dunkin + henry

today avery asked me to take pictures of her with henry and then she insisted that dunkin join them as well.  she is actually not usually this nice to them.  i mean she has her moments but it's not all love.  in fact just earlier today i had to take a bracelet away from her because she was using it to hit henry on the head.  based on that she's pretty lucky that he was willing to stand next to her.  i think that all of the popcorn she fed him right before didn't hurt.  

they are such good dogs.  the best really.  they put up with a lot from her. and keep coming back for more.  or at least don't run away when they see her coming.  i hope she always loves dogs.  i can't imagine not having them around our house and they are the best companions.  i'm so glad that she can at least appreciate them some of the times and i'm so thankful they love her.      

a bit of snow.

we haven't really had much snow this winter.  i keep telling charlie that i'm expecting this winter to be just like last winter where we didn't get much until march and april and then it snowed at least once a week.  i really hope i'm wrong about this but i'm mentally preparing for no spring again this year.  anyway we got a few inches the other week and avery finally agreed to go out and play in it.  she doesn't have real snow boots.  we really need to get her some, but we got this snowsuit at rei at the end of the season last year for something like 60% off and i love it!  she does, too i think.  we got some use out of it last year and it still fits her fine this year since we bought a size bigger so she could wear it this winter.  i took her out in the front yard and she ran around and crawled around and caught snowflakes on her tongue and ate it by the handful.  i finally had to drag her inside because i was freezing.  i'm on the hunt for some boots and hopefully we'll get a few more snowfalls for her to play in.  

time is moving too quickly!

i swear the time is flying by.  i live my weeks in chunks of 3 and 4.  days i am off and days that i work. and they seem to be flying by.  charlie's been around lately, which is nice, and i always feel like i blog less when he's around because i want to spend my evenings with him.  but he's at a baseball game tonight so i'm going to try and catch up a bit.  

as usual avery's been growing like crazy.   she's about to hit 8 months next week, which is sort of mind blowing because didn't she just turn 6 months? i don't think she's hit any major milestones this month but yet she just seems so much older.  i can definitely see her moving away from the baby stage and onto the toddler stage.  not quite yet, thank goodness, but i can see the shift happening.  of course this excludes sleep which for the past month and a half has been worse than when she was just born.  i think we may be starting to turn a corner but it's going to take some time.  i've started drinking caffeine again this month.  something i said i wouldn't do because i absoluately hate being dependent on it and can't stand how crappy i feel when i'm trying to get off of it, but i've needed it quite a few days this month just to make it through the day.  i've also stolen a few naps here and there, which are fabulous but i'm sort of ready to get my sleep at night.  right avery?

love when she sleeps in the fetal position.

we've had a few cooler days.  and by cooler i mean in the low eighties and high seventies.  it's made me realize that avery has zero fall clothes and i should probably get some of those for her.  i know fall is still a while a way but september always seems to bring a cooler day here and there and the mornings can be a bit cooler.  i seriously have 2 pairs of pants and 1 long sleeved shirt and zero socks.

eating cheese.  she loves feeding herself.

we've been reading a lot more books lately.  something we've always tried to do but lately she's become a bit more tolerant of it all.  it's probably my favorite thing to do with her and i hope she grows to love reading even more as she gets older. 

i am loving the board books since they're much more indestructable than paper pages.  we've read the dr. seuss abc book so many times i have it memorized.  

we recently started going back to the playground.  when we walk we usually go in the opposite direction of the playgrounds with the baby swings and anyway she's usually asleep in the stroller by the time that we get there, but this week i've tried to take her there a few days since i know she loves the swings.  

ugh.  she's so cute.

she's standing whenever she gets the chance.  she's still only pulling up on her crib, which she's pretty much mastered, although she'll stand and hold on to just about anything if you help her up.  she definitely has more interest in walking than crawling.

sometimes i wonder how i got this lucky to be able to spend all the time that i do with her.  regardless of how crazy it can get at times i really wouldn't trade it for anything and i swear that she helps me stay calm and keep things in perspective.  a crazy busy day with a baby around seems to be much less stressful than a crazy busy day at the office when she's not around.  i seriously cannot get enough of her and find myself holding her just a few minutes longer sometimes after she's fallen asleep and i know i should put her in her crib but i just want to hold her a little longer.  maybe some of that is because i can see her changing so fast and i'm not quite ready for my baby to be all grown up.  i have enjoyed seeing her grow and i love how fun she is right now.  i love playing with her and watching her and charlie play together.  it's definitely one of my favorite things and probably the reason the house isn't a little cleaner.

oh and i can't forget henry.  he's amazing with avery.  but is still having weird attachment issues.  the other day i was working and he literally climbed into my lap.  the poor guy.  i've tried to give him more love and attention but it's pretty strange because he'll be fine the one minute and a mess the next.  

a 65 pound dog in my lap.

letting avery climb all over him.  

oh and toby caught another rabbit and left this one dead on our front porch.  this brings his total rabbit count (that he's brought back to the house) to 3.  i'm sort of impressed because these are not baby bunnies they're HUGE at least half of the size of him if not more.  however, i'm sick of cleaning up dead rabbits so i'm looking forward to winter when that will be put on hold since toby hates cold weather. 

oh henry.

my poor sweet dog.  henry's been having some issues lately. charlie thinks that he hates this house or is scared of something here.  basically, he goes through these phases where he starts to freak out and follows us so closely around the house so that he's not happy unless he's physically touching us.  if you're standing in the kitchen he either wants to be standing between your legs or smashed against you.  it's the strangest thing because some day's he's his usual lazy, lounge around the house and sleep all day self and then other times it's like he can't just chill out.  i've wondered if it has something to do with the afternoon thunderstorms that we've had, because they haven't been all that crazy this year but he seems pretty sensitive to the change in pressure.  but sometimes he'll be freaking out even when there's no real change in the weather.  i've also wondered if he just feels a little jealous sometimes, because he definitely get's fewer belly rubs than he did before avery came along.  but i really don't think that's it either.  walks seem to help him and there are some days when he's completely fine and then other's when he just wants to be extra close to us.  he's an odd dog.  i've been walking a bit more lately and trying to find more time to pet him, even if it's when i'm playing with avery on the floor.

feel better soon henry.  and thanks for still being so sweet while you're freaking out.

dog + baby.

i'm not sure yet what this equals but for right now they're slightly more than tolerating each other's existance.  i was a little worried about how henry would do with a baby.  he loves kids but he can get a little excited and rough when he wants to play.  also, i've seen him with puppies and he just about bites their heads off because he has no tolerance for their puppy antics.  but honestly, he's been amazing.  he's patient, beyond tolerant, and oh so gentle.  and avery loves him.  he's the only animal that sleeps in our room and in the mornings when avery wakes up and starts to hear him get up she'll start looking around for him.  and she LOVES when he sniffs her.  weird but true.  i hope they continue to love each other, especially as she gets older and starts to move around more.  i also hope we're able to teach her some boundaries so that he doesn't feel like a jungle gym.

thanks for being so good to my baby, henry.  

this picture sort of sums up how i spent sunday morning.

the end result was a dead rabbit, a scratched floor, and a busted fence.  

also, we will no longer be leaving our door open again.  

i woke up sunday fed all the animals and let them out and was sitting on the floor playing with avery when toby trotted inside with a rabbit in his mouth.  i couldn't tell if it was dead or alive but when i yelled his name he came over to me and dropped the rabbit, which turned out to be fine and started running across the floor.  henry heard me scream at toby and came inside to see that a rabbit: his favorite thing! was inside his house! 

i picked avery up off the floor and tried to find something to catch the rabbit in and put the cats in the basement.  at this point henry had the rabbit cornered but he couldn't quite get to it and when tried to put a box over the rabbit it got away, henry ran after it and grabbed it in the laundry room.  at this point the rabbit was screaming, i was screaming at henry, and avery was screaming.  i finally got the box on top of the rabbit and dragged it outside to the deck.  after a while it hopped away.  a few hours later i finally let henry outside where he stayed for a while.  i didn't pay much attention to him until he started barking at a rabbit on the other side of the fence, and i tried to get him to come follow be inside and when i turned around i saw that he had gotten through the fence and had something on the other side.  i put avery down and ran out there.  he had gotten the rabbit and at this point it had no hope but i literally had to drag him inside.  so now we have a broken fence, a rabbit crazed dog, and a cat who is apparently a good hunter.

and i'm really looking forward to charlie coming home so i don't have to deal with this stuff alone!

i'm definitely in a better mood then i was when i wrote this post.

generally i don't get that offended by some of the ridiculous things that people say, but honestly by the 3rd comment that day i couldn't take it any more.  

it was a good thing that the day was almost over because i don't think i could have handled much more without being insanely rude back.  

anyway, after a productive and relaxing weekend i'm feeling much better.

charlie and i bought our stroller, something that i've been putting off because it's so darn expensive.  

we ended up getting the Bob Revolution SE at REI  i feel like we pretty much meet the definition of yuppies just by toting our kid around in that stroller.  we went to boulder that afternoon to walk around and the Bob count was up to 7, just on Pearl Street Mall alone.  anyway, we picked it because it's a jogging stroller and everyday stroller in one and we can use it from the day we come home.  i'm sure charlie will be interested to test it out in the snow.  also, by buying it at REI we'll use the dividends from the stroller to get a backpack in the spring.  (all charlie's idea).  

i was a little worried that henry would be scared of the stroller since he's scared of bikes and rollerblades (no idea why).  i figured maybe it was all moving things with wheels, but he couldn't care less, which is good because i plan to do lots of walking with the dogs.

this was henry swimming at union reservoir.
i love that his ears are blowing in the wind.

things.

so aside from the usual:  work has been crazy, i've been napping, it's crazy hot outside right now, i'm getting fatter every day, there hasn't been a lot else going on.  

i went home 2 weeks ago for our baby shower and it was so nice to see family and friends.  my mom and my sister put a ton of effort into making food and banners and wrapping presents, which was really nice but mostly it was just nice to hang out.  the weekend flew by way too fast, and i was more than a little sad to leave on sunday.

we were very lucky and received tons of gifts from people, which i've been trying to find places for in our house. the baby's room is where we've been storing everything so far because it just doesn't make sense to clutter our whole house with things 15 weeks before the baby's due.  we've also been trying to slowly get all of the other things that we'll need before the baby comes.  the biggest items that we still need are a stroller, a rocking chair, and a breast pump, both of which are expensive.  we also still need lots of clothes, but i'm waiting for stores to shift to fall/winter clothes before we get those.  

last weekend we hung the curtains in the room, and i'm not completely crazy about them yet, but they keep growing on me.  we also hung some pictures, we're doing a gallery wall above the dresser/changing table, although i still have to fill the frames.  

here are the curtains. i was using a 50 mm lens so i could only zoom out so far.  i'll have to take a bigger shot of the whole room once we clear some things out of it.  

we were supposed to go camping this weekend but changed plans when we found out that we couldn't leave until saturday for a first-come first-serve campsite that's 3 hours away from everything.  originally, we thought we would stay the night in either glenwood springs or steamboat springs if we couldn't get a campsite but the lake we were planning on camping at is over 3 hours away from either town.  i'm hoping to plan a weekend away in september just because it'd be nice to get away with charlie one more time before the baby comes.  

ever since i saw the movie julie and julia i've been wanting to make the bruschetta that they ate in the movie.  i just used tomatoes we had around the house, but we did fry the bread like she did in the movie and it was delicious.  it's definitely not a whole meal but it makes a great appetizer even though it's pretty messy.  

i've been walking the dogs later at night, as in right before it gets dark, because it's been so hot.  if i tried to take them walking when i got off of work i'd only make it a block or too.  honestly, as much as i'm wishing the weather would cool off just a bit, i'm really going to miss flip flops, late night walks, green grass, eating outside, and long days.  henry has been generally unimpressed with all of the 'getting ready for the baby' stuff that's been going on.  he just wants massive amounts of attention, long walks, and a few rabbits to chase.  

it's a stay in bed under the covers kind of day.

too bad i can't.

i'm trying to get better at blogging and taking pictures.

i swear.

i do it for me, really, so that when i look back i can remember what the heck was going on in my life, as in, the every day stuff. i mean we all remember to bring the camera when we go on vacation or celebrate the holidays, but sometimes the regular stuff doesn't get quite the same attention. and although life has been busy lately, i don't want it to fly by too quickly.

especially since it's fall now. at least it's trying to be fall now.

last weekend charlie ran the boulder sunset triathlon.

it was 90 freaking degrees and it was his first race.

i was pretty proud of him.

here he is before the swim, super nervous.

i didn't get a lot of pictures and i will say that i should have brought the zoom lens.

in other news, i cut my hours back at work which has allowed me to have a bit of a life, be a good student, and occasionally grocery shop and vacuum the floor.

it's also given me enough time to actually walk the dogs again, which is good for my thighs, my sanity, and the dogs of course.

we also said goodbye to some of our friends this weekend. :(

they moved out to colorado around the same time we did but decided to move back to be closer to friends and family.

as much as i totally understand the friends and family part, we're going to miss them.

there was lots of pumpkin beer and jack daniel's involved in their sendoff.

i also bought henry a halloween costume.

he's a rabid squirrel.

he's not that crazy about dressing up as an animal he usually is in pursuit of.

(i realize this may throw me into the category of "crazy dog lady", however i still believe that "crazy dog lady" is better than "crazy cat lady")

for some reason this picture reminds me of the wolf in little red riding hood.

"my grandma, what big teeth you have".

except henry doesn't eat kids. i promise.

the first signs of fall ...

today i woke up and it was cold, and cloudy and grey, and perfect.

it almost felt like fall was here.

{i say almost because the forecast for tomorrow is 93. not cool.}

of course i've been spending my day studying.

remember, i'm not cool anymore.

i did take a quick break to wander the 'hood with henry.

{don't feel bad for dunkin. he's gotten lots of ball-playing time.}

he's slowly learning to be an awesome on-leash dog.

and off leash, too, actually.

two weeks ago we walked around the entire neighborhood without a leash and he never left my side.

that's an entire hour of "being a good dog". i'm pretty proud of the guy.

i see leaves starting to change.

actual colors.

hopefully they'll change completely before they just fall off the tree.

i also saw my first pumpkin.

i know there are people who feel like pumpkins are only for october, but i love them. especially baked into things.

our fall wreath.

i'm not telling you when i put this up.

it may or may not have been before labor day.

now back to studying ...

henry dog

probably my favorite picture of henry.

he's becoming much more patient.

but i'm pretty sure he's thinking "but that stupid thing away and take me for a walk".

family photo.

we don't often get pictures of charlie and i together when one of us isn't holding the camera out in front of us. so when we went hiking with some friends we were excited to just get a picture of the two of us where you could see more than our faces smushed together.

i was also excited because our friend behind the camera is a photographer.

good background.

good photographer.

good light.

and then henry happened ...

now that is LOVE.

i still think this would make a pretty good christmas card.

henry's famous.

ok, maybe famous is the wrong word.

i submitted a picture of him to Design to Inspire's Monday's pets on furniture series.

here's what his 1/8 of a blog post of fame looked like.

(screenshot from here)

Merry Christmas!!

We've been celebrating with family by eating lots of food and taking lots of walks.

... my sister was very happy to see the cats. she misses them more than me. :)

henry has been having a blast in the snow.

it's been so nice to have a cozy christmas with family (and lots of snow outside).

hope everyone had a great holiday!

Weekend Love.

Saturday we went skiing, again. And since my husband likes to be early to everything we usually leave at 6 in the morning, get a cup of coffee at Starbucks when we get there, and then start skiing around 8ish.

one of the few perks about being up that early is watching the sun rise.

I actually had one of the best days of skiing I've ever had. I recently bought a helmet, which seemed to cure the feeling that I was going to die on the mountain. I fall a lot. I mean a lot, but at least I'm not scared to fall now. I'm still pretty slow, which I think Charlie hates, but obviously falling takes a lot of time.

Sunday I went hiking. Charlie didn't want to come, which was fine with me. I was actually looking forward to some time alone. I hiked my favorite trail, which is about 7 miles but has the best views of the flatirons at the beginning. I took Henry with me and left Dunkin at home for Charlie to play with. I'm so glad I went. It was much needed.

my heaven.

I know Henry had a good time, too.

I'll be spending this week getting ready for my family to visit and then celebrating Christmas!

It's 5 degrees ...

which means my dog grows icicles on his face when he's outside.

Poor Henry was not made for cold weather.

Even with his jacket on he was still shivering like crazy.

Fuzzy Slippers and Bully Sticks

A few years ago my sister gave me these pink, fuzzy slippers for Christmas. They looked like something Reese Witherspoon would have worn in Legally Blond but they were so comfortable. I wore them all winter long. Then last year Henry ate them.

You see he went through a phase last year where, when we left the house he would go into our closet, take out all of our shoes, and rearrange them throughout the house. I thought it was cute. And then one day I came home and my shoes were rearranged and my pink fuzzy slippers were shredded. He was quite proud of himself. After that we started closing our closet door.

Anyway, a few days ago I went out and bought myself some new fuzzy slippers ... I mean winter's basically here and I hate socks. I made sure when I brought them home that I showed them to Henry ... we had a long discussion about the fact that these were not toys. He seemed to understand. Then today I got home from running errands. Charlie and I were eating lunch and I looked around and noticed that my fuzzy slippers were in the living room, when I had left them in the closet upstairs. Basically, Henry didn't listen to a word I said during our "fuzzy slipper" conversation. I'm wondering how long these slippers will last.

Henry, if you're reading this .... these are NOT toys.

I decided to buy him a toy that he could chew on. I got a rawhide for him and a bully stick for Dunkin. He ignored the rawhide and stole the bully stick from Dunkin.

Holiday Decorations.

I started a little early this year. Henry was my first victim.

I'm pretty sure if he could talk he'd be saying, "you cannot be freaking serious". But I am.

Leave it!

Maybe if I squeeze my eyes shut I won't be able to see it ...

Look away! There is no treat on my foot.

Ok, there was a treat on my foot and it was delicious. mmmm.....

aaaaahhhhh ... all gone.