Sometimes, it's hard to remember that only one year ago, this fella had major surgery on his back and was recovering with lots of pain pills and other drugs.
Well, this is a picture taken yesterday of Kobe playing in the snow, at age 10. In fact, I've always put his birthday as 2/1 - - so tomorrow it will be a whole decade with this dog!
He's an amazing guy, and I enjoy each moment with him, still.
So I guess it's time to pull out some good treats and sing (and howl) the Happy Birthday song.
To my favorite dog - always a puppy, even if he is turning a little whiter these days! 70 in dog years is a pretty darn good life!
Today: I'm thankful that Kobe has regained his ability to run, jump, and play - and that he had so much fun in the snow yesterday!
You've heard of bunk beds for your kids, but for your dogs?
We don't have to buy such a thing. When we moved into the house, this sofa came with it. Our dog Katie (who is 45 pounds) seems to think that the arm rest and oversized pillows were made for her to sit on top of (and not lean against)..
So alas, we have doggie bunk-beds!
Today: I am thankful for the pretty white stuff outside, and the warm inside, and the fact that it's SATURDAY! Yay - no taking baby to daycare! He's sitting on my lap as I type. :)
Believe it or not, this is the season they call, "Winter". In fact, Punxsutawney Phil (real or robotic, thanks PETA) has not even crawled out to see whether his shadow is around or not! (I had to do some research to find how to spell the first P word... jeesh! I think that's spelling bee material!)
SO.. I am very thankful for today's balmy 62 degree high. Gotta love the nice weather you get in the winter!
As for the white stuff (and clear and/or slushy stuff) that may come in the next day or two? Bring it on. Winter is here! Enjoy the moment.
There's just something about germs that my head can't wrap itself around. I guess that's because what germs look like in my head could probably never be transferred to paper to do it justice. I don't even think I could manage to put the inside of my head on paper if I had some crazy artistic talent (which I don't).
It's amazing how they take over, too. First the baby. Next, me. And finally, DH. Is it just a 24 hour thing? A weekly thing? How will it impact each of us differently?
A coworker today suggested that I look like I have pink eye. Add that to the two boxes of tissues I've been through in the last two days (and my general lack of energy)... and yep, I'm a bit under the weather. Stupid germy-germs.
I've washed my hands in hopes that I'm not sharing with those who don't want to get it. Using kleenex, sneezing in my elbow, all those kinds of things. I have a filing I'm working on this week, and I'm not supposed to be sick! Ah well, at least Game 1 of the Olympics went relatively smoothly at today's work event! Although one of our crew was sick, poor fella. He'd put a lot of work into helping with the presentation and everything!
Today: I'm thankful that not everything in my head can be transcribed onto paper. Boy, it might be dangerous if it could! I'd have to make everyone remove all paper from their house before I could visit, and I would only be able to go to restaurants that use cloth (not paper) napkins.
After "peeing out" of a diaper on Saturday morning, Mark has officially switched to size 3 diapers. As a matter of fact, since the recent habit/routine has been only to poop every 2 days, we've already pooped out of at least one diaper in size 3!
Now, this might not be news in and of itself, but today at Daycare, his caregiver said she looked at his birthdate just to check if it'd been 4 months, because he needs food. Really? Two big new things all in 3 days? I guess that's how these things go with kids, eh?
SO... Mark's adventure with Rice Cereal will probably begin sometime in the next day or two. At this point (and since we have some "bad" nipples anyway) - my tenative plan is to feed him the cereal from the bottle. I looked on the box of rice cereal that I bought in advance (can't be too prepared for things like this..) and it has the mixing directions for the introduction of food.
Now, Mark could probably care less what he eats at this point. I, however, am not quite ready to start feeding him more than his mommy-milk. I suppose I'll get past that- and probably soon- because he's certainly been a fussy baby (for us and daycare) the last day or two. Luckily, and thankfully, he's at least still on a good sleeping schedule. (that's today's thankful thing..)
This is how DH will respond, once baby is a little older, to the question "How was I born?":
Well, son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway! Your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on Yahoo. Then I set up a date via e-mail with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe. We sneaked into a secluded room, and googled each other. There your mother agreed to a download from my hard drive. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall, and since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a little Pop-Up appeared that said: "You've got Male!"
Today: I'm thankful for internet forwards, even though this one came to me unintentionally from someone I honestly don't know!
And now, for baby's next talent: Holding his own hands! He's been doing this quite a bit this week. So cute!!
I was describing Mark's behaviors to a colleague - how he sleeps through the night, gives us good smiles, and is pretty easy overall. She said, "oh yeah - he's a sucker baby." Sucker baby? I've never heard of such a thing! And it sounds almost derrogatory...
Until she further explained that a "sucker" baby is the kind of baby that suckers you into having another one....
Today: I am thankful for my little sucker. (Yep, definitely a sucker. In more ways than one!)
The best news I heard all day was a dear friend of mine, Jody, is participating on the Amazing Race with her daughter! I've admired Jody from afar for a while. I was an avid reader of her daily blog. I am constantly inspired by her adventures. She's always been a star to me - - and now she'll be a star to the whole world! To top it off, today is her 72nd birthday, so it seems appropriate to blog about her today! She is the one who inspired me to attempt keeping up with a daily blog. I am lucky to know Jody in real life - - - and now, all watchers of the Amazing Race will be lucky enough to know her from afar!
Here is where you can meet her, and her granddaughter Shannon:
Starting February 14th, help me root them on! Even though in real time, the race is over - I can't wait to watch them compete! I even offered to be a founding member of the "Jody" fan club...
That's me, today. Almost fell asleep in a meeting this afternoon - and thought it was a success that my clipboard (which was on my lap) didn't crash to the ground.
Ugh.
More of the same. Work, study, feed the baby, repeat, combine, mix and match....
Maybe I'll be inspired with more of a "real" post tomorrow.
Today: I'm thankful that at least working half a day means you can go to lunch with a coworker on occassion. My Pad Thai was yummy - and something I hadn't eaten in quite a while!
I'm only working about 2 hours more per day this week than I did last week. However, for some reason, it makes me sad to be at work full time. I'm not sure what the big difference/shift is - - but today was a bit rough.
I know Mark is safe and OK. I don't enjoy pumping. It occurred to me that now I am nursing only as frequently as I am pumping.
At least, I suppose, there was an all day meeting today that kept me mostly occupied.
I'm just a bit of a sad mommy today...
Today: I am thankful for managing to get a Starbucks, Gas, and to work on time this morning.
Just for a moment, I'd like to go back to my bagel post of a while back.
Why? Because I have more to say about Bagels. I became a "fan" of Einstein Brothers Bagels so I could get a free bagel on Spacebook.
So, I printed out my coupon this morning (which I think expired yesterday, I didn't look close enough) - and I drove to my bagel place.
My bagel place, however, is a Brueggers - not an Einstein Brothers. Who knew? I guess non-Einstein Brothers bagel places need to do better with branding. I could have sworn that the only bagel places around me were Einstein Brothers, and it turns out they are Brueggers. So, no free bagel for me (regardless of when the coupon would have expired!)
2nd time today: I'm thankful that the Brueggers I drove to, not the closest one to me, still has my all-time-favorite bottled tea: Honest Tea's White Peach. LOVE IT! Thanks to my friends in California (MP) for introducing me to Honest Tea in the first place! I wish more places here would sell it - I can't get it at any grocer that I know. Anyhow, I had some today. Yum!
Isn't it odd how some offices celebrate these strange holidays, and others don't?
I'm fortunate that today I'm off! DH has to work, though. Daycare is closed. If you're in Texas, and work for the state, tomorrow is Confederate Hero's day. Who knew? (Well, texas state employees know, I guess!)
So, I'm enjoying a 3 day weekend before I head back to work full time. I've got lots of plans - - we'll see how much I actually get done, though! I've made some progress on laundry, and baby is napping. I'm at least thinking about cleaning and studying and shopping - now to see what ACTUALLY happens. Funny, it's not always quite the same..
I must admit, it's a lot of fun to watch the room vaccum itself!
It doesn't do a perfect job - and you have to have it run for a long time to get all the different spots in the room - but it is so much fun!
The dogs aren't quite as freaked out by it as they are the regular vaccum.
I did think it was funny last night, though, when my hubby was getting ready to pull the regular vaccum out instead. We have to at least give our new robot a chance!
Anyhow..
Today: I am thankful for going to bed early last night, and watching my living room get vaccumed this morning!
I had a dentist appointment earlier this week, and I came out with a toothache. Argh!
I'm quite certain it's just the crazy tooth that I need pulled acting up again, but it still isn't fun.
After it's out, I get to decide on whether to have a bridge or an implant. I would have to have a "sinus lift" if I go the implant route, although that's supposed to last longer.
Ugh.
Typically, I don't mind regular dentist appointments because I do generally like having my teeth cleaned. However, I don't like flossing. And I've had all kinds of stuff go wrong with my teeth (even though I'm not that old!!)
So... hopefully I won't be in pain ALL weekend. I've even thought about trying out some of the teething pain stuff they give to kids who are teething... maybe a couple more ibuprofen and I'll somehow feel better.
Be good to your teeth. Go to the dentist. Even if you're like me, and just come out worse off.
Today: I'm thankful that I have all the teeth I'm supposed to have... for now. Even if one is hurting and on it's way out, so to speak!
Today's been a crazy birthday - - and one I'll likely remember, but mostly for being careless.
Why careless? Well - - I took the trash out this afternoon, and inadvertently locked the almost 3 month old baby in the house alone. Oops! Luckily, my husband (and neighbors) came to my rescue and the problem was resolved quickly. We will be distributing keys to our house shortly to prevent the problem from recurring in the future!
Otherwise, it's been a pretty decent day!
Today: I'm thankful for the plethora of baby smiles I received from my little one. I like to think he knows it's my birthday, and even though I was stressed out, he didn't know anything different!
Isn't he cute? I'm not quite sure why it was important that I splurge on something nice for him to wear to the wedding, but I did!
For the record, he's a great little traveler - but we are all happy to be in Raleigh for a while this stretch. Our next trip isn't until March!
Meanwhile, I'll be hitting the books and studying. Next week, I go back to work full time - - which is both a blessing and a curse. The blog may suffer a bit more, but we'll see.
Today, I debated between two pictures to post. The kid won out this time. He *is* the boss around here, most of the time. He's thinking about a nap, currently. Unfortunately, he's not quite past the "thinking about" stage.
My dad died just over a year ago, now. As my mom has told me, "you never know when the loss of a loved one will hit you..."
As mentioned in a recent post, I love weddings. However, this past wedding was a bitter-sweet occasion. After dropping the baby off in the daycare area, we had to sit at the very front since we were a teensy bit later than I would have preferred. My DH suggested I turn my phone off (not that it EVER rings) - and I obliged. I had a text, so I checked it right before the wedding. It was from my brother (who RARELY communicates with me) - and it said, simply, "I'm thinking of you today sis." I didn't think much of it... That is, until the Bride's father walked her down the isle.
From there, the usual "joyous" experience of a wedding changed for me.
This wedding was the first I had been to since my dad died. The combination of the 1 year anniversary of dad's death the day before, the father and daughter moment in the front of the church, and the fact that the last time I ever saw my father was at my own wedding simply brought me to tears. And while many people perhaps viewed it as my happiness for the bride and groom - it was, unfortunately, a sad moment for me as I was reflecting on my own father.
I only wear makeup once - maybe twice - a year, and the one time so far this year I did it ran and got all over. Hmph!
And while I am still very happy for my newlywed friends - - I am also sad that my baby will not know his grandfather.
I am thankful for a supportive husband, who told me, "it's okay to be sad." I am thankful that my father is in a better place. I know he loved me, and he was proud of me. I am thankful, too, for my "big"-little brother, who has a heart bigger than most people I know.
Travel days are exhausting- and even more so with a baby!
It is generally nice to be home, however. Last trip - when we got home and had some "chill" time before going back to work- was definitely better. This time around, we hit the regular schedule tomorrow with work and daycare and such (even a dentist appointment!)
So, I'm tired. The baby's tired. I think Seth is tired.
But we are all happy to be home.
Today: I am thankful for a safe and relatively uneventful return home - and weather in the evening that was only in the 30s (instead of the teens)!
I love weddings. Today's event is destined to be especially fun -- since I was friends with both bride and groom before they ever met!
Anyhow, my friends Meghan and Glenn are getting married (see pic attached) and I'm very excited for them.
We're having a great time in Austin, catching up with friends. Wish we could be here longer, though - I don't think we'll make it to see everyone! Perhaps another trip, another visit. When we travel, it seems like there is never quite enough time....
We're on another trip - and yesterday was a bit rushed, so sorry for not having a blog to share!
We made it, with baby, to Austin - and this time, we have the laptop in tow!
We're looking forward to visiting old friends, sharing some good meals, and generally a weekend of fun. However, we are admittedly a bit worn out from travelling over the holidays, still.
The Little Man is doing just fine! Last night, we made it to our destination without waking the puppies or the people in the house where we are staying. Baby has been good so far, even though he's not wanting to settle into a nap.
It's COOOOLD here, but not much different than our home in Cary.
So, what's in store for the weekend?
Who knows. But hopefully lots of bloggable stories! Stay tuned... I may update again before we leave Austin!
Today: I am thankful for good friends providing a warm bed to weary travelers last night!
Today's blog requires readers to weigh in, and is being written because DH suggested the topic.
You see, I don't eat bagels for breakfast very often. Typically when I do, I buy them the day before with lunch.
And alas, I bought a bagel for lunch yesterday. When DH made dinner, he threw away my 2nd bagel (for breakfast today) - - it was still in the wrapper and in the bag, so I dug it out of the trash.
Later in the evening, the dog pulled it off the counter (and would have ate it! But I stopped her). So, I put it back on the counter (but further back so she couldn't get it again!)
So - the DH says, "that's one of the grosser things I've known you to do."
So here's where we need your opinion/vote. I don't see it as gross. To me, it's perfectly practical. I like bagels, and I only get them on rare occassions.
What is your opinion? Is it gross? Would you have done the same? Do you think I was too desperate for a day-old bagel for breakfast?
I've been working a part time and flexible schedule for a while - which means today, we finally fixed our TV! No more white-trash-two-tv-living-room for us!
I will miss part time working in the weeks and months to come, and maybe one day will do it permanently. However, for the last several weeks, it has been fun. Little Man has been growing so fast! He's also such a huge hit - especially in public places (airports, etc) and around people he doesn't know. He was thoroughly entertained by the TV repair men, and the TV repair guys seemed awed by him, as well!
We'll see how interested he becomes in TV now that the bigger-than-life TV is functional again..
Did you know I have one of the top jobs in the United States?
As posted by a friend who shares my profession... "ah, it's good to be me....The Wall Street Journal. 01/05/2010. Page D4. The profession of actuary has been selected the top job in a new study ranking the 200 best and worst jobs in the U.S. last year. High demand is one of the principal reasons. The five criteria on which the study was based on are environment,... income, employment outlook, physical demands and stress."
Relative to many of the other professions - - I think this is pretty much on! Oh wait! They forget the 10+ years we are studying for exams...
In fact, I should be studying now.
Although admittedly, it is much harder to study with a baby around. Which is why I should be studying NOW!
Is it too soon to know whether baby will be right or left handed? Hmmm...
He's using his hands a bit more lately, and seems to prefer his right hand. I'll keep any eye on it - and we may not know for sure for quite some time - but I think Mark is going to be right handed!
I have a habit of asking DH questions to which the answer is obvious. "Do you want to clean the bathroom?" Well, No. Of course not. Nobody actually WANTS to clean a bathroom. For questions like these, I've had to learn to rephrase... DH is very particular about his words/wording. At least when he is black and white there is no guessing involved. I wish I were so simple some days!
Today's question was: "Since when am I one of those people who stays in bed for 12 hours?" The obvious answer, as provided by DH: "Since Mark was born."
Yep, it's true. Even though I'm getting a decent night of sleep.. Mostly... somehow, sleeping in on Sunday morning has become more appealing than it was before the baby. Especially when he falls asleep in my arms and in our bed after eating. After all - a sleeping baby is pretty darn cute.
So today, I'm thankful for sitting in a car with the sun shining in on cold winter days. Even though it is blustery and frigid outside, the car can be almost cozy on the inside with the sunshine. I love the sun.
I think it is cool, but your mileage may vary... (I love that phrase, btw, courtesy of a good friend in San Francisco.)
"Bug" got his Social Security Number today!! I was so excited, I nearly posted the number (which I realize, would have been WAY stupid!) The first digits are similar to his dad's, but not his mom's.
I guess this is all because I'm obsessed with numbers. Good thing I majored in Math in college. Consequently - - - today is a Palindrome day! 01-02-2010. (A palindrome reads the same forwards and backwards for those who don't know or have forgotten).
So, today I'm thankful for numbers. And wine. Yum. I had a very nice glass of red with dinner. I probably would have gone back for seconds, but I try to be a little responsible while still nursing the kiddo.
Did I mention the kids I had to explain "nursing" to over the holiday? My neice (one on each side) had to discover why god gave women boobies. Fun stuff. I love kids.
P.S. What's the first thing I do with Kid's SS#? Add it to my taxes, of course!
And what will we call it? Just "ten"? "Oh-ten" doesn't seem quite right. Maybe until the universe settles on it's name, I'll stick with the safe "two-thousand ten."
As usual, starting today's blog with a random thought.
Have you ever wondered how long I'm going to stick with the daily blog thing? Me too. I've sort of told myself that I'd like to try and keep it up until Mark's first birthday. I'm not sure why. It seems like a somewhat lofty goal, particularly considering I'll be going back to work full time (and studying part time) before month's end. It's like a virtual journal for me, though, and I definitely enjoy it.
Believe it or not, I did sit down to write with a topic in mind. So far, I haven't covered it. (and no, my topic is not "new year's resolutions" - - I hate the idea of that!)
The topic? toys. Mark got lots of books for Christmas, and he's finally started showing some interest in toys! He won't grab something on his own (yet), but he will hold onto something we put in his hand. He also enjoys laying and looking up at toys more, and sometimes will hit them (although it seems mostly on accident). Anyway, it is definitely fun to see him grow and change - and I look forward to more of that during 2010!
I'm thankful for date night - my DH and I got to see up in the air in Kansas. Yay!
