Life is Happening

Yep, I missed my bump update last week, but rest assured, I am still pregnant.  I'll catch you all up this week.

In the meantime, here's what's been going on round about these parts.  And yes, I could probably split this up into several posts, but let's be honest...I'm not so great with keeping up with the ole' blog lately, so this way is probably best.

• Since going back and forth approximately a million and three times about whether to try and sell our house and move or to stay put for awhile, we finally refinanced.  Why we didn't do this sooner, I'll never know.  We dragged our feet for far too long, and then suddenly, just like that, our mortgage payment is $300 less each month than we've been paying.  Thank you, President Obama, for your wonderful government program for those unfortunate homeowners like me, who have been previously unable to take advantage of these low interest rates.  We are now on a three year plan to move (actually, we're down to two and a half), and I'm okay with that.  Especially given all the recent work done around here to make all of our rooms usable spaces!
• We had to put down our sweet hound dog Daphne.  She very suddenly got very sick, and over the course of a heart wrenching month, declined to the point where we knew what we had to do.  It has been hard to get used to not having her around the house, but we are adjusting to being a one dog family.  And to find that silver lining- I had no idea how much easier life would be with only one.  We're glad Daphne is at peace now.
• Moving on past the sadness...the boy is finally becoming a talker.  At one point, I was keeping track of his words.  And then suddenly, there were too many, and we were adding to the list at such a rapid pace, that I gave up.  He has surprised us several times with things that he's able to say.  He knows the sounds of just about every farm animal, can name many body parts, and can ask for things he wants.  (Or at the very least, he has mastered "please" and will beg and point.)  And as it is clearly in his genes- his most clearly spoken word is "beer."  He points to J's glass each night and lets us know that he knows what's in it.  He also demonstrated last week that he is capable of repeating what he hears his parents say, as he very clearly said "DICK" from the backseat of the van after he heard me call a parking spot stealer this offensive term.  Oops.  Time to turn on the filter.
• And finally, this awesome video.  Enjoy.      

CollegeHumor's Favorite Funny Videos

That Darn Dog!

What a night...

I've blogged about my dogs before.  They're rotten, but I love them.  And as much as sometimes I dream about how much simpler life would be if I didn't have three pets to take care of, the truth is, they're part of our family.

Delilah is a GREAT dog.  She was a horrid puppy, but she's grown up into pretty well behaved adult, except for one very unfortunate trait- she's a runner.

Delilah, happy after sanctioned back yard running in the snow.

For whatever reason, she gets the slightest whiff of freedom, and she's off like Flash Gordon.  Running at top speed, foaming at the mouth due to the sheer excitement of the situation.  And she won't stop for nothin'.  I kid you not when I say I could lay a steak on a silver platter in front of her, and she'd run the other way if she thought this meant capture.

Last night, as I was feeding the nugget his dinner, I heard a knock on our front door.  J answered, and I thought I heard mention of our black dog.  Panic immediately set in as I walked to the front door to hear the tail end of what our neighbor was telling us- that Delilah had escaped through a loose picket in our fence, and had headed for the woods.  J immediately runs down the street, barefoot.  And I sulk my way back to the kitchen, only to find that Gabe has emptied his fruit pouch onto his lap.  Good times.

Every other time Delilah has escaped, it's been through the front door, and we've seen it happen.  We've been able to track her, running after her through yard after yard.  And for no other reason than dumb luck, we've caught her every time.  Usually by some dive into the mud during which we somehow miraculously manage to hook a finger into her collar.  And always barefoot.  I'm serious, people.   

But yesterday, we didn't see it happen.  By the time we made it into the street, she was gone.  No sight of her anywhere.  We drove and drove, around the neighborhood, around the streets surrounding the neighborhood.  No luck.  I was devastated.  But I held onto the hope that someone would find her.  She is microchipped, and has a tag with my phone number hanging from her pretty pink collar.

I posted a message with her picture on Facebook, and was overwhelmed by the niceness of people.  Several locals re-posted her picture for their friends to see, and some friends even got into their cars and searched the streets.

Going to bed was the worst.  Knowing that she was out there somewhere, and there just wasn't anything I could do about it.  We left the gate to the backyard open, and also chose to lock the storm door and leave the front door open, so that Daphne could see outside and watch for her return.

I felt pretty hopeless about that.  After all, she had already been on the run for over five hours by the time we went to bed.  But I wasn't going to rule anything out.  Daphne was perhaps the saddest of us all.  She LOVES Delilah, and looked lost without her.  Since she sleeps in a crate downstairs, J knew that she would bark to alert us of Delilah's homecoming, should it happen in the middle of the night.

The pups, cuddling in happier times.  Daphne clearly loves the black one.

 I laid in bed, utterly fitful, sleeping for only a few minutes at a time, checking my phone, listening for barks.  And then, at 3:30, I heard Daphne let out a high pitched bark from her crate downstairs.  J and I  shot straight up in bed, and J sprung up and hurried down the stairs.  I stayed in bed, too afraid to get my hopes up, and truly thinking that Daphne had probably seen a cat wander by.

I can't tell you how happy I was when I heard two dogs THUNDER up the stairs to say hello.  SHE FOUND HER WAY HOME!  J said she had come through the gate into the back yard, and was jumping up at the back door to be let in.  YAY!

Today, after ten hours of running, Delilah is a tired dog.  She usually wakes us up by 6:30 each morning.  Today, she was not interested in waking up.  She walked downstairs and got right up onto the couch to sleep some more.  And as I was getting ready, she couldn't even make it to the dog bed, but slept on the floor right next to it.  But not without Daphne, who won't let her out of her sight.

They're holding hands.  The cuteness.

Happy puppies.  Happy me.

Clock Woes

I used to be a big fan of the end of Daylight Savings Time.  The whole "fall back" and get an extra hour of sleep phenomenon was amazing.  An extra hour of sleep?  Who doesn't want that?

Then I got dogs.  Then I had a baby.  The extra hour of sleep no longer exists.

Believe it or not, the dogs are much worse than the baby.  Since we set the clocks back on Saturday bedtime, Delilah cannot get it together.  For some reason, she has been waking up, shaking her collar, and pacing the room starting around 4:30am.  I'm not sure how this worked out, because we never got up at 5:30 before the time change.  6:30 was the earliest we'd rise. 

I have been waking insanely early, too (no thanks to the hound).  And today, even Gabe joined in on the fun and woke at 5:50.  Ugh.

I cannot wait until we are all well adjusted to the new time.  I DO, however, enjoy the sunlight in the mornings.  I have a hard enough time getting out of bed each day- add darkness to this equation, and it's nearly impossible for me to get going.

And as if the clock and I weren't already fighting- apparently the battery in my classroom clock is in need of replacement.  I kept checking the clock during a lesson, surprised that I had so much time left.  It certainly seemed like time was dragging!  I then realized that it had been 9:38 for a good ten minutes, and that my time with that group had long since run out.

Stupid clocks.

30 Day Challenge | Day 6: Pets I'd Love

I am an animal lover.  Seriously.  To the point where if those stupid Sarah McLachlan/Willy Nelson playing SPCA commercials come on, I MUST change the channel immediately or risk bursting into uncontrollable sobs and/or adopting every last animal on the screen.

I've got two unruly dogs and a mess of a cat, but somehow the topic of future pets manages to come up not infrequently in my house.  (Much to J's dismay.)  There are several pets I'd love to have.

I'm a woman of extremes.  I love BIG dogs.

But I'd also like a dog that I could dress up and carry around in a fabulous bag.

Turtles are cool.  I especially like box turtles.

I like lizards, too.

And who wouldn't love a finger monkey? Communists, maybe.

But the reality of the situation is this: J says no to most of my animal whims.  In the future, we'll be a dog-only kinda family, and my next dog will be a labradoodle.  They're furry, goofy, lovey dogs who are great with kids and don't shed.  Yes, please!

Like Mommy, Like Puppy

Doesn't she look sad?

That's because she's had a rough couple of days.  It has occurred to me that she is having issues similar to her mommy.

She is having trouble keeping food down.  She is tired all the time.  Eating just isn't appealing.

Turns out, we both have a parasite.

Awwww.....

For any of you who love dogs, or babies, or dogs AND babies, this video is a must-watch.

Could this be any cuter??

I find myself wondering what our dogs will behave like when we get around to having kids.  Sure, they've been around kids before-

Will, their favorite neighborhood baby, learned pretty quickly to shove them out of his face as they incessantly licked him.  Licking is their favorite.

I babysat my friend's baby Cate once, and Delilah raced around the house in circles every time she cried.

Friendly neighbors walk by with their baby strollers all the time...the dogs bark as if we're under attack.

But maybe all of this practice has been good!  Maybe once we have our own baby, Daphne and Delilah will ignore it.  It'll be old news.  They won't lick (and lick and lick and lick) or bark like idiots or run around in maniacal circles.  Maybe they'll gently howl the baby to sleep...

Yep, we're screwed.