Wow, I really stink at this...

Well, blogging at least! It's hard to believe I haven't updated since January. A lot has changed since then!

For starters, it's summer! No more winter blues, no more snow, no more cold, and no more bundling up to go outside! I would have never believed it, but those 5 foot piles of snow in the yard finally did disappear! Summer really must be the best time of year. The sun is out, it's light all day long, you can wear sandals, or even go barefoot! The beaches are great, the windows are always open. Perfect.

The animals are all doing well. We had the joy of fostering a puppy for a few months this spring, and while stressful, it was a lot of fun. Keifer was a young mixed bred who came to our house recovering from worms, partially housetrained, and in need of some guidance. While I usually don't care for puppies, he was very mature for his age, and it was all but love at first sight. He was adopted by a wonderful couple, and is now living the high life! Really, who couldn't love this face?




The rescue is going well. We're closing in on a year in operations, are incorporated with the state of Maine as a non-profit organization, and are working on becoming 501c3! I manage the store, which seems to become busier by the day. It's a ton of work, and while I don't gain any income from it, it can be fun, and it's great knowing I'm supporting our rescue efforts in such a large financial way. We've had adopters from as far away as New York, and have had customers from all across the country.

Check us out and spread the word! http://www.mainelyratrescue.org


Kaiden is doing great. It's very hard to believe he's going to be TWO years old in just a couple weeks! He looks so grown up now, even with his beautiful curls, there's no mistaking he's no longer my little baby. He's learning new words all the time, loves giving big bear hugs, and will eat almost anything you put in front of him. He's had spells where he's wanted broccoli constantly, how's that for an awesome eater? His all time favorite foods have to be tomatoes, strawberries and pickles though. He could down an entire container of cherry tomatoes in a day if we let him, and the same holds true for strawberries. He's always asking for pickles, and loves the Hannaford brand organic garlic dill spears. Apparently, pickles also go especially well on pizza! ;)

He has some cute quirks as well. When he asks please, he'll tap his right shoulder. Sometimes he'll do it along with verbally saying please, while other times he'll just tap his shoulder. I have no idea how he came up with that sign, but it's very cute! He has a little toy cow he loves. He has it with him most anywhere. He builds it barns from his blocks, feeds it "hay", and makes sure it goes to sleep in the proper place every night. He really enjoys helping with the laundry, and usually is the lint trap checker.

His birthday party is this weekend, and this week is already flying by trying to prepare! There's calling around to those people who haven't RSVPd yet, getting all the food, tons of cooking I'm sure, cleaning up the wazoo! He's VERY into cows and tractors, so we're doing a mostly John Deere theme this year, since he had cows/farm last year. We couldn't find a tractor pinata though, so he's got a cow one. He even helped pick out the pinata fillers, and had great fun choosing what we should have.

We have a Dr's appt next week for him. We're having issues with his eczema, and need to get a referral to a pediatric allergist. Hopefully our Dr doesn't give us a hard time about it, as we really need to figure out his triggers to get it under control. I don't know what we'll do if strawberries wind up being one of his triggers, but we'll find out soon enough. Nate also wants to get his hips/legs checked, as K has an odd gait while he's running. It's possible it's just typical weird toddler running, but it doesn't hurt to get it checked.

As for our crazy weird lifestyle? We're still doing cloth diapers, and Kaiden is getting very close to being potty learned already! I've got to sew him up some trainers, but most days he stays pretty dry. He's differentiating between which he has to do, and will ask "potty" if he has to urinate, while will ask to "toilet" (rather urgently!) if he has to poop. We are still nursing, mostly at naps and bedtime, though still here and there throughout the day. I've been able to maintain a (mostly) plastic free household, at least inside. We were planning on doing a garden this year, although the plans never were actualized.

Now lets see if I can actually keep this thing up to date this time around! Here are some recent pics of K to tide you over. :)













----------------
Now playing: Jamie O'Neal - Somebody's Hero
via FoxyTunes