Monday, March 30, 2009

We Moved!

In May 2005, days after our April 30 wedding, we moved into a tiny guest house overlooking Lake Hodges. It was no more than 150 square feet with a bedroom/living room, kitchenette and tiny bathroom. It was all we needed for just the two of us. All our stuff didn't fit inside, so we kept two giant Rubbermaid storage bins outside. Little did we know we'd live there for almost 4 years. We called it our little hobbit hole and loved to go outside and enjoy the sunshine sparkling on the lake. What a view! After I got pregnant, we knew it was too small to hold three people, so we decided to move in with my family a few minutes away. Since we go and visit all the time, it was like a second home. After going back and forth decided where exactly we would live in the house, my parents made the decision to build a bedroom in the garage. It's a three-car garage so one-third of it would be turned into a bedroom. Since they are already remodeling their kitchen, they couldn't get started on the room until one week before we were scheduled to move in. So, the room is half-built, our stuff is piled in boxes and bags in the garage next to the "room" and we are sleeping in the living room. But, it sure is nice to have the move over with. We rented a 14-foot Uhaul truck and it took us almost 90 minutes to load all our stuff into the truck. We lived downstairs, so everything had to be carried upstairs and through the very narrow walkway to the driveway. When we arrived at the house, lo and behold, another family that we knew was just arriving, so we put them to work and voila! 20 minutes off the truck and into the garage. Tomorrow we go back and clean our little guest house. How exciting (not.)


I love how it looks like a little fairy-tale cottage


The view of the lake this morning when we were almost done moving


How much stuff can one couple have?


Jared "helping"


Barely fit it all in a 14' truck


Off we go


Everything piled in the garage

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Ode to good pets

The following post is cheesy, sentimental and depressing. Some may be touched, some may be grossed out. At the risk of sounding selfish, this is my blog, not yours. And this is something I feel the need to post.

Almost 2 years ago, I adopted 2 baby rats (they were born in April and I adopted them in May.) They were sisters and I named them Sugar and Cookie (cheesy, I know.) Sugar had smooth tan hair and Cookie had rough (curly) white hair with tan spots. Since I didn't have my own child, their purpose was to be my "babies" and to keep me company. They were so sweet and brought me so much joy and happiness. They were "dumbo" rats - they had extra big ears! Their favorite food was cream cheese. They came when called and loved when I let them out of their cage so they could run around. One time, Cookie pushed open the cage, walked out, climbed up on my bed and sniffed my face, waking me up. The funny thing was, it was exactly one minute before my alarm was scheduled to go off. I thought it was so cute! About a year ago, Cookie developed a tumor (very typical with rats) and Sugar developed one a few months later. They were still very active even though their tumors grew at an alarming rate. On December 30, 2008, I came home to find Sugar had passed away. Even though Cookie was sicker longer, Sugar's tumor grew much faster. I was left with only Cookie and she was so good to me. In the last couple weeks, she grew weaker and weaker and I expected her to go anytime. (Actually, I had been expecting her to go for months and was surprised when Sugar went first.) I knew it was time to let her go since I was having a harder time taking care of her because of my pregnancy and our move coming up. Also, she was in so much pain that I knew she would be better off in rat heaven with Sugar. So, yesterday I prayed that I would be able to let her go. This morning I woke up and went to see her. She was sitting upright, but she wasn't moving and her breathing was very shallow. I knew that she would be leaving today. So, I took her out of her cage and just held her and stroked her for almost 2 hours until she finally went to rat heaven. Sugar and Cookie fulfilled their purpose and then went home. Bye bye, Sugar and Cookie. I'll miss you.


Brand new babies (Sugar and Cookie are in there someplace)

What they looked like when I brought them home


The following are the pictures I've taken since January 2008:

Jadis meeting the rats for the first time

Cookie is pushing Sugar out of the way

A basket of rats!

Close-up

Sugar and Cookie

They loved to chew on the bars, especially when they wanted food

Cookie

They look like they're praying

Lounging on a hot summer day

Cookie resting on Sugar

For some reason, Cookie put up with Sugar sitting on her

Cookie taking a bath

One of my favorite pics of Cookie

They slept like this frequently

"Can we have a snack?"

So cute!

Balls of fur

"Hi, Mom!"

Sugar resting her head on Cookie

Big dumbo ears

Cookie stuck her head through one of the holes in the laundry basket

They loved cheese

Having a snack

Another comfy nap

I caught a picture of Sugar's tongue

Here is the last picture taken of Sugar (in the back)

Cookie cuddling in a blanket

I think she's eating a rice snack

A tortilla chip is a big job for a little rat

Here is the last picture taken of Cookie

Sugar and Cookie's burial ground (taken a day later than this post is dated, after the "funeral")


Here are some of my favorite videos of Sugar and Cookie. They're mostly boring, but I like them.


Playing with my pants


Eating marshmallows


Playing with a paper while watching conference


I loved listening to them chew. And please excuse Douglas' random outburst at the end :)


Running around on the bed


Begging for my lunch


Eating cheese



Eating carrots



Taking a bath



Cookie exploring




Eating cheetos

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Halfway done

I have reached the halfway point! Today marks 20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go. Yay!


Saturday, March 7, 2009

Dancing Queen


Last week, we went to see Scarlet Pimpernel again and when the opening number started, Baby jumped and started dancing around to the music! I had never felt her that much before! I'm not sure if it startled her or not, but she was moving around quite a bit. I'm thinking she likes Scarlet Pimpernel! The funny thing is, she was only dancing to the live music, not the recorded stuff! A true musical baby!

Baby's first present


A momentous occasion: On Feb 23, my Grandma Gray presented us with baby's first present - some cute bibs! We didn't know the gender yet, but these work for either one. I'm so excited to use them!

Sweet!


So, a couple weeks ago, Douglas and I went on a date to the mall and ate at the food court. Afterwards, we decided we wanted some ice cream, so we headed to Dairy Queen. It was less than an hour before closing. I ordered an oreo brownie earthquake and Douglas ordered a strawberry sundae. The guy filled up my cup with vanilla ice cream and then ran out of vanilla. So, he told Douglas there was only enough for me, but not for him. He apologized and suggested another treat without vanilla ice cream. Douglas chose to have a cup of plain chocolate ice cream (which was fine for him.) The guy felt so bad that he said we could have the whole order for $2! And it's not like we were complaining or anything; we knew it closed soon and it was understandable. So, we walked away with our treats that we just paid a whole $2 for and enjoyed some amazingly yummy ice cream! Talk about a sweet deal!

More pictures of baby

Every time I look at these pictures, it makes me so happy! Side note: She started kicking yesterday!


I want YOU to be my mommy


Just chillin'... suckin' my thumb


See my spine, Mommy?


Look at my cute little button nose!


I was very cooperative so everyone could see that I'm a girl so they would stop calling me "it"


Aaaaagh!


The purple shows the heat coming from my little heart


Mommy loves the sound of my heartbeat!


I have a big head


I'm tired


No more paparazzi, please


Bye bye!