Pretty Boy

As many of you know, Anthony loves sunbeams!  I took advantage of him chilling in a sunbeam to snap some cute photos of this morning. 

snuggling with his black kong and bone.

What a face, those eyes just melt my heart!

The cat came in the room and made him wake up. 

Baby Update

So I am 18 2/7 weeks  (just over 4 1/2 months) along now.  My belly is starting to pop and I am finally not feeling so sick all the time.   Although the constant congestion is a pain but I am getting use to it. Today is my wonderful husband's birthday and after a light brunch at Mimi's we went to my work to play with the Ultra Sound machine.   The baby looks like it has grown well, but we couldn't get a good view of its face.  We have are official US on April 7th and we are excited to find out if it is a boy or girl.  That being said.... we are about 95% certain that while we were playing around today that we saw very distinctive boy parts.  We will see in a few weeks if we were right.  Below is a US picture I took today.

fun day off

Today has been a really nice day off!  Anthony let me sleep all the way till 7am!  Then I took my hubby to Baby's R US, target and a consingment shop so he could get use to the idea of how expensive it is to have a baby.  I was proud of him, he only started hyperventalating twice, but he did at one point ask, "why can't we just change the baby on the coffee table?" (its glass by the way).  There are so many reasons why that I didn't even answer the question.   

View from our living room at 7am, the snow was so wet and heavy this time.

SNOW DAY!!!  The sounds of squealing kids having a blast sleeding filled our backyard all day.  It was great!

Later in the day Anthony and I played in the back yard in the melting snow. It doesn't look like much in the pictures but before it started melting there was almost a foot on the ground. And I have to give Ft collins creadit, the roads were perfectly clear by 8am. very impressive!

"I think there is something in there for me to get, I jsut know there is, I better pounce on it"

"what do you mean I can't dig.... but its so much fun and  there's really cool stuff under there."

"Ok, if you won't let me dig with my paws, I will just use my face instead."

"Look what I found.... ah come on mom, don't make me put it down.... please.... "

"Oh look, alex is coming out to play with us, yippeee!!"

first day of spring?????

If I am not mistaken, some time this past week the first day of spring occurred.   Would this explain why there is a complete blizzard going on outside?  It starting dumping around 3pm and we already have about 7-8 inches on the ground at our house and it is only 8pm.  It is suppose to keep dumping like this until tomorrow afternoon.  It might even be enough to make clinic either closed or slow tomorrow but of course I have have the day off.  Oh well, I will get to play with Anthony in the snow.   Anthony and I went out earlier and played in the falling snow and he loved it!  He loves to dig his face in the deep snow and run and slide through it.  No worries though, it is suppose to be back in the 60's and sunny by thursday. 

The blizzard starts to blow in.

On a side note, on my way home tonight I passed several people riding their bikes home through 6 inches of slushy snow and they had ski goggles on.   Only in Fort Collins!  : )

Big Risk

Our evaluation with Barb went fine I think.  It looks like Anthony may not go back till the middle of the summer.  Alex and I took a big risk on the way home from the meeting, we had both Norahbelle and Anthony with us....  we stopped at Outback Steakhouse for dinner.  We were both pleasantly surprised when  both dogs curled up and went to sleep next to each other under our table.  I was afraid it would be a disaster with two of them.   I know Anthony can behave himself with another dog around but Norahbelle is a different story.   I guess they were both worn out.  What sweet puppies!

Getting Ready

All the Fort Collins puppies have their big evaluation with Barb, our regional supervisor, today.  We should be able to get some input on when we can expect our older dogs to go back.  Alex and I are taking Norahbelle for her raisers who are still in Hawaii.  And we will be there with Anthony too.  In an attempt to get Norahbelle to be a bit calmer for her evaluation, I have been playing tug with her all morning and then Brianna brought EVE over so the two puppies could run around and get their energy out.   I'll let you know later if it worked.

We went out side to tug for a bit and she kept wanting to lay down in what snow is left.  Silly girl

And what do you do after an hour of rolling and playing in the snow with another GDB puppy? Why, you get a bath of course.  She needs to look and smell her best for Barb. 

"I just had so much fun playing, and now I have to get a bath, UGH!"

"I love being wet and running around crazy!"

HAPPY SPRING

Spring weather in Colorado is always a bit crazy.  On Thursday it was 65 and sunny and absolutely gorgeous!  Then we woke up friday morning to a big snow storm.  When I got up a bit before 6am we already had about 5-6 inches on the ground.  Norahbelle had a great time running laps in the back yard.  She liked to put her whole head in the snow act like a plow.  It was really cute.

The pictures are a bit dark, because it was about 5:45 in the morning and still dark out.

I had just moved our patio furniture back out side!  UGH!

Norahbelle ran and ran and ran.  She had so much fun bounding and plowing through the snow.  And I had fun standing in the falling snow in my PJ's watching her.  Burrr!!

I feel like every spring I post a picture of my fresh covered in snow.   

Norahbelle saturday morning with a face full of snow.

On a different note Norahbelle was absolutely amazing at work on friday.  She slept on her pillow all day and was so calm when people came in.  The secret I found is to get her to be this calm during the day, you have to literally keep her up all night.  I was on call thursday night and was up most of the night on the phone dealing with situations on the birthing deck and new admissions at the hospital.  So every time I got up to answer a page or make a call, she got up with me. 

Narahbelle Sleeping in my office.

Everything considered, I have really enjoyed puppy sitting Norahbelle this week.  She is a challenge sometimes but over all she is a really good puppy and is very sweet and loves to cuddle - a big plus in my book.  But that being said, I have missed Anthony and can't wait to give the goofball a big hug on sunday.  

Drugs for Puppies?

I am beginning to think the Norahbelle may have ADHD.  Can puppies have this?  : )  She has an attention span of literally about 3-5 seconds and she just never stops... its not so much that she is super hyper but more that she is just constantly on the go and moving.   She almost never sleeps.  I haven't been sleeping well lately and all night long she is up.  I will roll over at 3Am and see her chewing on a bone happy as a lark.  She does ok if you tie her to you with a tie down but eventually she gets frustrated and begins to whimper.  And if you don't have her tied to you, you had better have rollar skates on to keep track of where she is and what she is doing.  Do you think you can put a dog on Ritalin or sleeping meds?  Doubtful, I know.   : )

Let sleeping dogs lie

Norahbelle did fairly well at work with me today.  She whined a bit at the end of the day when she really just wanted to go play and didn't want to sit and be quiet any more.  She also chewed a big whole in the dog bed I have at work, so she spent most of the day sleeping on the hard floor.  We went for a long walk when we got home from work and then she decided to play with the kitty the rest of the evening.  When she finally settles down in the evening, she chooses to sleep in the strangest of places.  One of her favorite is wrapped around her water bowl.  The other is shown below.

I am not sure why she thinks this is a fun place to sleep except that there is a hot water pipe running under the tile here and the floor is actually warm. 

Funny Dreams

So the first night Norahbelle was here she barked a bit throughout the night in her kennel.  We thought it was because she wanted out.  However, last night we realized that when she dreams she barks and whines.  Now not the typical muffled bark that most dogs to but a full out bark.  The first time she barked we sat up quickly to stop her from barking again only to find her sound a sleep and dreaming.  What a silly puppy.

So far she has been a super sweet puppy and has actually been very calm.

"spring Break" fun

This week is spring break for the schools in Fort Collins.  So lots of GDB puppies are at sitters this week.  We are watching Norahbelle.  She is 7 months old, almost eight.  She is incredibly sweet but is a very high energy dog.  We still had Anthony until today and boy did the two puppies like to play!

Alex is trying to get the puppies to take a time out by separating them.  I am so proud of Anthony, he listens so well and would just sit and rest and stop playing whenever we told him to.  He is growing up to be such a great dog!

And with a tongue like this, how can you not love Norahbelle too?

Alex lets the puppies play "quietly" together. 

We had a bit of a problem with Norahbelle barking and whining in her kennel over night but she was her cheery self come morning.  The two pups had a great time playing tug in the back yard in the early morning sun today.  Alex found it a bit chilly at 6:30am but the dogs loved it.   What a great guy Alex is for getting up so early and playing with them while I got ready for work.  

Norahbelle catches her breath after playing out side.  I think it is so cute when she lays like this. 

Once the puppies got their morning energy out of them they were really very calm the rest of the morning - at least that's what Alex tells me.  I was at work all morning so he had to deal the with two goof balls until Guys came and picked up Anthony. 

Norahbelle and I had a lot of fun this afternoon when I got home from work.  It was sunny and 60 degrees out and I wanted to spend some time outside.... but since I was on call I couldn't go far.  So.... she helped me pick up a whole winters worth of dog poop out of our back yard.  Ymmmm, boy was that one of my favorite spring things to do!  Although I have to admit the weather made it bearable.  She then helped me rake the whole yard.  Both of us were exhausted when we finished!

Norahbelle, discovers Bree and really wants to smell her.  

Unfortunately, Bree doesn't particularly like being smelled by puppies and swatted her on the nose causing Norahbelle to go flying backwards.  Silly animals.  If only you could here the noises that goes with these pictures!  We are working on teaching her to leave Bree alone but it has been a challenge so far, and Bree doesn't help by constantly walking right in front of her. 

Search and Rescue Dog

Many of you will remember one of the first dogs we raised - Gardner.  He is now working in Los Angles and his sister Gabrina just graduated a few weeks ago.  We got our quartely GDB flyer recently and I was shocked.  On the cover was a picture of a dog that looked EXACTLY like Gardner.   Come to find out it was his broth Garth, whom we had meet at the April regional meeting in Denver last year.  He was not fit as a guide dog so he was trained as a search and rescue dog.  He just returned from working in Haiti.  I just want to send a huge "way to go" to the dogs of the G litter.   What an amazing litter of puppies!

The bump begins

Several of my friends have asked me for a photo of how my pregnancy is progressing.  I have been hesitant to post a picture but seeing as so many of my friends live so far away I figured I would indulge them with a picture.

My growing bump (16 weeks)

One of the new little guys

We have 11 dogs in our Fort Collins Guide Dog Club and most of them are likely to go back this spring and summer.  About a month or so ago we got two new little ones.  Only one was at the meeting tonight and he is a snuggler.

Kyle (4 months) cuddling with Bill during the meeting.

Anthony has been super sweet this week and he will likely go back this spring.  Boy, I sure am going to miss him!

weekend fun

After a painful saturday with a terrible migraine, Alex and I decided to go skiing on Sunday.  We figured it would be one of the last times I could go.  It turned out to be  a fantastic day!  It was sunny and 40 degrees even up at the top of the slopes.  At one point I got some serious pregnancy brain mush and I got us completely lost.  At one point we ended up in the furthest most back bowl when a storm blew it and I had no idea where we were.   It ended up being a lot of fun finding our way back to the front.  Here are a few pictures from the day.

View of copper from the car.

Self photo in the bright mid day sun.

Can you see how tight my coat is over my bump?

Alex loving the sun.

View from the top of the avanti express lift.

Headed to the back bowls.

What a handsome happy guy!

Puppies make me smile

I won't go into the details but the last few weeks have been very difficult for me.  One thing that has kept me going is getting to snuggle and pet anthony.  Well he went back to the co-raisers this past sunday and my mood sunk!  So after several days my very sweet husband suggested I borrow someone else's puppy.  Thank goodness my friend Brianna was willing to loan me Eve for a few days.  Eve is the snuggliest puppy I have ever met.  It is impossible to feel sad around her!  Having a puppy around to pet and hug has made all the difference.  So a huge thank you to Brianna and to Eve!

Thanks Eve for keeping me Smiling!!