35 and 36 Weeks, Baby Shower, and More!

When I was 35 weeks pregnant, my mom flew in to California to help me out around the house.  She knew my last few weeks of pregnancy would be draining and exhausting, so she wanted to be around to be the extra set of hands that are coming in super handy right now.  I feel guilty allowing her to do dishes and cook, and run errands for me.... but she says that's what she's here for, so I will take it.  Thanks, mom!  We have a sort of ongoing joke... she referred to me as "miserable" to someone and I was quick to correct her that I'm in fact very very happy.  She said that she considered me being so exhausted and in some pain and discomfort to mean I was miserable... but I said I just feel that miserable is such an extreme word.  Even though I'm exhausted (I could sleep around the clock), I moan (and occasionally ask for a push) when I get up off the couch, I have to sit when we are out and about for too long, I whine about heartburn and getting kicked in the ribs.... I'm not miserable.  Sure, it sounds like it, but you just have to understand that even through the discomfort, I TREASURE this time with Luke in my belly.  I absolutely adore feeling him kick and seeing him move and get comfortable.  It's an incredible feeling that I am going to miss in just a little while!  So mom now understands that I'm not "miserable" but rather just exhausted and achey.  Haha :)

So anyway, mom flew in on the day I became 35 weeks pregnant, and that day also just happened to be  the day of my baby shower.  My girlfriends out here put on quite the shindig!  It was beautiful!  In our church fellowship hall, we entered to see stars hanging from the ceiling and walls, blue for my baby boy, and food and gifts galore.  The star and moon theme came because Luke's nursery theme is "Twinkle twinkle."

Here I am just entering the room... you can see the balloons and the decorations throughout the room.

Here's the food table... complete with sandwiches cut into stars, and a huge and DELICIOUS chocolate cake with chocolate icing.  YUM! 

And the adorable little party favors... MOON PIES!  BECAUSE WE ARE OVER THE MOON!

Isn't that just precious?!

And look at this cake that was to die for... "Sent from heaven above, a baby boy for you to love!"

On the table across the room, there was a table full of gifts and an ADORABLE diaper cake that Rose made... check this out:

There was a sweet elephant on top for baby Luke, wash cloths stuffed throughout, an embroidered bib, a bottle brush, car seat toy, and a pacifier with a cover that closes when it falls on the floor!  It was adorable!  Rose had to be out of town, but she was there in spirit.

Here we are at the shower... she has a "Grandma to be" pin on her shirt, and I have a "New Mommy to be" pin on my "New mom to be" sash.  The girls were just so sweet to us.  I'm still kicking myself for not getting a photo with them!  I can't believe I didn't think to do that!  Doh!

We were blessed with many baby items that will help us take care of our little prince.  Marramonie sat to my right and kept track of all of the gifts, so that I could send out thank you cards.  Amanda brought gifts to me and then shuffled them to the gift table, and cleaned up the trash from opening the gifts.  Ruia and Michelle made sure everyone was comfortable and replenished the food and drinks... and Rose had to be out of town on this specific day.  But these girls... man, I can't thank them enough.  Oh, and see the banner over me in the photo below?  It's in three sections that reads "Welcome Baby Luke" and it was handmade by our friend Megan.  She was unable to come to the shower as well because her sweet girl had her second birthday on this particular day... June was a crazy busy month for everyone.

We played one shower game... everyone was given a blank bingo card that they had to fill out with items they thought I would receive as gifts.  Once I opened it, they marked it down on their card and the first person to get "Bingo" would win a prize!  There was also a signature mat for my shower attendees to fill out, so Luke will have that hanging in his room soon.  The hostesses also had guests write silly and encouraging little notes for midnight diaper changes.  They wrote them right on the diapers, and I have to admit I did take a little peek... and they are hilarious!  Some of them are encouraging, reminding me that this is only a short season that we are going through, and others say funny little things like "Daddy's turn!"  So sweet.  Women of encouragement, let me tell ya.

Here is a belly shot of the 35 week bump (taken after church the day after my shower).

And then here we are this week at 36 weeks.

This week, we are slowly working on getting Luke's clothes washed and organized, and putting all of his little goodies away.  We are also working on finishing his nursery... I'm working on sewing his crib skirt, valance for his window, and changing pad cover.  I also hope to make him a pillow for his rocking chair, and we will use extra fabric for a few other little projects I will share with you soon.

We've also been enjoying the leftover party favors (moon pies) every night.  Yesterday, when we got home from church, we discovered SOMEONE had two moon pies while we were gone..... she had chocolate all over her face, her little pink belly was poking out, and she was passed out for the entire afternoon and evening.  That night, when my mom picked up a moon pie for her dessert, this little girl ran over to my mom and started begging for one.  Up until that day, she cared less about us eating the moon pies...but she had a taste of the goodness and wanted more.  Belle!  Mommy's not happy about that, little one... chocolate is bad for you!  

She says "I don't care, it was worth it.  Yum!"  See the chocolate on her face going down by her neck?

Hopefully my next update to you all won't be TOO long away... like I said, I've just been worn out.  Blogging hasn't been a priority, unfortunately.  I feel like there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done.  Millions of errands, lamaze every Wednesday, laundry piling up and the regular cleaning and maintenance to take care of.  But these are all wonderful "burdens" to be blessed with, so with that in mind... I'm going to go straighten up my room and head off for a prenatal massage that Luke got me for mother's day.  It is time to use it!  That is considered a priority!  Right?!  Yep, I thought so.  ;) 

7.5 Weeks

At 7 and a half weeks, Carl and I went in for our first ultrasound.  This made things so much more real!  We have a gummy bear baby growing in my tummy!  The doctor said everything looked great… and seeing baby's heartbeat was AMAZING.  I laid on the table holding Carl's hand and all I could do was cry from the happiness.  We created a baby!  The doctor told us that we were 7.5 weeks along, and informed us of our date of conception.  He looked at Carl, "You were in town right?"  Hahaha!  He then told us that the measurement of the baby told him the baby's exact age, and the due date is set in stone.  Around July 13th of 2013, we could expect a new little Horton in our arms!

The coming weeks brought on unbearable nausea.  The doctors kept assuring me that the progesterone was making me so sick, but progesterone was good for the pregnancy.  I began repeating the mantra, "Sick momma, healthy baby" to get me through my days.  I was loosing weight steadily, unable to keep any food or liquids in my belly.  At 9 weeks and 3 days, I felt for sure my stomach would throw itself up at any moment.  

Here's a shot of me with my faithful friend Belle.  She's giving me comfort kisses, but right after I took this shot I had to put her on the floor and, er, take care of business.  And yes, that is our porcelain bowl that I am sitting in front of.

With no strength whatsoever, at 9 weeks and 5 days, I had to take another trip to the doctor.  I was feeling awful yet again.  Carl came home from work to take me to the doctor and as I laid on the couch throwing up, Austin looked very concerned.  Carl told him "We know what is causing this, and Lindsey isn't dying.  We just want you to know that."  Austin asked what was causing it but Carl told him we couldn't tell him quite yet, but he assured him that I will be okay.  The doctor confirmed what I had suspected, my "morning sickness" is actually hyperemesis gravidarum.  You may have heard this in the news lately because the Duchess Kate is suffering from the same diagnosis.  Basically, where most women get some morning sickness (whether it's only in the morning or all day), a few women get hyperemesis gravidarum which is uncontrollable nausea and vomiting that results in dehydration and other complications.  It is very difficult to manage, but it is doable.  You just have to stay on top of the treatment and be very proactive, not letting yourself slip into not eating because it's easier than forcing something down.  Here's an article on the subject that I found very helpful: http://www.helpher.org/hyperemesis-gravidarum/ 

While being laid up in bed for hours on end, my faithful friend stayed right by my side.  Or should I say right on top of me.  "Why don't you feel better momma?"

The doctor tested my urine for ketones and send me straight to the ER for fluids when the test came back.  We went to the ER at our local hospital, and we were seen rather quickly (you know, for an emergency room).  They drew my blood, collected my urine (again) and hooked me up to many monitors (IV, heart monitor, and blood pressure cuff).  I had IV fluids in my veins, along with Phenergan.  Within a few minutes, I felt like I had been hit by a truck and was falling asleep.  Everything in my body got really heavy, and I kept trying to talk to Carl (who stayed by my side for these several hours, thank you honey!)  I felt like I was talking clearly but Carl said he couldn't understand me.  I remember fighting to keep my eyes open and even attempting to just peek out of one eye, but it wasn't happening.  I fell asleep for about an hour (I think).  When I woke up, I told the doctor and the nurse that I was nauseous, but they insisted the phenergan was working and to give it time.  I threw it up.  About an hour later, the doctor said he wanted to double my dose of phenergan because it should work with a doubled dose.  I told him I didn't think it would work and I'd like to try another medicine but he insisted.  Figuring that doctors must know better, I let him try again.  Within that hour, I threw up again.  I don't want to get too graphic, but please understand throwing up medicine burns your esophagus horribly.  I learned that should I need to go back to the ER again, I will insist that phenergan does not work for me and I will need something else.  Finally, a shot of zofran calmed my stomach.  By this time, it was around midnight and the doctors said if my nausea was easing up, and I could walk, they would discharge me since I had enough fluids in me.  This whole time, it was so hard not talking my parents about what was going on.  Carl kept reminding me that he was there and he would take care of me, but you know there's nothing like having your momma care for you.  I just couldn't tell them about this because they didn't know about our pregnancy at this point.  I wanted very very badly to surprise them with our news when we went home for Christmas.  This meant hiding the pregnancy for about 4 weeks….talk about the longest 4 weeks ever.   Carl and I even talked about telling them on the phone, but I just couldn't do it.  It had to be in person. 

My First Quilt

In December, I was gifted a sewing machine from my parents.  Immediately, I was consumed with all the ideas and projects that could come to fruition.  And man... pinterest?  Don't even get me started.  FULL of ideas.  Whew!

My first project was a somewhat lofty goal... but I didn't know what a good starting point was.  So, I set out in late January to begin my project.  I purchased a bunch of fabric, a few more much needed tools, and started sewing.  After a few months, some more fabric purchases, and much help from a sweet woman from church, I had a quilt.  A real, fabric filled, batting stuffed, binding sporting, quilt. 

It now resides in my mom and dad's house.  Want to see?
Pardon Belle's bones in the upper left of the picture.

 

Of course, when it was laid on the floor for some photos, Belle thought I put it there for her.
Go for it, little Belle.





And here's the back side of it (which Belle also approves of).

I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now on to the next project!

Retreating In The Mountains

A couple weekends ago, we hightailed it over to Yosemite for a church-family retreat.  We left our troubles safely locked up in our homes, knowing they would be waiting for us upon our return.  This weekend was a get-a-way.  Troubles and stress were not invited on our trip.

Since I knew this weekend wouldn't be dirt free, I packed a bag I could carry that could easily be thrown into the wash.  When I took it out and laid it on the floor, Belle saw her opportunity.  And I saw a photo-op.  ;)

She cracks me up. She just hopped in there as if to say, "So where are we going?" In reality though, she could care less where we were going. As long as she gets to go, too. I snapped her photo and then laid her (within the bag) on the bed, next to my other bag that I was filling with clothes for the weekend. I stepped out to grab some towels out of the dryer, and when I came back into our room, this is what I found.

 

She upgraded. 

Apparently, she wanted a more roomier, and girlier ride for the weekend. I understand, little Belle, I understand. We made our trek over to Yosemite (yet again, haha! maybe I should rename the blog to "something about yosemite."  just kidding :)) and I think the ups and downs of the hills made Belle a little resentful toward the car. She started breathing heavily and I just KNEW she would lose her supper any moment! Thankfully, she made it to the camp with her supper still in her belly. We arrived and set up our bed for the night, inside the cabin with our friends. As you can see, Belle was happy to see our bedding.  She quickly rooted around and found her spot for the night.

The theme for the weekend was "Face Your Giants." We participated in classes revolving around the idea of over-coming your hurdles, and "leaving it on the field."

If you haven't had a chance, go read my thoughts on "leaving it on the field."  

We brought Austin's best buddy with us on this trip, which I truly believe, made the retreat about 1,000 times better for Austin.  He had a friend that he could explore and roam the hills with.  They had real "guy time".... no Playstations, no Wiis, no computers.  Just two young men out to explore the wilderness.  And his friend is such a great kid- we sometimes forget he is even around!  He's very well mannered and soft spoken.

We all hiked up to a creek in the hills of Yosemite. The water was ICE cold.... well maybe not ice cold, since then it would be actual ice, but you know what I mean!  

The kids really got into gold-searching. Hey, we are in California, you know...the golden state.. And there were sparkly flakes all throughout the creek.

   

I'm not sure why Belle looked sad in this picture, she was quite happy to be out in the woods. Even if one of our friends did have to pull a tick off her nose while I held her down. Small price to pay.

 Saturday night, my husband let out the card shark within himself. I was going to post some pictures of the card playing group- but I'm pretty sure the people in them would ask me to remove them from the blog.... in every shot, someone is making a dramatic and horrible face. The shots were all candid, so it was bound to happen at some point. 

So our weekend was spend truly retreating in the mountains. 

No work, just relaxation, connecting more with friends, and studying God's word.

What a "Lousey" week this has been.

What a whirlwind of a week this has been.

I've been still fighting migraines, which most of you probably know.  I visit a chiropractor very frequently in order to adjust the alignment of my neck, which has been out of whack for quite some time.  So when I let my hair down on the his table earlier this week, and I saw the strange look on his face, I knew right then that I had to explain why I smelled horrid, like pesticide. 

Let's back up to Tuesday night when Austin came downstairs after his shower.  "I think I have lice."

Fun fact #1: Did you know that the singular for "lice" is "louse?"  (I felt the need to explain so you would for sure understand the pun in the title of this post.  But I guess if you have to explain it, it isn't that funny.  I digress....)

The boy has been known to come up with some crazy thoughts before, as all kids do, but this is not something I would mess around with.  "Carl, you have to check him.  I can't get near it.  They will get me."  I have extremely vivid memories of getting lice as a child.  My mom would sit on the blanket outside with me for hours on end, combing my hair strand by strand, just to get rid of those little bugs.  My hair was down to my waist, so this was no easy task.  But she did it.

"Yep, he has it." Carl declared.  I cautiously leaned over his shoulder, also checking but making sure to remain at a distance.

In my pajamas already, I kicked the blankets off of me and hopped off of the couch.  "I'm going to the drug store."

"Well we can wait till the morning...." Carl started.

Remembering my childhood days with lice, "No, we can't." I corrected him.  [Now is a good time to tell you that I didn't CONSTANTLY have lice as a child, it was only a two- or three time ordeal.  But those two or three times really made an impression on me.]

Carl and I got dressed in semi-presentable clothing and took off in the car after asking Austin to go completely strip his bed and put everything in the wash.  We arrived home about twenty minutes later with egg removal gel, mattress and bedding spray, shampoo and a preventative spray.  Carl and I grabbed handfuls of large garbage bags and headed straight up to Austin's room.  Austin, looking traumatized, was standing in the bathroom door.  I handed him his new shampoo and the fine tooth comb that came in the kit we bought.  I explained how to use it in the shower, and he hopped in.

Meanwhile, Carl and I gathered up every last stuffed animal, every last hat, pillow, blanket, and loose clothing near Austin's bed and bagged it up.  (Eight garbage bags later....) I sprayed his bed and floor very liberally with the lice spray.  Just when we thought we were finished, Austin opened the bathroom door, close to tears.  He was horrified at the site of all the lice and eggs on the little comb we gave him.  For the first time ever, he begged, "Please just shave my head?"

And that's how we wound up standing on our back patio at 10:30pm with one little light bulb shining on his head.  I shaved every bit I could, in the little light I had.  For doing it in the dark, it actually turned out okay. 

After being around his bedding and him, I was so sure I would get lice as well.  I soaked my hair in the preventative spray (pee-yew!), and then coated my hair in fine sections with hair spray (lice don't like having sticky feet).  I threw it all up in a bun and then leaned back on the couch, knowing I'd done all I possibly could to not catch the plague lice.  Side note: when I retreated to bed a little later that night, I removed my clip from my hair and my hair remained tight up in a bun from all the hairspray.  That was pretty impressive.  Anyway....

It was the next day that my hair was still coated with all the sprays; when I had to explain to my chiropractor why I smelled like the pesticide section in a home improvement store.

Today is Friday.  Austin appears to be lice free (finally) but we are still taking every precaution necessary.  He is still getting sprayed twice a day to make sure the lice stay away, and his bedding is still getting sprayed as well.  Those little buggers are not welcome in our house!

Fun fact #2: Belle is a maltipoo.... meaning she is part poodle.  Poodles have hair, not fur.  Ergo, the thought crossed my mind that Belle could get lice.  So, we googled "Can poodles...." and google auto-filled in "get lice?"  Go ahead, try it.  Type in "Can poodles" and google will finish your sentence.

Fun fact #3: The answer is no, poodles can't get lice.  At least not the same type that humans get.

To end, I'm sorry that this post is making you itch.  I have to assume that you are scratching your head because it's an automatic response every time anyone mentions lice.  Our home is lice free now, and we will do everything in our power to keep it that way!

Tidbits

Carl's parents have been in town visiting us these past few days, so I've stepped away from blogging.  Since I'm already having to be on the computer during the day for work, I try to spend time with them in the evenings instead of blogging.  Sorry I have been missing, folks!  They are out of town now for a couple of days, so I'll fill y'all in on what's been happening.  Boy have we been busy.

-Austin is now on the cross country team at his school!  It's really helping him in numerous ways.  He's actually tired at the end of the day, he is learning more discipline (either that or the light finally got through to him that his dad and I have been trying desperately to invoke in his daily routine....)  His grades are on the up and up, meaning so far he's getting mostly A's!  Woohoo!  He comes home every day, hauls is bag up to his room and does his homework.  It takes him a little under an hour every day and that's mostly because his dad and I have him read thirty minutes each day.  Then he comes downstairs, has a snack, and he gets to enjoy the rest of his afternoon.  Pretty sweet.

-Before my inlaws came into town, I got my hair touched up so it would look it's best for when they saw me the first time as a blond.  I got there and started chatting away with my hair girl, who had given me a fabulous haircut several months ago.  I had assumed that touchups would take an hour TOPS.  Boy was I wrong. 

4  Hours later.... I came out with ORANGE hair.  I couldn't tell at first because it was dusk outside.  Now I have to go fork out more money to have this mistake corrected.  The worst part?  (Other than the money...) The day after I get my hair done, I typically have a migraine.  So now I have to choose when to have my migraine and waste another day in the salon.  Bleh.

-We did a lot of traveling last week.  So much that we couldn't leave Belle at home, so our friends watched her for us.  Thank you, guys!  We appreciate you!  Belle came home from their house and b-lined for the bed.  Her BFF Beldar really wears her out.  :)

-On one of our excursions, we went to Monterey where we visited the aquarium.  It was pretty nice, but if you have ever been to the Tampa Bay Aquarium, you may not be very impressed.  But still, it was a nice day that we got to spend with family.  However, while we were at the aquarium, Austin decided to do something....er....silly.

Why did you stick your legs through those bars?
"I wanted to see if they would fit.."
Um... but didn't you think about the possibility of them not fitting?
"No..."

Carl had to tug and tug to get him loose.  We were thisclose to calling the fire department.  I couldn't help but laugh at the situation because this is totally something that would happen to us.  And Carl practically forced me to take pictures.  Seriously.  *I know some of y'all are going to have a hay day with this, *cough* Daniel *cough*... all I ask is 1, you don't go TOO hard on him, and 2, you don't name your source.  :-P

It's his knees that are locking him in place.  The pictures are hard to tell because (believe it or not) I felt like a horrible parent snapping pictures while our kid was stuck.  And yes, we had onlookers.  "Is that little boy stuck?"  "My kid did that once...." "Oh boy, good luck....."

-On a more relaxed note, I'll now show you a picture of the Pacific ocean.  Enjoy.  :)

Pavlov's Pup

So y'all have heard of Pavlov, right?  He's the psychologist who performed the [don't worry, it's humane] experiment on his dog.  It went something like this:

Pavlov hooked his dog up to these machines that measured the dog's saliva.  Something about drool running down tubes....anyway, Pavlov rang a bell and then would feed his dog a cookie.  The dog salivated when the he/she saw the cookie.  After repeating the actions of ringing a bell and then giving his dog a cookie, the dog started salivating soon as the bell began to ring.  Ah, how the mind works with the power of association. 

Well, let me tell you.  We have our own little Belle who has been, if you will, Pavlov'd. 

Our family is working our way through The West Wing series.  (It's a TV show, and if you don't watch it, you're totally missing out... but it's off the air now, so go rent the DVDs.)  We normally watch one episode every night as a way to settle down and come together at the end of the day.  A couple of weeks ago, I noticed something sort of interesting.

You see, our nightly routine always ends the same way.  We always take Belle potty before going to bed.  Soon as our show is over, we double check that all our doors are locked and Belle goes potty in the back yard.  Lately, soon as the song starts playing at the end of The West Wing, Belle hops up and goes to the door.  WITHOUT US MOVING OR SAYING ANYTHING TO HER!  It's pretty funny.  She will be in a good, deep sleep...curled up on the couch between or on top of Carl and I, [insert music] then she's up at ready to go outside.  Last night I captured it on a video for y'all.  She heard my camera make a little noise when it turned on, which is why she looks at me in the beginning.  But I assure you, she was soundly asleep.

Florida

 Belle and I are visiting Florida until July 12th.  We arrived on Friday evening in Jacksonville.  I'm going to pause for a moment here and brag about how well Belle did on the plane.  She flew like an old pro.  She sat in her little pink truck quietly and just went along with what we were doing.
When we finally landed in Jacksonville, I hurried off of the plane to get to my parents.  I knew they were there waiting for me.  I was eager to see them, and I was eager for Belle to see them.  My sweet Carl asked me to video Belle when she saw her grandparents for the first time, so I did.  What's that?  You want to see the videos?  Okay, you've twisted my arm.
Here's a video of Belle when she saw my dad for the first time.  There was lots of hugging and moving, so the camera woman didn't hold still and get the best angles.  Hey, it was emotional, cut some slack.  ;-)

And here's the video of Belle seeing my mom for the first time in 5 months.  Sweet, isn't it?

Anyway, so there are the videos.  Belle was also very eager to see my parents' dog (Mitzi) when she arrived into Alachua. Their reunion is also videod, but it was recorded in so little light, it's only sound.
So here we are, back in Florida for a couple of months.  It's great to be back home with our family and friends!  Stay tuned for our adventures.

Pink Truck

At the end of Monday's blog, I asked you a question. 

Jeopardy style.

And the answer is, "What type of car would you like when you turn 16?"

"Hot pink Ford truck."  That was my response for YEARS.  

I guess I never really pictured what it would look like.  But now, I think it would look something like this.... except it would've been a Ford instead of a Dodge.

For those of you that don't know, that was NOT my first car.

My first car was a 1987 Mazda 626.

I loved that car.

Even if, sometimes, I was really tempted to put a sign in my back window saying, "I may need a push."

So then, as that car slowly decided it was getting too old to take me everywhere on a moment's notice, I gathered up my money and got this instead.

A 2005 Hyundai Tucson.

And she's been my baby.

As I got married, I realized I would never ever own a pink truck.

And that's okay. 

I'll buy a fluffy dog and buy her everything pink instead.

So, Belle needed an "Airline Approved" bag to travel in when we fly to Florida in a few months.

We went to Petco and found the perfect bag for her.

And I call it her pink truck.  With a sunroof.

It's even on wheels.  

See?

Cute, isn't it?

It's on wheels so I can pull her through the airport instead of carrying her. 

And, there's a strap inside for me to clip her harness or collar to.  Which is great because she'll be able to poke her head out while I'm wheeling her around.

Each side also has a window that can be open or closed, depending on how she feels.

I'll most likely just leave them open so she can see out at all times.

Anyway, that's how I our family ended up getting a pink truck.

You like?

Countdown!

Five Things I Am Thankful For:

• New friends! :)
• Girl time
• Sweat clothes.  I don't care how unattractive they are, they are COMFY!  And WARM!
• Speaking of warmth....  I <3 my bath tub.  It keeps me warm.
• Facebook.  That's weird, isn't it?  It just makes staying in touch 1000 times easier than it used to be.

Four Things I Can't Stop Thinking About:

• How did no one tell me I completely missed this section last week?
• We purchased Belle's new travel bag yesterday- a post on that will come later.
• Camping this upcoming weekend in Yosemite with a great group of people.
• Bringing Belle camping for the first time ever, and it might snow!  

Three Things I Want To Accomplish This Week:

• Have all laundry done and house cleaned by Friday.  (You know, all that fun weekly stuff.)
• Buy ink.
• Buy Belle boots.  (Sorry I talk about her so much, I happen to love her in case you can't tell.)

Two Things I Am Working To Be Positive About:

• Once again.... I can't think of anything.  Everything is very matter of fact in my life I guess.

One Random Thing:

• Who knows the question for the answer, "Hot pink Ford truck."

Friends

"Do you have friends where you're going?"
-"No," but I will.


That was a line from Eat Pray Love, an inspiring, really good, down to earth book.  When I read it, I couldn't help but reread that one line, and then read it once more.  When we were packing up to move to California, so many people asked me, "Do you know anyone out there?"  My answer was always the same.  "No."  In the back of my mind though, I just knew I'd have friends, and even a complete family once I got out here.  A church family, that is.


I expected to be as involved with our new church as I was with our old one.  Unfortunately, due to unforseen circumstances in the past two weeks (I was sick once and Belle was sick the next week..I was up all night making sure she could make it to the bathroom outside...), we haven't been to our new church yet.  However, I've started hanging out, on a regular basis, at the dog park.  It sounds silly but it's a good time to be had...if you're a dog person.  


I get my animal loving side from my dad, otherwise known as Dr. Doolittle.  You'd be surprised how often animals approach him and seem to communicate with him.  He's like Ceasar Millan's European cousin.... or something.  Which is why I can't wait till my dad comes to visit and I can bring him to the park with me.  We can sit on the hill with everyone and watch the dogs all have a good time.  We'll have a stash of treats in my bag, a blanket to lounge on, and some club soda while we sit in the sunshine watching the pups play and communicate with one another.


And the dogs aren't the only ones that get to socialize.  (Heck, sometimes Belle prefers to just sit in my lap and not socialize at all.  And that's okay.)  Their humans do, too.  Being without knowing many people in the town, going to the dog park has become almost a form of therapy for me.  I sit on the hill in the sunshine with a great group of people and we all chit-chat.  About life, about home, about our dogs.  It's like we have an automatic bond.  I've met some really great people at the park.  I was introduced to an exercise program through a park goer, invited to church by a park goer, invited to a youth fellowship held every Sunday for Austin, found a dog-sitter, a groomer, and even a babysitter.


As convenient as the networking is, I'm not there for that.  I'm there just for the friendships, and because it's so relaxing!  I get to watch my best friend frolic and play with the other pups while I visit with them, and as the afternoon creeps in, we watch the fog roll into the valley.  Time quickly slips through my fingers.  Four hours have gone by and I jump up and scramble to get home to get that roast in the oven.  Where on earth has the time gone??  Ah, time flies when you're having fun.  It's such a natural, easy going type of fun.  Some people like to go dancing and clubbing... me?  I like the dog park.

A Day In The Park

Yesterday we took Belle back to the park.  We were going to try socializing her again.  Thankfully, it went much better.  Here's a conversation I had with my mom.  She called me while I was at the park:

Mom: "Hey, whatcha doin?"

Me: "Just at the park with Belle, you?"

Mom: "You brought her back to that park?!?!?!"

Me: "Yeah, but she's okay now."

Mom: "Is..... that.....chihuahua..... there?"

Me: "Yes, but he's not messing with Belle anymore."

Mom: "He's not???"

Me: "Nope, you know how dogs have ranking order with each other when they're in a pack?  Well the queen of the park is here today and Porkchop knows that he falls below her in rank, and luckily the queen likes Belle a lot so when Porkchop sniffed Belle, the queen put him in her place and now Belle's not afraid of him."

Mom: (trying not to laugh) "And who's the queen of the park, Lindsey?"

Me: "Her name is Gloria."

Mom: long pause.  "Okay." (pause)  "Are you on drugs??"

When mom (jokingly) asked if I was on drugs, I realized how insane my story had sounded.  But, in all seriousness, the queen (Gloria) really did protect Belle!  Gloria was a mix of a australian shepherd and corgie, so she looked like a small sheep herder.  And she was a herding dog, which put her at top rank in the park.  With her one brown and one blue eye, she could direct any dog to go anywhere she wanted him or her to, and he or she would do it without question.  She could even herd the big dogs that were on the other side of the fence.  She was that good.  

So thankfully, Gloria liked Belle and Belle liked Gloria.  And since neither particularly cared for Porkchop, they both outranked him in their minds.  So, Porkchop would get to sniffing Belle and Belle would hit him with her nose and drive him away.  It was really interesting to watch.  It was like having the queen's support gave Belle the confidence to protect herself.  I didn't need to use my squirt bottle!

And then there was Tomo.  Tomo was a poodle mix.  A very very fluffy, 20 pound poodle mix.  In all honesty, he looked like a sheep.  Not a dog, a sheep.Much to his dismay, he looked even more like a sheep when Gloria herded him.  Tomo was a gentleman and he greeted Belle properly, despite being a rescue dog who had been abandoned.  He was a fat and happy little dude, and him and Belle became good friends.  

Belle did absolutely wonderful at the park.  I was (I AM) so happy that she gets along with everyone now.  She was a completely different dog than she was the very first time I brought her to the park.  The first day, she just wanted to be held.  Yesterday, she was brave and bold enough to walk all the way to the other side of the fenced in area by herself or with the other dogs.  She ran with them, she played with them.  It was great.

As we were leaving, we passed by a yorkie who was trying to get picked up by her owner.  Little Layla.  I met Layla's owner, Liz, and asked if it was Layla's first day at the park.  Liz replied, "Is it that obvious?"  I told her only two days ago, it was Belle's first day at the park and she was just like Layla.  She got a big smile on her face and said, "Wow, so there is hope for Layla!"  Yep, now Belle is one of the regulars.  No longer looking like a newbie.  She even fooled a newbie into thinking she'd been there all her life.  That's my girl!

Look how muddy she got at the park! She needed a bath soon as we got home.

Here she is waiting for her water to be drawn.

All clean!

How Belle passes the time.

When a family is stuck in a hotel room for a week, with no place to go, and one pup has energy to spare, she finds way to make due.

She's been bed hopping.  I think the pictures speak for themselves.