Hooray for Groton!

After lots of hard work getting our Westford house ready to sell, a bazillion showings, and four buyers, we're so happy to be in our new home. The dogs have settled right in, and Samantha has a proper room that's turned out pretty cute. The enormous jetted bathtub is a true highlight, as is the black and white checkerboard floor in the kitchen that I've dreamed about for years! Here's to many happy memories!

I'm forever blowing bubbles

This video was actually taken about 2 weeks ago, but I never got around to posting it...!

Firsts!

It's been a crazy few weeks, but we're finally in the new house and amazingly almost totally unpacked. OK, maybe not *totally* but pretty close! While computer time is at a premium these days, I did want to get these "firsts" up on the blog because today was a day of not one but two new things -- oatmeal and the jumparoo!We've been feeding Samantha the rice cereal for several weeks now, and it's time to start adding some new foodstuffs to the mix. I think she really liked the oatmeal -- she gobbled it right up. The funny part about her and food is that she doesn't realize that it's not a "continual stream" like you'd have with the bottle. She gets very mad if the spoon does not reappear, like instantly!

The second "first" was the Jumparoo that Steve & Co. gave her for Christmas. We set it up in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room and she was happy bouncing and twirling around. (It's also quite nice for us to have another activity option!)

First Mother's Day!

Not much time to update the blog due to the big move happening this week, but I had to share the super cute magnet Samantha made for me at daycare on Thursday! I know she worked very hard on it and it's the best gift ever! After letting me sleep in a bit today, Gary and I did a ton more packing and cleaning and then took the entire clan for a walk at the EBC. Poor Ronnie petered out about 1/2 way into the walk, so it turned into a rather long 1 MPH stroll, but it was a gorgeous day nonetheless!

Baby Beethoven

Last week at daycare, one of the ladies set Samantha up with a mini piano and she really seemed to like it, so we picked one up this week and she's been doing lots of composing!

Horse show!

While Samantha has been to the barn and around horses plenty, this was her first time at a show. We got to see lots of friends from VS (RIP!!) and had a great time watching the kids (and Frank in the instructors' class.)
Here's Frank warming up Fred, the horse with the crazy eye. And here he made fun of Oliver's looks!
Kayla checks out the course with Willow.

Brittany on her enormous mount -- correct "deeeeeagonals" and all!
Of course nothing could be cuter than little Jacob (even if he didn't want to finish his class!)

Fun with foodstuffs!

We've experimented with a bit if rice cereal maybe twice, but after Friday's check-up, it's full steam ahead for introducing foods! Here Samantha takes what is her first official "serving" of big girl food. 
I am happy to report that subsequent feedings were met with great enthusiasm and the actual swallowing of cereal!

Visit with Cathy

Last weekend Cathy drove out to visit and we had a great time hanging out. A children's librarian, Cathy certainly brought some reading magic with her as Samantha has suddenly gone crazy for books! 

School photos

A few weeks ago, the photographers descended upon daycare to take photos of the little ones. I nearly died when I got the proofs from Samantha's first "school picture" day. While she may not be exactly smiling in any of these, the expressive eyebrows are enough to do me in! Here are a few of what we got:



This last one with the flower bouquet prop cracks me up. Like, "Here, let's toss some flowers on her lap!" Of course I'll be placing an order -- how can I not?!!

Hold your horses!!

Today Samantha and I met up with Marie (the woman who has been leasing Oliver for the past year) for a walk in the woods. After the ride, I gave Samantha a little taste of bareback riding while Ollie was on the cross ties. I think she's a natural! (fyi, while it may look like you can see his ribs in this photo, it's just the imprint of the saddle pad after riding. trust me -- the boy is plenty plump!)
When we got home, I figured it was time to practice on our ponies. Giddyup!

Up-n-over, one day shy of 18 weeks

While Samantha has rolled over a few times here and there, today was the first time she really hit it... again and again and again! I especially like the pre-roll "thump" she gives with her legs. (BTW, this video is a little dark since we were *trying* to take a nap...!) 

 

Bathing beauty!

While I'm still on the hunt for the perfect baby bikini, today's photoshoot features her first cute one-piece. Can't wait to hit the beach!

Coo coo crazy!

BFF

Tankee LOVES Samantha and she's really starting to interact with him, laughing and smiling at his big giant head. Today they spent some time hanging out in the yard enjoying the sunshine.

Let me tell you a story....

Oh the stories, they keep on coming!

A perfect moment....

Hardy har har!!!

For a good laugh, click below!

Love them crazy chickens

Since I couldn't get the video of Saucy Girl to upload directly to the blog, so here it is via YouTube. She LOVES the chickens. Very focused on the chickens!

Samantha had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb...!

It's a good thing the dogs didn't scare the Easter Bunny away today since it was Samantha's first! She LOVED the crinkly plastic wrapping around the basket and seemed to enjoy her little lamb as well as the bunny from Nana. Of course no photo opportunity would be complete without Tankee barging into the scene. After all, like the lamb, his fleece is white as snow!

Saucy!

Samantha has really taken to her exersaucer that Auntie Laura and Grandpa gave her -- she LOVES the chickens! It's so nice to have another activity for her to do -- the mat with the dangly stuff is fun and all, but a big girl's gotta get vertical these days!

I tried uploading a video of her bouncing and saucering but blogger.com is having none of it. hrmpf

The blog is back!

After spending a year in hibernation, the blog is back! Of course, our life has been anything but a dormant state since the last post! In fact, it was just this time last year (April 16, if my memory serves correctly) that we found out we were pregnant, and now here we are with our beautiful Samantha! She hit the 16 week mark this past Friday and if I don't get my act together documenting what's doing, I'm going to regret it. So thank you, Shauna, Charline and Shelby, for getting me back on the blog. I can only imagine how different things will be a year from now!

(*this photo isn't officially a 4-month photo -- I think it was a 3-monther...)

Birthday boy!

Happy birthday Oliver! Today is his 12th birthday! I know, I know, last year I had a party for him with a carrot cake and everything, but this year was just too crazy with us having to be out of the house with the floors getting redone, and Gary in Israel and all... But I did stop by today and gave him and his buddies some snacks. I would have made him wear a party hat for the occasion, but I learned from past experiences that he's not a fan of costumes.

When I arrived at the barn, Chris had left this nice sign for all to read.
Here's Pilot, his BFF.

And here's Katie, the little pony. Note how Oliver's ears are pinned back in a nasty, squirrley face as I was handing out the apples and carrots. I know he was thinking he shouldn't have to share on his special day.
Happy birthday, Tootsie!

Toot toot!

Toot toot -- that's me and my horn....! At long last I've found a way to bring together my writing and animals. I'll be writing for the Boston-version of "Tails" magazine (Beantown Tails to be exact.) It's not financially huge so that I can quit anything else, but it should be a great experience and a monthly gig. I'll be responsible for reporting on all the Boston events and news. Yay pets!

Fun stuff

Here's my latest fun find. It's a little collage maker thru google that's terribly addictive. Click here and enter in any keyword: basset, cupcake, banana, daisy... whatever you want -- and then hit "create montage." It will give you a nifty tiled screen of all sorts of images based on your keyword. (It's actually easier to do than to explain it.) So try it. It's a good fiddly fart thing to do when you're on the phone, when you're procrastinating... when you just want to look at a whole bunch of images of cupcakes artfully displayed.....

Oh oh.

Tankee Wankee took a diving leap off the couch and onto my keyboa d last night. I didn't ealize the e was damage until this mo ning when i found a little " " on the ug. I spent 2 hou s t ying to fix it and alas, I think it's done for. Needless to say it's a challenge without the " ", especially when you' e a write . UGH! Makes things inte esting at least.
Translation:
Tankee Wankee took a diving leap off the couch and onto my keyboard last night. I didn't realize there was damage until this morning when i found a little "R" on the rug. I spent 2 hours trying to fix it and alas, I think it's done for. Needless to say it's a challenge without the R, especially when you're a writer. UGH! Makes things interesting at least.

Frosty the Wisconsin Snowman

This Christmas I sent a big box of gifts out to the Wisconsin crew. Inside was a jokey little thing -- a snowman making kit. I wasn't sure if they'd ever put it to use but seeing as they have so much snow, I figured the fake carrot nose and the felt hat could come in handy. Well, who knew it would be such a hit!
Here, Marley (l) and Dane (r) and a helping friend pose with their jolly friend.

And alas, it was only a matter of time before a warm front came through... !

Updates and whatnot

So the arm is healing up nicely and the stitches come out on Thursday if all goes well. I would be happy to share pictures, tho I don't think it's something most of you want to see. It's really a bit gruesome and a much larger incision than I had thought it would be. The biggest hassle has been the stupid sling that totally threw off my back and neck. It's one thing to have a bum arm, but then to have a tweaked neck and shoulder on the opposite side on top of it all... ugh! I'm still out of commission when it comes to riding, and I'm not supposed to be doing much typing, which is a bit of a problem given my profession...!

Speaking of profession, I had a meeting up at the paper today and there may be some new projects ahead for me, so that would be exciting. Fingers crossed, please! I also finished up a big copywriting job for BBD and StrideRite, which has been a lot of fun. Life has been so much more enjoyable now that my scheduled has lightened up with CA. I'd forgotten what it was like to have a weekend. It was a long wait but well worth it.

Sluggies goes to his new home

On Saturday, our Sluggies headed back up to Vermont to live with his new family. We had him for a month and what an amazing turn-around we witnessed. He went from a dog that wouldn't do anything but sleep in his crate, to one who truly discovered what it meant to be a pet, playing with toys, sitting on laps and just appreciating human attention and company. He also went from a dog that we didn't want to pet because his coat was so gross and smelly, to one that we loved having around (and those of you who are in the know, the white hair is softest!!) Anyhow, he's one of those dogs that reminds me why we foster. He really needed us and we got him to the point where he was ready to go to a new home. I heard from his new family today that he's doing great and they're loving him lots. We miss you Sluggies!!

Fun at the hospital!

You know you're a wreck when the nurses in the pre-op department "remember you from last time!" Anyhow, I won't go into all the details but basically I had this elbow surgery thing yesterday that will (hopefully) stop the fireworks of "falling alseep" fingers in my arm. It's like a carpal tunnel thing but was most likely pushed into high gear after my riding accident and its related surgeries. Anyhow, we braved the storm yesterday and got this taken care of.

Here you can see where X marks the spot.

And here, after lots and lots of drugs and some graham crackers, I'm ready to go in my "bulky dressing" as my surgeon calls it. All I can think of is creamy dressing... ranch dressing... thousand island dressing.... ok. i'm not supposed to be typing. so there you have it!

PBR!!

Last night Gary and I donned our cowboy boots and headed to the DCU center for some professional bull riding!

I was truly in my element. Not that I want to ride bulls, but I think I should be living in the west with lots of hosses. I loved the craziness of this sport and of course it was a great for people watching. We had seats in the 3rd row, which was a treat. Thankfully no one -- guys or bulls -- were hurt during the event.

I loved watching the horse, of course.

Spotted!

Who would have guessed that the cashier lady at my Dunkin/Exxon would recognize me from my running photo in the newspaper! This morning when I was buying some milk she says, "Hey - you're in the newspaper! I see your photo in there all the time!" I'm sure the paparazzi will be outside our door in no time. Between me and Tankee, we're quite the household!

Tank's filming at WGBH

Today was Tankee's big day at WGBH, shooting some footage during the auditions for the next season of PBS's Fetch!, the show that Riot had starred in. I was super nervous that he would be a bit of a wild man, but he really pulled through and was a total ham! Everyone loved him.

They had him wear a cute little t-shirt from the show, which fit perfectly (once we cut the sleeves and bottom off.)
We filmed some scenes of him pulling a wagon and running down the hallway. (He'll do anything for hotdogs!) We had to sneak him in the building but once we got him there, we had him sit while the kids (about 200 of the expected 2000 that would come thru during the day) were waiting in line for their auditions. He was great. Just sat there with his big face.
Here, he sits while the kids say hello to him.
While I was in line with my treats one little girl said, "Oh, is that the new Murray?" (For those of you who don't know, "Murray" was Riot's name on the show.) So I had to explain that yes, this was the new Murray, because Murray is no longer with us... :( But I told her that his 'brother' was taking his place in the show and his name is Tank! I think it's great that they're going to keep his name on the show. All in all it was a great day and I'm very proud of my star!