Starting over

This crazy week ended with news that my sister's apartment building caught on fire Thursday night. My sister and nephew (Kim and Lee) and her best friend and son (Nita and Hunter) lived next door to each other in a triplex. They were each staying with family while the electricity was out at the apartments, thank goodness!! Nita went over Friday morning to find her apartment completely gone. Kim's apartment burned in the bedrooms and on the ceilings, but had extensive smoke and water damage. We are trying to salvage some clothes for Kim and Lee, but the smoke smell hard to get rid of. I feel so bad for all them, all for different reasons. Lee and Hunter lost everything that makes being a teenager fun--Wii, X Box 360, weights, cool clothes, Christmas and birthday presents. Kim and Nita have to face being a parent who doesn't have a home to take their son to or things to make a place home. I can't imagine having to deal with either of those. But with that said, there is always good out of bad. And, there have been so many friends and some strangers who have offered help and given money and furniture so generously!! I brings me to tears when I think of our generous people are and have been to them. They have a long road ahead with having to start over, but it does seem like it will be a little easier for them with all the support they have already received. Here are some pictures from the apartments.

The front of the apartments. Nita's is on the left, and Kim's is the door that is open. Below is in Lee's bedroom facing what used to be the wall in Nita's room.

Above is the floor in Kim's bedroom. The soot was smelly and soggy.

This is the ceiling going from Lee's bedroom to the living room.

I was surprised that the ceiling fans were still hanging in Kim and Lee's bedrooms.

Nita's apartment from the front. Part of her refrigerator and kitchen chairs were still there, but pretty much everything else was gone. There was a pile of clothes in Nita's bedroom that were still folded and stacked with just burnt edges. Nita said that used to be her dresser, but there was no wood surrounding the clothes, but when she pushed the clothes over there was a layer of wood between the clothes from what was left from the drawers.

This is of the roof line of the apartments. From my understanding, the fire was spreading through the attic to all 3 apartments. The third apartment only suffered some smoke damage.

So far, we don't know how it started, but maybe from when CWL were trying to get the power back on at the apartments. I am so thankful they were not staying there when this happened.

Ice Storm '09

This has been a really crazy week with all the ice and no electricity, and I hope this doesn't happen again any time too soon!! And, I know we have been very lucky because our power wasn't out but for about 2 1/2 days and we had a warm place to stay. As much as I tried to be prepared for this, there were things I didn't think about in time (like were to put all my freezer food!!!). We bunked at my sister's house with my other sister since there was a working gas fireplace, until Todd got our's working at home. And, our power didn't go out for good until 11 pm Tuesday night, which was bedtime so we snuggled in our bed til morning. Ella LOVED playing with the flashlights, and wasn't scared of the dark at all. I had bought her a new toy to help entertain her (and help keep me sane!) till power came back. This was the first time we have used our fireplace, and we decided that we really like it. So, I bet we use it in the future, when we do have power!! I love family time, so this was a lot of fun for me. We played some games, went bowling, and just hung out. Here are some pictures:

On our way to my sister's, we came across this truck that couldn't get any traction. So, Todd tried helping it by pushing, but it wasn't enough...

So, a couple other guys came to help also. This poor man just couldn't get his truck to move straight. It almost slid into the car in front of us! So, ...

This guy used his nice vehicle to help push this man's truck until he got traction!! I couldn't believe it!! People can amaze you by how kind they are!!

We don't have trees in our yard (yay, no picking up branches!), but the ice got this plant by our mailbox. I hope it looks better when it melts.

We hope everyone gets their electricity back soon!!!

Potty time

Before I get started, I just want to say I am not really potty training Ella already. We are just getting ready for it. And, if you don't want to read a story related to that then stop reading now. She is noticing when she poops and just starting to know when she pees. This just happened over night. One day I saw her squatting and grunting and asked her if she was pooping, she said 'poop', but didn't really seem like she knew. I was just wanting her to start to learn what was happening. The next day she came up to me and said 'poop', I checked her diaper, and there was no poop. But, she kept saying it. So, I checked again and she had just peed so I thought she was getting confused. But, she kept saying so I asked her if she wanted her diaper changed, and she took off for her room to the changing table. When I changed her she had pooped!!! I couldn't believe it...she knew she had to poop before she pooped. So, we bought a potty for her to start sitting on. And, she loves to sit on the potty, she hasn't used it yet. And, apparently her knowing she has to poop was a fluke because it hasn't happened again, but we are getting there. Now, to just get over my being grossed out by public bathrooms...



Ella 1st time on her potty...she is so big!

Hairbow holder

I think everyone knows that I am not crafty although I do try sometimes. I am not that creative either. But, I had thought awhile back about making a hairbow holder for Ella, but just never got around to it. Then, just before Christmas when I bought 31 new hairbows I had to do something. So, Amy Brown suggested we make our own because she had bought over 30 hairbows too. I always love hanging out with her so I was all for it. We got the supplies at Hobby Lobby, and got together last week to put it all together. It was fun time and a couple of girls (Lori Cheatham and Jill Christenberry) came over too. I wasn't sure how big to make the holder and was afraid of getting it too big to hang on Ella's closet door. But, I should've gone bigger because it is completely full and I even had to use the old holder to get them all on there!!! I will be adding some ribbon to the bottom when I get new bows, and I'm sure I will get more bows!! I think it turned out really good, and it was a breeze to make. And, I think this craft pushed Amy into wanting a staple gun!

Going bye-bye

Ella loves to pretend things like dress up or going bye-bye. The other night she amazed us when she went into her room and came back into the living room saying bye-bye. At first, it was no big deal because she does this all the time, but when we looked at her she really was ready to go. She had put a purse of mine on her arm, put her baby in her stroller, and turned to push her down the hallway. Of course, as soon as I jumped up to get the camera she wouldn't cooperate, which is becoming more and more common. This was the best shot I could get.

In a minute...

...is one of the newest sayings Ella has learned to say back to us. I was shocked the first time she said it, and almost didn't believe it! We were at ACH in the waiting room, and she was moving too far away from us so I told her to come back over by us. She replied, "in minute" just as calmly as she could, like it was no big thing. I didn't think I said that very often to her, but after that I realized I did. So, I've been making sure not to say that as much, but sometimes you just have to.

It seems like Ella is learning new words everyday. It's so amazing. She has started saying 'come here' while motioning with her hand. She loves to say this to Sampson (our dog), but he doesn't comply! This morning she ran into Sampson, and turned around to him and said 'sorry'. She is so sweet!!

Ella also has been picking up on our discipline practices! She likes to give herself spankings now on her leg and spat her hand all the while saying 'spanking' or loudly saying 'no'. It looks as if she is spanked all the time, but she isn't!! Today she tried spanking me!! Lil' stinker!

Today's eye appointment

Today we had Ella's eye doctor's appointment at ACH with our regular doctor and the specialist. The appointment went really good. Ella cooperated and made new friends all throughout. The specialist got measurements on how Ella's eyes move together and how much her right eye turns in, and she got the same measurements our doctor got in November. So, Ella is having surgery on February 2nd to weaken the muscle on the eye that holds/turns the eye inward. The doctor has said that he performs this surgery more than any other, and it is not as delicate a procedure as her other surgeries. The recovery will be a little different, but hopefully not worse. The surgery will hopefully get her eyes seeing together and her right eye straighter. We still are going to patch and wear the glassess before and after the surgery. Although there will be a break right after the surgery where she won't wear her contact or anything so her eye can heal completely. This will be an out-patient procedure so we won't have to stay in the hospital (Yay!). I know that this the best for Ella and trust her doctor to do a great job. But, I am still very nervous about her having to have surgery again. Especially since she is older and more aware of what is going on. But, I know she is so strong and will do wonderfully. So, please keep Ella and her doctors in your prayers so the surgery is a success.

2009 Already?!

I cannot believe it is 2009! I remember way back when this century was used for all the futuristic movies and such, and now we are almost a decade into it. Last year was an amazing year for the Dobson's. We have so much to be thankful for and know we are truly blessed. Our biggest blessing is of course Ella. She has turned into a happy, talkative, busy, little girl. I'm not sure how it happened because I haven't taken my eyes off her all year, but it did. She went from this adorable, smiling, little baby to the girl who reads books all the time and runs through the house laughing the whole way. I know I talk a lot about her, but she is my life and joy.

I thought I would update on all the new things she has learned lately. I can't list them all because everyday she is adding more new words or games or etc. She has really started talking all the time, and is putting together 2-3 word phrases. I think it started with 'Thank you', then it was 'patch off', then 'have that', and my favorite is 'love you'. The last few days she has been saying 'roll it up' from patty cakes. And, she is still saying 'ho, ho, ho' for Santa. She knows everyone's name in our family and knows how to group them together for the smaller family groups.

Ella still is my girly-girl. She brings me shoes, shirts, jackets, whatever, for me to put on her, and she even got her jacket on halfway all by herself!! She will get her purse or anything with a strap and put it on her shoulder and tell me 'bye-bye' and walk to the door, pretending the whole way she is leaving. She loves to play with her cousins, and I think is learning how to fend for herself.

One of the biggest changes for Ella this year has been her getting glasses. I was very nervous about this, but she has been so great with them. She wears them all the time unless we are in the car, and she takes them off or when she is tired she tries to get them off. She has never fought us with them and or broken them!! I hope she can see better with them, and they help her eyes.

I don't know what 2009 has in store for us, but I can only hope it's as good as last year!!

Christmas Fun '08

This year we had a wonderful Christmas. I was more excited about it this year since Ella is older and can participate with us. Our festivities started with Todd's Car-Mart party mid-December and didn't stop until this past weekend with Todd's brother's family in Brinkley. We had lots of fun with our family just hanging out and enjoying each other. Here's photos of our good times:

Family photo from Car-Mart party

Ella hiding from Santa

Ella's Christmas dress

Christmas Eve

Present left from Santa

Figuring out her new tent with Pa

Pushing one of 2 new strollers

Excited about her new chair

Playing her new piano

The pictures don't show all of the great toys Ella got, but we hit the highlights. She has had so much fun playing with all of them everyday. She plays peek-a-boo with her tent and pushes her Curious George monkey around in her stroller. Ella is still saying 'Ho, Ho, Ho, Merr...." (that's all she says for it) all the time. She loved everything Santa this year, except for the real live Santa himself!! Another great part of Christmas this year is that Todd has been off work since Christmas Eve and doesn't go back until Jan. 5th. Although we still like our 'alone' time from each other we have enjoyed the extra time together. We had a date night the other night and hopefully will get another one before work starts back.

All in all, this was a very blessed Christmas, and we hope everyone else's was too!