i just look serious

usually i go to work with daddy during the week. i play with my muppet friend or we go for walks or hunting. lately it has been real cold outside. cold doesn't really bother me but sometimes mommy makes me stay home with her & jason where it's warm. now don't get me wrong, i love my mommy but it is soooooooooooooo boring at home! she's either taking care of lil bro or sleeping the whole time! no walks, no fetch, it stinks! i guess it being real cold out may have something to do with it but either way i get real bored & sleep all day.

mom & dad think i'm sad & neglected but i just look real serious in pictures. i'm a stoic puppy!

i still love my mom & dad!

woof, foster

brothers

i usually like to hang out in the kitchen whenever anything's going on there. it smells good and sometimes i find bits of food on the floor to clean up. i always sit on my bed, which is more like a mat, whenever i'm in there. the other day mommy & daddy brought my little brother jason in to keep me company while they were cooking.

we just hang out quietly & watch the action....or sleep. it's ok having him there, as long as he doesn't get any of my scraps!

keeping an eye on my little bro

hello again folks. part of my duties as a big brother are to keep an eye on the little guy, especially when he's on the floor, which is kinda my area of expertise.

the little man usually spends some time on a colorful mat flailing his arms & legs around. not really sure what he's doing but i like to keep an eye on him when he's down at my level.

mommy & daddy have started running the pellet stove & i am back to my usual winter spot in front of the fire.

hmmm......toasty warm.

foster's in charge

hello readers. lately mommy has been quite busy with this new little creature that showed up at our house. i've been told he is my little brother & i am to watch out for him.

i have decided to take over the blog for a little bit since i know you all are dying to know what i'm up to. last week i went to work with daddy all week. instead of his usual work spot we hung out at upton state forest & checked deer. i had loads of fun meeting all sorts of people and running around.

then this week we're back at daddy's usual work spot with my girlfriend the muppet!

life is a bit crazy back home but i'm getting used to having my new friend around. more to come soon!

woof, foster

how is foster doing?

after checking to see how the baby, mommy & daddy are doing this is the next question that everyone keeps asking us. so far puppy seems kinda indifferent towards jason. he has sniffed him a bit while wagging his tail but otherwise no real interest. as usual he seems most concerned with daddy. and daddy has been making sure to take puppy out on walks every day so he is not neglected.

here's a few pics with puppy over the last week....

family photo

we are not worried about foster tho. he will be just fine and we're sure best buds with jase in due time.

the early arrival of baby s

well even the best laid plans are bound to be altered from time to time.

anyone who knows me knows i am just a tad bit of a control freak/anal retentive/type A. it's what makes me a good scientist & planner (at least that's what i tell myself). in a move that will perhaps foreshadow the rest of his life, baby s decided to throw a wrench in the plans of his crazy planner mommy by arriving on november 16th-just under 4 weeks before his dec 12th due date.
lucky for us, due to my aforementioned anal-retentiveness, almost everything was all set. so at ~5am this past monday DH & i headed out to the hospital with no idea what to bring with us & no idea how to use/install our infant car seat. about 20hrs after my water broke jason louis arrived into the world at an impressive 7lbs 3oz.

and so the journey begins......

more to come on new baby jase & of course our beloved foster the puppy. at some point.....after we sleep.

AZ peeps rule!

my friends at work rock. they had a lovely baby shower for me at work the other day!

they gave me a VERY generous gift & perhaps the best gift of all.....a delicious homemade cake from christie!!

dave did not appreciate the cake decorations but i LOVED it! so much so that i had 2 pieces. :)

thanks again AZ peeps!! you guys are the best!

spooktacular

we had a bit of a jack-o-lantern snafu for halloween this year. i bought one of those pumpkins with the warts on it because i thought it would be kinda fun to incorporate the bumps into the face. well it turns out those kinds of pumpkins are like 4 inches thick & impossible to carve. we went to a lil halloween get-together sat night to carve pumpkins & our host had to use a saw, yes literally a real outdoor saw, the remove the top. so no big jack-o-lantern for the scarp house or it's trick-or-treaters this year. i laid it on it's side & put a big spider in it instead. luckily i had 3 small pumpkins decorating the stairs that i whipped up a quick "boo" in.

here's a few pics of the finished display....

we had a decent number of kids come by & they all kept saying "boo!" at the pumpkins so i guess it worked out!

office/guestroom

we have finally finished up the office/guestroom so all our family & friends will have a comfortable place to stay when they come help, i mean visit, the new baby. :)

last winter we painted the walls "new england yellow". this fall we finally got around to buying a new sofa bed & rug. throw in some new curtains & a newly framed map of new haven harbor & long island sound & waalah!

here it is....

BFB slept on the sofa bed this past weekend & confirmed it's comfiness! so we'll be taking reservations soon.....

"you work him too hard!"

this is what i have been saying to DH lately regarding taking foster out bird hunting. they have been going out so often that puppy has been a bit stiff walking around (prompting daddy to periodically give him baby aspirin). and that's when he's not sleeping, which is all the time! in the mornings after hunting days he eats breakfast & then goes right back to his bed rather then hanging out with me while i'm getting ready. i miss my puppy friend!!

anyhoo here's a collection of pics i have snapped over the last few weeks of my puppy friend being the cute lil brown nugget that he is......

these are MY toys

so tired

such a sophisticated puppy!

hmmmm.....duck or goose

both are so tasty tho...

he's snoring away right now on his bed!

puppy the retriever

foster the labrador retriever has started his second hunting season!

according to daddy he had a very successful first outing on opening day this week.

and he has been resting very peacefully at night after a hard days work.

nursery progress!

we have made some serious progress on the nursery these last few weeks!

we have most of the furniture, i got a rug & some baskets for the changing table and dave painted. we went with a brighter green than our usual neutral tones. it's a valspar color called mountain botanical. the jerk working the paint counter at lowes told us he thought it was an "interesting" color to paint a bedroom but we are very happy with how it turned out!

anyway without further adieu.......

and a super cute early shower gift from aunt laura & uncle tri!

i still need to get some curtains & we have some pics to hang up on the wall.

but it's coming together pretty nicely so far! only ~8.5 weeks to go!

we miss the muppet!

puppy's girlfriend olive, the italian spinone, got spayed a few weeks ago. she hasn't been allowed to play at work while her stitches heal. she hasn't been very happy about it and neither has her buddy foster. but she should be back to playing again sometime this week. in the meantime here's a pic i just discovered on DH's phone from this summer....

how freakin adorable is she with all that hair?!

fun with fern

a few weekends ago we dogsat for S&J's black lab mutt fern. she is quite the ball of energy. she & puppy had a fun 2 days together rolling around the house & shedding EVERYWHERE.

there was lots of tug-o-war

hanging out

and eventually some rest

yet another fun puppy visit this month for foster! and we still have one more any day now.....

getting there...

from last week, 28 weeks
baby s' face
and profile with hand

only 10ish more weeks!

fall already?

all of a sudden the temps here have dropped and it is suddenly feeling alot like fall. no complaints from the 7 month pregnant lady. last weekend we went apple picking with some friends & co-workers at a lovely little orchard in stow called carver hill. we picked macs, cortlands & macouns in the beautiful 70-degree sunshine. pair that with some donuts & cider and i was VERY happy!

with all these apples lying around i pressed my sister for some recipes besides my usual apple crisp. she gave me a few and i decided to start with the easiest one: apple sauce. i love it and it's a bit healthier than ice cream for a snack.

cut up 4 apples, i recommend cutting slightly smaller pieces than i did-i used cortlands (i think). put in a pot with 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup sugar & 1/2 tsp cinnamon. i LOVE cinnamon so i may have used a bit more.....

put on medium heat & let sit for 15-20mins, stirring occasionally

take off heat, let cool, then mash! i used a potato masher, i think next time i will use my stick blender since mine was a bit chunky.

easy & yummy! thanks sis!! next i will try apple bread.....

musings of a pregnant woman

so i have just about reached the end of my 2nd trimester. on sunday the final stretch will begin. lately i have been getting more & more bonehead comments from people (especially men!) regarding my size. i have decided to share some of my favorites with you readers in hopes of teaching a few of you what NOT to say to a pregnant lady & of course to give you all a few laughs too. mom's out there please feel free to share any good one's you've heard over the years too!
BH=bonehead making comment

this was ~16 wks when i "popped"...
BH: you look big, is the baby big?
me: no he's the size he should be at this point.
BH: oh, well maybe it's just fat.

this was last week....
BH: when are you due?
me: december 12th
BH: ohh, are you having twins?

this was today...
BH: when are you due?
me: december 12th
BH: that's going to be a big baby.

things you should say to a pregnant lady (i'm giving credit to the lovely people who have said these!):
CS/BF: you are the cutest pregnant lady ever!
DH: aren't you cute!?!
many smart women: you look great!
GB: i love your pregnancy wardrobe! it is really working for you!

thus concludes today's lesson. i promise to be back soon with more of foster the puppy and less B&M-ing about the wonderful world of pregnancy. :)

zorch!

we have been dogsitting for a co-worker of dave's since the weekend. zorch the 100+lb rottweiler has been visiting. he's a sweet boy & he & foster seem to get along ok. i think puppy might be a bit scared of the big black bear.

i snapped a few pics during zorch's visit....

as always foster is a very gracious host!