Saying Goodbye to Buster

I don't think I mentioned it here, but for almost the entire month of October, we were a three dog household. Now for any of you reading this who think, as I used to, that the second and all subsequent dogs make life easier because they will play with and entertain the original dog... you would be wrong. The math is simple, people. More dogs equals more mammals who need food and attention which equals more work. So when a beautiful brown lab showed up at our backdoor the last Monday in September hungry and lonely, I was felt sorry for him and after trying unsuccessfully to run him off decided to feed him for a couple of days while we searched for his owner. Because he would be leaving again. Posters went up all over the neighborhood and we waited patiently for someone to claim him, and while we got a few calls, none of them were Dog #3's family.

In the meantime, I couldn't just call him Dog #3, so I christened him Buster. C became a little skeptical about Buster's temporary status once he got a name, but I've got enough work to do with a baby and had no intention of keeping Buster. Especially not after that sweet, energetic animal dug craters in our backyard and went through a two month supply of Lulu's food in 3 weeks. No siree.

My grandmother came from Louisiana to visit my mom for a few days and while she was in town, she came over for dinner one night.

While she was here, she got to meet Buster, which was fortuitous because she had been looking to get "a big dog" and decided that he was sweet and beautiful. I told her to take him, and she said that if I had him neutered, she would. Well folks, that was on a Wednesday and the following Thursday Buster said goodbye to his manhood.

I let my grandmother know when he was ready for his new home, and she drove over last weekend with my cousin Jeffrey to pick him up. It was so wonderful to spend a few hours visiting -- Jeffrey had only seen Olivia once before when she was brand new, and I loved watching him play with her.

They were able to spend several hours with us, and then it was time to load Buster up in the back of the van and head home. We weren't sure how Buster would do on the trip or even when he made it there, but other than a bit of excitement over his new girlfriends, Maw Maw says that he's doing wonderfully. He even adjusted to a name-change and is happily answering to Buddy now.

Our time together was short and semi-sweet. So thanks for the memories and for aerating our backyard, Buddy. See you at Christmas.

Pooped Out

What you see here is our daughter falling asleep at the dinner table on a Friday night. She only had an hour nap that morning and refused to go down for one during the afternoon. So when we put her in her highchair and sat down to eat, it took approximately 5.5 minutes for her to put her head down and conk out.

Don't worry, I only left her there long enough to take this photo before she was tucked into her crib, snug as a bug.

Olivia's BFF

This is Olivia's best bud, Halle. Like the movie star but with more food in her hair. Her mom is my very good friend, Em. Halle is almost 4 months older than Olivia, but as you can see they are already about the same size. Em and her husband are not tall people and well... we are. I used to joke with Em before the girls were born that one day Halle would ask how old she was when Olivia passed her up in size because she would never remember a time of being taller than Olivia. It didn't take long, I think that Olivia passed Halle up in diapers and clothes at 4 months.

What she lacks in size Halle more than makes up for with spunk. That little girl is one happy, busy, rambunctious, opinionated Mover and Shaker. Make no mistake about it, Halle is a born leader, and Olivia already watches everything she does. I look forward to watching these two grow and learn together.

Directory Assistance

I don't think it is any secret that, since becoming a mother, my memory isn't what it once was. I'm among friends here, so I can admit it. Plus, it's not like I'm telling you something you don't already know. I mention this fact because I got a text message from a 937 area code number I didn't recognize a few weeks ago. It was from a guy who identified himself as Nathan (no last name) who said something to the effect that he'd gotten a new number and was trying to get back in touch with me. I couldn't think of a single Nathan that I knew except a guy in college that I wasn't really friends with, but because of the aforementioned memory issue, I figured I had better make sure. So I asked C if I knew a Nathan; he reported that to the best of his knowledge I did not. So I didn't really think any more about it until I got a phone call while I was driving the other day. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Hello?

Strange Man on Phone (SMOP): Hey, what's up?

Me: Uh, who is this?

SMOP: You don't know?

Me: I don't think so.

SMOP: I'll give you two guesses.

Me: [At this point, I think it may be a guy I know who lives in Indiana but rarely speak to, so I say:] Andy?

SMOP: [Ignores.] I'll give you two guesses and two hints.... I don't live in the country anymooooore. [Pause.] Aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm in the Army.

Me: I have no idea who you are.

SMOP: Come on, it's Nathan!!

Me: I think you sent me a text message a while back. I don't KNOW a Nathan. Nathan who??

SMOP: [extreme exasperation] BEASLEY! Nathan BEASLEY!!

Me: [Long pause] Dude, you have the wrong number.

SMOP: [Crickets.] Oh. [Click.]

What is She Doing?

But more importantly, why?

Daddy's Helper

Recently we were getting some grocery shopping done and it was a rainy day. Naturally, we needed an umbrella, and we have several of the large-enough-for-a-small-army variety. Olivia is at an age where sometimes she likes to ride in the seat for kids in the cart, and other times, she would prefer to lay in the baby-carrier. This particular day was a baby-carrier day, although you can see from the way she's sitting up that she's too big to do this anymore. Anyway, we got a kick out of how helpful she wanted to be.

(C is holding the umbrella up, his hand is just out of the shot.)

Hanging with Big Maw Maw

To say that Pappy's Mom, Big Maw Maw, loves babies would seem like the understatement of the year. She is notorious in recent years for her almost obsession with babies. Pinching cheeks, making faces, baby talk, she does it all. So it is safe to say that she loves Olivia and thinks the world of her. Here she is on the floor talking to Olivia in her bouncer at our house.

Doing Laundry

Most days, I really wish that I had another set of hands. I know I'm not the first mother to ever say that, but boy oh boy would they come in handy. In lieu of extra hands, I've gotten creative at times:

Thankfully, Olivia doesn't seem to mind.

Eating her Veggies

After Olivia started eating solid foods, C started suggesting that I look into making her food myself at home. I have to admit that my first thought was to suggest that maybe HE could make Olivia's food during HIS spare time, because I haven't had much in the way of spare time in the last seven months. He didn't really push the issue, however, and we tried the Gerber stuff.

But on a lark, I found and purchased a "Cooking for Baby" book at Target a couple of weeks ago to at least see what I would be getting myself into. It turns out that making Olivia's food isn't that hard, I can offer her a better variety than we have found in the jars at the store, and I know that it's fresh. Best of all, it is SO much cheaper. I can't believe how much less it costs to make her food instead of buying the Gerber stuff, which can be about a dollar per container.

And really, depending on what you're making, it's not hard. You just have to work on it during nap time or while someone else is around to keep an eye on the baby. I've made big batches of sweet potatoes, apples, and bananas so far, and then I freeze them in ice cube trays and store them in large ziploc bags. Then I just pull out 2 cubes to thaw when it's time to eat!

The only thing that we've fed Olivia so far that she didn't like was green peas. She adores sweet potatoes, and with everything else, after adjusting to the new taste in the first few bites, she is happy to eat whatever we feed her. But green peas? No thank you. There's gagging and coughing and spewing and flailing. Mom said that she had a hard time getting me to eat anything green as a baby, so I thought it might be a lost cause. The cookbook suggests zucchini, though, and you don't find that in baby jars, so I decided to give it a try before I wrote off green veggies.

Well, I think we have a new favorite vegetable in zucchini. She was so excited about eating it today that she was straining to reach the spoon if I didn't move quickly enough. Of course, when we pulled out the camera she was too busy watching it to really focus on her eating, but you get the idea.

More Beach Pictures

Aunt B and Cousin A

I'm ready for my close up!

Naptime

Peek a boo, I see you!

Uncle P with the little monkeys

Cheesin' it up for the camera

Cuttin' up with his Daddy

Trouble.

Papa's Birthday

We went to visit Papa for his birthday in August (I know, I've got a backlog of blog material. I'm working on it) and also helped Ollie's Army raise money to help cure CF (we ate hotdogs and rode with Papa while he worked on his poker hand). It was a good time!

Gran snatched Olivia up the second we arrived and they had a good time hanging out and meeting people. They also tested the waters in the lake with their toes, and Olivia wasn't too keen on the cold water. She got over that in Navarre, but we were a bit worried after this first aquatic encounter.

C and I took the opportunity to go for a nice walk Sunday morning sans baby. We enjoyed the fresh air and adult conversation (well, I did anyway. I listen to a lot of babble during my days) while Olivia spent some quality time with Gran and Papa. Gran got Olivia a cool activity mat to play on at their house, and she had a lot of fun investigating her new toy.

And, for his birthday, Papa got a webcam from Olivia so they can Skype! We've tested it out once to make sure it works properly, but I think that this weekend might be a good time to break it in and have a nice chat!

C and I also brought Olivia to visit one of her great-grandmothers while we were in the area. Grannie enjoyed the visit and Olivia had a great time playing in Grannie's lap while we all talked. Cousin Chase was also at Grannie's so Olivia got to meet him for the first time, too.