Happy Birthday, Sandy!

Sandy is 4 months old today! He is just amazing. He weighs about 39 pounds now. He's starting to get the longer curly hair on his back and his tail is getting fluffier. He just loves to play outside in our front yard! He runs around in circles and then dives into our shrubs. Some of the shrubs are stiffer than his favorite ones, so he just uses those shrubs as stepping stones to get to his favorites. We walk him every other day over a mile and then when we get back to the house, David lets him off of his leash and he gets to just be a puppy and be crazy in the front yard. He's lost all of his front teeth, but still has those sharp canines. Ever so often he'll be chewing on something and we'll see what it is, and it's a tooth!!! One good thing about that is, his adult teeth aren't as sharp as those baby teeth are.

Bella Ballerina

Anastasiya is taking dance classes, specifically, tap dance classes. She has new shoes and a new outfit in the picture that Tony sent us.

We're going to see her dance recital in May. She is all about dance. If there's music going, Ana is moving.

Hair Today - Gone Tomorrow!

I had to work at it, but I convinced my hairdresser to give me a permanent today. Bless her heart, Melissa is the one that we went to on December 9, 2006 and had her to shave all my hair off. She has been really reluctant to perm my hair, for fear that it would fall out or gum up. She did it today on the condition that she would try one roller at the back nape of my neck to see how the hair would respond. It did just fine, so off we went to roll it all up. It is sooo nice to have body back in my hair! Since the stubble fell out during the chemo, what has come back in doesn't seem to be quite as coarse as my hair used to be, so my hair just lays flat against my head.

Happy Birthday, Nikita!

Nikita was born on April 26, 7 years ago in Louisville, Kentucky. I flew there and stayed for 2 weeks helping out with this new little boy. You would never know now that Nikita is the same boy as that baby! He didn't like much of anything. He cried over everything. He HATED the car seat. He would scream bloody-murder when he was put into it.

But now Nikita is very good-natured and doesn't cry over anything and pretty much likes anything. We called Nikita tonight for his birthday. They even put the phone on speaker and I joined in with them singing "Happy Birthday" to him.

Here he is in his soccer gear. Happy 7th birthday, Nikita!

The Water Boy

We took Sandy to Lake Ray Hubbard, right here in Rowlett today. It was lots cleaner than White Rock Lake in the snooty part of Dallas. He was a little hesitant to get in deep, but not to get in the water. He loved it. He found this 2x6 out in the water and tried surfing on it. See, he's standing on it in this photo!



Then we threw him some sticks in to retrieve. And here he is with one in his mouth. He got to meet several people, especially one little girl who let him play with her. She said she has a pit bull, so she wasn't afraid of him. It was really good for him to settle down with her. It wasn't all that hot outside, but he didn't care. But he did need Kowboy to give him some courage to go out farther in the water!

Sandy at the Dog Park

We took Sandy to the Dallas Dog Park at White Rock Lake this afternoon. It was an interesting experience. First, the place was really closed due to the rain we've had recently, but there were tons of people there, so we followed suit and stepped over the locked fence just like everyone else, so that our children could get to play with each other.
Sandy was the prettiest dog there. He was also the one with the softest hair, as everyone remarked. (We had just had a garden tub bath together this morning, so he was nice and clean--when we got there.) He was also one of the best behaved. He found some people that he liked and a few dogs, but for the most part he just smelled around and observed. There were some pit bulls there that were nice dogs but were impressing each other with their growls. Then there was this basset hound who was stirring up the pit bulls. He came over where I was sitting under an umbrella and I told him that he was a troublemaker. Most people didn't exert any type of control over their dogs. You're inside this large fenced in area. One of the rules is that your dog must be off of a leash once they are inside the fence.
We took Sandy to the water after he was through playing with dogs. He really didn't intend to get in the water at first, then accidentally slid into it, so he was fine then. He made a friend there and tried to get his friend to go in the water with him, but it never worked.
It was interesting seeing him interact with other dogs and people. We're wanting to get him around people so we can teach him to not jump up on them and not bite and nip at them. He did really well. David even worked with him a little, had him to sit and shake hands. Sandy did it even with all the distractions, so we were proud.

A S H L Y N N F A I T H I S B O R N ! ! !

Kora, Aubrey, Brynna, Hailey and Lauryn are proud to announce the arrival of their baby sister, Ashlynn Faith. Ashlynn was born this morning at 6:20, at home in San Antonio. The midwife arrived at the house a mere 15 minutes before Ashlynn arrived! Everyone is doing well.

Ashlynn weighed 9 pounds and 14 ounces, was 21 1/2 inches long. She has dark hair. And she looks just like the other Kelly/Tami Smith babies. They are tickled to have her here, especially Tami, because she was one week overdue. We can't wait to see her and hold her and see her sisters!

Happy Birthday, Brynna & Tommy!

Brynna Nicole Smith (one of our soon-to-be 7 granddaughters) is 7 years old today!

Tommy Gale Swaringen (my brother) is 54 years old today!

We talked to Brynna on the phone. She was so excited because she had an actual store-bought Barbie and the Dancing Princesses birthday cake, since Mom isn't exactly in the birthday cake baking mood. Mom does still have something in the oven, but it isn't a birthday cake!

Happy birthday, Brynna & Tommy!

Geek Squad Hires Golden Retriever

Our recent encounter with the Geek Squad at the new Rockwall BestBuy was less than impressive. My CD-R drive had died on me, and my USB port for memory sticks didn't work at all. So we left it there for them to diagnose the problem and call me back. In about an hour a different Geek from the one who I checked in with, called and told me that my PC was really slow and they needed to do a diagnostics on it for $29.99 and that would fix me up. I asked the Geekess what about my 2 drives that I took the PC in for. . . . oh, she didn't know about that. She would call me back. She did and said that they needed to replace the CD drive, which was what I figured, but that the USB was running fine.

They called me when everything was fixed and I went back to BestBuy to pick it up. I literally stood at the Geek Squad counter for 10 minutes without one person saying 'what do you need'. The Geek Squad is right next to Customer Service and there were 2 people there, who at times during the 10 minutes were uninvolved with a customer but I didn't get any service from them. A manager from the other side of the store even walked by me and didn't say anything. At 10 minutes on my watch, I got my cell phone out and called the store and pressed 4 to talk to the Geek Squad. The 2 phones on their counter started ringing. A guy in the back answers the phone. I told him that I'd been standing at their counter for 10 minutes without help. He rushes out there to help me. He got my PC and loaded it on a cart for me.

I'm figuring they need either counter help there or a bell one, so here is their newest BestBuy Geek Squad member! This computer was one of the first toys we bought for Kora Brianne when she was born. Sandy just loves to press the buttons on it and bark at it. The Geek Squad is redeemed!

Our New Mail Man

Our child's latest accomplishment. . . . . well, OK, that might be stretching it a little, but it's just too cute. Neither sleet, not hail, nor rain, nor dark of night can keep this trusty paper-chewer-upper from destroying our junk mail for us! David let Sandy carry in our "mail" yesterday and today he did it again so I could get a picture or two. He is so proud of himself for bringing the mail in. This serves a training purpose, keeping him from running off down the block smelling of something new. He loves paper anyway and this is right up his alley. Of course, gettin the mail away from him once he's in the house is a different story! He's so smart. Tomorrow I'll post photos of him on the computer!!!

Talking to Lauryn on the Phone

I had talked to all of the San Antonio granddaughters recently except for Lauryn, so today was her day. Her daddy answered the phone and I asked if Lauryn was available. Kelly asked her if she wanted to talk to Granny and I heard this sound like something falling. She was coming to the phone. The last time I talked to Lauryn (3 yrs & 5 mo) on the phone, it was a pretty short conversation with lots of uh-huhs and yes's on her end. But not this time! We talked for at least 10 minutes and most of that time, SHE was doing the talking. It was an educational conversation so I thought I would share some of the things I learned from Lauryn:

1. Health: Bugars are yucky. I didn't even ask how she knows this.

2. Anatomy: Kora hurt her ANKLE, not her leg.

3. Math: Because Kora hurt her ANKLE, she has TWO 'kutches' that she walks with.

4. Health: Tooting (windying) is stinky. Big sister Kora with the bum ANKLE was eavesdropping on our conversation and died giggling at that one. Big Daddy toned in on that one in the background.

5. Social studies: It's more fun to be funny when you have an audience. People are social creatures. When Kora was there giggling at her, Lauryn got funnier and sillier.

6. Health: Lauryn's mommy only has GIRL babies, not boys.

7. Time management: Lots of precious time can be spent just telling a giggling little girl that she is silly.

8. Finance: Bank away those memories for days to come when the little girl becomes a grown woman and isn't so silly any longer.

Two Soccer Games & the River

We spent the weekend at Kyle, leaving Friday morning. It was Sandy's first big travelling adventure. It started out funny at the house. We surmised that he would have more room in the back of the Durango, so David packed everything in the middle seat. Everything is packed, David puts Big Red in reverse and look back and Sandy is in the middle seat on top of everything. So we park in the driveway, rearrange everything to put it all in the back and put him in the middle seat. Had to put a blanket over my leather seats and then David used one bungee cord to secure it around the headrests and we put him there and were ready to go. Right as we're about to get on I-30, Sandy decides he wants to ride in the back! I go back there and get him in the middle seat again and put his leash on his collar. As soon as he had the leash on, he settled down.

Sandy slept most of the way there. We stopped several times to take a tee-tee break, sure takes more time when there are new smells, sounds, people everywhere. But he did good.

We got to Tony & Elena's house about 5 p.m. Nikita and Ana had been calling to see where we were and how much longer it would be until we got to their house. It really threw Nikita when I told him that we stopped in Italy to eat at a Sonic.

Here are the grandkids in their soccer outfits. We were headed out to their games and just had to take a picture while everyone was still fresh and happy :-) We ate lunch at Whataburger and then headed to the river.

Kowboy & Sandy were real friends after the initial meeting was over. We went to a river close to Tony & Elena's house to let the dogs play on Saturday after Nikita's and Ana's soccer games. Tony let Kowboy off of his leash and he runs full speed into the water. David let Sandy off of his leash and he does the same thing----not realizing what he was doing! He went right in the water and came up with this panic look on his face, but he was dog-paddling as fast as he could. Tony would throw a stick for Kowboy to retrieve out of the chilly water and at first Sandy tried to go get it, too. Then he decided it was better to just stand on the rocks at shore and wait for Kowboy to nearly get back to the shore and THEN he would jump in to help him get the stick! They both had so much fun. Here they are just soaking up the water and looking like drowned rats.

Freedom at the Park

There were so many good smells at the park Saturday. We just sat in the shade and let him hunt. Ever so often he would realize he was a long way from his people and would come rushing back with that puppy-galloping kind of run. Nothing like what Kowboy did. Sandy loves it out in the open where he can just run and smell as much as he wants.

Playing in the Bathtub

Whether there's water in it or not, one of Sandy's favorite places is in the tub. This morning again, he shared the garden tub with me. Just sat right down and let me bathe him. Then after breakfast while I'm brushing my teeth, he jumps into the downstairs tub and looks wishfully for more water!

He can now: sit, shake hands with his right hand (at first he only used his left hand so we have probably ruined his life by making him be right-handed), lay down, come here, be still and the big one---go tee-tee. It's just like having a baby again!

King of the Hill

Tonight we were both on our computers and the boy was entertaining himself. We can hear him by the jingle of the 3 tags he wears on his collar. We're on the computers and I hear this sound like a deer gracefully jumping a fence. I get up to see what it was. Sandy is at the top of the stairs lying down. The "gate" is still up at the bottom of the stairs. He has officially managed to jump over the gate, so it is in the closet. He is thrilled with himself. Right now he is sitting at the top of the stairs barking at us, because neither one are looking at him.

David showed me today that Sandy can jump into the bathtub in one leap today also. This was before the gate jumping, so being able to get into the bathtub probably helped with the gate.

We saw Dr. Laidley, my breast surgeon, this morning. She approved of the work that Dr. Hodges has done. See her again in 3 months. She was impressed with how much hair I have.

It Just Didn't Work

We went to the followup appointment with Dr. Hodges, my plastic surgeon today. It went about like I thought it would. The new nipple on the right breast that he made during surgery on 3-7-08, just never did right. It never got soft and just kept getting more like a scab, instead of new skin. So all he had to do was snip 2 sutures that were left and the 'nipple' came right out. He was disappointed that it didn't work. Said to keep anti-biotic ointment on it 2X a day and it's OK to use the Bio-Oil on the incisions. The left breast is still swollen and red, so he sent me for a sonogram to check for fluid.

Went to get the sonogram at 1 p.m., but nothing bad there. It was at Presbyterian where Dr. Hodges is, so I walked back over to let him know the results. They stuck me between his next patient and he said to keep ice on the left breast to help reduce the swelling. I go back to see him on April 15 to see how the right nipple area is healing and we'll go from there.