Why thank you, Lukin! I think I WILL help myself.

I assume that when you mix furry, four-legged children and regular, human children, cross species food consumption is inevitable, right? Already our dogs have started taking up post under the table during dinner time knowing bits of what River is eating will find their way to the floor convinently within their reach. But yesterday and today River decided what's good for the goose (Nico and Lukin) is good for the gander (himself) and has helped himself to 2 pieces of dog food. The first piece was almost fully recovered from his mouth but this morning I thought I was on top of the dog food issue and as a result of my cockiness didn't catch the second piece until it was almost fully consumed. Yuck!

Normally, this would only be an issue when baby finds doggy's food bowl, see's interestingly colored, bite sized morsels placed on baby's level in a bowl. This issue is easy to correct. Simply keep baby away from doggy's food bowl. Yeah, not so easy in our house. Our male dog Lukin has a very odd habit that we assume is his way of letting Nico, our female, know who is boss. It all started when we bought cheap Ol' Roy Dinner Rounds (Walmart brand) dog food to mix in with their healthier more expensive food as a fun treat. To say that they love the Dinner Rounds would be an understatement! When the Rounds are mixed in with the healthier food they will pick out and eat only the Dinner Rounds until they get too hungry to hold out on the rest. Shortly after we first started buying the food Lukin would pick some of the Dinner Rounds out of his bowl, carry them in his mouth to wherever he was lounging in the house and then drop them 1-2 feet away from where he was laying. That way he could make Nico jealous, tempt her into trying to steal them and then scare her away when she tried. He likes to do this with most treats. We've since decreased the frequency of Dinner Rounds for this exact reason but he has kept up the habit with the regular, old, boring, healthy dog food. So it is not uncommon to have at least a dozen pieces of dog food in various places around the house because, of course, he never eats the food he takes around the house he just gives up on it if Nico isn't interested. Only to try it again 1-2 hours later with a new mouthful of food hoping for better results.

Since River started crawling and getting into every possible corner in the house Cory and I immediately increased our dog food patrol efforts. However, it seems as though Lukin has increased his dog food spreading efforts as both dog food consumption events occured when I was under the impression the floor was dog food free.

Dear River,

I know you are just learning how to chew and eat "grown up" food like Mommy and Daddy and I know that you are so excited to finally be mobile so you can explore your environment. I also know that when you put the two together those little bit size morsels Lukin leaves around the house for you must be very difficult to resist. But seriously, son... seriously... eating dog food is SO GROSS! So let's make a pact. Mommy will promise not to pop your pimples if you promise not to eat Nico and Lukin OR Louis' food!

Let's shake on it!

Love,

Mommy

Number nine... number nine...

Today River is 9 months old. My, my, my how time flies! I remember at one point when River was only 3-4 months old looking ahead to 6 months and imagining how much I would panic when he reached that age. Now he is 9 months old and luckily I have accepted the fact that he will inevitably grow up and I will inevitably feel bitter sweet about every moment. Sad to realize how truly fast he seems to grow up but happy to be able to watch him in every stage of his development.

We are now one full week into crawling and already he is ready to move onto pulling himself up to standing and his level of curiosity has seemed to quadruple. Being able to be there as he accomplishes new tasks and as his brain makes new connections has been the single most amazing experience of my life. In honor of his 9 months here are 9 of his most recent milestones.

1. Crawling.
2. Pulling himself up onto his knees and occasionally into the standing position.
   
3. Moving from sitting up to laying down and vice versa.
   
4. Saying "Ba, ba, ba, ba" and "Da, da, da, da."
   
5. Clapping.
6. Holding his own bottle.
7. Using different "voices" (mostly in the form of growling) when playing with toys.
8. Cutting 4th tooth. He now has the front two on both the top and bottom.
   
9. Using the word "Ma Ma" to indicate that he wants to be picked up, fed, or to let you know he is upset.

Thank you for putting up with my blatantly obvious first-time-mommy-ness! Here is a video of him cruising around on all fours :)

P.S. Curious to know if anyone gets the reference in the title of my post...

June 5, 2003

Last Friday, my dear husband (DH) and I celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary. In honor of our six years, I have created a list of six interesting facts about us. Notice that for the first time I refer to my husband by his real name and not DH!

1. Even though Cory was raised in Montana and I was raised in Colorado we were both born in the same town and in the same hospital 3 years and a little over 4 months apart. That town is none other than Pocatello, ID.
   


2. We met at church in a Single's Ward, which, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is a meeting time and church building established for only single adults (18+) to attend. The purpose is to bring together people of similar age and life situations to worship together so that they can support each other and befriend each other. However, I'll be the first to admit that it does become a "meat market" so to speak for people looking to get married!


3. The very first time I saw Cory I thought he was very hot (for lack of a better word, I feel like I should be 15 when I use the term) and while evesdropping on a conversation he was having learned that he was from Montana. Over the next month before I was finally introduced to him I referred to him as "Montana Boy." When I purchased his wedding band I had "My Montana Boy" inscribed on the inside of the band in tribute of this early part of our relationship history.


4. Cory proposed to me on Tybee Island, GA. While he had me distracted collecting seawater and sand for him he wrote "Will you marry me?" in sticks on the sand. It was a very romantic moment sitting on a washed up log on the beach at sunset... It would have been perfect if it weren't for the stupid hippie dude and his toddler who rudely sat down on the other end of the log (7-8 feet away) right smack in the middle of our romantic moment!


5. We dated for only 2 1/2 months before Cory proposed but waited 9 1/2 months before getting married. We were married 1 years and 3 days after we started dating.
   


6. We had a very small wedding ceremony with only a dozen family members in attendance in the quaint little historic town of Nauvoo, IL which overlooks the Mississippi River. We had a much bigger reception on my parents property in the even smaller town of Franktown, CO two days later.

This photo was taken on the day of our wedding. It was taken as a goof by my grandma. She joked that it would probably turn out to be our favorite picture of the day and sho'nuff it definitely was one of our top 5 fav's. It sits on my desk at work.

Happy Anniversary to my best friend, partner in crime, personal commic, rockstar and fellow proud parent of the most amazing little boy!

Tears of sadness, tears of joy.

I shed the following tears between the hours of 1 pm and 4 pm this afternoon:

• 1:20ish pm - Cried tears of sadness when I had to say goodbye to my SIL Jodi and nephew Noah after enjoying lunch at Denver International Airport with them while they had a LONG layover in Denver. We love them so much and hope to see them again soon!

River and Noah enjoying a shared diaper changing experience :)

• 3:10 pm - Cried tears of sadness when as I was leaving my doctor's office I got stuck in an elevator with 6 other women and I realized I was the only one out of 7 women without a big round pregnant belly. I still struggle with the fact that I have yet to experience full term pregnancy.
  
• 3:20 pm - Cried tears of joy as I signed River up for a summer reading program at the public library. I have been anxiously waiting to do this kind of fun mommy stuff since DH and I first were married (6 years ago this week).
  
• 3:25 pm - Cried tears of joy when I saw a children's book about adoption propped up on top of the shelves on display and then selected it as one of the first books River will "read" for his reading program this summer.

Over Land and Sea, A Story of International Adoption
by Steven L. Layne

Man I am such a boob!