Trying to catch up

Whew! We had a great weekend with my dad and Cheryl here, but we definitely stayed busy. The town Halloween party, Boo at the Zoo, shopping and endless trips outside with the dog kept us all going nonstop all weekend!

Bryn's class took a field trip to the pumpkin patch today and it was fun to see all of them pick out the perfect pumpkin. They had lunch at the park and got to play for about 45 minutes on the playground so there were a lot of happy kindergartners!

I spent the rest of the day cleaning up after Elmer when he didn't make it outside, cleaning up kitty barf and cleaning the house. Too exciting for words, I tell ya!

I had another doctor appointment on Friday and everything is going well. Baby's heartbeat sounds good and my blood pressure is good. The bummer is that my doc is going on maternity leave this week and I will be seeing other docs until the beginning of January. The bright side is that I'll go see the perinatologist (just to check in with her in case I need to see her later in the pregnancy) on November 15th and have an ultrasound to check everything out and see if we can see if we can pull out pink clothes or have to round up a bunch of blue...we'll see!

Adventures with Elmer

The puppy has an official name and is officially healthy according to our vet. Unfortunately Elmer didn't read the puppy manual about how he shouldn't want to potty in his crate. Elmer has had 2 baths and I have washed many loads of laundry in the past 24 hours. Right now I am trying to remember why I thought a puppy was a good idea...at least he is cute!

And his name is?

We aren't sure yet! But we do have a dog. A 10 week old male Westipoo (West Highland Terrier/Poodle mix) to be exact. We have narrowed the name list down to 5 possibilities and are going to let Bryn pick the final name in the morning.

So new dog day went something like this...

We went to my friend Cassidy's house to see her Brittany Spaniels. Yes, they were precious and yes, the parents were bigger dogs with feathery, sheddy fur so despite the 10 pairs of precious puppy eyes, I managed to walk away. Only because I focused on the vision of my bagless vacuum filled with even more hair than it currently is with two cats in the house. I called some numbers I found in the paper for various breeds (one of which asked me what kind of dog I was interested in and informed me they had THIRTEEN different breeds of dogs - can you say "puppy mill"?) and didn't hear anything I was totally impressed with. I had seen an ad for a puppy groomer and store run by two vets and we stopped in. Bryn fell in love with a neurotic mini schnauzer, so we beat a hasty retreat and headed to their other location in Kansas City. After 2 hours in the store meeting many dogs we narrowed it down to a Westipoo and a Shih-Tzu. Bryn was really pulling for the Westipoo...Aaron stopped in after work to make it an official party and we decided on dude pictured above. Although I feel a bit guilty for not rescuing a shelter dog, I am feeling very good about having a dog that is the size I want with a seemingly good temperament and no fur to be vacuumed up. And if it ends up being a disaster, it will serve me right, right?!?!

Anyway, we made it through the evening without any accidents in the house (although I had no idea the back step was a more appealing bathroom than the entire green, grassy yard) and puppy is currently asleep in his kennel. So far so good...we'll see how tomorrow goes.

Dog hunting...

I think we have decided it is about time to add a new family member. We were planning on waiting until after Christmas so we wouldn't have to kennel the dog while we are in Hawaii, but after thinking about trying to housebreak a puppy in January and the possibility that I will be on bedrest we have decided to start looking now. I suppose that doesn't necessarily mean anything will happen yet, but the wheels have started to turn. We are headed over to a friend's house to check out her Brittany Spaniel puppies (bigger and sheddier than I think I want, but I am sure i can be sucked in by some cute 7 week old puppy eyes!) and I am sure they will be adorable.

Our trip to the pumpkin patch was cancelled yesterday - it was icky and rainy so we sat around and did puzzles and read books and watched movies. Exciting stuff!

If anyone has nay favorite small dog breeds or some tips on how to pick the perfect puppy, be sure to weigh in. We need all the help we can get!

Shopping

I had a great day shopping with my friend Monica and got some cute holiday stuff. I found an advent calendar with little drawers...I have been looking for a cute one for a few years now. I usually put little strips of paper with holiday activities for Bryn and I to do in envelopes for every day in December, but now I can put them in the drawers with a treat. Too cool!

Uh oh! I am listening to the very end of the K-State game as I type and it looks like the game is not going to go to the Wildcats tonight. Oklahoma State just scored a field goal to pull ahead by 2 points with 2 seconds left. Not good. I hope Aaron is having a little bit of fun at the game anyway.

I think the new heartburn medicine is doing the trick. I am sleeping better without the strange symptoms that were plaguing me at night so I am thrilled.

Off to watch some more DVR'ed reality TV...can't beat that on a Saturday night!

Relief...hopefully!

I finally have a prescription in my hot little hand that will hopefully help me with the reflux. It was quite a long, drawn out and expensive process to get it filled, but hopefully it will be worth the pain and trauma!

Bryn was out of school today...we went shopping for clothes (maternity for me, nightgowns and footed jammies for her) and then went to the bookstore. We managed to leave with only one book for Bryn, But I then had to stop by the elementary schools Scholastic book sale where I bought her a few more. I did get through the day without purchasing any books for myself - only because I have a pile of library and loaner books I need to get through!

Clarissa got to go tot he vet today - she threw up A LOT for about 24 hours. she is acting fine, but I just wanted to get her checked out. She seems to be doing better and I am thrilled to be cleaning up less cat barf!

Bryn is headed to Grandma and Grandpa's tomorrow and Aaron is going to be gone to the K-State/Oklahoma State football game Saturday. I am planning on reading, relaxing and doing some holiday shopping. I am looking forward to it!

I am looking forward to "Grey's Anatomy" tonight, although I must admit I can't get into George and Izzy...I feel like I should like them together, but I just don't. We'll see how it goes...

Hooray for normal!

My glucose tolerance test came back normal - I am so excited as I was sure my blood sugar was going to be all whacked out. But so far so good...Now if I could just get this reflux under control I'd be a happy camper (I'll try not to even get started on the fact I couldn't start a new medication for it today because my insurance requires pre-authorization for a PRESCRIPTION - for crying out loud!).

Scrapbooking yesterday was fun and I did get some stuff done. Nothing exciting, but enough to have made it worth my while to spend a whole day off from other obligations.

I went to a CPR recertification class tonight so I am now ready to save lives - that is of course assuming that I could control my panic and actually remember what it is I am supposed to do. Fortunately I have never been in a situation where I needed to do CPR, but I am hoping I could pull myself together and do it if I needed to.

The parent/teacher conference with Bryn's teacher was today and all seems to be going well. She did say that Bryn sometimes struggles with emotional control (not news to us as we live with the drama everyday), but she didn't have any suggestions for helping. she just said that some people are wired that way and that she herself is wired similarly. Gotta love a teacher who really loves her students no matter what the issues...we are so fortunate that Bryn has such a patient and loving teacher as her introduction to the educational system!

Rested and relaxed

I did get some nice downtime in yesterday - in fact, I never even changed out of my pajamas! I did get all of my and Bryn's summer and winter clothes changed out in the closets so we at least can wear some season-appropriate clothing now! We had movie night (and ordered pizza so I didn't even have to cook!) and then watched K-State beat Colorado. All in all, a pretty good day...

No big plans today either. Just headed to church - the children's choir is singing today so we'll get to watch Bryn belt out some tunes with the other kids. Besides that I have to organize some scrapbooking stuff...I am going to an all day crop tomorrow while Bryn is in school - I can't wait!

Still standing

Despite Debi's advice not to say yes to anything else, I ended up subbing for the school secretary yesterday afternoon and participating in a homecoming parade today to pass out flyers for our Wednesday night kids program at church. As a result, I am exhausted. The bright side is this weekend is still activity free!

I had another doctor appointment today and everything seems to be going well. My blood pressure is fine, baby's heartbeat is fine and I should know the results of my 24 hour urine test (nothing more fun than doing that at home for 24 hours) and my glucose tolerance test soon.

Nothing else new around here...just looking forward to a long nap tomorrow and some football tomorrow night!

Not much excitement around here

Which is just fine with me. We decided on a local guy to do the basement and hopefully he will get started soon. We are shooting for everything to be done before the end of February...it sure seems like a long time to have everything in the house in upheaval, but at least it will be mostly contained in the basement.

I have been feeling less than stellar this week. I can't decide whether I am trying to get sick or if I'm just suffering from pregnancy icks. If I am getting sick, I get to go share my germs with a bunch of kids at church tonight...I am in charge of the science lesson for our Wednesday night program.

I have a busy next couple of days (babysitting for MOPS, scrapbooking party, doctor's appt, and Bryn out of school early on Friday), but we have no plans for the weekend. It is the first weekend in a long time that we don't have anything on the calendar - it will be nice to just hang out. Maybe I'll actually clean my house...what a novel idea!

Another weekend come and gone...

It was a busy one! The garage sale went well...we made almost $200 and best of all, EVERYTHING is gone. We sold the big stuff, loaded up the rest and took it to Goodwill while Bryn went to a birthday party. It all worked out quite nicely and now we have some empty space in the garage. Never mind that it will soon be holding all of the stuff that is currently crammed into the basement - we may never get to park our cars inside!

We served 160 meals to the homeless this morning at Bridges of Hope...it seems like we have more people every time.

Looking forward to relaxing tonight and watching some good TV...

More everyday stuff

We have had 4 different guys in our basement to take a look and give us estimates...we'll see how that comes out in the next couple of days.

I went to another Party Lite candle party last night (this makes 3 in the past month) and agreed to have a party in November. Aaron is pretty sure I have lost my mind...I blame it on pregnancy.

Mema had a CAT scan last week and all that showed up was scar tissue - no tumor at this point. She's not out of the woods yet and will have a PET scan in November, but the doctor said the results couldn't have been better. She is still not able to taste anything and has no appetite, but is feeling O.K. otherwise.

I am going to spend today getting garage sale stuff ready...fun. I am betting this one won't be quite as productive as the last one, but I am definitely ready to get rid of some junk.

Bryn has had about 3 back to back "worst day evers" this week. Of course she doesn't know why and won't tell me thing (which my mother insists is only fair since I never told her anything), but she doesn't seem too despondent so I am just going to assume there is not permanent damage being done to her psyche.

Getting the ball rolling...

I finally caved in and called our builder to see if he was interested and/or available to finish our currently unfinished basement. I love our new house, but losing that basement area to put toys and the computer has been a bummer. I don't think Aaron and Bryn are much bothered by it, but having stuff I can't unpack and stuff piled on top of stuff in closets is driving me crazy. Now one could argue that simply means it is time to get rid of a lot of stuff because we have too much and one would be very correct. And some of it will be going in the garage sale this Saturday (yes, I have gone insane and decided to participate in the city-wide garage sale), but I am still longing for some more space and an extra bedroom so we can have a room for the baby and a guest room for our visitors. The current plan is that the baby doesn't get a room and shares our bedroom and closet, but I don't think that is a great long term plan! The long and short of it is that we could definitely work with what we have and have plenty of room for all of us - finishing the basement is definitely not a NEED, but it is a serious WANT on my part. Anyway, we'll see what the estimate comes back to be and go from there.

No other news...had breakfast with some mom friends this morning and had a nice time and I have book club tonight. And I am so very excited to get home from book club and have both "Prison Break" and "The Bachelor" to watch...hooray!