Today the boys and I traveled to Ringwood, Illinois, to a place called Boxer Rebound. It is a great non-profit organization that takes in Boxers in all kinds of situations (from families going through divorce who can no longer take care of their Boxer, to situations of abuse/neglect) and rehabilitates them so they can find a loving home. We sent in our application on Monday, May 16th, and got a call that Wednesday to go for an interview/meet & greet today. At first glance, they are pretty picky about your living situation, etc., but after some of the things these dogs have been through, I have a much better understanding about their need for information about where the dog might live. There really are some morons out there that treat animals like garbage, and unfortunately some of those animals never have a chance at a happy life. Hopefully we will be lucky enough to be able to help out a dog that would never know what it's like to receive love and affection otherwise.
Anyway, we arrived for our appointment and met with Jeanette, who is the president of the company, and two of the volunteers. They sat with us for about 10 minutes and we discussed our living situation, talked about Charley Brown (a lot, in my case...), and what our expectations were. At first it almost sounded like there weren't any dogs that would fit our situation. I think they were a little concerned about having such a big, normally rambunctious breed around a little guy like Keaton. They learned very quickly that Mr. K can hold his own. :) As we were talking and they were trying to brainstorm about dogs that we could meet, one of the ladies perked up and mentioned a new dog, Noche, that had arrived earlier in the week. They said she might be too scared because she was a bit timid when they first got her, but we decided to give it a shot. One of the volunteers went to get her, and soon there was this little black/brindle 3-4 year old Boxer coming in to greet us. She was a doll. She came right up to all of us and gave us tons of kisses on the face. She was very gentle, and very sweet. Keaton really enjoyed getting kisses from her (and we probably didn't help the situation since he had just finished a PB&J in the car ride up there... I'm sure he tasted pretty sweet) and he would giggle every time she came into contact with him. They were very cute together.
We found out quite a bit about her in the 1.5 hours we got to spend there. She was a "Mill Mama" (as the volunteers called her), so she had a few litters of puppies previously. She was small- just over 40 lbs, which is the smallest Boxer I've ever seen. They figured the puppy mill didn't keep her around to breed more since she was so small. They thought her name might have been Chloe at the mill, but she didn't seem particularly attached to Chloe or Noche when we talked to her- she just enjoyed love and treats. :) We also found out that she really likes to climb, and recently climbed a 6-foot fence! Tiny but tough, I guess! They said if we decide to get her we would have to invest in an Invisible Fence. She also never learned how to sit, so she tends to jump, but she listens well and seems eager to learn, so I think with a bit of work we could get her trained in no time. She never jumped up on Keaton- she was very cautious and gentle around him, which was the main concern Casey and I had in finding a dog that was right for our family. So far, it seems like she would fit well here.
Now we have to decide what to do. She is older and smaller than we had anticipated when we initially thought about getting a dog, but it almost seems like that is better for our situation right now since she is fairly calm. I *think* she is potty trained, but I'm not 100% on that. If not, I doubt it would take much to teach her. I think she just never had the opportunity to experience any formal training. She didn't seem like she knew what to do with toys, and one of the volunteers seemed to think that she may never have played with them before. One good thing about that could be that she wouldn't chew up Keaton's toys like a younger dog would. We would have to invest in an invisible fence, so we have to look into cost and everything. We are required by the company to do obedience classes with her, so that should take care of the potty training/jumping situation. We are supposed to contact them again about our decision and/or scheduling another visit with her. (They like to have at least two visits before they allow a dog to leave.) I'm going to let all the information marinate for a day or two and discuss it more with Casey, and then maybe by early next week we will have a decision.
I love and miss Charley Brown so much, and I know I will never find another one like him. I found myself comparing Chloe/Noche to him a lot, but had to step back and realize that she will be a totally different character than he was, and that is okay. Until recently, I have found it tough to wrap my head around what it will be like to add a dog or a kid to our current situation, because I don't know how I could love anything more than I love my boys. (I tend to mix kids and dogs in the same sentence- just wanted you to be aware that I do indeed know they are two completely different situations.) Sometimes I feel guilty that I wouldn't be able to divide my time very well or that I would in some way neglect Keaton/Casey if a dog or baby were thrown into the mix... could I balance it? I am then reminded of so many people I know who have multiple kids, multiple pets, etc.- You love them all, and each one is totally different than the other, so you learn a different type of love. I don't even know if that makes sense, and I think I am probably not wording it the way I'd like to, but the point is that I am slowly realizing that I will be able to accept another dog into our lives without feeling like they are replacing Charley, just as I will welcome another baby to our lives (not in the next 9 months, FYI) without feeling guilty or thinking that it is taking something away from Keaton. Technically, a dog or baby may take away a bit of time or attention that would otherwise be spent on him, but in the long run it will help him grow as a person...learn to share... learn to be gentle... etc. This is a good situation, and I finally feel like the hole in my heart that was created when Charley passed away is finally mending back together. The scar will remain, but the pain is subsiding. I guess I couldn't ask for anything more.
Anyway, that's plenty for one night. I am spent, and I have way too much to do tomorrow to continue rambling on and losing precious minutes that could be spent catching Zs.I just hope I can slow my brain down a bit and actually go to sleep instead of thinking about the logistics of a new dog, etc. But that's what I do when I get excited about something. :)
Until next time...
-Ash
Casey, Ashley, Keaton, Nikolaus, & Rowan take on Chicagoland...
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Week In Review
Here I go again- a recap of the past week. I kind of annoy myself with posts like this, but that never seems to stop me from writing them. So... here it goes:
Qiang arrived last Thursday, and we had fun having him here. He was pretty busy with conferences and visiting other friends, but any free time he had was spent playing with Keaton. Keaton enjoyed having him around, too, and seemed disappointed when he looked for Qiang on Sunday morning but he wasn't here anymore. He especially liked carrying Qiang's cell phone around the house while it played music. We couldn't pry it out of his little hands.
While Qiang was here, we had some delicious food, went shopping in downtown Chicago, and visited our friends Dongxia & Qingbo, and their daughter Vivian. Keaton really loved playing with Vivian, who is five years old. They played in the park together, and he watched her ride her tricycle... he really seems to wish he was an older kid. All in good time, little man. I feel like he's growing up too fast as it is. This week's favorite words have been "Bang!" and probably his all-time favorite, "Go!". He also said something that sounded a lot like "Baked Bean" during dinner this week (while we were eating baked beans). Check out the funny video HERE. I should add that Qiang thinks Keaton speaks Chinese. No wonder I can't understand him!
Casey and I celebrated our EIGHT YEAR wedding anniversary on Tuesday night. We had a great date night, and my former co-worker Michelle babysat Keaton and successfully put him to bed! That was the first time anyone has put him in bed besides us, so I am very glad it worked out. Check one more anxiety-inducing milestone off the list. :) The next one to tackle is having someone watch him overnight... I think I will only trust our family with that one. No offense to Michelle- I just know I will be a bit more high-strung if I don't see Mr. K for 10 or more hours... and probably the only other people that can tolerate that level of anxiety from me are people I'm related to.
Anyway, our date was excellent! We went to The Melting Pot, which is only a few blocks away from our house. Every single time I go there, I eat way too much food, but it is worth it. We had a four-course meal, a flight of various wines, and a glass of champagne at the end. Needless to say, we were both a bit tipsy, but it was fun kicking back and relaxing together, enjoying some delicious food. Oh yeah, and the dessert was kind of amazing, too... I won't even go into detail because if I list it off I am going to get too hungry, and it's already almost lunchtime...
Hmmm... what else. Oh!! We got a phone call last Friday from a woman at Boxer Rebound. They got our application and I basically did a phone interview with her, which seemed to go pretty well. We couldn't go meet any dogs last weekend because Qiang was still in town, so we have an appointment at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday. There are no on-the-spot adoptions, so we will spend at least an hour there, meeting dogs that the staff think would be a good fit for us. If we really like one (and the staff feels like we would be a good fit for them) then we will make another appointment to go back soon. Hopefully that will not be complicated by the fact that we are flying back home on June 2nd to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary! I am super excited to go home in one week... I don't know if it can come fast enough, but I know the time there will go way too fast. It always does. We are going back again for the 4th of July, though, so at least I won't have to wait so long in between visits. How the heck is it already almost June!?!?!
I think that's really about all for now. I will try to blog again sooner than later. Keaton's nap schedule has been pretty wacko recently so I either nap when he does, or I run around like a chicken. Today my nice big cup of caffeine is going to help motivate me to do... something instead of sleep. Too bad the cold, rainy weather isn't helping me, though.
Enough from me. It's almost the weekend!! Woohoooo!!!
-Ash
Qiang arrived last Thursday, and we had fun having him here. He was pretty busy with conferences and visiting other friends, but any free time he had was spent playing with Keaton. Keaton enjoyed having him around, too, and seemed disappointed when he looked for Qiang on Sunday morning but he wasn't here anymore. He especially liked carrying Qiang's cell phone around the house while it played music. We couldn't pry it out of his little hands.
While Qiang was here, we had some delicious food, went shopping in downtown Chicago, and visited our friends Dongxia & Qingbo, and their daughter Vivian. Keaton really loved playing with Vivian, who is five years old. They played in the park together, and he watched her ride her tricycle... he really seems to wish he was an older kid. All in good time, little man. I feel like he's growing up too fast as it is. This week's favorite words have been "Bang!" and probably his all-time favorite, "Go!". He also said something that sounded a lot like "Baked Bean" during dinner this week (while we were eating baked beans). Check out the funny video HERE. I should add that Qiang thinks Keaton speaks Chinese. No wonder I can't understand him!
Casey and I celebrated our EIGHT YEAR wedding anniversary on Tuesday night. We had a great date night, and my former co-worker Michelle babysat Keaton and successfully put him to bed! That was the first time anyone has put him in bed besides us, so I am very glad it worked out. Check one more anxiety-inducing milestone off the list. :) The next one to tackle is having someone watch him overnight... I think I will only trust our family with that one. No offense to Michelle- I just know I will be a bit more high-strung if I don't see Mr. K for 10 or more hours... and probably the only other people that can tolerate that level of anxiety from me are people I'm related to.
Anyway, our date was excellent! We went to The Melting Pot, which is only a few blocks away from our house. Every single time I go there, I eat way too much food, but it is worth it. We had a four-course meal, a flight of various wines, and a glass of champagne at the end. Needless to say, we were both a bit tipsy, but it was fun kicking back and relaxing together, enjoying some delicious food. Oh yeah, and the dessert was kind of amazing, too... I won't even go into detail because if I list it off I am going to get too hungry, and it's already almost lunchtime...
Hmmm... what else. Oh!! We got a phone call last Friday from a woman at Boxer Rebound. They got our application and I basically did a phone interview with her, which seemed to go pretty well. We couldn't go meet any dogs last weekend because Qiang was still in town, so we have an appointment at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday. There are no on-the-spot adoptions, so we will spend at least an hour there, meeting dogs that the staff think would be a good fit for us. If we really like one (and the staff feels like we would be a good fit for them) then we will make another appointment to go back soon. Hopefully that will not be complicated by the fact that we are flying back home on June 2nd to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary! I am super excited to go home in one week... I don't know if it can come fast enough, but I know the time there will go way too fast. It always does. We are going back again for the 4th of July, though, so at least I won't have to wait so long in between visits. How the heck is it already almost June!?!?!
I think that's really about all for now. I will try to blog again sooner than later. Keaton's nap schedule has been pretty wacko recently so I either nap when he does, or I run around like a chicken. Today my nice big cup of caffeine is going to help motivate me to do... something instead of sleep. Too bad the cold, rainy weather isn't helping me, though.
Enough from me. It's almost the weekend!! Woohoooo!!!
-Ash
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
One Talkative Tike!
Before I begin with the regular recap of what's going on with us since my last entry, I wanted to share this link: Salon Nine. All of the pictures on this site were taken by yours truly! I just found out when I went to get my hair cut last week that the site was up and running. Pretty exciting! I got a free haircut for taking them. Can't beat that!! :) That is the end of my self promotion.
In other news, Casey just left for an overnight stay in Tulsa. Our friend Qiang is flying in today from South Carolina to stay with us until Sunday morning. It should be a busy couple of days, so I thought I'd take the time to blog now since I doubt I'll get to before next week.
In Keaton news, he is doing so much lately that I am sure I will forget half of it before I'm able to get it written down. He is talking up a storm, which is nothing normal... but he's been repeating what we say more frequently the past couple of days. (Watch your mouth, Mommy!) No, he hasn't cursed yet... that I know of. Yesterday he said "bear" after seeing one in a book we were reading, and Daddy taught him "speed" last night. Appropriate, I think. I still feel like I need a translator half the time when Keaton talks, but he does really seem to have something important to say. People get a kick out of him when we're out and about, and always stop to talk to him. He is a total ham. Last night while we were in line getting dinner, Keaton really took to a couple that were standing directly behind us. He started showing them all the things he could do, like point at the fan and then make a circular motion with his hand so they knew how a fan works. He showed them his belly button. He clapped his hands. He waved. He went on and on, and kept pointing at the man to make sure he was watching. He's one entertaining little guy! This morning, Keaton took one of his little water bottles and decided his Sing-a-ma-jig needed a drink. I wish I could have gotten a picture or video of it... he kept putting the water bottle up to the toy's mouth. I guess he thought all that singing must have made it pretty thirsty. :) Oh, before I forget- last night we went with Casey while he donated blood. After he was finished, he came out and sat with Keaton and I while he drank some water. After he was done with one of the bottles, he gave it to Keaton and we asked him to go put it in the recycling bin. I was a little skeptical because he hasn't seemed to want to do it at home for me, but to my surprise, he walked right up and threw it in! And this morning he helped me fill the diaper stacker with diapers. Such a great little helper. :)
Today I am taking him to my friend Kerra's house for a play date with her son Jonah. Danielle and her son Blaine are coming, too. I haven't seen any of them for almost two months now, so I am ready to get Keaton out and let him wear himself out with the boys. Hopefully the weather will get nicer around here so we can do it more often!
I think that's enough for one day. Not sure what all is going on this weekend, but hopefully the weather will be nice and we can take Qiang out to see the sights. More later!
-Ash
In other news, Casey just left for an overnight stay in Tulsa. Our friend Qiang is flying in today from South Carolina to stay with us until Sunday morning. It should be a busy couple of days, so I thought I'd take the time to blog now since I doubt I'll get to before next week.
In Keaton news, he is doing so much lately that I am sure I will forget half of it before I'm able to get it written down. He is talking up a storm, which is nothing normal... but he's been repeating what we say more frequently the past couple of days. (Watch your mouth, Mommy!) No, he hasn't cursed yet... that I know of. Yesterday he said "bear" after seeing one in a book we were reading, and Daddy taught him "speed" last night. Appropriate, I think. I still feel like I need a translator half the time when Keaton talks, but he does really seem to have something important to say. People get a kick out of him when we're out and about, and always stop to talk to him. He is a total ham. Last night while we were in line getting dinner, Keaton really took to a couple that were standing directly behind us. He started showing them all the things he could do, like point at the fan and then make a circular motion with his hand so they knew how a fan works. He showed them his belly button. He clapped his hands. He waved. He went on and on, and kept pointing at the man to make sure he was watching. He's one entertaining little guy! This morning, Keaton took one of his little water bottles and decided his Sing-a-ma-jig needed a drink. I wish I could have gotten a picture or video of it... he kept putting the water bottle up to the toy's mouth. I guess he thought all that singing must have made it pretty thirsty. :) Oh, before I forget- last night we went with Casey while he donated blood. After he was finished, he came out and sat with Keaton and I while he drank some water. After he was done with one of the bottles, he gave it to Keaton and we asked him to go put it in the recycling bin. I was a little skeptical because he hasn't seemed to want to do it at home for me, but to my surprise, he walked right up and threw it in! And this morning he helped me fill the diaper stacker with diapers. Such a great little helper. :)
Today I am taking him to my friend Kerra's house for a play date with her son Jonah. Danielle and her son Blaine are coming, too. I haven't seen any of them for almost two months now, so I am ready to get Keaton out and let him wear himself out with the boys. Hopefully the weather will get nicer around here so we can do it more often!
I think that's enough for one day. Not sure what all is going on this weekend, but hopefully the weather will be nice and we can take Qiang out to see the sights. More later!
-Ash
Friday, May 13, 2011
15 Months
Heaven help me, my kid is 15 months old already! His appointment was this morning, and we found out he is in the 40th percentile for height... or was it weight? All I know is that he's not gaining much weight, and he's not as tall as I thought he would be. Hmmm. I could swear he's been on a bit of a growth spurt lately... but then I'm no M.D.
Casey and I were trying to figure out how many words he can say now on a pretty regular basis:
It has officially been one full week since I nursed him, and he has FINALLY taken to whole milk in a sippy cup!! Time for Mommy to celebrate with a nice, big margarita. I am really glad we didn't have to wean him off the bottle (although sometimes it would have been a lot easier than having him come up to me and try to pull my shirt down...) but I wish it wouldn't have taken so long for him to be okay with sippy cups. I am just happy we are finally at the point where we can give him the cup and he doesn't throw it across the room or spit the milk out.
Tomorrow we have family pictures, and I am still trying to find something cute to wear. Mr. K will be in a red polo, and Casey will probably wear a black one. Do I go with black, or gray? I have a gray polo that is okay, I was just hoping to dress up a little more. Honestly, I am having such a hard time figuring out what would go well with the two of them that I am stressing myself out. I think I have searched every single rack at Kohl's two times this week, without any luck. Maybe something cute will magically appear in my closet overnight...
I guess that's about all for now. I am SOOO glad it's Friday- I am ready for more time with my boys, and finally getting some family pictures taken tomorrow!! :-D
-Ash
Casey and I were trying to figure out how many words he can say now on a pretty regular basis:
- Mama/Mom
- Dada/Daddy
- Hi/Hey
- Bye bye
- Baby
- Nana (as in Banana)
- No
- Yea/yes
- Uh Oh!
- All Done! (It sounds more like "Ah Daaah" but we get the point. :)
It has officially been one full week since I nursed him, and he has FINALLY taken to whole milk in a sippy cup!! Time for Mommy to celebrate with a nice, big margarita. I am really glad we didn't have to wean him off the bottle (although sometimes it would have been a lot easier than having him come up to me and try to pull my shirt down...) but I wish it wouldn't have taken so long for him to be okay with sippy cups. I am just happy we are finally at the point where we can give him the cup and he doesn't throw it across the room or spit the milk out.
Tomorrow we have family pictures, and I am still trying to find something cute to wear. Mr. K will be in a red polo, and Casey will probably wear a black one. Do I go with black, or gray? I have a gray polo that is okay, I was just hoping to dress up a little more. Honestly, I am having such a hard time figuring out what would go well with the two of them that I am stressing myself out. I think I have searched every single rack at Kohl's two times this week, without any luck. Maybe something cute will magically appear in my closet overnight...
I guess that's about all for now. I am SOOO glad it's Friday- I am ready for more time with my boys, and finally getting some family pictures taken tomorrow!! :-D
-Ash
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Puppies and Productivity
Keaton has been asleep since 10:30 this morning, so I figured if I signed on to blog, he'd wake up. Yes, that's right, the lady who complains about her child not sleeping is now thinking of ways to wake him up. I am very glad he's taking an awesome nap- I'm still not sure if he's really transitioning to one big nap per day, but it would appear that way. Then again, it's hard to tell. Oh, parenthood... you always leave me with so many questions!
I have managed to be pretty productive the past 2 days. Dusting, laundry, sweeping, mopping... I'm not sure what's going on with me, but hopefully it sticks around. I think the warmer weather, and the fact that my house was an absolute disaster, helped push me to the edge and get some motivation. I will take whatever I can get. I even had enough time during Keaton's amazing nap to spend a large chunk of time online looking up various things. We are still on the search for a dog, so that is a daily search on Petfinder and other local rescue websites. There is one that keeps coming up in our searches named Slater, and this weekend the animal shelter he's currently at is having an adoption day not far away from us (normally he is at least a few hours away, so it's tough for us to go see him). We will hopefully get to meet him, and if we are lucky, he and Mr. K will hit it off. Keaton really enjoyed meeting puppies last Friday night, but we decided both puppies were not for us, even though they were adorable. It's hard not to get a little attached when the pup lays his head on your arm and cuddles with you. He really enjoyed playing with Keaton, too. Keaton actually seemed to get a little bit jealous when Casey was holding the puppy, which was surprising to us. (I also think Keaton was not himself over the weekend- he was more moody than normal. Teething? Testing his boundaries? Who knows. Again, so many questions.) He's been great today, though... he really is a goofy little guy sometimes. Speak of the devil.. he's stirring. I knew blogging would do the trick!
-Ash
I have managed to be pretty productive the past 2 days. Dusting, laundry, sweeping, mopping... I'm not sure what's going on with me, but hopefully it sticks around. I think the warmer weather, and the fact that my house was an absolute disaster, helped push me to the edge and get some motivation. I will take whatever I can get. I even had enough time during Keaton's amazing nap to spend a large chunk of time online looking up various things. We are still on the search for a dog, so that is a daily search on Petfinder and other local rescue websites. There is one that keeps coming up in our searches named Slater, and this weekend the animal shelter he's currently at is having an adoption day not far away from us (normally he is at least a few hours away, so it's tough for us to go see him). We will hopefully get to meet him, and if we are lucky, he and Mr. K will hit it off. Keaton really enjoyed meeting puppies last Friday night, but we decided both puppies were not for us, even though they were adorable. It's hard not to get a little attached when the pup lays his head on your arm and cuddles with you. He really enjoyed playing with Keaton, too. Keaton actually seemed to get a little bit jealous when Casey was holding the puppy, which was surprising to us. (I also think Keaton was not himself over the weekend- he was more moody than normal. Teething? Testing his boundaries? Who knows. Again, so many questions.) He's been great today, though... he really is a goofy little guy sometimes. Speak of the devil.. he's stirring. I knew blogging would do the trick!
-Ash
Monday, May 9, 2011
Awkward... to say the least...
When I last left you, Keaton was waking up from a nap, and the repairman was here installing our new garage door opener. I got Mr. K dressed, and headed to the kitchen to fix us some lunch. As I was passing the door to the garage, I decided to peek outside and see if the guy (named Simon) needed anything. When I opened the door, I noticed that Simon was sitting on the floor of our garage with his back to us. He stood up quickly, and I saw that his hands were in his pants. He turned toward me and I realized that his fly was down and belt was unbuckled (no worries, I did not see any flesh, just underwear). He continued to turn toward me as he zipped his fly and buckled his belt, not really hiding what he was doing. He seemed startled, and I was pretty embarrassed, so I just backed into the mudroom and shut the door. I put Keaton in his high chair and texted Casey, unsure of what to do next. I couldn't get a hold of him, so I called my neighbor Cathy and let her know that the guy was here, and what had happened. As I chatted with her, I went around and locked all the doors, just in case. At that point I didn't know 1) what the heck he was doing out there, and 2) if we were safe, or what would happen next. After getting off the phone with Cathy, I called Casey and told him what had happened, and he told me to go out front with Keaton and try to see what the guy was doing, that way we wouldn't be stuck in the house if anything did happen. (I should mention that the garage door had been up the entire time, so anyone could see inside.) Cathy called back, and shortly after I switched over to talk to her, Simon knocked on the door to tell me he was finished. Cathy told me to stay on the phone with her. I grabbed Keaton and we went out to the garage, Cathy walking up just as we walked outside, so we wouldn't be alone. I shut the door behind me... accidentally locking us out of the house.
So there I stood, with a dude in my garage who had been doing whatever the heck he was doing with his pants unzipped, and we were stuck outside. I also left my wallet inside the house, so I wasn't able to pay him. I gave Casey a call (again) and he said he'd be on his way home to let us back in... meanwhile, my friend Kelley, who had been walking around the block, happened to walk by our house. She stayed with me while Simon packed his stuff and left, and until Casey came home to bail us out. It was a nice day out, so I was thankful that this didn't happen in the winter... we got a nice little play date with Kelley and Nolan while we waited.
After Casey got home, we thought it might be a good idea to call the company and talk to a manager about what had happened. There were three numbers to call, so I dialed the first one and asked for a manager. A familiar voice said, "I am the manager"... it was Simon. I got freaked out and hung up the phone. He called right back, but I didn't answer because I didn't know what to do. Casey and I were discussing what we should do next when he called again. Casey talked to him, and calmly and politely told him what the problem was. His explanation for what happened was that he was up on the ladder and his belt got caught, and he recently lost a lot of weight so he was sitting on the floor readjusting his belt when I walked out. I guess I was still a little skeptical because I wasn't entirely sure 1) why he was sitting on the floor to adjust it, 2) why his zipper was down when he was doing that, and 3) why he didn't zip up, etc., while he was turned away from me. It was not like he tried to hide much- he zipped and buckled his pants as he was facing me. Anyway, I don't know. I would like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, because in reality, he was very professional otherwise. After Casey got off the phone with him, Simon's office manager called us and apologized for the incident. He said he had worked with Simon for a long time, and he'd never had any complaints. I really, sincerely hope that he was indeed just adjusting his belt, or whatever. All I know is that it was awkward as hell, and I am still glad I went with my gut instinct. You really never can be too careful when strangers are in your house. Ugh... what an afternoon.
I guess that about sums up my day. I went out this evening and had a few spare keys made, too... something that we should have done long ago. I guess I'll probably never know if I did the right thing, or what was really going on out there, I just know I hope nothing like that ever happens again!
That's plenty for one day.
-Ash
So there I stood, with a dude in my garage who had been doing whatever the heck he was doing with his pants unzipped, and we were stuck outside. I also left my wallet inside the house, so I wasn't able to pay him. I gave Casey a call (again) and he said he'd be on his way home to let us back in... meanwhile, my friend Kelley, who had been walking around the block, happened to walk by our house. She stayed with me while Simon packed his stuff and left, and until Casey came home to bail us out. It was a nice day out, so I was thankful that this didn't happen in the winter... we got a nice little play date with Kelley and Nolan while we waited.
After Casey got home, we thought it might be a good idea to call the company and talk to a manager about what had happened. There were three numbers to call, so I dialed the first one and asked for a manager. A familiar voice said, "I am the manager"... it was Simon. I got freaked out and hung up the phone. He called right back, but I didn't answer because I didn't know what to do. Casey and I were discussing what we should do next when he called again. Casey talked to him, and calmly and politely told him what the problem was. His explanation for what happened was that he was up on the ladder and his belt got caught, and he recently lost a lot of weight so he was sitting on the floor readjusting his belt when I walked out. I guess I was still a little skeptical because I wasn't entirely sure 1) why he was sitting on the floor to adjust it, 2) why his zipper was down when he was doing that, and 3) why he didn't zip up, etc., while he was turned away from me. It was not like he tried to hide much- he zipped and buckled his pants as he was facing me. Anyway, I don't know. I would like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, because in reality, he was very professional otherwise. After Casey got off the phone with him, Simon's office manager called us and apologized for the incident. He said he had worked with Simon for a long time, and he'd never had any complaints. I really, sincerely hope that he was indeed just adjusting his belt, or whatever. All I know is that it was awkward as hell, and I am still glad I went with my gut instinct. You really never can be too careful when strangers are in your house. Ugh... what an afternoon.
I guess that about sums up my day. I went out this evening and had a few spare keys made, too... something that we should have done long ago. I guess I'll probably never know if I did the right thing, or what was really going on out there, I just know I hope nothing like that ever happens again!
That's plenty for one day.
-Ash
Mother's Day, numero dos
My second Mother's Day has come and gone (if you don't count the ones I spent with Charley Brown, who would have been 7 years old yesterday), and I can say that it was a complete and total success, thanks to my boys. I woke up to two very adorable cards, and inside one was a little slip of paper that had an appointment date to get family pictures taken next weekend! It is something I have wanted for awhile now, we just hadn't decided when and where. So next Saturday, the boys and I will head to Sears and hopefully bring some smiles with us. (I'm talking to you, little squeaky Hetrick!) The boys also gave me a gift card to Kohl's to get some spiffy clothes for the shoot. :-D I am excited!!
Okay, as usual, I start blogging and Mr. K wakes up... I may have to cut this short. We have a repairman here working on our garage door which busted this weekend... it was after 9:30 p.m. on Friday night and Casey and I heard what sounded like a wooden baby gate falling to the floor, which scared the crud out of me. We found out Saturday that it was one of the huge springs flying off the garage door. What the?? I learned a few interesting things about said garage door today, too. The repairman told me that we could actually sue the person that inspected our house before we bought it, because the previous owner had the sensors installed above the garage, rendering them useless, and it is illegal to not only install them that way, but to sell a house that way, too. Interesting...
It's good to know that Keaton was tired enough to sleep through the majority of the guys pounding and drilling, though- he's been sleeping for over an hour. Alas, he is awake now, so time for me to go. More later!
-Ash
Okay, as usual, I start blogging and Mr. K wakes up... I may have to cut this short. We have a repairman here working on our garage door which busted this weekend... it was after 9:30 p.m. on Friday night and Casey and I heard what sounded like a wooden baby gate falling to the floor, which scared the crud out of me. We found out Saturday that it was one of the huge springs flying off the garage door. What the?? I learned a few interesting things about said garage door today, too. The repairman told me that we could actually sue the person that inspected our house before we bought it, because the previous owner had the sensors installed above the garage, rendering them useless, and it is illegal to not only install them that way, but to sell a house that way, too. Interesting...
It's good to know that Keaton was tired enough to sleep through the majority of the guys pounding and drilling, though- he's been sleeping for over an hour. Alas, he is awake now, so time for me to go. More later!
-Ash
Friday, May 6, 2011
I can't get no sleep in a quiet room...
My child refuses to sleep. I am staring at him in the monitor right now, banging his pacifier on the sides of the crib like he's in prison or something. I believe he's going through yet another growth spurt, and he's getting tall enough now that it's hard for me to hold him, especially when he wiggles! I don't see this getting easier, but I sure hope for a miracle in that regard!! I'm one worn out Mommy right now.
He didn't sleep well in Galveston, either. I didn't know how he'd do in the Pack 'N Play, since he is normally only in them when we travel to Kansas or when I'm doing something around the house and need to keep him contained for a few minutes. Casey and I didn't really think about how difficult it would be to share a room with him, but we found out quickly on night 1 of the trip. We turned off the lights, turned on Keaton's sound machine, and laid him down. Seconds later, he was standing up staring at us, wondering why we were still in the room. Casey and I ended up hiding on the other side of one of the beds until he fell asleep. In retrospect, we should have gotten him his own room. We got through the first night, but decided we would try to get a room next to ours for him so we could all get sleep. At that point we were on the 2nd floor of the hotel, and we were lucky enough that the monitor allowed us to go all the way to the business center downstairs, so we had a bit of freedom after Keaton fell asleep, normally around 6:30 p.m.. The next evening, the manager told us he could move us to the 4th floor where there were two rooms next to each other. Yay! We gathered our stuff together and moved it up to the 4th floor, only to find out that the room we were supposed to move into had a dead card reader. The manager told us he would get it fixed right away. About 45 minutes later, we hadn't heard any news about it yet, so Casey went back down to see what was going on; They couldn't fix the door after all. The manager offered to let us have a room farther down the hallway, but I vetoed that idea after hearing a story about the hotel losing power earlier in the week. I couldn't help but worry about Keaton being in another room, in a place where multiple people had access, and the power going out. (I found out later that the rooms would still unlock if the power was out, but at the time, it wasn't something I was willing to risk.) We gave up and decided to try sharing a room again. He still woke up every 3-4 hours, but it was managable. Saturday night we went to bed super early- probably 8:30- and I'm glad we did because the power went out around 11:45 p.m.. I woke up to the sound of sirens and people yelling in the hallway and the room feeling like a sauna. I woke Casey up to tell him what was going on, and he went out in the hall to find out what to do. Turns out the fire trucks were there because people got stuck in the elevator when the power went out. Casey was able to fall back to sleep quickly, but I couldn't, and ended up listening to some teenagers in our hallway playing around, screaming, and slamming doors until about 1 a.m.. Luckily it didn't wake Casey or Keaton up at all. Keaton woke up around 1:30, ate, and then went back to sleep. I had just drifted off when the power came back on, around 2. What a long, long night. I was thankful that Keaton had a decent night, though... until we switched hotels on Sunday. He ended up sleeping in bed with us the final 2 nights we were there because he absolutely refused to sleep. I guess I don't blame him... that Pack 'N Play doesn't look comfortable. Here's a picture of him passed out in our bed the morning we left to come back to Chicago:
Alright, I am done complaining about lack of sleep! (At least for this entry, anyway...) We did a lot of fun things while we were in Galveston, including:
He didn't sleep well in Galveston, either. I didn't know how he'd do in the Pack 'N Play, since he is normally only in them when we travel to Kansas or when I'm doing something around the house and need to keep him contained for a few minutes. Casey and I didn't really think about how difficult it would be to share a room with him, but we found out quickly on night 1 of the trip. We turned off the lights, turned on Keaton's sound machine, and laid him down. Seconds later, he was standing up staring at us, wondering why we were still in the room. Casey and I ended up hiding on the other side of one of the beds until he fell asleep. In retrospect, we should have gotten him his own room. We got through the first night, but decided we would try to get a room next to ours for him so we could all get sleep. At that point we were on the 2nd floor of the hotel, and we were lucky enough that the monitor allowed us to go all the way to the business center downstairs, so we had a bit of freedom after Keaton fell asleep, normally around 6:30 p.m.. The next evening, the manager told us he could move us to the 4th floor where there were two rooms next to each other. Yay! We gathered our stuff together and moved it up to the 4th floor, only to find out that the room we were supposed to move into had a dead card reader. The manager told us he would get it fixed right away. About 45 minutes later, we hadn't heard any news about it yet, so Casey went back down to see what was going on; They couldn't fix the door after all. The manager offered to let us have a room farther down the hallway, but I vetoed that idea after hearing a story about the hotel losing power earlier in the week. I couldn't help but worry about Keaton being in another room, in a place where multiple people had access, and the power going out. (I found out later that the rooms would still unlock if the power was out, but at the time, it wasn't something I was willing to risk.) We gave up and decided to try sharing a room again. He still woke up every 3-4 hours, but it was managable. Saturday night we went to bed super early- probably 8:30- and I'm glad we did because the power went out around 11:45 p.m.. I woke up to the sound of sirens and people yelling in the hallway and the room feeling like a sauna. I woke Casey up to tell him what was going on, and he went out in the hall to find out what to do. Turns out the fire trucks were there because people got stuck in the elevator when the power went out. Casey was able to fall back to sleep quickly, but I couldn't, and ended up listening to some teenagers in our hallway playing around, screaming, and slamming doors until about 1 a.m.. Luckily it didn't wake Casey or Keaton up at all. Keaton woke up around 1:30, ate, and then went back to sleep. I had just drifted off when the power came back on, around 2. What a long, long night. I was thankful that Keaton had a decent night, though... until we switched hotels on Sunday. He ended up sleeping in bed with us the final 2 nights we were there because he absolutely refused to sleep. I guess I don't blame him... that Pack 'N Play doesn't look comfortable. Here's a picture of him passed out in our bed the morning we left to come back to Chicago:
Alright, I am done complaining about lack of sleep! (At least for this entry, anyway...) We did a lot of fun things while we were in Galveston, including:
- Eating amazing food
- Playing on the beach
- Feeding sting rays
- Seeing our friends Beau & Caroline and their two adorable daughters
- Going to the Houston Zoo
- Swimming
- Went to see dogs at Bark in the Park in downtown Galveston
If I remember any more details I'll try to add them to the next entry. Now I am going to rest my tired brain and hope that Keaton sleeps better as the weekend goes on... especially for Mother's Day! That would be greeeeeat. :)
Love,
Ash
Thursday, May 5, 2011
The land of the living
Yes, we are alive! We survived our first real family vacation! Since Mr. K has impeccable timing and always seems to wake up as soon as I start blogging, I'll have to save all the fun details for later. It was a great trip, but I think we are all glad to be back in our own beds. (Especially Keaton... the kid didn't sleep well at all on the trip, so neither did I! He passed out for a nice 2 hour nap as soon as we got home yesterday.)
If you'd like to get a better idea of our trip, you can check out the photos HERE.
Videos to come... I have to get a bit more free time before uploading them. :)
-Ash
If you'd like to get a better idea of our trip, you can check out the photos HERE.
Videos to come... I have to get a bit more free time before uploading them. :)
-Ash
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