Meet Toby

Well, yesterday brought a new arrival to our household! Dan agreed we could go to the SPCA to look at a boxer I had fallen in love with online. When we got there, the line was long, so to pass time while I was in line, Dan and the kids were looking at two crates of puppies. Before I got to the front, I asked Dan if he was interested in a puppy (and we always agreed we would NEVER get a puppy), and he looked unsure. When the woman at the desk told me the boxer had already been adopted, it seemed like we were heading in a different direction.

Our application was approved for the puppies, but we went back to the older dogs to take a look at them. There were two dogs that caught my eye; one was named Havoc, which didn't seem like the best sign, and the other was a stray boxer mix. Dan was worried about that one because we had no information on her, and with the two small children, we need to be very aware of that type of thing. We chose to look at a puppy Dan had noticed in the crate.

Well, it only took me a few minutes to fall in love with him. He was soft and cuddly and adorable! Dan, ever the practical one, was concerned about the training we'd have to do, but being delusional, I figured it would go quickly and easily. After what felt like hours of paperwork, we finally took little Toby home.

Toby was born 2/1, which makes him about 8 weeks old. As you can see, he's a mix of several things. He is listed as a lab/chow mix, but they thought that the father could have been pug/husky. Whatever he is, he's adorable, and so far, he's pretty well-behaved. Last night he had me up a few times crying in his crate, but I knew to expect that. He's peed outside for us several times, and while he did have a small accident this morning, looking back, Dan said he could see some cues that he had to go potty.

The kids seem to love him already, especially Emily. We haven't seen much of Lucy since we brought him home, so that relationship remains to be seen. I'm sure we'll have lots more pictures to show off in the coming weeks!

Changes

It's been a long while since I've updated the blog...sorry to anyone who's been looking! We've had some big changes in the Bilodeau home over the past month, and while I can't blame the absence of updates on that, I will try :)

The first big change is that Dan was offered a promotion at work. While this will come with a raise and increased responsibility, it also came with new hours. He now works would would be considered a traditional split 2nd/3rd shift Sunday through Wednesday. This means that the kids and I are on our own those four nights, but Dan has taken over morning duties (so appreciated!) and he now has three days off. This summer will be even nicer when I'm off work too!

The other big change was that we had to put Leo to sleep at the beginning of March. He wasn't acting right, and when we took him to the vet, we were told he had internal bleeding and most likely cancer in his belly. We started him on medication, hoped for the best when he had a couple good days, but had to make a decision when he quickly declined. While it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, I know that we did what was best for him. And I know that we can never replace him, but I'm hoping to have another dog in the near future...it's strange how you can get used to having one in the house.

Fall Fest Fun

After weeks of rain and ugly weather, we are lucky enough to be in a time of Indian Summer. We took advantage of the beautiful weather to do some fall fun with the kids this past weekend. A farm on my way to work has been advertising a fall festival for awhile, and while I didn't think it would be a huge event, it was close and it was cheap, so we decided to check it out. I'm so glad we did; the kids (and Dan and I) had a blast! For $15 total, we got to do a petting zoo, a corn maze, and probably the longest hayride I've ever been on. After the hayride, we let the kids pick their own pumpkins. Some pictures from our day:

Owen petting the goat. For whatever

reason, he always wanted to pet the animals

right near their butts.

Emily petting the cow. These animals were so

laid-back! The only one that really wasn't was

the donkey. He ended up licking Emily's

head, which she couldn't stop laughing about.

In the corn maze....we let the kids determine which

paths we took. I'm pretty sure they

got their dad's (terrible) sense of direction.

Cedar Point/Great Wolf Lodge

At some point last winter, Dad emailed Jason and I and asked if we'd like to do a vacation in the summer to an amusement park. Since it's very rare that I get to hang out with my brother and my dad at the same time, I was all for it. We chose Cedar Point since it seemed like a good meeting place somewhere in the middle of Indiana and Pennsylvania (Dad got the short end of the stick with driving).

Jason found the Great Wolf Lodge while we were on the phone one night discussing hotel options. By the time we ended our conversation, we'd booked the rooms and I was really excited to see what the fuss was about with this resort.

Here's a picture from our balcony. We overlooked what could be considered the highlight of staying here...the indoor waterpark. The entire building to the left housed waterslides and pools...we spent an entire day there!

The first day, we went to Cedar Point amusement park. It was awesome...so many rollercoasters! Because we were all with kids, we didn't end up getting on as many rides as I would have liked, but we did hit some amazing coasters. I ended up chickening out for the very last one...too much time spent thinking about it...so Jen and I indulged in milkshakes while Dan, Jason, and Dad rode it. Maybe we'll get back out there at some point, and I will find the courage to do it :)

The best part of the trip was seeing the kids interact. Emily and Owen don't see their cousins much, but when they do, it's like they see them all the time! Emily is enamored with Isabelle...she wants to do everything Isabelle does. She also seemed to "adopt" Schuyler as her baby brother, while Owen and Isabelle really hit it off.

The second day we spent at the waterpark. I didn't know how the kids would like it since they'd never been on waterslides before. Well, I need not have worried. Both of them were scurrying up and down the slides, and we all had a blast. Emily especially loved watching the bucket of water fall every so often from the water fort.

We had an amazing vacation...it was so nice to see my Dad and Shirley and my brother and his family and just spend some time with them. While the drive out and back seemed endless (a toddler and a preschooler have to pee an amazing number of times on a drive with limited rest stops), it was definitely worth it!

Summertime...and the livin's easy

Summer is my very favorite time of year. It's always been that way. I have a summer birthday, school is out, and it's light until late into the evening. Things just seem a lot more relaxed in the summer, and I absolutely love the weather. So...some things we've done so far with our summer!

The beach is my favorite place to be, but Dan has not been to Ocean City except for a couple of occasions (and one of those was in the winter). So, he and I took a mini vacation over an extended July 4th weekend sans kiddos. It was so wonderful! We loved our hotel (The Dunes Manor), we were relaxed, we had fun, and the weather was gorgeous. The only negative that occurred was somehow I caught strep throat, so by our last night, I was feeling pretty terrible. But, up until then, I was LOVING our getaway; we're hoping to do it again next year.

The kids got to spend a lot of time with their grandparents. Dan's parents came to visit in July and stayed for a long weekend. My dad and Shirley came up the following weekend for a wedding, and while the kids only got to spend an hour or two with them, they certainly made the most of it! I'm pretty sure dad was sore the day after hoisting the kids up and down repeatedly on what they fondly referred to as "The Ride".

We've also spent time at my mom and Ron's house, specifically in the pool. Both kids have really taken to swimming this year. Emily and Owen both will swim unassisted with their swimmies, and they will both jump off the side of the pool and swim to the steps. It's amazing how fast they learned!

This summer has been a bit different for me since I don't have the usual time off work. This spring semester, I filled in once again in the guidance office, so I owed ten additional days after the end of school. This time, however, the other counselor decided not to do her ten days prior to school starting either, so I am taking those as well. That means I only get about 4 weeks of summer vacation, and it's been broken up throughout July and some of August. I love the counseling job, though, so I don't mind too much...although come August 24th, I return to the English classroom once more.

Emily's 4th Birthday

It's hard to believe that Emily is already 4! We celebrated her birthday on Mother's Day with family and friends. Some pics of the day...

Emily, Jordyn, and Colton ready to dig into the cake!

Opening presents...she got so much wonderful stuff!

Em's into Minnie Mouse at the moment, so her party had to have a Minnie Mouse theme.

Easter 2011

Some pictures of Easter this year!