Enjoying some down time...

Well, I for one am happy to be back into my routine. I think Sydney is too. She has been laying on my bed for the past couple hours. The word on teh street (aka from Izzy and Zoe's parents) that the pups slept all day Wednesday when they went home. I think they were all exhausted.

Holli and I went shopping today and I'm even more exhausted. I did find a yummy pair of pants though that were totally worth it. Anyway... here's a cute picture of my baby enjoying her "bed time" again.

(Can you see the sleepiness in her face? BTW, that's her Christmas toy-- Ellie.)

Until next time.....

Back to normal...

Well, both puppies are gone. I thought Izzy wouldn't leave until tomorrow, but unexpectedly they got back early and came and got her around 2 (a couple hours after Zoe left).
I'm exhausted!! So is Sydney... poor girl! I should be able to actually get a good night sleep tonight and not have to get up before 6 am.
Shopping tomorrow with Holli.
Alright, well I need a nap or my head is going to slam down on the keyboard, and nobody wants that.
Until next time.....

Ok, just one more....

This is the last time tonight, I promise. I was waiting to post our Christmas card because it was a present to our family. But now that everyone has theirs I can let you all see it. It's two sided. Our photographer was Joy Rugaard (Photography by Joy). She's phenomenal and very reasonably priced. Here it is...

(Front)

(Back)

This just in....

More pictures! Holli just sent them to me.

I forgot to mention before that Izzy got into some mud, so she ended up getting a bath today. Zoe got one too because she was going to Christmas dinner with us, and had to smell good apparently. Anyway... here are a few pictures from this morning.

(Holli and Zoe in their Christmas picture for Aunt Betty)

(Lisa and Zoe)

(Me and Zoe)

(Zoe and her present from us)

(Izzy during her bath. She didn't really care for it that much. And no, my dad is not choking her.)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas All!

Today is finally coming to an end, and I'm kind of greatful. I'm tired.

We say goodbye to Zoe tomorrow. Aunt Betty probably couldn't be happier. Although the same probably goes for Zoe too. She has been good looking back, but it's just been tiring to have to carry her everywhere because she is so afraid.

Anyway.. not much too report. We took some pictures today, but they are on Holli's camera, so as soon as she gets those to me I will post some. For now here is what Zoe thought after we had finished opening presents....

I might post tomorrow if I have time. It's just me tomorrow (with a little help from Holli). Wish me luck!

Day 3: Christmas Eve Night

And so today is done. No major mishaps. Just a few growls and sneers here and there. I must say that Dad and I did okay by ourselves today. As long as we kept the two little ones apart all was well.

It didn't really feel like Christmas Eve today. Maybe it was because we didn't do our annual get together at my aunt and uncle's house. Plus we have two extra dogs running around. It has just been a very bizarre holiday.

Christmas Eve service was good. Then we had a scrumptious dinner prepared by Hol and Lisa. I don't know what it was called, but it was good. plus, Holli made cheesy potatoes. Yummy!

... I like to move it move it, I like to move it move it, I like to move it move it... move it!

Sorry.. Madagascar was just going off and that part is so catchy.

Anyway... tomorrow should be interesting. Have two puppies during present time is going to be crazy. I feel so sorry for my puppy. She looked soo tired today. I think she's going to crash by the end of all this. I'm sure she'll be glad when she can come in my room and get on my bed again. I'll definitely be glad to get back to normal.

Ok, well here are a few pictures to hold you over until tomorrow.

Merry Christmas Eve!


(This picture is so small. I'm not sure why. If you can't see... Zoe's face is all goofy.)

(Here is a picture of the three of them together... finally.)

(I saved the best for last. ADORABLE!)

Day 3: Christmas Eve Morning

Well, as the day has not quite dawned yet Dad and I are on puppy duty. Mom had to work half day and is probably secretly greatful. I slept mediocre again last night, so I'm going to be "dog tired" tomorrow. Sorry... I couldn't resist.

Izzy is a hyperactive monster and isn't afraid of anything. Her and Sydney have actually become somewhat friends. Zoe refuses to be civil, so she has to be secluded 80% of the time.

Well, I better go help Dad. I just wanted to let you all know we survived another night. I leave you with two pictures from dinner last night (b/c they were the only actual pictures I took with my camera).

Uh oh... sounds like Izzy got in trouble. I'll be back later.....

(How hilarious is it that Izzy lays down to eat?)

Day 2: Part II

***WARNING-- DO NOT READ FURTHER (in this blog or future blogs for 4 days) IF: You can not keep a secret, you will be talking to Aunt Betty in the next couple weeks and you can not keep a secret, when you get excited things spill out of your mouth before you think, or you can not read the above. Hence, we don't want Aunt Betty to know we are watching Izzy too. It will only make her worry unnecessarily. So mums the word (or rather pup). Haha!***

Well, it is almostg 3 and all are still alive. I have some more pics and a video to post, so this shoudl be enjoyable for you all. The pics will probably be spread out in an every other day pattern from now on, because my camera doesn't do well with rapid puppy movements, so I'm borrowing my sisters camera. (Thanks Hol!) So I will give the camera to her tomorrow night to download pics and then I'll have her bring it back Christmas morning to capture all that fun activity. (Right Hol? Fun, fun, fun!)

Well, Zoe is laying on my lap right now. Everyone is in their neutral corners. Sydney is roaming the house (as she should since it's hers to begin with), Izzy is in her pen taking a nap, and Zoe is shut in my room with me writing this blog. She's still kind of scared, but only when there is a lot of commotion or one of the other dogs approaches her. She's antisocial, but she's cute....

Ok, well I'm going to go for now, but I leave you with these pictures and short video.

Enjoy!

(This video is of Sydney and Izzy's first meeting. It's a love/hate relationship.)

(This is pretty much what Zoe looks like all the time now. She's always being held.)

(Here is Izzy and Zoe shortly after their first meeting. Don't be fooled by the picture... Zoe hates Izzy)

(This is Zoe laying on my lap while I type this. And yes, she is wearing a t-shirt)

(This is what her shirt says)

The First Morning...

Well, Zoe and I did remarkably well last night. The second we hit my room and shut the door she stops shaking and calms down. Kind of like Lisa (lol). :)
She cried when we put her in her pen last night, so she ended up sleeping in her pen... on my bed next to me. She was fine as soon as she could see every move I was making.
Mom came in to get her at 6 to feed her and she hung out with dad in the bathroom while he shaved. Now she is sitting on my lap while I type this. I'm getting her acclamated to the music so that when I leave her in here to welcome our next guest she will be okay.
Here's to being quiet for 20 minutes.....
I'll be back later today probably with more stories (or the play-by-play, however you want to look at it) and even more pictures.
Until......

Day 1.. Zoe enters

Well, this is just a quick update...

Our dogsitting has begun. Zoe came home with us after dinner tonight, and to say that she was freaked out would be pretty accurate. Hopefully things won't look quite so scary to her in the morning in the light of day. I'll post this quick pic and then I'm going to get my jammies on and snuggle her into bed. I'll be back tomorrow with Day 2 happenings...

Catch up from the last few days...

Can you believe that there are only 6 days left until Christmas?? It's crazy how fast time is going. I've been out of school for an entire week (if you overlook that stupid HESI test that I had to take Monday). So far all that I have done is clean out my closet and clean my desk off. Although, I guess those are two things that needed to be done, so I'm quite proud. Here are a couple before and after shots of my closet.

(Left side, before)

(Left side, after)

(Right side, before)

(Right side, after)

The left side looks cleaner than the right, but what can I say... I have more summer clothes than I do winter.

I also took time to play a fun game I like to call "Where's Sydney?". It's my version of "Where's Waldo?".

(Can you find Sydney??)

That's pretty much all I've been up to this week. I'm eagerly anticipating my dog-sitting this weekend. I've been talking with Sydney about our visitors and how she has to be good. I'm sure I'll have some dandy pictures to post after that. Plus, who can forget Christmas!!!

I better go for now. And just to leave you with a little bit of sweetness, here is is another video of Brooke. (I had a hard time picking, so in a future post I think I'll just have to post the outtakes or something. She's just so gosh darn adorable in all of them!) :)

(If you can't understand her she is saying "a present". I had just told her what it was, that's why I kept asking. I loved her face. She was like, "Hello! I told you 50 times it's a PRESENT!") :)

Until next time....

Oh what fun it is....

... to ride in a one horse open sleigh. Actually, a sleigh isn't such a bad idea. Have you looked outside? It's crazy outside. I'm not sure how much snow we've gotten, but it's enough that kids are building snowmen and making snow angels.

I watched Brooke and Meredith this afternoon. Hope came over for awhile and they played outside in the snow. They were loving it.

Brooke was as adorable as she always is. If ever I'm feeling blue I should just go see her. She is always tickled to death to see me, and never lacks a smile it seem. She's almost the perfect child. She would have been the perfect child had she not colored all over the chair with a black ink pen. Besides that though, she says please and thank you. She was adorable today. She had a nasty diaper that I was changing, and when I was wiping her she goes, "My butt... it hurts." So I put some diaper rash creme on it and she goes "Thank You." How adorable!! And she said it in this sweet and yet slightly pathetic little voice. *Sigh* I'd take her in a heartbeat if they'd let me.

Anyway... I took some pictures of her and a video, so enjoy!

(Check out the hair! The sad thing is, this is after I brushed it and it still looked like this.)

(I made her a ring out of a twistie tie. She kept calling it a "present". So sweet!)

(***THIS JUST IN: My mom was watching the weather and they said we could get an additional 4-8 inches of snow overnight. WHAT?!?!***)

The Christmas Story

I think that this video is so cute of Linus telling what the true meaning of Christmas is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn10FF-FQfs

That's what we should really be focusing on this time of year. Not presents, or food, or lights. Just the True Christmas story.



Merry CHRISTmas!

Oh Happy Day...

You can't even imagine how happy I was to hear my final grade in OB/Peds this morning. I literally broke down. Ask my mom... or my sister for that matter (Hi Hol!). It was a huge relief and now I can move on and enjoy Christmas. Although I still have stress going on I'm much better than before.

As I type this, my puppy is sleeping on my bed. Soo cute!

Well, I better get going. I need to get in the shower and then go to bed. I'm having lunch with my great aunt tomorrow, and then we'll probably play games in the afternoon. I'll be back though... since I'm done with school I have a lot more free time (thank goodness). I actually started to tackle my desk tonight, and tomorrow I'm hoping to find a place for all the junk sitting on my floor, so you can actually see my carpet again. Anyway... I'm out.....

Jack Frost turned Deep Freeze

What in the world is up with all this ice???? I mean any other time I wouldn't mind it so much, but this week is finals and I do not appreciate a "snow day" quite as much. This is the forecast--

Doesn't it look pretty? (<- note the sarcasm people.) I'm hoping that right at the last second it will decide to go north. (Sorry people in Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota area!) I realize the world does not revolve around me, but could it please just cooperate for the next 48 hours?

*Sigh* The reason for my disgruntled attitude is that I do not want to have to make up my Ethics class tomorrow on Friday morning. I was planning on being done at noon on Wednesday and that was it. I guess there's nothing I can do about it though. If God wants to give us ice, He will give us ice. There must be a reason for it.

Well, I'm off to stress over my grades and last final. Stay safe!!

Slicker than Snot

Isn't that a nice visual? You can thank my mom for that phrase. But, however gross it may sound it is quite true of today. We got graced with some freezing rain yesterday and into last night. Needless to say there are collision alerts up the whazoo on tv and everything in a 40 mile radius it seems has been cancelled.

My poor mom had to go to work today because they are having a huge merger this month with more banks (as if they don't have enough already), and she had to work on a Sunday. Oh how fun. She was probably on the verge of a panic attack this morning when she saw the slick roads. She HATES winter. Which is kind of surprising since she's lived in Illinois her whole life. You would think she would be used to it, but oh no. My dad took her to work this morning and now he is hanging out with my great aunt while waiting for her to finish.

I however have been laying in bed most of the morning with the dog. I got woken up by the phone ringing a bazillion times this morning (all before 8:30) and so I let her out of her pen and we went back to bed for a couple hours.

I should start studying since I have about 400 pages of material to get through and memorize for my test tomorrow. Oh what fun it is... to ride in a one horse open sleigh. Hey! Sorry.. got side tracked for a second there.

Anyway... I leave you with some pictures of this icy day. Stay inside people! It always amazes me how ridiculous people drive when it's bad weather. I mean, hello, we live in Illinois. This happens every year. No big surprise. You should know how to drive in it by now, but no. People act like it's the first time they've seen snow, or heaven forbid ice. Good grief. Just save yourself a big headache and stay inside. Let the crazy people drive around and cause accidents today that dont' involve you or I.

Happy Ice Day! Stay Warm!

(This is ice people. A danger when walking or driving.)

(Sydney, hiding behind the tree. I do believe she was sniffing ornaments when I came upstairs.)

(Check out this icicle. It was actually dripping. That's gonna sound pretty when it falls.)

(I should get a sled. I bet I could pick up some pretty high speed sliding down the court.)

(Here's Sydney fogging up the front door, wishing she could romp around outside. Check out our speckled porch. What's that about?)

I will survive... I hope

Well, I made it through my last day of classes/clinicals. Now all I have to do is get through finals!
I don't know what my problem was today. I felt so disorganized and forgetful, which is so not me. I should have been happy that it was my last day of class, but my disorganization overshadowed my joy. Now I have to babysit tonight, because yesterday when I got the call I was in a good mood. I did not forsee my last day going so haywire and leaving me in a sour mood. Oh well... I love the kids, and atleast it will be a "relaxing" and fun time.
Well, that's about all I have to say for now. I'll hopefully be back sooner than last time. I should have a lot of "free" time on my hands after Wednesday.
Chat to ya later!

Antler catastrophe!!

Every year I try to get a picture of Sydney in her antler ears.

So far so good... I got one in 2005 (the year we got her)...

and last year...

but this year may be the year it doesn't happen. Mom and I were trying to take a pic of her, but she was not cooperating, so as much as I did NOT look picture taking worthy I jumped on the floor with her to see if she would sit still... no such luck. All I got instead was a crappy picture and a fat bloody lip.

Needless to say we gave up then.

I'll try later, but for now I go without one. :( The tradition may be ruined forever. So sad...