Emo Bud

We've had a hectic couple weeks around here, and I had forgotten that when Bud feels neglected he seeks attention in rather destructive ways. Bud's not the dog who will eat your entire couch or your favorite pair of shoes. He is more subtle... a toilet paper tube here, and bottle of nail polish there. Above are his latest interesting (and dangerous) victims. Yes, folks, that is a AA battery in the picture. I don't know where or how he got it, but we found a chewed up AA battery in Bud's crate. He barfed and gagged a little the following morning, but seemed OK afterward. I gave him some activated charcoal from the doggy first aid kit, and he survived it. Jeff and Lui (our vet tech friend) were worried he'd be a goner, but Bud has always had a belly of iron. I don't think he even really needed the charcoal. So we're giving Bud some more attention the last few days, and keeping odd toxic materials out of the room.

Volunteering is FUN!

I HATE volunteering. In fact, I never volunteer for anything because I dislike it so much. I am the person who ducks my head, runs to the bathroom before the question gets asked, goes missing for a week... you name it. However, I think I have found my niche!

So last week I blogged about my volunteering nervousness. The big animal shelter in Houston holds adoption events in the mall each week around Christmas, and they were going to have to cancel their event because only one person had signed up to volunteer. I hear such bad things about the shelter that I felt horrible for the dogs not getting their chance to be adopted out of there, so I volunteered. Well, it ended up being great!

Saturday morning we got up at 7:30 and headed to the mall. Jeff had been out of town all week so he decided to take an allergy pill and come with me so we could spend some time together. We met up with the other girl who is their regular volunteer, and set up shop with tables, wire crates, 6 puppies and 2 kittens. The puppies were pretty gross and stinky- the shelter had not even bothered to clean them and they came to the mall reeking of pee, had matted hair, you name in. A couple even had poop on them! We cleaned them up as best we could and started the day.

It was non stop talking to people and passing puppies around. It was fun talking breeds and temperaments and helping people figure out if their potential pet would be right for them or not. It was also really cool to watch Jeff toting puppies around and cuddling them, and showing them off to people. He had a little black lab mixed girl I think he particularly liked, and he found her a home with a family that had a little girl, who was clearly a good match as we watched her sitting on the floor cuddling with her new puppy! I was so impressed to see him talking dogs (um, he even did it in Spanish a couple times)! I learn new things about him all the time, which I didn't think was possible after 4 years of dating. I could tell he was having a lot of fun talking to people and hanging with the puppies. He even got appropriately miffed (as miffed as any hard core dog person would be) when some thug asked if we had any "Rotts or Pits."

My pet project for the day was the Catahoula hound (or so they called her... I wasn't totally convinced on some of their breed interpretations). She was a lot bigger than the others, and pretty energetic, so people were passing her up for the more cuddly puppies even though I thought she had the sweetest and best temperament there (some of the others were shaking and timid, and she was such a normal puppy personality). I just always get scared for the bigger breeds because their chances of getting adopted aren't as good. She also looked a bit pit bull to people because of her brindle coloring (even though she didn't have the right body type and also had marbled eyes like Cosmo, people kept assuming she was pit and getting turned off). That worried me as well, because if some moron at the shelter decided she was a pit, she would probably get euthanized (they have such a stigma here with the fighting rings). I spent a lot of time keeping an eye on her, and trying to make sure she had a good chance. That meant taking the other puppy out of her shared crate because they were tumbling and scrapping, and people were getting turned off... and it meant having her out of her crate a lot because she did NOT want to be cooped up and was barking. It also meant watching her really closely because I found out she likes to jump on little kids (in a friendly way, but the kid started bawling and there went that adoption... which was fine). At the very end of the day, with 15 minutes to spare, a young engaged couple decided to take her home. It ended up being a good fit. Yes, I was full disclosure on her excitement and joy for jumping on toddlers (she did it a couple times to give them big old face kisses before I finally just decided to hang out next to her crate so little kids couldn't open the door and have her pop out and give them a big french kiss). The guy was very dog savvy and was amazing at handling the puppy even with her high energy. His fiancee had been wanting a dog for herself, and this little one curled right up in her lap and claimed her. The three of them just had a really great dynamic to watch, and it was obvious they were not going to be in over their heads with this dog.

When it was time to take the unadopted animals back to the truck we only had one left. Jeff and I took off- I didn't want to see the one lonely puppy get taken back to the animal catcher truck. However, I got an email later from the other volunteer saying the puppy got adopted at the last second while they were cleaning up. So in the end, every single animal at the event was placed in a home! It was really cool to watch the whole process, too. I'd get such a sinking feeling when someone who I thought was going to take one of the animals changed their mind at the last minute and walked away. The cool thing, though, was that even though the people who walked away would have been good owners, the people who did adopt the pets ended up being such a better fit. I guess we got to see a little bit of fate at work, and it was really awesome.

SO, even though we were only going to do this as a one time good deed, we ended up getting asked to come back this weekend. They were really impressed that all the animals got adopted out, so they are sending 10-12 this time. Eek! It will be fun, though, and hopefully we'll be up for the challenge now that we have the hang of it. I hope they all get adopted again- I am trying to mentally prepare for the fact that it just might not happen. Even getting one of them adopted is a big win for the day, though, because hopefully it means a better life for that animal!

Updates on Life

Blog slacker signing in for this week's updates:

I am currently on the prowl for a job. I know, I know. I have extreme faith in my ability to sell myself once I get in the door, regardless of this giant Buddha belly I am sporting. I deserve a job just as much as the next person. Fortunately there are a lot of listings cropping up right now, and I have been submitting resumes for a variety of positions. There are lots of entry level HR positions I seem to be a decent fit for, because I did a lot of basic HR work while managing for a few years. I met with an employment agency and got some suggestions on paring down my resume for those types of positions, so I have 2 resumes now... the entry level one and the beefier one. I am also applying for things in the payment processing industry, just not sales related. Telecheck and Pulse network both have headquarters here, which means some very cool jobs come up from time to time. I have about 5 apps in between the two companies. I actually talked to the lady who interviewed me at Telecheck back in the fall, for the position that I was really excited about. The good news is I am still totally in the running (like one of the top candidates from the sounds of it), but the bad news is she has no word on when they'll be able to fill the spot. So frustrating. Hey, maybe timing will work out great and they'll need someone to start in April when I am post baby.

I hate to say my business sucked it up... but my business sucked it up. It's definitely doable, I just forgot what it was like to work straight commission without a base of any sort. It's a lot harder to brush off getting stood up for a meeting (which happens frequently in this business) after driving an hour to get there, and realizing you can't even shrug your shoulders and enjoy your extra time by taking yourself out for lunch, because you're now in the negative for the day by even driving out there. I can't help it, that's how I think... gas and time=money, and not closing the deal=deficit for the day. I can't even imagine when the baby is born, hiring a sitter so I can go on an appointment and then getting stood up. That's a bigger deficit than I can stomach! Anyway, no need to complain or justify. It's just not the best time to be doing this right now, and that's OK because everyone knows I sort of hate sales anyway.

This weekend I decided to volunteer for an animal adoption at the Galleria, which is the fancy pants mall here in Houston. Animal adoption events and I are a really bad combo, but I can control myself. I got an email blast from the Houston Dog Owners group this morning, and this shelter that all the dog people hate (because they are very unorganized and have a high kill rate from what I hear... sometimes even killing a dog that someone has expressed interest in adopting, or a rescue organization has offered to pick up, because they can't get their paperwork in order) needed a volunteer otherwise they would have to cancel their adoption event. Apparently every animal that has gone to the event in the past 3 months (with the exception of 2) have been adopted... and if the animals can either be adopted or euthanized, the show must go on. I'm just crossing my fingers that the animals are well cared for (I've heard some REALLY bad stories), and that the reason I had such a strong urge to go isn't because some sad soul there is going to get left behind and tug at my heart strings! Hopefully it will just be a good deed done, and seeing some pets go off to new homes with nice Galleria people who can afford to buy fancy pet sweaters and spoil some animal rotten. And if not, then I just have to be TOUGH because we have no space for another pet!

Not too much else to report. 3.6 months until the baby is born, and if I could fast forward time I would. She's taken to hanging out in really weird spots, doing things like making my legs go numb and ruining my sleep. Last night I swear she had her whole body jammed into my side, and was absolutely wailing on me to boot. Who would have guessed a little 2 pound fetus could have me doubled over in pain?

Well, until next time...

Corgi Cute

Couldn't resist.

It's SNOWING in Houston!

Going Ons

Jeff says it's been too long since I've updated my blog. Who knew husbands cared about blogs? I guess I haven't had much to say lately!

I did notice when I logged on today that the baby countdown is officially under the 4 month mark! Woohoo! Though I'm not super excited about popping large things out of small places, the prospect of having a miserable few hours is looking better and better when compared to sleeping in awkward and uncomfortable positions all night, waddling, tripping over my own feet, not being able to wear my clothes, and the inability to take Nyquil when sick. I actually might miss having her kick me so hard in the crotch that my knees almost buckle (it's like our little form of communication) but seeing her in person should make up for that.

Thanksgiving was fun this year. We went to Jeff's parents' house the Sunday before real Thanksgiving to do our dinner with them (they were going out of town). I will have to get some pictures from Diane to post on the blog, because I didn't take any. We took over the deep fryer (my only culinary contribution to the marriage other than lots of dishes) and fried a turkey. His parents had never had fried turkey before, and we think it's the only way to go, so we had to share. We figured if they didn't like it, they were having a more traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday anyway, so it wasn't the end of the world! After some frustration getting the deep fryer to start, we got our turkey frying and it was a hit! Then when real Thanksgiving rolled around a few days later, we decided to fry some more! We originally had 2 whole chickens to fry, figuring we would be sick of turkey. Then while I was at Kroger I ran into the spend $20 get a turkey for 28 cents per pound deal. Not being able to pass up a $3 turkey, I bought one, and we did A LOT of frying that night. Needless to say, our freezer has a lot of meat in it now.

I got sick over the weekend. I should have expected it- Jeff and Quinn have both been sick in the past couple weeks. Jeff had bronchitis and Quinn had a sinus infection. So apparently it was my turn, and I spent the weekend on the couch. I did manage to finish off the baby registry (the shower isn't for a couple months, but family has been bugging me to get this done with Christmas coming up) AND watch some good movies! OK, one of the movies (Penelope- produced by Reese Witherspoon where the girl is cursed to have a pig nose until someone can love her in spite of it) was REALLY good. The other one I watched (Baby on Board) was kind of weird and was so crude in parts that I ended up constantly playing with the volume so Jeff and Quinn wouldn't hear it and think I was a freak for watching it... it was *just* good enough that I wanted to see how it ended, and it had Heather Graham in it... so it was like really cute chick flick merged with American Pie style humor throughout. The final verdict= not very good! Then Quinn wanted to watch one of those cheerleader movies called Fired Up, where the football players ditch football camp and join the cheerleading squad so they can go to cheer camp with all the girls. Of course. So we watched that. It was nice to sit around and be lazy for a weekend, in spite of being sick, and one of the highlights was Jeff making me some really spicy turkey noodle soup from scratch (hey... lots of leftover $3 turkey!) to clear out my sinuses!

Other than that, not much going on. Still sick, but not as bad as I was over the weekend. I imagine I'll take a nap around noon because I'm already starting to feel wiped out and it's only 8am.

And now... of to do Monday. Ugh.

Matilda Gail Moline

It's official, we decided on a name! Can't wait to meet Matilda Gail Moline.

Matilda means "might," "strength," and "battle" and is a very popular name in Europe (though not so much here). Gail is for my Aunty Gail, and is also my middle name (though mine is spelled Gayle). Jeff really did get to contribute. He likes Matilda Gail, and Moline was set in stone, obviously :) Ewen got dropped entirely (one of the rules was no 4 name babies), so maybe I'll hyphenate my name when she's born so everyone knows I'm her mom.

Matilda is also the name of one of my favorite songs that I learned as a kid! Now that I'm reading over it I can't remember exactly why it was one of my favorite songs, but it was, so here are the lyrics.

Waltzing Matilda

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three,
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?"
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive", said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."
"Oh, You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."

Quinn Is 17

Happy Birthday to Quinn!

Today Quinn is 17. Can anyone believe that? I remember 17 years ago today (when I was 15 years old, haha!) eating dinner with my mom at the table we still eat dinner at today... she was sitting at the end and very calmly said that today was the day she was going to have the baby. I asked her how she knew and she said "I just know." She told me to go to orchestra practice anyway (where I played the same violin that I played about 5 minutes ago) and when I got home there was a strange car in the driveway... the midwife. My violin teacher, who was dropping me off, made me go in the house in spite of my protests. I walked in my mom's room to see what was going on, saw Quinn's head for the first time, started crying (because hello, when you're 15 that's traumatic), and got told by the midwife to either quit crying and be useful, or go to the other room. So I held a leg, and the Quinn popped out into the world. He had a fabulous little cone head. Thank goodness he grew out of it.

Then for his 12th birthday I remember my mom and I putting him in the car for a road trip down to Medford, under the guise of taking him to the petting zoo near southern Oregon. He wasn't all that excited by the idea, because he was very disappointed that he wasn't getting a certain short, spotted puppy for his birthday, and that was all he could think about (he was in love with that puppy from the moment they laid eyes on each other). He had cried over it A LOT over the weeks, and said there was nothing he could possibly get for his birthday that would make him happy. He was still suffering from sadness when we "decided" to pull into a rest stop just outside of Medford. Imagine our surprise (hehe) when we pulled into the parking lot and saw Carolyn and Tom's van! Quinn's pretty smart... he was like "Isn't that Carolyn's van?" and we were like"Hey, how funny! They live right down the street from here!" It was obvious he didn't want to get his hopes up, but he really *wanted* to think we might be up to something :) We kept the coincidence charade up for a couple of minutes until Carolyn decided to be kind and pop the back of the van open, to reveal Cosmo! Thank goodness for wonderful friends and malfunctioning testicles. Those two are just as attached today as they were 5 years ago.

The other night, Quinn got to feel baby girl roll over and kick. He was like "Did she just roll over?" Yup. Then she kicked him really hard. He said she was going to be a spunky kid. It was like she was trying to sock him good so he would feel her! Then he said "Wow, you have a little person inside you!"

I wish I was more unpacked so I could post some of my favorite pictures of him. We have a couple cute ones from the day we got Cosmo, and we have some of him in the puppy whelping box holding Rottweiler puppies, and one of us together at my wedding. I'm going to have to go digging!

It's really crazy to look back at the past 17 years and see how grown up he is now. From cute, cone head baby Quinn to the kid who almost died of heartbreak over the puppy he loved, to almost out of high school and soon to be cool uncle. Wow.

So, happy birthday to my VERY old brother.

Of *Course* Not!

Funny of the day... Jeff was getting desperate for movies to watch after several days of being home sick, so he got Best In Show from his online Netflix account. About halfway through he looks over and asks "Is this what your dog show friends are like?" Hahahahahaha!!

Then I shocked him by letting him know the "greyhound" on screen was in fact a Borzoi. Yes, I'm a dork.

22 week shot

For those who've asked... here is the 22 week belly shot. It's getting kinda large.

I was also told today at my appointment that the due date has not been moved up to the 18th, it is still the 28th. We got the ultrasound kind of late, and apparently all babies are the same size up to 18 weeks, then genetics start taking over. I was an 8+ pounder and Jeff was a 9+ pounder, and the way our kid is measuring, she'll most likely come out in that range also. Eeeks.

Baby Girl!

My favorite, you can see her face so clearly!


The 2 little bumps are "her vagina" as the ultrasound lady said. Makes sense.





I think that's her hand that looks like it's touching the screen.




Oh, and apparently the due date is actually March 18th instead of March 28th according to the ultrasound measurements and calculations.

The ultrasound was SO awesome. We got to see her flail her arm, we got to see her stretch, and then we got to see her roll completely over! It was amazing and so cool to watch! She also visibly kicked while we were watching her, and I felt her kick me right at the same time. WOW! Now our little baby is starting to have an identity. I'm especially happy that *I* was right on the girl thing (I never get to be right) and Jeff owes a guy from work a coke.

Picking a Midwife

So, we picked a midwife this weekend! I know in an earlier blog I mentioned that we were going to use a hospital midwife group, but that ended up not working out for a lot of reasons. My first visit turned me off from that quite a bit because one of the midwives (and any of them can be on call when you deliver) really frustrated and upset me. She talked down to me, told me to lose weight but gave no suggestions on how to do it, and just made me feel like this would not be a good experience if she happened to be the one I ended up with. Our original inclination was to go with a home birth, so we decided to take the week and interview some midwives.

Jeff and I really, really like the one we settled on. Her name is Cathy, and from the initial phone call I could tell she was someone I wanted to meet and talk to further. She returned my call right away, and asked me a lot of questions about diet and lifestyle, and made some recommendations on some ways to tweak my diet immediately. When we met Jeff was able to come with me, and she had a lot of great things to say. She made us both feel really comfortable, and she tried to include Jeff, which I liked. She asked him about his comfort level and any fears or hesitations he might have. I really like that she was willing to talk with both of us so openly.

First, I have to keep a diet journal, which is really helpful for me. We don't eat very well around our house, and writing down what I put in my mouth was a big eye opener. I write things down, and Jeff has started grabbing my journal throughout the day and calculating the calories. We buy a lot more veggies now, and haven't cooked in butter at all the last few days. I knew we needed to eat better, but it's hard to make a change like that when everything tastes better fried... and it's just a small piece of cake... etc. Having someone to be accountable to the next 4 months will hopefully get us on a healthier track. I'm also supposed to continue my daily walks. I knew being healthier in general helped with labor and delivery, and it's extra important in a home birth, so this is a good change.

She was pretty concerned that I hadn't had much pre-natal care, so she got me scheduled for labs and ultrasound right away. The ultrasound is tonight (so we should know the gender!! though that's not the most important part of it) and my labs are scheduled for Thursday. I'll go to my lab appointment on Thursday with my ultrasound report so everything can be looked over. She's really careful about getting all the labs done and highly recommends the ultrasound even though it's optional, so she can screen out any potential high risk situations where you shouldn't be at home.

For the birth she brings at least one other person (another nurse midwife) and usually her apprentice comes along, as well. So there are 3 sets of hands to help out, and if labor is long the 2 midwives can alternate rest time if they need to so that they are always fresh. I REALLY liked that because one of my fears in a hospital is that you get the doc whose been working for 20 hours and mistakes happen. The 2 midwives are certified nurse midwives, and they are also licensed (has to be renewed annually) in neonatal resuscitation. If for some reason you go into labor at the same time as someone else (which is rare because she only takes a couple clients a month for that reason) she has other midwives as backup.

She said that most of her hospital transports are first time moms who get so pooped out that they want to go to the hospital and just get the baby out of there. For instance, she said if you go into labor at 3am, that's just the start of your labor so try to go back to sleep. That way when the hard work part comes you haven't been up for 24 hours already. She has a couple every year that have to go to the hospital for c-sections (just the statistics of it), and she has a backup physician at a hospital 10 minutes from us. If we want an ambulance she can call one, but she actually carries more equipment than an ambulance is equipped with for labor/newborn care so she said transport by car is often faster and she has all the fetal heart monitors with her, oxygen, the same drugs that the hospital uses for hemorrhage, etc. She calls ahead to the hospital and lets them know what is going on so they can do what they need to do once you're there. She sounds very careful about assessing when more advanced facilities are needed, so the transport happens before it's a life threatening emergency. She monitors fetal heart tones constantly to assess the baby's stress levels and how it is doing through the contractions, etc. If the baby is in duress at all, then you get transported. All in all she says less than 7% of her patients are transported to a hospital.

Once the baby is born she does all the newborn assessments- there are like 32 of them- to see how responsive the baby is, what the gestational age is, make sure that everything is in the right spot, body parts that are supposed to be open are open, etc. She does all the eye ointments, etc, that are required in the hospital. Then if all looks good you can go to your pediatrician the next day to be looked at further (just like they would do in a hospital). If you have to go to a hospital right away, obviously you do. If there's something seriously wrong with the newborn, you're in the same boat as someone delivering in one of the many suburban hospitals, which is you're hauling butt to Texas Children's, which is pretty much the only place around Houston equipped to deal with the major stuff (though the hospital 4 miles up the road from us is a level 2 facility so unless your kid is beyond jacked up you can get most every kind of help you need there- I had already looked into that on my own). That's really the only downside to our choice- if we had gone with the hospital midwives we would have been delivering right next door to Texas Children's. Looking at the likelihood of something getting to that point, however, it just didn't seem worth compromising on the other parts.

The other thing I get to do that was really important to me, that I couldn't do at the hospital, is a water birth. There are these big soft sided hot tubs you can rent and put inside your house, and you can labor, AND actually deliver if you want to, in the water. It's supposed to be really good at helping reduce stress and pain, and I've also read that it's a smoother transition for the baby than just popping out into air and lights, etc.

There's a lot more, but this is probably too in depth for a blog- some people have been really curious, and I'm sure the rest of you are asleep on your keyboards :) I feel much better about having a plan and a lot more knowledge at this point, and I think Jeff does, too. It's a little scary because it makes this whole having a baby thing much more real, but it's good to feel like we are starting to know what we're getting into. The only thing I don't like is being required to take a birthing class... which I know will be really good for us to take and be prepared, but most of them are like 8 weeks long, once a week, which will be kind of a pain, plus we have to actually pay extra for the class that we're going to be dragging butt to and complaining about after a long day of work. I'm sure we'll be happy we took one once the contractions start, though.

What to do with a Used Placenta

I found out the coolest thing yesterday! We can donate the baby's placenta to the Texas Search and Rescue Cadaver Dogs for their training. OK, that's kind of gross... but kind of cool! I had to ask where they went, because when Quinn was born we just put it in the freezer then tossed it on garbage day. Apparently that's still what people do (although another suggested use is planting the baby a tree) unless they want to donate to the cadaver dog team. When Jeff and I heard that we looked at each other and we like "that's SO what we're doing!"

So Sweet!!

I hope everyone can see this... again all I had was the cell phone since it always seems to be in my hand. This is just a little glimpse into how sweet and loving Cosmo is, and how attached he is to our old girl. He was sitting at my feet grooming her face today... yes, the picture is framed by my thighs... sorry. It truly was a candid camera moment :)

The Usual Suspect

I thought it was a bit odd this morning when I got out of the shower, went in the living room to let the dogs out, and Lily refused to go. She seemed consumed with licking her very greasy face and paws. I kind of shrugged it off- you never know what Lily has found and gotten into.Then I walked over to the stove and saw... picture included because obviously we need pictures... prior to my shower the blue plate had peanut butter toast leftovers from Quinn's breakfast, and the pan had oil that I had left to cool on the stove after last night's fried chicken dinner. Of course we see from the evidence that the plate is empty, the counter is grease splattered, and you will have to take my word as a witness that the pan had more grease in it before the "alleged incident," and when I came out our suspect's head was so slick she could play the male lead in a bad 80s movie.

Baby Dancer

Update: about 3 days ago, the baby started moving! Well, I suppose it has been moving the whole time, but I can actually feel it this week. It gets progressively stronger each day. Last night, I think it was protesting when I laid on my stomach. Today, I am wearing some jeans that are getting just a bit snug in the belly and it's kicking right at the waist line. Geez, I hope I'm not making it uncomfortable in there! Nobody else has been able to feel it yet. I've only felt it a couple times by touching the outside of my belly. Mostly it just feels like someone is clogging on my guts.

Great... the kid is going to be a dancer.

Feeding Frenzy

Bunny anticipating dinner time


Lily and Cosmo at my feet



Dinner!

All bagged up in somewhat proper portions for the week

Lucky mooching raw meat. He REALLY likes his new food.

Goodbye Ol' Roy, we started raw feeding last week (I was only feeding Ol' Roy because I am career challenged and somewhat poor right now, so dog friends, be nice, at least I did something about it).

Raw is awesome. It is actually costing us less than Ol' Roy at about $10 per week for dog food. That's seriously economical. The best thing is that everyone loves it. We kind of had to learn manners again because certain dogs were wanting to mug me for the food. OK, Cosmo still needs to learn manners because he always finishes before Bunny and tries to con hers away from her (we do crate feed, but the Corgis are too long to fit in their crates with their bowls so they eat with their heads out). I just watch them and throw him outside when he's done now. Cosmo is by far the biggest fan of raw. He hops and turns cookies while I get the food ready each night. I don't blame him, because he must be feeling really good now. All his skin irritation seems to have gone away, and hair is starting to come back in on his chin. His chin wasn't exactly raw before, it was just sort of permanently bald. I'm hoping that another benefit we'll have is bunny's teeth getting cleaned up. The poor old lady has a bad tartar problem, and I've heard the bones can really take care of that.

Anyone who eats dinner at our house and is gagging about the raw meat bagged all over the counter, no worries... I use antibacterial 409 for kitchens on the counters after every meal.

Baby Party

So last week we were going to do the big gender reveal, but our plans got thwarted by the wrong ultrasound machine. The cupcakes were ordered and we were planning to do family dinner anyway, though, so the little baby party went ahead. Above are some pics. Grandma and Grandpa got us/the baby some awesome gifts. We now have a new diaper bag, tons of toys, some baby soaps and creams, lots of blankets (in jungle theme, which is what we are going for) and I got a baby sling that I had been wanting, and Jeff got a baby front pack. Thank you! I feel like we're getting more and more prepared for this baby all the time. We had a very fun night.

The Much Requested, Obnoxious Belly Pic

OK, so here you go. I took this a couple weeks ago to humor my cousin and my friends Janiene and April, who kept hounding me for a "belly picture." Who on earth takes a picture of their belly and then sends it to people? So anyway, I am not quite as self conscious about it now, so here you go. I guess I was something like 15 or 16 weeks when this was taken. I'm a little bigger now, but it looks about the same in clothes. And no... I am not one of those people who is going to hike my shirt up for a photo op :)

Thinking Raw/Fresh Food

I'm on day 2 of cooking for the dogs because our Costco trip is tomorrow and I don't want to buy anymore crap dog food to hold us over. Lots of rice, some chicken breast and necks, eggs... just cheap stuff I have around the house that I think would work for them. They're so enthusiastic about meal time now! They seem to really be thriving on the fresh diet, especially Cosmo. I haven't noticed a huge difference in the others, but Cosmo has perked up so much in the last 2 days I can't help but notice.

I always say I can't afford to feed 5 dogs fresh or raw food, but I am wondering if it can be done. I spend about $40 a month on dog food (a 40lb bag lasts us 2 weeks). Is it possible... to feed fresh for that same amount of money? I'm trying to brain storm... chicken legs and thighs are dirt cheap, so is rice... eggs are fairly inexpensive if you do one per dog per day. What do you guys think? I need to go on Carolyn's site and find her raw food guide and do the math on quantities. Are all the supplements essential? The supplements are what pushed it over the budget before. I honestly don't even know what, if any, supplements you all use... my mom used to do quite a few of them, though. Any opinions or suggestions would be very appreciated. If I can't do it properly on my budget then I will just go with the Costco food, and keep it in mind for the future. Or worst case scenario I suppose I could just transition Cosmo for right now because he really seems to thrive on it, and it can't possibly be more expensive than his $4/lb salmon based food, which he also does very well on.

No News

Kind of disappointing news after yesterday's blog... no baby gender news for another 2 weeks. I went to my appointment today and even though I told them I was 18 weeks when I set the appointment, since it was a first visit they had gotten the smaller ultrasound machine ready rather than the one for 18-20 week ultrasounds (which checks things like anatomy and structure to make sure everything is OK, and it can also determine gender). In the end neither ultrasound got done. The midwife said the smaller one would have been ridiculous because I am clearly pregnant, and all it does is confirm pregnancy. The anatomy ultrasound is much more detailed and they would have had to set an appointment for it, which they did not do. So I guess we have a lot of strawberry and blueberry cupcakes to eat tomorrow but no news to go along with them. I set my follow up for November 5th, and they promised to do the ultrasound then. It will be nice to know that baby cakes has all the right numbers of arms and legs and that things are developing well. I did get to hear the heartbeat again today, and the midwife said it was nice and strong.

Updates

It seems like it's been a really busy week without actually getting much accomplished. Lots of time on the phone getting information about various things... one of those kinds of weeks.

The big news is that tomorrow I will go to my very first baby checkup appointment. It will be a big relief to finally get some labs done and an ultrasound, to make sure that everything is going smoothly and also to feel like the baby is a bit more tangible (though now I can feel the hard baby bulge up against my skin sometimes when he/she feels like chilling in the front part of my belly, so that is somewhat tangible!). The other perk is that since I am 18 weeks (depending on how you count... I know the blog says 16 weeks because they count back from due date but the docs would say 18 weeks because they give you a couple freebie weeks up front) I *should* be able to find out the gender during tomorrow's appointment. Everyone cross your fingers, paws, or whatever you have for a good clear picture of a nice, compliant baby facing front and center, so that we can finally get this mystery solved!

If all goes as planned, I am going to ask for an envelope with the answer in it, so that when we go to Jeff's parents' house for dinner on Saturday night we can all open the envelope and find out! It seemed more fun than finding out all by myself while having an ultrasound (though the wait to open it might kill me). Diane is planning a cool pink and blue dessert theme to go along with the big reveal, and it will be nice to have Howard, Diane and Quinn be in on finding out the big surprise. I'm sad Jeff can't go along to the appointment and have the fun of seeing the baby for the first time on ultrasound, but he has been out of town for work lately, and there's really no reliable way to schedule an appointment for when he will be here. This month he will be gone a total of 3 weeks!

For the appointment, I am going to a midwife group that actually delivers in the hospital. Diane and I went to the orientation the other day where they tell you all about their practice, and it was exactly what I was hoping to hear. No IVs... they monitor fetal heart beats at certain intervals but don't keep you strapped to the machine during your whole labor... they encourage you to drink and move around... you can labor in the water (but you can't give birth in the water, unfortunately, because the tubs aren't big enough). The midwife that gave the orientation was really informative and took her time, which was nice, and it was much more comfortable than the normal sterile doctor environment. I think it's a good compromise between home and hospital births. The fact that it's right in the Texas Medical Center is nice, because if for some reason there was a complication or the baby came out needing some immediate attention, we would be on the same block (and in some cases connected by a sky bridge) to some of the best hospitals in the state. If not, though, the medical staff leaves the midwife families alone to do their own thing. I'm usually not a fan of the Med Center because it's hard to navigate and overwhelming, but if we practice our route a few times leading up to the baby being born it should work out ok. Anyway, the goal is to do the delivery there. We'll see how the appointment goes tomorrow and take it from there.

Cosmo is having food allergies again. I tried making a trip to Costco with a friend who has a Costco card so we could try their brand of dog food, but when we got there we found out Costco closes early on Saturdays. So I bought a small bag of the Purina "Beneful" my mom used to get... just to get them by until I could get to Costco again. Well, wham, last night I looked at poor Cos and all his skin was rashy, and his little chin was raw. So he had a benadryl chased by a bowl of rice for dinner last night, and was looking a little better this morning. Today I've been cooking for him, and Saturday I will meet my friend Lui, who has a Costco card, and go buy a bag of the dog food. If it works for him, I'll just get a Costco card so I can buy dog food. We don't have a ton of use for buying in bulk (not enough to justify the Costco membership up to this point) but for a good wholesome food that is also cheap, I'm in. I know we've also been dying to buy paper plates and paper towels in bulk, so I guess it will work :) If it doesn't work, I give up and Mr. Cosmo will have to go back on a salmon based food- he tends to do well on those, but they are so expensive I was hoping for alternatives. Had a good one in Washington but they don't sell it here.

Really, that's about it. Stay tuned to the blog for the big announcement!

Poll Results

Sorry to Cosmo, who does not have opposable thumbs. It was actually Jeff who carved the Corgi pumpkin.

Now time to vote in the new poll... boy or girl. I will find out in a couple weeks!

Fall Days!

Tonight we decided to have apple cider and carve pumpkins, because for once we had a nice, crisp, cold fall weekend in Houston! Everyone participate in the blog poll... who made the Corgi pumpkin?

We also took a couple walks with the dogs this weekend, and went to a street carnival in downtown Katy. I got a huge stick of blue cotton candy (which is now all over the front of my sweatshirt, because apparently my belly bumped into it) and Jeff got an electronic bug swatter to ZzzzzzzAP our friends the mosquitoes with. Now I am going to go eat my freshly baked garlic pumpkin seeds!

Ads Disturb Me

More specifically, pointed/targeted ads disturb me.

I recently mentioned on Facebook how I was bothered by the fact that all of the ads displayed on my page were targeted at my specific location, right down to the small suburb I live in. Tom explained to me that the Facebook Gods can see where my computer is logging in from, and target me with specific ads for my area. This makes sense in terms of understanding how they find me, but it is still super CREEPY!

Now I am noticing something even more disturbing and creepy! On blogger this morning, an ad popped up about DOG GROOMING! This isn't the first time something dog related has popped up on Blogger, so I have a feeling it's more than coincidence. I imagine they must have a keyword matcher (or whatever the proper computer jargon term for it is) to figure out what might interest me. Aaaaah! Call me paranoid, but I just don't like being out there this publicly.

Anyone have any ideas? When I set up the blog I used the setting that makes it unable to come up in search engine searches, and I thought that was good enough. I've considered taking the blog completely private, but I have lots of people who log on and read from other friends' blogs (like friends of friends who, through blogging, have also become friends). I don't know if I could possibly collect everyone's email address to invite them. Let me know if you guys have any ideas to help me live on my computer a bit more privately.

Sleeping Beauties

It's 6:50am and I have no idea why I am so wide awake. Well, the alarm did go off to take Quinn to school, but usually I am still dragging at this point. What I love about my dogs is that even though I am up and around, and have even gotten breakfast from the kitchen, they are still SOUND asleep in their crates! 3 of the crate doors are wide open (the Corgis and Bud, aka: The Good Dogs, have roaming privileges at night) and I have never seen dogs willingly crate themselves for bed time AND stay in there once the people are awake. They used to harass me the second I got up, and I had to start dog rotation and teenager rotation all at once. Now they sleep pretty much until I get home from taking Quinn to school. Well, except Cosmo, who will get up and lay on our feet during breakfast. My dogs are so easy on me.

I wonder if I provide a crate for the baby if he/she will sleep this well. Just a thought :)

I Have a Problem, Part II

http://clothing.cafepress.com/cardigan-welsh-corgi_infant-bodysuits?page=2

All Jeff had to say when I showed him this link was "Oh no." I've scared him. Well, he also said he hearts corgis AND Tavias, so maybe that means I have free reign to get ridiculous here? 10 pages of Cardi baby onesies. Let the shopping begin! I just wanted to share in case you guys have babies in your lives who just HAVE to have a Cardigan onesie!

Thank you, Bethy!

Beth knows me so well. I got this awesome onesie in the mail today! I had to take a pic in the car, because I couldn't wait to show it off. I also had to open it in the car, because Beth told me last week that she had gotten the baby something, and she was pretty sure I would love it and my husband would hate it, and I was in total suspense as to what it could possibly be. Hahahaha! He hasn't seen it yet, but something tells me she's right (though he does kindly indulge my Twilight addiction by setting up the projector for my necessary viewings).

I think this might have to be baby's coming home from the hospital outfit... it's just TOO adorable. You'd seriously never find this in Texas.

Thank you, Bethy!

Prince Humperdink

Disclaimer: If you don't own a bratty, full of himself, 5 year old male Corgi you might be freaked out by this blog

I really, really, REALLY need a digital camera with video capabilities to keep in the front room.

Every night Lily and Lucky get into it in a big way, playing and wrestling and romping around the room. They're really uncivilized so they jump in the air, knock chests, and generally thrash each other. I have GOT to post of video of it soon.

I've mentioned before that the last 2 months or so Cosmo has been very, well... obnoxious. Loud mouthed, opinionated, in everyone's face, moping when he doesn't get his way. I've NEVER seen him do what he did last night, though!

Lily is kind of light weight so she gets flung across the room a lot during these wrestling matches. Last night, every time Lily slid across the floor, Cosmo would run out from behind the couch and start humping her!! He did it REPEATEDLY! We're talking probably 10 times. I know it's an obnoxious dominance thing. I'm not sure I get it, though, because Cosmo has very clearly always been above Lily in the pecking order.

What is wrong with our sweet, loving, good natured spotted boy?!

I do have a theory, which I came up with through chatting on a Facebook post yesterday and then started getting tons of emails from friends saying they had either experienced the same thing or at least heard about it. All 3 of our boy dogs have been acting strange lately, particularly the two younger ones who are 4 and 5. They are overly alert, protective, and just downright getting bossy. It has all happened the last 3 months or so. I used to tell my mom she was weird when she would say dogs can sense things (like sickness, hormones, storms coming on) but the more I've had to actually pay attention to the dogs interactions over the last couple years rather than just loving on them, I've noticed it's true. So, my theory is that they are reacting to the fact that I'm pregnant and am probably giving off all sorts of weird vibes and scents. Very weird, but I think that's what it is. I'm sure they don't know quite what to do with the changes, but the boys are hyper-vigilant lately and I can't think of any other reason. Lucky hit the window the other day when a meter man jumped our fence and came into the backyard. He's normally very protective, but not smash his body against the glass protective!

The other strange thing I mentioned in blog land a few days ago is that Lily is mellowing out in a big way. She's being sweet, loving and very calm. I hope this is just a normal development and her maturing, though, because I really don't want bouncing off the walls, stealing food off the counter, barking Lily back!

Anyway, I am constantly trying to put together all the interesting dog behavior puzzles they throw at me. I'm chalking this one up to lots of changes having them in an all out pack uproar. Some of the changes are good- I really like having a super protective dog like Lucky around. Some changes, like darling Prince Humperdink, are not so welcome! I am just keeping a close eye on everything, making sure they are well supervised, that the groups I have out together are all getting along, and that nobody is losing their temper and starting a fight.

A little side note: Bunny is at my feet as I type this, sleeping belly down and legs out to her side, having a running dream! Her little feet are going, going, going and her body is moving from side to side. If she just lifted her weight onto her legs she'd take off! So cute.

My Name is Tavia, and I Have a Problem

Close up view of this awesome sleeper. There are little windmills and recycling symbols, and the words "Think green" all over it. Also, the trees say "Hug me" on the inside. Yes, my inner hippy has been coming out a lot lately.

Full view. It was too cute to pass up, and seriously, $5!

This onesie says "Green Baby" on it. I wish Jeff would leave his digital camera here now and then for my blogging habit (my cell phone pics leave a lot to be desired), but he likes to take it out of town with him, and I always forget to ask him to leave it. Maybe I need to save for my own, as I go looking for his at least 2ce a day! Anyway, this reminds me of something I would have worn as a baby, very simple, and I love the gray t-shirt material... $3.

This one is just light blue with a little baby seal on it. For $3, impossible to pass up!

Clearly, I have a problem. It's impossible for me to go into Walmart or Target without looking at baby clothes! The nice thing for me is that I am having a spring baby, which means that I am totally scoring because everything warm weather related is going on major clearance right now to make way for all the little fleece wintry goodies. So... my problem has only cost me a grand total of $11 so far! Check out my loot, above. Other than this, I have a package of really cute lime green and brown onesies with duckies on them that I bought a couple months ago. I have no idea how many outfits a baby needs, but I am assuming one for every day of the week should do it? Considering how much they barf and poop I imagine we'll be doing laundry just about every day anyway. So other than getting a pair of pants and a little sweater or hoodie for when it is cold (Jeff's sister, Andrea, has been giving me some tips), the 0-3 month category should be covered. I think. Am I right? Please tell me, because I really AM clueless.

Also, we don't know the gender yet, in case these clothes make everyone wonder. I know a lot of these clothes are traditional "boy" colors. I'm so not a frilly person, and my own mom used to thread rip the little bows off of all my stuff. So I'm sticking with casuals and unisex colors. The girl stuff all seems so over the top (though I did find an adorable sleeper that was definitely for girls, but not frilly, and I was wishing I could fast forward a couple weeks and know already!). I also don't love the sports stuff for boys, which there is an absolute TON of. Disclaimer: this is not intended to guide anyone's shopping, as I happen to know that Grandma AND Auntie are waiting with baited breath to find out the gender so shopping can commence. I promise them right here in blog land that I will not thread rip any bows or cover up any sports related items they may decide to send the kidlette's way... I wouldn't ruin their fun like that :)

Updates

I haven't blogged in a while, possibly because it's been hard to put a coherent thought together. There's so much going on, though! I figured I'd do little snippets of all the random things.

• First, and the most exciting to me because it makes day to day life much happier: Lily is a grown up dog now! She's started exhibiting much more mature behavior, and she is more interested in loves than in things like play and running around. I'm pretty sure food is still more important to her than loves, but with her that seems forever hardwired. She is being much more sensitive to the people in the house, and when I let her out of her crate in the morning she asks for attention for a few minutes before she goes outside. From a dog that has incontinence issues, that's a big deal! She also runs out into the yard and herds Marcy/Bunny in when she is going too slow or gets lost, which is really nice for me at night when I don't want to do it myself. Oh yeah, and she's filled out! Now I can take her out of the house without getting those sideways glances from people who assume she is not being fed because her little ribs are sticking out.
  
• Cosmo is a MENACE. He has decided to take after his mother and be the uber watch dog! He's so vigilant it is almost driving me nuts. He barks when he sees his reflection in the windows, he barks when Jeff comes in the house, he barks when we have our friends over (the same friends we have over every... single... weekend... and he gets mouthy with me when he wants something. Yes, he has learned to make grumbly mouth noises. There is also a squirrel in our backyard who has figured out what fun it is to run back and forth past the floor to ceiling windows and torment the Corgi. He's still my boy (OK, make that Quinn's boy so I don't get in trouble) but sometimes I want to pick him up and shake him a bit :) Once he's going I just have to try to out yell him to get him to stop. Oh, and he has also become very much the herding breed. He likes to have us all together, or at least be able to see everyone. Otherwise he mopes. Jeff has been spending a lot of time working out of town, and Cosmo gets thrilled when he comes home and lays on his feet. It's so cute.
• I went to the ER after my car accident and decided that nobody will do anything for you when you're pregnant. The doctor didn't even examine me, even though I was complaining of horrible back pain and headaches. She pretty much said "Sucks for you, take some tylenol" and then asked me to buckle my shoes faster because they needed my room. I did get to hear the baby's heartbeat, though, which was awesome! It is really good that the baby is first when it comes to medical care, but seriously, I have real pain, and constant headaches that border on migraines with ear aches on the side are not OK. Anyway, after hearing the heartbeat for the first time, I can't wait for my first doctor appt. We should be able to hear it more, and also find out of it's a boy or girl. That will be a whole blog of its own once I know.
• So, my back still hurts horribly, as does my head. I've been going to a chiropractor and that gives me pretty instant relief once they adjust me, but as the day wears on it just gets bad again. My headache comes back, my ears are in pain. My back feels like it's burning. I really hope it starts to go away. I like to lay on the couch a lot because it conforms to my back and my back will pop all over the place after I've been laying there a while. It feels really good to have it pop. It also feels great to ice it. Heat, not so much. I wasn't a big fan of the chiropractor idea when I got referred there originally, but they gave me a very thorough examination and wrote up a report on my injuries, which I thought was very important in the case of an accident. Plus that seems to be the only place I can get treatment while pregnant. My hippy side somewhat enjoys going there. The docs are very cool and realistic about things. I even got a referral to the OB that the chiropractor couple who runs the clinic used. I guess she does things all naturally, doesn't induce, and tries to keep medical interventions out unless they are totally needed. All in a hospital setting. That's exactly what I was wanting, but was unsure how to find it in such a procedure happy city, so I am going to call her in the next couple days and see if I can get in for an appointment. So even if my back bothers me horribly all day every day, something good may have come from the accident.

That's about it for now. Time to get back to work.

Oops, I Did It Again (got rear ended, that is)

The car really doesn't look bad, which is nice. I am going to take it to the body shop and make sure, though, because the last time I got rear ended it looked fine like this, but the cushy accident buffer thing inside the bumper had been damaged and needed replacement. I think it is really hard to dent the bumper of a Focus.

I'm seriously having an eventful week. I was on my way to a meeting yesterday, and while sitting at a stop sign waiting to turn, I got rear ended! At first it felt like someone hit me REALLY hard with a baseball bat right on my lower back/upper butt area, and after that my car moved and the crunch registered in my brain. Then you have that "Uuuuuuuuuugh, I just got hit" moment. Of course I looked back, and it's never the little old man in the Lexus that hits you... it has to be a nasty stripped down Uhaul truck with a driver and passengers of questionable US residency. I would say welcome to Texas, but something similar happened to me in Washington. It just seems to be my luck.

I feel fine minus the horribly sore upper back and arm I woke up with this morning. My back is actually burning. I'll be heading to the doctor here soon to get things checked out. My mom had chronic back pain her whole life due to an auto accident, so I never mess around with back pain now. It didn't register that they hit me very hard, but they must have because I got an insta-headache after the accident, and their whole front end was bashed in and fluids were leaking out. My lovely little Focus did really well, as they always seem to do in crashes. I'm sure it's cool bumper impact thingy probably needs to be replaced like it did last time I got rear ended, but that thing seriously takes a beating for you.

For those who think I am a bad driver... again, just sitting at a stop sign. I swear I have magnetic bumpers. Every time this happens to me it's my reminder that instead of coveting a cute little sports car, I probably really do need a Subaru Forester with a 5 star crash rating. I might also want to see if I can get customized armor plating put on the car.

Drip Drop, the Horrible Leak

My water spot: when I woke up it was the size of a nickel, and this is what happened over the course of 2 hours!

Yesterday morning I woke up to two things. The first was a dog puking Styrofoam. Yuck. The second was a great rain and thunderstorm, then a fast water dropping sound immediately over my head. The sound was so loud it was easy to spot the action, where a small discoloration was rapidly forming on the ceiling.

Even coming from one of the wettest of all the United States, I had never experienced a leaky roof before. Having seen lots of water damage in pictures of Houston homes while we were looking through the real estate listings, however, this was my first suspicion. I got up on the arm of the couch to feel the spot, and sure enough, my growing spot was wet. Arg!

I sent Jeff a text at work and told him about my dilemma, and he told me to go up in the attic and put a bucket under the spot. Now, I don't do attics, crawl spaces, or anything out of the immediate living area of the house. In Texas I don't even do garages, because that is where the bugs live. So I was absolutely horrified by this idea. The spot was getting really big, though (and Jeff was getting kind of annoyed that I was willing to let our ceiling cave in rather than gut up and brave the attic while he was way too far out of town to come home and deal with it) so I got my arse up there with a flashlight, and Quinn followed me, probably afraid I was going to fall through the ceiling because I am so clumsy.

We didn't find the water source we were looking for, but Quinn did spot another leak just above the garage. A BIG one! We kept looking and looking for a drip coming over our spot in the living room, though, and could not find it to save our lives. It might have also had something to do with the fact that we only got about 5 feet into the attic and then didn't know where to walk because all the supposed beams you are supposed to walk on were covered with insulation. So we were kind of perched in the middle with the flashlight trying to check it out, while our lungs slowly closed because insulation is totally TOXIC! The baby is probably going to be born with respiratory disease now.

Anyway, feeling fairly useless I came back down to check out my ever growing water spot in the living room, and remembered that Jeff's dad had the week off work. Jeff called the house and within a few minutes Howard was on his way over. Howard to the rescue! He's pretty handy at everything, so I was really glad he was able and willing to come out at 8am on his day off work!

Howard showed up with a couple ladders, a bunch of buckets and some roof putty stuff. Side note- this is why guy relatives who are dad/grandpa age are absolutely the best... who else would have things like roof putty on hand, seriously? Certainly not most of the guys my age, who would show up and stand in the middle of the attic as baffled as I am. It reminds me of the time I moved into my old house and the bathtub wasn't draining properly, and my Uncle Jerry showed up with his tools, took my bathtub apart, and fixed it. How they learn to do this stuff, I have no clue, but they have so many darned tricks up their sleeves it's amazing. Now back to our story...

Howard looked at the spot, then checked the other side of the wall (not something I had thought to do) and there was another spot where it was coming through there, as well. He went up in the attic while I banged on the area he was looking for with a curtain rod, and he found it. Turns out the challenged former owners (probably the same people who put up 3 layers of wallpaper and then painted over it, thus destroying the kitchen walls) had nailed up a board over the spot that was leaking. He thought it looked like it had leaked before, and apparently this was part of their solution to fix it. So water was coming in at the top of the board and then dripping down to the bottom (it's slanted since it's at the top of the roof) and into our living room! It was impossible to fix without going on the roof, and it was way too wet to try that, so he got a bucket under it and our ceiling was saved. Thank goodness! Now Jeff and I just have to go up on the roof and patch our couple of leaky spots.

I am slightly irritated with our home inspector. Why he did not notice the leaks, particularly when there was a weird board nailed to the roof of the house, I have no idea.

Belly Rubbins, Birthdays and Fluff

Thank goodness my friend Rachell has two arms, because she had 2 tummies begging for rubbins last night! Look at the face Bunny is making! I wish I had a larger picture, but my cell phone was the only camera close by.

We had Jeff's birthday party last night, which was a lumpia/cheesecake party. I think he had a good time- all his guy friends came over and within about 10 minutes they had gun parts all over the kitchen table and were tinkering. I swear I married an old man sometimes, because I am pretty sure only old men "tinker." I forgot to put the lid on the Bosche mixer and when I turned it on carrots and celery from the lumpia mix exploded all over us and the kitchen. Bunny and Cosmo helped with the cleanup on that until they got sick of veggies and told me the broom and I were on our own. Jeff had party poppers on his cheesecake so there were some other explosives, as well (which he always enjoys). Nobody left until 1am, so all in all I think it was a good night (except for those of us who were really tired).

I swear I am going to lose either Lily or Lucky to their own stupidity. Bunny gets a pillow at night to sleep on (because the other dogs ate her bed) and I leave her, Cosmo and Bud out for the night while crating Lily and Lucky. Well, this morning I forgot to pick up the pillow before letting Lily and Lucky out (still delerious from last night apparently) and woke up at 3pm to Lucky coughing and hacking on pillow inards. Last time they ate a pillow one of them puked up the pillow fuzz and it was covered in bile. Don't most normal dogs just destroy the pillow, but not actually consume it? Why can't these dogs have a learning curve?! Apparently I just have to perfectly train myself not to EVER forget the pillow even when I am delerious, because I cannot afford the vet bill for having foam extracted from some idiot's pipes.