being an aunt rocks

It has finally happened! Our friends/siblings/in-laws, Tara (my soulmate and sister-in-law) and Shane (Hubs' brother and bff) have given birth to a wonderful, handsome little boy named Seth! Hubs and I are so proud to be an Aunt and Uncle to such an incredible little guy. We get to meet him this Saturday, so stay tuned for more pictures! This beautiful picture I stole from my mother-in-law's facebook page. (Thanks Mimi!)

...and baby makes three...

 

 

The more I think about being an aunt, the happier I get. I will have a nephew to spoil, to teach things to, to take pictures of while at his baseball games and band concerts.

I have some pretty phenomenal family members, but the place I hold in my heart for one very special aunt is sacred. My Aunt Debbie taught me how to tie my shoes, helped me learn to read my first book, has been there for me for my graduation from high school and college, and has shared recipes, advice, love and friendship over my short 25 years. Debbie is the type of person who would drop anything to help someone else. She's outgoing and FUN and has a positive outlook on life. Even my friends love her and refer to her as "Aunt Debbie." She gladly held my beautiful bridal shower at her house and partied with the best of them at my bachelorette party. She loves to share her books with me, knows and cares about my friends, and lives in the moment. Let's not forget to mention the Thanksgiving dinner held at her house each year. Because of the love and sheer awesomeness of my family gathered around Debbie's table that day, it is easily my favorite holiday. I'm so honored that we share a middle name, too!

Debbie, you ROCK!

See the resemblance? ;-)

a "tail" of two showers

Mommy and Daddy had been busy lately. They were cleaning the house and using one of my enemies--the vacuum cleaner--a lot. Oh the vacuum cleaner. I love to bark at it and swat my paws and get in my "pounce" position. However, if I ever did get a chance to get close enough to the vacuum to bite it, I'd be too afraid, anyway. It's a fun game to play!

But Mommy and Daddy were making the house look nice because they had a lot of people over lately for things called "showers." These "showers" are not the same as when I wandered into the bathroom and Daddy surprisingly let me jump in the shower with him. It was different than my bath--I got wet ALL over. I didn't like it. I walked out of the water and stood on the mat (that I love to chew on) and shook my body so the water went everywhere. Mommy was not really happy about that.

Where was I?

Oh yes. So these shower parties are for other people, usually girls, I'm guessing, and they get a lot of presents. And I'm stuck upstairs in my crate. Hrmph!

The first shower was for Tara, who is Mommy and Daddy's sister-in-law. Tara is always very nice to me and she is the Mommy to Tucker, my favorite yellow lab playmate. Tara and Shane, who is Daddy's brother, are going to have a baby. I'm not 100% sure what this means, but they got a TON of neat presents. I was even lucky enough to grab a few stuffed animals for a good chew before Mommy took them away from me.

Shane and Tara reading

Aunt Raechel, Mommy Tara, Aunt Mommy

Yours truly barking at whatever these fun things were!

It seems like a few weeks later, my house again was rented out for another shower! This time it was for Jess, Mommy's best friend. Mommy is the Maid of Honor for Jess's wedding, and that is all Mommy can talk about lately!

Mommy, Daddy, their friends, Jessi's Mommy and MomMom, and my Grammy and Pappy did SO much stuff to our house! It was so different, I didn't know what to do. There were new lights up, and things called "lanterns" and "tulle" and decorations and candles...they got a little carried away if you asked me. I did as best as I could to help. I barked a lot, inspected what everyone was doing, and bit a few ribbons, just to make sure they were up to my standards.

Jess was very surprised. Of course I didn't get to see her face, since I was banished upstairs again, but Mommy told me all about it. Mommy and her friends tricked Jess into coming to Mommy's house. (I thought this was mean, but what do I know? I'm a pug). When Jess got there she didn't know all of her friends and family would be there. She opened a lot of presents, and the guests had a bunch of yummy food. Also, Mommy's friend Rachael baked a gorgeous cake! I sat very patiently waiting for someone to cut me a piece and no one did. :(

My Mommy and Grammy

Delicious looking cake that Rachael made that I wasn't allowed to eat.

Jessi was surprised!

The decorations that everyone worked so hard on!

Brie, Schlupp, Mommy, Jess, Becky, Rachael, Karen

Mommy & her friends after their sleepover. I stuck my tongue out for this silly picture!

where has the time gone?

I can't believe I haven't posted a blog entry since January! I'm sorry for the slacking on my part!

My family has been busy lately! We recently got back from a weekend trip to Maryland to help Hubs' brother and sister-in-law get ready for the arrival of their new baby! Hubs and Shane worked on electrical stuff for the outside of their home while Tara and I did the fun stuff: setting up the nursery! :) Who knew we were so handy with power tools? We set up baby swings, a bouncer, a book case, and a closet organizer. Hubs and I are so excited to be an aunt and uncle, we were happy to help! Baby SWE is due in March!

Also since my last post, we've experienced a bit of snow. Dexter absolutely loves the snow! Running in it, laying in it and especially eating it! Dex and his Daddy had a lot of fun playing in the snow while Mommy took some pictures!

Eating snow? No! Who, me??

Dex inspects Daddy making a snow angel

My handsome men!

I've really missed blogging and sharing my life. I am going to make more of a conscious effort to keep it up!

I finally had the opportunity to spend some quality time with my laptop today since I'm home sick from work. Not ideal conditions, but I'm happy to blogging nonetheless. Ok, it's time for more Dayquil, some chicken noodle soup for lunch, and hopefully watching "Breaking Dawn: Part 1" for the second time. :P

gluten?

I've decided to try a new approach. With my next visit with Dr. Lacey coming up on Jan. 23, I figured I'd spend this upcoming weekend attempting a gluten-free diet in addition to the food and stress journal I started on Monday.

From the research I've done on gluten-free diets, while difficult, it is definitely something I think I can handle. When Hubs and I did our Paleo diet over the summer that seemed more strict. With the gluten-free diet I'll be able to eat some grains in addition to the food I ate while doing Paleo. However, those grains need to be gluten-free, which can be difficult to find.

I stopped at the grocery store last night to pick up some gluten-free pasta, and after scouring the shelves in the pasta aisle for 10 minutes, I realized everything I was going to need was going to be in the miniscule gluten-free section of the store. Five tiny little shelves, no wider than I am, filled with gluten-free products that I had no idea if they would be good or not. I bought some penne and a bag of gluten-free crackers (hey, I need a snack to try too!). The penne was ok. It would have been better if I didn't cook it as long. But in terms of taste, it tasted like regular, ol' noodles. Less cooking time would have made it taste more like the right consistency, I think.

I've been finding some gluten-free cooking blogs, have been emailing an old friend from high school for tips on a gluten-free diet, and my wonderful mom bought me some gluten-free cookbooks that I am eager to try. :)

I'll keep you posted how things are going!

horrible, no good, very bad day

When you have a bad day, like a "horrible, no good, very bad day," usually the only thing you want to do is stay in a "horrible, no good, very bad" mood. But when you have a pug puppy whose nickname is "tongue and tail," he totally ruins that. He licks your tears when you cry, he follows you around endlessly, and he'll sit next to you on the floor, just to be near you.


And when you have a husband as goofy as mine, he won't let you mope around, either. He wipes the mascara off your face, holds you when you cry, quotes ridiculous movies, gets you a beer, and then after accidentally spilling said beer all over your table, he tricks you into smiling and then laughing about it.


And then somehow, when you see your mischievious, yet happy pug, hug your goofy, yet wonderful husband, and glance around your messy, yet beautiful home...the "horrible, no good, very bad" day seems not to matter so much and the "horrible, no good, very bad" mood you're in seems pretty pointless. :)

Dexter's surgery

Well, it happened. Mommy and Daddy forced me to grow up. I had something called "surgery" but I don't know what it is or what happened.

Daddy put me in the car and drove me to the vet one morning. Mommy wasn't there to hold me, so I had to sit in the back strapped into the seat. I do not like riding in cars! Not one bit. I yell and I yell, but Mommy and Daddy never listen.

Then Daddy walks me into the vet office and leaves without me! I barked for him to stay with me, but he didn't. I was very sad. I remember the vet tech girls shaving one of my front legs and then sticking something sharp and pointy in there, but then I took a long nap. When I woke up, I realized I felt a little woozy, my nails were shorter, and I was missing a few things down below. Nothing hurt, though. I was just starving and I wasn't allowed to eat. :(

After an eternity, the vet lady let me out of a crate to take me out to pee. Well, I could hear Mommy and Daddy were in the office, so I acted like I didn't have to pee so I could come inside and see them quicker. When they finally let me see Mommy, I ran to her and was very excited. Mommy was very excited, too. However, I think I was more excited because I peed all over the floor and Mommy's pea coat. Mommy didn't even seem mad! Daddy kept making jokes about Mommy's coat, calling it a "pee coat." Don't quit your day job, Dad. ;-)

Mommy and Daddy brought me home and inspected me. They kept watching to see if I would lick my stitches but I didn't. That would be gross! They put some ice cubes in a bowl for me to lick since I still wasn't allowed to have food or a lot of water. I kept trying to play with them, but they wouldn't play back. And then I was kept in my crate for awhile since I was not allowed to run around. I followed them up and down the stairs a few times before they could do that, though!

Mommy and Daddy got dressed up all fancy and left me alone in my crate for a few hours. When they came back, they found a few surprises in my crate. I had a few accidents. The vet told Mommy that there was a chance I wouldn't go potty for 24 to 36 hours, but I did, anyway. Daddy cleaned my crate and Mommy gave me some more ice cubes to lick.

Mommy and Daddy still won't let me run around, but I always manage to outsmart them and zoom around the kitchen and run up the steps with them chasing me. It's my favorite game!

I'm hoping in a few days my parents will ease off of me and find something else to worry about! I'm fine! :)

new year, new me, new us

2012 will be different. I promise.

"You were born to be so much more than someone who writes down safe little goals on a list of paper. Let this be the year you return to yourself. Let this be the year you heed your heart. Let this be the year you hunt, chase and dive into what you really love. Choose to listen to your heart and obey it with your intelligence. Choose to experience a life on fire."

~ Tama Kieves, This Time I Dance!