21 April, 2012

The Death Of The Ducky

It's offical. My kid is growing up.

I went to put her in my favorite outfit of hers, a yellow bodysuit with a ducky on the butt, and it's too small.

:-(

I was so sad. I wanted to stuff her into it for one last hurrah while we were out at breakfast with my in-laws, but she can't even straighten out her legs. Then she spit up on it. Point taken.

R.I.P Ducky 

The past two days or so we've really started to get into a good rythem with this whole 'being dad-less' thing. It's making the nighttime easier, and I'm getting more sleep, which means less mood swings, frantic text messages to my husband, and the cat hardly gets shut in the fridge anymore.

In my defense, he's the one that crawls in there. It's not like I put him in there on purpose. Sheesh.

I get up around 630-7, but the dog out, feed the animals, get the coffee started and get some small chores done. Usually the litter box, sweeping, and sometimes the dishes.

By 730, Shannon is up and I change her diaper and she nurses while I drink my coffee, enjoy a Clif Bar, and watch an episode or two of HIMYM.

She's awake and we do tummy time and play on her play mat until about 9, then she goes in her swing and sleeps in there from 9 until about 11. I use that to have some quiet time for myself. I get caught up on laundry, try to get a blog banged out, shower, do other small chores.

She's up from 11 until between 1-130. She eats again, has more playtime and if I have any errand running to do, I usually try to set out at about that time. She'll fall back asleep until about 3 (sometimes) and that makes it a good time to go grocery shopping or anything else I have to do out of the house.

She's up and at 'em from 3 until about 9. Usually we squeeze in a walk and my uh-mazing Mom will come up. We have a bath at 8, more playtime, then I nurse her and try to put her down by 9. I talk to Mike while I wait for her to fall asleep. The whole house is usually asleep by 10.

We're up again at 11, 1, 3, and 5. Ish. Some nights she skips the 3 am feeding, which is much appreciated.

Rinse. Repeat.

Dixie has continued to prove that she was a great choice when we were looking to add another member to our family (if only having more kids were as easy and enjoyable as adopting a puppy) except for one thing. She's annoying as all get out when she wants attention. If you start petting her, you'll be sorry when you stop because she nips at your fingers, paws at your arm, and crawls upsidedown into your lap with her legs flailing. I know a lot of it has to do with being a puppy, and I'm trying to work through it by pushing her off with a firm 'no', but she's a pretty stubborn thing.

All the research I've been doing about her breed mixture (Jack Russell, Corgi, and I think a bit of Border Collie...it's those eyes) says that they are stubborn, bossy, and smart. She is all those things, no questions. I put an e-mail into the trainer that Elmore gave me to use as a resource, and her solution was to say 'no' and then offer a toy. It's not really working out so well. She could care less about the toy. She wants to be petted, and she wants to be petted NOW thank you very much! I'm staying as consistent as possible with my repremanning, but her favorite time to do it is when I'm nursing the wee one. Jealousy much?

Anybody have any ideas?

I also got some much needed barn time yesterday. I really do love cleaning stalls, and my boss makes for great company. Our stall cleaning conversations usually have me cracking up, and it's nice not to have to worry about the dishes or laundry or a dirty diaper. I didn't have time to hang around and play with Willow, but there is something really nice about leaving a clean barn full of happy horses.

It's getting to be about that time of year where a group of them goes to live outside 24-7. That really is the best place for them to be, and as long as they have a shed to get out of the weather, I'd love for Willow to be living outside as much as possible! The Omega-3 in the grass is so amazingly good for them, and I've noticed in the past that the guys living outside are usually more personable, have coats that shine up easier, and are just happy horses all the time. I'm a huge advocate of turning the foals out after their weaned and letting them live outside in a herd as long as possible. Nothing is better for babies then fresh air, sunshine, good equine role models, and lots of grass. It's how nature intended them to grow up, and we always get compliments on how our babies look. They grow up great!

I'm really getting excited for summer... and have even started working on memorizing Training Level Tests 1 & 2. Our first outing will be Intro A & B to get our feet wet and make sure Miss Pilly-Pants doesn't kill me, but I really want to qualify for Regionals, and you have to be showing at least Training. We'll see if we get there, but that's my equine goal for the summer. Hopefully our first show will be early June. CDSS puts on great schooling shows, that have inexpensive class fees, are usually just a day, and are great to get your horse going! I love them! Hopefully if the June show goes well, we'll be able to go to Vermont Dressage Days, where you can qualify got Regionals over the weekend. I'm showing open (!!) this year, which is pretty exciting. I missed show season last year, and that made me pretty sad. Having a baby gives me an excuse to buy a pretty new dressage coat though... since my old one won't strech over these awesome new boobs my excess baby weight shrank in the wash. ;-)

We're off to meet the in-laws for breakfast, then do some shopping with my Mom.

I'll keep the credit card in check, love.

Umm... yea. That's my awesome kid. <3

This is seriously the story of my life. I love it!



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