Somebunny has a runny nose...

I can't believe that it only took 9 months 2 weeks and 5 days for me to become "that mom." Our friends A and J had their first child this past week! Little baby L! He's just 3 days old. I wanted to stop by and bring them a gift for the baby, but then I remembered back to when C was born and it was great when friends dropped off dinner. So after getting little baby L a storybook, because I believe in literacy, I hit the Ravioli Shop to grab dinner for A and J. A box of 5 cheese ravioli, a container of vodka sauce and a fresh baked loaf of semolina bread, delicious.

I pulled up to A and J's house, unannounced, because I am only dropping off dinner. I was so happy to see the car in the driveway and find out that they were home. ONLY as I was gathering my bags of goodies from the car and schleping them to the front door, I looked at little C and the boogers coming from her nose. How can it be that I've turned into that mom that's about to bring her snotty child into the home of a newborn??? I can't believe this. I would have died if someone entered my home 9 months 2 weeks and 5 days ago with a runny nosed almost toddler. Gasp! What do I do now? Well, I'll be honest - as if they won't be able to tell for themselves that C isn't feeling her best. It's amazing how you learn to dismiss the common cold so quickly. As A opened the door I announced that C had a runny nose and I promised I wouldn't stay long or bring her near the baby. Luckily, A is great with babes and he gladly played and held little C so I could go upstairs and congratulate J and marvel at beautiful baby L.

C successfully never went on the same floor as the baby and I made sure to wash my hands before even entering the nursery. And as for my earlier comment about "dismissing the common cold," that comes after a visit to the doctor yesterday and a $20 copay. I guess that's the going rate for the piece of mind that your child is just fine.

New Life

My babies keep me busy. I have an even higher level of respect for parents who successfully managed to stay alive while raising multiples. I mean, how do you do this with more than one human baby at a time? I'm running circles caring for and tending to the needs of one human and one canine, I can't even imagine if they were both human...

Today I left C, for the first time, with our babysitter (who is now on my favorite person list)for a couple of hours. Are you thinking I went to the spa, or hung out at a fancy coffee shop chatting it up with some friends? Think again. I had a cavity (6 months overdue) filled and my teeth cleaned. I feel like a new woman. I have to admit though, I had 34 minutes to spare after the appointment so I did dart (literally ran through the parking lot) into Marshalls and shopped like I was a part of one of those "fill your cart in one minute" game shows. I grabbed everything I thought that I (and C) would like and paid. What a rush. A complete high. The shopping trip coupled with my clean teeth - I feel like I can conquer the world. I might even be awake for American Idol tonight, that's how pumped I am.

I'm overwhelmed with just how precious new life is. My daughter, she's just plain amazing to me, and I can't imagine my life without her. I near cried when I got home from my afternoon out. When she saw me, her face lit up and she smiled from ear to ear. I purposefully stayed at the doorway to the living room and let her stare at me in awe. If she could talk I know she would have said, "Mommy! I'm so happy to see you! I was wondering where you were." Her body language said what she was thinking. She automatically plopped onto her belly from her sitting position and used all of her strength to slither/army crawl/pull/push herself towards me. I wanted to hug her and hold her so bad, but I was patient and I waited for her to make it all the way to me. Holding her on my lap was perfect. Marshalls was fun and my teeth feel great, but having her in my arms is always the best part of my day.

Are you wondering about little Quinn? That guy might as well be a piranha! Holy macaroni, those teeth are like razors! If you could see through my windows I bet you would think my floors are on fire. I'm hopping all over the place trying to get my slippers, shoes, socks, and pant legs free from his amazingly strong jaws. His head is no bigger than a grapefruit, but man, those jaws have some serious power. Which brings me to my next challenge. Q and C CANNOT be on the floor together at the same time. No way Jose. This has led to the discovery of my new talent! Uncovering new talents makes me feel so proud :) Well, I'M pretty good at being a human gate and providing an adequate barrier between the two of them! Good thing my living room is tiny because I'm only 5'2". So if I strategically place my head near the couch and my feet at the base of the coffee table (which is really one of those leather trunk things, but it basically is just a fireplace blocker now) I can separate the living room into two parts: one for C and one for Q! Perfect...until one of them learns how to jump hurdles...

It's been really fun to watch Quinn explore and discover new things on his second day with us. Today he found the infamous Mr. Potato Head. It was bittersweet to see Mr. PH back in action...

Sleep Tight, Little Ones

Sleep. What parent really needs that anyway? I mean seriously, I'm ashamed of all the times I dragged myself into school, DD coffee hanging from my lips, LL Bean monogrammed tote bag in tow, whining about how tired I was. What a wimp! Parents are like superheros. I needed to become one (a parent that is) to truly appreciate the strength of the human body.

So last night went PRETTY good! Quinn started off in his "oh so comfy" new crate in the living room. He was exhausted from his day so he was out like a light in no time at all. 9:00pm and the house was quiet. C, sound asleep for two hours now, Q, off in dreamland, husband lightly snoring by 9:01 and mommy - awake.

Story of my life. I was past exhaustion, but up and worrying about how many times each little one would wake me throughout the night. It must have been somewhere around 10pm when the exhaustion took over and I finally drifted off to sleep. 11:00pm, C needs a new diaper, a binky, and a whirl on the 'ol mobile.

11:44pm, Quinn beqins crying. As promised, my husband, A, got himself out of bed and headed downstairs to see what was up. Now, I too got up to check on my four legged baby, but NOT to take him out.

Gotta love husbands. There's mine in his PJ pants, no shirt, shoes and a jacket. We've been working for, oh, maybe 10 years now, on possibly being prepared and ready for situations. Going out to walk a dog in upstate New York in PJ pants and a jacket in April isn't going to work. I mean you'd only be able to stay out there for a few minutes before you realized you were, um, let's say, COLD. Those few minutes would not be enough for a new puppy to do ALL of his biz-nass. After they went out, we played with him to "tire him out" for a bit.

Ya know, as I think about it, maybe sleep is important because even though these events took place less than 12 hours ago, I can't quite recall the exact series of them! I may have to edit this later or tomorrow once I can consult with A, my partner in parenting crime.

Anyway, stay focused Christie. There was poop somewhere in the night. This poop led me to be doing laundry at some ungodly hour of the morning and Q's big move to the "not so comfy" big wire crate in the basement. I gave him a quilt and a rope toy and turned on the dryer. He cried for a bit but then he was out. I know I mentioned in an earlier post that our house was small. Just to give you a little more insight, it's so small, that Q's helpless whimpering was heard from the basement as loudly as if he were in bed with me. As promised, A walked him before he went to work, around 5am and Q drifted back off to dreamland until I went down to get him at 7am. Not too bad of a night! Oh, let's not forget C's bottle at 4:45am either.

I have to say, it's awfully nice to have somebody sitting between my ankles when I wash dishes and chase my feet around while I do my mommy chores in the kitchen. I've never known anyone who thought sponge mopping the floor was such a hoot! I've successfully done some housework and put C down for her morning nap. I'm rethinking the whole "shower at the gym" thing. I was never into it, but now that the opportunity is lost for this morning and I'm thinking a shower isn't happening until late tonight, I might be packing a towel and some soap with my ipod tomorrow.

The three of us will make our first trip to the vet this afternoon. I can't wait for Dr. M to meet our new little guy. Our last interaction was on Fin's last day and let's just say, it wasn't a good visit.

Did I mention that I went to the post office, PetCo, and was running on the treadmill at the gym by 9:30am? Go ahead, you can ask. I was wondering too. Do you think LL Bean makes monogrammed capes? It's all the fashion rage among superheros :) Maybe you already have one...

Fin's Favorites

As I sit here watching Elmo's World: Babies, Dogs & More, I can't help but think how much easier it would be to just have little Fin back. I'm really excited to meet our new baby, but boy am I worried about my sleep...

Anybody who knew Fin will get a smile and maybe a few tears out of remembering a few of his favorite things.

Tennis ball on a rope, peanut butter, sleeping, a fluffy bed, the couch, laying in the sunshine, sitting in the breezeway watching for A’s car or sitting on the deck in CT, playing with his daddy, tossing and fetching his ball (3 passes, max), going for long car rides, sitting/laying on the patio lounge chairs in the spring/summer, putting his face in the snow, dunking his head in a big bowl of water, laying under the dining table waiting for scraps, being scratched under his collar, belly rubs, the hair dryer, treats, his bone filled with peanut butter or the kong (when he was younger), his family – including his sister C, laying behind the gate in Grandma and Grandpa’s living room, his home in Connecticut, going in the woods in CT, sleeping under grandpa’s desk, eating grandma’s sauce and parmesan cheese on his food, noni’s food scraps on holidays, laying belly down on cold tile floors, sniffing and licking little kids (especially baby feet and hands), laying under our desk, crawling under the futon, licking dishes with people food clean, cheese, his family…

Is it weird that those are some of my favorite things too?

Preparing For Puppy

So this morning, in the pouring rain, C and I hit PetCo. I have to say, I wasn't very impressed with our local PetCo. The service wasn't that great and they didn't seem to have a lot of "stuff." We managed to get our little puppy all of his necessities. A crate, food, toys, dishes, a place mat, a collar and a name tag. Do you know that they make puppy Kong Binkies? Too stinkin' cute. We picked him up a blue one.

Of course, C chewed all the chew toys as I put them in the shopping cart. Hey, if they are good enough for her then they'll be great for him! I took pictures of the baby every step of the way. I want her to look back and remember that she helped get ready for the little guy.

We've decided to take him home with us this weekend if all goes well with the visit on Sunday. There's no point in waiting until next week and driving the two and a half hours to the breeders again. I called the vet and booked his new puppy appointment for Monday afternoon!

I thought we had his name picked out and then my dad went and threw us a curve ball this past weekend. My husband and I thought it over and apparently we've decided on the name my dad picked! I found this out because my husband downloaded and saved a picture of the puppy onto the desktop and he named it by his name! It's official because I had it engraved on his tag. The nickname is what was really important to us. Both the original name and the new name can have the same nickname. Naming dogs and children is a stressful process but when you've made the final decision, it seems like it's been the right choice all along. I can't wait to hear it start rolling off my tongue!

We hadn't heard back from the breeder for a few days. We were waiting for her address and we both started getting nervous that maybe she sold him to someone else. He already feels like part of our family. We just need him under our roof to make it official. She said that he's doing really well with is potty training. That's a plus! Imagine if he's fully trained by Sunday...That would be amazing!

C is cruising the house these days. She was all over the kitchen floor this afternoon. I can already see that she's probably going to take a bath in the puppy's water dish by early next week. It's a good thing she's not into Cheerios yet, or I'd have to worry about her trying to eat his food too!

I can't wait to take pictures of her with the pup on Sunday. I'll be sure to post those. She'll surely be wearing her new t-shirt from Cafe Press. It says Hello Bulldog on the front - a spoof on Hello Kitty. Too cute.

Circle of Life

The tears haven't even stopped. It's still hard to believe we no longer share our home with our beloved bulldog, Finster. All of the bulldog fan club "stuff" is still proudly displayed around our house. Pictures, statues, figurines, dish towels, and pillows to name a few. Except now we also have a pretty green and white floral tin box sitting on a shelf above Finster's "spot." That box holds the cremated remains of our favorite four legged family member. When I hung that shelf below our family picture I could never find anything to put on it that seemed to look right. Never would I imagine that this is what would complete that space.

In the kitchen the treat jar stands empty. I take that back. Inside you'll find Fin's favorite "hot dog shaped tennis ball on a rope." Next to the treat jar - the infamous stuffed Mr. Potato Head. Reminders of Fin everywhere.

In my mind Finny's passing was also a sign that I had enough on my plate. With an eight month old baby to take care of, let's just say that I didn't feel our ailing dog was getting as much attention as he used to. His death was sudden, not one that any of us saw coming. Although I have a huge hole in my heart, I feel a guilty sense of freedom. The baby and I could come and go without worry. No feedings, no medication, no cleaning and no more of the stinky stuff that went along with a dog who had a chronically infected tail. That wasn't pretty for me or Fin. And although I cry every time I looked at his picture, I know that someway he knew that this was getting to be too much for the both of us.

Now I understand why my mom was apprehensive about getting Fin in the first place. She would tell me, "You just get too attached. I've been there and I don't want to do it again." Boy, do I understand. I knew we would have dogs in the future. Once we were in the house of our dreams and our children were of the age where they might actually be able to help out - wishfully thinking anyway. This house is small and we'll be here for a few more years. With Fin not here, the floors seem to stay remarkably clean and the air fresh. It's hard, but I'll get through the sadness and the emptiness.

Puppy is usually such a cute and playful word. But it felt like a ton of bricks hit me when my husband dropped it on me a few weeks ago. Well obviously he must be crazy because Fin just passed and he works a ton and I'm home with the baby. So who would even be able to raise a puppy? He's just talking. I'll listen and nod and won't bring it up again. And I didn't. A week went by and he said it again. I listened and didn't bring it up again. Then he comes home one night, opens his email and plops the laptop in my lap. Read this. And there it was. An email from a breeder and a picture of one the cutest things I had ever seen. Hooked.

So now I'm listening and nodding and engaging in this conversation. The whole time I know this is a crazy idea. I mean who gets a bulldog puppy this quickly when they have a baby? Having an adult dog and a baby is a different story. But a puppy? That's nuts. I went to bed and thought about it. Bad idea. I was up at 3am worrying how I would break it to my husband, who's excitement about this was way high, that I just couldn't do it. In the morning I broke it to him right away. And he took it. Just like that he said he understood and we went about our day. Sneaky, sneaky.

That breeder didn't get back to his original email to her. So in his own private time he kept looking. And there's another. Cuter than the first. All this time I'm thinking to myself, maybe I'm not giving myself enough credit. Our daughter is a good sleeper at night and a great sleeper during the day. Two naps somewhere around one to two hours each. During that time I twiddle my thumbs. I'm home, I mean I have to be so she can sleep. Yeah, we go to the gym and run errands between naps, but the majority of the time we're here. You need to be home to raise a puppy and I'm home. One point for my husband and puppy. Plus, I could use a challenge. I mean I used to work full time and juggle all that came along with being a first grade teacher. I mean come on, I can do this - personal challenge. Two points for husband and puppy. Oh, but the yard! It's not totally fenced in. Catch. You need a fenced in yard with a puppy and a baby. What if I'm busy with her and he needs to go out? Deal breaker, no fence. I brought that point up to my husband. Did I mention that I have an appointment with the fence guy this afternoon? He can do the job next week. Three points for hubby and puppy. They win.

Now all the while that I'm fighting this, I'm secretly naming the puppy, looking at crates online, calling friends that have puppies, BUYING him a light blue blankie for the crate I don't own, and getting REALLY excited. I can do this, I want to do this, this is going to be the greatest thing yet! The baby will LOVE him. She's totally at that age where she's into dogs. She loved Fin and she'll love puppy. Puppy will be hers for her whole childhood. What a way to teach a child responsibility and unconditional love (besides ours for her, of course).

We are going to meet the little guy on April 5th. If all goes well, we'll pick him up and take him home on the 10th. That's right, the day before Easter. What's cuter than a puppy in a baby's Easter basket? Not much.

I'll keep you posted on the challenges and joys that come along with raising these two very different babies. I mean, I managed to successfully teach 20 plus kids for nine years straight. Certainly I can handle this...

Oh yeah, the puppy's name is a secret, but you can be certain his middle initial will be F.