Emma's First Bath

She finally lost her unmbilical cord and we were able to give our little angel her very first bath!

We started with a trial run to see how she reacted to being in the sling. When that was successful, we went ahead with her bath. I think she liked it.

Welcome Emma!

Born 10-09-08; 4:24 p.m.; 6lb, 11oz; 21 in

Happiness IS!!!

Waiting for Emma

Well, DD's due date was yesterday and still NO BABY!! The funny thing is that they didn't think she would carry full term. She started having premature labor over a month ago. They just wanted to get her to 36 weeks. Well, that was 4 weeks ago!! Emma is determined to keep her Gramma waiting! LOL

I am really longing to hold that dear sweet little girl! It is odd how deeply you can love someone who you haven't met yet. I honestly think about her numerous times every day! There will be a post with pictures within 24 hours of her arrival! That's a promise!

Prayers and well wishes always welcome!

Vote For Whimsical Animal Rescue!

Hi - I just voted in Care2.com's "America's Favorite Animal Shelter" contest to help my favorite local group, Whimsical Animal Rescue, Inc. of Sussex County Animal Association, win a grand prize of $10,000. Think of the homeless pets we could save with $10,000! But I need your help to get enough votes to help Whimsical Animal Rescue, Inc. of Sussex County Animal Association win. Please vote here: http://www.care2.com/animalsheltercontest/70616/?refer=30296.14.1222172153.5194

Reminder: This is where we adopted Odie!

Still No Baby?!?

Well, DD still hasn't had the baby! She went into premature labor weeks ago. Her doctor put her on bed rest and gave her some medication to stop the contractions. When she reached 36 weeks (2 weeks ago), they took her off the medicine and immediately she was dilated 1 cm. Well, she saw the docotor today and she is STILL 1cm dilated. She will go again next Monday and if she doesn't have the baby before, she will go again on 10/6/08, which is her original due date. Little Emma is keeping her Mama and Daddy (and Grandma) waiting. Don't worry thoguh, everyone will know when she gets here because I will shout it from the roof top of NMH!! LOL

$1 Per Day Diet?

A couple named Christopher and Kerri are trying, for 30 days, to live off a dollar a day (each) for food. Their rules for this are;
1. All food consumed each day must total $1 for each of us.
2. We cannot accept free food or “donated” food unless it is available for everyone in our area. (i.e. foraging, samples in stores, dumpster diving)
3. Any food we plant, we pay for.
4. We will do our best to cook a variety of meals; ramen noodles can only be prepared if there is no other way to stay under one dollar. (We have six packages and will buy no more)
5. Should we decide to have guests over for dinner they must eat from our share; meaning they don’t get to eat their own dollar’s worth of food.

Interesting... I really don't think anyone in my house could eat on $1 per day. Maybe $1 per meal if we can use the McDee's Dollar Menu ;)

Hannah - aka Callie

True Love Story

A story of reuniting ...
On our wedding anniversary, we went to the local crab house for dinner. WHile we were eating, a waitress runs by our table with a basset hound in her arms. Double take! Yep - a basset hound!
As it turned out, this little gal has been hanging around all day and had finally managed to sneak in the back door of the returant!
Well, Hurricane Hannah was scheduled to make herself known in approximately 18 hours and this little gal would be left out in the storm! DH & I took her home to keep her safe. This was Friday.
Hurricane related storms blew through all day on Saturday. Before it got too bad, I drove to the local Humane Society to have "Hannah" (our temporary name for her) scanned for a micro chip. They found none.
I called all the local vets, SPCA, pet shops, etc and let them know that I found her. I knew someone had to be looking for her. She was mostly housebroken and just the sweetest little girl! Even Odie fell in love (or was it lust?). Saturday continued on, not a word. Sunday of course was quiet, as most Sunday's are, except for the noise of a very young basset hound! Monday, I just knew someone would call. Nothing! Monday night, we decided we would keep her and if no one claimed her by the end of the week, we would take her to our vet.
Unfortunately - she had fleas, SO, WE had fleas! We treated her with Frontline. Luckily, she weighs almost the same as Odie and we could use his medicine.
On Tuesday, the SPCA called to tell me that someone was looking for her. I got his phone number and we agreed to meet at my house.When I walked in, she wagged her tail. When he walked in - she nearly through out a hip!!! She was wagging so hard! Tuens our, her name is "Callie" and she has a very loving family, consisting of Husband, Wife, 2 children, ages 3 and 6 and a cat! No wonder she had so much energy!!
I thought I would be terribly sad to lose her, but knowing that she went home to such a loving family sure helped. I actually felt great that I protected her from the storm and then was able to reunite her with those that love her most!
Good Luck to you and your family Callie! I hope you live Happily Ever After!!

Some call it FOOD...

I call it ART!!! LOL :-)

Is there anything you can't learn on the Worl Wide Web?!? Check out the radish roses!

The Baby Shower was a Success!

Everyone seemed to have a really nice time and the Mommy-2B received some really terrific stuff! I think they are ready for the arrival of our sweet little granddaughter!. Her room is ready and waiting! I am getting so very excited now!

The pic here shows my first Diaper Cake. It was much easier than I thought it would be. And DD & DSIL loved it. Classic Pooh theme, of course, with lots & lots of baby goodies, including 74 diapers! lol

Now that the shower is over, maybe I can relax for a little while so I can be ready for the demands of being a Gamma! You know it takes a lot of energy to spoil a sweet little baby rotten! lol

Brotherly Love

Here is Odie with his "Brubby", our Son In Law, Corey! Sweet little Odie has come so far! He is really blossoming!

Administrative Professional's Day

We had a blast here yesterday! The Town took all of to lunch at a local Italian restaurant. We overate and laughed A LOT! My boss gave me a beautiful jewelled business card holder, a sweet dragonfly key ring and a digital photo album. That thing is great! It is similar in size to a credit card and holds 58 digital photos! Way cool!! All in all - a pretty good day! Hey - I love presents! ;)

My Poor Neglected Blog

I haven't been here much lately. It seems there has been a lot going on but not enough to report, kwim?
Dad had to have open-heart surgery which required a trip down South. Thank the Good Lord - the surgery went well and he is home recovering well. The trip down & back was uneventful and a pleasure to visit with my siblings. I also enjoyed seeing my Aunt that I hadn't seen since Dad's last open-heart surgery 12 years ago! She is just as beautiful as ever! But I sure missed the family while I was gone.
DD is doing great. Her morning sickness is finally subsiding and my grandbaby is growing nicely. Her doctor said that the baby is healthy so far. I will keep them in my prayers and ask all of you to do the same.
I have kind of been in a slump with the cardmaking but need to "get busy"! I have a minimum of 8 cards to make for the month of May!
The new living arrangements are going well! We are so enjoying having the kids at home! Family meals, family fun nights, watching movies together, getting to know them better, etc. It is all working out better than we expected. Our new son in law is quickly becoming the son we never had. Good choice DD!
We have started camping for the year. We hope to go at least once per month. Poor Odie really doesn't like camping, but he is getting better. I don't think he will ever love it, but maybe he will at least accept it.
Sadly, we still miss Boomer. I guess we always will. People at our local campground always ask for him when we go. Many campers have grown to love that old boy over the years. They are all sad when they learn of his death.
Anyway, that's a very condensed version of what has been going on in my world. I will try to keep my blog updated more regularly in the future.
Thanks for stopping by!

Not Homeless

This picture really pulled at my heart strings. It tells a myriad of stories if you have imagination!

Happiness Is...

Dear Lord;

The Dognamic Duo's 12/12/120 Tour

What if someone wanted to prove that they could drive to any state and in the space of a few hours easily find, photograph, and videotape a minimum of 10 dogs spending their lives at the end of a chain? And what if they decided to test this theory by going on the road on a whirlwind 12 state tour, spending only 1 day per state, including finding the dogs, driving to the next state, securing lodging, and hopefully speaking, meeting media, and creating videos? And what if at the end of each day they uploaded pictures and videos of their findings in that state on that day for the nation to share in the truth of what is going on in our country’s backyards?

And what if one day two women decided to make all these 'what ifs' a reality? The result would be The Dognamic Duo's 12/12/120 Tour.

The brainchild of DDB founder Tammy Grimes, the road tour idea has been festering for over a year; now she and DDB public liaison director Dawn Ashby have decided to put the plan into action under the tour name of The Dognamic Duo's 12/12/120 Tour!

Here's the plan: April 5th Tammy will fly to St. Louis, Missouri, where she will meet up with Dawn Ashby. There they will pick up a car, drive into Missouri to a likely location, and commence the 12 state tour bright and early the morning of the 6th.

The intention of the tour and the subsequent pictorial and video footage is to show how prevalent chaining and penning are in the U.S., educate the nation that it is common in all states, and put forth the idea that it is indeed something that must be stopped; that it is not humane and not an acceptable way to house and keep Man's Best Friend.

They will be speaking to caretakers of chained and penned dogs, passing out treats, collars and leashes, educational materials and fencing applications, and seeking local help for situations that appear to be illegal, as well as engaging the public through speaking and media alerts.

12 Days, 12 States, 120 Chained Dogs
Day 1: April 6th, Missouri
Day 2: April 7th, Arkansas
Day 3: April 8th, Lousiana
Day 4: April 9th, Mississippi
Day 5: April 10, Alabama
Day 6: April 11, Georgia
Day 7: April 12, South Carolina
Day 8: April 13, North Carolina
Day 9: April 14, Tennessee
Day 10: April 15, Kentucky
Day 11: April 16, Virginia
Day 12: April 17, West Virginia

Isn't this awesome! This information is from the Dogs Deserve Better web site. Please check it out!

Check out my Slide Show!

Champs March 2008

We had our annual Horse Shoe Tournament with the Wilkins and the Stroessners! And for the first time - the Stroessners didn't win! Sorry P&P!

WE WON! WE WON!!

Here we are accepting the trophy! What a happy day!

If a Dog was a teacher:

If a Dog was a teacher, you would learn things like:

-When loved ones come home, always run to greet them

-Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride

-Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstacy

-Take naps

-Stretch before rising

-Run, romp and play daily

-Thrive on attention and let people touch you

-Avoid biting when a simple growl will do

-On warm days, stop to lie on your back in the grass

-On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree

-When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body

-Delight in the simple joy of a long walk

-Eat with gusto and enthusiasm

-Stop when you have had enough

-Be loyal. Never pretend to be somethin gyou're not

-If you want what lies buried, dig until you find it

-When someone is having a bad day, be silent and sit close by