The Fox Family: January 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

Old School Pics

So my wonderful brother-in-law stumbled across some old pics of me and Gunnar! I know it's sort of obnoxious to post pics of just us, since this is really supposed to be a family blog, but if it weren't for these moments, we wouldn't be married, have our beautiful Molly, or our crazy Arnold! Some of the pics date back to 2005, & 2006....which isn't that long ago, but feels like an eternity! Enjoy!

Gunnar's college graduation - May 2006

Memorial Day weekend party at Tiffany & Kevin's house! -Memorial Day 2006

Ahh a college party! Celebrating a win for the hockey team, at the hockey house. Ithaca-2006

Gunnar's graduation party - May 2006

Paula & Keith's Wedding - October 2005

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Kalin goes to school

Today was Kalin's first day of school! For those of you that don't know who Kalin is, allow me to explain! Kalin is a hockey player, he plays on the New Mexico Mustangs, the junior hockey team that plays out of Gunnar's building. We are his billet family, meaning he lives with us for the hockey season. He's from Nova Scotia Canada, and is 20 years old. He has been living with us since October, and has quickly become like family to us! Miss Molly just loves him, always wanting to tell him a story, or sit with him. He's great with her too!
He began classes this evening in preparation for his GED, which he will take the test for at the end of April. We are hoping he does well, and are going to help him every step of the way! (Lucky for him he lives with a teacher!) I went out last night and bought him notebooks, pens & folders, and he packed up all of his supplies in Gunnar's bookbag from college. Before we left to take him to class, I made him stand infront of the front door to take his picture. (This was a tradition my mom did with me and Meghan every year on the first day of school) So yes, Deb you have rubbed off on me! :) So below is his first day of school pic, along with a few other Molly/Kalin pics!

Kalin's first day of school!

Watching TV together

This was at a "Meet the Mustangs" night, Molly has a shirt with Kalin's number (10) on it & his name, she's his biggest fan!

Our Christmas picture

Monday, January 24, 2011

Molly's Playdate

Today Molly's friend Ansley came over to play. They had a pajama playdate! Her big brother Griffin had his first visit to the dentist, so we watched Ansley while he went there. The girls had such a great time playing together! Ansley is 10 months old & crawls around everywhere! It was fun to catch a glimpse into the future (Having a toddler walking around, and a baby crawling around!) (And no, I'm not expecting...I mean the very far future!) It was very busy here this morning! The girls played with toys and blocks, then I brought out a pop up tunnel and they went nuts! They were laughing so hard chasing each other through the tunnel! They had the best time!

Digging in the bin

Dumping the bin

Obsessed with taking kitchen towels out of the drawer and wearing them!

Miss Ansley!

Molly chasing Ansley!

Molls had soo much fun! Thanks for coming over Ansley!

Pigtails

Molly's hair is long enough to finally sport some pigtails! They are absolutely adorable! The pictures below are from Saturday night when we went to Gunnar's building to watch the hockey game! We always make sure she is all dolled up when she goes to Daddy's work! She doesn't exactly love when I am trying to put the pigtails in, but after that battle, she loves them. Then, once it's time to take them out, she has what we like to call at the Fox house a nuclear meltdown (yes I took pictures of the meltdown as well!) ENJOY! :)

She thought it was funny to pretend a block was her binky!

Here it is, the nuclear meltdown! (She's still so darn cute even when she's crying)

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Arnold goes swimming.....

Yes you read that right, Arnold goes swimming, every Thursday evening. Now before you judge us as one of those weird couples that enroll their dog in extra-curricular activities like he is a human, just know we are doing this for Arn to help him! Arnold was diagnosed with hip and elbow dysplasia about 2 months ago. The vet suggested we get Arnold involved in some low impact activities, like swimming. A few months back, maybe around the end of August, we noticed Arnold would limp. Usually it happened when he would get up from laying down, we thought maybe his legs would fall asleep. So we took him to the vet, and they put him on an anti-inflammatory. It seemed to help for a little bit, but soon after he was done the meds, his limp would come back. So back he went to the vet, and they put him on another round of anti-inflammatories. I asked if maybe they needed to take x-rays, but they assured me it was growing pains due to his size and how rapidly he grew. Once again, soon after he was done the meds the limp was back, but by now we are in November about to come home for Thanksgiving. We boarded him at a place called Enchantment Pet Resort. It was his first time staying there, we set him up in a queen sized room, with lots of space. Also lots of playtime. After we return from our 2 week stay in NJ, I pick him up and they told me how uncomfortable Arnold seemed. He visited with their massage therapist (yes, they have one especially for the animals, who also teaches swim lessons there) and they also changed his room to a bigger room with an even more padded bed (all free of charge, this place and the people who work there truly care about animals) So poor Arn came home that day, and was whining when he would lay down and get up. So I called the vet and left a msg. The next day after, no call back, I called again, and still no call back. Irritated, I decide to call another vet. I truly felt like we weren't getting any answers about what was wrong with him anyway. So I call the new vet, I got him in 30 minutes later! As soon as he was seen, they wanted to do x-rays, which reveal his hip & elbow dysplasia! He was put on a steriod for a month, which really helped. He now takes Glucosamine supplements daily. We switched his food to one with Glucosamine as well and.....he swims once a week! Unfortunately once a dog has this condition, its permanant, and will also lead to arthritis when he's older. As much as I was relieved to have a diagnosis for him, I was so annoyed that for months he was in pain, and his old vet didn't do more to help him! But we feel at the new vet, they really care about him, so he's definitely in better hands! The more he can build his muscles up now, the easier it will be for him to get around when he is older and the arthritis kicks in! We love Arnold like a child, so we want nothing but the best for him!

Arnold in his life vest ready to go swimming!

(For those of you who haven't had the true pleasure of meeting Arnold, he is a Greater Swiss Mountain dog. He's 95 lbs and will be 2 years old in March. Friends of ours in Dawson Creek had 2 Greater Swiss Mountains, that's how we heard of the breed, he is absolutely great with Molly and such a great family dog, always wanting to be right with us!! We love our Arnold!)

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Time to Eat!

Miss Molly loves to eat, there's no doubt about it! But these days, she has to do everything herself (well, that's been happening for awhile) She also thinks she needs to eat everything in the pantry at all times! She constantly goes over to our pantry, opens it and starts taking snacks out. We have her snacks on the bottom shelf (which I now know was a bad idea) But she likes to pick out what she wants. We give her choices, she'll shake her head "No" if she doesn't want it (or just flat out tell me "No" and push it away), or say "Yes!" and smile and grab the snack she wants!
When it comes to spoons and forks, she's using them pretty well. She absolutely won't eat off a spoon or fork if we are feeding her! She has also been doing very well with a cup with no lid! (She's been off the baby bottle since right before her 1st birthday, using strictly sippy cups) But now she even wants to use regular cups with no lid! She's such a big girl!

Enjoying some yogurt!

We think she's a lefty, the spoon/fork is always in her left hand! Just like her Mommy! :)

She's a big girl using her cup!

Arnold is always close by to eat any food she drops on the floor! (He makes clean up a lot easier for me!) But Molly has also realized she can throw food to Arnold if she doesn't want it. This gets her into trouble, then she puts on the puppy dog face and starts crying immediately! She's quite the actress!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Red Light Green Light

Molly had a playdate at a place called Red Light Green Light today. It's a really neat place with tons of imaginative play centers. They had a supermarket center, a big truck with a ball pit, tons of blocks, a restaurant center, animal hospital, and exercise equipment. She had a blast! We went with some of our friends from Moms Club (you'll recognize her pals Griffin and Ansley in some of the pictures!) She was very busy playing, she wanted to make sure she got to see everything, and was constantly on the go! She came home, and told Daddy (who is off for MLK day) all about her fun day, had a big lunch, played with Arnold for a bit and is now napping! (She's really wiped out!)

Pushing the cart around.

Building with blocks!

Having fun in the ball pit!

Grocery shopping with Griffin!

Griffin, Molly and Taryn

I don't know what this face was all about!

Had enough of the ball pit!

Thought she needed 3 cereal bars for a snack, after her lunch!

Hanging with her buddy Arn!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Molly's 15 month doctor check up

Molly had her 15 month check up today! Everything went great! She weighs 21 lbs, and is in the 23% for her age for weight. She's 32 inches tall, which puts her in the 89% for height (she gets that from her daddy!) She's a tall and skinny girl!
She says 13 words, is walking around great (even trying to run, especially when her friend Griffin is chasing her). She loves to show us her toys, and look at books. We are learning about animal sounds right now! She'll hiss like a snake, and moo like a cow! :)
I had to fill out a bunch of questions at her dr. appt. about her cognitive & physical development, as well as her fine and gross motor skills, and she scored perfectly! (That's our little girl!) Molly had the doctor laughing because she wanted to help her with the check up, grabbing the tongue depressors, and stethoscope! (Maybe she'll be a doctor one day!) Below is a pic I took while we were waiting for the doctor!

Monday, January 10, 2011

First Blog

Ok everyone! This is our first official blog! I hope you enjoy it! I wanted to create a blog to share with family and friends as a way to keep in touch! We are on facebook, and I am pretty good at posting pictures there, but in order for you to view our pictures you need to have a facebook account, which I know everyone doesn't have! So with this blog, I can still post pictures, and write about the many things happening day to day, and it will be a lot easier than emailing! So check back with us from time to time, (I will post pics atleast once a week) to see what's new with Miss Molly, and the rest of us! Enjoy!

Below I posted some pictures from Christmas. We had a fabulous Christmas! Uncle Wyatt came out to visit, and Molly had a blast with him! And right after Christmas Nana and Pop (Gunnars parents) came out for a few days! Molly really enjoyed opening presents this year! It was so fun to think back to last Christmas, when she was just three months old, pretty much sleeping through opening presents. Then this year, she just wanted to be right in the middle of the action! (I included a picture of her and Gunnar from last year, and one from this year, so you can compare!) Santa must have known she was very good this year because she was SPOILED with lots of toys!