Natalie Checks Her E-Mail

Natalie is a very technologically-savvy pug, although she doesn't like people to know it.  She tries to maintain this image of a sweet girl who may not be the brightest but whose heart is always in the right place.  In reality, she is indeed very sweet, but she's actually somewhat of a pug prodigy.  She loves computers and technology.  As evidence of this, while she was unaware that I was around, I managed to get this picture of her checking her e-mail. She later admitted that she checks her e-mail regularly but that no one really sends her any e-mail at her e-mail address, nataliethepug@gmail.com.  Regardless, she indicated that it gives her satisfaction to know she's the smartest pug, as Terrence is still confused as to where the "Any" key is. 

Meeting Callie

Our friend Callie may be our busiest friend at the moment because she was in school full-time this semester and also has four foster kids plus her son Vincent right now. So it has been awhile since we have seen her, but now that finals are over she was able to stop by and meet Clara and chat for awhile.

Blackout

When we moved to our new house, we were surprised that Comcast was the only internet provider.  SureWest had infiltrated much of Kansas City, but not where we lived.  Apparently they're rectifying that now, as they're in the neighborhood installing and digging.  However, perhaps not coincidentally, our power (and the power of many of our neighbors) went out tonight.  It was out for about an hour, came back on, and was then out for another half hour.  Power outages were fun when I was a kid in Alaska, but now that I have to ensure my wife and children stay warm and safe and I have to think about a house with freezers and refrigerators, the outages don't seem quite as fun as they did in the past.

Sharing a Snack

Joshua likes most of the food that he's given.  But he also likes whatever food someone else happens to have.  Recently I bought some apples, and Joshua saw me eating one, and he wanted some.  So I let him take a bite out of it.  He's still learning how to take bites off of food, but he did it, and he liked it a lot.  Since then, every time I'm eating an apple, he really wants it.  As I was on my way out the door to work today, I was eating an apple but was carrying it in my mouth since my hands were full.  Joshua saw it and really wanted it, so I knelt down and let him take a bite out of the opposite side.  He loved it and was happy to get a small bite of apple as a bonus morning snack.  Natalie, who also likes apples, looked on enviously.

An Evening With Talking Vegetables

Tonight we decided to have a family movie night. The ones we tried in Colombia didn't go all that great (partly due to us thinking it would be reasonable to give those kids pop in the evening. Lesson learned.).  Joshua is old enough now that he can watch things on TV if we choose to let him.  Because it's the Christmas season, Meghan ordered Veggie Tales: The Little Drummer Boy for us to watch as our family movie.  It was actually pretty good, and it was long enough to be a movie, but not so long that Joshua quit paying attention.  He especially enjoyed the separate song they did in the middle of the movie, which caused him to break out his little baby dance moves.  Clara didn't seem to get as much out of it, due to her being sound asleep the entire time, but we didn't blame her.  The pugs had the same plan, though Terrence woke up briefly to pose for this picture.

A Phone of His Own

Joshua has always wanted his own cell phone. I got him one of those Fisher Price ones and he isn't impressed at all. Christine recently upgraded her phone and gave him the old one. He still wants our phones since they have service and apps and things, but he does like this new phone way better than his toy one.

A Pug Trip

Today all three pets went to the vet, but Alex needed some lab work so Jason took him in the morning. Then in the afternoon, I drove Terrence and Natalie. It was rainy, which is unfortunate for my car interior, but also for Terrence who thinks the windshield wipers might be pug-beating devices. Every single time. So not the most fun afternoon for anyone, but it had to be done and we are glad to have it taken care of for the next six months.

Tending to the Livestock

Joshua got a new farm toy for his birthday from Julie and Andrew, and he loves it.  He likes to put the animals inside, though not necessarily in the right place.  He's not afraid to force the poor horse to live in the chicken coop.  Animal rights violations aside, he's a pretty good farm owner.  

A Temporary Change in Diet

Last night I needed to feed the dogs their dinner, but we didn't have any more dogfood in the kitchen. We buy our pet food at Costco in really large bags, so I went down to the basement to refill the kitchen supply and realized we were actually completely out of dogfood. It really didn't work to wake Joshua up and run to Walmart in the middle of the night so I plan to do that today. But our dogs get breakfast at 7:30am. Since we had no dogfood, they got catfood for breakfast. They seemed to really enjoy it (well Terrence doesn't chew his food so it's hard to tell, but Natalie really seemed to like it more than her normal food) so I guess it was an okay one-time thing. It made me feel like a bad pet-owner though.

Friends From Up North

Our friends Mike and Jenny were in town this weekend.  They live in Minnesota now, so we rarely get to see them.  We invited them over to our house for dinner, and we had a great meal (thanks to Meghan, of course).  They are expecting a baby in a few months, so perhaps next time we see them Joshua will have a new friend.

Finding New Resting Places

One of the highest priorities for our dogs is to lie in comfortable places.  Usually that involves sleeping on the couch right next to a person who's sitting on it.  Today I noticed Terrence lying somewhere he doesn't normally lie: on Meghan's shoulder.  It appeared that he was trying to help Meghan do her work on her laptop, except he couldn't keep his eyes open.  But I'm guessing he wasn't going to be a significant contributor anyway, so it's probably just as well that he slept.

First Birthday as a Daddy

Today was the uncommon occurrence where my birthday fell on a Saturday, which was nice because I didn't have to worry about work interfering.  In addition, we had no major plans, so we got to spend the day relaxing and hanging out in our new house.  As an added bonus, K-State played in the evening and thrashed Kent State 37-0.  For my birthday, Joshua got me a new wallet, and Meghan got me a new camera, which I needed because my old one could no longer zoom.  We still have our nice one for home use, but I need a smaller point-and-shoot one to take with me when I travel.

A Good Day

Once a week Joshua goes to the Becks in the afternoon. Mainly I use this time to enjoy being alone because, though I love being a mom, I also love being alone and it's the thing I miss the most from my life before kids. Sometimes I have to work or run errands during this time. Today I went to the grocery store, but I still had a couple hours so I read a book. My resolution this year was to read 12 books and watch 6 movies. I have seen 5 movies so far this year so I will definitely make it to 6, but I have only read 6 books so I need to focus on that. Today I read number 7, Sarah's Key. I found some parts of the book very compelling and other parts very chick litty and I am not a chick lit fan at all. But I am glad I read it and had a very enjoyable day. The weather was wonderful so I read most of it outside, but I didn't think to get a picture of that, so here I am finishing it up inside.

A New Way to Roll

Today we went on a walk to enjoy the weather and Joshua rode in his new bike. He seemed to enjoy it, though his is a little on the short side so his feet weren't quite long enough for the foot rests.

Crammed

Usually when I feed Joshua at night in his chair, Natalie likes to sit with us.  There's plenty of room in the chair for the three of us.  Tonight Terrence decided he wanted to be part of the group, so he joined us as well.  That made for a crowded chair as the four of us all tried to find some space.  Alex's normal spot of the top of the back of the chair was available, but I think there was a bit too much doggage nearby for his liking, so he stayed away.

Plenty of Fiber

So in the two weeks we were gone, Joshua somehow became a toddler. He can't walk yet, but he is totally different than he was before and absolutely into everything. This is him right after he got into the cabinets and spilled dog food all over the floor. Terrence and Natalie ate it all up, except for two pieces, one of which is in his hand and one of which is in his mouth. I believe that explains the weird look on his face. Not my favorite moment of the day. I am really debating whether I should just not allow him to play in the kitchen for the next 35 days or if it's worth the effort to put locks on all the rest of the cabinets and drawers. I am leaning towards the former, though it's difficult if I am cooking and Jason isn't home. Last time I childproofed, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It definitely involved a drill and that seems really unappealing.

All Together Again

Today we went to go pick up the pets from Ron and Peg, who were nice enough to watch all three while we were away. We have a rental car right now since mine is still in the shop and Jason's won't fit everyone so this is in our RAV4 as we got home from Lawrence. It was really nice to have all the pets there and sleep in our own beds with everyone in their normal places.

Next time we'll spell it

I like Joshua to get outside most days because I want him to like being out there. So today I decided we would walk to the park and see if he enjoyed it. So I said, "Joshua, do you want to go on a walk?" And then the dogs went crazy. We rarely walk them, but apparently they still know what that means. So they were too excited for me to feel good about telling them no so we went on a short walk all together. Short because Natalie cannot heel (I used the same training method as I did with Terrence who is a good heeler, but she just didn't take to it at all) and didn't understand what was so wrong about walking in front of the stroller. Here is a photo of the chaos I walked with.

Once we put the dogs back in the house, Joshua and I went back to the park and tried the swing and the slide. He liked the swing, though he is small enough that I don't feel totally comfortable with him in that swing. The slide, even though it is plastic, was a little hot for him to enjoy so maybe we will try that again on a cooler day.

First Father's Day

Today was my first Father's Day as a father. I figured it would be nice, but it really was even better than I expected. Meghan, Joshua, Terrence, Natalie, and Alex all collaborated to each put their respective hand and paw prints on an art project they made for me, which turned our really nicely despite our apparently uncooperative pets. And I had some time to hang out with my little son, which was great, as he has his cute little personality that makes it fun for us to spend time together. I spent a lot of time just looking at him and thinking about how much God blessed us and me with him. It's been a great day, and I'm so happy to have that little guy as such a big part of my life.

Our House is a Zoo, But We Like It

Today is a challenging day because the day before I have company I always cook as much as possible and do all my prep work so that I can enjoy myself when people are here. It works really well, but it's hard to do all my cooking and baking while also watching a baby. He used to be endlessly entertained by the exersaucer, but now he only likes it for 20 min or so and then wants to get out and move around. So what I do now is confine him to the kitchen and let him crawl around with the tupperware because he loves tupperware for some reason and between that and crawling through the exersaucer, he stays out of trouble for quite awhile. Terrence and Natalie walk around behind him trying to get his feet. It's a cooking experience with a lot of potential for tripping, but I still find it very rewarding.