Put into perspective...

This little bugger is total and complete hyperactive, over zelous, stubborn, yet intelligent dog you will ever meet. He's pushed me to my LIMITS...especially after Addison was born. In fact, I was ready to find him a new home b/c he was too much to handle with a new little baby. But despite all of this, he is our 1st baby and we LOVE him and always, always will! Everyone who knows us knows, Oskar is a pill but so, so, loving! In fact, Addison's favorite word is "Oskar;" anytime we hear a dog bark she says, "Ahhhhh-ker!" Even Max is Oskar! So this morning when we dropped him off at the vet fearing the worst, I sat with my head in my hands, tears pouring from my eyes.

Oskar slipped a disc in his lower back sometime Tuesday morning-not sure how or exactly when, but the entire day he moped and hid from everyone but me. We decided we better take him in and when the nurse mentioned it was probably his back, I feared the worst. I figured if he'd slipped a disc, he would have to be put down. Fortunatly, his injuries aren't too bad and he'll hopefully make a speedy recovery with a few pain killers and anti-inflammatories.

We're just waiting for the final call from the doc giving his okay to release Oskar to us after a long day without him. I'll tell you, things have been way too quiet and in order around here. I'm ready for my hyperactive puppy to come home. Even Max is depressed wondering where his brother is!

Unfortunatly, it takes times like this to make me realize how precious our little guy is. He's all those stubborn, obnoxious things, but he's also one of the most loyal, loving dogs that anyone could ask for.

We're back!!!

So after a temporary sabbatical or two or maybe even three from Blogger, I would like to officially announce that the Cann family is back! Haha! The reasons I started this blog was to help keep extended family updated and to keep records of our happenings...so that's just what I'm going to start doing...again!!! As you can see, we haven't gone private, for various reasons, and don't plan to, at least not right now!

So a little update on where we're at and what life's handing to us:

• We've moved from Moscow, the town we loved, to Twin Falls, a town that I'm not sure of but Eli promises me I'll soon learn to love it!
• Eli started his new job and LOVES it and is doing really well!!!
• I have accepted a 1st grade position and am SO excited to be in the public schools! (I met with several teachers from the district last Friday for coffee and couldn't be more thrilled to work with a great bunch of educators!)
• We live in an adorable little house with a fully fenced back yard! It's so nice not living in an apartment! I'll try to get some pictures taken today after Addi goes to sleep!
• I went to Florida on a once in a life time trip and it was AMAZING though I missed my baby dearly!
• Addison just turned ONE on Sunday!!! Where did the time go? (Pictures and details to follow soon!)
• And, we're selling Eli's prized possession...his truck! Wanna buy it?!

Overall, we are so very excited about this new chapter in our life. We miss our friends in Moscow/Pullman a lot but we plan to go back and visit soon to get Addison's 1 year photos taken and then for my friend's baby shower! And although Twin is COMPLETELY different from Moscow in nearly every facet, it's closer to our family and to us, there's nothing more important! While the road was extremely rocky and difficult to navigate at times over the past several months, God has truly blessed us, and we are ever so thankful with where He has lead us!

Mowing the lawn with Daddy!

Big Changes & Going Private

So after months of negotiating, decision making, and pure uncertainty Eli has excitedly accepted a terrific job offer in Twin Falls meaning that we are going to be moving! We both have been feeling a lot mixed emotions-excitement, fear, sadness, and relief.

When I came to Moscow about 7 years ago I thought I was here only to receive my degree, I didn't envision sticking around, but Eli and I have fallen in love with Moscow. When we began working in our current jobs we always talked about how lucky we were to have such compassionate and understanding bosses; how many of our co-workers have truly become our dear friends; how we actually enjoy going to work. We had never experienced these feelings in previous jobs so when we both gave our notice last Monday, there were many tears shed. It's hard to say goodbye to something you love and appreciate but we just can't financially afford to stay.

As I'm trying to digest all of this ever-quick change, I'm torn to know that Eli and I will live apart for a little while. Eli is leaving in two weeks and Addison and I won't follow until later in the summer (I'm still trying to determine a final date...). In the 8 years that we've been together we have walked the difficult path of a long distance relationship for a total of two years. I thought when we got married we were done but no. I have no doubt that this will be the most difficult time a part yet!

All in all, we are excited, but we are also very sad to say goodbye to our current jobs and our friends. We know this is what's best for our family but it's still very difficult. Thank you to all of you who have given us so much support. I can't imagine where our life would be if we didn't have all of the love and support of our families and our dear friends. We love you all and we know no matter where we are in this world, you all will continue to be in our hearts!!!

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So now it's time for me to find a job. I'm about ready to submit several different applications to school districts down there. Because of this, I need to make our blog private. Although I don't have anything on our blog that I'm ashamed of, I think it would be in my best interest to make it private. I know there are probably some people who "blog stalk" our blog which is totally fine (I do it too!!!) just leave me your email address in the comments section or email it to me at henr6661@vandals.uidaho.edu so that I can grant you access to continue reading!

I am still alive!!!

Have you ever felt that you have fallen so far behind on something that you need massive amounts of time to get caught up and so you put it off and then it just keeps getting larger and larger??? Well, that's exactly how I've felt with this blog! I began this as a way to document what's going on in our lives so that Addison can look back on it and enjoy all of the memories but somehow it became a chore...not sure what happened! So, I've decided to heck with it, I'm just going to start now and not worry about all that was missed! Sound good?


But before I go, here's one thing that I've wanted to share: all of Addi's 6 mos. professional pictures! I know I'm a little bias but isn't she SO cute?!!! We are so blessed!

A few pictures with cousin Clara! Aren't they adorable?!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

WINTER!!! Maybe I shouldn't write that with three exclamation points since I despise winter! I don't mind snow on Christmas, but then it can just go away! Oh, and it most certainly should not arrive before December 25th! However, this is what it looked like today outside:

And look at this big girl holding her own bottle--glass bottle I might add! Such a big girl growing like a weed!

At her doctor's appointment on the 17th she weighed 13 lbs 12 oz (50th percentile), 23 1/4 inches long (40th percentile) and F.O.C. 40 (30th percentile). So she's growing well! In fact, just this weekend she began to reach out to touch and grab things. She's been attempting to do this for a week or so now, but she's definitely mastering it with more and accuracy (plus some adorable awkwardness)!

She's saying, "Mom, I'm soaked from all this spit-up. Quit takin' pictures and change my clothes...for the 3rd time today!" I asked the doctor about this for the 100th time and he continues to tell me there's nothing to worry about...we're just over feeding her. So, we've cut her bottles back to 4 0z, but try to explain to an infant why she can't have more when she's used to eating more! Oh yeah, you can't! Anyway, this has helped some, but she's still spitting up a lot. In fact, just last night, Eli caught one spit-up with the bib and I dumped it back into the empty bottle to find that she had spit almost 1 oz up. (Gross I know, but I wanted a number for the volume coming back up! Rest assured, I thoroughly washed her bottle before her next feeding!) Anyway, that's 25% of what she's taking in...not to mention all the subsequent smaller spits...ugh! I guess she's gaining weight fine so we'll just ride this boat and hope that we hit smooth waters soon!

Oh, and might I mention...WE'RE GOING TO VISIT THE *PARENTALS* or should I say *GRAND PARENTALS* IN JUST A FEW DAYS!!! I can't wait! I need a break from work and Moscow life!!!

This and That

Here's Addison playing at school in the bouncer!

And here we are with my sister at her baby shower! Not the best pic of Addison, but it's still a fun one!

Thank you to all the phone calls, facebook and blogger comments about my previous post. I am taking it all into consideration, but I am laying low with the entire "sleep" thing until Addison is feeling better! Apparently between my scorching high fever last weekend and Eli's bronchitis, Addison has taken her fair share of sick buggies :(

So, Eli and I have decided that starting the first of January, you know after the huge gift buying season is over, that we're going to focus on getting out of debt. I've been reading Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover and I am getting completely motivated. It's not to say that we're in too much debt, but unfortunately we do have student loans, car and truck payments, and just recently some credit card debt.... I have always vowed to never carry any balance on a credit card, but we caved. Needless to say, it's getting cut up! Anyway, this book gives me hope that if we get out of this sooner than later, we will be able to save a substantial amount of money for retirement, vacations, Addison's college, etc. If anybody has any debt, even if it's just a mortgage, I strongly encourage you to read this book! I'm reading it now, then Eli will. We're giving ourselves until January just so we can get through the gift giving season, and then, we're buckling down! If anyone has read this book or had success with his ideas, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Calling All Moms

Addison has been doing really well with sleeping through the nights and taking good naps until this past week. Every night she has woken up between 2 and 3 am which isn't too bad but I would really like to get her back to sleeping through the night. Furthermore, I would like to figure out her daytime nap schedule. I've taken a lot of things from the book Baby Wise and have found much success with her eating and sleeping patterns...until last week! Her previous schedule was to eat ~5 oz. at 6:00, 9:00, 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and final feeding at 9:00. After each feeding with the exception of the final one, she would play for awhile and then go down for a nap until her next feeding. I have not taken the leap to put her to bed awake only to let her cry herself to sleep...

Anyway, her new thing is to eat at all of those times, but then only sleep for 20-50 minutes off and on between each feeding. This afternoon and evening she has only slept on and off for an hour...not nearly enough. I think she is getting to the age where she may be ready to put all those little naps together into one long morning nap and one long afternoon nap. I also wonder if she needs to eat more at each feeding, maybe somewhere between 5 and 6 oz.

So I need your honest input and help...
1. What have you found that has worked for your baby(ies) as far as sleeping patterns?
2. I want to stick to our feeding schedule, but how can I culminate all her little naps into one larger nap?
3. Is this normal for a child to completely change her sleep schedule all of a sudden?
4. Baby Wise suggests teaching an infant to fall asleep on their own starting at 2 weeks of age, but I strongly disagree with this. I don't think a newborn should be left to cry. But Addison is now 3.5 months old, in your opinion, is this too early to have her cry herself to sleep until she figures out how to go to sleep calmly?

She just finished going through a growth spurt so I don't think she's going through one now... She does have a cold, and maybe that's what's contributing to all of this???

Anyway, I thank you in advance for taking your time to help me. This whole mom thing is just a huge guessing game! Does it ever get easier?

To family members that don't have a google account, you can always leave feedback as "anonymous" and then in your comment leave your name so I know who wrote it! I would really like your input!!!