Pretty Pretty Princess

I regret to inform you that we are starting the "princess" phase with Taryne. This should be fun...

We already needed to get a tiara for her and she is now letting us know that she needs the blue princess dress and the slippers that match. Sigh.

She has several Disney princess dolls, but Ariel is her absolute favorite. She has a baby Ariel, a figurine Ariel, a plush Ariel and she just got the toddler Ariel for her birthday. 

Thankfully she doesn't refer to herself as a princess....

She is also into wearing dresses...all the time. She sleeps in them. She wants to wear them all the time. And that is perfectly fine and great since she has a ton of dresses. The only problem is her new daycare will only allow dresses if shorts are worn underneath. Well, her shorts are too bulky to do that and I know they make these bloomer/short type things specifically made for this purpose because I saw them in a store in College Station last year. When it cools off and she can wear tights, she will be wearing more dresses to school. They also have a rule that socks and closed toe and heel shoes must be worn in order to play outside. Well, I am not sending her to school in athletic shoes and a dress. At least her fall/winter shoes are closed toe and heel, so she will have more variety once fall arrives.

Last weekend, she was all dressed up with her dress and tiara and we decided to take Phoebe to the dog park in our apartment. I think she had more fun than Phoebe!

Until next time...Gig'em!

Trading Places

One night, I went to check on Taryne and Hayden before we went to bed and this is what I found...

Yes, Taryne is in Phoebe's bed

And Phoebe is in Taryne's bed

Until next time...Gig'em!

Woman's Best Friend

Last Friday I lost my sweet Cassie. She was pretty old, but was in pretty good health for her age. Last week she stopped eating and seemed to go from bad to worse in no time flat. We took her in to the vet and after some tests, we found out her liver was failing and there was a good chance that she had liver cancer but we could do more tests for that.

I had pets growing up, but they were the family pets. Cassie was my first true pet that was mine and I was responsible for her on my own. I potty trained her, I trained her to walk with a leash, I trained her to fetch, sit and stay. She was literally my child until Taryne and Hayden came along. She comforted me when I was sad or just needed a hug. I remember coming home and crying when Phoebe was in the hospital from her ruptured disc and we didn't think she would ever walk again and Cassie came and laid in my lap to help me feel better. It was her way of giving me a hug. She was always there at the door the minute I would get home.

I have always had this fear in the back of my mind about the day I would lose her. I guess it is the same fear anyone would have about their family and friends. It might sound silly to some since she was my pet, but I always saw her more than just a dog. I guess you can never prepare yourself completely, but I know she is happy and healthy now.

I will miss her a ton and that wagging tail and sweet face.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Hard Sleeper....

Since I am getting close to Hayden's arrival...and getting huge....I have had more trouble getting a good night's sleep. I am either up every hour or so to pee or I am tossing and turning to get comfortable. This is all in addition to Taryne deciding to come in bed at some point in the middle of the night. She does not come in our bed every night, but it goes in spells. Sometimes it is every night for several days straight and then sometimes it is several days before she does it again.

Typically when she comes in our room, she comes to my side of the bed with at least one blanket and a toy in tow. I let her lay with us until she falls back to sleep and then I wake Kyle up to put her back in her bed. You know, because I am up every hour or so I know if she is still awake or not. Some nights she is out before I even come back from the bathroom. Kyle is so sweet to let me wake him up so he can carry her back to bed.

Usually once she is back in her bed, it is for the rest of the night. She doesn't usually get up again. However, recently she had a night that she decided to come back. All I know is that it was after 4 am (I remember only because I look at the clock EVERY time I get up) because she was not there at that time. Well around 5:30-6 I got up AGAIN. When I get up, I always sit up a minute and then gently put my foot on the floor. The dogs sleep on their beds on my side of the bed but often they sprawl out with their blankets and I always check so I don't step on one of them. Well I put my foot down, felt something under the blanket and assumed Phoebe had made a nest closer to my bed. So I found a spot I could get up and went to the bathroom. When I came back I  thought that the dogs had really sprawled out this time and crawled back into bed.

After Kyle got up and showers, he wakes me up to get ready for the day. This particular morning, he told me to be very careful when I got out of bed and pointed to the floor. Well to my surprise, Taryne was the one that had made the nest so close to our bed. I have always wondered when I would wake up and find her sleeping with the dogs on their bed. That hasn't happened yet, but she made her nest right next to them. I am pretty sure it was Taryne's leg that I thought was Phoebe.

I am going to guess Taryne could not wake me back up to get in the bed. So she decided to sleep in our room anyway. She brought her pillow, both blankets, 4 stuffed animals and 2 dolls.

I had Kyle bring me a camera before she woke up. I thought it was too cute, but I felt bad because she couldn't wake us up. She was definitely determined to sleep in our room that night.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Puppy Love...

Taryne just loves giving us hugs and kisses. She also loves giving Cassie hugs and occasionally she will give Phoebe a hug...if she can attempt to do it without getting licked to death. She also love petting the dogs, especially Cassie.

The other night, she just kept giving Cassie hug after hug. It was too cute. I got these pictures are she had already given her several hugs.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Doggie Play

Taryne doesn't often "play" with the dogs. She has had a few "run-ins" by falling on them and getting a growl. Or Phoebe practically tries to lick her face off. So I was surprised to see these two photos last night while uploading pictures to my computer. Kyle snapped them while I was gone at a Thirty One party.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Our destructive little dog...

Phoebe likes to destroy things. She likes to lick the walls and chew on the carpet. You name it, she loves to eat it. I don't know how many shoes I have had to throw away because of her destructive nature. I am pretty sure it got worse after she had her back surgery 3 years ago.

The latest "victim" was a wooden spoon we had out for Taryne to bang on some of my baking pans. And as usual, an item can be out and be "available" for destruction for days or weeks before she decides to target that item. This was the case with the wooden spoon. Taryne has been playing with them for weeks. I noticed the other day a small chunk was missing from the wooden spoon, but I took that as just play wear and tear. We have several wooden spoons and since I NEVER use them to cook with, I thought they would be great for Taryne to play with because I would not miss them. Well, tonight we went for ice cream (yes, again) and when we came back this is what I found on the floor...

The spoon was in PIECES!!! I hope she didn't eat too much of the spoon and I really hope it doesn't make her sick. That is all we need right now is an emergency trip to the vet because small pieces of wood are stuck in her intestine or worse it tears her intestine...

Until next time...Gig'em!

The Tale of Phoebe and the Amish Friendship Bread...

The weekend of Taryne's baptism, Kyle's mom gave me a starter for Amish Friendship Bread. You have to follow the instructions carefully and at the end of the process (several days) you bake it and have 2 loaves of yummy sweet bread. You also end up with 4 bags of starters to keep for yourself or share with others.

I made the first starter and shared the rest with a few friends and my mom (she accidentally left her starter in the car, so she had to chunk it). I kept one for myself. During the process the bag ferments and gas builds up in the bag so you have to open it and let the gas out. I have been very careful to do this and mash it everyday per the instructions. Normally I mash it several times a day...usually when I walk by and see the bag.

Yesterday we were at my sister's so when we came home the bag was HUGE. I opened it and released the gas. I checked it again before I went to bed and let out more gas. This morning, I didn't get a chance to mess with it because Taryne and I were behind getting ready for work and school. So today around lunch I get a phone call from Kyle. The bag exploded. And apparently some of it started dripping on the floor. So guess who was the clean up crew? Phoebe. Apparently she was standing under it as it was dripping off the counter because she has dried batter all over her head. Thankfully Kyle cleaned up the mess while he was home, but I still need to bathe Phoebe.

Here she is...dried batter all over her head and a bloated stomach...

So, now I have to wait for my mom to bring me another starter...and I need to give Phoebe a bath.

Until next time...Gig'em!