Ainsley & Jasmine

Ainsley & Oscar

She cut her own hair!

Well, I think it's a right of passage at the Mann house for our kids to cut their own hair. Before church Sunday, I trimmed Ainsley's bangs and then I put the hair scissors back in a box, not realizing little eyes were still watching me. Before we went to bed Sunday night I found Ainsley in the bathroom with her hand on her forehead with a scared looked on her face. I asked her what was going on and she dashed out of the bathroom and went straight to her bed. Those of you that know Ainsley know that if she voluntarily gets in bed, something's up. I asked her what she did and she wouldn't move her hand. I knew immediately. She had cut her bangs, again for me. She left about an inch of hair right in front. It's hard to see in this picture because I pulled some of her hair down and cut a few more bands to cover it. You can really tell when she's just running around playing.

I took the whole thing amazingly well. Not at all the way I took it when Katelyn did it. Katelyn did the same thing when she was three, but she cut off her little sprig of a ponytail on the top of her head. Katelyn's hair took forever to come in to begin with, so I was really upset. I was pregnant with Carson, at the time, and Joe came home from work and we were both crying when he walked in.

Dogs wear cute outfits too!

We had another puppy photo shoot today. I think they are getting used to the camera. We went to Tulsa and got these cute little sweaters for them.

Oscar, the Harley Dog!

Hayden is feeling much better!

This is big sister giving baby brother some valuable advice... "You can't go outside unless you have your rain boots on, Hayden. It's really muddy and there is snow all over the backyard."

As you can tell, Hayden is feeling much better. He had his 2nd Rocephin shot this morning. He knew the minute he saw the nurse who she was and why she was here. One more shot tomorrow and he'll be finished. :-)

Puppy kisses!

I was working on my laptop today, and I looked up and there was Hayden inside the pet carrier. I love moments like this. When he does those funny little things that I never expect, but I am not really surprised about either. He is our little clown! A true baby of the family. :-)

Having new puppies is so fun!

Carson & his pal, Oscar.

Yes, Ainsley is wearing her nightgown, but at least she had enough fashion sense to put on her pink rubber boots with it!

Ainsley with Oscar.

Ainsley with Jasmine.

Jasmine & Oscar 's First Day Here

Today was our first full day with new puppies in the house. They did great! They have been really good about waiting to potty until we get them outside. They have had a couple of accidents, but they are just getting used to a new environment. They slept all night in their carrier, and I didn't hear anything out of them until this morning. I found Oscar in Carson's room on his bed playing Nintendo this afternoon. Carson had gotten him out of his crate and taken him to his room so he could watch him play. He left Jasmine in the crate (it must have been a boys only thing). Joe said that he found Oscar playing Nintendo with Carson last night too. :-) He said that Ainsley had Jasmine in the girls' room in a doll carrier covered with a blanket. She made the perfect baby doll! They seem to be adjusting really well, and the kids love having them around.

Carson playing Nintendo with Oscar (Oscar looks thrilled, doesn't he?)

Katelyn - proud mama of 2 new puppies!

Katelyn with Oscar.

Katelyn with Jasmine.

Carson with his Nintendo partner, Oscar.

Carson with Jasmine.

Sick Kids!

Man it seems like everyone is sick right now! We've all been stuck inside way too long and now we're passing germs around. I took Hayden and Ainsley in to the doctor earlier this week and they both have double ear infections. Hayden just wasn't getting any better, so I took him back today. Dr. Bumpus did a chest x-ray, a flu test and an RSV test. The chest x-ray and the flu test came back fine, but he did test positive for RSV. Home health will be coming by for the next 3 days to give him Rocephin shots. Dr. Bumpus said she thinks it will take 3 doses to get his ears and the RSV cleared up. He's pretty grumpy, he coughs a lot, has a fever around 102 and he's wheezing, so he's just not himself at all. I'll be glad when he's better. Ainsley, on the other hand, went to school all day yesterday and she says she feels better. :-)

Our New Additions!

Well, we've added two new "babies" to our Mann clan! We have two

Shih Tzu puppies, Oscar & Jasmine. We went to the pet store tonight, and somehow we ended up bringing home these little cuties. Joe was there and he approved it all. Actually, it was his idea to get them both! They are brother and sister, and they were born November 1, 2006. That makes them about 12 weeks old. They are both very spunky, and the kids are thrilled to have them. Katelyn and I went to Wal-Mart tonight and bought all the stuff that new puppies require, and some that they don't ;-). Of course, they had to have their first official photo shoot, so I could show them off to everyone. Katelyn came up with the name Oscar, and our friend Morgan gave us Jasmine. Their names really are perfect for them. Oscar is a little smaller than Jasmine, but I think she just has more hair. They seem very happy to be here, and we are so excited to have them! I'm sure I'll be getting pictures of them playing with the kids really soon, so be looking for them!

Our Visitors Went Home

Our little visiting dogs found their owners today. We ended up having to turn them into the police department yesterday (Dewey law), and now we are really glad we did. It turns out that their owners were out of town and when they returned late last night they realized their pups were missing. They called the police immediately and they came and picked them up. Joe talked to the animal control officer and she said they were pretty far from home.

Our Visitors

Last night around 11:00 P.M. I heard a "yep, yep" outside our door. I waited to see if I heard it again, and sure enough "yep". I got Joe and told him I thought there was a dog at our door. He went to the door and opened it and said, "It's 2 little dogs!" We opened the door, and they came running right in like they were home. Joe took them door to door around our neighborhood and drove through the rest of the neighborhood listening for their owner calling them, but he had no luck finding their home. We have called our local police department to let them know we have them here, and here they will stay until their owner claims them. They are really sweet dogs. The little Poodle is solid black male with a little silver here and there. The Shih Tzu is a white and dark gray female with a little brown mixed in. They seemed to be house trained and they are sleeping in our kitchen for now. Of course, while they are here they have to earn their keep by posing for a photo shoot. They are helping me build my portfolio. :-) The best thing about their visit is the kids' reaction. They are so excited to have dogs in the house. My mom reminded that Katelyn has been praying for a puppy. :-) Joe has been pretty funny about them being here. He talks to them like he talks to Hayden, and he went to the store this morning and bought them some food. I think he would really like it if they'd just stay with us. ;-) He is lightening up about the dog issue. At least there is a little hope that Katelyn may be able to have a dog sometime in the near future. We hope their owner claims them, and we hope that he/she is not too worried about them. That's the worst feeling when your animals run off and it's cold outside.

Carson couldn't wait to get home from school today to see if the dogs were still at our house. He told everyone in his class about them. He and Ainsley both wanted to get out in the yard with them.

Katelyn's Photo Shoot

Katelyn and I had a photo shoot today since she was out of school. We just finished painting and decorating the girls' room with the new zebra theme, so I needed some pictures of Katelyn to go along with the new ones of Ainsley. I love all of these.

This is the Katelyn I usually get in all of our photo shoots. She gets pretty goofy after awhile.

To finish up our photo shoot, Katelyn wanted to have her picture taken with all her Webkinz (Snowflake the terrier, Snowball the polar bear, Domino the panda, Banana the monkey, Oreo black & white kitty, Daisy Kate the orange & white kitty, Princess the black & white lil' kitty, Michael the orange & black alley cat, & Melody the gray & white kitty). She set all of these up all by herself. Everything had to be just perfect.