Dog-gone it!

About a week ago, we went to Benjamin for Lynn's Granddad's funeral. We stayed at the ranch where there are lots of cats outside. Our dog, Macy, believes that aside from loving her family, her purpose in life is to chase things such as cats and jack rabbits.
So, like any other visit, she bolted after a random cat. Not like any other visit, she began to cry shortly after. She held her back leg up the rest of the time we were there, but we all assumed she must have pulled a muscle or something.
When we got home, she was still not walking on it, so we finally took her to the vet yesterday. The vet saw her and said, "oh! She's not walking on it at all." Our first clue that it's not just a pulled muscle. He felt her leg for all of a tenth of a sec and said, "ok, what we have is..." Our second clue that it's a pretty big problem. "...a torn ACL" WHAT!?! Both Lynn and I begin thinking of all the athletes who spend thousands of dollars and months of recovery time on torn ACL surgery.
He shows us a model of a dogs knee, which honestly looks very similar to a human knee. I know more about the ACL now than I ever thought I wanted to. Pretty neat. But along with my newly acquired canine knee education, our dog has a torn ACL. We both feel very bad that we didn't get her in sooner, but apparently we didn't wait as long as some owners do.
She goes in for surgery on Monday. By the way, it will not cost thousands of dollars. They'll keep her overnight and then she returns home on Tuesday and should be using the leg in a couple of weeks.
While we were waiting for the vet, we saw this 3-legged cat who had completely adapted to her situation. Lynn and I were talking about the fact that animals are so much more adaptable to things like lost limbs than humans, but then they also have a couple extra to fall back on.

It Is Finished!!

I never thought it would actually get here. The moment we've all been waiting for! The house is done. It is up for sale. No more dry wall dust. No more painting. Our Saturdays are finally free. We've been working on this thing for a year and a half. I've worked on this house for 2 different pregnancies. But it was worth it. My dear husband's perfectionist tendencies have paid off. If I wanted a 3 bedroom house in that neighborhood, I would buy it.
We've actually already had someone show interest. Show me the MONEY!
If you want to see what it looks like, you can go to www.patterson-pack.com
There are lots of pictures with lots of angles of the same rooms, so you either need to set aside lots of time, or pick and choose your favorite angles. And you can play 'where's Zoey?' I know it will be challenging, but see if you can spot the baby in some of the pictures.
If you want to see it in person, which I highly recommend, let me know. We would love to show you! We're pretty proud of it!
Maybe we'll get some before shots up soon.

Zoey's World

I have recently discovered the difficulty in emailing/blogging with Zoey at the cruising stage. She's into everything! If I hold her on my lap while I type, she ends up doing more typing than me. If I leave her on the floor while I type, she ends up in another county in a matter of minutes. That girl is fast! We have lots of little areas that are off-limits to little sticky fingers...like the trash area, big sister's room with lots of polly pocket accessories, and the dog cage with the lock that could put an eye out. The one I love most-the dog food and water dishes. Not as dangerous as it is messy. Mess and fun do go hand in hand, I've noticed.
I've also noticed the love/hate relationship she has with Max, our little retarded furry white dog. She loves to pull his hair. He hates that, oddly enough. He loves to play with her toys. I'm the one that hates that! The biggest problem is that to get away from her, he runs and hides by me. And if he's near me, and she is right on him, he won't move because he thinks I'm the safest spot. What ends up happening is she's crawling through my legs to get to him and he's growling and all I can do is shove him away, but then he comes right back to "safety". Ok, see where the retard part comes in? the funniest thing about this situation is that he has this dog bed that for some reason he thinks is his girlfriend. They've had some pretty intimate moments. wink, wink. anyway, just like everything else in her path, Zoey thinks it looks like something she needs to investigate. Max gets really defensive if you touch his bed! The older kids learned a long time ago not to mess with the bed if you want to keep your fingers. And Max learned that if he growls wrong at Zoey, he will soon feel the wrath of Dad's alpha male hand. Do you see his dilemma? What ends up happening is quite funny to watch. He crawls from the safety of my feet to the opposite edge of his bed and gingerly pulls it away from those mean little chubby fingers.
"no, baby, not the bed."
I digress...
So, the blogs may be few and far between. I could communicate with the outside world while she sleeps, but trust me, those moments are way too precious to spend at the computer. Here's a quick update on her most recent communication skills.
Zoey can now high five on command. She can sign the word "more" when wanting to eat more food. And my personal favorite--she can give big, sloppy, open-mouthed kisses to those she adores!
She is also trying very hard to push through her 2 top front teeth. It kept us all up the night before last, and has given her quite a lot of pain and suffering. We just use lots of teething rings, love and what I call "baby morphine". (homeopathic teething tablets) This too shall pass.

I haven't heard from the kids in a few days. It's amazing how much easier one child is compared to 3. Can't wait to see what 4 will be like. But I do miss Bryce and Evyn. Every time they called last week, they sounded like they were having fun. Hopefully, they'll call again soon.
It's been a strange summer so far...maybe I'll write again before it's over. ;-)

Here We Are

This was taken in Houston recently. I'm amazed at the way Houston looks really. I had a wonderful time running on the trail that is near my parents' house. Rain forest on one side, rolling green hills on the other. Oh, and gorgeous houses all around...with trees and flowers and chirping cicadas. I never ran into any aligators or deer, but I enjoyed the scenery nonetheless.

Good News

For those of you who were concerned with Evyn's blood test yesterday, it came back negative. Apparently she's normal. Well, at least her blood is...

It's Been So Long!

Forgive me, friends, for I have not blogged in a very long time. I'm sure you were all on the edge of your seats just waiting to hear about the next exciting thing to happen in the Patterson household. Your wait ends here.
I was actually waiting to blog, knowing that we weren't telling everyone about the newest Patterson to arrive in February. I was afraid I might slip and say something since all that has been on my mind was my overwhelming desire to vomit! I think the strangest thing this baby has made me do so far was guzzle applesauce in Wal-mart. I HAD to have applesauce right then. There was no waiting to pay. I couldn't wait for a spoon. I just opened it up and poured it down my throat. And then carried it tightly in my arms until the next moment when I could guzzle again. I've definitely wanted sour flavors--salt and vinegar chips dipped in vinegar and horseradish, pickles and pickled okra and pickle juice. I think this baby might be a little psycho...or maybe it's just me.
So, that's the biggest news for those of you who hadn't yet heard. Zoey will be a big sister at 15 months. Bryce and Evyn may get their wish for a baby brother, which they asked for only weeks before I found out about this one. We got a new Honda Pilot to seat us all. Lynn says we will NOT be filling it. It seats 8...I should hope not! Of course, if you count dogs and luggage, we're already overflowing.

We went to Houston to see my parents last week. It was quite fun. They have this wonderful neighborhood with 3 pools, one of which is actually a water park with slides, high dives, squirting water, a huge bucket that pours huge amounts of water at random times, a perfect little baby area and plenty of seating for moms to watch the festivities. We visited the Space Center and had some delicious meals at a few of Houston's numerous restaurants.

The night before we left for Houston, we got a call telling us that Lynn's grandad was being flown into Lubbock because of a heart attack. Since then, he's had a triple bypass and is in CICU at UMC recovering. While we were in Houston, the reports were sounding better and better. He was doing amazingly well for a 90+ year old man who just had a triple bypass. He's had one or 2 days that weren't as hopeful, but last night he seemed to respond to people more than he had been as well as just looking better. I don't know all the medical details. I just know good or bad. We're praying and hoping for the best. I think his favorite thing to look at is baby Zoey. It's hard for anybody not to smile when she gives you that cheesy grin. We keep telling him he has to get better so he can bounce her on his knees. I believe he's fighting.

The morning that we got back from Houston, my idiot ex-husband called to tell me that he had a court document stating that he was supposed to have the kids for 30 days in a row in the summer. He told me that he had gone to a court hearing on Friday and the judge ordered it. I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that if there were a court hearing, I would be notified...and if there were a change, I should be notified. Neither of those things happened. Of course, our household went right into chaos mode once I got off the phone. Confusion, anger, crying, barking. When it all settled down, I realized that there is no way that Sperm Donor could handle the kids for 30 days in a row. So, why not let him give it a whirl? I'm not exactly positive what his motive is, but it's not because he loves his kids. I know that. It's going to backfire someday, I know it will. The good guy always wins! And in this case, that would be me...
Later I found out that the "court document" was a paper stating what standard visitation is, which we do not have, by the way...and it applies to the kids he has from a previous marriage that he doesn't even know where they are and hasn't paid their child support either. He's now responsible for 9 children...not a good thing when you don't EVER have a job! What a winner. And by winner, I mean stupid lazy lying loser. but if you know him, I don't even need to tell you that because it's obvious! Now that that's off my chest...

I've had suspicions of Evyn having anemia for quite some time, but didn't think it was an emergency to do anything about it since I just made sure she had her vitamins every day. It seemed to make her not quite as fatigued and a little more emotionally stable. Then I was talking to my mother last week about her symptoms, and she suggested that I get her screened for diabetes. After she slept more than usual and had a complete melt-down yesterday and she had her vitamin, I decided to google diabetes. Not that I don't trust my mother, but I really don't want it to be true, and if I can just convince myself that it's not...well, as many times as I've used that logic in the past, it will not go away. So, my googling informed me that she indeed has many symptoms of diabetes. I'm holding onto the fact that those symptoms can be other things, and I'm not really sure that she's lost weight. And I don't really know if she's going to the bathroom more. And maybe she's eating more because she's in a growth spurt. And she has eczema-that's why her skin is dry and itchy. And she scratches so she has lots of sores that don't heal quickly. But just to be sure, I made an appointment for her to get checked this morning. The kids are leaving tomorrow for 30 days of poor supervision. It's best if I know now, so I don't have one more thing to worry about while they're gone.
The doctor said Evyn is in the 25th percentile in height and 10th percentile in weight for her age group. I never would have guessed that! (Maybe I have them backwards. I don' remember.)
She was very brave when they took her blood. I knew she was scared to death, but I let her call Lynn at work since he is her biggest protector. It helped tremendously. He talked her through the whole thing. The nurse taking the blood actually said, "wow! he's good! I can still hear him talking." Yes, my husband is very good at talking. Look how handy it is!
She got a Hannah Montana sticker and a yo-yo for being so brave. And I bribed her with a piece of gum...a delicacy in our house. She went right back to school and told all of her friends about the blood that they got out of her arm. So, all is well in her 4 and 1/2 year old little mind.
I'm anxiously waiting for the results.

Did you enjoy reading about the drama in our house? I promise to blog more often now that everyone knows about our future new addition.
Don't forget to check out www.patterson-pack.com for pictures from Houston and other random shots of our family.