t become a failure until you refuse to correct it. Thus, most long-term failures are the outcome of people who make excuses instead of decisions.
-Overlooking the positive points in your life. What you see often depends entirely on what you’re looking for. Do your best and surrender the rest. When you stay stuck in regret of the life you think you should have had, you end up missing the beauty of what you do have. You will have a hard time ever being happy if you aren’t thankful for the good things in your life right now.
-Not appreciating the present moment. We do not remember days, we remember moments. Too often we try to accomplish something big without realizing that the greatest part of life is made up of the little things. Live authentically and cherish each precious moment of your journey. Because when you finally arrive at your desired destination, I guarantee you, another journey will begin! ♥

Life at 4.5

A little Q & A sesh with my favorite little guy (pinterest inspired)

What's your name?

"d-e-c-l-a-n"

How old are you?

"4 and a half. I'm going to have a Sonic and Mario party

when I turn 5 and getting a DS when I turn 6"

  

   

What makes you happy? "when I play with my friends"

 

What makes you sad?
"time out"
 

What makes you laugh? "when Jack is crazy" 

(our dog...unsure the exact reference, though)
 

What is your favorite thing to do?
"eat"
 

What are you really good at?
"drawing"
 

What are you not very good at?
"drawing mario and luigi cars, daddy does it for me"
 

What is your favorite food and drink? "Greek yogurt & chocolate milk"

(hilarious to me that he specified Greek yogurt)
 

What’s your favorite color?
"black & orange...not pink & purple anymore"
 

Where is your favorite place to go?
"the chiropractor and getting adjusted on the white thing"

(I laughed SO hard at this answer. Out of all the fun places we go he choses the Chiropractor? And the white thing is the table...it goes up and down and he thinks it's the coolest)
 

Who are your best friends?
"Shauny, Ella, Asher and Evie"

We know who your best friends are but 

who are some of your favorite people?

"Bekah, Nana, Papa, Zach and Grandma"

(Bekah's our nanny and Zach a buddy from preschool) 
 

What are your favorite movies or TV shows?"

"Spongebob"
 

What is your favorite book? "Good Dog Carl"
 

If you were a cartoon character, who would you be?
"mario, I was already luigi" 

Turned the tables to questions about mommy....

What is something Mommy always says to you? "I love you sugar nuts"
 

What makes Mommy happy?
"when I listen"
 

What makes Mommy sad?
"not listening"
 

How does Mommy make you laugh?
"tickles me, sings in silly voices"
 

What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
"drink water"
 

What does Mommy do when you're not around?
"get happy"
 

What is Mommy really good at?
"lego houses....building strong walls"
 

What is Mommy not very good at?
"mario game"
 

What does Mommy do for her job?
"drink water at her office"

(this feels like a reference to when he comes to work withe me...

he's obsessed with the water jug"
 

What is Mommy's favorite food?
"protein bars"
 

What makes you proud of Mommy?
  "she is happy"

(doubt he understood what I was asking)
 

What do you and Mommy do together?
"ummm...we play...we read...we go to Target and Cherry Berry"
 

How are you and Mommy the same?
"we both pretend to be girls"

(ummmm?!??!)
 

How are you and Mommy different?
"I have short hair and you have beautiful hair"
 

How do you know Mommy loves you?
"lots of kisses and lot of huggies"
 

Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
"work and the pool but the pool is closed until it's hot out. when will it be hot out?"

I'm going to keep doing these questionnaires over the years and I can't wait to see the answers change year to year.
 

the dog children

Our dog children are seniors in boxer years and, sadly, it's started to show. Jack (white) has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and is in heart failure. Until we say goodbye we will enjoy his cranky but loving spirit.