Mondays with Crosby and Jane Claire

At 11:24 am, Crosby Fox turned 4 years and 3 weeks old!!!  At 1:03 pm, Jane Claire turned 42 weeks old!!!  This weeks opening picture is a little different.  It is one of our very first baby.  Our sweet Nugget. At 6:30 pm, we said goodbye to the greatest dog we have ever known.  The week was a great, illness free week.  But I will just go ahead and say, this Monday has been a rough one.

Backing up a bit.  Jane Claire found Crosby's keyboard and microphone this week.  She thinks it is pretty awesome...

She gave Crosby quite a look!  "Are you making fun of my singing??"

Of course we weren't!!  We love hearing this sweet girl's voice!!!

Crosby was proud to show off his battle wounds.  You know, Crosby vs the chair...

The gash behind his ear...

At least is is healing up nicely!  And it didn't stop him from playing with all of his new Christmas and birthday toys...

Or his sister!

She loves her Baby Stella and her stroller...

However, she does not like for Stella to have her "bubba" in her mouth!  She pulls it off every time she see it!  To funny...

On Saturday evening, we headed to the Lipscomb's house for a little party...

That is right, folks!!!  Harper Jean is one!!!  I cannot believe my tiny, baby niece is already one year old.  Techincally, she was one year and one day by the time the party started!  How does this stuff happen so fast?  Sigh.  It just means her girl cousin's birthday is just around the corner.  Big, long, sigh...

Anyway, Katie had the house decorated so cute...

Love, love, love this highchair with the banners and balloons...

And would you look at those delish Cupcake Collection cupcakes!?!?  You can't go wrong there for sure!

And there were 12 pictures of Harper's first 12 months!!

And there she is!  The sweet birthday girl with her proud parents...

Of course we had to ruin it by forcing her to wear the hat.  I think this one is pretty stinkin' cute though.. ;-)

Leave it to cousin Crosby to move in with a kiss to make it all better.  Problem is, it likely backfired!!  He has good intentions, love his heart...

There is nothing a little cupcake can't cure!!  The tears dried up after the first taste!

Gee Gee with the grandbabes...

Our crew with the birthday girl!  A tired birthday girl...

Happy 1st Birthday, Harper Jean!  We love you so much and are so thankful to have you in our lives!!

We decided to take a picnic lunch to the park on Sunday after church.  We picked up KFC (haven't done that in ages...) and headed outdoors.  There was a reason.  We wanted to get Nugget outside with the whole family one more time...

Blake came home from work a couple of months ago and let me know that Nugget likely had prostate cancer.  He was still happy and comfortable initially.  But over the course of a few weeks, he started to eat less.  He lost weight.  He spent more time outside, attempting to use the bathroom over and over.  Most recently, he started having accidents indoors.  Nugget doesn't have accidents.  On Saturday, Blake took Crosby to the park to ride bikes and took Nugget along.  Watching our old pal struggle during most of the outing was more than Blake could handle.  He wasn't exactly sure when, but he knew the time was near.

It was a sunny afternoon and Nugget loved nothing more than to stretch out in the grass, soaking up the warmth!  After we all ate, including Nugget :-), the kiddos played for a bit...

Jane Claire got to try out the bucket swings for the first time...

She was a pretty big fan!

They both loved it...

Sunday evening, I headed to Local Taco for girls night out!!!  We were finally able to find a night that EVERYONE could meet for dinner.  One of us was technically out but made a surprise appearance at the last second!  It was thrilling...

It was so very nice to have all of these faces in the same room for a few hours!!!  I am so thankful I get to raise my kiddos with these lovely ladies to support me.  And I am grateful that my kiddos will grow up with these ladies' kiddos!!  Love my sweet friends and their families...

Jane Claire at 42 weeks...

Jane Claire is full of tricks these days.  I caught this one on video this morning...

Shortly after that video was taken, I got the text from Blake telling me to come to the clinic at close.  He  felt it was time.  I knew it was time.  I knew the text or call would be coming in the next day or so.  But when it actually came, it hit me like a ton of bricks.  We were really going to say goodbye to the dog that we have loved for most of our marriage.  The dog that joined our family during vet school.  The dog that helped us settle in to our new home back in Tennessee.  The dog that escaped and wandered the neighborhood, only to return when he was good and ready or when someone called to say he was in their house.  The dog that let life stand still with me as I grieved alone during the days following Finely and Caroline's births.  The dog that we could not wait to introduce to Crosby when we finally brought him home from the hospital.  The dog that went to work with Blake everyday except when he was too lazy to get out of bed and walk to the car.  The dog that Jane Claire was just starting to notice and love.    The best dog in the world.  Our dog...

I spent the whole day trying to fight back tears.  I tried to play with Crosby without letting him see tears rolling down my cheeks....

How do you say goodbye to the most loyal companion you have ever known?  Even if the time seems right.

You rub his soft spots and breath him in one more time.  You kiss his sweet head and thank him for being such an amazing gift in your life.  You put love of him over the hurt your heart feels when you try to imagine life without him in it.  You do what is best for him and walk away knowing you leave behind a piece of your heart.  

It has been a really difficult Monday...