Long Ago in a Land Far Away...

...God made a little boy with a big passion...a passion for animals! He gave him parents who allowed him to grow spiders in bath tubs, catch snakes in the backyard, and spend his savings on buying a puppy. He grew into a man and gave him opportunities to work cattle, ride horses, and doctor puppies. He guided him through an education in biology to prepare his mind for the journey ahead. There was no doubt that God had crafted the heart of a rescuer into this boy and was going to help him chase that dream his whole life. Even when the boy thought he was better cut out for running after other life passions, God always provided a critter for saving and brought him back to the core of his heart. Forever faithful, God has opened doors and paved roads for him to continue towards the life of a veterinarian.

Yep, you guessed it, the boy is KACEY! and that boy has been officially accepted into the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN!!!!!!!!!

It is just starting to sink in that he is actually going to be going back to school this very next fall!God is so faithful!! ALthough our hearts were pounding as Kacey opened the letter, we were confident that all was in God's hands. It just seemed an inevitable next step in Kacey's life...whether it be this year, the next year, or even the year after that! There is just no denying that this is what God created him to do, and that is an amazingly comforting and exciting realization.

Sakora was also super excited! SO excited that she hasn't been able to sleep the past several nights and even tried to eat his letter of acceptance! :) What a supportive little daughter. She has also taken to screaming lately (I was a screamer, apparently, so i guess that too may have been inevitable!). Maybe she's screaming with excited anticipation of the years to come?? Probably just gas.... We started her on rice cereal and it seems to be giving her significant stomach problems, even though she seems to really like it. She always eats the whole serving!

Other progress....she is becoming a much braver reacher. Always very tenative, she used to prefer to just intently study most things. Now, she reaches out for almost everything within reach and loves feeling new things. She was especially enthralled with my hair, which i recently wore down for the first time since her birth! Reading is also more fun as she reaches for the pages and turns then back and forth. Her favorites right now are "Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy" and "Tiny Bear's Bible". Mama and Dada see very close to being on her vocab list....she says da-da-da-da very clearly (still doesn't know what it means but still says it!), although we are working on the mamamama.

THe dogs have also been very entertaining for her. Showing her the dogs is the one thing that will always make her laugh and smile. SHe absolutely loves it when Spanky comes running up to her and she starts squealing when Mightly and Bear run at her....looks like we may have another vet on our hands??

Well, life calls, so I will have to save the garden and yard and house update for the next blog, but here are two pics of our lovely outdoors :)

On a roll!

We have exciting news!! Sakora rolled over finally! About 2 weeks ago, she rolled from her back to her stomach and has been doing it quite frequently ever since. She still has trouble going from stomach to back, but we are working on more tummy time and hopefully she will conquer that feat soon. On top of that, we found out that Kacey got an interview with the University of Tennessee for Vet School! He has the interview March 16th (so send up a prayer if you remember!) and the acceptance letters will be mailed out April 2nd. So hopefully we willl have some more good news next month!

Can't hardly believe it, but next week, Sakora will be 5 months! She is starting to get quite the personality and has been a blast the past couple of weeks. Depsite having some major seperation anxiety (over the past 2 or so months, she has very strongly objected to ANYONE else holding her except Kacey and I and Grandma Betty), she has been extremely generous with her smiles and squeals. Bear, MIghty, and Spanky even get some of her amused glances and giggles. Her happiest moments are when she wakes up in the morning, when her Daddy gets home from work (she gets super excited to see Kacey! it's so cute!), immediately after she fills her belly, when we sing and dance for her, and when she gets tickled :) Her growth has started to slow a bit and she is now only in the 75% percentile for weight (she was 15 lbs exactly at her 4 1/2 month check-up). So, the doctor recommended started her on rice cereal sometime this month. Still haven't had her try any, but we did discover that she loves water! At a resturaunt this past weekend, we let her suck little drops of water off my straw and she seemed to be enthralled with the whole thing. Although when Mom gave her a sip off of her straw, there must have been a tad bit of lemon juice because she scrunched up her face and give a quick head shake. I don't think she was expecting sour.

She has started sleeping on her side 50% of the time, which is adorable...

Sporting her track jacket...:) Thanks Dr. Sherrod!

In other news, we had massive, torential rains last week and our backyard was completely flooded, as was much of Fountain City (our Knoxville community). THe main road a few blocks from our house was flooded and Kacey couldn't get home for several hours. He ended up having to leave the Truck in a parking lot and catch a ride from Keyunta in the Tahoe. People were even having to be rescued from their cars by rescue boats. It was nuts! THankfully the waters receeded as quickly as they came once the rain stopped and the only damages suffered were by the fence in our backyard (and both vehicles...ugh). It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the water was gushing through the yard like a rushing river... it even pushed open our neighbors gate and was strong enough to push huge tree limbs into our fence and uproot it.

Kacey and the dogs survey the damage....