The "Good News"

Sorry it's taken me awhile to get this posted! I've been very busy--and you are about to see why!

Though our hearts are still heavy from the loss of Quigley, we now have a new fur-baby. While he will not take Quigley's place (and to be honest, we wouldn't want him too!), and our goal was not to 'replace' Quigley, he is helping to fill the empty silence and stillness that pervaded the house in Quigley's absence.

We couldn't stand walking past Quigley's empty crate, or seeing an empty spot in the room where it had been. The timing may seem off to some, but we feel like everything fell into place at the time that it did for a reason. We had been hoping to eventually get a mastiff puppy and they are kind of unusual here (as are most large breed dogs here in Hawaii), I saw an ad on Craigslist and replied to it, and eventually discovered that the man that had the puppies was actually one of my husband's old buddies from here before (they had deployed together years ago). To make a long story short, we got a puppy from them.

He is an English/Italian (or Neapolitan technically) Mastiff mix, and is going to be quite a large fellow when he eventually finishes growing (his daddy weighs about 130 pounds, and we have our suspicions that our boy may surpass him--though he may not).

Anyhow, we brought him home last Tuesday and have decided to name him Copper. We are currently working on housebreaking and other basic obedience training (I'll be glad when we are past this stage!).

Without further ado, here he is:

I will add some more pictures of him later, but I just wanted to 'introduce' him to you! :-)

On a totally random side note--it's hard to believe that Peanut Butter Cup's due date was a year ago today! How time flies!!

I'll be getting a hair cut later today . . . I think I'm going to end up with a hairstyle that is completely different from what I am used to--I normally chicken out at the thought, but this time I'm going to go for it! I'll post before and after pictures soon!

Quigley

You may remember my post several months ago where I mentioned that we weren't going to keep Quigley due to a child-aggression issue. So you were probably confused when I told you later that we had decided to keep him and bring him with us to Hawaii. Please allow me to explain why we made that decision, before jumping to any conclusions. . . .

After we had initially decided that we couldn't keep him, Quigley started to listen to our commands better--and more often--so that gave us hope that we would be able to work with him through his issues. Then the day of my husband's graduation we had a lot of guests . . . a couple of them (one being a small child about the same age as our neighbors' son) decided to go out into our backyard (where Quigley was) to see the cows behind our house. We didn't know they were going out there, or we would have stopped them, but we didn't, so about a minute or two later when we realized they were out there to find Quigley. We were very surprised that he seemed to have kept his distance (despite the intrusion into his territory) and hadn't gone running up to them immediately (whether out of friendliness or aggression since he didn't know either one).

That incident made us think that maybe he would be okay with other kids (aside from our neighbors' child). Plus, I just felt terrible about my husband having to give up yet another one of his pets (he'd always had to do that when he was growing up with the exception of one cat, so I was trying hard to prevent it from happening again).

So, that is why we decided to keep Quigley, and see if we could make it work.

However, since he has been here in Hawaii, he has growled at at least five kids and snapped at one. Honestly though, the child that he snapped at deserved it (don't worry Quigley didn't actually bite him) and I hope he learned a valuable lesson from that incident. We were walking around our neighborhood and the boy--who was holding a really big stick--was running down the sidewalk toward us when he suddenly had the not-so-brilliant idea of trying to pet Quigley (ignoring the fact that my husband was saying "No, no, no, no, no!") as he was running by us. Obviously, Quigley had a good reason to feel threatened, though that still doesn't excuse his response; my husband jerked Quigley back when he leaped at the boy, and I could literally hear Quigley's jaws snap shut. That made the boy stop dead in his tracks a few feet away with a stunned expression and say "I'm sorry." We sincerely hope that he learned a lesson about trying to pet unknown dogs without asking first.

Anyhow, back to Quigley. . . .

We have eighteen children on our street alone, and our community is full of children. Our backyard isn't very secure, which is problematic with all of the kids running around all the time.

Another big issue Quigley has is that he is very picky about other dogs. Same as with children, it is a fear-based aggression. It started when we took him to a dog park one day and he was bullied by a couple of pitbulls the whole time they were there. Before then he had been fine with other dogs, but ever since then he has been very inconsistent. We know that he doesn't like small dogs or puppies at all, and he picks and chooses from adult dogs. Considering the fact that our community also has a very large number of dogs, that just compounds the situation even more.

After talking to the breeder, we had to make the very difficult decision to have Quigley put down. This is the last thing we ever wanted to have happen, but if we sent him back to our breeder (as per her contract with us) he would live out the rest of his life in a kennel (because she can't re-home a dog like him--and he wouldn't be able to be out and about because of the danger he would be to the other dogs and puppies). As of right now we are trying to make Quigley's last few days/week as happy as possible. Please be in prayer for us through these next few days if you think of us. It goes against everything in us to be putting down an animal that isn't sick/in pain/injured with no chance of recovery. We do have some suspicions that Quigley may be developing some health problems, but it still seems so wrong to put down a happy, visibly healthy two-year old dog.

Despite all of the sadness surrounding this whole situation, we do have some good news coming, but that is yet another post which will be coming soon.

We greatly appreciate your prayers for us in this time of sadness!

An Overdue Update!

This may be a rather *long* post, as quite a bit has happened since I posted last. I never intend to 'disappear' from the blogosphere for so long . . . I just get caught up in my daily life and run out of time during the day, then by the time night comes around I'm usually to tired to compose my thoughts into something readable. However, I really should post more often.

Now, on to the update. . . .

The first week of October was quite eventful for my little munchkin--first he learned to wave (he's still working on it, but he has the general idea!), then he learned to associate "SPLAT!" with when he smacks and splatters the food on his highchair tray. On October 3rd he stumbled and fell against a wooden toy box that we have in his play room (and consequently removed from the playroom soon thereafter!) -- that incident resulted in his very first bloody lip (poor Baby!) and a cut underneath his lip as well.  The next day (Oct. 4th) he clapped his own hands (he's been clapping MINE for quite a while, ha ha)! Then on the 6th I was blowing bubbles for him, and he came over to me and said "Buh-buh.' So I think his third word may have been 'bubble'. :-) On the 8th he made it almost all the way across his playroom walking on his own, and he tried walking down the hallway that night before his bath (and even turned a corner!). Now he can walk in circles and turn around! He still loses his balance and plops down, but he is improving every day. Oh, and we can't really put him in his walker much anymore because he can climb out and I'm afraid he's going to fall on his head (I've always gotten him out before he loses his balance, but it's only a matter of time if we keep putting him in there, so I'd rather not chance it). So, that is what Peanut Butter Cup has been up to lately!

Since he figured out the whole clapping thing, he absolutely loves to clap! Oh, and Karissa, you can tell Courtney that she doesn't need to worry too much about him having a lack of rhythm and timing--when he claps to a song he is almost always on beat. :-) He actually clapped while watching Wheel of Fortune October 7th (he saw the contestants clapping and he decided he was going to clap as well--it was too cute)!

This past weekend (along with the past few days) have been hard as we have had to make a difficult decision in regards to Quigley. I will post more about that later, as that is a post in and of itself. Please be in prayer for our family though through the rest of this week as it is going to be a difficult next few days.

Blog Makeover

Pardon the dust as I make changes to the blog! Seeing as how it is Fall now, I thought it was time for a change . . . plus I wanted to have something 'Fall-ish' considering the fact that I won't get to enjoy Fall in real life again this year seeing as how Hawaii doesn't really have a Fall season. Hopefully wherever we may be stationed next will have all four seasons . . . . Until then though (since that is still at least a couple of years away! Ha ha), I shall do my best to enjoy the Fall season digitally.

I hope you are all enjoying some Fall weather--and for those of you farther north: I hope the changing colors of the leaves bring you joy during the next couple of months!

Happy Autumn!

First Trip to the Beach

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Dearest Peanut Butter Cup,
    Today was your first trip to the beach! How excited I was about you getting to experience the ocean! You love your baths, so I had been wondering if you would enjoy the waters of the Pacific just as much (even though there would be a big difference in temperature).
    We set out for Ko’Olina after running a few errands after lunchtime. The drive was pretty short--though we had to drive around to look for parking for a while. Eventually we were able to get a spot in the “Lagoon 4” parking lot (though we ended up walking down to “Lagoon 3” as there were fewer people there, so it was a LOT less crowded). After parking, I fed you and then Daddy changed you into your special swim diaper and put your little blue swim trunks on. I then slathered you with sunscreen as I didn’t want you to get sunburned on your first trip to the beach.
    After shuffling things around in the designated ‘beach bag’ and blowing up your froggy floaty we were ready to go! You were so excited and curious as we were getting ready to leave the car and on our walk from there to the beach. Halfway there I realized you were still clutching the swim diaper I had given you to hold while Daddy was changing you, I tugged on it gently and you smiled. How I love those sweet moments! You continued holding the diaper until after we’d picked a spot out on the beach and I had spread out a towel for you to sit on. Daddy put you down on the towel to let you explore as you liked; at first you seemed somewhat befuddled at to what was surrounding us (the sand), then you decided to reach out and touch it. Daddy talked to you about you froggy floaty and you crept to the edge of the towel and perched there on your knees for a moment. 

    Then it happened. You crawled off the towel and put your legs in the sand--your reaction was instantaneous: confusion, fear, and surprise, which--when combined with your tiredness from not having taken a very long nap earlier--resulted in your dissolving into tears and screaming about the sand clinging to your legs. Daddy scooped you up and took you to the water to see if that would distract you as you love the water in the bathtub so much. You had hardly gotten wet when you decided that this strangely large, communal bathtub was the last place you wanted to be! After a minute of waiting to see if you would come around and like the water, Daddy gave you to me to see if I could convince you it was safe. 

    We waded out into the water that was only up to midway past my knees, but as soon as I tried to dip your feet in you began screaming again and would pull your legs and feet up as far away from the water as you could manage. After about four minutes of trying to convince you that the water in the ocean was just as much fun as the water in the bathtub, we decided that today just wasn’t the day you were going to enjoy swimming or playing in the sand.
    Daddy suggested that we go sit in the grass in the shade just up the hill. So, we gathered up all of our stuff and trudged up the hill--once again spreading out the towel to sit on. This time though I was thinking, “Surely you will enjoy playing in the grass--since you’ve loved it every other time you had a chance to be in it!” With that in mind I sat down directly on the grass and stood you up on it. No sooner had your feet touched the ground then you began to scream again and pull your feet up to keep them from touching the ground again.
    We sat there for a few minutes, you sobbing and clinging to me for dear life, until you eventually calmed down. Daddy held you for a few minutes as well, but each time something changed (like when you were passed between us--or when whichever one of us was holding you went from standing to sitting down), you would immediately dissolve into tears once again. 

    A random man came up the hill to show us a little-bitty, baby sand crab he’d caught. You looked at it, but not with your normal enthusiasm. Even when Daddy tried showing it to you again after the man had left you still didn’t really want to have anything to do with it. 

    After a couple more times of trying to convince you that the grass was a fun place to be--and failing miserably in our attempts to do so--we decided to head back to the car to drop off some of our stuff and then go in search of the Black Pearl (the ship from the movie The Pirates of the Caribbean), which Daddy had seen docked nearby when he’d been there the morning before for PT.
    Back at the car we put you in your stroller, and then set off to find the Pearl. After a bit of walking we did find the ship--though it was across the marina and we didn’t have an entirely clear view of it. I snapped some photos of it nonetheless for posterity, and then we continued walking trying to find a better, more un-obstructed view of it while you sat contentedly (for the most part!) in your stroller and took in the sights from it’s safety and familiarity. 

    You were tired, however, which eventually caused you to begin fussing. At which point we turned around and made a beeline for the car and then home. 

    Today’s trip may not have gone exactly as I had envisioned it, but I know you will eventually change your mind about the ‘sand and surf’ and will then be able to enjoy both. I had the same reaction to sand when I was your age, so I guess you may have gotten that from me. I’m looking forward to the day when we will build sandcastles together, look for shells, and chase the little fish in the water that come close to the shore! Until then though, we will keep chasing those fish in the bathtub!

    Mommy loves you Dearest--now and forever!
    Love always,
        Mommy