What a good puppy

I was making dinner the other night and I spilled some pasta and sauce on the floor.  It landed right in front of where Vigo was laying.  He didn't even budge.  He just laid there and looked at it like a good guide dog puppy should.  He didn't even try to eat it while I went to go get my camera.

The day after

My family headed back to their home states today and we spent the afternoon cleaning up the house and resting from our "vacation".  

 My boys are so sweet!  Especially when they're sleeping. 

"I love my new Christmas toys!!" 

Matthew and Vigo's first Christmas

We were still in Breck for Christmas so Matthew's and Vigo's first Christmas was a bit nontraditional.   Below are some pictures from Christmas day and the actual opening of the presents on the 26th when we got home.

 Full Moon on Christmas Eve

Matthew and I after dinner at an Indian restaurant on Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning... Matthew and Alex are hanging out before going skiing. 

Christmas Morning in Vail Village

Vail Christmas Morning

View from the back bowls at Vail. 

Alex and I at Two Elk's lodge.

Alex in the back bowls. 

While we were skiing, Matthew and Grandma and Grandpa were enjoying a relaxing Christmas day.

Grandpa and Matthew take a nap

View from Loveland Pass on the way home the next day. 

Grandpa and Matthew the day after Christmas back at home. 

Grandma working on preparing "Christmas dinner"....   Vigo's helping. 

Matthew by the tree before opening presents. 

Its hard work getting a 4 month old baby to pose when all he wants to do is eat his hands.  

Grandpa and Matthew playing

When we finished opening presents, I couldn't find Vigo.... he was sleeping under the wrapping paper.

Vacation

My family came in to town for the holidays and we rented a place in the mountains so that Alex, my brother and I could go skiing while my parents watch Matthew.  Here are a few pictures of the beginning of our trip.

Grandma Johns plays with Matthew before heading to the mountains

Views from our Condo

Bath Time in the Kitchen at the Condo

Learning to Read?

Grandma Johns is so happy to be spending time with her Grandson!

Ready to go out in the snow, all warm and bundled.

Work Holiday Party

Every year Alex and I host a big holiday part for the clinic where I work.  It is usually very well attended and we all have a great time.  It was a lot more difficult getting ready for it and cleaning up afterwards with a baby but still worth the effort in the long run.

We didn't have a Santa for this years party so I put a Santa outfit on Vigo and he was our Santa.  Madline had brought Jorinda over earlier in the day for them to play so our Santa was pretty sleepy.

Santa Vigo Snuggling With some of the kids.

 If you look closely at this picture you will see Vigo is a spread out, sound a sleep in the middle of the living room. 

 Santa Vigo rests in his bed

Vigo and Darius play tug, Vigo kept winning. 

 Vigo: "Yumm.... little kids are so tasty!"

Trip to Summit County

Alex and I have become avid skiers since we moved to Colorado.  Last year despite being pregnant I still skied until I was just over 6 months; when my balance became to unstable to do the fun runs so I stopped. This year with a 3 month old we weren't sure how we were going to make it work.... Yet we are determined to find a way.  We have several friends that have offered to babysit for us but it is just so hard to be away from our little guy.  So.... this past Sunday we put the skies in the car top carrier the baby and clothes in the back seat and headed out for a day on the slopes.

I skied in the morning while Alex watched Matthew and then we switched and I watched Matthew in the afternoon while Alex skied.  It all worked great until.....  we were headed home around 3pm and found out that they were "metering" traffic at the tunnel.  This means that they stop traffic for 20 minutes and wait for traffic to clear and then let a few cars go through the tunnel.  What this adds up to is a 3 hour wait just to get to the tunnel and then hours after that of bumper to bumper traffic on the other side.  We didn't want to sit in the car the whole time with Matthew screaming.... he really doesn't like being in his car seat... So we decided to wait it out.  The traffic didn't get somewhat better until well after 7pm!  Somewhere around dinner time we lost Matthew's bottle and my breast pump batteries died and Matthew refused to breast feed.

It's now been 10 hours since I last pumped and I felt like I was going to explode, my child was hungry and I had no way to get food in him.... oh yeah and the diapers I brought were too small so every time he peed it came out the diaper and soaked all of his clothes (he had been peeing all over himself all day).  And then around 8pm I ran out of diapers and non pee soaked clothes and had to use my scarf and long underwear for a diaper and pants for the little guy.

Thank God for my iphone.... the pictures and music on it helped to calm Matthew and thus keep Alex from going off the snowy road due to the screaming baby.   We finally made it home around 11pm and then of course Matthew decided that he was wide awake and not at all sleepy.  I have to send a huge thank you to my husband who rocked him to sleep while I crashed.

So you might ask.... was all that worth it.... hmmm.... I'm not sure.  It was at least an adventure and I learned a lot:
1) always make sure to take the correct size diapers with you and bring more than you think you will need
2) Always bring more than one bottle, because you never know when you might loose one and when your breastfed baby will decided he doesn't like your boobies.
3)Singing songs to your baby is not only calming to him but also to you as your nerves start to go... you can sing really loud and see if you can sign louder than his screams.
4)Be thankful for your spouse.... I could never have done it on my own.

Below are a few pictures of our adventures:

Matthew and I at the Summit House at Keystone

Matthew in the Gondola on the way down.  Don't worry we didn't ski with him on our backs. : ) This was the only nap he took all day. 

A very long dinner trying to waste time at Ruby Tuesday.  I think this is where our bottle vanished, I may have left it on the table. 

A sleeping baby and a tired dad in Borders.... waiting... waiting....

Guide Dog Christmas Party

Every year the Fort Collins Guide Dog club has a Christmas party where we do a gift exchange and eat yummy food and let the puppies play.  It is usually a very enjoyable event.  I always bring hats and such to dress up the dogs.

Vigo before the party.

"Can we go now Mom?"

Lacy the Puppy Elf

 Vernon - Vigo's litter mate

Rhubarb - She is a cross - part lab, part golden retriever.... a beautiful mix.

Sleepy puppies.

And when I got home, I just couldn't resist putting the antlers on Matthew. 

Getting big so fast

It's true what they say, kids grow up so fast!  I can't believe how fast Matthew is growing.  He's 3 1/2 months old now and just gets bigger everyday.  It's amazing watching him learn to do new things.

I couldn't resist posting this picture.  Baby butt cheeks are just too cute!!

matthew loves bath time!

A Few Pics of Matthew and Vigo

Since my family lives in NC we chat on skype frequently.    My dad snapped a few pictures of us and I thought they were cute.  

 Alex got me a surprise the other day.... a full adult penguin sleeper.  Now at bed time Matthew and I match.

I got out of the shower the other day and Vigo was sleeping on alex's clothes.  I threw my rob on him thinking he would be silly and try to get it off.   But instead he just snuggled in more and laid there the whole time I was getting ready.  Silly spoiled puppy!