Real Quick...

I got in to Houston late last night, and I'm happy to say I've already had donuts, kolaches and Chick-Fil-A...oh how I've missed you Texas!

I'm fat, happy and tired...and it's only the first day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also worth mentioning (as I run out the door to play football with my baby boy who turned into a KID overnight)...Ryland is in love with her big brother. He hung her moon :)

Indecisive-ed-ness

Recently, I've been accused of being overly indecisive. I'm not going to name names, but I happen to live with said accuser. At first I blew it off...ya, indecisive, whatever. I'm just easy going. I'm as laid back as they come. I can't get all hot and bothered over such trivial things like making decisions.

Indecisive? Me? I don't think so.

Then I started thinking...dangerous, I know. More like obsessing. What he might think is indecisive-ed-ness is actually a very through thought process being played out in front of him. Instead of being annoyed, he should feel lucky to be privy to the inner workings of such a complex mind.

This is how it went down:

When Texas played OU my initial reaction was to go for Texas. Montana girl needs to be loyal to the Lone Star State right? Well, mid game my inner Aggie kicked in and there was no turning back. The Maroon in my blood wouldn't allow me to root for the enemy any longer. So I decided to root for OU instead. If yall aren't familiar with the outcome, I ended up picking the losing team. Those Longhorns always look so smug. Saw 'em off.

Same thing happened with the World Series. Prior to mating with a football player I was always a die hard baseball fan. I love love LOVE the Houston Astros, but the last two years have been spent knee deep in the pig skin...so I didn't even know who was vying for a spot in the World Series until we watched Tampa Bay win their series. Since we were along for their ride, and I didn't have any real ties to the Phillies, I decided I was going for the Rays. That was until I remembered my all time number one crush, Brad Lidge, was now pitching for Philadelphia. So I switched. And I think I took four years off Kevin's life.

As crazy as it makes him, he's come to expect that my standard answer to "what do you want to eat?" will always be, "I don't care...whatever", but now my alleged indecisive-ed-ness is interfering with his beloved, I'm flip-flopping teams during sporting events. How dare I? THE AUDACITY! And these aren't any ol sporting events! We're talking about the Red River Shoot Out and The World Series here!

I've tried explaining to him that I just have to go with my gut on these things. Sometimes I have to watch a little to decide who I'm going to pledge my undying loyalty to (for the next few hours at least).

Plus, I'm a girl. I pick teams because I think their city is preferable to the opponents city. Or because I like their uniform better. Maybe they have a better mascot. I mean who wants to spend hours yelling things like "let's go Nittany Lions!" I don't care how good Penn State is (or was, before the lost to Iowa)...you can't root for a team who's mascot is a made up animal! Right?

**Sidenote, UFC fights are an entirely different story...you always pick the better looking fighter. I almost didn't mention this because it's such common knowledge, but I thought I'd be fair and include it.**

Let me give you an example: Right now we're watching Monday Night Football, this is an easy decision for me...My reasons for choosing the Arizona Cardinals are three fold. One, McCain is from Arizona and I feel bad about the outcome of the election, so it's the least I can do. Two, I grew up in Tempe. Three, Pat Tillman, (a player who enlisted after 9-11 and was killed in combat) enough said.

But what if the Cardinals start beating San Fransisco really bad and they get all cocky? What if they start yelling ugly things like, "what's a 49er anyways?" "Yall don't even have a real mascot" "who's going to dress up like a gold miner?" What if their cheerleaders start actin a fool and picking fights amongst themselves? Am I expected to remain loyal amidst all this ridiculousness? Of course not. Does that make me indecisive? NO.

The definition of indecisive is, "one who can not make a decision" (I just made up that definition...I'm not gonna lie).

I CAN make a decision.

I just DECIDED to change my mind!

pulling up

I hear Ryland crying in her crib...she's obviously up from her nap, but I wasn't expecting to see this:

The sixth of the sixth

I'm doing Heather's tag....so above is the sixth picture from the sixth album in my picture files.

This is Claudius, my Dad's guide dog, playing tug with my Dad and Hunt. If you can tell by the look on Hunter's face, this is an all time favorite activity at my parent's house. For starters, it's one of the few occasions that The Claudster gets to act like a real dog and not a guide dog. His "ring" is one of the few toys Claud can have so we all really enjoy it...not gonna lie either, Claudius wins everytime. He's 85 lbs of pure muscle.

Ok, this is a hard post...there is so much I want to share about my Dad and Claudius and guide dogs in general. I'm going to have a hard time of organizing my thoughts so bare with me.

One day I'll explain how my Dad became blind, but for now I'll just say that it was THE most life altering change in my family's life...moreso than Hunter being born or anything you could even think of. It's been about 2-1/2 years now but for someone to go from full sight to no sight in a matter of days is more than most can comprehend. So last February when my Dad went to California for "dog camp" (as we like to call it...) and came home a month later with Claudius it was the greatest gift we could have hoped for. Claudius gives my Dad some freedom to do things on his own and not be dependant on us.

Since Claud is "working" most of the time, he doesn't get to do normal dog things...like play fetch or chase squirls. He doesn't get normal dog treats...but my Dad and the kids make him "dog-sicles" which is a piece of his regular dry food frozen into the center of an ice cube. Lord have mercy does Claud ever love those...if you open the freezer at my parent's house he assumes it's to get him a treat, so you better have one ready. We can't stand to disappoint The Claudster.

Little guide dog trivia for yall...there is only one guide dog of a particular name at a time, so there's only one trained dog named Claudius...on the off chance my Dad and him are out and cross paths with another guide dog, we'd hate for there to be any confusion. In my mind, when Claudius retires, his name will go back into the eligable dog name databse (which may or may not be a real thing...it's just how I understand it). And by "retire" I mean, retire from work as a guide dog, not retire in the final sense of the word.

Isn't Claudius the best dog name EVER though? It's so Spartan. You can't beat Spartan in my house. It's the ultimate compliment you can bestow upon a person.

From the day she was born, Claudius has had a slight aversion to Ryland. We think he's jealous. He LOVES Hunter and Cierra, he'll always be my Dad's dog first (he's been trained to be loyal to my Dad first and foremost...it's like the guide dog creed or something, I don't know) but Hunt is a very close second in Claud's world. As she does with all dogs, Cierra has a tendancy to "over-love" Claudius, but he's a trooper. Anyways, he'll love on the big kids, cuddle with them, let them use him as a pillow...whatever they want, but Ryland...he literally turns his nose up at her. When my Dad holds her, The Claudster full on pouts. I think he was ok with our family as it was when he met us...but then this new baby comes along and steals all his attention, and he's not havin it!

I need to dig up some more pics of Claud so yall can see how beautiful this dog is...he's the most gorgeous things there ever was.

I apologize for the non-flow-ed-ness of this blog but my baby girl has a cold and is refusing to nap and my big girl has asked me if we can go trick or treating every ten minutes...so my usual blog time has been compromised today!

So yall go do it now too...find the sixth picture in the sixth file in your pictures and blog about it! And do it now, before the sugar coma that comes along with this evening's activities sets in :)

My Baseball Boy

I love this picture

She Moves!!!!!!

Today, on her six month birthday...we finally have forward movement! Just as I thought it would happen too, Cierra had something Ryland wanted so she crawled after her to get it. Of course the only shots I got were before and after the big event.