#3 Have one of my dogs become a Canine Good Citizen

Archie and me after the test for the beginner class
Archie and his awards

Archie and I have been taking training classes at a local dog training club (www.adtc.us) in hopes of earning his canine good citizen certificate....and after a few months of dedicated time, he did it! CGC is a program put out by the AKC promoting responsible dog ownership and good doggie manners (www.akc.org/events/cgc/program). There are 10 tests Archie passed in order to gain this honor :)

1. Accepting a friendly stranger

2. Sitting politely for petting

3. Appearance and grooming

4. Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead)

5. Walking through a crowd

6. Sit and down on command and staying in place

7. Coming when called

8. Reaction to another dog

9. Reaction to distraction

10. Supervised separation

Archie has also passed 2 training classes (beginner and pre-novice) with 3rd place and 1st place honors. Some of the above tests are harder for Archie than others (specifically reaction to another dog and walking on a loose lead) and all of the tests can become more difficult within a new environment. So, I guess he will always be a work in progress - as all dogs are :)

And of course Lucas likes to pretend he is a dog...or maybe this is just a result of him having as much interaction with dogs as he does with humans.

Man's best friend

Lucas loves to interact with Lizzie and Archie...probably because they follow us around all day long! I was interested to see how they would react when he became more mobile. It turns out Lizzie loves him and will just relax back and let him crawl, pinch, grab, etc. Archie is not so sure about crawling Lucas. He will just get up and run away whenever Lucas is within 5 feet. Poor Archie hasn't been able to nap peacefully since Lucas began crawling!

Who's toy is this?

Dog toy or Luke's toy? Lucas got this super funny toy called a zhu zhu pet for Christmas from Uncle Clint and hasn't quite gotten to the point that he understands it...but when he does he might have to battle the dogs for it...I think I will hide it until Lucas can enjoy it :)

Mystery...The Case of the Missing Loaf

Beautiful loaf of freshly baked Sally Lunn bread

Empty cutting board...

Guilty party #1

Guilty party #2 (looking pretty full and going into a full belly food coma)

High Chair Time

Lucas got a high chair for Christmas from Nonni and Bompa. It is ridiculous how many high chair options are out there...wood vs. plastic, convertable vs. classic, attaches to a chair vs. stand alone, with a tray vs. without a tray vs. a dishwashable tray, etc. each with their own set of benefits. In the end, I decided to go with a traditional wooden high chair with a plastic (removable, dishwasher safe) tray...I guess there are some things I am a sucker for the iconic style.

One benefit of having a high chair is that it is forcing us to start having family sit down meals at the table instead of standing at the counter or sitting in front of the TV. I mistakenly thought this would happen after we had a baby but it turns out that baby needed a chair first! This is a step in the right direction :) I won't review the high chair until I have more experience using it and see how it endures the test of time. After all, Lucas just sits in it right now and watches us eat or sportscenter with his daddy. Seriously...this morning for brunch he was looking at the TV and smiling at the bright football colors. In other news, I recently learned how to properly fold a fitted sheet from a dear lady at a bridal shower. She used to work at Bergdorf Goodman (I think) back in the day and is an expert sheet folder. Check out this fitted sheet fold job...

Can you believe this is a fitted sheet?!?!?!

Check out Archie's groom job. We have his hair groomed at a salon that is inside a larger pet store by Dario. When we went to pick him up last night he wasn't quite ready so we got to watch. Pretty much every patron in the store walked by, stopped, and stared at Archie getting his hair cut. It was hilarious! I guess you don't see many ginormous apricot poodles.

Uh Oh!

Well....Lizzie will do anything to come to Ohio with us for the holidays. While we were on vacation in Hawaii the Dog Club owner called us about Lizzie having what appeared to be stress colitis (she is afraid of storms and a pretty big one rolled through shortly after we left). They took her to the vet and she was put on an antibiotic, probiotic, and bland diet. By the time we got home all was well...or so we thought! She soon started eating grass to make herself be sick and couldn't keep any food down. Back to the vet for xrays which revealed a suspicious area in the bowel then an ultrasound which confirmed a foriegn body (no - not a body from a different country). She had surgery the next day and the vet found one of Luke's newborn soothie pacifiers followed by a ridiculous amount of grass. Oh Lemon. What are we going to do with you?!?!?!?!?!?

21 staples

Bumbo time!

Check out my brown eyes :) Just like Daddy!

1 Month

Luke is 1 month old! It is hard to believe that much time has gone by already - I guess it is when you become a parent that time moves into warp speed. Despite the many medical setbacks this month Luke has reached several developmental milestones... he is able to focus on a face, he can push his head (at a 90 degree angle) and upper body off the ground when he is on his tummy, he responds to noise, vocalizes in a way other than crying, and he even rolled over! I couldn't believe he rolled over so I placed him on his tummy again and he did it a second time right away...he has not done this again since being in the hospital when his IV was in the way :( It will not be long before he does it again I am sure. He is beginning to stay awake for a slightly longer time now which is exciting because we get to interact with him a little more.

One of my all-time favorite books is Where the Red Fern Grows, which is about a boy and his dogs. Maybe it is because of this book that I am anxious to make sure he has a good relationship with Archie and Lizzie. Today I started having them interact more by propping Luke up on them while they were laying down. It was cute to see his reaction to his fuzzy poodle and motherly GSP. Lizzie was really still and just looked at him while Archie licked the spit-up off his face. Archie did growl a little, which I totally did not expect. I will need to work on this a little more (Archie is starting to be really jealous of Luke and has been getting into things he shouldn't). At any rate, it looks like the beginning of a beautiful relationship :)

Week 1 Highlights

Luke is 1 week old now! I guess time is going to continue to fly from now on...because it seems like yesterday we were still in the hospital and I could barely walk. Now we are home, the grandparents have left :( and I am getting better every day. Words cannot describe what it feels like to become a mother (as I am sure all the mothers out there would agree). I love this little boy more than I ever thought possible and it feels like our little family of 3 has become that much more whole :) I am so blessed to have a healthy baby and a loving husband!

I'm sure you remember how worried I was about how the dogs would react to a baby. Our dogs were our first babies and we spent a lot of time and energy making sure their lives were the best a dog could ask for, which makes room for potential jealousy issues. Plus, they are big dogs! While Ross was not gaining sympathy pregnancy weight (-4lbs) the dogs were. Archis is up 3lbs and Lizzie is up 10lbs! All the time we have been cutting back their food and trying to get in as many walks a week as possible. Anyway, their weight and size has not been an issue and they listen when we say "be gentle" or "no". At first Archie was acting very scared of Luke - he would sneak an up close peek and then run away with his tail between his legs and lay in a corner. But by now he has really warmed up to him and will help me keep Luke awake when he is eating by licking his tummy and toes. Lizzie on the other hand is like a mother hen. She gets up with me at night and will not fall asleep until he has - she will sit and watch him while he is sleeping during the day until she can't keep her eyes open. And if we invite her to see him while he is on a blanket on the floor, she will lay down and crawl up to him tucking her front paws under so her nails aren't out!

This week Luke also had his first Dr.'s appointment. He did great despite the ssssslllllooooooww process. Mommy and Daddy are not thrilled with the entire experience at this office. In fact, I think I might try to transfer him to a different practice because we were so disenchanted with every aspect of the practice (the first phone calls to make the appointment, the limited number of available appointments, the wait in the lobby and room, the front desk lady, the PA, and the check out lady). The only thing that was positive was the Dr. who came in briefly for a second opinion on Luke's level of yellow). We loved the Dr. who did his circumcision (yes we were allowed to watch! He was such a champion) and I would feel much more comfortable going to her office. I will have to try to figure this all out next week I guess.

Here are his stats:

Height - 19.8 in, 49th%

Weight - 7lbs. 7.5oz., 35th%

This is Luke sunbathing in the light of the window. Isn't he precious?!?! Even though the Dr. thought he was fine we figure a little light couldn't hurt. Oh my goodness I just love him.

Tummy time! Look at how strong he already is!

Aunt Leanna holding Luke before she had to fly home

Thank you to everyone for your love, support, thoughts, and prayers during this special time in out lives!

Dogs + New baby

So, we have begun to train the dogs for the arrival of the new baby by introducing them to baby clothing and putting a baby blanket and toy down for them to not tread on.... But I would love any advice those of you who are fellow dog owners might have for preparation of the pooches.

Pooped Pups

Archie, Lizzie and I have been going for long walks pretty much 4+ times a week since I turned in my resignation at Banfield and today was no exception. Last night I had the hardest time falling asleep so I ended up sleeping in later than usual...so we started our walk later than usual...and it is getting HOT earlier. So today we walked during the 10 o'clock hour and it was 75ish and they are still pooped out! Lizzie was panting like a mad woman almost immediately and a bug ended up flying into her mouth! Archie was too hot to lunge at any possibly threatening people which made the walk much more pleasant.