Picnics and a Chore Chart

We’ve had exceptionally odd summer weather this year, so we have taken advantage of the cooler temps by playing in the yard. This particular day, we thought it would be fun to have a snack picnic in the yard.

My picnic buddies

 

Group picture (minus yours truly)

Our picnic lasted a whole 10 minutes. Ryan girls do NOT do bugs. Sorry, not sorry!

~~~

Recently, Kendall has taken on more responsibility in the household. Ha! I’ve always let her help with things around the house. Like setting the table, cleaning up her toys, and putting away laundry. I’ve showed her how to make her bed and she likes to fill Wilson’s bowls sometimes too.

She has also become FASCINATED with walking the dog.

So much, that we have had to make sure to take his leash and collar off when he comes inside so that she doesn’t hurt him. Poor, Will!

 

I made a little chore chart we used for all of 5 minutes. It includes walking Wilson, making the bed, taking a bath, helping with dinner, and brushing her teeth 2x a day! Obviously, I’m not a slave driver. I’m just trying to keep her grounded. Ha!

A Girl and her dog

Kendall and Wilson are thick as thieves these days. Ever since Kendall started sleeping in a big girl bed she loves for Wilson to get up there with her. Chris and I would love it if he would just sleep in there because then we would have more leg room, but that will probably be a hard habit to break.

In the mornings when I am up and getting ready, Wilson will go lay at the end of her bed. I think it is so sweet. He doesn't like to be alone and he loves being the first one to see her after she wakes up. He is the perfect dog to have with kids. 

And he is a good sport. Exhibit A:

Wilson decked out in one of her princess dresses. And of course she is wearing a tutu behind him.

And of course he needed a bow too. 

I have many captions for this face. 

My favorite part of this lovely Sunday morning was when Kendall was chasing Wilson around the house saying, "Cinderella, come back here!" 

Hahaha

Wilson’s 5th Birthday

We celebrated his birthday a few days late but we had a fun time. Kendall picked out a sock monkey toy and a new hairbrush for him and I baked him a cake.

Dog cake recipe

Original Recipe Found HERE

1 cup Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup honey

1 egg

I used unsweetened applesauce as icing on the cake and decorated with dog biscuits. Wilson only ate one slice and we delivered the rest to my parent’s dogs across the street. Wilson was a BIG fan!

Wordless Wednesday

Our Doggie Health scare!

Those of you who are new to the blog probably have no idea we even have a dog because all I talk about is Kendall. Well we do. Mr. Wilson, our cockapoo, entered our lives 2 months before we got married because I had to have a dog. :) He has been so spoiled his whole life… until the baby came.
Sometimes I get really impatient and I don’t play with him like I used to play with him. We leave him home alone a lot during the day when we are out doing things and often neglect him. Not neglect in a bad way… if you see how long his hair is in these pictures you know what I’m talking about.
Anyways Sunday Wilson was acting a little funny but we didn’t really pay too much attention. When we came home from dinner he had got really sick all over the living room. I won’t go into much detail but there was a lot of blood and we will be replacing our carpet sooner than later now.
Poor thing was pitiful! Chris took him to the only open animal hospital available and Kendall and I stayed up waaayy too late worried and cleaning floors. They said he had a bacterial infection. :( Whatever that means.
You can hardly tell but Chris is administering an IV in Wilson in this photo.
So sad :(
He seems to be feeling a little more like himself today. We are going to follow up with our Vet tomorrow. As soon as he’s up to par I’m scheduling him a doggie spa day.

Dogs drool…

 

and so do almost 6 month olds!

36 Week Appt Day Recap

Yesterday was a very productive day! I left work early and met Chris for our 36 week appointment. My doctor was like, " now it's the fun part". I don't know if pelvic exams are fun but I kind of agree with her! Anything could happen in the next 4 weeks! She said I was 1 centimeter dialated. :) In the grand scheme of things that's nothing! But it's better than being closed for business!

I feel like she may have dropped a little over the past few days. I have A LOT more pelvic pressure and I definetly waddle now! We go back for our 37 week appt next Monday and I will officially have a full term baby in my belly.

After our appointment Chris decided to ditch class (he was already running really late anyway) and we went on an early dinner date. I was sticking around in the area for my breastfeeding class so I returned some things to Walmart & Target.

My shopping trips were very successful yesterday. I bought part of Chris's birthday gift, Wilson's Halloween costume and a bunch of last minute neccessities. I now have batteries for the baby swing, bouncy seat, pack-n-play remote and new toothbrushes! :) I purchased some other goodies on my list and now I feel more prepared for baby.

We are going to work on cleaning out our spare bedroom this weekend and if I'm still in my current mood I want to deep clean the whole house. My goal is to have our bags packed and ready to go and our plans for Wilson set in stone by Monday's appointment.

I know I'm doing all this nesting and preparing so she will arrive at like 42 weeks (I hope not!) but I just want to have all of it done so I can relax and enjoy these last few weeks pregnant with nothing to do.

The breastfeeding class I went to last night was very informative. I'm glad I went. They didn't really cover anything I hadn't heard before but the instructor cleared a few things up. She said it was very hard to cover all that is breastfeeding especially when you aren't holding a baby. Over all I feel like breastfeeding is going to be a learning experience and there is plenty of help available for me. I think I have the right level of expectations and I look forward to bonding this way with Kendall.

When I got home last night I was pretty tired and sore. My whole body has officially started swelling. My ankles (or cankles) were huge last night and felt so tight. It's so hard for me to just chill when I get home because I feel like I constantly need to be tidying up the house and doing something. That is going to have to change. They talked about that in the breastfeeding class too! The instructor said let the house be messy, don't change out of your PJ's and focus on eating, sleeping and feeding the baby. I need to learn to let go.

When Kendall is graduating from high school I won't look back on her newborn days and remember how messy my house was - I will remember the precious first few months with her! So in the words of my husband " I just need to chill".

I leave you with a preview of Wilson on Halloween.

His costume is called " Mounted Moose Head".

Our first (fur) baby!

Let me take you back to April 2008... Chris and I had just purchased our home and were not even living together in it yet... but the future Mrs. wanted a puppy. Chris said no. I knew it was bad timing because I had just moved into my parent's brand NEW house they spent a year building and Chris was living in our house. Where would the puppy stay?

That's all just details right??? Sure enough I was searching through the pet ads in the newspaper and saw one for Cockapoos. I called and begged Chris. He said we could go "look".

I remember going straight to the female cream colored cockapoos and picking one up. The lady was talking to Chris and said she had a smaller chocolate boy cockapoo inside and she went to go get him. I was playing with the other two dogs when I saw Chris come over to me holding the chocolate one. I knew that was the "one".

As Chris handed the puppy to me he peed all over us! Ha! That was our sign I guess...

I named him Wilson on the way home and things have never been the same.

The rest is history. Wilson had a broken family for a few short months living with me during the week and his dad on the weekends until our wedding. LOL He has brought so much joy to our lives and I could not imagine not having him!!!

Wilson has been acting out a little bit about the changes going on with his Mom and this baby business has got him confused. I know Wilson will be great with Kendall and she will grow to love him like we do!!!

Snow Day Recap - if you don't like when people talk about their dogs don't read! (Picture Heavy)

This is how I have felt today:

Verdict: It's been awesome and relaxing just like I promised myself!

8 inches!!!

Now let's talk about my dog Wilson! He loves the snow!!!

I tried to upload a video I took of Wilson playing fetch with snowballs but either our internet is too slow or it just takes forever - I'm too impatient!

Work in Progress!

Our faceless snowman! Laying in the snow. I'm not really sure how this happens. I guess from all the lounging in the snow. Shelli to the rescue! The hairdryer didn't help a whole lot so we ended up sticking him in the tub!