So on my last blog post a friend of mine mentioned that I needed to "update" my name and look of my blog. I was definitely thinking about it, because for one thing, it's not just Autumn's story anymore. She's going to have to learn to share soon enough :-)
Trying to think of a new blog name was difficult enough. I'm still not 100% sure if I'm gonna stick with this one or not. This title popped into my head first because number 1, my life is crazy. Between the new house, Autumn getting a mind of her own, baby #2 on her way and Jordan and I constantly running around like a chicken with its head cut off... Well, you get the picture... Then number 2, our family is built on a foundation of love. We would be here without it (and, of course, God). So then the phrase "crazy little thing called love" just popped into my head and I couldn't get rid of it. So this'll be my title (for now).
Jordan and I planted our first garden last night. I started small, because this is new to me and I didn't want to overwhelm myself. We have tomatoes (already planted from a few weeks ago), green beans and sugar snaps. Can't wait til we're able to finally eat from our garden! I was going to take pictures, but my battery was dead. So it's currently charging. I need to start taking more pictures. I've been slacking.
Let me know what you think about the new blog. I'm going to take some pictures of Autumn this afternoon and make a new post about her. It's been a while since I've posted any pictures of her. It's time you got to see my lil cutie again!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
My poor baby :-(
I feel, absolutely horrible. I never would have purposefully put my daughter, or anyone else for that matter, in this sort of danger. I still, can't believe it actually happened...
What am I talking about do you ask? Our newest dog, Kallie, bit Autumn in the face last night and even drew blood. I was in the other room when it happened. Jordan was sitting on the couch. Kallie on her bed next to the couch. Autumn was right on top of her. (Autumn is used to climbing all over Jade. She tolerates it. If Jade has had enough, she'll get up and walk away. Simple as that. Kallie has growled at Autumn a couple of times. It was something we were working on. But I didn't think it was going to be a big issue because she came from a family with 3 boys and a girl all around Autumn's age. So she couldn't have done anything horrible there.)
So apparently Autumn was laying over Kallie's mid section and playing with something behind Kallie's back. Kallie growled at Autumn and Jordan corrected her. Not a big deal to me. However, shortly after, Kallie reared back and bit Autumn in the face. Jordan said that it happened way too fast. All I heard was the sound of something getting hit (Jordan did punch Kallie, twice, I don't blame him) and then Autumn crying. Jordan got her away from Kallie as fast as he could. I ran into the room asking what had happened. Honestly, I just thought that Autumn fell while playing with Jordan. I had no idea what he was about to say next...
"Kallie bit Autumn." I can still hear it ringing in my ears. Words that I never thought I would ever hear. Ugh, gives me chills. Autumn was definitely very scared. I knew, right then, that Kallie couldn't stay with us. I wanted her out of the house. I also knew that if she drew blood, she would have to be put down. I know a lot of you readers out there have opinions on this topic. But I am a firm believer that if a dog is comfortable biting a human being and draws blood, then that animal will most likely do it again. I will not put any other human being in that sort of danger. Autumn did no harm, what-so-ever, to Kallie. Who's to say what's going to happen if someone did accidentally hurt her (I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally stepped on Jade's tail or feet and she never showed aggression. I've stepped on Kallie's foot once and she nipped at my ankles...)
Sure enough. After Autumn calmed down a little bit, I brought her face up to inspect and there was blood. Ugh. I immediately broke down in tears because I was almost 100% sure what was going to happen to Kallie. Honestly, Jordan was so ticked off that he was about to kill her himself. I knew he would regret it if he did. We didn't really know who to call at that time. It was a Saturday evening, who was open? Someone suggested Animal Control. So Jordan got their number and had them come over. We ended up taking a picture of Autumn's face just minutes after it happened in case she was in bed before AC got to our house.
Super nice lady came and filled out paperwork for Kallie, looked Autumn over and then took Kallie away. Honestly, yes, I am sad. Kallie was a super, super sweet dog. Don't get me wrong. She had improved, SO MUCH, in the 2 weeks that we had her. I worked so hard on her! However, she was 4 years old with a history that wasn't very well known when we got her. Who knows what she was like with other owners. Kallie is going to be quarantined for 10 days before they put her down. I thought that this was silly at first until I read the paperwork that Jordan got. It's mostly for the person who got bit because if Autumn were to get rabies or something else, they would have to test Kallie's blood.
So again, yes, I am sad. I'm getting teary eyed just writing this post. I also know that I am going to get a lot of hate messages as well for this. However, put yourself in my position. My child, my own flesh and blood, was injured by a dog who is definitely capable of doing it again or worse. Autumn is incapable of defending herself and does not completely understand the difference between Jade and other dogs. What if this was your child? What if this was my dog who bit your child? What would you do?
What am I talking about do you ask? Our newest dog, Kallie, bit Autumn in the face last night and even drew blood. I was in the other room when it happened. Jordan was sitting on the couch. Kallie on her bed next to the couch. Autumn was right on top of her. (Autumn is used to climbing all over Jade. She tolerates it. If Jade has had enough, she'll get up and walk away. Simple as that. Kallie has growled at Autumn a couple of times. It was something we were working on. But I didn't think it was going to be a big issue because she came from a family with 3 boys and a girl all around Autumn's age. So she couldn't have done anything horrible there.)
So apparently Autumn was laying over Kallie's mid section and playing with something behind Kallie's back. Kallie growled at Autumn and Jordan corrected her. Not a big deal to me. However, shortly after, Kallie reared back and bit Autumn in the face. Jordan said that it happened way too fast. All I heard was the sound of something getting hit (Jordan did punch Kallie, twice, I don't blame him) and then Autumn crying. Jordan got her away from Kallie as fast as he could. I ran into the room asking what had happened. Honestly, I just thought that Autumn fell while playing with Jordan. I had no idea what he was about to say next...
"Kallie bit Autumn." I can still hear it ringing in my ears. Words that I never thought I would ever hear. Ugh, gives me chills. Autumn was definitely very scared. I knew, right then, that Kallie couldn't stay with us. I wanted her out of the house. I also knew that if she drew blood, she would have to be put down. I know a lot of you readers out there have opinions on this topic. But I am a firm believer that if a dog is comfortable biting a human being and draws blood, then that animal will most likely do it again. I will not put any other human being in that sort of danger. Autumn did no harm, what-so-ever, to Kallie. Who's to say what's going to happen if someone did accidentally hurt her (I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally stepped on Jade's tail or feet and she never showed aggression. I've stepped on Kallie's foot once and she nipped at my ankles...)
Sure enough. After Autumn calmed down a little bit, I brought her face up to inspect and there was blood. Ugh. I immediately broke down in tears because I was almost 100% sure what was going to happen to Kallie. Honestly, Jordan was so ticked off that he was about to kill her himself. I knew he would regret it if he did. We didn't really know who to call at that time. It was a Saturday evening, who was open? Someone suggested Animal Control. So Jordan got their number and had them come over. We ended up taking a picture of Autumn's face just minutes after it happened in case she was in bed before AC got to our house.
Super nice lady came and filled out paperwork for Kallie, looked Autumn over and then took Kallie away. Honestly, yes, I am sad. Kallie was a super, super sweet dog. Don't get me wrong. She had improved, SO MUCH, in the 2 weeks that we had her. I worked so hard on her! However, she was 4 years old with a history that wasn't very well known when we got her. Who knows what she was like with other owners. Kallie is going to be quarantined for 10 days before they put her down. I thought that this was silly at first until I read the paperwork that Jordan got. It's mostly for the person who got bit because if Autumn were to get rabies or something else, they would have to test Kallie's blood.
So again, yes, I am sad. I'm getting teary eyed just writing this post. I also know that I am going to get a lot of hate messages as well for this. However, put yourself in my position. My child, my own flesh and blood, was injured by a dog who is definitely capable of doing it again or worse. Autumn is incapable of defending herself and does not completely understand the difference between Jade and other dogs. What if this was your child? What if this was my dog who bit your child? What would you do?
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
And the survery says...
How far along? 23 weeks and 6 days
Total weight gain/loss: Ugh, I think I've only gained 8 lbs so far. I forgot where I started. LOL
Maternity clothes? Definitely maternity pants. Kaelyn sits way too low for me to wear bella bands on anything non maternity. I can't stand the pressure on my uterus!
Stretch marks? No new ones, but old ones are getting darker.
Sleep: I have officially begun the "uncomfortable" stage of sleep. I really miss sleeping on my stomach and my RLS are keeping me (and Jordan) up at night. I have to attempt to reposition myself in the middle of the night. Then when I sleep on my back, Kaelyn kicks me to let me know that she's not ok with it.
Best moment this week: Having another ultrasound and seeing Kaelyn wave at me :-)
Movement: She moves for me a lot during the day and crazy at night. Jordan and I love watching her make my belly move.
Food cravings: Pickles... :-)
Gender: It's a girl!!!
Labor Signs: N/A
Belly Button in or out? Yup, it's an outie.
What I miss: Being able to fall asleep right away. My restless leg syndrome is worse this pregnancy :-(
What I am looking forward to: Seeing if Kaelyn will really look like me (my mom and I were comparing ultra sound pictures between her and Autumn and we think she'll look like me, hehe).
Weekly Wisdom: God is in control. I have to put my faith in this pregnancy in Him and trust that it's in His will.
Milestones: I only gained 2 1/2 lbs in the last month. That made me super excited because I gained way too much weight with Autumn. Yay for long walks!!!
Realization of the week: I am going to have a 2 year old and a newborn in less than 4 months. AHHHHHH :-D
Total weight gain/loss: Ugh, I think I've only gained 8 lbs so far. I forgot where I started. LOL
Maternity clothes? Definitely maternity pants. Kaelyn sits way too low for me to wear bella bands on anything non maternity. I can't stand the pressure on my uterus!
Stretch marks? No new ones, but old ones are getting darker.
Sleep: I have officially begun the "uncomfortable" stage of sleep. I really miss sleeping on my stomach and my RLS are keeping me (and Jordan) up at night. I have to attempt to reposition myself in the middle of the night. Then when I sleep on my back, Kaelyn kicks me to let me know that she's not ok with it.
Best moment this week: Having another ultrasound and seeing Kaelyn wave at me :-)
Movement: She moves for me a lot during the day and crazy at night. Jordan and I love watching her make my belly move.
Food cravings: Pickles... :-)
Gender: It's a girl!!!
Labor Signs: N/A
Belly Button in or out? Yup, it's an outie.
What I miss: Being able to fall asleep right away. My restless leg syndrome is worse this pregnancy :-(
What I am looking forward to: Seeing if Kaelyn will really look like me (my mom and I were comparing ultra sound pictures between her and Autumn and we think she'll look like me, hehe).
Weekly Wisdom: God is in control. I have to put my faith in this pregnancy in Him and trust that it's in His will.
Milestones: I only gained 2 1/2 lbs in the last month. That made me super excited because I gained way too much weight with Autumn. Yay for long walks!!!
Realization of the week: I am going to have a 2 year old and a newborn in less than 4 months. AHHHHHH :-D
Is my dog walking me?
I know several of you out there are having this problem. You dog takes YOU for a walk. I tolerated it with Jade because let's face it, she made me walk faster. But with Kallie, it was too much. I was afraid to walk her with the stroller because she could take off at any moment. And she's strong!
I wasn't about to let this happen because I wanted to take the dogs on 2 daily walks. One with Autumn and one without. Jade, like I said, I tolerated. But if I wanted her to heel, she would. However, the idea of walking 2 dogs (one who pulled a little and one who I thought was trying to win a dog sled race) made me super uneasy. I ran across this webpage a few years ago when I was having problems walking our boxer. I just skimmed it over then and didn't do much about it. Not to mention that the dog pictured was wearing a choke collar and I refused to use one!
I read the webpage over again, very carefully and took it all in. I then decided to give it a try this morning with Autumn in her stroller (yes, I was nervous). I first had to establish dominance by walking out of the house first. It seemed silly to me, but I figured that the person who wrote this had to have some sort of clue what was going on. Kallie wants to, so badly, bolt out of the house. Jade will stay if I tell her to. So I was firm. Made Kallie sit, several times, and calm down before she was allowed out of the house. I even walked out of the door and stood there until she was calm. Then I attached her to the leash and let her out. Right now Kallie has a long leash (I'm heading over to Chow Hound after this to get her a shorter one) so I had to basically loop it through the stroller so that I didn't have a big bulky wad to hold onto. Now comes the walk....
Kallie is, of course, super excited! I don't blame her. I've been enjoying these walks very much myself. But I also read that an excited dog doesn't mean a happy dog. She needs to work off her energy, not create more. By allowing her to roam the street, sniff everything and check out the latest bird tree, she is making herself more excited and therefore, not burning her energy. And when she burns her energy, she will become a happy dog. We relate our dogs so much to humans that it's hard to understand this sometimes. But after what I saw today, it made much more sense to me.
Have you ever watched dog shows where they have the dog's collar super high up on their neck? First time I saw this I thought it was silly and also cruel. I thought they were choking the dog. Yes, it is the weakest point on their neck, however, it's amazing how they will not pull when the collar is positioned that way. It worked, almost INSTANTLY with Kallie. I slid her collar up and immediately watched her slow herself down. I did have to correct her a couple of times, but that was it!!! She stayed by me, RIGHT NEXT TO ME, almost the whole time. I am absolutely amazed. Stunned. I was the dominate one. She had to listen to me. She even watched me a couple of times while we were walking to see what I wanted her to do next. We didn't take the long walk this morning (Autumn was getting fussy). But she was not hyper, at all, when we got back to the house. I even let her off the leash, before we even hit the garage and she STAYED BY MY SIDE!!! Again, completely stunned (she's already taken off into the neighborhood before we put the gate up on our fence).
Even though I am not a fan of choke collars, I will be getting one. The dog's normal collars do slip down their neck when they're relaxed and I could see Kallie's urge to start pulling again. This will just help keep her collar close to her head so that she won't pull at all. Wow, again, I am super excited about this and honestly couldn't wait to share this with you. I just gave you guys a brief summary of what I did with Kallie today. But please, please take the time to read this webpage if you are having problems with your dog pulling during the walk. I am 100% positive that this will work for you fully within a week. I am still shocked that it worked immediately for me!
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/dogwalk.htm
I wasn't about to let this happen because I wanted to take the dogs on 2 daily walks. One with Autumn and one without. Jade, like I said, I tolerated. But if I wanted her to heel, she would. However, the idea of walking 2 dogs (one who pulled a little and one who I thought was trying to win a dog sled race) made me super uneasy. I ran across this webpage a few years ago when I was having problems walking our boxer. I just skimmed it over then and didn't do much about it. Not to mention that the dog pictured was wearing a choke collar and I refused to use one!
I read the webpage over again, very carefully and took it all in. I then decided to give it a try this morning with Autumn in her stroller (yes, I was nervous). I first had to establish dominance by walking out of the house first. It seemed silly to me, but I figured that the person who wrote this had to have some sort of clue what was going on. Kallie wants to, so badly, bolt out of the house. Jade will stay if I tell her to. So I was firm. Made Kallie sit, several times, and calm down before she was allowed out of the house. I even walked out of the door and stood there until she was calm. Then I attached her to the leash and let her out. Right now Kallie has a long leash (I'm heading over to Chow Hound after this to get her a shorter one) so I had to basically loop it through the stroller so that I didn't have a big bulky wad to hold onto. Now comes the walk....
Kallie is, of course, super excited! I don't blame her. I've been enjoying these walks very much myself. But I also read that an excited dog doesn't mean a happy dog. She needs to work off her energy, not create more. By allowing her to roam the street, sniff everything and check out the latest bird tree, she is making herself more excited and therefore, not burning her energy. And when she burns her energy, she will become a happy dog. We relate our dogs so much to humans that it's hard to understand this sometimes. But after what I saw today, it made much more sense to me.
Have you ever watched dog shows where they have the dog's collar super high up on their neck? First time I saw this I thought it was silly and also cruel. I thought they were choking the dog. Yes, it is the weakest point on their neck, however, it's amazing how they will not pull when the collar is positioned that way. It worked, almost INSTANTLY with Kallie. I slid her collar up and immediately watched her slow herself down. I did have to correct her a couple of times, but that was it!!! She stayed by me, RIGHT NEXT TO ME, almost the whole time. I am absolutely amazed. Stunned. I was the dominate one. She had to listen to me. She even watched me a couple of times while we were walking to see what I wanted her to do next. We didn't take the long walk this morning (Autumn was getting fussy). But she was not hyper, at all, when we got back to the house. I even let her off the leash, before we even hit the garage and she STAYED BY MY SIDE!!! Again, completely stunned (she's already taken off into the neighborhood before we put the gate up on our fence).
Even though I am not a fan of choke collars, I will be getting one. The dog's normal collars do slip down their neck when they're relaxed and I could see Kallie's urge to start pulling again. This will just help keep her collar close to her head so that she won't pull at all. Wow, again, I am super excited about this and honestly couldn't wait to share this with you. I just gave you guys a brief summary of what I did with Kallie today. But please, please take the time to read this webpage if you are having problems with your dog pulling during the walk. I am 100% positive that this will work for you fully within a week. I am still shocked that it worked immediately for me!
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/dogwalk.htm
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Kallie
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9
Thursday, May 26, 2011
2 weeks already?!?!
Life has been crazy the past couple of weeks. I can't believe that we've been living in our HOME for almost 2 weeks already!! It's insane. Boxes are slowly making their way out of the house. I'm hoping that we can start parking in the garage within the next month :-) Autumn is adjusting, slowly, but getting there. During the day isn't an issue, it's nap time and bed time that's the big adjustment. At my parent's house, her room was pitch black! Here, we only have towels hanging up (for now) so it lets in a lot more light than she's used to. I have to rock her to sleep in order for her to take her afternoon nap. Unfortunately I foresee this going badly. But I have time to work things out.
Autumn is talking... CONSTANTLY! Although it may be mostly baby chinese... Haha. She still continues to try and have conversations with me. I love it. She's said a few sentences herself. And amazing me with new words that she learns on a daily basis. I can't believe how much this girl knows! We still like to watch her Sign Language dvds. She now knows every single sign and can say every single word. I'm surprised she's not bored from it! But she brings it to me at least once a day and asks to watch it. It's better than Sponge Bob anyways ;-) Autumn is finally, mostly sleeping through the night. I can't believe it. She's not going to sleep tonight now that I'm posting this (lol). But more times than not, she is sleeping through the night. I never thought I would see the day. I'm still super slow at waking up, so she's usually almost crying by the time I get to her. Haha. Poor girl. Someday I'll become a morning person....... Or not...
Kaelyn is a moving machine. It's mere minutes after sitting down that she'll start moving. She's still very super low, so I'm constantly going to the bathroom (oh joy). I am 23 weeks today and things are going well. I'm very tired, but moving didn't help that much. I have another doctor's appointment next week with another ultrasound as well! Kaelyn wasn't cooperating when the ultrasound tech wanted to take a picture of her heart. So they want to go back and just make sure they can get a clear picture. Everything is ok and normal, but my doctor wants a picture. Besides, who wouldn't want another ultrasound anyways?
Jade is adjusting well. She loves her fenced in backyard! There's lots of places to "hide" while she's on squirrel patrol. Not to mention her new Doggy I-max TV that she has her dog bed in front of in the living room.
Jordan has been working hard on the house before we moved in and even now. We spent the weekend together working on the yard (I had a blast) and since we've had rain like crazy, he's been doing a lot of inside work, especially on my salon. Hehe. Jordan's had to grind the floors down because there's glue residue leftover from the tiles that were down there. We're just going to paint the cement floors and maybe do something fancy several years down the line. I'm hoping he can get my salon up and running within the next couple of months!
My camera is currently in a box, somewhere. So I am not able to post any pictures at this time. But as soon as I find it, I will take some and definitely post soon.
Autumn is talking... CONSTANTLY! Although it may be mostly baby chinese... Haha. She still continues to try and have conversations with me. I love it. She's said a few sentences herself. And amazing me with new words that she learns on a daily basis. I can't believe how much this girl knows! We still like to watch her Sign Language dvds. She now knows every single sign and can say every single word. I'm surprised she's not bored from it! But she brings it to me at least once a day and asks to watch it. It's better than Sponge Bob anyways ;-) Autumn is finally, mostly sleeping through the night. I can't believe it. She's not going to sleep tonight now that I'm posting this (lol). But more times than not, she is sleeping through the night. I never thought I would see the day. I'm still super slow at waking up, so she's usually almost crying by the time I get to her. Haha. Poor girl. Someday I'll become a morning person....... Or not...
Kaelyn is a moving machine. It's mere minutes after sitting down that she'll start moving. She's still very super low, so I'm constantly going to the bathroom (oh joy). I am 23 weeks today and things are going well. I'm very tired, but moving didn't help that much. I have another doctor's appointment next week with another ultrasound as well! Kaelyn wasn't cooperating when the ultrasound tech wanted to take a picture of her heart. So they want to go back and just make sure they can get a clear picture. Everything is ok and normal, but my doctor wants a picture. Besides, who wouldn't want another ultrasound anyways?
Jade is adjusting well. She loves her fenced in backyard! There's lots of places to "hide" while she's on squirrel patrol. Not to mention her new Doggy I-max TV that she has her dog bed in front of in the living room.
Jordan has been working hard on the house before we moved in and even now. We spent the weekend together working on the yard (I had a blast) and since we've had rain like crazy, he's been doing a lot of inside work, especially on my salon. Hehe. Jordan's had to grind the floors down because there's glue residue leftover from the tiles that were down there. We're just going to paint the cement floors and maybe do something fancy several years down the line. I'm hoping he can get my salon up and running within the next couple of months!
My camera is currently in a box, somewhere. So I am not able to post any pictures at this time. But as soon as I find it, I will take some and definitely post soon.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
It's a...
Pink diapers?
Pink Paint?
Pink Tu-Tus?
Getting a theme here?
It's a girl!!!
Jordan and I are very excited to announce that yes, we are having another girl :-) She looks great in the ultrasound, growing excellent with no complications. Due date is still the same (Sept 22nd) which is 3 days after Autumn's 2nd birthday. We named her Kaelyn Joyce (Kaelyn, after my mom's middle name "Kaye" and Joyce, after her mother's middle name). I am looking forward to decorating Kaelyn's room and introducing you to her in the fall. God is so good!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
