Daycare

Gracie is off to doggy daycare starting next week. If someone told me that I would be paying for doggy daycare a year ago, I would have told them they were nuts but here I am. We identified two daycare facilites, Doglogic and Camp Bow Wow. I really like some of the amenities of Camp Bow Wow but it's further away and pick up is at 6:30pm which is not convenient for us. However, they have a webcam so you can log on to their website to see your dog during the day, which we both find very cool but maybe it's a good thing we don't go there because it will only heighten Danielle's helicopter mom behavior. They are so pretentious though. Why? Because Gracie would have an interview and if she passed the preliminary interview she would be "invited" to stay for a few more hours so they could monitor her behavior. If she passed that then she would be accepted into their program. How hilarious is that? I know our Gracie would pass with flying colors because she's a really good dog. Very social and up until now has never attempted to bite another pup. She has, however, been the victim of a few dogs (and our cat) trying to snip at her.

Doglogic doesn't seem as fancy as Camp Bow Wow from their website but they are closer and stay open later, with a pick up time until 11pm. Wednesdays are really long days for Gracie because of my work schedule. She's able to hold it but but recently she was so excited to see us and really had to go that she peed all over my shirt and pants on the way to the potty (I was carrying her). It's just a long day. So Friday Danielle and I will take a look at the facility and see if it meets her needs. They have an inground playground, an inground pool, an outdoor playground and areas for them to nap at their leisure. The other nice thing is that she will be grouped with other similar sized puppies.

So off to daycare she goes. Lord, what will they think up of next?

Playdate

I'm such a proud furparent. Why? Because my little furbaby finally walked on her leash. I've waited so long for this day. Now we can go to the park on a daily basis. To make the dinner even better Gracie had her first official playdate with Teddy. It was so cute to see them play together.

Poor Gracie, Part II

My poor little heart broke for Gracie today. I had to take her for her second round of shots. She was so excited to see other pets and humans in the waiting room and took her shots like a champ. After I paid, we walked around in the parking lot for a bit and I gave her a drink. I noticed that she was rubbing her eyes but didn't think much of it because one of her cutesy tricks into getting her own way is to play cute by rubbing her eyes and then looking at you so innocently. I put her in her carrier and off we went. About 1/2 a mile down the road I turned around to see if she was sleeping and the poor lovie's eyes were practically swollen shut. I did a quick pull over to check her out a bit more and without much hesitation drove her back to the vet. When I took her out of her carrier, her eyes were completely swollen and red. She looked like she just did a round in Tap Out. Still in her pain, she looked so innocent like "help me mamma." Her little tummy was red with hives. The vet gave her some benedryl and another shot which brought the swelling down, listened to her heartbeat and sent us on our way. I felt so sad for her drive home. I had promised her a trot in the park but obviously we couldn't do that. Danielle came home early so I could go to work and from the last report, she's doing much better. The swelling has gone down and she is running around the house like a mad woman which is baseline for her.

Drive by update

It feels like I'm neglecting my blog but truly I just don't have that much to write about.

Gracie- is doing much better. We went to our second class at puppy school. This week's lesson was heel, come, and walking forward on a leash. She was able to get it a few times. The way our teacher tells us to teach her gives us a few laughs. After school we took her to a street festival which she seemed to enjoy for all of the attention.

Slice- is now able to stand his ground and hiss at Gracie and then run away. Prior to that he would hiss while running away. He's able to get closer to her but if Gracie chases him, he's outta there. Luckily Gracie hasn't realized that she can actually climb the stairs.

Vacation- Only 6 weeks away. It feels like a long time from now but I know it will go by fast. After L.A. I think it's time to plan for another cruise. I'm telling you, they are so addictive.

TTC- I'm going in for some testing this week. Not sure if I should actually ttc this month at home or not. I'm worried about ordering and finding out that my follicle size isn't what it should be. Danielle will ttc in the upcoming cycle. The timing of ordering was off this month.

Bailey or Retro Jax

I had such a difficult time picking out a collar for Gracie. I first narrowed it down to five and now I narrowed it to two. They are all so cute and come with a matching leash. I know which one I'm going to order but I would love to know which one you like. The first one is Bailey, the pink one is Retro Jax.

Wisteria Lane

Yesterday we went to a party that was held on Wisteria Lane and boy did it live up to it's name. Two married women showed up with their boyfriends (note, not their husbands) and the amount of gossip that went on was amazing. Then the host had one too many and got a little "frisky" with Danielle. Poor Danielle was traumatized and embarrassed because this is a co-worker. Needless to say we left shortly afterwards.

Today was great though, we had a surf and turf bbq with a delicious salad and Italian bread. We played games, read about the must do's in L.A., and relaxed.

Tomorrow is the baby shower.

Gracie update: She is fine. No more vomiting. The night of the vomiting all of the other signs we were told to watch out for were fine. I think it was a combo of too much food, the car ride, and playing. Thanks for the feedback.

Poor Gracie

The other day I gave Gracie a kong with kong paste and she threw up. I chalked it up to being overly playful after eating it and not allowing her stomach to settle (kinda like the 30 minute no swimming after eating rule). Tonight, she ate, played with her biological siblings (Danielle took her over for a visit), ate some more when got home and threw up literally like 5-6 times. By the end it was just liquid/foam like. Poor Gracie, it was a rough night for her.

Of course, Danielle freaks out and makes me google Parvo disease. I don't think she has that. I think it was just a combo eating too much and the car ride. But just in case it wasn't, any thoughts? It's interesting to see how Danielle and I react to these "parenting" situations. Danielle is definitely the anxious worrier and I'm the very laid back, lets observe and see kind of person. I wonder how this will work out when we have actual children.

Tomorrow, we buy pet insurance.

My Mum is Awesome

I (subconsciously?) forgot that I had yet ANOTHER baby shower to attend next weekend. I really don't have time this week to go shopping for gifts so I called my mum last night at 9:30pm and asked her if she could make a gift for me to take and by 1pm this afternoon, she emailed pics of what she made. The woman is a amazing. The package includes two fitted cloth diapers, two pacifier clips, two matching non-slip hair bows, and travel diaper/changing kit. All I have to add is a pretty box and a BRU gift card and it's a wrap. Talk about taking a load of my

shoulders.

For our trip to LA she's making us beach towel bags which I think are so cool because they hold things like your book, sunglasses, sunscreen, and whatever else you want to bring to the beach and then once you get there, you just pull it open and lay out. Then when you're done, you just stuff everything back in there and you're off.


Gracie had a good time at puppy school. She was by far the youngest and smallest. We learned sit, lay down, return, and focus where the pup looks at you and only you while walking. The latter two lessons were a little advanced for Gracie but she's pretty much mastered sit and we are still working on lay down. She tends to army crawl to get the treat instead of just laying down. There's no school next Saturday because of the holiday so she has a lot of time to practice her homework.

It's a hit

It's an hour later and she's still playing with it.

Gracie's Going to School

Yep, Gracie's off to school....Puppy School. Thank you Claire for suggesting it. I remember seeing an ad at Petco before we got her and completely forgot about it. I called around today and got an awesome deal at our local community college, 8 sessions for only $59 and it's on a Saturday at 1pm. Petco's classes were $110 for 6 sessions and they were at 8am on a Saturday morning. I mean, seriously, who the hell wants to be anywhere at 8am, especially on a Saturday?

I think Danielle and I are more excited about her going to school than she is. Of course she was full of excitement when we told her but it could have also been because we were home. I think I'll get a lot out of it because I've never had a dog before. I just Gracie is going to be a star student and the puppy all the other pups want as their BFF.

Melissa and Gayby, I am off to buy her a Kong tomorrow. She seems to have a long attention span so I'm sure she'll enjoy getting treats from it. Jess and AnOffering, thanks for reminding me that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Gracie, PLEASE!

Exhausted, discouraged and guilty are three good adjectives to describe how I feel. Gracie is a handful. I've had several moments where I just wish she came to us already trained. The potty issue isn't even the biggest stressor. We bought her the Rascal Dog Litter and she is getting the gist of it. She'll go when we put her in there but she still needs to work on going in there on her own. She's done it about 3-4x's on her own and she goes when we go outside. We've only had two wee wee accidents on the carpet which is better than I hoped for but I'm still thinking of investing in the Bissell Little Green because Slice throws up now at least once a week (a whole other issue).

The biggest issue is her incessant whining, crying, and barking when we leave her alone. I know it's hard for her being away from her siblings and mother but it's really taking a toll on everyone. The poor cat has pretty much restricted himself to the second floor. We've tried transitional objects with her like the heartbeat puppy bone. We turn it on when she goes in her crate to let her know it's alone time but she freaks out. I'm finding that she is freaking out more than she did on Friday and it doesn't last just 5 minutes. No it lasts a long time. I just don't know how to manage this behavior. Aside from that she's fine. She loves to play. She loves to snuggle by your feet and fall asleep. She loves dress up and going outside. It's just being alone that she hates. Any suggestions?

On a ttc note, it was a no go this time around. It's really interesting being on the other side of the stick. I find that although I'm disappointed, I'm not heartbroken like when I'm the person poas. However, I don't think I realized how Danielle was going to take it. I mean she's still a trooper and she knew statistically that it wouldn't happen on the first try but I think she's a little more bummed out about it than I expected. I stupidly didn't go in for my follie check on day of +opk because I took the test at 11am and in order to comply with my RE's rules, you have to test at 6:45am to get the same day testing. So I'll do it next month and we will continue with Danielle.

BBQ Weekend

Saturday: was awesome. My friend Tiffany and her husband Bill came over for the Jamaican themed bbq. With a few phone calls to my mum to find out how to make certain things, everything came out great. Pictured is the fish dinner with plantains. I didn't take a picture of the jerk chicken but it came out good as well. Tiffany made Berry Mojitos which were so delicious especially after we broke out the firepit and just enjoyed being outside. It was really nice to enjoy our hard work.

Sunday: Danielle's mom and sister came over for hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. I was so groggy from some medicine that I took last night that I wasn't exactly the social butterfly but I think they had a good time. Gracie came over for a day visit. It was the first time being away from her mom and siblings but she did good. I'm realizing how much work she's going to be. Slice wanted nothing to do with her and instead of sitting in the window like he usually does, he spent the afternoon sleeping upstairs.

TTC: Danielle is doing good. She's handling the tww like a champ. No anxieties, just waiting for me to hand her an htp when the time comes. Even though she would like to get a bfp this time around, she is surprisingly realistic that the chances of it happening the first time around are slim. Wow, I wish I had that same thought process back then.