TGIF

This afternoon, the girls and I hung out with Maggie Belle outside. It's soooo cold today compared to yesterday. We were wearing shorts yesterday and heavy coats today! I suppose that's Texas for ya!

Anyways, I caught a few cute smiles and frowns from the girls outside.

Juliet is playing peek-a-boo in her little playhouse.

And Presley flashed me a little Princess smile.

I suppose it's hard to smile all the time! I like this picture even though she isn't smiling. She has a cute scrunched up nose.

And Maggie Belle...I think she is wandering how many more photos I can take of her. It looks like she is giving me that look like, " are you done yet?" Funny. Anyways, she's a cutie!

Welp, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Maggie Belle's 1st visit to the vet

This week has been a busy week.

Piper's fear of dogs is getting soooo much better. She's lovin' some Maggie Belle now days. Yesterday, I caught her eating a bowl of cereal next to Maggie Belle. And then she tried laying on her. Juliet still gets a little nervous when Maggie moves a little fast and she still freaks out a little when Maggie licks her, but progress is being made and Juliet is learning to love her new pup.

Presley has been sick this week. It seemed to start immediately after gymnastics on Tuesday morning. She came off the floor complaining of her head and belly hurting. When we got to the car, I took her temp and she had a fever of 102.6. So the next day, we were at the doctors office...again! The doctor said she had all the symptoms of the flu, but her flu swab as well as her UA and strep swab came back negative. So, she just has some kind of virus that looks like the flu and we just have to manage her symptoms and let it run it's course. She should be better by Friday.....HOPEFULLY!

And little Maggie Belle, She is really growing on me. She's such a sweet puppy and is so gentle with the girls and loves strangers and so far is great around other dogs. Today, she had her first trip to the vet. She did great and is 100% healthy. I should have brought back up though. Between the 3 girls, I think I caught about every 3rd word the vet had to say. UGGG!

Anyways, he said that she looks more like a Shepherd/Rotty mix rather than a Mastiff mix. And she'll be about a 60 pounder or so. Maybe a little less. She had dirty ears and they cleaned those up. We go back next week to get her shots and her heart worm preventative meds started. After she has all of her shots, we get to start puppy training classes. She had a great visit & everyone she crossed paths with loved her!

Here's a few pics from our week...

The girls fell asleep in the car on the way to the store to pick up a few things for sick little Presley. Thank goodness they are still tiny and fit in the buggy.

This is a horrible picture, but you can see Piper givin' Maggie some lovin'.

Today, after the vet check up, we stopped by Jack in the Box for a shake.

Maggie Belle was scanning the menu for some doggy treats....no luck.

What a sweet face! The guys at the window tried trading me some burgers for her. NO WAY JOSE!

And here are the girls laying on bags of dog food looking out the Petco window.

It must be PUPPY LOVE!!!

Bob, Ivan's (our neighbor) pup Pit Bull, wants to play with Maggie Belle sooooo BAD! I won't let them play together yet until her belly heals. So, until their 1st play date, Bob just peaks through the fence to get a glimpse of Maggie Belle. It's so cute. He kinda whines and gets her attention and flashes those sweet puppy dog eyes at her. I got some sweet pics of the two of them this morning.

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On another note, yesterday we took Maggie Belle shopping at Petsmart and met a pup Lab/Rotty mix and Maggie has a lot of the same markings. I started researching pics of all three types of pups: Rottweiler, Mastiff, and German Shepard and here is what I found. Remember, she is suppose to be a Mastiff/Shepard mix.

Okay, here is German Shepard Puppy

A Rottweiler Puppy

And a sweet Mastiff Puppy

And here is Maggie Belle

And here are her siblings...most of them do look like Mastiff.

So who knows, right????

Sore & Achy....STILL!

Saturday night, the girls (Presley, Juliet, and Maggie Belle) stayed with Grandma Ragan while John, Liza, Nick, and I walk/jogged the Mardi Gras 5k downtown. It was lots of fun! It was the first time that I actually got to jog a 5k. I am usually walking them while pushing the girls in the jogger. Jogging that thing was sooooo FREAKIN' hard! I think I complained the entire time.

I had thought John and Liza would go ahead of us and run it since they are the runners. And Nick and I were going to walk/jog it. But Liza & John decided to stay with us. I am so glad too! We probably wouldn't have finshed when we did if they hadn't been there encouraging us....or me. Nick did complain once....he had a smile the entire time.

We finally finished the run. I think it took about 45 minutes or so. And we got beads at the finish line. After the race we munched on bananas, chex mix, nut raisin mix, vitamin water.

After the left the 5k, we headed toward the parade to watch that and get more beads! We got a TON of beads too!

NIck kept saying how much he felt like Mr.T. It was pretty funny!

Then we went to Hunky's for some good burgers and conversation.

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I told John the next day, while I was groaning and walking around like an old lady ( I was and am still sore, I wonder if Nicky is too), anyways, I told John that the 5k was so hard and I hated running...It was hard but I had so much fun and really felt good afterwards and the days to follow that I want him to teach me to jog and critic my stride and etc. So that is my new goal. Or it could even by my late New Years Resolution since I didn't make one this year...to run a 5k without hating it and complaining the entire time. And eventually to run one without taking walking breaks.

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Next month is the St. Paddy's Day Dash Down Greenville Avenue 5k & fun walk. Can't wait!

http://www.dashdowngreenville.com/details.htm

So Curious

I love how curious Maggie Belle is. It takes her for ever to pee or poop because she is to busy exploring every part of the yard.

She's so cute.

Maggie Belle

I have been obsessing and searching for our family a little Boxer puppy. I love Boxers and ever since we had to find Sophie a new home last year, I have always wanted to get another one just like her.

We have filled out applications to Boxer Rescue Centers and looked for breeders. But no luck finding the right one for us.

We started looking on kijiji.com, oodle.com, Petfinders.com and saw so many cute pups that needed homes. I wished we could take them all! We decided to visit Operation Kindness last weekend and they had the cutest and biggest puppies in the lobby that just jumped out at us!

They are a Shephard/Mastiff mix. We played with a couple and decided to think about them over night. And that turned into days....we went back last night and the one we wanted was still there. And once again, she went straight to Presley. We couldn't play with her again because she just had her surgery. But we knew we had to take her home. So they let us adopt her and the girls and I went to get her this afternoon.

She's so good.......right now she is sleeping on the floor with Presley above her head on a pillow. And Piper is above them. It's really cute. And she has yet to bark. I hope that is a good sign. Piper still isn't too certain about her. Hopefully she'll learn to love and adore Maggie Belle just like the rest of us have.

Here is a picture of all of her brothers and sisters. She's the smallest of the bunch. They predict she'll be between 80 - 100 lbs when she is an adult. And the say she'll be a protective gentle giant.

1st few minutes at home. She went straight to Presley's lap and wouldn't leave her.

This is

Maggie Belle

(Presley wanted her to have a princess

name & Belle is a princess)

And here she is exploring her new backyard.

And the girls napping...all three of them. It's so peaceful right now, you have no idea!

One day, I'll get my Boxer, but for now, I really believe that Maggie Belle was meant to be the newest member of our family.

Mother WHAT????

Last night was hot dog night. And Presley commented that the Mac n Cheese was delicious. John said to her that it was "mother-truckin'" good.

Well this morning, Presley was snacking on her frozen blueberries and I overhear her saying to herself, "Yum, these blueberries are mother-truckin' good. "

As you'd imagine....I called John immediately!

It probably isn't appropriate for a 4 year old to say those things....but lordy, it was funny with all her sincerity.

The Napping Battle Is Over...

Presley has always fought with me about nap time. She HATES napping! Her biggest complaint is that the sun is too bright for her to sleep.

SOOO, I fixed that!

I got her a sleeping mask!

Now nap time is fun!

Finally!!!!

Piper went poo poo in the potty!

She, for some reason, has been absolutely terrified to go poop or pee in the potty. But this morning, she ripped her diaper off and said "poop". So we ran to the potty and Presley grabbed her an Elmo book and she did it! Afterwards, she got to flush the toilet (which is very exciting for her) and waved bye bye to her poop and then asked for a sticker.

Hopefully this means more pee pee and poo poos make the potty!!!

OH NO.............As I type, she pees on the kitchen floor!!!!!!!

UGGGG!

"Let's get physical, physical"

This morning, I got the girls movin' & grovin' with Billy Blanks. I can't get over how much they love Tae Bo! They had an absolute blast! And Presley is really good. She can really follow along with the DVD.

Work it! Work it!!!

I ordered a mommy & toddler yoga DVD too. It should be here next week. I think they'll like that one too.

One Sleepy Piper

Yesterday, we were on the go, so the girls missed their nap. We sat down for dinner about 6 o'clock and Piper wasn't feeling it! She had other plans. Here's a video clip of her trying to fall asleep at the table. It went on for about 5 minutes. It was absolutely hysterical! I was going to get up and put her to bed & John, of all people told me to grab the camera. I am so glad too. The girls and I watched the video clips again this morning and it was still just as funny!

On The Run Again...

Last year on December 14th, John ran his 1st marathon! 26.2 miles. That's a lot of running!

Well, tonight he signed up for his first ever TRIATHLON!!!!

It's The Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon on October 11th.

He'll start his swim at Cedar Hill State Park, then bike till he reaches the American Airline Center, and then run the Katy Trail.

All I can say is WOW!

Valentine Marshmallow Treats!

Presley, Juliet, and I made some yummy Valentine Marshmallow treats this afternoon!

They are strawberry marshmallows dipped in milk chocolate and for the girls I made some icing. Then the girls sprinkled candied sprinkles all over them!

Juliet made two. One didn't even make it to the cookie sheet after leaving the bowl of icing. It went straight to her mouth. And the second....well here's a picture of her and the second one. It looks like a little mouse was snacking on it.

Here's our finished product! Can't wait till after dinner! Yummy!