Another Day, Another Stray...

Once again my 'stray dog magnet' was working and I found a little terrier/dachsund on the road. I could feel each of her vertebrae when I picked her up through her matted fur! My family didn't want any strays around, but quickly gave in (she's sweet, cuddly and great with Alec and the other dogs). So, after blowing the money we'd set aside for Alec's new clothes on vet bills; she's shaved, healthy & bathed.

Here's a picture after I trimmed her face a bit:Here she is after a shave (the vet had to give her a sedative to shave her, as the fur was matted to her skin-poor little dear):Here she is by the other dogs for scale. She weighs 8 pounds, 9 ounces, should weigh about 15 pounds.So, if you know anyone looking for a dog, let me know! :)

Veteran's Day Hike!

So, I'm a bit behind on blogging now. Last week (November 11th) on Veteran's Day, Kelsey asked us to go hiking with her up at Mt. Charleston. We decided to try & hike to Cathedral Rock. There was a bit of snow on the ground, so we bundled Alec up all warm:
The dogs were (as usual) very excited:
With Kelsey came Kippie, her little shih tzu puppy:
It was really beautiful out, nice & sunny with a breeze:
Another great family shot:
My little sister & I:
After about an hour & a half we reached a dead end!! Come to realize we'd gone up instead of down at one juncture...so we missed the correct trail. But, it was a fun hike anyway and we headed home!

A cute shot of father & son, though if you look closely you can see me in Paul's glasses:
Alec giving his auntie some love:

Maggie's Graduation

Well, cheesey as it may be, I had to give Maggie her dues. She graduated from Intermediate Level training at Petsmart! It was 8 weeks of regularly practicing new tricks, but she did great...and even put up with the cap at the end for some pictures!

Let's go hiking...

Last Saturday it was still a bit warm in Vegas, so we decided to head up to Mount Charleston to do some hiking. This time we left early enough, so we managed to secure a great parking spot next to the trailhead! I managed to take a few cute shots even in the parking lot:

It had been a while since we'd found the time (or energy) to go hiking, so we picked the short trail to 'Little Falls'. It was uphill there, which was a great workout! We didn't see anyone else, so the dogs enjoyed their freedom; running about and sniffing. Alec got fussy if we stood still for a moment to catch our breath, so we had to let him out during water breaks:
Eventually we let him down to try out the uneven ground. There was an old pipe running down the mountain which Alec thought made a great climbing toy...
'Little Falls' was certainly aptly named as the trickle was about right for the beginning of fall.
But, nothing beats the views from a higher vantage point!
The hike back was very nice, as it was all downhill and you could more easily see the views.
We decided we hadn't had enough of being out of the city, so we wandered about the lodge area. Alec cuddled his daddy...
tried to tickle him...
enjoyed petting a horse...
then giggled the whole way home!Definitely a successful family day!

Updates, dogs & more dogs...

I'm sorry, I know I've done a lot of posts in a short period of time, but I'm making up for lost time. Be sure to scroll down if you haven't visited my blog in a while, there are 3 other recent posts!

Paul's work is taking longer than planned and since he'll now be waiting on another student to get some results that could take 2-3 months, we felt his time would be better spent (and more happily spent!) back home, studying for the actuary exam while wrapping up the PhD before next September. We still plan to move to Colorado, but our plans change so quickly, I'll wait to give a definite date until the moving van is booked.

We did have some good news. The college gave me an additional class, which makes 4, and means I'm eligible for benefits! Yay!

I also wanted to include some updates on the dogs, though I realize few people care. Humor me anyway, I've become such a dog lover recently!

Last week I found another stray dog and brought it home. That makes the 3rd stray I've brought home this year, and once again was able to find the owners. I've also been informed it will be the last one I bring to my parents' home. :) Hopefully I don't find anymore here as I seem unable to resist...

Maggie & Milo (hereafter referred to as 'M&M') are great. We started intermediate classes at Petsmart last week, which has given us more rules to practice.

There's a group of people who let their dogs play together each night at the park and we passed them on our evening walks for over a month. I finally felt M&M were ready to make some friends and get off their leashes, so we tried it out. It went wonderfully and it's become a surprisingly relaxing time of day for me now. I usually drive over to the park and let the dogs run around chasing each other, fetching frisbees, etc. for an hour or so (we take walks in the morning now). I think of it as M&M's playgroup. Alec runs around and hugs them all as well! His favorite is Torque, a 107 pound german shepherd.

Here's Milo with Cheyenne, a german shepherd. Milo likes to steal her frisbee and get her to wrestle. Never mind that Cheyenne's more than double his weight!

Maggie's not as social and I think it's so funny that if any puppies come, they tend to want to play with her. Here's Tessa, a little 8-week old lab trying to get Maggie to play:

My friend Jill's holding up a chew toy, that everyone suddenly wants. (Most nights we have about 10 dogs running around.) Here she has Torque, Loka (her husky), Cheyenne (her german shepherd) and M&M all paying attention. You can also see the two lab puppies in the back right corner wrestling.

Some more pictures...

There are a lot of good things happening out here right now!

Most importantly, my sister, Kari, is getting married on Friday in the LA Temple! She has always dreamt of a 10-layer cake and so I've been making loads of fondant and buttercream icing, which takes up all my free time.

Apart from that I'm working on: 1. packing organization (I threw out 4 boxes of 'stuff' on Saturday!), 2. moving van plans (can we trust someone to drive our 'stuff' to Colorado safely or drive our own things and our car?), 3. insanely missing Paul (video chatting twice a day just isn't enough. He may have to finish writing here and go back again for a few days to defend it much later), 4. caring for Alec (not that this is bad, but he is a VERY active & curious little boy), 5. the dogs (my family has left for California to go to a Dodgers game and California Adventure before the wedding, leaving me in charge of 7 dogs), and 6. refugee work (gathering donations & home visits). I do prefer to stay busy, so I would definitely choose all the commotion over sitting around and missing Paul.

In the meantime, here are some cute shots:

Here he is wearing grandpa's sunglasses:

Last Sunday we went to celebrate my Uncle's birthday and Alec (as usual) wanted to go out back and play with the 3 boxers they have. The dogs were very loving. If Paul would let me have a third dog I would steal Tank, their male boxer. He's so great with Alec and stands over to 'protect' him from the other dogs...who also want a turn licking Alec...

Here's Alec playing with his Uncle Christopher. My brother just adores Alec and Alec loves it when he comes over, because he'll play with him! Here he is carrying him around in nana and grandpa's 'garment hamper', then racing about in his car:

Here he is playing 'prison guard'. For some reason Alec thinks this is hilarious:

Uncle Kevie also loves playing with him and lately they've been practicing on recorders.


This past Friday night was Kari's bachelorette party. We went to Joleen's home (our sister-in-law) to watch a movie and eat pizza. Alec really liked the pizza idea:

Going...going...gone!

Well, yesterday was a rough day. Paul caught a 7am flight to Philadelphia on the first leg of his journey. We were fortunate that my aunt works for US Airways, so he was able to fly standby, saving us over $1,000 and no fear of a fee when we try and figure out what date he'll be returning. Even more wonderful, he caught the first of both flights he needed right away...no hanging around the airport. Alec, the dogs and I are missing him loads already, but we're so proud that he has this opportunity to finish up!!

Posing for the camera during Kari's bridal shower

After months of 'cruising' around the furniture and taking several cautious steps, Alec started walking today!! During Kari's family bridal shower he was taking more than 9 steps (his current record), then by the evening he was up and walking everywhere and rising to stand from sitting in the middle of the room! He just kept walking back between mom, grandma, Kelsey & I!! I'm having trouble loading videos on the blog, so if you click on the link to the left for 'Alec's Photo Website', a video is near the end.



Then he spent the evening chasing Milo all over.

Giving Milo a cuddle

New Car

I thought once the semester was over, life would get calmer, but we've been incredibly busy! Unfortunately it mostly revolves around preparing for Paul's departure, my new class lecture preparation (I'm teaching a different course in July), & the day-to-day care of Alec & the dogs. Nothing exciting there, but we did get a new car. Let me set the stage with our first car-buying experience (everyone's entitled to one mistake, right?)

It's October 2006 & we're still waiting for Paul's visa, so he flew out for 2 weeks to help me move my things from my parents' home in Vegas to Colorado. While in Colorado we wanted to find a car together BEFORE he left (mistake #1). We'd decided on a Subaru-dependable, great in the snow, etc. But, after test driving one decided it wasn't for us...the problem was we had no back-up choice (mistake #2). So, we got talked into a 2002 Nissan Maxima. A car we didn't want and paid more than we wanted (mistakes 3 & 4). As such, this time I refused to be blindsighted.

After doing our research, we decided on a CR-V. We wanted something the dogs could fit in (though Jordan says I can't say the trunk...that's what it is, right?), something with good gas mileage & 4-wheel drive. (It has a small engine (2.4 L) with over drive, so the mountains won't be fun, but it's mostly for in-town usage and the gas mileage was more important).

Plenty of room for the dogs

We knew how much we wanted to put down and our monthly payments. We looked online and found it right away. They had a 2008 CR-V-it's used, but with only 2,500 miles on it, so it makes the warranty good for 7 years, instead of 3 (since the engine's been 'broken in'). So, Wednesday we go to the Honda dealership and the guy wanted $500 more down and $99 more a month than I want to pay. The only problem? My husband test drove the car and LOVED it. The salesman got it down to $59 more a month than I wanted to pay, so Paul was ready to take the deal. I made him walk out.


Friday morning I get a phone call and he'd reduced the monthly payments to only $25 above what I wanted to pay. So, Saturday morning we check it out again, try the car seat & Paul is completely in love. I still say no. Eventually he knocks it down to $10 above what we wanted to pay monthly. Still not good enough. We say we'll come back if we can't find a better deal elsewhere (it is Memorial Day weekend-loads of sales & promotions going on, plus I had a list of other CR-Vs for sale in Vegas) and the salesman knocks the $500 off the down payment. Paul's about ready to deck me, so I finally agree...pretty happy about it all in the end. It reminded me of haggling in Egypt, it was such a rush!!

Plenty of room for a second car seat and a booster seat. Car rides start out slow...

Then get exciting when the wind blows in our face.

We love driving it and Alec's enjoying the view from a higher perspective. We had also saved enough (since he lowered the down payment) so Paul could get his MacBook. I was going to surprise him with it as his graduation gift, but he could use it before then, so it seemed silly to wait. My head's still reeling from all the money we spent on one day...that or the people at the Blood Drive took too much out of me yesterday...

Alec gained some weight!!!

Just a quick note to say we visited the specialist again today and Alec now weighs 20 lbs, 12.5 oz. The doctor was very happy with his 3.5 oz weight gain in one week!

His latest favorite trick is to crawl into his car, even when no one will push him around in it and stare out the window. I thought it was cute, especially since that window looks out at the bleak side yard (and brick wall) reserved for Maggie & Milo to wrestle in.

Alec Update

Alec's reflux began acting up again-he couldn't keep anything down. So, on Wednesday we took him to the GI specialist again and he's back on Zantac. Only 2 days later he's keeping nearly everything down!! What a huge blessing.

Weight: 20 lbs, 9 oz
Height: 29 inches

Alec's current traits:

1. He's still an incredibly happy baby (very ticklish and giggly) and he's become especially cuddly. He loves to thrust his cheek up against people to 'cuddle' them and 'give kisses' which consists of him opening his mouth wide and pushing against your cheek. It's incredibly adorable.
2. He loves being outside and watching birds or the dogs run around-he especially loves going to the park or on a hike.
   
3. He loves to talk! Usually it's baby sounds, but yesterday he looked at Maggie and called out, "Mah-ee" and Maggie tilted her head and looked puzzled-it was pretty funny.
4. He can take a couple steps on his own, but prefers to have someone holding his hand or to push around his walker, so I don't think he's officially walking yet.
5. He still loves music. We bought the Primary CDs and play them during the day and in the car for him. Sometimes he'll sing along or dance (wiggle back and forth). He still enjoys playing with the piano he got for Christmas from his granny and grandad and I thought this photo was great-it looks like he's trying to play it properly.