Corgi Butts

Dog Pile on Mommy!

2012-02-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

Remember when I was all like, "My baby doesn't nap! But that's ok cause she sleeps through night, woohoo!" Well, that's over with :( Hadley is apparently teething already. I know. I didn't know babies started teething so early either. It is totally messing up her ability to sleep..

*Sigh*

The past week and a half, maybe two weeks, she has barely slept at night unless it's on top of me. I am so exhausted! And apparently so is everyone else..

Gibson actually is on top of me because we were watching Top Chef and he FREAKS out when their kitchen timers go off. It's as bad as when our smoke detectors chirp *rolls eyes*.

Oh well, I can't complain about my kids wanting to cuddle with me when they are scared or in pain I guess..

I would like some more sleep though :)

Hadley Laughs at Gibson

2012-02-07T12:56:00.001-08:00

The cutest thing in the world....

Post-Bath Gibson

2012-01-31T17:15:00.000-08:00

Guess what? Gibson got some attention today! We went for a nice hour long walk (it's beautiful out!) and then I bathed him (because nice weather in winter = mud)! Oh yeah, and then he had fun and did this....

Haha, post-bath, frapping Gibson never gets old :)

The cutest thing happened after this though... I was brushing Gibson with Hadley sitting on my lap, and every time he'd shake off, she started cracking up! It was soooooooo adorable!!!

Maybe I'll have to bathe him more often now.... ;)

3 months

2012-01-30T06:08:00.000-08:00

My little sweetheart turned 3 months yesterday!

Things have been going great, except for one thing: the girl does not nap! Pretty much from 9am-7pm or so she is awake. It is sooo hard to get anything done. Taking a shower takes so much effort. Everything else I can pretty much get done while she's playing on her toy mat, but it's hard to take a shower when I am not able to hear if she is crying or not. Oh well, I somehow manage to take one every day (make a point of it!), and the good thing about no naps is that I get to sleep through the night! woohoo :)

As you can see from her chunk, she's still eating great. There was no doctor's visit this month, so I'm not sure how much she weighs, but I'm guessing it's around 13.5lbs or so. She's wearing 3-6month or sometimes even 6-9 month clothes! I assume she'll slow down at some point, but I'm glad that she's a healthy growing girl right now :)

Super Hadley!

The fun thing in the past month is that she's become much more interactive with us :) She loves to sit and talk to us in her little cooing way. She loves to give a big smile to her daddy when he comes home from work and even starting giggling and smiling at Gibson last night when they were sitting across from each other :)

She's moving more now, and I can tell that all she wants to do is be able to go wherever she wants to and talk to us! During tummy time, she lifts her head up high and kicks her legs and tries to move. She can even 'scoot' herself across the mat sometimes. No roll-overs yet, but I'm sure that will come soon enough. In her crib, I keep finding her in different positions than where I put her to begin with. This morning, her head was smushed up against the rails!! How the heck, baby? She's like a little inch worm :)

Her new thing is wanting to be held ALL THE TIME and watching TV. We feel like terrible parents, but at this point, it's whatever keeps her quiet and gives us a little break :) We even put her swing in front of the tv so she can sit and watch it while we try to eat dinner haha.

Gibson, I think, is starting to resent her a little bit, but at the same time he understands that she comes first. He waits patiently until I am sitting on the floor with her by her mat to ask to play fetch. And he does not protest too much when I wake up in the morning and spend a half an hour feeding/changing and cuddling with her before I let him out to pee and feed him. He no longer gets a morning walk. It is just too difficult to find the time. Instead, I make a point to walk him in the afternoon before he is fed for the evening. If it is above 32 degrees, I bundle Hadley up to go walking with us. Otherwise, I wait til Ben comes home to walk him. Luckily, it has been a super mild winter, so there haven't been too many too cold days :)

Bundled up for our walk!

We marvel every day at how cute she is. I seriously don't know how we made such an adorable thing. Love my baby girl :)

(Last Minute) Calendar Corgis of the Month: Simon & Caleb!

2012-01-29T09:13:00.001-08:00

on the wall

on my screen

Mr. & Mr. January

Name: Simon & Caleb
Blog: Cardigan Complex
Corgi Mom:Shep

Simon & Caleb Cuteness:

January Calendar Ideas
(it's a great time to take those photos for next year's calendar!)

-Snow
-New Years
-Football
-Corgis in Winter Clothes
-Corgis by the fire
-Corgis warm inside

Note: Every month I'll be featuring the corgi of the month on the "Corgis (with blogs) Calendar" and giving tips on the types of photos I'll be looking for for the current month next year.

LOL Gibson

2012-01-28T08:19:00.000-08:00

I love cloth diapers :)

2012-01-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

What? You know I love talking about Gibson's bathroom habits, you didn't think I'd want to talk about my daughter's too?? ;) But it's true... I love cloth diapering!! Honestly, I think everyone should do it. It's easy, it's cost-effective, and it's eco-friendly!

I know what you're thinking.. "Easy? Yeah right!" But it is. It probably takes about 30 extra seconds per diaper change compared to disposables. Yes, there is a lot of laundry to be done, but it's easy laundry and babies already need things washed about every day anyways.

The eco-friendliness is a great perk too, but what really made us choose to go cloth is the cost. They say you'll save close to $2000 by choosing cloth over disposables. Seriously! Yes, the upfront cost is more, but it's more than worth it. And if you choose the diapers that we did, you can get way more bang for your buck.

Oh and did I mention that they are super cute?

So much more fun than ucky disposables, don't you think? Yes, they are kind of bulky. In fact, Hadley is only 3 months old (omg), but she wears 6month clothes already! Haha, but she is a big girl to begin with.. Oh yeah, and they are fun to pair with different outfits.. Her diapers can add a nice pop of color to a sleeper ;)

If you are still reading this, you might be interested in some more details about what diapers we use. Well, we went the super economical route and chose prefold diapers! Flip prefolds and covers to be exact..

They are organic and made by the same people who make Bum Genius diapers, so the quality is great! Prefolds seem a little complicated compared to All-in-Ones, but I actually think they are easier. We own some Bum Genius Elementals as well and it seems like so much extra laundry since the cover is attached. With prefolds, you can reuse the cover over and over again until it gets dirty (which usually only happens when she poops), so you just lift her butt up and replace the prefold. With the All-In-Ones, you have to replace the entire thing. I don't know, call me crazy, but that seems like more work. Also, the prefolds dry sooo much faster!

Anyways, we have been using cloth diapers since Hadley was 5 days old. A lot of people wait til their babies are a little older, but I did not want to spend any money on disposables, so I wanted to get the show on the road :) For when she was tiny (which wasn't very long), I bought some cheap generic prefolds..

..and size XS Thirsties brand covers (which are now in the drawer of things that do not fit Hadley anymore)..

The prefolds still fit her (and should til she's about 18lbs), so they really bulk up our 'stash' of diapers. We currently have 24 of the generic prefolds and 18 of the Flip brand prefolds and also 6 of the Flip covers. About the perfect size for our little pee pod. Seriously, this girl pees more than anyone one ever. And she does not like being wet one bit and lets us know! :) Which means.. lots of diaper changes!

This is another reason why I love cloth.. my baby will pee, and then pee 10 minutes after you change her and then poop right when you put on a new diaper. That's 3 diapers in a matter of minutes. It'd just be throwing away money w/disposables. Means lots of laundry, but we have that under control..

We toss each dirty diaper in our handy dandy wet bags! We hang one by each changing table (one up in her nursery and one down stairs attached to her pack and play) and they make clean up a breeze!

When they get full, it means it's time for laundry! It usually takes about a day and a half to fill up both bags. I counted the other day, and that meant 28 diapers, 31 wipes and 3 covers. Oh yes, did I mention we do cloth wipes too? haha.. That's a whole nuther post ;)

wipes!

So, anyways, the wet bags are cool cause you throw them in the wash right along with your dirty dipes and wipes :) Which means, no touch of gross poopy diapers. They also keep the smell in, so your house doesn't stink. Win-win!

For the detergent, we use Charlie's Soap Powder..

Just half a tablespoon per load of diapers. We've been using it since November and there is still about a quarter of the tub left. For about $10, it's not too bad cost-wise!

Soooo, I think that's it.. haha. I've probably spent about $200 on all the diapers, covers, wipes, wet bags and accessories, and I can't recommend it enough.

Sorry for the disorganized rambling of a post. I swear, this is hard when you have a baby!! :) If I left something out or you have any questions, ask me in the comments section and I'll reply when Hadley actually decides to take a nap ;)

Couch Potatoes

2012-01-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

One of Hadley's favorite things to do is watch tv. I know. We're already teaching her bad habits. But whatever keeps her quiet and happy!! :) I thought I'd prop her up on the pillow next to Gibson (one of his favorite things is to lounge on the couch all day long) to watch some HGTV and see what happened..

Not sure about this mom, but I'll give her a kiss..

She's moving too much. Watch the feet, kid!

This is AWEsome!

This is not so awesome. I want my pillow back.

Srsly mom??

I will lay on this other pillow but I will not be happy about it!

What a grump!! :)

Gibson's Enzymes and Glucosamine Treats for Dogs

2012-01-17T08:48:00.000-08:00

A little update on Gibson's health today!

So, back in the summer, Gibson had multiple episodes of what we think were pancreatitis and then about a month or so ago, he started limping really badly. Well, for the tummy issues we began adding an enzyme supplement to his food, called D-Zymes Powder by Solid Gold. For his limping, we started giving him Hip Action Glucosamine Treats by Zukes. Both have worked wonders!!!

I put an 1/8 of a teaspoon of the D-Zymes on his food each meal and he hasn't had diarrhea or thrown up since before we started using them in August.

And there is still about a quarter of the jar left!

It was $17 for this jar, so it's only cost us about $3 a month! Much cheaper than all the vet visits we were having to make!

The Hip Action treats have been great as well! Gibson's limp started to immediately improve and within a few weeks it was completely gone.

They are a good size and looks super tasty too. He gets 1 treat every night before we go to bed. at $12.99 for a 1lb bag, they are little bit on the pricey side, but well worth it if it means a non-limping dog!

So, yay for Gibson feeling better!

Thanks, mama! My eyes are still goopy though...

Neglected

2012-01-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

Poor Gibbers has been super neglected lately.. I wonder why?

He used to be the center of attention and now he's off on the sidelines...

(and apparently I haven't had time to clean the house either.. hahaha)

I guess he can blame his baby sissy!

He's down to 1 walk a day (if he's lucky) and play time is often forgotten :( I feel so bad. I haven't even brushed his fur in weeks (maybe months?). It's super hard juggling a baby with a furbaby.. I don't know how people have more than one dog.. or kid! And it's way hard to find time to blog. I've had a lot to write about, but not much time. In fact, she's crying now... gotta run!

Sorry dude...

I promise to be back with more.. tomorrow? Or the next day.. or the next... :)

Accent Vlog

2012-01-09T07:24:00.000-08:00

And now for something completely different! A video blog! AKA, vlog. An accent vlog to be exact. What is an accent vlog? Basically, you are supposed to take a video of yourself saying different words and phrases so people, who normally just read your words, can actually hear what you sound like :) It's fun. I've watched a ton of these from other people (most recently, Aparna from Not A Leaf), so I figured I should join in and share mine too.

So here’s how it works. I’m supposed to record a video of myself saying the following words:

aunt, route, wash, oil, theater, iron, salmon, caramel, fire, water, sure, data, ruin, crayon, toilet, new orleans, pecan, both, again, probably, spitting image, alabama, lawyer, coupon, mayonnaise, syrup, pajamas, caught

And then I’m supposed to answer the following questions:

what is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
what is the bug that curls into a ball when you touch it?
what is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
what do you call gym shoes?
what do you say to address a group of people?
what do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
what do you called the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
what do you call it when rain falls when the sun is shining?
what is the thing you change the tv channel with?

So, here it is.. No makeup.. messy hair.. pjs... baby in arms... dog barkin... normal Monday morning for me :)

Hope you enjoyed it.. and hope you do one too!! So do you think I have an accent??

Buh Bye 2011!

2012-01-01T06:34:00.000-08:00

Hellooo 2012!

Time to hang up this year's calendar!

I haven't thought too much about resolutions for next year (or much else really, lol), but I do know that I want to start working out again and eat healthier. Boring and typical I know :) I also want to try to balance my life a little better. Balanced Kelly = Happy Kelly :)

Have a great year everyone!

2 Months

2011-12-30T11:01:00.000-08:00

Baby girl is 2 months old!

I'd say time is flying, but it seems like she's been in our lives much longer than that! I can't imagine life without her :)

Things have been going much better since the first month. The new normal is feeling more normal... if that makes sense :) And I've been making a point to get out of the house at least every other day and going shopping or some other type of outing. She's now been to Costco, Trader Joes, Christmas tree shopping, Ben's work, my old work, Target and Kohls. I can tell she likes the new scenery and new things to look at.

She's still sleeping and eating like a champ. She sometimes sleeps 8 or 9 hours so I can't complain at all! And breastfeeding has been going fabulously. I feel so lucky about that too!

Hi, little sister

She had her 2 month appointment yesterday and she is now 12.3lbs! Still a chunky butt! Other than that she is doing great, but is apparently favoring her left side too much :( So we are having to do some stretches and kind of forcing her to lay her head on the right side more so her head does not become misshapen. Poo :( Hopefully we can correct it before she needs physical therapy or has to wear a helmet! Yikes!

Besides that though, she's perfect :) She's begun smiling, laughing and cooing and it is so cute!

Her first Christmas was great. We spent Christmas Eve & morning at our house and then traveled to my parents and then Ben's parent's the day after. I was pretty stressed about how she'd do in the car for that long (1.5 hrs and 2.5 hrs ), but she did amazing! She slept the whole way the first two trips and then only cried a few times on the way back. I don't know how we got so lucky!

Check out my super snazzy Christmas dress, while Gibson checks out my foot!

So, things have been going well. It makes me think about how things were when we first got Gibson and everything was soo difficult, but now those things seem like second nature. Hopefully, it will be the same with Miss Hadley :)

Grumpson's Christmas

2011-12-29T11:58:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Gibson got yet another nickname (Grumpson) and got totally spoiled in the gifts department. Here's a quick recap of what went down:

1. Gibson was totally spoiled on Christmas morning! Thanks to Karen & Bailey who were his Secret Santas this year :) He loved all of the gifts. Here are some pics and a video:

Sorry about the cursing.... :)

And sorry about the blurrys ;)

2. He slept a total of MAYBE 2 hours in 3 days. Which made him such a grumpy butt!! He was snarling and growling at all the other dogs. I've never seen him be sooo mean. And he was being so protective of me and Hadley. If another dog (or another man besides his dad) came near us he snarled at them. Such an old man!

3. Since he was up in the middle of the night, he decided one night to rummage through our bags and find ALL of the treats that I packed him and eat ALL of them. ALL. This included a bag of expensive dog bakery treats Ben put in his stocking and also a bag of treats my cousin got him. He has been a pooping machine since.

I am a big meanie!

His poor cousin who he was meeting for the first time and greeted him with his teeth! Rude much?

4. He has now been Mr. Sleepy Pants and has slept pretty much the entire day. He didn't even wake me up this morning. I didn't come down stairs til 8am and he was totally cool with that! So silly :)

I sleep now, guys.

I have so much to post in the next few days.. Hopefully I can get back on some sort of blogging schedule soon! :)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T16:17:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas, Corgi Community! Love, Gibson

My Little Corgi Pal

2011-12-21T12:46:00.000-08:00

We ♥ Corgi Pals!

Calendar Corgi of the Month: Sookie!

2011-12-20T04:57:00.000-08:00

on the wall

on my screen

Miss December

Name: Sookie
Blog: Make Way for Cupcakes
Corgi Mom:Kitten

Sookie Cuteness:

December Calendar Ideas
(it's a great time to take those photos for next year's calendar!)

-Snow
-Christmas
-Holidays
-Family
-Corgis in Winter Clothes
-Corgis by the fire
-Corgis warm inside

Note: Every month I'll be featuring the corgi of the month on the "Corgis (with blogs) Calendar" and giving tips on the types of photos I'll be looking for for the current month next year.

Gimpson

2011-12-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of weeks, Gibson has been renamed Gimpson. Or Gimpy. The poor guy has been limping :(

He is fine 90% of the time though. Going on walks, running, playing fetch, zooming through the house, jumping up on furniture.. everything normal. When he gets up from laying down though, he limps. It almost looks like his foot fell asleep and he needs to walk it off for a few seconds and then he is fine.

Normally, I would have taken him to the vet by now, but, ya know.. newborn baby. He seems fine, but I am still worried that it could be the first signs of hip dysplasia and that scares me to death. I've been massaging him and poking his leg/foot/hip to see if he yelps, but nope. Seems perfectly happy.. just a little gimpy :(

Anyone else ever see symptoms like this w/their dog?

1 Month

2011-11-30T13:24:00.000-08:00

My baby is one month old already! OH and she's a super chunk. Her 1 month check up was today and she weighs almost 11lbs! That's 2lbs gained since she was born. Sheesh!

Things have been crazy and I've pretty much been running on Hadley time. The only time I get anything done is when she's sleeping, so I apologize for the lack of posts. Luckily, she is a wonderful sleeper at night *knock on wood*. She consistantly sleeps 5-6hrs straight at night (and then 3 more after that) and this weekend she slept for 8 hrs straight! It was nuts, but I'm not complaining :)

She may have been extra sleepy from all the visitors we had over this weekend. Both of our families came over for Thanksgiving! It was nice and I think Mr. Gibson especially liked the attention.

With someone else here, we were FINALLY able to take our first family photo!

Hurrah!

But yeah.. I've been trying to figure out how to get back to life on my new baby schedule. Gibson has been neglected, but he is being a good boy about it and not complaining too much. I used to wake up with Gibson whenever the sun came up. Fed him, hopped my computer, walked him, then ate breakfast and got ready for the day. NOW, I wake up whenever Hadley wakes me up, change her, feed her, put her back to bed, let Gibson out, and then hand the monitor off to Ben before he has to go to work. This is when I try to walk the dog. It sometimes works out and sometimes doesn't. The past few days it hasn't worked out :(

But I am trying to make things work! Yesterday, I took Hadley for an afternoon walk w/Gibson in our Ergo Carrier and today I took her for a walk with us in her stroller when we got back from the doctors! I felt so accomplished to do something out of the house without Ben. It's the little things, people ;)

So, life has been crazy, but slowly getting a little easier. Still can't complain much :) I love my fatty dog and fatty baby!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T07:14:00.001-08:00

From my turkeys, to yours :)

Brother Love

2011-11-17T14:16:00.000-08:00

This week, Ben went back to work so I have been alone w/my two kids for most of the day. It was pretty tough at first. I've had to change a lot of my normal routines. I find myself rushing around trying to get things done (that used to seem simple) whenever Hadley decides to sleep for 5 minutes ;) Things like showering, cooking dinner and (unfortunately for him) walking Gibson are now big accomplishments for me.

Luckily, I have a little helper...

I keep finding Gibson hovering around wherever Hadley is sleeping. The cutest is when he looks over the couch into her pack-n-play to check on her..

He also randomly runs up the stairs into her room when she's sleeping in her crib. Such a good big brother for being oh so terribly neglected by his mommy.

I guess he thinks this little face is worth it too ;)

Kong Cozies!

2011-11-15T07:11:00.000-08:00

Gibson was sent a new fun toy from Kong to check out a few weeks ago, called a Kong Cozie.

It arrived the day after we got home from the hospital, so it was great timing since Gibson was feeling pretty neglected ;)

What is it? Basically a super duper soft plush dog toy, that squeaks and has an extra thick layer of material underneath the softness to make it more durable.

What do I think? I love how soft it is! And the extra material makes it feel pretty neat when you squeak it.. sort of like there is a layer of gel.. Not sure how to explain it :)

What does Gibson think? He really likes it! We play fetch and tug w/it and also wrestle w/it! He loves attacking it like it's a real animal and he's on the prowl ;)

How's it holding up two weeks later? Sad to say his head has been de-stuffed :( I believe this is because only the body part of the toy has the extra durable layer. I'm sure Gibson will still find some fun in it though. Especially since the squeaker is protected by the thick layer.. and I think the soft fur will be fun for him for quite a while!

Calendar Corgi of the Month: Finley!

2011-11-11T07:52:00.000-08:00

on the wall

on my screen

Miss November

Name: Finley
Blog: The Corgi Chronicles
Corgi Parents:Sam

Finley Cuteness:

November Calendar Ideas
(it's a great time to take those photos for next year's calendar!)

- Fall
- Thanksgiving
- Leaves
- Pumpkins

Note: Every month I'll be featuring the corgi of the month on the "Corgis (with blogs) Calendar" and giving tips on the types of photos I'll be looking for for the current month next year.

Corgi Kisses

2011-11-08T05:35:00.000-08:00

Told ya he loves her..

And we caught it on film!