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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Decision

Yesterday we got the news that Bella (CASTs golden breeder and Comets mom) with her last litter, we also decided (still have to inform CAST once we get the official offer email) that for now, we are not going to be getting a new pup to raise.

I decided that I need to focus on the beautiful dog I do have, work on giving her everything she needs and everything our two-legger needs before adding another mouth to feed. I plan on walking Eva more, getting her spayed and up-to-date on shots and find a solution for her allergies to make her comfortable. We may or may not do further testing, depends on how she does once her allergies are controlled.

I got up an over an hour early this morning and we went on a walk. It was so nice to walk her! She did great walking on just a flat collar and keeping a loose lead and ignored the barking dogs that were fence running. It's my hope to get up and walk her every morning, weather permitting. After Carter nurses and before he wakes up for the day, which leaves it still cool enough in the morning to avoid dying from heat stroke.

I'm surprised by just how mature Eva has gotten. It's been a long 3 years with Eva but I'm hopeful with more attention and work, that we will stop focusing on her problems and focus on what a lovely dog she's become. Once she's where she needs to be, Carter's a little bit older and we live in a house with a yard, we will raise again. No telling when that will be, and we may do some puppy sitting before that point but for now, we need to remain content with the perfect little family we do have.


Thursday, April 19, 2012

Cloth Diapers

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with diapers but I love his little grin.

So now that we've been cloth diapering for awhile and have had time to try out different pockets, I know which ones I love and have a wish list for more! My absolute favorites are BumGenius 4.0! They are so soft, easy to use, LOVE the tabs that stretch to get a perfect fit, they fit perfect on my skinny little man and hold up so well overnight. I want one (or more) of every non-girly color! 

I love cloth diapering as a whole as well. It is so EASY! I feel great knowing my boy (usually) doesn't get rashes or have nasty chemicals on his skin, he has soft instead of plastic on his little bum and I don't have to deal with the stink. I never noticed how badly disposables smelled until we used one overnight because we had to use some diaper rash cream and oh boy, that diaper stunk so badly in the morning, it was horrible!

One benefit of cloth I didn't expect? My skinny man fits waist in 0-3 pants but his legs fit perfectly into 3-6 month pants but the waist hangs off him, in come the cloth diapers! They provide just the right fluff to keep his pants up!

All dressed up for meeting and playing with Daddy's keys

Standing up at Grandpa's house.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

My Baby's Growing Up

My little guy is 8 months old now! He waves, he slides off the couch (with me supporting him), he sits and plays with his toys for hours. He's trying to hard so crawl and can stand holding on to something with just one hand for quite awhile. His two bottom teeth are threatening to come in! You can actually see them now, not that you can tell by his behavior. He's so beautiful and so happy and just a great baby, always making people's days with smiles and giggles and his willingness to be held by anyone. I love him more and more everyday, which is amazing because everyday I wonder how I could love him anymore! I'm so happy to be his mommy and to be able to say "he's my son."

He loves bath time and rubber duckies. Food and anything else he can stick in his mouth. He does great in the car and at bedtime. He puts his arms up to be picked up, gives hugs and will lay his head on my chest when he wants to snuggle. He holds my hands and knows now that I leave everyday and is so happy to see me home in the evenings. He thinks it's funny to talk to me on the phone. He loves dogs and the cat, they can make him laugh just by walking by.


Working Out

We have the xbox 360 and Kinect. They are pretty awesome! Even cooler when used to lose weight and tone your body. Max can't use most of the exercises because of his leg but I'm using the after pregnancy cardio and toning exercises! I'm so excited! I plan to work out in the morning using that and then take Carter and Eva on a walk in the evenings after work. I'm trying to watch what I eat but I either don't eat enough calories or eat a bunch of junk that is horrible for me and go way over my calorie limit.

I'm not a runner but I would love to learn how to and avoid shin spilts. I used to get them whenever we ran in school and they were sooo painful! I plan on getting some good walking shoes and a jogging stroller cause it'd be hard to jog with Carter in the wrap!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Update on Comet

My beautiful Comet is back at the kennels at Canine Angels Service Teams. Her family loved her and she loved them but she is a high-dander and shedding pup and due to some allergies and developed habits of one of the kids in the home, it was not a good match. However, there is hope of a home for her just 20 minutes South of her. We'll know more in June.

We went down for an event yesterday (Saturday) in support of Canine Angels. It was called Dog Days and was amazing! We didn't take Eva, I can't handle her crazy self around other dogs in a large crowd of dogs and since she's not up-to-date on her shots (for now, that's gonna change!) because we were told she's not healthy enough for them, we didn't want to take her around a lot of dogs. We did get to handle Comet's brother, Titan for a little while.

We got to talk to the CAST ladies off and on, they were all busy with the event and we didn't really get there in time to help. It started at 9:20, we left the house a little after 9, had to get gas and it's about an hour and fifteen minute drive.

We donated a little bit of money, bought some tokens and were privy to some information about the next (hopefully) upcoming litter, which we are considering getting a pup from! We had originally said when Carter turns 2 we'd get our next pup but we'll see. There's a lot to think about, including a mobile baby, living in an upstairs apartment, Eva, working full-time, etc. I'm really really wanting a black pup next and since two studs were used, a black lab and a yellow lab, we'll have to see if it's an all yellow litter or some blacks. They would be Comet's half siblings.

Carter loved all the dogs and gave Wyatt some belly rubs.

IF we get a pup from this litter, Eva would be getting spayed, probably will be anyway, up to date on shots and on steroid shots.

Here's the tokens we picked up from the event!


Two cards featuring Comet, a Canine Angels magnet and a Dogs Days charm.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Pride?

I think I've always struggled with pride on some level. I was (am) academically gifted, have a decent memory and common sense. Now that I'm a mom, I can't help but be proud. Proud of the mom I am, proud of my son, proud of the hard work I do. Proud of (most) of the choices I make. Proud and sure that I'm doing the most I can, the best I can, to raise and care for my son.

I'm not proud of every choice I've made in my life, obviously. I've made mistakes. I've said things I regret. Done things I regret. However, overall, I'm proud of my conduct, proud of my actions and words. I can't let the times where I disappoint myself, let my anger get the best of me, get irritated, annoyed and bitter, be what define me.

I'm working hard to look the right direction for help, support and guidance. To make good, solid choices based on reason, logic and fact instead of emotion and nerves. I don't like confrontation, I'd rather avoid it then face it. Something I'm defiantly not proud of is our financial situation. We have a lot of debt, bad credit and it needs fixed. I will not give up, I will not give in to pressure to just start fresh. My pride won't let me. I will, single handed, if that's what's needed, pull us out of this mess of money and fix it. That is something I can look back and be proud of that, I lived up to my word (even if it took far too long) that I did it. I fixed the problem, instead of shrinking back and letting it win. That is something I long for, something that motivates me. That is something I can take pride in and know it's ok because it's something I worked for, not a gift I've been given with no credit to myself. That is why I show up to work everyday and in 3 months have already upped my pay almost a dollar. I'm proud of how well I do my job, proud that I put away my own personal feelings (for the most part) and do what's best for my family.

Is pride always bad? I think not. Can it be a deep, dark hole that you want to avoid? Absolutely.

Siggy made for me by Rachel from JM :-)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Well Rested

I am so well rested today! I'm sure that it will wear off soon since it will take some time to catch up but this is the best I've felt since at least December! The secret? You ready for this?

Carter's in his crib in his room! I figured that I would get more sleep with him in our room and me being able to just pull him into bed with me to nurse would let me get some sleep while he nurses. WRONG! I did fall asleep but being so close to his favorite food source led to near-constant nursing and having a baby laying next to you makes it hard (for me) to get good sleep. So Sunday night I nursed him and rocked him in his room with the lights off and then laid him in his crib when he was drowsy. That was around 9, I think. The cat jumped on him and woke him up at 11 so I nursed him again, in his dark room, and laid him back down. He was up at 1:30 and 4:30 to nurse then at 6:30 he nursed again in bed with me then I got up and showered and when I got out of the shower he was laying there awake, all smiles.

Last night was even better, in some ways! I got him to sleep around 8:30, he woke up at 11 but I just snuggled him for a minute and he fell right back to sleep. He was up at 2:30, nursed on one side then I went and laid back down and couldn't fall back asleep. I felt ready to start my day, read my book (on my phone), drank some water and then Carter decided he was still hungry so I nursed him on the other side. I finally fell back asleep around 4:30. Carter woke up at 6:30 again, nursed and then played in his swing with his glo-worm while I showered. He was being pretty clingy today so he sat and played on the bathroom counter while I did my hair and brushed my teeth. He loves the mirror and thought it was fun to watch me in the mirror.

It was difficult to drop him off today, he just wanted his momma. He didn't want to swing, jump, play on the floor, just wanted to snuggle me. Made me sad but no tears today! I did shed some yesterday but eh, it's bound to happen sometimes, I guess.