Second Act!

Lila is a born performer with a huge imagination!  She is always dressing up, singing, dancing, playing her guitar, playing make believe, and the list goes on!  So, last summer we were told that a local dance company had a great session for 3 year olds called Tinies, we figured it was a shoe-in for our girl considering her mantra really should be, "life's a stage!"

We ordered all the leotards, the tights, the ballet slippers, the tap shoes, and a cute skirt or two for good measure...we were ready to get our dance on!  Boy how wrong could we be?!  The first class she was shy, the second class she was even more shy, the third class she basically cried the whole time, which left Mike and I asking what we were doing?!  She required one of us to be in the studio with her the whole time and even with us there, she wouldn't really move from our side, so as the classes ticked away with very little participation on her part, we decided to talk to her teacher and ultimately made the decision to be done for the summer and try again next year! 

Her teacher, Charlie, was so good to us and shared that many kids are very shy the first time, especially if they haven't done preschool yet, so he was confident that we would see a completely different girl if we just waited until the next summer.  The time came for us to register for class again this summer and Lila was super excited!  Both excited to get back to dance, but even more excited because her good friend Henley would be joining her this summer!!!

Once again we ordered the leotards, tights, a few skirts, ballet shoes, and tap shoes in hopes that she would be more excited about dance this time around! 



Summer 2012 Dancer and Summer 2013 Dancer - what a difference!

We got to class and it was the big moment where we shipped her off into the studio while we watched from the windows out in the hallway.  Confidently she trotted right into the room and sat in the circle.  It wasn't until they stood up and had to spread out that she was a bit unsure, but one of the assistants grabbed her hand and lead her to a spot and the rest was history...she loved it!!!


 

Getting to know Charlie & the other dancers!



Tap shoes on!  Making soup!

 

Lila and Henley enjoying themselves!


 

Little ballerinas!



This is more like it!



On their tippy toes!



Ending class with some tumbling!

As close as Mike and I are to our friends, it is moments like this where I am so thankful that we have kids the same age!  Watching Lila and Henley together in class is so fun and I know as the parents our hearts burst with pride, not only because they are so brave to try something new, but that they are making everlasting memories together from such a young age!  Who knows if either of them will end up dancing well into their lives?!  Either way, they are having a whole lot of fun doing it now!

The Long Way Home...

I am going to first introduce you to the newest member of the Eddins family...

Now that you have met our new dog, Tag, I am going to back up and tell you the story of how he came to be a part of our family! 

As you know, we lost our beloved Baxter in April.  Losing him was one of the hardest things in our lives thus far.  Both Mike and I still shed tears over the loss and we all, including Lila, often talk about how much we miss Baxter.  The one family member that isn't able to verbalize how much she is missing her brother is Luca.  I must say, she has really done a remarkable job adjusting, but we could tell that things just weren't the same.  You could especially notice that she missed her brother when we would return from being gone.  She would meet you at the door in an almost panicked manner, greeting you as if she thought you might never return home for her.  It flat out makes you feel terrible every time you walk out the door knowing that she is anxious until you return home.

We talked very little about another dog right after we lost Baxter.  What we did say was, if Luca seemed to act like she wasn't handling the absence well, we would consider it, but we weren't interested in running out and getting another dog immediately, it felt as if it was too soon.  Those that know us well know that our dogs aren't just "pets," they are truly family members, so with that being said, we wanted to be very careful that we also didn't get another dog to replace Baxter.  There isn't a way to replace him, he was a one of a kind dog, one that we will always talk about, always remember. 

As the days turned into weeks and we observed Luca and her behavior the discussions about another dog started to happen more often.  We loosely started looking at adopting and stumbled across a handful of dogs that we were interested in.  After a few adoption applications submitted and for one reason or another, no dog, we decided to just chill out and take it as a sign that we weren't ready for another dog just yet.  It wasn't until I got a text message from my dear friend Racquel about her Dad's dog in Texas, did we start talking seriously about another dog.

Racquel sent a text message with a few pictures attached encouraging us to look into this breed of dog as she was absolutely smitten with how good he was, both with the family, but with her little girl, too.  I asked her what type of dog he was and she responded, "a Black Mouth Cur," to which I quickly thought her autocorrect on her phone must have messed up whatever it was that she was trying to type!  But, nope, she was right, I Googled it, and this dog was indeed a Black Mouth Cur.



Racquel & Tag - our first introduction to Tag

 

Sloan & Tag

Racquel told us all about how sweet her Dad's dog was, so immediately, I was intrigued.  We went straight to the internet and searched and searched.  We wanted to learn as much as we could about the breed, trying to understand if this is what the breed is really about or if Quel's Dad just has the exception to the rule?!  We loosely joked about Quel bringing the dog home to us, but it wasn't an option...so we did the next best thing, we found someone with puppies!  Within a week of learning about the breed, we placed a down payment for a puppy that was to be born in early June.  So, according to that we would have a puppy early-mid August!  We were pretty darn excited!  I would be lying if I didn't share that there was that nagging at my guts that a) I am a volunteer for a local humane society, how would it look if we didn't adopt a dog and b) do I really, really, really want to do potty training again and potential chewing on furniture, etc?!  However, all the other indicators said that this is what we should do, so I was willing to go with it!

We quickly started making plans with the breeder to pick up the puppy.  It was going to work out rather nicely, Mike has a break in late August between summer classes and the fall semester, so he would fly to Mississippi, one-way, pick up the dog, and rent a car to drive back to Cedar Rapids.  Did I just say Mississippi?!  Yes, I did.  As ridiculous as it may seem, the breed is only found in the south, I am not really all that sure why, but it is the case, so we were going to have to travel to Mississippi to pick the puppy up.  Which again, I shared with you that our animals aren't just our pet, so it didn't seem like that big of a deal to travel to get the animal that we really wanted.  Now it was just sit and wait!  The puppies were to be born in early June, predicted sometime around the 3rd, but no guarantees on the exact date. 

On the 7th, I get a call from my girlfriend Racquel and she opens up the conversation like this, "I have something to tell you, but I am rather sure you will be frustrated," (or something like that).  She preceded to tell me that her Dad is looking to prepare for retirement which ultimately meant that they needed to sell their acreage in Texas.  They were fortunate enough to sell their property quickly and found a home that they really like and as they started to think about preparations for their move, they quickly realized that it wasn't best if they took both of their dogs.  So...she was calling to ask if we would be interested in taking Tag.  As I was sitting on the phone with her all of that apprehension I had about getting a puppy melted away.  I didn't want to speak for Mike and I, but I was rather convinced that the minute I called him and shared the news with him, we would be making plans to bring Tag home.  I was right, that is exactly what happened, we began making plans to bring Tag from Texas to Iowa.

It just so happened to work out that Mike could leave the following Thursday after class and be to Russ & Cathy's by mid-day on Friday.  So, we booked him a hotel in Joplin, MO and off he went to retrieve our new family member!  It was a long drive back and forth, but Mike got to Whitesboro, picked Tag up and then traveled to Oklahoma to stay with my Mom and Terry to help break up the trip a little -- and have some human interaction, it can be a tad boring driving like that by yourself!  While Mike was traveling, Lila and I were busy at home preparing for their arrival! 


Snuggling in his bed at Grammy & Terry's

Testing out the dog beds @ PetSmart

Mike & Tag pulled into town at about 5:00 on Saturday evening.  We were very sensitive to the fact that this is Luca's home and we wanted to be sure she didn't feel threatened in anyway, so we had Tag meet Luca in the backyard to start.  They did the traditional sniff down and the rest is really history!  They got along famously and have done a wonderful job of adjusting to each other, we couldn't be happier with the way the two are getting along.

"Why, hello there!"

Hi, I'm Tag!

Curious little girl!



Hanging out together!

Tuckered out meeting my his family -- it was a big day!

And then there is that darling little girl of ours, who loved her Baxter so dearly, well, it is safe to say that Tag has wiggled his way right into her little heart, too! 

Lila & Tag

We are beyond grateful to Russ & Cathy for asking us if we would be willing to adopt Tag.  The way he has slid right into our family is almost uncanny.  He is a perfect fit!

While we are still mourning the loss of Baxter, we have opened our hearts wide open for another sweet soul to climb right in and stay forever!  Welcome home, Tag!