Because I love sharing pictures...

The weekend storm...

An after-lunch rinse:

Daily story time...

snow... snow... snow...

preparing for our snow ball fight...

Bryan took care of business. We set up four walls, one for each person to stand behind, in the middle of our yard. We put a "flag" in the middle. We threw snowballs at each other from behind the walls and if you could dive out from behind your wall and touch the flag before you got hit, you got a point. Jude was only so interested in the snow, so I only enjoyed the first half, but it was oh-so-fun.

Buddy was LOVING the snow! LOVING it! I would throw snowballs on the ground around him and he was running after them like they were balls. At one point he was digging into the snow to try and "find" the snow balls.

Friday Evening...

As in most families, I'm sure, since Jude came along, Buddy has taken a back seat. The bathroom that was once his bathing room was ripped apart and never put back together. He has been reduced to taking very infrequent showers in our bathroom (which actually proves to be much easier). He doesn't see the vet quite as often as he should. His nails are always just a little too long, doesn't have enough toys and we often are scraping the bottom of his food tub for a meal. It's pathetic and he is starting to let us know.

We are beginning to find little Buddy droppings in the dining room, he is taking up more and more space in the bed and he is in your face any chance he can. Lately, he's been growing really antsy. This is not just because of Jude, but because of the weather too. So, we decided to take him to the dog park. We've been saying we need to, and tonight, we just did. We made the decision in a matter of like 2 minutes. Hoping into the car, you could tell Buddy was thrilled to be going somewhere... anywhere!

When we pulled into the park, he was pulling on his leash with excitement and marking his way all the way into the fence. When we let him off his leash, he just took off. He could care less about Ryan, Jude and I. He was free! He was free to run! To make friends! To yelp (embarrassingly) at the little dog on the other side of the fence! It made me both happy and sad to see him having such a great time! Happy, because he deserved it... Sad, that we don't do it more often.

After a few minutes, Jude was losing his patience, so I took him over to the jungle gym while Ryan made sure Buddy was well behaved. For the first time, I put Jude in a swing (one of those round rubber onces with the legs cut out) and pushed. HE LOVED IT! He had this look on his face that just screamed to me "this is so much better than that baby swing you tried to get me into". He giggled. He laughed. He threw his head back as he weightlessly fell back and forth with each push. Then of course, as with all things, he began to lose interest just as Buddy was also running out of energy.

We loaded up our boys and headed home. I look forward to this Spring and hope that as the weather warms up I'll take some afternoons to not only get Jude out and about, but also to let Buddy get some exercise.

Following the dog park, I was thrilled when Ryan told me he was going to start some work on the house. A couple months back, we had bought a lot of the things we needed to re-wire the house. Once all the wire is run and holes are patched, I can finally begin doing some of the things to make the house 'pretty', so this is huge for me! After we got home, Ryan cut all the holes for the new receptacles, figured out placement for lights and basically mapped out his plan for tomorrow.

Last but not least... I got to spend some much needed time with my Feghan love. When I was working full time, Meghan and I's schedules constantly conflicted. She worked mostly nights and weekends while I worked during the day. As luck would have it, as I made the transition to night and weekend hours, she got a job working during the day - in addition to some pretty demanding evening hours. We don't see each other nearly as much as we should, so we got to catch up and go out for a nice dinner together. I left Ryan on baby duty and had an oh-so-wonderful time...

The weekend has only just begun and it's already a great start.

Happy Birthday Buddy

Ryan and I adopted Buddy from Faithful Friend in 2007. At that time Bryan and Katy were volunteering there and Ryan and I had been on and off about wanting another dog. Bryan and Katy told us we should go up and look around at the rescue dogs, so of course we did.

Before going, B and K had told us about this one dog Buddy that they loved and we just HAD to meet. At the time though, there was a pending application for him, so we didn't think it would happen. In addition we had Zoey at the time, so we needed to consider a dog that would play well with her.

When we went in, Ryan fell in love with Buddy. Any time someone went near his cage, he would pick up his toy and turn in circles just begging for attention. At the time, I think I was still hoping for another Lab and so almost didn't give Buddy a shot. However, after a little while I realized how lovable and cuddly he really is! Like I said though, there was already and application against him. We left that day thinking we wouldn't get Buddy, but had a few other dogs in mind as potentials.

Fortunately for us though, we had eyes on the inside and when the application for Buddy fell through, we were right there to scoop him up! However, we were faced with another obstacle: Zoey. First of all, she wasn't spayed and second, Buddy had been classified as "toy possessive" and so they recommended that the person adopting Buddy not have any other dog. These rules are set in place specifically because they want the best possible home life for dogs who have already been through so much and they are hoping that these homes are forever homes, not temporary (having two dogs who don't get a long could cause the owner to want to get rid of one...).

We got another wave of luck though, because when they re-tested him (whatever that includes) they determined that they thought he'd be fine with another dog! So, we set up an appointment to get Zoey spayed and were eager to get the newest addition to our family home! It made me so sad tot hink he was being stored in a cage almost 23 hours a day, so we wanted things to move quickly!

After getting spayed they wanted Zoey to have a few days recovery before bringing Buddy home, so we held off over Labor Day weekend and picked Buddy up the Wednesday following the weekend. Since then, we have celebrated Buddy's Birthday on the 5th, which is the day we picked him up. His real birthday (and real age) are unknown. At the time it was assumed he was about 2 and a half - so he's "about" 4 and a half now. It's so sad to see he is already gettign some gray wiskers. He has without a doubt been a great dog for our family.

To celebrate his birthday this year, I got him one of the most delicious looking dog treats i could find:

The poor guy was afraid of the flame and tried to run away while we were singing happy birthday:

But of course, once the flame was out, he was all over the treat:

As I mentioned before he's a little possessive and he knew Duncan was somewhere in the house so he tried to run and hide it... too bad for him all the doors upstairs were closed...

We broke just a little piece off to give to his doggy friend...

And finally Buddy settled down on the couch to enjoy...

Extending Our Family

A reader recently asked if we talk about getting another dog. As indicated on my 101 List, I want another dog.

When we got Zoey in 2006, she was the joy of my life. I loved her and all of her faults. She was the perfect dog for Ryan and I (we always joke that Buddy is the perfect dog for any family and Zoey was the perfect dog for our family). However, she had a lot of energy!! We thought getting another dog was just what we needed. Come to find out we were right. No longer was Zoey so worried about what Ryan and I were doing 24/7, because she had a friend to keep her busy. Don't get me wrong though, she still loved us to pieces, but she didn't feel the need to always follow us around and have us occupy her constantly.

Her and Buddy got along very well. They typically played pretty rough, but they both seemed to know their place in the house and really balanced each other out well. When we lost Zoey I knew she could never be replaced, but I expected to get another dog for the sake of Buddy. He and Zoey did so well together that I thought HE'D want another dog. It didn't happen right away and we bounced the idea around from time to time (specifically when I'd be scanning the 'market place' section of the news journal and see the most adorable chocolate lab) but it never happened.

Fast forward to our new house, our new life and Buddy's new outlook on life. My cousin Michael has been staying with us for a few months now and that includes his dog Duncan. Duncan is a sweetheart, but for some reason, from day one they haven't really gotten along. They don't really play and Buddy is just super protective of all things "Kennedy" related (our house, our furniture, our child and Ryan and I). Watching the two of them worries me that Buddy wouldn't know what hit him if not only we brought a child into our home, but we brought another dog. Being that the whole reason I say I want another dog is for the sake of Buddy - then what's the point if he hates the idea??

Part of me thinks that at some point down the road we will get another dog and this dog/puppy and Buddy will be the best friends ever, but who knows. Currently I feel that Buddy and Duncan don't get along because they're both male. because Duncan's not part of our family. because Duncan still has his balls. because Duncan's not here all the time. because Buddy's just got used to being the only one with four legs...

As you can see, there's a lot that will go into the thought of whether or not to get another dog. No longer is it "can we afford another 70 lb dog" but "is it the best thing for our family". I think it's safe to say that I will not be crossing that off my list any time soon.

Snakes - It had to be Snakes

While I was in the hospital with Jude, my mom informed us that when she let Buddy out to go to the bathroom, a snake slithered his little way out from under the bushes in our front yard and across the side walk.

While I was immediately grossed out, I reminded myself that we live in an area with a lot of trees, bushes and over growth all around. Some of our neighbors don't really have front yards, they have a forrest (exaggeration). I also reminded myself that the aura of the neighborhood is what initially drew me to this house - so wildlife is a natural side effect. With our shoddy screens in our windows and lack of a nice sliding back door, it's not uncommon for there to be an assortment of bugs floating around our living room.

However, before I even got home, Ryan had thrown mothballs under the bushes to keep the snakes out of the front of the house - they're more than welcome to roam around in the backyard we presently don't use. His concern was me or someone else carrying the baby to be startled at the sight of a snake and dropping the poor kid (I assured him this probably wouldn't happen). Up until 2 days ago I hadn't seen a snake, I'd only heard stories.

On a seemingly unrelated note: we don't have a fenced in rear yard. When Buddy needs to go to the bathroom he gets put on his chain system we have on the side of the house. Up until about a week or two ago, he was fine with this. However, recently there have been a few accidents (you know, the doggy kind of accidents) in the house that are undeniably his. In addition, when we lure him outside he starts to resist and pull back and hangs out in the area of the driveway that the cord reaches instead of prancing around in the grass and doing his business. Up until last night it hadn't even accord to me that the snakes might not be just in the bushes out front - they're probably in the shrubs and growth in Buddy's bathroom too.

I mentioned this to Ryan and he moved the chain to a tree near our front door. Apparently he went outside this morning with out a problem and went to the bathroom right away. It appears that Buddy is like Ryan's hero Indiana Jones - he hates snakes.

Buddies

Ryan and I assumed that Buddy would be OK with Jude in the house. If anything we were worried he'd just be a little jealous of the lack of attention.

However, he's adjusted very well:


Don't move too quick Buddy!

and just a cute little photo (ryan likes his new present):

The First Few Days at Home...

Coming home from the hospital, Ryan and I were excited to adjust into some sort of routine. We were ready to be out of the hospital room and eager for Buddy to meet Jude and "show him" (as if he understood) all the preparing we'd done around the house for him.

Walking in the door for the first time we needed to get Buddy used to the idea that there was a new baby. So we started by taking Buddy outside on his leash. Ryan then took a blanket outside with him to have Buddy sniff (he had no real interest in the blanket). Meanwhile I took Jude inside. When Ryan led Buddy into the house he kept him on his leash and had Buddy sniff Jude while we were holding him.

At first Buddy was very interested in the little addition. When Jude cried he would always perk his head up and even make little crying noises himself to either let us know he was crying or to try and get the same attention (who knows). It didn't take very long though for him to lose interest. Especially when we were waking up in my middle of the night to take care of him (Buddy likes his beauty sleep). However, we have the pack n' play set up near the fireplace and Buddy regularly hops up on the little step in front and pokes his head into the bassinet-type area to see what's going on. Usually he'll only take a quick peak, but if Jude's moving around he'll lick the top of his head. It's adorable.

Other than Buddy the adjustment home has been going smoothly. Perhaps it's just the jaundice keeping Jude asleep most of the day that's making a 'normal' life possible, but as of right now I'm wondering what exactly people have been warning me about for months. I've had no problem cooking meals, cleaning the house and keeping up on the laundry.

Nights have been fine for the most part. Jude typically wakes up every 2-3 hours for a feeding, but other than that stays pretty content under his glow light. When we do seem to miss more sleep than usual (when Jude thinks it's day time, but it's in fact night) we make up for it the following morning, taking a nap after his early morning feeding. So far I feel like I'm functioning very well. Right now Ryan and I have agreement that I wake up with Jude no matter what when it's time for a feeding (Ryan usually tries to wake up, but is fairly unsuccessful). In the event that he wakes up in between feeding he's all Ryan. I'm convinced I have the short end of the stick - but I guess that comes with the boobies.

Tomorrow Ryan goes back to work. It'll be a double whammy with Lowes at night, so I think that will be the true test of how well this all is REALLY going for me/us.

Mom (to-be) Day Out

Saturday Ryan had work and I woke up with no plans for the day. After crawling out of bed a little later than usual I made a point to tackle a little bit of cleaning around the house before I got a call from Barbie asking what I was up to. We decided to head over to Babies R Us to look around as it was such a nice day out. As I posted before, I'd love to get Jude the Jeep walker so I thought I'd check it out. It of course was just as adorable in person, but I wasn't sure that it was something I have to have right now.

I currently have two gift cards/store credits, some 15% off coupons and some 'R Us credits (for spending so much there!) and thought for sure I'd find something that I 'needed'. Honestly though, there's nothing that we really truly need - we were lucky enough to have gotten plenty of stuff for our shower. I made the "responsible" decision to wait until Jude arrives before buying anything else. I figured this way we could get him home and figure out if there's something we'll need that may have just slipped our minds.

After lunch we got a bite to eat and came back to the house to hang out for a bit.

Have I mentioned that Trent was with us through the day? He was such a good boy through all the running around and by the time we got back to our house he was all tuckered out and slept just about the whole time. When Barbie first walked in with him, Buddy was curious to see what was in the car seat. He did his share of sniffing but eventually let him go. While he was napping and Barbie and I were chatting away he would go over and sniff around at the car seat trying to figure out what exactly this thing that occasionally made noise was all about.

He got bored with him until Trent woke up and I was giving this little guy more attention then I was Buddy. He started to jump up on me a little and wanted to get close to Trent, but for the most part was pretty gentle. I'm fairly confident that when we get Jude home Buddy will be very interested in him for the first day or two before losing interest all together (until he gets bigger and starts pulling his tail and becoming friends).