Lucas' Birthday!

Lucas celebrated his 2nd birthday on Wednesday night. Mommy and Gabriel sang him a birthday song in the morning when he got up. And then we all went for a walk down the cul-de-sac and up the hill. Lucas got a new boomerang toy and a dino-Cuz. And he got two cans of special Merrick dog food, and Lucas and Elleigh enjoyed the Beef Pie and Sweetie Fries flavor for dinner.

Sharing The Remote

What a busy day today! I was in desperate need of a hair cut since I missed my last regularly scheduled hair appointment mid-January because I was hospitalized for the blood clot. So I was pleased that Tony found me a slot today at The Mane Element and was able to get my hair back in shape. Gabriel slept quietly through the appointment. We finished up there just before noon, so Gabriel and I went to see Daddy at work. And after visiting with a bunch of Daddy's co-workers, Gabriel and I took Daddy to lunch. And since we were already up to exit 16 on I-93 to drop Daddy back off at work, Gabriel and I decided to just keep heading north to the Tangor Outlet to see if there were any sales at the Carter's store. And of course we stopped at Gymboree too. Gabriel is a good shopper, but we are both very tired tonight. Gabriel, Lucas and Michael are lounging on the couch tonight sharing the remote.

commiserating

Elleigh and Lucas are commiserating together in a sun spot, wondering if Mommy and Daddy will still love them when the baby arrives.

Lucas Has a Trick Knee

Lucas has been limping and holding his left hind leg up since Christmas. Michael and I thought he had over done it with his new Christmas toys, playing tug with his sister, and jumping from the chair to the couch. But he is still showing favor to that back leg. And since we will be kenneling him while we are in the hospital for Gabriel's arrival, we decided we better get his leg looked at. We were thinking it wouldn't be anything too serious, and then we could at least tell the kennel that we had it checked out and not to be alarmed. After all, it hasn't seemed to slow him down and he doesn't necessarily seem to be in pain. He's still begging for food, jumping up on his hind legs, flinging himself from the couch to the chair and back again, and chasing his sister.

We got an appointment at Russell Animal Hospital this afternoon and took Lucas in. He is such a shy and whiny boy at the puppy pediatrician's office, which is so opposite of his personality at home. The doctor quickly diagnosed that Lucas has a Patellar Subluxation, and then confirmed it with some X-ray's. It means his knee cap slips around and causes damage to the structure of the knee bones and tissues. Right now, his condition is only stage 1, which usually doesn't indicate surgery. But because he is so young, the vet said that if we did surgery now that she would expect success due to his age in recovery. And then we could prevent additional degenerative knee damage and from him getting early onset arthritis. I would hate to think of him having a poor quality of life and having a chronic achy knee at such a young age if we don't fix it.

The vet is going to send us an estimate in the mail for the surgery. It would be a 6-8 week recovery, and actually, it might be most convenient to have it done while I am on maternity leave so I can be home for his recovery.

Don't worry! We have sufficiently been spoiling Lucas and giving him extra love and attention. And he is sucking it up! And he is starting a regimen of Glucosamine and Chondroitin. It's a big pill, but wrapped in human food it seems to go down easily.

Christmas with the Vermont Family

My parents came to New Hampshire on Saturday to celebrate Christmas 2008 with us. Being 9 months pregnant made this holiday a little different. There has been a lot less driving this season. And a whole lot less hustle with my bustle.

I made a lasagna and then Grandma D., Grandpa D., Brandi and Angus showed up around noon. Luckily, they didn't hit any of the morning icing that was reported on the weather forecast.

Grandpa and Grandma brought a bunch of gifts for Gabriel, Michael and I. Gabriel got some toys including a top, a Glowworm, a stuffed sheep, a mobile for his crib, and a wooden dump truck. Michael and I were spoiled too, but I am most excited about all of my new pajamas, assuming I will be lounging around in those a bit more over the next few weeks. And Michael has already started wearing his new sweatshirts that he much needed.

Michael and I gave an "anti-gravity" car to Angus for Christmas. It is a remote control car that was suppose to drive on the walls and ceilings. I was a bit skeptical, but it really did work! We have textured ceilings, so it didn't work up there, but Angus was able to drive the car all over our walls. Brandi is becoming a high tech teenager, so she got an iTunes gift card and a USB port. That's the kind of Christmas shopping Michael likes!

Elleigh and Lucas were so excited to see all the company and the presents. Angus was so interesting to them, and yet, over stimulating as well. We haven't had anything that high energy in the house in a while. Probably since Angus' last visit.

After having some lasagna (and fudge, summer sausage, cheese, spinach and artichoke dip, crackers, cookies...), Michael set the Wii up for Angus and Brandi to try their hand at bowling and golf. Michael made sure Angus' controller was firmly secured to his hand before letting him stand in front of his flat screen.

Elleigh and Lucas were so exhausted from the visit. They had to nap all afternoon with Daddy to recuperate.

Thank you for the visit, Mom and Dad!

Christmas will be so different for us next year when Gabriel is here.

It's Snowing... AGAIN!

I am hearing snow forecasts for our area today that range from 8-20 inches of snow. Ending with wind that will cause blowing and possibly more power outages. Living up on a hill, we get more blowing of snow than everyone else anyway, so can't wait to see what this wind brings. I feel bad for the people in New Hampshire who still haven't gotten their power back yet. I'm sure that this blowing won't help their situations. Good thing we found a new coat for Lucas last night. He and Mike were out this morning in the snow trying to drum up a little enthusiasm for the white stuff. It was fun for a few minutes until Lucas' little feet got too cold. Elleigh prefers the comfort of the warm indoors.

Running Errands During the Break in the Snow

We took supplies for Lucas and Elleigh May to Pet Agree in Candia Friday night. Elleigh and Lucas will be attending "overnight camp" at Pet Agree when Michael and I finally head off to the hospital to deliver Gabriel. And now, in case we go to the hospital in a hurry, Elleigh and Lucas already have food, treats, instructions, and check in forms signed and waiting at Pet Agree. They just need a ride to camp when it's time.

After a quick dinner in the bar at the Ninety Nine restaurant in Hooksett, Michael and I went shopping at a pet store in the new Goodwill shopping plaza. Lucky for Lucas, we found a winter jacket for him. The poor middle child goes ignored. Last year at this time, Lucas was still a puppy, so he didn't have a winter coat that fits him so far this winter. We found him a handsome red and black coat that makes him look like a snow patrol dog.

We also hit Target in Hooksett and found the Graco Pack n Play we wanted for Gabriel, that hadn't been in stock in Concord. It has a bassinet attachment and a changing table too. May have found a shelf solution for Gabriel's room too! We needed something extra to hold stuff in the one corner where we have Gabriel's changing pad on top of the dresser, the Diaper Genie will be, we need a place to put diaper changing stuff and the wipe warmer needs to be plugged in.

And since more snow was looming in the forecast, we stopped at a small grocery store in Allenstown on the way home and got some supplies to get us through a possible snowed in Sunday. I also got some makings for cookies and fudge, as I haven't done any holiday baking or cooking yet.

Baby Arrival Progress

The whole family has been working hard on getting things, especially Gabriel's room, all set and ready for his arrival. Michael had to sand and repair the walls in the old guest/storage bedroom. Then who knows how many coats of primer went on the ugly teal wall color in that room. It had been painted that color when Michael bought the house. And then several coats of the new paint went over the primer. And then the lower toxicity paint we paid extra money for to cover the trim in the room turned out to not be able to cover anything. I think after the 4th application of trim paint, Michael broke down and just went and got plain old paint and finally got the trim painted white. I wish now I had a before photo so the change in wall color could be fully appreciated. It felt so clean to see the room empty, freshly painted, and a relaxing light blue color.

Elleigh and Lucas helped Daddy to remove accidental paint droppings from the rug. And after a good bath with Grandma's rug cleaning machine, the rug bounced right back.

And not technically Gabriel's room, but we did make more room in the living room for Gabriel's gear. Grandma and Grandpa Abberton came to visit on Saturday and dropped off their rug cleaner and the crib we will be using, and then helped Michael haul away the elliptical that use to be stored in the living room. We actually used the Grands' pick-up to haul away a lot of stuff to the dump to make room for baby gear. Elleigh is enjoying the temporary bare spot on the floor in the living room until we fill the space with some sort of baby contraption.

And Elleigh and Lucas have done a good job guarding the babies and toys in the doll cradle that Great Grandfather Johnson made. And Elleigh and Lucas have turned out to be fantastic seat cushion warmers in Great Grandma Johnson's glider rocker.

We are using the crib that Cousin Maya was in not that long ago. Aunt Deb and Uncle Gary got a brand new mattress to go with the crib. And on Thanksgiving, Uncle Gary showed Michael how to man-handle the infant car seat into my CR-V.

I put the crib together on Sunday night and put the baby bedding on it from Grandma and Grandpa Doaner. The dresser we are going to use as a changing table still needs to be moved into Gabriel's room. And then all of the clothes and gifts we have received so far need to still be laundered and sorted into the right size piles and put away in the dresser and cupboard.

Almost ready for the big reveal on the baby's room.

"Camping" in Ossipee

Michael, Elleigh, Lucas and I went "camping" on Sunday. Not real hard in-the-woods camping. We felt a little guilty about going for a whole day away from our house projects, but I think we are both very glad we did. We didn't have our annual family BBQ in August. And we didn't go to a 4th of July party this year. And we really couldn't think of anything we have done outside this summer or fall, not even using the pool since it didn't turn out to be a pool summer.

So, we drove up to Ossipee to a private family campground run by Paula's family to spend the day. The foliage was beautiful on the ride up which was a treat since neither Michael or I had a chance to see much foliage yet this year. We even had to drive by another swatch of tornado damage on the way there where a cluster of houses looked to still be in the repair process and all of their trees were blown down.

The whole family had fun for the day. I got to knit around a campfire with Paula, Tracy, Donna and Alison. I kept working on socks for Gabriel. Michael played Scrabble and another Banana word game with Sue, Paula, Alison and Anthony. Elleigh and Lucas got to go for a few walks in the crispy leaves and bark at the camp dog Daisy. Michael had wine. Gabriel and I did not.

And the food was wonderful! The camping day included a gourmet camp chef named Fred and his sous chef side kick, Anthony. I helped to de-silk some corn, but for the most part just waited on for food to be placed near me and the bump. There was tasty aged cheddar and Gruyere cheese. The corn was fire roasted. The pork tenderloin was stuffed and hand-tied at the campsite and then baked over the coals. And I had hot cocoa with homemade marshmallows.

Yes, HOMEMADE marshmallows. Fred made his very own marshmallows for the trip. And you may wonder why anyone would make their own marshmallows when you can buy a whole bag of Jet Puffs for a buck. If you ask that, you have never had a homemade marshmallow. Better taste, better texture, better melt spread when squished between two graham crackers, and better fire retardancy when being roasted over an open flame for S'Mores made with Ghiradelli chocolate. Mmmm!

It was such a fun day and evening. Thanks for inviting us, Paula! Even the trips to the out house proved enjoyable.

Pregnancy Perks for Puppies

There are few pregnancy perks for the puppies. In fact, they would probably tell you that pregnancy sucks. There's no jumping on Mommy's belly. And Mommy can't bend over to pick them up as much. And Mommy doesn't get on the floor anymore because she would never get back up off it. And then yesterday Mommy and Daddy scurried around the house doing pre-baby projects, so the dogs couldn't sleep their normal schedule, and then got grumpy from lack of sleep. And then Mommy hauled bags out of her bedroom saying she was making room for the baby's stuff. And Daddy locked himself in the other room with a machine that makes an annoying noise and vibration. (Sanding) And at one point a whole piece of furniture was rolled out of the house. It was pretty stressful for Elleigh and Lucas. They both acted very nervous, like they might be going out the door soon too.

But they do seem to just love Mommy's pregnancy pillow. This is the Boppy C shaped pregnancy pillow with the white and sage green slipcover. It is suppose to be snaked around a pregnant woman to support the belly, give padding between the knees, and in general support sleeping on the side. But it seems to attract Elleigh, even if I am using it. She weasels her way onto some portion of the pillow when she can and will use her feet to make room for herself by scratching/shoving me out of the way. And then as soon as I vacate the bed, the dogs claim the whole pillow to themselves.

Our Boy is One!

Lucas turned one year old on September 2nd, so it's time to put the puppy food away and switch to big boy dog food. It's hard to believe how fast the time went by.

He celebrated birthday weekend and got three rides in the car, including one trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house. For dinner on his actual birthday, he shared a special can of dog food with his sister. We gave him his birthday gifts last night. Michael found a little dog bone shaped elevated food bowl set for the kids to share and then I had ordered Lucas a whole box of new Schnoodleware fleeces to destroy. Elleigh was much better at getting the new fleece toys out of the box than Lucas was. Of course, we went around the house picking up and chucking his disintegrated fleece toys the whole weekend so that was a bit traumatic.

A little doggy biography on our boy.

Weight: He weighs 22.8 pounds the most recent time Michael put him on the scale.

Height: Taller than his sister by at least an inch on the back and two inches at the head.

Favorite Toys: Schnoodleware Fleece Toys ripped to shreds and strings, anything with taggies, anything that Elleigh has at the moment.

Favorite Food: Anything on Mommy & Daddy's plate, Merrick's Brauts & Tots canned food on special occassions.

Favorite Spot: Snuggling face to face with Daddy on the couch

Favorite Activities: Laying on Sissy's head, snuggling with Daddy on the couch, going to Grandma & Grandpa's house, going for a R-I-D-E, rolling in pooh, going to the dog park, sleeping in sun spots with Sissy.

Least Favorite Activities: Tubbies, rain during potty time, vacuuming

Favorite Trick: high five

When happy he wiggles his whole behind and his little tail stub.

When he thinks he is in trouble, he tries to smile or goes to the other parent to see if they are as mad as the first one.

Accomplishments: Graduated from Puppy Obedience class, learned how to get up on the couch

Goals for the upcoming year: Becoming a good big brother to a human baby, learning to share more, smiling just right so that Mommy can catch it on the camera to post for the world to see

What We've Bought So Far

This post is mostly so my Mom can see some of the things I have gotten so far for the baby, but maybe you will enjoy it too.

This is baby's first outfit. Well, the first one purchased by his parents at least. I wanted to wait until we knew for sure what sex baby we were having so I could appropriately buy pink or blue. But when I got to Baby Bungalow in Concord, what really got my attention was this green Kushies play suit because of the cute sheep on it. And it is such as soft cotton. So baby boy's first outfit is gender neutral. It's a 6 month size but looks like it will be wearable for a while since the cuffs all are long and fold over. And the little feet even can be made into feetie pajamas when the baby is on the smaller side.

I also fell in love with this bag while shopping at the PowerHouse mall with Kimi in West Lebanon. So after thinking about it a while when I got home and wishing I had purchased the bag, and checking that Michael was okay carrying a light teal/aqua bag, I found the same Timbuk2 bag on eBay and plan to use it as a diaper bag.

The very first purchase made for the baby was this stuffed dog. Way too big to play with initially but we will let it sit on the floor in the baby's room. We thought everyone of the humans in the family should have their very own Boston Terrier. Another find from Baby Bungalow. Can you tell which ones are the real Bostons in the photo below? Hint, the impostor dog is the one with the least disgusted expression.
And then at the PowerHouse mall with Kimi again, I did find this little Boston Terrier that the baby will be able to snuggle and play with. This little dog is actually very interesting to Luke and Elleigh, so it lives in hiding for the time being. We have a lot of family adjustment ahead of us.
And I found this interesting handmade product that I found at Etsy.com. It's a very pretty wet bag. They sell it as a bag to put wet diapers and clothes in when you are out and about. I am currently using it as yarn storage for a little project bag and have once used it as a wet swimsuit bag.

And I certainly have bought yarn with baby in mind.

Lucas is 11 months old

Our boy is 11 months old now. Lucas will celebrate his first birthday on September 2nd. It is likely his frame has reached full height. He is a little taller than Elleigh, but he may still bulk out in the chest, face and neck. He is a snugly boy. For his birthday, Lucas wants some more fleece toys from Schnoodleware. (Mommy has already made a birthday order.) They seem to be his favorite, but he eventually shreds them and they have to be thrown away when he gets them all stringy. He also wants some more chicken poppers for his birthday, and a bag of big boy dog food. Oh... and anything with a tag he can chew off. Hopefully this means some of his puppy energy will start to mellow out as he approaches his first birthday.

Nana and Papa Came to Visit

My Mom and Dad came to visit on Saturday. It's been a while since they had been to New Hampshire. We had a serious work detail day and we got some big projects checked off the household to-do list. So it may be a long time before they decide to come back for a "visit."

My Dad brought his chain saw. He trimmed some low hanging branches off the bottom side of the maple by the pool. And he cut the little maple tree down that was trying to grow to close to the big maple. Now it will be easier to mow under the remaining Maple. And the two fat, ugly pine trees out by the road are gone now. And I can walk easily around the perimeter of the pool and get to the pump now since my Dad cut the sumac back. And my Mom tackled pulling up my stone garden border. Not much is actually growing in the garden around the deck anymore, so the stones got pulled up so the mower can easily cut in there now and possibly the grass will regrow. And we got the outdoor table, umbrella, and some chairs up out of the basement too. I wish I had gotten a before photo.

My folks did all of that work for just a quick hamburger lunch and some Robert Redford dessert. They brought a big bowl of beans that my Dad made. We still have some leftovers. Elleigh and Lucas enjoyed seeing Nana and Papa. They got more goodies from the table than they normally get.

The yard looked so much better, especially considering the lawn was cut by Mike's Dad on Wednesday and Thursday.

Debbie Bliss baby Vest

I bought the new baby knits book by Debbie Bliss called Essential Baby a few weeks ago. I completed my first project from the book this morning. (I'm on vacation this week so I can be around to help Michael out as he recovers from his surgery.) I got 3 skeins of Baby Cashmerino by Debbie Bliss at The Elegant Ewe on Tuesday after work, and I cast on this project that same night. I did the bulk of the knitting while waiting around Concord Hospital on Thursday for Mike's surgery. There was a lot of seam sewing for such a small project. Luke was an obedient boy and helped me model the finished project. He likes the green since it matches his color. The 0-3 month size barely takes more than one skein of the Baby Cashmerino. I have plenty of yarn left to do another size. Technically, the project is not finished. I have to get a small button and then just sew it on the back closure. For those of you who are knitters and members of the ravelry community, I have a lot more photos and notes out in my projects tab.

Happy Father's Day!

Elleigh and Lucas are so happy to celebrate their Daddy on Father's Day! The kids started the day off snuggling in bed with Daddy. And then they helped Mommy to make Daddy home fried potatoes and an omelet. They mostly just used Jedi mind control on me while I cooked. They try to use their mind to get me to drop ingredients on the floor. Yesterday afternoon, we gave Daddy a present. He got a new Wii. We thought it might be good for him to have for when he is recovering from his surgery. Mike has to leave today to go to work in New York, so he got his present yesterday so he would have time to set up the Wii and play it at least once before leaving. He's very aggressive with the boxing game and it even scares the children a bit. Lucas doesn't have a good snuggling with Daddy photo from this morning. But he has a good photo of him smiling because his Daddy makes him so happy.

It's a little late for Easter

I've been meaning to blog about Easter for the last 6 weeks. The kids were so cute with the toys that the Easter Bunny brought for them to share. I wanted to show the little angels off playing peacefully with their new toys. It's just precious that they are holding paws while chewing on the same toy. Ahh! This is definitely an old photo since Lucas is at least the same size as Elleigh these days if not bigger. They got a Wubbly, which is basically Kong toy inside canvas. It is still alive and doing well 6 weeks later. The other toy is about ready to be trashed since they both have managed to get all of the black binding around the edge to fray. Neither of them have been able to wear those collars recently either since they got embedded with dirt on one of the dog park trips. That's what happens when you roll in the dirt.

The New Dog Bed

Michael and I went to IKEA in Stoughton, Massachusetts on Saturday and bought a new bed frame and a stand to put our TV on, among other things.

It was time to get rid of the old king size bed. Who knows exactly how old it was. We already had a barely used queen size bed in the other bedroom. And now that we only have two small dogs to share the bed with it, we thought maybe we could downsize to the queen. So we decided to buy a new black wood bed frame and swap the queen size bed into the master bedroom.

When the large boxes arrived, it disrupted the dogs. Especially when we went upstairs and immediately started dismantling their big dog bed. It was clearly stressful to Elleigh and Lucas. The vacuum cleaning of the dust bunnies under the old bed didn't impress them either. But they were enthusiastic about helping put the new bed frame together. Lucas gave Michael a supportive kiss after every single screw that Mike put into the bed. Elleigh would stand on Mike's back so she could see better what he was doing with the tools. They were too helpful!

The new bed is all together now. Those of you who don't know IKEA, they have great prices on comforter cover and pillow case sets. We got a set in the red and white floral pattern, which looks great against the black wood. And on a different shopping trip, I found at Target a similar black and white floral patterned throw pillows and a matching lamp. The only casualty we had putting the bed together was that we broke the bedside table lamp. So I was glad to find a lamp that matches the pillows and the comforter cover.

Lucas and Elleigh seem to be happy with their new night time dog bed. They are fans of the comforter cover since they can sink right down in it. They look so comfy!

The Dog Park

Elleigh and Lucas have been treated to two trips to the Concord dog park this week. Since we are working parents, both times we have arrived pretty late. So it was approaching dusk and we couldn't get great action photos due to lack of light. We also arrive after the crowds, so not a lot of socialization has happened yet this year. I can't wait for Elleigh to see some of her old friends.

But the kids LOVE the dog park no matter what time we arrive or how few people/dogs there are. They can run around without leashes, roll each other through the dirt, wipe their dirty paws all over Mommy & Daddy's pants, and check out p-mail. There is a large dog side of the park and then a separate fenced in small dog area, so we don't have to worry about Elleigh and Lucas getting trampled by big dogs. There are benches for the humans. You can see Elleigh taking a breather on the bench in the photo above.

On Friday night, Brodeigh the Italian Greyhound was at the park with his Mother. He sure was fast, but his legs are sooo long and sooo skinny. I couldn't help but think of those little legs snapping without much effort. YIKES! It was fun for the dogs to pick up sticks and run around with them playing keep away. Brodeigh was the winner of that game since he could sprint and leave the the Bostons in the dust.

I packed water, baggies, and puppy treats so the kids could have some refreshment in between all of the hard play. We even flipped a doggy Cheez-It treat through the fence to big dog Spencer. We waited until there were no other dogs in the small dog area to bring out the treats so we wouldn't cause a doggy ruckus.

Elleigh and Luke are so tired after going to the dog park. And so filthy! On Wednesday night, their collars and bodies were caked with dirt so they ended up with tubbies when we got home. And especially Elleigh, they get so excited upon arrival that you can't help but love to take them for a night out at the dog park.

Stir Crazy!!

When the dogs get stir crazy from a long winter, it's time to go to the farm to visit their Grandparents. We took advantage of the warmer weather on Tuesday and took Luke and Elleigh over to the in-laws. We went for a walk on the dirt road as far as the mud would allow. Elleigh and Lucas had a great time running as fast as they could up and down the road, through mud puddles, tackling each other and checking out smells that they haven't had a chance to sniff since last fall. They were both filthy and tired when we took them home.