Ultrasound

Back in the last week of August Dan and I went for our ultrasound....  I have been putting off writing this blog until I had my followup appointment with my doctor.  This appointment finally happened today.  So now that I have the "everything looks good" from the doc I thought I would share the pics.

This is as close to a profile as they could get because the baby was too big!

Foot

This picture totally creeps me out... I think it belongs in a horror movie.

Leg... kicking which seems to happen ALL the time now!

My favourite pic... Baby peace sign :-)

It was really cool to see the baby.  The little guy / gal was really active the whole time they were doing the ultrasound.  Lots of kicking and squirming and swimming around.  This seems to the the norm for the little one... I can now feel the baby all the time.  

As you probably guessed we didn't find out what sex the baby is.  Dan wanted to know and I didn't.  I'm really excited that he agreed to let me have this surprise.  There are so few real, good surprises in life and I like the fun of not knowing.  I can't wait to meet the little one and to find out what we are having!  Our due date is officially January 12th, 2013.

Goodbye...

For those of you that haven't already... Meet Nilo.  Many of you close to Dan and I know that we fostered Nilo this past spring for Windy City Canine Rescue.  Nilo originally came from Cuba... you can read about his journey to Canada here.

From the moment I saw his sweet face and read his story on the blog I was in love.  Really, who wouldn't love a dog with that kind of spirit, and that goofy grinning face?  The hard part was convincing Dan that we would be the perfect foster home for Nilo.  Little did Dan know when he agreed to be a foster home that I was madly in love and wanted him for my own.

I can't really remember how long we had him for but we had a blast with him.  Nilo and Cookie loved each other and were perfect playmates.  Nilo was a fantastic lap dog, and would spend hours lounging on the couch with us.  He seemed to be the perfect fit into our home as our second dog.

There was only one problem... Nilo did not get along with my Cockatoo.  One night Nilo grabbed the parrot and would not let her go.  Honestly if Dan hadn't been home Ali would have been done.  For those of you that know how much Dan dislikes my parrot it was a miracle that he saved her life.  With a heavy heart I contacted Windy City and let them know that Nilo could not stay and we would not be able to become his forever home.

My heart was broken when I said goodbye to the cute Cuban Refugee.  Dan and I didn't talk much about giving him up but I know that Dan had become attached to him and was hurting as well.  I couldn't even write about him or post pictures of him without crying.  It was terrible!  A short time later Nilo was adopted into the perfect family where he would be with no children and a lady that was familiar with the breed and wanted to work with him.  It was the perfect fit and I was thrilled that at long last he had found the forever home that he so deserved.

Fast forward to a couple days ago.... I was contacted by Windy City to let me know that there had been some trouble with Nilo.  I found out that he had bitten someone.  I don't want to fuel any of the rumours that have been travelling around social media sites so I will ask you to read about Nilo's final days here.  Again I had to say goodbye to the dog that I was so in love with.

To me having a dog, or any pet for that matter is a privilege not a right.  A dog should provide unconditional love and devotion.  In return the dog's owners should love them, care for them, and protect them no matter what.  When Nilo broke his side of the deal by biting someone his new owners had a very difficult decision to make.  In the end they chose the path that would protect Nilo from being euthanized in a shelter, put in a crate (which he HATED) and shipped back to Cuba, or ending up in yet another home where who knows what would have happened to him.  Sometimes keeping the owners end of the bargain and protecting the dog means that a very difficult choice has to be made.  I can't imagine what Nilo's owners were going through during his last days.  I applaud them for making the choice they did even though it was not the easiest path to go down.  

If you read any of the postings on Facebook you will see that not everyone agrees with the outcome.  I have know many of the Windy City girls for a number of years.  I am proud to call them my friends and I know that they would have done anything they could have for a different outcome.  In the end not every rescue animal can be saved.  I spent 8 years in the pet industry and worked with numerous rescues.  Sometimes tough choices have to be made and someone has to make them.  In the end the best interest of the animal always has to come before the emotions of the humans involved.  

  

Goodbye sweet Nilo.  My heart aches saying goodbye to you twice.  I know that you were loved and taken care of right until the end and that means a lot to me.  Wherever you are now I hope you have found the peace and happiness you deserved.

One Last Cabin Weekend

This past long weekend Cookie and I took a road trip up to my mom and stepdad's cabin for one last visit.  It was a weekend of lasts :-(

One Last Roaring Fire

One Last Stroll Over the Bridge

One Last Creek Swim

We also went for one last quad ride... however I was riding so no pictures.  You will have to just take my word for it that it was awesome.  The cabin is located just through the Crowsnest Pass down Tecumseh Road.  The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful.  

We have had the luxury of visiting the cabin numerous times in the four years that they have owned it.  It has become one of my favourite places to be as it is pretty, quiet, and relaxing.  The memories that we have created there are ones that last a lifetime.  We spent Christmas there in 2011, a couple thanksgivings and easters and countless weekend "camping trips".  I may not have been able to go up as much as much as I would have liked but the times I did were a ton of fun.

One last last for the weekend.... Our last Tecumseh hike.  The Munsters love running around and "hunting" for things.  These pics show mom's three munstys hunting for something that was at some point in the tree and in the stump.  I'm sure whatever it was had left ages before the crazy dogs arrived.  It makes me laugh how city-slicker Cookie stands staring at them because he has no idea what has gotten into them....   

So what's next.... A new location in the pass, even closer to Lethbridge, and possibly a Bed and Breakfast!  The new place will be much larger with extra bedrooms and bathrooms.  I say it is perfect that they are expanding their retreat in the mountains at the same time Dan and I are expanding our family!  Although I was sad driving away from Tecumseh I am excited to start a whole new set of memories at the new place!

Cookie is Going to be a Big Brother

May 10th... Dan's Birthday....

I woke up in the early early morning hours with a start.  It was like an epiphany.... ""Holy crap I'm late!"  I quickly did the "math" on my cell phone calendar and realized that I was a week late.

I didn't want to say anything to Dan until I was 100% sure so I got ready for work, and went about my day as normal.  The only difference was I must have checked the dates on my calendar at work at least a dozen times.  Coming to the same conclusion each time...  anyway I looked at it I was a week late.

For Dan's birthday we had decided that we were going to meet all of our friends at Mojos Pub for beer and wings.  The plan was for everyone to meet there after work.  Because I'm the last one to get off work I was the last one to be heading over.  I decided that I need to confirm my suspicions before heading over so I stopped at the drugstore on my way.  I got home peed on the stick and before I had even put cap back on to "let it sit for two minutes" it was positive!

Shock and excitement was the only way I can describe how I felt.  We have not been preventing or planning for a few years now so for it to happen out of the blue like this was unexpected.  Of course I'm sitting at home alone with no one to tell except Cookie.  He was thrilled!!!  We sat on the floor for a few minutes to discuss his impending status as Big Brother.  We hugged, I cried, and he licked my face.  Of course being a dog I could have told him that we were sending him to "a farm" and I probably would have had the same reaction.  LOL

I headed over to Mojos for what was probably my longest night in that place EVER!  And, trust me us ladies have had some long night there with the guys.  Of course I couldn't drink so I got teased about that.  A couple "you're not drinking, you must be knocked up" comments were made.  To which I wanted to shout out yes I am knocked up!  I figured that would be a bad way to let my husband know he was about to be a dad.

FINALLY after about 5 hours of not drinking and wanting to hurl at the sight of the chicken wings and Krisit's steak I got Dan out of there.

Anyone that has ever purchased a gift for Dan knows he is the hardest person to shop for.  We had just purchased him a membership to Paradise Canyon so he could golf this season.  I had told him that for his birthday we would go shopping the following weekend and he could buy some golf gear that he wanted / needed.  He wasn't expecting to open anything... I had wrapped up the test.  He opened it up and it took a second for him to realize what it was and what it meant.  And then, "You're pregnant?  WOW that's sobering!"  Best birthday present ever!