Tuesday, April 24, 2012
i'm baaaaack :)
so let me share my latest adventure with you. one morning i woke up burping nonstop. like nonstop. it was the oddest thing. my stomach was bloated and hurt SO bad. i was taking gas-x like candy. fast forward to a few days later, i was admitted to the hospital with 2 bowel obstructions! had emergency surgery and spent a week there. long story short, if something odd happens to your body, probly best to check it out with your doctor. that was no fun at all.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
being a dog mama
i've talked about the newest addition to our family, masey beatrice. she was born on october 30th and she's a golden retriever. so here is what i've learned about dog ownership and everything involved. and as a friendly reminder, always know my way isn't the right way. it's just my way ;)
so we started with researching a breed of dog that is good with kids and such. yahoo has a cute dog finder quiz. after that we let the decision set a few months. yes, months :) then we started the task of dog shopping. i found a breeder that was in kansas and i fell in love with a boy puppy she had. we were communicating through email while the puppies were getting old enough to be sold. i started getting a bad feeling when she became consumed with the money. on top of the deposit she wanted the full price of the dog paid for before we got her. that's a big red flag. what if she wasn't even a read breeder or if the dog was sick the day we got there? all that stuff ya know. so---i totally backed out and got my deposit back. this was hard because it was only a few days before she was supposed to be picked up but i went with my gut.
so then began the task of shopping again. this is not easy. so i thought of a pet store. well, for years everyone knew to avoid pet stores because the dogs often came from puppy mills and purchasing them there supported this. but then i wondered what if things had changed? so i went and checked out a pet store here locally. wow sums up a lot of it. the golden retriever puppies they had came from a local breeder that you could call and go meet, and look around the property. you could also meet the mama and daddy dog as they were also on site. there in the pet store were tons of pics of all of this also.
so with the price of masey this is what was included. a 3 year health guarantee, 2 sets of shots and deworming, 1 month of heartworm preventive and flea & tick preventive, and a free visit to the vet they use for an overall check. she also came with a pedigree and a microchip. a puppy starter kit of the food she was on, collar and leash, kennel (it was huge i love it) puppy shampoo, bitter apple that you spray on things they shouldn't be chewing on, odor neutralizer for accidents on the floor, a bottle of potty training aid that you spray on the grass where you want them to go, tiny treats to reward them for not going potty in the house and a furminator brush (which is fabulous by the way). so yea, i felt good about this and bottom line, don't those puppies need homes too? yes they do :) so that day we came home with masey and they even took a pic of her & blake and put a big pink bow around her neck :))
so another thing i liked is that when we took her for that free health visit at the vet they found that she had 1 type of worm. well, the pet store paid for the meds to treat it and the follow-up visit to make sure it was gone. i liked that. i have to say i would recommend this route to others because it has been all positive.
my potty training method has been simple. she goes out every 30 to 45 minutes, all day long. she barely has time to have an accident this way. in the beginning she also had regular feeding times so we knew when she would poop and we took her water up by 9. the kennel has been a necessity. when we leave she goes in there and there's no worry about her chewing things etc. her kennel has always been a positive place since we brought her home. it's never used as punishment and has toys and a super soft comfy cushion. when i feed the kids she goes in there. that eliminated her jumping on the high chair for food and begging the kids nonstop. and then she goes in it at night to sleep. my initial plan was to baby gate her in the kitchen for times like that but when the kennel came with her i used it and it has been plain awesome. she has had accidents which we expected. the odor neutralizer is great so my house doesn't smell like pee. also i'm fortunate to have a carpet cleaner and the pet formula cleaners also take the smell away and that helps with muddy paws, too. when she went outside she got lots of praise. and she's a big breed of dog, she needs to run a lot of times to poop. with 3 small boys i can't just jot outside and let her run around so i got the longest retractable leash they made. i can stand on my patio with the kids and she can run run run. yes, i pick up her poop and i even own cute pink bags to pick it up with. we've gone 2 weeks without an accident and her food and water are left down all the time. i think we are making great progress.
goldies are very smart dogs. i bought her a super tough basket at target where all her toys are kept. she knows anything in there is safe and everything else is a no-no. we had trouble areas like with the carpet where it attached to the tile. the bitter apple spray fixed that. you spray it down and they don't like the taste. it took several times but she has left it alone for over a month now. she has tons of stuff to teeth on. tons. i think that has saved my furniture, that along with the kennel, so she is never unattended to chew on something she shouldn't have.
i've had a lot of patience. a lot. puppies don't know they shouldn't jump on you etc. i have 3 or 4 books on golden retrievers alone, plus general books on dogs.
masey is very faithful with the boys, sawyer especially. he is my youngest, only 1. she doesn't leave their side. i really look forward to how she is with them as an adult. she has so much patience for them. pulling hair, stepping on, as those things she just goes with the flow.
several nights she has slept in bed with me and i love that she cuddles. the only reason it isn't every night is because i don't think she is 100% potty trained and lord knows i would have a fit if she peed in my bed and it wouldn't be her fault. my goal is to have a dog who sleeps with me every night though :)
her shots are all done for a year and she has been spayed. i'll share what i decided to do with her vet care. i go through banfield at petsmart and i purchased their wellness plan. the way it works is you pay $30 a month for a year and that includes everything preventative. it also includes her to be spayed! the idea of the plan is to take the cost of what you'll spend the first year of your pet's life and break it up over monthly payments. i love it because i never had to worry when she was due for shots etc. because there was no money due. or when she was spayed, how awesome that everything was included and it was as simple as making an appointment. next year i doubt i'll renew, because hopefully she'll only need her boosters. for the first year though when things are so expensive it really is a great idea. the staff is wonderful, always calling to check on her etc. petsmart has really become one of our favorite places with her.
i have her on blue buffalo dog food. yep, it's pricey but here's the thing. she poops less, she sheds less, her hair is beautiful and shiny and eats SO much less. i think the money comes close to being the same when you compare how much of the cheaper dog food you go through because they eat so much and just poop it right out lol.
the furminator brush is awesome. we only use it after a bath and it pulls out handfulls of hair. and i kid you not, you will not find dog hair on my furniture, it works that great!!!!
i could go on and on about sweet masey but i must go make dinner. this is just a lil window into my life as a doggie mama :)))
so we started with researching a breed of dog that is good with kids and such. yahoo has a cute dog finder quiz. after that we let the decision set a few months. yes, months :) then we started the task of dog shopping. i found a breeder that was in kansas and i fell in love with a boy puppy she had. we were communicating through email while the puppies were getting old enough to be sold. i started getting a bad feeling when she became consumed with the money. on top of the deposit she wanted the full price of the dog paid for before we got her. that's a big red flag. what if she wasn't even a read breeder or if the dog was sick the day we got there? all that stuff ya know. so---i totally backed out and got my deposit back. this was hard because it was only a few days before she was supposed to be picked up but i went with my gut.
so then began the task of shopping again. this is not easy. so i thought of a pet store. well, for years everyone knew to avoid pet stores because the dogs often came from puppy mills and purchasing them there supported this. but then i wondered what if things had changed? so i went and checked out a pet store here locally. wow sums up a lot of it. the golden retriever puppies they had came from a local breeder that you could call and go meet, and look around the property. you could also meet the mama and daddy dog as they were also on site. there in the pet store were tons of pics of all of this also.
so with the price of masey this is what was included. a 3 year health guarantee, 2 sets of shots and deworming, 1 month of heartworm preventive and flea & tick preventive, and a free visit to the vet they use for an overall check. she also came with a pedigree and a microchip. a puppy starter kit of the food she was on, collar and leash, kennel (it was huge i love it) puppy shampoo, bitter apple that you spray on things they shouldn't be chewing on, odor neutralizer for accidents on the floor, a bottle of potty training aid that you spray on the grass where you want them to go, tiny treats to reward them for not going potty in the house and a furminator brush (which is fabulous by the way). so yea, i felt good about this and bottom line, don't those puppies need homes too? yes they do :) so that day we came home with masey and they even took a pic of her & blake and put a big pink bow around her neck :))
so another thing i liked is that when we took her for that free health visit at the vet they found that she had 1 type of worm. well, the pet store paid for the meds to treat it and the follow-up visit to make sure it was gone. i liked that. i have to say i would recommend this route to others because it has been all positive.
my potty training method has been simple. she goes out every 30 to 45 minutes, all day long. she barely has time to have an accident this way. in the beginning she also had regular feeding times so we knew when she would poop and we took her water up by 9. the kennel has been a necessity. when we leave she goes in there and there's no worry about her chewing things etc. her kennel has always been a positive place since we brought her home. it's never used as punishment and has toys and a super soft comfy cushion. when i feed the kids she goes in there. that eliminated her jumping on the high chair for food and begging the kids nonstop. and then she goes in it at night to sleep. my initial plan was to baby gate her in the kitchen for times like that but when the kennel came with her i used it and it has been plain awesome. she has had accidents which we expected. the odor neutralizer is great so my house doesn't smell like pee. also i'm fortunate to have a carpet cleaner and the pet formula cleaners also take the smell away and that helps with muddy paws, too. when she went outside she got lots of praise. and she's a big breed of dog, she needs to run a lot of times to poop. with 3 small boys i can't just jot outside and let her run around so i got the longest retractable leash they made. i can stand on my patio with the kids and she can run run run. yes, i pick up her poop and i even own cute pink bags to pick it up with. we've gone 2 weeks without an accident and her food and water are left down all the time. i think we are making great progress.
goldies are very smart dogs. i bought her a super tough basket at target where all her toys are kept. she knows anything in there is safe and everything else is a no-no. we had trouble areas like with the carpet where it attached to the tile. the bitter apple spray fixed that. you spray it down and they don't like the taste. it took several times but she has left it alone for over a month now. she has tons of stuff to teeth on. tons. i think that has saved my furniture, that along with the kennel, so she is never unattended to chew on something she shouldn't have.
i've had a lot of patience. a lot. puppies don't know they shouldn't jump on you etc. i have 3 or 4 books on golden retrievers alone, plus general books on dogs.
masey is very faithful with the boys, sawyer especially. he is my youngest, only 1. she doesn't leave their side. i really look forward to how she is with them as an adult. she has so much patience for them. pulling hair, stepping on, as those things she just goes with the flow.
several nights she has slept in bed with me and i love that she cuddles. the only reason it isn't every night is because i don't think she is 100% potty trained and lord knows i would have a fit if she peed in my bed and it wouldn't be her fault. my goal is to have a dog who sleeps with me every night though :)
her shots are all done for a year and she has been spayed. i'll share what i decided to do with her vet care. i go through banfield at petsmart and i purchased their wellness plan. the way it works is you pay $30 a month for a year and that includes everything preventative. it also includes her to be spayed! the idea of the plan is to take the cost of what you'll spend the first year of your pet's life and break it up over monthly payments. i love it because i never had to worry when she was due for shots etc. because there was no money due. or when she was spayed, how awesome that everything was included and it was as simple as making an appointment. next year i doubt i'll renew, because hopefully she'll only need her boosters. for the first year though when things are so expensive it really is a great idea. the staff is wonderful, always calling to check on her etc. petsmart has really become one of our favorite places with her.
i have her on blue buffalo dog food. yep, it's pricey but here's the thing. she poops less, she sheds less, her hair is beautiful and shiny and eats SO much less. i think the money comes close to being the same when you compare how much of the cheaper dog food you go through because they eat so much and just poop it right out lol.
the furminator brush is awesome. we only use it after a bath and it pulls out handfulls of hair. and i kid you not, you will not find dog hair on my furniture, it works that great!!!!
i could go on and on about sweet masey but i must go make dinner. this is just a lil window into my life as a doggie mama :)))
Sunday, April 1, 2012
too heavy to tip ahahahaha
really this is too cute. i bought these awesome automatic food and water dog feeders. there is even a filter for the water. it's easy to clean the little trays without removing the entire jug/container and really just a lot of positive things. i picked them both up on sale at petsmart so i only spent around $20 each.
here's the thing, though. shamefully i did not buy these for all the reasons mentioned above. i bought them because they are too heavy for my 1yo to tip over lol. i love it. he still can put little pieces of food in the water or action figures will take a swim in it, but lemme tell you he can't tip them over and that is the b.e.s.t. this mom could ask for. i can't tell you how many times i've mopped and mopped and mopped freakin water or swept swept swept food. hallelujah :)
here's the thing, though. shamefully i did not buy these for all the reasons mentioned above. i bought them because they are too heavy for my 1yo to tip over lol. i love it. he still can put little pieces of food in the water or action figures will take a swim in it, but lemme tell you he can't tip them over and that is the b.e.s.t. this mom could ask for. i can't tell you how many times i've mopped and mopped and mopped freakin water or swept swept swept food. hallelujah :)
i must warn you it's 3am and i can't sleep at all. i gotta lay off the diet coke with lime! so i thought i'd blog a little and then try to sleep. so today, boys and girls, let's talk about keeping all your mommy papers together in one place. all kinds of papers. where do i begin?
~~important mail, things you need to mail, stamps, envelopes, note cards, you get it
~~shopping lists and menu plans, very useful because you can go back and see what you made for dinner over the weeks when you need new ideas
~~coupons you plan to use sooner than later
~~journaling, just whatever the heck you feel like writing
~~cleaning instructions, yes i do this. when i tell blake to clean his room, i want it done the right way and he knows to go to mom's pink notebook to get instructions on everything from not only his room but cleaning my car and the patio
~~papers for school that i need to sign/read/review===school calendars
~~appointments, addresses
okay surely you get the point. but you gotta not only be organized, you have to make it fun. i write with my 80's sharpies. my pink notebook and billions and billions of compartments for everything from my highlighters to paperclips to speaker holders for my ipod.
i love the dividers with pockets and the clear protective covers. did you know you can write on those with a dry erase marker and wipe them clean? so you could have your own personal calendar that you just wipe clean every month. alright i'm tired so let's get to the pics lol :)
~~important mail, things you need to mail, stamps, envelopes, note cards, you get it
~~shopping lists and menu plans, very useful because you can go back and see what you made for dinner over the weeks when you need new ideas
~~coupons you plan to use sooner than later
~~journaling, just whatever the heck you feel like writing
~~cleaning instructions, yes i do this. when i tell blake to clean his room, i want it done the right way and he knows to go to mom's pink notebook to get instructions on everything from not only his room but cleaning my car and the patio
~~papers for school that i need to sign/read/review===school calendars
~~appointments, addresses
okay surely you get the point. but you gotta not only be organized, you have to make it fun. i write with my 80's sharpies. my pink notebook and billions and billions of compartments for everything from my highlighters to paperclips to speaker holders for my ipod.
i love the dividers with pockets and the clear protective covers. did you know you can write on those with a dry erase marker and wipe them clean? so you could have your own personal calendar that you just wipe clean every month. alright i'm tired so let's get to the pics lol :)
cute huh?
love the folders that are built in!!
dividers that also have pockets :)
cute colorful tabs
just an example of things that can be put in the notebook when you're done with them for the week. when it's shopping day it's nice to refer back.
just for cutes my sharpies :) oh how it's so much more fun to write ;)
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