Clyde Is Three!

My baby, the one of the canine variety, is turning three today.  

I haven't been too emotional with pregnancy hormones, but if there's one thing that's gotten me teary a couple times since I got pregnant, it's thinking about how it's going to change Clyde's life.  (It probably doesn't help that I just read A Dog's Purpose... holy cry fest!)

I don't know if there's any way to explain how much he has meant to Greg and I since we got him.  He helped get us through some of the hardest times in our lives and marriage.  He was there for Greg when he was going through the lows of his furlough and there for both of us when we went through our miscarriages and TTC over the last couple years.  Sometimes he was the only thing to make me laugh or smile all day long, and his hugs and kisses were invaluable.  When our marriage was strained by all these events, Clyde brought us together.  We would take him for walks and he would get in between us to join us in a petting/snuggling fest.  I don't think he knows just how important to us he has been to our lives and our marriage.  I am so glad we took a leap of faith and decided to take him home that day.
 

In case it's not completely obvious, I LOVE that dog more than I ever could have imagined.  I've said it before- I wasn't even really a dog person before we got him, and now I'm borderline obsessed.  You can see it if you check my IPhone pictures, he is in like every other picture.  He truly changed my life for the better and I love every moment I can spent holding him, cuddling him, curled up next to him, and watching him.  He's such a good dog.  So sweet natured and great with people, including kids.  I feel like my heart is going to explode when I see our baby girl get to an age where she can interact with him.  That is going to be so cool to see.

Clyde- Happy Birthday!  We love you so so much!

Double Dog Dared

Well, it's been a crazy weekend over here.  I offered to dog sit for Rascal while Kelly was out of town this weekend, so I've been trying my hand at a two dog world.  I admit at times I've wondered if I would want a second dog, when seeing cute ones listed on Pet Finder, so this was an interesting trial.

The first night did not go too well.  I didn't get Rascal til around 8pm Thursday night, so he and Clyde didn't have time to get all their crazy "Hey new dog!" energy out of their system before bedtime.

Both dogs sleep in the bed (Rascal sleeps with Kelly and Brad), and I wasn't sure how it would go over to NOT let them both sleep in bed with me, so they were both up in bed with me and neither could settle down.  One would hear something and bark and set the other off. 

Plus, they wanted to go out in the middle of the night.  Ugh, it was a long night...

The next day I headed out to work and hoped for the best, not sure how the two of them would do alone in the house.  I was just hoping Clyde would have both ears in tact when I got back.

I imagine there was some of this...

and some of this...

I checked on the dogs during my lunch break and they seemed ok.

Friday night we stayed in.  There was a lot of fighting over my lap.  And more playing.

Saturday was probably the best day we've had. 

I took the boys on a long walk in the warm mid 60 degree weather.  It was great!

All part of my plan to sufficiently wear them out.  Muhahaha!

I also got them both "doggie sundaes" from Brewsters, a tiny scoop of ice cream with a dog biscuit on top.

They were a big hit.

I had the Reeses Pieces Sundae.  Soooo good!

It's been fun having two dogs around, but it's a lot more work than one.  For one thing, I know Clyde so well, that I can tell in a second when he needs to go out, wants food, wants to sit on my lap, etc... 

It's harder for me to read Rascal. 

The other thing that's hard is that the two of them are constantly competing for my attention, my lap, and who can bark louder.  It can be exhausting getting them to calm down.  If this was a test to see if I would want a second dog, I would say no.  I kind of like just having one to focus on and take care of.  I'm not ready for a second dog at this point in my life.  It was fun trying it though!



Songs to Make You Smile

I went on a quick run tonight for the first time in about a week and a half and covered about 2 miles.  I've had that crappy cold lingering so running with a wad of phlegm in your throat doesn't exactly feel that great (TMI, sorry!) and I've been mostly walking at tonight instead of running.  I didn't wear my Garmin, but I could just tell my pace was pretty slow, which is ok.  Getting started was kind of rough, but eventually I got in to the groove and part of my groove was definitely due to my playlist.  A couple happy songs came on and I realized they were really making a difference in making my run a good one. 

I thought I'd share a list of songs that pretty much always get my smiling and are great for a run, a car ride on a sunny day, or if you just need a pick me up.

Click to enlarge

Do you have any songs that are guaranteed to make you smile?

With that, the rest of my evening involved tacos, heavy on the guac....

And I'm about to go do some snuggling with Clyde while catching up on Glee.

Hiope you guys have a great night!