Happy Monday

Davis wakes up between 6:30 and 7 every morning.  He goes to the living room and turns on cartoons while the rest of the house gets another 30 minutes or so of sleep.  I walk into the living room this morning as he's swallowing something... 

Me: "What did you just eat?"
Him: "A cookie."
Me: "What?!?  Davis, you can't eat cookies for breakfast.  Don't ever do that again.  You don't ever get cookies without asking first.  How many did you eat?"
Him (with his 15 year old 'tude): "Ugh.  I can't remember."

He ate 5 chocolate chip cookies this morning.  I counted.  Thank God it's a school day.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Got The Computer Back...

...so I'll catch you up on the fun we've been having...

Down at the pits during Monster Jam...

 

Hanging out before the show (after the pits)...

Birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese...

Burning up a rainy Saturday at the bowling alley...

Every Dad needs a daughter...

This has become Boogs favorite new spot...

She even passes out in there...

Being a mess maker...

 

Brother got tickets to the UGA/UK Basketball Game for Christmas, so we headed up there on Tuesday...

The Etsy Store...

• I've had 2 more people feature one of my items in their 'Treasury'.  It hasn't generated any sales, but definitely traffic.  So that's good. 
• Finally, someone that doesn't know me ordered something!  All the way from Oregon!  And this is what she had to say about her purchase...

"Love it! Plus, SUPER FAST SHIPPING. I ordered this two days ago, and it's already here in Oregon from Georgia. Thank you! I'm sure we'll be back."

As Promised...

Giveaway available on my A.N. Knits Facebook page.

Since Then...

My computer died on Tuesday.  Since then, I've been unable to blog, upload items to my shop, work.  It's been brutal.  Yesterday, we took it to a computer doctor where it will be in recovery through the weekend.  Right now, I'm using Justin's new laptop.  That's right, folks, Justin's entering the cyber world. 

Since then, though...

• Davis got his first loose tooth!  It was SO EXCITING to discover!  I really want to yank it out.  So.  Bad.
• We went to Monster Jam last Saturday.  It was lots of fun, of course.  This year, we went early to walk around 'the pits'.  It was neat being so close to all those HUGE monster trucks.  Davis was in Heaven.  All my pictures are locked on my laptop, though.
• He spent his 100th day in Kindergarten yesterday.  His class did lots of counting activities, ate some goodies, and made really cute paper hats.  I love picking him up in the afternoons and seeing a homemade hat on his head!
• We went to the North Cobb Christian School's Open House on Thursday morning.  That school is amazing.  I fell madly in love with it.  I'm a little mad at the tuition, but everything else was perfect.  We have a lot of conversations about Kindergarten vs First Grade and Private vs Public School in our near future. 
• I called around about enrolling Boogs into a MMO program.  I'm ready to get her involved in a 'school' and (selfishly) have some free time.  I know she's ready.  I was going to wait until 18 months, but that'll be in March and she'd only attend for a month since most places follow the public school system.  I think I found a good place that's close to our house.  I know other children that go there.  And it's affordable.
• We signed Davis up for 'real, big boy' t-ball!  Assessments were this morning, but it got rained out.  He'll be playing with the Shetlands out of Acworth.

Etsy related...

• I've been knitting lots and lots of goodies.  Thanks for all the feedback!  I quickly designed a cute cowl (the only thing I've been able to add to my shop this week), some coffee cozys, necklaces, and I'm in the middle of a smart phone cover.
• Who else thinks it's funny that I take most of my item pictures in my spare bathroom?!?! 
• I sold two items yesterday! 
• I'm going to do another giveaway soon.  This time, on my 'a.n. knits' Facebook page.  Stay tuned!
• I was featured in someone's Treasury list of 'upcycled items'!  I don't know exactly what that means, but I was pumped! 
• I love getting Activity feeds that a stranger somewhere in the world has added one of my items to their 'Favorites'!  BUT BUY THE DAMN THING!  Jk.
• I really want to add a craft room to our house.  I feel like the more Justin and I talk about it, the chances of me waking up to a construction site attached to the back of my house become more likely.  :)  

Plug It In

I'm sure most of you already know (either from being bombarded with photos on Facebook or looking at my dresser) that I've re-started my Etsy shop.  It's a small section of my 2012 New Year's Resolution...Improve Me.  Not broad at all, huh?!?
Anyway...here's some things you can do because you lubbers me all the days...

• Check it out.  I plan to post new items every day or so. 
• Write an entry about it on your own blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  I'll kiss your mouth the next time I see you as a 'thanks'. 
• Leave me feedback.  Because I'm still in the unsure/insecure stages of it all. 
• If there's something you think I should be selling, please let me know! 
• If you're an Etsy user, give me some suggestions on how to increase my traffic and sales. 

Thanks!!!  Thanks!!!  Thanks!!!

I also have a link for everything over there, to the right of the page.  ------>



One Year Post-Op

Wow!  It's been a whole year since the Rhizotomy.  Definitely the best, best, best decision we could have ever made for our little Wooder.  It did, however, take many, many months of stress, no progress, and a lot of 'what have we done?' before we knew that we made the right decision.  Now, I advocate for this procedure.  I'm always eager to share my experience with SDR when meeting a new CP parent.  That surgery changed the course of his life and here's the proof...

Boo-boo before...

Boo-boo after (the gash to the left is from falling off his stool while brushing his teeth the other night...he gets his clumsiness honestly)...

Running before...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVIdQ81Mcoc&list=UUkqXXt-Vi6p2Mo8KE5FfJTg&index=10&feature=plcp

 

Walking one year after...

 

 

Desk B & A

$30 solid wood desk from antique store.  Of course, I had already started priming by the time I thought to take photos.  I  explained my project plans to the Lowe's guy and he was kind enough to darken the primer for me since I planned on using black paint.

Before...

My poor Doc in the background...

 

 

After...

I painted the border of a cork board to match the knobs.  And distressed the edges of the desk...

 Materials...The primer (can on the right) has something in it that allows you to skip the sanding process!  Introduced to me by Danielle.  And the cabinet roller (also a great suggestion from the Lowe's guy) made this a super fast project!

The Aftermath

Things are slowly returning back to normal around here.  I'm still in shock that Doc's gone, though.  I'm really trying to will that feeling out of me.  I still walk into my room and expect to see him.  Still wait to hear him shake his head from across the house.  Still quickly wonder if Doc's gone potty before closing the garage at night.  I can't bring myself to wash his bed or Boogs' pig pillow pet that he spent his last few days laying on.  But, slowly, it's getting easier.  And that's reassuring.  I really apreciate the wonderful friends and family that have reached out to us this week.  And to those that haven't...you suck.  :)

Davis is having a hard time wrapping his 5 year old brain around Doc being gone.  He's been really putting our mind-boggling question answering skills to the test.  He mostly wants to know how he got in Heaven, what he looks like now, what part of the sky he's in,  what he's doing up there, etc.  And all the questions usually end with 'and Dadda better never cry like that again'.  Justin's a boo-hooer.  Big time. 

Boogs just randomly says 'Doc, Doc' with huge excitement and runs to our room to find him.  She's been carrying around a picture of him and 'hugs' it next to her face all the time. 

And, in true Nunley fasion, our sweet Doc, Doc is buried in the backyard and Justin made this really nice cross to put at the site.

Doc, Doc

I had an entire novel written out on here, explaining what we've been going through over the past couple months with Doc.  I've decided, however, to leave the details out and just share the sad news that we had to send him to Heaven today.  It's been an overwhelmingly emotional couple days for us here at the Nunley House...caring for an ailing pet, watching him suffer in pain, and breaking the news to Davis.  I'm still in shock that he's gone, but relieved and at peace knowing that he isn't hurting anymore.

P.S.  Why didn't anyone warn me about how hard this would be?!?!?  Geez!

We're going to miss our Doc-Doc so much (slobber and all)...

No title - slideshow with music

Saying 'goodbye'...

 Sending kiss-filled balloons to Heaven for him...

Goals

Goals for Davis this year:

• Learn how to ride his bicycle. 
• My wonderful, patient husband has already been working on this.
• Learn how to swim.
• By March, have a decision made about school next year...private?  public?  repeat kindergarten?
• Repeat kindergarten--only because he's one of the youngest kids in his class, having turned 5 last June.  He could use another year of maturing, etc.  Plus, he's a boy.  Plus, that would make him and Reese only 3 grades apart, instead of 4.  Plus, with the new elementary school opening up next to our house next year, he'd be switching schools no matter what we decide. 
• Open House for North Cobb Christian School is on the 14th of this month. 
• I've heard of some really great public schools in Cobb that keep their class sizes really small.
• Apply for the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship (SB10)...can't make any decisions on the above bullet without this.  As a Georgia resident and parent of a child with an IEP who's already tried one year of public school, I can decide where he goes to school...as long as the preferred school participates in the program and I provide transportation to and from.
• Join organized sports team with normal developing peers.
• Have his room completely decorated. 
• We painted last summer and that's about as far as we've gone in there.  I just purchased a desk from the antique store, refinished it, and will show it off soon.
• Learn how to tie his shoes.
• Perfect the 'r' sound. 
• He just mastered the 'sh' sound. 
• Continue to strengthen his handwriting and reading skills.
• I'm making it a personal goal to read to him every, single night.  I'm ashamed to admit that this only happens about 4 out of 7 nights a week. 
• Participate in some for of intensive therapy this summer...suit therapy, hippotherapy, etc...