Enter the Sickers

It's that time of year again, when runny noses and coughing abounds. Up until very recently, we have been rather lucky to only have a bit of a head cold go through the house every few weeks. But this weekend heralded the arrival of the real sickers- Miss E came down with a bad sore throat yesterday, and after taking a peek at it this morning and seeing red spots, I knew it was probably strep. Off to the Dr we went, where we received confirmation of strep throat and a prescrip for antibiotics. Now we are in waiting to see if it will limit itself to her or make it's rounds through some of the other kids. I am hoping that it does not, especially since this week is Thanksgiving and trips to the Dr on Thursday are not possible. Ya'll know Murphy, though, and are probably betting I can count on at least one sick kid coming down with a sore throat on that day.

We Have Puppies!

I considered titling this, "I'm a Grandma", since that is what E says I am, but the idea is too painful to actually contemplate.

Anyhow. Pandora had her puppies! They were born on the 20th of November, right on her doggie due date. What a smart girl. She had 5 boys and 3 girls, and all are doing well. As you can see in the pic, they are all yellow and oh-so-cute. I was up all night playing midwife and crashed big time the next day. Pandora is an excellent mother, so excellent in fact that she won't go eat or drink unless I make her! And even then she is anxious to get back to her pups as soon as possible.

The kids are all enjoying seeing the puppies and spending some time with them. I know it will be tough for them to see them go to new homes, but to me that is not a reason to stop them from enjoying the pups now. They are completely aware that we are going to be selling all of the puppies, and I plan on involving them in that process as much as possible as well.

Waiting

Everyone in the house is waiting for the big event! Notice my cobbled together whelping box, including use of duct tape. I could write a sonnet to the glories of duct tape, but I will spare all of you from that. E loves going in the whelping box with Pandora, especially when we have all the heating elements turned on- a heated blanket, a space heater, and a heat lamp. It's downright cozy in there when it is all up and running. I've even had a bit of a nap in there with the dog one day. But don't tell anyone, okay?

Puppy Watch

No puppies yet! And no new signs of impending labor. I have absolutely no patience when it comes to waiting for babies, and this is driving me insane. Although I am enjoying this whole process, I want to see the puppies NOW and to not have to wait any longer. Too bad that I have no choice but to wait, and to watch my dog like a hawk.

In other news, our weather here is de-lightful (my apologies to my SoCal friends, but I really am enjoying the cooler weather!) When we get up in the morning it is below freezing, and over the course of the day it warms up into the upper 50s to low 60s. We are having a heat wave today- a high of 67 is forecasted! The kids are slowly getting used to the difference in weather, although O has officially gone on record to say that he hates the cold. Of course, if he bothered to put on pants instead of shorts and maybe pulled a jacket on before taking the dog out at 7 in the morning, he may not be so cold. But to a 12 year old boy that is way too much work and he would rather stand outside and suffer in the freezing air.

Yes We Did

Of course I am thrilled that Obama is the President-Elect. But that is not what this post is about. This post is about my dog, Pandora, and how I paid to breed her to a Standard Poodle. Pandora is a gorgeous yellow Lab (you can see her pic in my post about the local playground) with the best temperament and disposition of any dog I have ever encountered. She is a saint with my kids and has nothing but love and adoration for every member of the family. I was there when my sister's Labrador, Sunny, gave birth to Pandora and her siblings, and decided to do the same with my dog.

However, I went in a slightly different direction from my sister, and chose to breed Pandora to a Poodle to get Labradoodles. Yup, that's right folks- designer dogs. With a designer price tag, I might add. Anyhow, the breeding occurred a couple of months ago, and now I find myself with a very pregnant dog and puppies due in the next week or so. It is exciting and stressful all at the same time, but mostly exciting. The stress I am feeling right now is the fact that the whelping box has yet to arrive and I had to cobble together an adequate substitute with old baby gates and painter's drop cloths. Hey, I didn't say everything about this had to be designer!

Hopefully the box will come tomorrow and Pandora will hold off on whelping the pups until this weekend at the earliest. And I hope that when she does finally whelp, she has a litter of extremely healthy puppies!

Tricks or Treats

Halloween was a lot of fun in our new neighborhood. There were lots of people out, and tons of kids running around enjoying the evening. It was not too cold either, which was fantastic. O decided to not dress up this year and instead opted to hand out candy. He did say he was dressing up as a band geek though-

E dressed as a witch, M as a Southern Belle (the ruffles on the costume won her over), and G went as Eeyore.


G made a pretty good Eeyore- He was uninterested in getting candy, did not want to smile for the camera, and in general kept a hung-dog (hung-donkey?) demeanor throughout the evening.

Happy Birthday Miss M!

My little girl turned 4 the other day, and she had a terrific birthday. M was pleased to have Grandma E and Aunt D here for a visit on her birthday, and she received wonderful gifts from all of our family.


Her cake was a definite highlight! She asked for strawberry, but no one really likes strawberry cake, now do they? So I was a bit sneaky and colored a white cake pink and then frosted it with vanilla butter cream. When we cut into it, it was this gorgeous pink color with thick white frosting, and M never knew the difference. Ah, the little deceptions we do as parents.


Each day since then, she has woken up and asked first thing if she is still four. I suppose going back to 3 would a cruel trick?