An Ode to Bassets

As a result of the closet cleaning, I dug up a ton of old photos and had a good time sorting through them. I found this one of my good old friend Barney. He was a great dog. Man he stunk, but he had so much personality you couldn't help but love him. My parents made my brother and I wash him in a steel tub, outside, with cold water (as opposed to the indoor 'Doggy Wash' where I take Addie today, with warm water and a huge array of shampoos) . It was torture for all of us! He could howl like none other.

This description of Bassets pretty much sums them up. One of the many reasons I love Pioneer Woman - she has a huge heart for animals.

This being the Fur Factor and all, I thought it only appropriate to dedicate a post to Barney.

Progress!

See that? That is a (nearly) empty closet - a beautiful thing! This was one of those closets that spilled out and fell on top of you when you opened the door. With the baby gear pile growing I could no longer put off project closet. Bill also cleaned and organized the garage, a project that's been on hold over the 3 years he was busy with school, so we could relocate stuff out of baby boy's room. It feels so good to get organized.

Look at these gems I found... going through a box of stuff I collected at my gran's house a few years ago.

The bump - 20 weeks

There he is... my boy!

I'm still on cloud nine from being able to watch my baby boy for half hour on the ultrasound screen. He was moving so much and yet I can barely feel a thing! It's definitely surreal. The best part (aside from being able to call baby 'he' now) was the reassurance that he's healthy and growing on track. Seeing his little heart beating was truly amazing. From what I could see on the ultrasound pictures, he already looks like his Daddy too! Sorry for the awful quality of these pictures - they're pictures of pictures - but they're all I have and I have to brag. :) He's so cute, I already love him so much.

Sucking his thumb



Little feet



Profile




I think I'll go check out some cute boy stuff @ the baby stores today.

What I have to look forward to

I'm sure all you moms can relate!

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7148143/

Keeping the Faith?

Several recent blog posts by friends and strangers have got me thinking more about religion, denomination and church attendance. Not to mention the fact that I want my child(ren) to know who Jesus is and how much He loves them, except that I really have no clue what type of church environment we will choose... seeing as how we haven't gone to church in years, really (Heidi posed a question about this the other day). Bill and I have some soul searching to do.

It's been easy to put off, with Bill's random work schedule and our location - the church I've felt closest to calling 'home' is in North Seattle which isn't too far of a drive, but to get involved would require more frequent trips and I'm pretty burnt out on driving to be honest. Plus, I sometimes feel like I'm in a Christian bubble at work--which has positives and negatives--and that, along with Bible study has provided a certain level of spiritual nourishment. All really lame excuses, right? I think the time is ripe to put some more serious thought and prayer into this. I want our baby to baptized (or maybe, dedicated - that's a whole other conversation), which adds a bit more urgency to coming to some sort of decision. I think I'm dealing with a bit of what this guy expresses, which is decision based on what a church is not, or rather indecision being easy to prolong for the same reasons.

Bill is definitely leaning towards returning to the Catholic church. There are many things I appreciate and respect about Catholicism - it provided the foundation for my beliefs and understanding of Christ, I'm just not sure it's 'me' anymore. Then again I've always said that as long as the doctrine teaches the basics about Jesus, the rest is non-essential and therefore not worth fighting over. If that holds true, I could be happy in most Christian churches. What I could really do without is the judgement every denomination seems to have (or at least some of the people within them) about what makes someone a 'real Christian'.

I know this is rambling on... just had to pour out some initial thoughts on this. Would appreciate your thoughts too.

Doc appt. #3

Had my monthly doctor appt. today. Got to hear baby's heart beat and got my flu shot, so that's covered. I also learned that I've gained 12 lbs. In a little over 3 months. Sweet. I think you're only supposed to gain 5 or so in the first trimester so, woah, I was a little shocked. I feel pretty good though, I mean I'm walking a lot and am trying to eat healthy (despite the week or so where I went to the fair twice, indulged in cheeseburgers and KFC, etc. I think my hormones were raging. That was also before I watched Food Inc! Yikes. But I digress...) Doc said not to get too caught up in that, every woman's body is different and some gain a lot of weight early on, then plateau, others don't gain much for a long time then they gain a lot in a short period. It's all part of the journey.

We will learn the sex of baby Finnerty on Nov. 4. I wish this next month would fly by, I can't wait!