Cassie's Story

Well, after debating back and forth about it (with myself and partially consulting with Nick who lovingly remained Switzerland in this whole thing because he did not want to sway my decision making), I decided we'd better find Cassie a new home. For one - she just did not like Nick at all (which to be honest was not THE breaking reason, but it did play a part in my mind) Every time he walked by or entered the room, she got a little spooked and usually jumped up to get away from him. Though she'd settle down after a minute or two, as soon as he moved again or spoke, she got spooked all over again. Just last week when we were getting ready for bed, she opted to jump OVER the bed to get to her dog bed rather than walking next to him. That is how much she just did not like him. And that is after nearly 3 months of living with us. I felt she needed to be in a home where she would be comfortable with everyone who is in it so she could relax instead of getting scared so much over simple things like walking to her dog bed. For two - she was just too much for me to handle with a toddler. I would play with Harvey and she'd try to take over the attention making it really hard to interact with Harvey while she was in the room and that was not ideal for mommy life. She ended up in the kitchen or outside most of the time so we could have play time together and I didn't think that was fair to her to be here, but NOT here with us.

 Overall though, I guess between those two things and the experience of having her, I just realized we were not the best suited people for dogs after all. I did not enjoy the hair on the floor that stuck to Harvey's pants any time he sat down, picking up poop outside, worrying if Harvey would wander around the yard and find some of it, dealing with a $30 library fee for damaged books beyond repair and losing 5 pairs of good shoes and a number of other items to her anxiety chewing. When we contemplated driving up to attend my grandma's funeral several weeks ago, she even played a part in why we ultimately decided we could not go. We realized we had no place to put her while we were gone as we don't know many people here yet. The pricing on the doggy daycare type places was out of control too. It just seems I am not the dog girl I once was back in the day with my AKC poster and memorization of all of the dog breeds and I am okay with that. I have grown into the mom life and I am okay with not having a dog. :)

 So, even though she had the expected doggy "issues", she was a great, nice, and easy going dog overall, but as great as she was, we put an ad on craigslist (I did not want to take her back to a shelter) and this past weekend on Saturday we said goodbye to her as she became a part of a nice family who already had a small dog and their teenage son fell in love with Cassie and she took to him instantly. I felt guilty about it at first, and didn't want to be "those people" who got a dog and then gave up after only a few months, but I knew it was for the best for us and for Cassie and so I decided I can't focus on the guilt side of it or worrying what anyone else will think about it. I CAN feel good that we rescued her from a 50/50 shot at getting euthanized at the shelter and now we found her a new home with a just as nice family. I think she will enjoy her new house much better though, especially being with another dog when the humans leave. She hated being left alone, but I think with another dog there, she won't get so much separation anxiety to the point of shaking uncontrollably or resorting to chewing up a bunch of things around the house that she can get a hold of. But this was a learning experience for sure. With this experience, we have determined we simply are not dog people after all. If Nick and many other family members weren't so allergic to cats, I'd be all for a cat since they are a lot less work as far as keeping up with exercising, being attention seeking and easier to care for when you leave out of town too. I guess it's good to find these things out now though rather than when we have kids old enough to beg for a dog, and then go through the re-homing process ending with kids being sorely disappointed about it. Even though he was awake when the other people took her, Harvey still obviously didn't understand the whole of it. But, the only time he seemed to wonder about it was the next morning as she usually would follow me as I got him up and sit outside his door as he would greet her with a point and saying "dog dog", when she wasn't there he toddled over and looked out the window for her, and when he didn't see her, he just went back to playing. That was the last he will probably think about it though and that makes it easier. It was good while it lasted and I'm sure I will miss her at times, but she and I will hopefully both be much happier in the long run.

Update and Friday Funnies

Before I get to the funny stuff. An update while I'm here.

Harvey started to spin around this week randomly. When Nick was home for a few days last week he also made a game out of rolling around on the floor with him so now he'll lay on the floor, point to random things he sees around the room and then roll all over. It's pretty funny.

He also started blowing on his food recently. He saw me blow on a piece of something before I gave it to him and now he will sometimes touch food to his lips, blow on it and then put it in his mouth. And he won't do it each time either, just once in a while to be funny.

Another (sarcastically) fun thing we have been trying to deal with is Cassie's separation anxiety. She gets terribly anxious any time she cannot be with us or cannot be right next to us (particularly me... she doesn't really care for Nick so much). Our best solution for the time being is to leave her outside unchained when we have to leave her. She will bark constantly if we put her on a chain - no matter the length, and there is less for her to get to when she's outside so it's all we can do right now. When we were retrying her staying inside, she chewed up almost all of my shoes (which was really sad for me), the bindings off of 3 library books that I had on the counter, ate through some recently purchased groceries I hadn't had a chance to put away - a bulk box of granola bars and some of Harvey's baby yogurts that are cupboard friendly... Suffice it to say that her staying inside while we are gone is definitely out now, especially having a toddler who likes to pull things out which means we'd have to spend 10 minutes putting everything in a spot she couldn't get it before we could even leave. While outside she chewed up a few things, but not nearly as much and not nearly as costly (yet... knock on wood) and some were her toys she was supposed to chew. She got our sprinkler and the hose sprayer, oh and her bowls. But none of those things got completely ruined and are at least still usable. I've been working with her on spending some time outside while we are home so I can monitor her and see what she's doing and getting into and try to prevent things from happening. Hopefully she'll eventually realize we are not abandoning her by leaving the house, but for the time being, it's been pretty crazy.

Other happy news - we got a grill this week and got a kiddie pool with a gift certificate! We are set for having a lot of summer fun in our backyard! Can't wait for the 4th when we are having some people over to break in our new gear.

Now, on to the funny stuff! One of my friends posted this on facebook this week. It reminds me of a kid history type thing. There are 5 episodes now, but here's the first one to get you started! I think the first one is my favorite too.

Friday Funnies (belated)

When my sister Pam came to visit earlier this month, we were waiting for the guys to get back and started watching one of my favorite comedy routines of all time and I forgot how much I love this routine. It made us all laugh hysterically. SO, I thought I'd share it on here for if anyone's bored this weekend or wants something funny to watch! You can find the whole thing on youtube so if you have a wii and have the youtube channel, you could actually watch it via your TV's wii if you prefer since it's about an hour long. I promise you won't be disappointed though. And bonus -  I'd say it's somewhere between a G and PG rating if your wondering how "clean" of a comedy show it is.
Ellen Degeneres Here and Now (in case you want to search for it on the youtube channel on your wii)

Friday Funnies!

Well, last week I didn't really have a whole lot of funny things to post, so this week I'll share a video and a funny memory.

I've always been a fan of candid camera pranks. This "Just for Laughs" show has cracked me up since I first saw it and there are some pretty good ones in this. I think I like the young lady/old lady one towards the end the best.



And if the embedded link isn't working, here's the link to the youtube page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPU3Cg7LdTU

And a funny memory.
When I was pregnant with Harvey, I watched my step sister's daughter, Kensie for a day while they went to a class at BYU's education week. Kensie knew I was pregnant and so she was asking me a lot of pregnancy questions. I showed her the picture of what the baby looked like from the app on my iPod and a lightbulb went off in her head. "How do you get a baby out of a mom's body when it's done growing?" I put off the question somehow, I think I said that one day she would learn more about it. She connected the dots by herself though and figured that it probably wouldn't be too fun to get a big baby out of a person's body. Whatever way it came out, she was sure it wasn't cool and I think I remember her asking "Does it hurt? I bet it hurts to get a baby out of your body. I don't think I want to have babies."
 Later on in the day, we were driving around and she saw the Y on the mountain and asked why anyone would put a letter on a mountain. Then the string of questions and answers came. I told her it was for BYU, she asked what that was and I told her it was a college, she asked what college was, I explained that she (was) in preschool and then she can go to Kindergarten which is in Elementary School and then Middle School and then High School and if you want to go to more school to get a degree in something or do a certain job, then you go to a college or university, like how her mom went to school to be a nurse because she wanted to work as a nurse. She thought for a minute and said "I know what I want to go to school to be some day." I replied "What's that?". "I want to learn how to be a grandma because then I don't have to have my own babies since that sounds like something I don't want to do, BUT I can still have babies if I am a grandma! It would be so fun to be a grandma!" We'll see if that dream sticks. Haha. ;)

Update & some unrelated funnies

I don't really want to spend paragraphs upon paragraphs of a bunch of long details so here's a summary of what's happened over the past month since I've last posted!
-We got Cassie who's doing great by the way.
-Nick's parents and sister came for a quick visit on their way to a wedding in Florida.
-Harvey started walking and is now running around like crazy.
-He also approves of grass now.
-I have been learning to use my DSLR camera in manual mode.
-I have spent progressively less and less time cleaning since Harvey has learned to walk (and it shows).
-We have had several groups of people over when I've made homemade pizza and it's become a hit.
-This weekend Harvey had a cousin sleepover and Nick and I took Cassie on a camping trip to a state park with one of Nick's work friends and their two dogs.

Okay. Now that you're all up to date... What I really wanted to do on this post is show some funny videos I came back to from spending 24 hours "unplugged". They both made me laugh out loud and I want to share the laughs. I think I may start doing a "Funny Fridays" post or something so I can accumulate all of the funny things I see or hear or that happen all throughout the week and post. Maybe I'd post more if it didn't seem like such a daunting task of updating. :)

Neither of these are on youtube, so I can't embed them, but here's the first link and here's the second link. Enjoy!

Our new addition!

Yep, we've added to our family. This may come as a shock to some who know how Nick talked about never owning pets, but come Monday or Tuesday, we will be bringing home a dog! I have been hoping to get a dog since we knew our closing date on the house and Nick has been hoping this desire would leave, but alas, it did not. And, Nick finally agreed to a dog this week. So, after a lot of looking at breed info, training info, and other info about how to get a dog that matches your family via energy levels and all sorts of stuff like that, I sent a few e-mails to some rescues about dogs that we were interested in, they initially had gotten back with me, but then I didn't hear anything. Meanwhile, Harvey and I went to a shelter this past week and walked a few of the dogs. After meeting this dog though, I knew she was perfect for us and that Nick had to meet her to see for himself. Today, we had the chance to all go to the shelter together and we decided she was ours! She is super mellow, very obedient and she does awesome on a leash. To give you an idea of how she did with Harvey, I sat down and put him farther down a bit on my lap. She calmly sat there and waited for Harvey to make a move. Harvey reached out his hand and grabbed her lip and eyelid. She had a natural flinch but did not get mad or show signs of aggression at all. She sit when we asked her to sit, stayed when we asked her to stay, and doesn't pull on a leash at all. We could see how great she was, so we snatched her up before anyone else could. We filled out the papers and have officially adopted her. The way this shelter works is to make sure all the dogs get spayed/neutered and/or up to date on shots, they set an appointment for a vet once you adopt and put your adoption money towards the vet fees and will take the dog to the vet for their appointment and then you pick them up from their appointment. So, hence the waiting until Monday or Tuesday. It all depends on when an appointment can be fit in, though they said they should be able to get her in on Monday.
 Her name will be Cassie from the name Cassiopeia (via Nick's request to have a Greek mythological name so he can keep his dog naming trend going with that. Cassie is our compromise.) She is pretty medium sized. Smaller than a lab, but larger than beagles or chihuahuas. She is all white with a few brown spots by her face and one spot on her back by her tail (you can't see too well in this picture and it's kind of a dark picture too). She is a great dog and we (well, mostly me, haha) are excited about bringing her home Monday or Tuesday! :)

(More and better pictures to come! We forgot to take a picture while we were at the shelter today. This one was from their website so it's not the greatest, but you get the idea.)

House Life

It's been a while since I've posted anything... Harvey's first birthday went well, we got a beta fish, and we're in a house now! It's been great being in a house. I love having the extra space and I love our layout so much. It is nice to not feel so cramped. Spring has brought the growth of the weeds in our yard so Nick got to mow already for the season this past weekend! Crazy, huh! Harvey has taken a few steps and is getting a little braver each day with walking with his red toy car (the larger kind meant for a kid to sit on) and his toy lawn mower and along furniture. He can pull himself up on just about anything now and likes to get in his toy basket with all the toys too. He is getting sneaky and if it looks like a bedroom or bathroom door got left open, he quietly races to see if he can get in. He's an overall goofball with an attitude. I say attitude because he is starting to get into the screaming phase. He is struggling with communication and so he just screams until I figure out what is bugging him or what he needs. He is picking up a little bit here and there, so hopefully soon he'll be able to sign or say a word instead of scream when he wants a drink/snack/diaper change/down to play.

Day of Firsts!

This past week Harvey had a day of a few firsts!

Wednesday morning he woke up with a tooth! It hasn't gone back down like the other one so it looks like it's here to stay. It was the tooth right NEXT to his top front left tooth. It looks like he will have the two teeth surrounding his front top teeth first so he'll look kinda funny when the other one comes in too. We'll have to alter the popular Christmas song to be "All I want for my first birthday is my two front teeth!" Which, I cannot believe his first birthday is just three weeks away already... How did that come up so fast!?!

The first few days we were here we were driving around and I noticed a Gymboree Play & Learn place and I got excited! My mom used to take me to those when I was a toddler and not that I remember, but I saw the pictures from it and it looked like something super cool to do with the youngster. I checked online and signed us up for the free class this past Wednesday. Adreanne and I went with the boys and Harvey had so much fun! I wasn't sure how he'd do with a bunch of other babies in a new place he'd never been. He tends to be scared of babies his age at first. As soon as we walked in to the Gymboree though, I saw his face light up like he knew we were coming here just for him. It made my little heart melt. We went in the play area and he took off. Found some fun balls to play with, crawled up the ramps, I helped him through this little baby obstacle course. Then at the end they do some music and other things. He was absolutely fascinated by everything and wasn't scared at all. He went up to the other kids and jabbered away at them. He went up to the adults and jabbered away at them too. LOVED the huge cloud of bubbles from this special bubble gun thing they have. And he also loved the parachute. He loved it all. They were having a special last week of $50 off sign up and the first month so I signed us up! I am excited for something to go do with him a few times a week that I know he will LOVE and also be a chance to get out of the house and meet some new people here in our new home. It should be fun!

Cold much anyone?

One week here and we've already been lucky enough to visit the local hospital! Last night Nick woke up at 12:30am shivering badly enough that the shivering actually woke ME up. It was totally odd and a bit scary. He was saying the room was freezing cold and he needed more blankets and was pretty out of it. It was 70 degrees as usual, but I got two blankets for him anyway but he wasn't getting any better. I checked his temperature and it was at 101 so I got him some ibuprofen to try to take the temp down. I asked him about a bunch of symptoms and did a check on the iPod to see if I could find a non-lethal explanation. Of course good old webmd always lists the awful things first saying "see a doctor immediately or you might die"... because that is the comforting news you want to read at 1 in the morning when you're trying to figure out why your husband broke out in shivers. About twenty minutes later he was still shivering, so I asked Nick if he wanted Wally to give him a blessing.He said yes so I got Wally and he gave him a quick blessing. After 10 more minutes of shaking, Wally and I decided it was time to take Nick to the Emergency Room. (Several other symptoms played into the decision as well but I'll leave those out for Nick's sake and yours). On our way out the door he started feeling nauseous and threw up for several minutes straight so out went the ibuprofen and up went the fever. We were pretty concerned and even more so finding out that his temp was up to 103 when we got there though he said he was feeling "much better". They drew some blood, took a flu swab and ended up giving him two IV's. About three hours later, they determined it was likely to be a bad stomach virus that has been going around and sent us home with instructions to have him rest a lot and take some anti-nausea pills to help keep food down. He got some good sleep when the tylenol got his temp closer to normal and the anti-nausea meds helped stave off the puking. Thankfully all is well again and Nick is feeling great. Ready for another day working at Wal Mart. It is times like this though that make me appreciate all of the health we normally have and really get annoyed at WebMd for not including some sort of disclaimer at the top of "It's probably nothing that's going to kill you because all of these life threatening diseases and conditions are extremely rare, so tell your loved one to take Tylenol and go back to sleep."