A Pet's 10 Commandments...

Remember that they can't do a lot of things for themselves and that they depend on you to make their life a quality life!

A PET'S TEN COMMANDMENTS .. .

1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from you is likely to be painful.

2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.

4. Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainment, but I have only you.

5. Talk to me. Even if I don't understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me.

6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.

7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.

9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too, will grow old.

10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.

Take a moment today to thank God for your pets. Enjoy and take good care of them. Life would be a much duller, less joyful experience without God's critters.

We do not have to wait for Heaven, to be surrounded by hope, love, and joyfulness. It is here on earth and has four legs!

Things we will miss about Pocatello...

Holidays & BBQ's at the Wagners' house and all the friends that entails
Having a Shopko in the mall - that is just pure comedy!
The doctors and dentists we've put so much time into
Sunsets
Mink Creek
being 3 hours from Boise
working with the people I work with at PPD.
quick access to a chiropractor
good old Mongo
cell phone coverage!
Our first house together - we worked hard on getting it just like we like it!
the hottub - oh how we will miss thee!
a tiled in shower big enough for 2 people in our master bathroom
Maag's Pharmacy
Mama Inez (Cyndi)/Chapala's (Ed)
The WONDERFUL friends we've made

Things we are looking forward to about Powell...

In no particular order of course:

No mortgage
No phone bill
A fire pit in the yard
Dogs running free
No traffic around the house
No stairs for Garrett to fall down
Lots of fresh air
No blowing dust to contribute to allergies
Fresh fish on the BBQ
Painting new colors!
A new giant sectional couch that we can all snuggle up on
A king-sized bed
A mud room!!!
Putting up a basketball hoop at the end of our “driveway”
Being snowed in!!
Waking up to deer grazing in the yard
Listening to crickets when our windows are open at night
Never having to shovel snow
Our own ITD snowplows!!!
Being able to walk to water, even if we can’t swim in it
Mountain tops
Trees everywhere!
Home cooked meals & baking
A real 2 car garage
A proper dining room
QUIET whenever we want it!!!
Not having to ride our bikes uphill everywhere we go!
BDU’s
Clean drinking water from the tap
Limited exposure to the criminal element
Straight day shift!!!
Peeing off the back porch and not getting in trouble for it
No more pain in the arse box elder bugs!!!
No sales tax when we're shopping
4 wheelers!!!
A level driveway (like that one Ed?)
Home schoolin the monkey
being a stay at home mom
finishing school

Happy 3 months my little Garrett bug! You mean the world to me and your daddy. I can't even remember what my life was like before you came into it. I wished upon a star, and here you are. Thanks for picking me to be your mommy!!!

Out damned cold...OUT!

Well it's official - Garrett's had his first illness. Somehow him and I caught a cold last Tuesday and while he's getting much better, I seem to have fallen into cold hell and can't get myself out! :) It was so sad to watch him struggle to breathe through his nose and no matter how much I told him he could breathe through his mouth he never really "got it." After a couple of days he developed the saddest and most pitiful little cough I've ever heard. But thanks to the power of Mom snuggles, steam showers, baby Vicks, and Motrin - he's doing much better! :) My goal is to make sure I don't bring anything else home to him ever again. Good goal huh? It could happen. Goodness knows I don't want to be sick anymore. Well since I just got back from maternity leave I only had a small amount of sick/vacation time saved up. It wasn't enough to cover the time off I had to take. So my next paycheck is not going to have a full 80 hours on it. It's been awhile since that happened but it sure makes me thankful for what sick/vacation time I have had!

About the time I was whining and crying about being sick, and not having much for sick leave to take, I get my first ever (in the 12 years I've been eligible) jury summons. It's for the middle two weeks of October. I can't afford to take the time off unpaid!!! The sick part is - I want to do jury duty! I've never done it. I'm sure between the financial hardship, my work, Ed's work, and the fact that I'm breastfeeding I'll be able to get out of it - but doggone it! Bad timing!!!

Y'all will be proud of me for doing something brave, though heartbreaking, the other day. I packaged up all of Garrett's newborn gowns and sent them off to a wonderful woman I met online who is expecting her first little boy (she had two girls) in October. It was HARD to let those go, realizing that he will never be able to wear them again. Granted, he hasn't been able to wear them for awhile now since he's a big boy - but I was able to at least look at them and remember how he used to swim in them. Now he's in big boy pajamas that button up and have dinosaurs and cowboys and all that good stuff all over them. Ssshhh...don't tell - but I had to keep one of the gowns and put it in a special place just for mom. I am happy to know that they are going to be used with love!

We have been so blessed by people who have sent us things for Garrett, and I really would love to send individual thank you notes out, but I have run behind in doing that. We have so many great friends and family members that care about this little boy, and boy can we feel it! In fact, Garrett's got a complete wardrobe all the way up to 24 months/2T (when I figure out what the difference is I'll let you know). Just yesterday a package showed up for Garrett - and it was his very own Great Aunty Linda handmade sweater. She knitted one just for him and Ed - it has the yellow "danger deer crossing" sign on it and matching buttons. It is so cute. The neat thing is that it will probably fit him next year. Garrett already inherited the sweaters that Linda made for Ben & Keith! So he's got lots of very special sweaters to last him for the next couple of years (if he slows down his growth pattern maybe).

Other than that, things are just ticking along for us! Ed goes to Boise for a week (next week) so I get to see what it's like to be a single mom. Not really but sort of. I hope he misses us but I also hope he gets some good restful sleep. He hasn't been getting a lot of that being on night shift. The week after he goes to Boise he switches to day shift and I go to night shift. This is a good thing since he's the day person and I'm the night person. During the month of October Garrett gets to hang out with Cami and her son Jordan for a couple of hours each day while Ed and I overlap - but I have no doubt that she will take awesome care of him! We were lucky to find someone so sweet and who has a lot of the same parenting ideas that we have!!!

We're about 95% sure that we'll be in North Idaho for Thanksgiving this year, and we're hoping to be up there for about a week. We will know more as the holiday draws near! Woohoo!!!

Whoops...sorry

I know the trip is out of order, but I think I'm coming down with a cold and I really don't feel like trying to fix it right now. You could always scroll down and work your way back up if you'd like it in some kind of chronological order! :) I think I'll take my two guys and go to bed early for a change! I hope you like all the pictures!!!

Going home to Daddy!!!

We had fun in Boise - but I'm glad we're going home. I missed my Dad!
Mommy and I went to Build-A-Bear and she made me a monkey. Mommy calls me Monkey so it was a good idea. Monkey stared at me on the drive home!

Cousins

My cousin Ben was nice and played with me a lot!!!

water baby!

family I met...

Aunt Heather (Hez) and my cousins Keith & Ben!

Uncle John is taking me to the pool! (at least that's where I hope he's taking me!) Cousin Keith

Cousin Ben. He stayed the night at the hotel with Mommy and me and he played and played with me. I can't wait until I'm big enough to play with him!!

Swimming!

Pool snuggling!Watch me kick!!!

Such a trusting little soul, he spent quite a bit of time in the pool. He never cried or even whimpered the whole time. I think he likes swimming!

So tired from all the swimming and watching his big cousins swim with their Daddy.

Here's how we hang at a hotel!

Garrett slept fairly well at the hotel. To me it was just weird being somewhere like that without Ed around. I didn't sleep as well having someone to protect, instead of being the protected one. Garrett is a good snuggler though - so I did get some sleeps!
Silly awake baby!

Fresh out of the shower!

That shower ust have been pretty rough - because he fell asleep shortly after getting out! He just wanted to rest up before his cousins came over to play!!!

Boise

I decided that it was time to introduce Garrett to his Uncle John, Aunt Heather, and cousins Been and Keith - so we went to Boise for the weekend. Because of a wiring problem with my new car we didn't get out of town until a little bit later than I'd hoped to. Garrett slept for about 2.5 hours of the 3.25 hour trip. And even when he woke up he hardly cried. We got into town, checked in at our hotel, and then went to John & Heather's house. We walked in the door to "Hey Mom - it's Aunt Cyndi and baby Garrett!" I guess Ben was ready and waiting for us!!! Uncle John took Garrett right away and snuggled him - Garrett liked that because Uncle John has scraggly facial hair and longer hair on his head - nice for him to grab hold of! :)

Since it was time for Ben and Keith to go to bed Garrett and I did not stay very long. We went back to the hotel for the night. I never considered how much harder it would be to lug stuff into a hotel on my own without having Ed too! I managed to get it all up to the room in one trip - so I was pretty proud of myself. I have come to rely on Ed (before baby even) so it's a challenge to I give myself every once in a while to do things on my own, especially with the baby.

Here's Garrett at about midnight the first night. I'm pretty sure this is the "I MISS MY DADDY!" face.

How to get a 2 1/2 month old to sleep 7+ hours...

Let them sleep with you. I know, I know a lot of you old fashioned folk are going to tsk tsk me on this - but...I needed some sleep dangit! The other night Garrett would not go to sleep and it was after 10 pm. I finally pulled him into bed with me (he's in a bed next to ours right now) and not only did he sleep, but he slept all the way until my alarm went off at 5 am. Oh my word it was heaven. I tried it again the next night, same result. Heck - if my alarm hadn't gone off I wonder how long he would have slept? Last night I put him to sleep in his bed again - and he had me up once in the middle of the night and again at 6:10 am. I had to take my car to the Ford dealership this morning so I had to get up with an alarm - and then he was up for the day. It's the uninterrupted sleep that I love the most!!!

He's been spitting up a lot more again lately. But again, I'm sure it's got something to do with my diet. I had a pizza with a garlic sauce on it = he puked like a mad man for 2 days. I drank a caffeine free pepsi (without even thinking about it) = he puked for a day. And of course anything I pumped was "infected" with the stuff that I ate, so now that all of that is gone he should settle back down again. Man oh man do I ever miss soda!!!

Garrett and I are going to Boise for this weekend and leaving Ed to get some good rest and some alone time. I'm going to go introduce Garrett to his cousins Ben and Keith, and to his Uncle John and Aunty Hez. I hope he doesn't puke on them.

Beautiful sleeping boy.

Playing in his BebePod chair. It helps to teach him to sit up - but it's not as much fun as Mom and Dad teaching him on the floor where the dogs can get to him!
He actually likes it - this is just one of his scowly faces because I was taking his picture.

Seriously - one of the most beautiful children I have ever seen.

He's a thumb sucker!!!

Garrett's new favorite thing is - his THUMB. Eek! At first I was freaked out because I don't want to have to break him of that habit in a couple of years. I'd rather break him of the binky habit since I can take a binky away. I can't take a thumb away (well I could but I'm pretty sure CPS might come to visit me). There are two schools of thought when it comes to thumb sucking, I've discovered. The first is people who say it's just fine because he's self-soothing and that he will outgrow it. Then there is the other school that believes you should never let it start and should continually take the thumb back out of his mouth. I am not sure which one we should follow.

We tried taking his thumb out for him, and he just pops it right back in. The self-soothing thing is kind of nice since he is not so good with the binky. Garrett uses my boob as a binky better than he uses the binky as a binky. So, opinions anyone?

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I thought I'd mention that Garrett has been receiving packages in the mail as well. Last week it was from my aunt Tami and uncle Kirk in Washington. They sent Garrett a fuzzy bunting that has dogs on it and little ears on the hood. I'd been shopping for one of these already - so it was awesome to get one! They also sent him the most luxurious minky and satin trimmed blanket. It's perfect for winter and it's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO soft. I asked Garrett if mommi could have it and he farted. I took that as a no.

Yesterday Garrett got a box from my great aunt Linda in Illinois. Inside was a baby blue colored prayer shawl. I'm not completely sure what a prayer shawl is or why I would put it on a baby boy, but just the fact that she made it with her own two sweet hands makes me love it. :) She included a bracelet which I assume is for me, since it's much too big for a baby.

I love that people gift my child. To have other people think that he is special enough to go out and pick something just from them to him, that just shows me he's loved by people who have never met him. Family (and friends) is a powerful thing!

I got tired of driving the truck...

So I went and bought a new (well new to me) car. It's the blazing copper colored 2007 Ford Edge (baby SUV that looks a lot like a Nissan Murano) with less than 15,000 miles on it. It's way better on gas mileage than the giant King Ranch F150 I've been driving around, and it's so much easier on me! I don't have to jump to get in or out of my new car, and best of all - I can get Garrett in and out with ease!!! It is a pretty nice car (0bviously or I wouldn't have bought it) and Ed is just happy that it's AWD. Ed made the dealership put all new tires on it, a 2" receiver hitch (it had a 1") and replace the back bumper (it was cracked).

Ed, being all guy that he is, decided that my orange car needed the new elk license plate, since it matches the car. Ha! So if an orange car pulls into your driveway - be prepared for Garrett and I to knock at your door!

Here is the type of car, but the color is different. It's not quite station wagon, not quite SUV. But it's quite Cyndi! I can't wait to girly it up a little bit - since I couldn't really do that with the truck as Ed might have a panic attack at the feminity. I'm at least going to get some girly car seat covers since I'm known to spill food on my seat while driving.

So sadly, we're saying goodbye to the Jeep. What a fun ride that was. We only used it hunting last fall, but it was a great ride that we found at a great price. If anyone is interested in it - it's in awesome shape and we'll make you a deal! :)

Gettin' out!

For some reason I've felt the need to get OUT of the house when Ed goes to work. So last week Garrett and I invited ourselves to the Rausch house (see post below this - Mongo is Mr. Rausch). Garrett got to see and play with Brianna and Cindi - and he loved it. He loves attention (that comes from his Dad, not me). As much as I love my little bug it was nice to share him with someone else for a little while. Then a couple of days ago I was driving to my friend Sara's house to return the swing she loaned us and I saw a woman I used to work with at Vickers - Schelly! We haven't seen her or her family in quite some time, and they hadn't met Garrett at all yet. So we stopped and invaded them for a little while. They are the sweetest family - her husband works for Fish and Game and she's a teacher at the local Lutheran school here in town. When we left Schelly's house we went to Sara's and saw her and her boys.

It's been nice to see people since I have a tendency to hermit myself and with Garrett it's that much easier to do! So thanks to those that let us stop in on you (if you're one of those mentioned above). It was GREAT to get to see you!!!

Gum graft hell...

On Wednesday of last week I had gum graft surgery done. Some of you might remember me getting that done last year. Well, not to be a big baby or anything, but this year was WAY worse. Last year we did 2 teeth, this year we did 5. My gums had receeded a ridiculous amount and that recession was probably helped along by my pregnancy. For those that don't know they take skin from the roof of the mouth and then sew it on the gum line in the hopes that it adapts and grows basically. I had that hard pink dental packing on until late on Thursday (yes, the day after the surgery) when it was knocked off by the lettuce I was eating. Sturdy and hearty stuff huh? I called the office but they didn't seem concerned. I wouldn't have been either if it wasn't that it HURT to put anything in my mouth (even liquid) and to have my lips resting on it. But I was basically told to tough it out.

After getting used to the very annoying palate protector (the palate is the roof of your mouth) choking me I got to experience the new gum tissue swelling into my braces and a lot of bleeding. Last night something woke me up, choking me, and I grabbed one of Garrett's clean burp rags and slept with that stuffed partially into my mouth. This morning I saw that it was a lot more blood. Heal faster please!!! Tomorrow I'm slated to get the stitches out but the palate is not even close to healed so the plastic protector (think really annoying retainer) stays in for awhile longer.

Ed couldn't take off the time to take care of me after surgery so his pal Robert (Mongo to some) helped us out. He came and watched Garrett so that I could take some pain medication and relax afterward. It was nice to have him there, even if I couldn't talk to him much. Garrett thinks Mongo is cool because he kind of looks like Daddy (i.e. dark haired, mustached, etc..). But Mongo smells like hound dogs, so that's a dead giveaway (haha - I know he reads this). Anyway, Mongo took good care of the bug for a couple of hours and then Garrett and I went to bed. I'd like to say I got lots of good healing sleep, but we all know that's not exactly possible with a 2 month old.

It's pretty painful today, so I might have them look at it. The stuff swelling up into my braces (i.e. between each little brace and under the wire) is really hurting. I have an appointment tomorrow to have my stitches out, so maybe I should just wait for that. And here's an apology to those around me who are exposed to my bad breath. I can only brush about 75% of my mouth and I know I can't be the most pleasant person to talk to right now (I am not supposed to use mouthwash for some reason). It's all for the greater good of my mouth though....so I can do this!!! Back to my applesauce and water. Jealous aren't you?

p.s. - Thanks to the swelling I did look like Marlon Brando in the Godfather. I hope I never grow an actual square jaw like that - it's not attractive on me.

Giving credit where credit is due...

I worked 10 hours on Saturday. I came home to a happy and clean baby and a husband who didn't look frazzled. The laundry was folded and dinner was on the stove. Impressive!!! I was so happy to see Garrett and snuggle him and smell his sweet little head. And of course I was happy to see my husband - I probably didn't tell him enough how much he helped me get thru that first day! When I'd text or email asking how things were he'd never give me a snippy reply - he'd just answer me. And he sent me a picture of Garrett waving hi to me. I kept busy at work and the day flew by quickly.

Then on Sunday I worked 13 hours (eek!). Ed had to run an errand for work (something to do with his patrol car) and Garrett would not fall asleep for him, so he brought him to me at work. I went to take Garrett out of his carseat and immediately noticed that on the front of his pants was a giant bear face. The bear face (and accompanying tags inside) go in the back. That gave me a good chuckle! I got him to sleep in less than 15 minutes and he slept in his carseat while I typed and Ed did his errand. Ed picked up lunch and brought it to me at work and we all sat and had lunch together! After I ate I fed Garrett and sent the two of them home. It feels SO good to know that they will be fine together. I knew that from the start - but seeing it for certain now just makes me feel that much better.

On a side note - another of my worries has been somewhat alleviated. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with Garrett's big eating tendencies. Well on Saturday I had to pump twice and I got about 20 ounces (3.5 bottles) and then on Sunday I pumped and I got about 24 ounces (4 bottles). Garrett only ate 2 bottles one day and 3 bottles the other day. So not only can I keep up - but I can still pump and put some away in the freezer. Go boobies!!!

And...I know Garrett hasn't forgotten who I am yet. As soon as I get home and take over from daddy, Garrett starts rooting around and/or sucking on my shoulder until I feed him. It's just another reminder of why I enjoy breastfeeding so much. It's a bond with my baby boy that no one else will ever have with him. It's just him and me working as a team!