New Blog

So, due to my lack of commitment to any particular product, service, etc...I am trying out a new blog host.

So check us out at:

http://thewheelerfamily.wordpress.com

Duck crossing

Lily and I were on our way to Safeway yesterday, typical weekday activity, when there seemed to be a little confusion going on at the intersection of Philomath Blvd and 53rd street. There was a man outside of his car who was acting a little flustered and running around in said intersection. Upon further examination, we saw that this kind man was assisting a wayward mother duck, and her brood across the busy road. How nice is that? We caught a glimpse of the mama and her 11 (!) ducklings as they ran across the sidewalk and into the tall grass.

It was one of those sweet moments that we rarely witness, of the goodness of people. It made my day.

Roger Rabbit

We have a new addition to the family. His name is Roger, Roger Rabbit.

Roger, along with his name, came from the Humane Society in Corvallis, where he had been since November. He is estimated to be about 2 years old and he weighs in at a whopping 11 pounds! He does have red eyes, which many folks don't like, but we love him anyway.

So far he has been great! He is friendly, social, he doesn't bite, and he loves to sit on laps and be loved. He doesn't even mind the dogs and their efforts to "play"with him. Hopefully he will be with us for a long time.

Tempus Fugit

Today is Lily's last day of being 2! I'm sure that tomorrow when year three begins, she will become much more mature and reasonable.

I'm with her every day, so often do not realize how quickly the time is whizzing by. When you bring home a newborn baby, seasoned parents will always tell you how quickly children grow. As a new parent, you shrug this off, because you are feeding, changing, feeding, changing for 24 hours a day, and it seems like your helpless little baby will never be able to do anything for herself.
But here's the truth. Tempus Fugit. And it doesn't always seem like it, but tomorrow Lily will be three. And I feel like I have missed something, I work hard everyday making food, cleaning up toys, and trying to enstill good behavior in my daughter that I feel like I've missed her growing up. I look at photos and can't remember what she was really like at that stage in her life. I honestly do not know where the last three years have gone. But I do know that I love being Lily's mom, and can't wait to see how much she will change and grow in the next year of her life.


Happy Birthday Lily!

A good day

A few days ago something spectacular happened. Something that everyone in the valley had been eagerly anticipating with lawn mowers and planting supplies at the ready. The sun made it's triumphant return, with real, honest to goodness warmth along with it. It was awesome. Lily and I spent 1.5 days outside, mowing grass (which was fine until the bag came off the mower and resulted in me being showered in grass clippings and a quick dose of benadryl), digging in sand, planting flowers. We even broke out the BBQ.

We found a tree frog in the lawn, who narrowly escaped the blades of the mower. We relocated him to the creek. He was small, so Lily was very concerned about the whereabouts of his mommy and daddy.

The dogs were outside for so long that they actually stopped running, and relaxed in the cool grass.
I am a true believer in the healing properties of the sun. Mood improves, skin is happy for a dose of good old vitamin D, and we all sleep well from the fresh air and activity.

Today it is back to normal, grey skies and chilly *sigh* . We will anxiously await the return of the golden orb (have you seen cold comfort farm? It's a good one, you should watch it).

About a dog

Piper get's a bad rap. I'll admit that she perhaps has more that her fair share of energy, but really she's just a lovey. She can go to the park sans leash, and adores Lily. I admit that my dogs are not extremely well behaved and completely unsocialized, but they are great with the Lily, and that's all we really care about. Although, Sadie has redeemed herself by having a complete lack of motivation, thus seeming "mellow".

Anyway, back to Piper. I let the dogs out the other afternoon, and when I called them in, Piper was bleeding fairly significantly from her back toe. The knuckle in fact. I did some triage and could plainly see a tendon...so I performed doggy first aid and left her alone. cut to 3 days later. The wound is now 3 times the size, hair is gone, and it looks infected. We go to the vet, who tells me she has given herself a lick granuloma (which I promptly came home and googled) and proclaims "I have bad news, it's a fate worse than death. The E-collar...for at least 2 weeks". I figured, no big deal! However, upon returning home I soon realized that this was going to be a huge pain in the rear. I put the collar on her at 3:30pm, and she hardly moved and would not lie down until midnight. I was about to take it off her at 10:30 when Andy informed me that tonight would be the worst, and "she's like a baby, you just have to let her cry it out". Funny.

She's doing better today, has mastered the art of lying down with the satellite dish around her neck, and although I'm pretty sure she is clinically depressed about the whole situation, the toe looks better already.

The Haircut

Lily has this wild, unruly, beautiful blond hair. It looks gorgeous when it can be tamed, but most of the time it is moderately out of control, somewhat like the child beneath the coif. It is an epic battle to brush it, and ponytails can only be created with trickery and skill. Thus, the hair had to go...

I was not initially pleased with the plan, but with lollipop in hand we went to see the finest hairdresser that $12 can buy. I don't know how these stylists have the gumption, but with fierce speed the hair comes off. Lily was good, no complaining was involved, but not much sitting still took place either.The end result was brilliant. Brushing is a breeze, and she looks pretty adorable too.

Octuplets!?

I do realize that this is a diagram of an octopus, and not in fact, human octuplets. I couldn't find any images of octuplet babies in by brief google search.

I read in the news this morning that the nations second set of octuplets were born in California. The mother and babies are doing well, and have chosen to maintain their anonymity. Although I fear they will soon be discovered upon departure from the hospital. It might be fairly obvious to passersby that you have 8 BABIES! The family also declined to comment on whether or not fertility drugs were used...hmmm.

Did you know that the spell check on this computer does not even recognize the word "octuplet". Can you imagine 8 babies at one time?! This is ridiculous. I am aware that this poor woman most likely did not expect to be pregnant with 8 children at one time when she started this journey, but this is the craziest thing I have ever heard.

I suspect that this new mother will not be leaving the house for a long time.

Sunriver

I love Sunriver. I often remenisce about all of the winters there with my family, summers with the Pattisons, and the trips whenever we felt like it to Ethan's place, where we undoubtedly always had a fantastic time.

A couple of weeks ago I had an epiphany. "we should go to Sunriver for a long weekend" I say. To which Andy replied "sure". The fun part was that we had to be the adults and reserve a house, pay the bill, buy the food, etc. It seems there was more involved in all of those trips than I was aware of. We found a house with a hot tub (number 1 requirement) and the other Wheelers, Nick and Sarah, agreed to share the abode with us for the weekend, another bonus!

We began the trip on Friday morning from Portland, the weather was good, roads were clear, and the snowsuits and swimsuits were packed. We even remembered Lily. The drive was beautiful, Lily saw her first Dam as we approached Detroit Lake, which was mostly devoid of water. Everytime we pointed anything out of interest to Lily on the drive, her response was "But I want to go on vacation!".

The drive over the mountain was uneventful. The roads were bare, and the snow level was uncharacteristcally low. But the sun was shining and it was beautiful. The strange thing was that we came around a corner and saw emergency vehicles and a single car accident at the EXACT same spot as Andy and I had crashed years ago. Eerie I say.

We stopped in Sisters for some much needed leg stretching. Andy and Lily found a park, I found a coffee. It was warm and the sun was shining, yet the ground was frozen solid. We had to explain to Lily that this still "was not vacation, we'll be there soon". So we continued on to Bend for a stop for groceries and gas before heading to the final destination.

The house was perfect. Antler chandelier in the dining room, stairs for Lily to hike up and down as many times a day as she could muster, fireplace, and a great hot tub. "I like our vacation house" Lily says. Nick and sarah arrived later that night, and we all had a great time settling in.

Saturday we decide to head out in the Jeep in search of sledding, or Benham Falls, or something. We venture down a road which was off another road, which was off a road before that. We're all having fun on the roller coaster of ice and snow, until the road starts getting less travelled and harder to navigate, and I say "I think we should turn around"... and then this happens.

Never fear, Andy got us out and turned around, and then we went sledding on the ice.


Stacie was able to leave work for the night, so she came over for dinner, phase 10, and hot tub fun. I would post photos of the hot tub, which Lily loved (she called it the "hot bath tub"), but there were parties present who requested their photos from the hot tub not be published.

Sunday Stacie and I had a girls trip to Bend where I stocked up on all sorts of English confectioneries from Cost Plus, and found Lily these adorable and warm Sherpa boots for $3. We had coffee, saw several huge dogs, and checked out her awesome condo. I'm jealous and want to live in Bend. Not sure what Andy and Lily did exactly during this time, but I am fairly sure it involved sledding, and feeding some fish at the hatchery with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Nick. Poor Nick and Sarah couldn't get away from the Lily, she followed them everywhere like a lost sheep, and demanded to know their whereabouts at all times. I think she likes them.

Monday was departure day. Much to Lily's dismay we had to pack up and leave our "vacation house". This did not go over well. She had one more dip in the hot bath tub, and away we went. We had to stop at Deschutes brewery on the way out of town for lunch, Stacie met us there, and I had the Best mushroom dip sandwich. Which I Highly reccommend.

We had a fantastic time! rested, relaxed, had lots of fun, and can't wait to go back again soon.

Wall-E

We watched Wall-E last night, I think it was pretty good.
There were some good messages.
Peter Gabriel sang the song during the end credits.
Now all I can think of is this.

(It's Sledgehammer...don't tell me you don't remember this video)