Courtney Brag.

So, I must brag. Last Sunday, I was changing Courtney’s diaper, and she said “Potty”. So, we went and sat on the potty and she peed!!! Now, this isn’t the first time she has peed in the potty, but usually it’s right before bath when I am getting her undressed to get in the tub. This is the first time she has ever asked to go to the potty at a non-bath time, and on the main level! Really surprising! Very nice! I really hope this means early and easy potty training! She did it again for Hubby on Wednesday morning too!

First, Maggie did pass her CGC test last Friday night! Somehow! So, she is now officially a Canine Good Citizen. YEA!

So, I forgot to mention again how much I LOVE giraffe’s. I really love going to the zoo and seeing them. And I love that Courtney is the same way. I really wish I could have a real one as a pet. To me, they are some of the most beautiful creatures on earth. I could sit and watch them all day, and feed them crackers, and take their pictures.

We went to the zoo again yesterday. They had a ‘members’ only’ preview of the new Rocky Mountain Wild exhibit. So, we got up and moving early (for a Saturday) to get to the zoo at opening time. It was chilly yesterday, so we walked through everything pretty quick. We saw the new exhibit and about 80% of the rest of the zoo all in about an hour and a half. That includes feeding some giraffes. So, we were moving! But it was cold and windy.

The last two weeks have been super super busy! This past week I had a government conference to attend. Wednesday was the full day; I was there by 7:15am and didn’t leave until 4:45pm. The day before I attended the reception that began at 5pm and wasn’t over till 7pm. So, I missed Courtney Tuesday evening, and then I was gone before she got up Wednesday morning. It was tough.

Hubby said she woke up with a slight cough Wednesday morning. That was a little surprising because she has never just had a cough without having a cold first. At daycare the cough got worse and woke her up from her nap. The teacher said they had to elevate the head of her cot so she could get some sleep without major coughing fits. By Wednesday night she sounded really bad, like a barking seal. We started her breathing treatments, but we only used her albuterol. She had a super rough night, and I knew we probably should have used the steroid medication as well, but I just wasn’t 100% comfortable using it without a doctor being aware or concurring. Wednesday night was the first night in a LONG time that I have been really worried about her. I was tempted to hold her all night long because she sounded so bad.

Thursday day care called and said that she was wheezing pretty badly. This I knew. So, I gave in and called the pediatrician. They got us in that afternoon and we went and spent out $30 for exactly what I knew they would say which was to start her on the steroid medication as well. The pediatrician even had us do a treatment right there in the office. Just that one treatment made a huge difference.

So we thought she was on the road to recovery. Then Friday afternoon and evening, it was like a freight train hit her, and the cold portion started. This is the first time that the whole silent aspiration thing has really reared its ugly head, and it scared me. We have been doing steroid breathing treatments for a few days now and she still sounds pretty bad. Yesterday we went outside for a little bit, she was all bundled up but when we came back in she had such a bad coughing fit that it actually scared me pretty bad. She was having a very hard time catching her breath; 911 crossed my mind. But she hung in there and it was right before bed, so she got another breathing treatment right after.

I know some of you who read this blog have been through similar situations, as it seems to run in the family. It’s scary, and it’s hard to watch your kid struggle to catch their breath, and it’s hard to hear them sound so junky and awful. Just when you think you are out of the woods, it rears its ugly head and reminds you that it’s still there. I just wish I could take it all away.

We have been watching our friends dog Romeo for the past few days as they went to Vegas for the weekend. Courtney always enjoys another dog being around, she calls him Mayo or Omeo. Then our friend brought his chocolate lab Hershey over last night as well. There is something about Hershey that Courtney is really drawn to. She just LOVES him and wants to be with him all the time. When we were doing her breathing treatment she insisted he be in her room with her. She could care less if the other 4 dogs had left, but not Hershey, he HAD to be there. It’s cute. I am not real sure what the draw is.

We have a mostly quiet day today which is nice because starting next weekend, life for me gets hectic. Starting next weekend, we have plans every weekend for about the next few months. It starts with 2 WnW weekend events in a row the first two Saturdays, then a garage sale, then company, then more WnW events. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the activity, but it’s overwhelming to think about!

Well, I must go move laundry and clean up all the pieces of a rope dog toy that got shredded last night! I did put up pictures from the zoo on the website! Enjoy!

Spring is finally here, maybe

Spring is here! Well, at least for a few days. Last fall I planted some tulip bulbs in some large pots that I keep outside in the summer. They have been in the garage all winter. I noticed the other day that some green was poking up through the dirt. Then yesterday I noticed that I actually had a tulip! I am going to keep them in the garage until Mother’s Day weekend. Until then the weather is too uncertain.

Today was such a beautiful day. We started the day by taking Bristol to get his bandage changed. Then we dropped him off at my parents’ house and headed for the zoo. We met up with our friends and their daughters. We got there about 9:30am, so it was early enough that the zoo was still pretty empty, and the giraffe’s were still hungry. So, we started by feeding the giraffes, and then moved through the rest of the zoo. I took a ton of pictures. Somehow some of the pictures I took of the girls on the carousel and of the penguins disappeared. Bummer, but I got a lot of other really good pictures.

It’s sooo nice to have warm weather again! Well, I need to go and work on homework! Enjoy the pictures!

Sitting on the bench

Hello Mr. Bunny

Hello Mr. Goat

Daddy has a bird!

Wallaby's (sp?)

Two beautiful Giraffe pictures!

Busy Busy Busy

I am working harder and harder on the Marketing portion of my job. Tuesday I went to the Federal Center in Denver to take a class on how to use one of the Government systems to benefit us. Ugh, why is it that government stuff is always so dull, boring, and difficult?

The Federal Center is a campus of sorts for a lot of agencies. It’s about 10 miles west of downtown Denver. I was truly amazed at the beauty of the campus for being government. I had to walk along a creek, which had ducks and geese in it. There were also prairie dogs running around. The buildings were all typical government buildings. The one we were in had a beautiful atrium with neat art in the middle. I was impressed!

We ate in the café they have on the main floor for lunch. That was not impressive. Most of the food looked pretty gross. I got a piece of pizza, and it was just edible, not yummy. Thankfully I had eaten a big breakfast, and had brought a banana and grapes as a snack.

Between the drive up, and sitting in class all day, then driving home, it was a long boring day. I did learn stuff that I hope to be able to use, but what a process!

I signed up for my next 2 classes. I am taking one for the summer semester and one for the fall semester. I am thinking about picking up a second class in the fall so that I can hurry up and get my degree.

Wednesday was a crazy day for Hubby and me. First I dropped Courtney off at daycare, and then I dropped Bristol off at the vet to have a growth on his paw removed. I got to the office and my friend called. Both Hubby and I had totally spaced the breakfast we had planned with her. So, we rushed out of the office and over to meet her and her husband for breakfast.

After breakfast it was back to the office for a bit until we rushed out to go to daycare. The daycare was having a “Spring Fling” and invited all parents to come and eat lunch with their kids. So, Hubby and I went and spent time with Courtney in her room, eating lunch.

After that it was back to the office for a bit again. Hubby left a little bit later as we had an appointment at the house to get our furnace and air conditioner serviced. I made the appointment last week, and then a few days ago we noticed a squeak when the heat came on. Yeah, that was not good news. Some super important fan is going and it will be about 2/3 the price of a new unit to replace the fan. Considering the unit is 10+ years old, might as well just get a new one. Yippee. Hopefully we can wait until summer when heat isn’t needed and so maybe, just maybe, we can get a better price?

Later that afternoon I went over to my new gym for an orientation. A lady showed me how it worked and how to use all the machines. She also took my weight, measurements and BMI. They do that once a month to see how you are progressing.

I don’t know if any of you heard, but we had a huge wildfire here in town. Well, at least on Ft. Carson. The problem was that it was very close to the highway that runs along the edge of Ft. Carson and on the other side of the highway is a housing community. The fire started Tuesday, and they shut the highway down and evacuated the residents. They had a very hard time getting containment of the fire. But yesterday a storm moved in and it started to snow in the afternoon. That really helped with the fire! Before it started to snow, they had zero containment of the fire. By 5pm yesterday, after it had been snowing for about an hour, they finally had 30% containment. It snowed here all night, so I am sure that most of the fire is out now. It was scary to see all that smoke and to smell it so close to home. I took some pictures when I went to agility as the agility place is more south from my house, but I am not sure yet how they turned out. I hope to get them downloaded soon.

Then last night I took pictures of all the snow on Courtney’s table! Tuesday it was 80 degrees and Wednesday afternoon it was snowing. That’s how it goes here!

Well, it’s time for me to pack up and head to class! Adios!

Joined a Gym

Well, due to the weather last Thursday, class was cancelled and Maggie didn’t get to take her test. She gets another chance this weekend.

I got 100% on my test last week. What a relief, I wasn’t sure I had aced that one. It sure feels good when you do that!!!

Saturday we ran a few errands in the morning, and then we took Courtney down to Nana and Papa’s house that evening so that we could go to the Wine and Cheese (food) tasting event. There was lots of good food from several different caterers in town, and lots of wine. I didn’t find anything I LOVED, but there were certainly some good ones. We got back to my parents’ house about 8:30pm. Courtney hadn’t been down long and apparently heard us pull in. She woke up and was calling for me. So, she was wide awake when Nana went to get her, and she stayed awake the whole way home. Thankfully she went back down to sleep in her own crib easily, and she slept through the night.

Sunday was a busy day for me. I got up, stripped the beds, and put fresh sheets on, did laundry and other chores in the morning. Late morning, I picked up my friend and we went to church. After church I took her home, ran home, changed, grabbed Maggie and headed out again. We went and met another friend of mine for a “hike”. It was actually more like a walk, because it was on the Santa Fe Trail which is pretty straight and flat. We walked for just over an hour and Maggie was still rearing to go. I was amazed; I was hoping that for once I could wear her out. NOPE!

Today over at the college they had a K9 demonstration. The Air Force guard dogs come out once a year and do a demo for the college. The main purpose behind this whole thing is for the photography classes to be able to have practice taking pictures of fast moving objects, but they also invite the day care to come over and watch. So, everyone from the daycare went over and watched the demonstration. And I mean everyone, all the way down to the infants. Apparently some kids were scared, as today they were demonstrating the attacks that the dogs can do. Not Courtney, she did woof at the dogs and apparently loved watching them. This kid is just destined to be involved with animals someday! I am okay with that!

Hubby got out and played golf for the first time in a long, LONG time. Apparently he also forgot that the sun shines on the golf courses as he didn’t bring a hat, or sunscreen. He is paying for it tonight. I have to say, I have no sympathy for him. Last night on my way home from “hiking” I had stopped at the grocery store and one of the things I picked up was 3 new bottles of sunscreen for the upcoming sun season. All three of the new bottles are about a foot away from where he keeps his phone and stuff. But he didn’t grab one to take with him….

Tonight, after I left work I stopped and checked out Curves and another place called Butterfly life. Butterfly life is the same principle as Curves, but it has an aerobic area also. So, there are yoga classes, Pilates, kick boxing, and all kinds of aerobic activities. I also liked their equipment and system a little better than Curves. And since the price was the same as Curves, I went ahead and signed up with Butterfly Life on the spot. I just did a month to month membership for now to see how I really like it. But I am really looking forward to losing this baby weight that seems to be getting yuckier looking!

Courtney is saying more and more every day! Her new phrase is “oh, got it!” Like when she pulled a bite size piece of her pizza from her chair and exclaimed “oh, got it!” Or when I picked up her shoe she had throw across the car. She uses it appropriately, and it is just so cute!

Well, I am feeling exhausted, so I guess I will head for bed! Hope everyone is well!

Another week gone by

Well, we made it to the sponsor parade at the Academy. It was quite windy on the parade field and the color guard almost blew over. Courtney enjoyed the band and got a kick out of them when they were playing. She was only partially entertained by all the marching. It got boring fast for her. But, she survived. She ate some food at the reception afterwards, and she got to see Tobi. That made her happy. Then she fell asleep in the car on the way home because we were a little bit past naptime.

When we got home and put her down to sleep, she was not interested in sleeping. She stayed awake the whole time. She was quiet in her crib, and played with her stuffed animals, but no sleep.

That evening we took her to Nana and Papa’s house. She stayed with them while Hubby and I went to the Furrr Ball. It was a pretty good time. We got to visit with friends. We ended up with a cooking class and some autographed books about Blue Dog from the silent auction. I was also bidding on a giraffe print and a dog pendant, but I lost them, literally in the last seconds.

We went and picked up Courtney about 10pm. Nana went and woke her up and brought her down stairs. The look on her face was priceless. As they say, “If looks could kill”. We hardly ever have to wake her up after she’s been asleep for a few hours like that. She slept in the car on the way home and then she went down pretty easy.

I had my test on Tuesday. I will find out in about an hour how I did. I feel like I did pretty well. I don’t feel as confident as last time, but I still feel good about it. I also recently registered for my summer and fall classes. This summer I will be taking Intro to Business and this Fall I will take consumer economics.

Yesterday, the Pediatric Rehab place called. They were able to move Courtney’s initial evaluation up by about a month. I was very happy about that! So, now we go May 20^th.

We had our first thunderstorm of the year yesterday. Yesterday was one of those odd Colorado days where we saw every kind of weather. We woke up to lots of fog and some flurries. That cleared out by mid day and we had sunshine. Then in the afternoon the storms moved in and we had rain with thunder and lightning. At some point last night that turned to snow, and we have been having snow and LOTS of wind this morning. The wind is so bad that it blew open our gate that we had screwed several pieces of wood on to keep it shut! Thank goodness for the dog run, the dogs did not escape!

All this wind and cold is making my knees hurt today. This must be a really wet storm as storms with lots of moisture are what tend to cause the aches and pains in my knees.

This weekend Hubby and I are going to a wine and appetizer tasting event. It is to support the preschool that Courtney will be going to in the fall of 2009. We currently have friends who have a daughter there, and so we are going with them. This school is a co-op preschool, so lots of fundraising, and parent involvement. The preschool has a superb record and it is probably the number 1 preschool in the city. There are always waiting lists to get your kid in! Luckily for us, we got Courtney on the list early enough that she should have no problem getting in. And she will get to be there with Hailey, our friends’ other daughter. The things that we see our friends’ daughter learn and do make me very excited to start Courtney there! Recently they built a worm habitat! They also recently planted their garden.

This cold weather this morning is making me sleepy. I am currently at the college waiting for class to start. The cup of coffee I am drinking seems to not be helping to wake me up! It’s one of those days where curling up in bed and taking a long nap sounds like a nice idea.

Maggie takes her Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test tonight. She has had 3 weeks of class to prepare. I think Hubby is going to do the testing with her. She tends to behave better for him than me. Not that having her CGC gets her anything, other than a certificate, but it says that she knows how to behave. I know, stop laughing, but hey, get her in public and she is actually pretty good. We are hoping that someday she will grow up a little bit and then we can start her in some pet therapy programs or Paws to read programs. She is such a cuddler and love bug that she would make a great therapy dog. She is actually pretty close now.

Well, I better go and get a few things done before I head to class! Hope everyone is well!

Busy Here

Well, Courtney is growing up too fast. Last week, one day I was trying to put her tennis shoes on her, she was throwing a fit. The next day I figured maybe if I let her choose her own shoes, there wouldn’t be another battle. That indeed did the trick, but the only shoes she chooses now are her Crocs. Her bright yellow crocks that Grammy and Granddad got for her for Christmas. She loves them. She wore them every day for a week straight. She also can say “Crocs” now. I think we may have a shoe girl on our hands.

This has been a busy week for me. Monday I went to see Bon Jovi in concert. Yes, again! It was the best one yet! I went with some friends, and we had a fabulous time! I sure was sore the next day though. I am not as young as I used to be.

Wednesday I spent the evening at Ross. I had to find a dress for the ball we are going to tomorrow (Saturday). We just found out on Monday that we were able to get tickets. So, I had little time to prepare. But, I did find a nice dress. I tried on about 20 dresses to find it, but I found it!

Last night (Thursday) I had a Pet First Aid and CPR class. Yes, you read that right. The Red Cross offers a Pet First Aid and CPR class. So, I learned how to resuscitate dogs and cats. I also learned how to take care of most first aid things. I had looked into this class a few years ago, but at that time they were only offering it up in Denver. I was so excited when I saw that they were offering it down here! After learning some of the things I learned last night, I was thinking I should have taken it years ago. I could have used some of the knowledge over the years!

Also, the Gazette (the local paper) was there. They interviewed me and took pictures of me. So, I may be a star in the local paper soon. I took pictures of the CPR dog and cat dummies because they were so funny looking! (check the gallery)

Tomorrow we are going to a sponsor parade for our cadets. So, we get to go see them all dressed up and marching all nice. They have a little “Social” after with cookies and punch. Nothing big, but it gives the Academy a chance to show off their cadets.

Then tomorrow night is the Furrr Ball! It is the large, classy ball they have to support the Humane Society here in town. My sister and I went last year and had a blast. I am looking forward to going again. The usual Wag N Wash crew will be there. The hotel it is held at is just around the corner from my parents’ house, so Courtney will get to spend some quality time with them while Hubby and I go and hob-knob with dogs and cats!

Well, I just finished answering all the essay questions for my next test. Now I must go and memorize the answers! But I wanted to be sure that I mentioned that I just put a bunch of new pictures up on the gallery as well. Enjoy!