I swear someday I'll be able to catch up on actual life, not just post memes that make me laugh/ponder...

Yay for 3 months!

Gunner turned 12 weeks old on the 23rd.  We gave him his vaccinations, which was a disaster.  Thanks to me not reading the directions in their entirety.  He gets another one at 16 weeks and now I know how to do it right.  Poor kiddo screamed when we gave him the shot. 

He's kind of my buddy, can you tell?  Maybe because I'm the consistent person in this household?  I have read that heelers tend to grow close to one family member and are extra protective over that person.  I was hoping that person would be G but it's not going to be.  Because G is a complete spastic fool when it comes to the pup.  Most of the time I have to keep them separate because G gets going with laughing, running around, squealing, etc. and of course Gunner tries to herd him and he bites at him, etc. and gets as little crazy...like puppies do.  If G would just be more calm and quiet things would be a lot easier but he won't do it...he likes to rile up the puppy and then he wonders why I stop them from "playing" when G starts screaming because Gunner has bitten him.    

Gunner knows the sit command but he can't grasp the stay command.  He knows the lay down command and now I'm working on roll over once he's laid down.  I can't believe how easy it is for him to pick up commands this young.  Once the ice melts a little more I got him a few balls and a 30' training lead and I'm going to teach him to fetch.  That is going to be huge because I need more physical ways to wear him out. 

One thing he hasn't learned, still, is to not potty in the house.  He goes potty on command outside basically every time we take him out to potty but if we don't watch him he will still take off to a corner in the house and do his business.  He hasn't learned to tell us.  Very inconsistently he'll go to the door and sit down and look at us so I think the seed is there, I just haven't let it grow.  Likely because I can't watch him at all times so he's in the crate when he's in the house (thanks to not being trustworthy to not poop or pee on the carpet) or when G and him get to craziness.  I'm trying to give him some more freedom in the house so that when/if he starts to potty I can correct the behavior but that's hard for me to do.  I did go out and buy a SpotBot but more because I've been eyeballing one for awhile now anyhow.  So I'm prepared, it's just talking myself into giving him the leeway to mess up so I can show him the right thing to do. 

This is Gunner's dad, he's a red heeler.   

This is Gunner's mom, she's a blue heeler but you can see she has a little bit of red in her too.

I'm surprised but Gunner has absolutely no red in him.  His littermate sister was full red though. 

And of course cutie pie himself.  He takes after his momma huh?  He's holding his ears up about halfway now.  It is so goofy looking when he runs because just the upper half flops.  I massage his ears to encourage them standing but I know he'll get it on his own.  And besides, I like touching his velvety soft ears!  So all in all, great pup, learning and growing ridiculously fast.    

selectively social thanks to girls

Sssshhhh...no one tell on me but I have to admit to something. My feelings got hurt. Again. The "girls" around here all threw a girl party for another one of the girls. I didn't get invited. I didn't know anything about it until the 50+ year old neighbor asked me if I was going. Uh, no, apparently I'm not cool enough. 



I hate the games that girls play and this clique up here runs pretty strong. E tries to tell me it's because I don't go to them/approach them and I suppose he's right but I don't care. They still suck. Just like when they threw a baby shower and I didn't get invited. I miss my friends in Poky, they never unincluded (or is it disincluded?) me. 

doggy CPR

G is for guppy!

I signed G up for swim lessons at the Y.  Did I already talk about this here?  Regardless, today was his first lesson.  He was SO EXCITED about it and he'd been counting down.  

He was a good head taller than the other children.  And more advanced as far as what he'd do in the water.  He wanted to show the teacher everything he already knows how to do and it killed him to have to wait his turn.  He struggled with that.  But that's part of why we put him in swim lessons!  I hope to get him into some more activities with his peers.  It can really only benefit him.

There's no business like snow business

I'm actually quite surprised that something like this hasn't happened with G.  Yet.  I'm going to regret saying that aren't I?  We have a lot of snow, him and I are going to have to find something fun to do in it every day...for the next several months.  Snow.  And cold. 
*Sigh* is it July yet?

Man I think G would love this...except that he hates ice cream.  So I am not even going to bother because then I'll have to eat it all myself. 

Yes, this is directed at YOU.

I'll let him love me!

It's like she's talking right to me.  E has expressed something similar to this before...that he just wants to hug me, touch me, etc. when he comes home because he missed me.  I usually just roll my eyes and make a statement about something that needs to be done.  And his job can be an emotionally tough one so I should be much more conscious of making sure that my arms are his safe place to land and I don't push him away.  Because I know how that feels.

"Don’t push him away. If you do, I can guarantee there will come a day when your cold shoulders and eye rolling will have trained him to stay away."
http://www.whenathome.com/let-your-husband-love-you/

I get it. The kids have been climbing on you all day. One or both of your boobs have been exposed 87% of the day and you’re sick of being clawed at, sucked on, licked, punched, kicked, pulled, snotted on, cried on, spit up on, pooped on, and peed on. You’ve wiped butts and noses and counters and walls all day. You’ve battled attitudes and arched backs and Dora the Explorer since dawn and you’re tired. So. So. Tired. I know. I really really do.

I know you don’t want to be touched and for some reason, an innocent compliment can offend you. When he says, “You’re so pretty”, you think he’s mocking you because you’re in the yoga pants you’ve been wearing 4 days in a row and your hair is either falling out of your scalp or tied so tightly on top of your head that your eyebrows are permanently surprised. You think when he hugs you he’s just trying to do the thing that made all this chaos start in the first place and that ticks you off. Please. PLEASE. Listen when I say these things.

Stop. Take a breath. Recharge. Try again.

He’s been away at work all day. He’d much rather be with you. All of you. He’s missed your face, your voice, your smell, and your touch. He’s had to deal with whatever crap he has to deal with in order to provide for the family that he loves. He doesn’t enjoy walking out the door every morning, but he does. Every day. For you. For them.

He does think you’re pretty. He wouldn’t lie to you. He doesn’t need to say those things. But when he walks in the door and the first thing he sees is the love of his life, don’t convince yourself that he’s thinking about anything other than how absolutely beautiful you are. Cause guys are weird. Once they fall in love with you, there’s nothing you can wear, no amount of weight you can gain, and no lack of make up that will make them see you any differently. You are their love, their bride, and after he’s been at work all day, you are a sight for sore eyes.

So instead of rolling your eyes, huffing and puffing, throwing out gut kicking comments about how he has it easy, doesn’t understand, is lazy, a jerk, whatever comes to your beautiful stressed out brain… BREATHE. Look away from your day and see the man that won your heart.

Let your husband love you.

Because he needs to love you. As much as you need to receive the love he has for you, he needs to be received. He needs to be welcomed, embraced, and loved. Even if the last thing you want is to be touched or to hear how amazing you look when you feel insecure and disgusting. Let him love you. Don’t push him away. If you do, I can guarantee there will come a day when your cold shoulders and eye rolling will have trained him to stay away. There will be a day when you will need to be hugged and need to be reminded of how amazing you are and he won’t know how to tell you.

So suck up your pride, your anger, your frustration, and your crazy and just…be loved.

I need to remember this...

This boy of mine.

http://butterflywriterblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/17-things-boys-need-from-their-moms/

"...these children, deserve an intentional and consistent love, not a sporadic, implied one."http://domesticpirate.com/watching-her-walk-away/

So thankful for a future

It counts

Admit it, you laughed and nodded your head, didn't you?

what do you echo?

Lil' G learns to snow shoe

G and I took Lil' G out for a quick romp to burn some energy.  I think he liked it...except he kept sitting on my snowshoe like he wanted me to pick him up.  Too bad for him.

Our trip started because we found moose prints in the deep snow in our yard.  So we followed the tracks back into the woods.  They were older tracks but G didn't know that, he just wanted to see where they went.  We didn't find any moose but we did find where one of the moose had taken a leak.  Awesome right?  Blech.

Lil' G did pretty well but he's still such a little thing.  The bigger he gets the more confident he'll be out in this great big wide world we live in!

Laugh with, never at

No more yelling! (just because it's an exclamation point doesn't mean I'm yelling it!)

Holy wow this is a great article on yelling!

Really, read it.  I did.

It's love

I wish love was unconditional between spouses, but it's just not.  But it is love just the same.  Is that okay?  And I'm glad we haven't stayed the same as the way we were at first.  There's something to be said for familiarity and growing together as a unit.  I still get fireworks when he kisses me but not every time.  My heart pitter patters when he enters a room and I still have a rush of anticipation when he comes home from being away.  But I do have basic conditions for loving him.  Like that he never hurts me physically.  If he hurt me he didn't meet that condition and I wouldn't necessarily love him anymore.

I remember my love always being unconditional with G.  Right from the start.  And especially overwhelming when he was younger.  But it feels like the older he gets, the more it's conditional.  On his part more than mine.  That's what this post is actually about.  Why does it change as we get older I wonder?

He's very much into telling us, "I don't love you/like you anymore," when we tell him no or won't let him have something, etc...  I know he doesn't "mean" it but what if he really does and I'm just trying to assuage my poor tender heart?  It's hurtful to say things like that and he knows it's hurtful, that's why he says it.  So he hurts me intentionally.  That's not cool.  How do I fix this?  Just don't react?  I try not to let it bother me but sometimes it just does.

I'm so looking forward to the day when G goes back to just loving us like we love him.

Dear Senor Skywalker,

G asked E for helping writing a letter...to his friend Luke Skywalker.  Ever heard of him?  They typed it out on the computer because neither of them felt like writing it out.  G said what to type and E typed it for him.  They make a pretty good team, eh?

Dear Luke Skywalker

Can you bring R2 and C3PO and Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon to my house? Don’t forget to watch out for Darth Vader and the Death Star. Don’t let Obi Wan Ben Kenobi die.

Don’t forget you have Anakin’s light saber. And can you bring more droids too. Come to my home tonight please.

My name is G******, I am a great Pod Racer pilot. Can I be your Padawan? Will you teach me to be a Jedi Knight? I want to help you destroy Darth Vader and save the Republic.

Anakin has gone to the Dark Side. Please save Princess Leia. Watch out for Darth Sidious he is a mean person. Move quick so you don’t get shot down. May the Force be With YOU!~!

Gimme some more Vitamin D!

More sunshine, please!  Even when we try to chase the sunshine we can't catch it!  I make it a point to get outside and get our Vitamin D the natural way every day but up here some days there isn't much for sunshine.  It's amazing how much it improves our mood.