GRITS

So….we got a new puppy last Sunday! His name is Grits and he’s a Blue Merle miniature Australian Shepherd. He’s almost 7 weeks old now and is just a little fluff ball of love. His energy level is definitely picking up, but he seems to have a good personality. You know those weeks where it seems like EVERYTHING is just a disappointment, well, that’s been this week and Grits has been exactly the diversion that I needed!

                            

First, let me say, I had no intention of getting a puppy until we moved out to Blake’s family’s land. I knew we’d have to stay with my parents while the “barndominium” is being built, so I didn’t want to impose with a puppy. But, my mom, somewhat out of the blue, told me a couple weeks ago that if we wanted to go ahead and get Stella a dog, that it would be fine for it to be at their house while we stayed there. Well, I wasted no time. I knew my friend Lauren was looking to get a puppy for her kids, so I jumped on that wagon with her and contacted the breeder she was getting her puppy from and there were still a couple pups left in the litter. There was only one male, blue merle and that was exactly what I was looking for. So, I put down the deposit and we picked him up last weekend!

We have two full grown Australian Shepherds, but they don’t seem to be interested in Stella at all. They’re actually terrified of her, so we don’t let them interact much because we don’t want their fear to turn into aggression towards her. But, with as much as she loves animals, we wanted to get her an inside dog that can be all hers to love on and play with.

I started crate training Grits from night 1 and now after 5 nights, he’s actually putting himself in his crate when he’s needing a break or getting sleepy! We’ve had a few accidents, but that’s totally expected when they’re this young.

He spends most of the day in the office {at home} with me, usually right under my desk or chair!

We love our new pup and I’m so glad Stella loves him, too!

Stella Love

My little, big girl is just growing and changing too fast. I am absolutely amazed at what a little sponge she is. She knows all her facial features (i.e. eyes, nose, mouth, ears, head) and also knows her belly and toes. And she definitely wants to see my belly and belly button if she shows me hers. It cracks me up and apparently it cracks her up too, because she just giggles as she gets my belly button! And it never gets old asking her to show you where each little body part is! She has a few other words, too:

Mama
Dada
Bye-Bye
Puh-Puh - puppy
Bak-Bak - backpack
Bah - ball

She points at the ceiling fan and does her little finger around and around. She can moo when we talk about cows and sometimes she can do her numbers when we count her little toes. She is just so happy and such a joy to be around. She's definitely a morning person and starts to get fussy in the evenings {I can't blame her! I do too!}. There's not too much food that she doesn't like, but she's kind of partial to Chik Fil A chicken nuggets. Her favorite toy seems to be her Cozy Coupe that Aunt Brigitte got her for her birthday. She climbs in and out and in and out about a hundred times. She'll bring all sorts of toys and books to her little car and climb in and wave bye-bye to me. She absolutely loves rocking chairs too and will climb in her little chair and just rock herself back and forth and sing "byyyyy byyyyy". She's quite the little dancer when her favorite "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" song comes on and she bounces up and down and cocks her little head to the side. She raises her arms up and twirls her little hands and fingers around - it pretty much makes me melt.

Here are some pics just from this week of Miss Thing playing around.

{PawPaw showing Stella how to rope}



{Stella playing on her little car-thing at Grammy's}





{When I took the carseat base out of the car Stella thought it made a really fun climbing toy}



{She cannot get enough of her backpack and will wear it around the house}



{blurry because she's ALWAYS on the move!}



Goal=Achieved

Never would I have thought I’d have a single blog post that had anything to do with a vehicle….much less two posts in ONE week!

But, in lieu of announcing this on FB and seeming obnoxious and annoying, I thought I’d just share it with my small group of blog followers because I am just so happy/excited/proud for myself, ha!

Please know that I am not one to toot my own horn or to try and draw attention to myself or my achievements, but this really did take some hard work, sacrifice, and dedication – so again, please excuse my momentary giddiness!

But…I PAID MY CAR OFF!!! In 18 months, no less! I bought my car/SUV last February (2011) when I was about 5 months pregnant with Stella. I had been driving my Camry for several years and just knew I wanted more of a “mommy” vehicle and I really wanted a cross-over. I wasn’t quite up for driving anything much bigger yet. BUT, buying a car is a huge expense and my end goal has always been to eventually work part-time or stay at home full-time with Stella...so in order to get to that place I knew I wanted to pay this vehicle off well before the full loan term. And now I’ve finally done it! YAY!!!!

{this was the only picture I could find of my vehicle - I dont really have much reason to ever take pics of it!}

Working Cows

Saturday morning, Blake, my father-in-law Greg, and my dad got up early to go work the cows. I guess they need worming medicine, and among other things, they also needed to be pregnancy checked. After they got the steers caught, they began setting up the portable working corral type-thingy {as you can see, I’m real versed in all the cow lingo}. Blake’s friend, Ryan, came out to help – they were able to use his squeeze shoot that keeps the cow “trapped” so that they can doctor her. Those cows were quite frisky and pretty much did not want anything to do with what was going on, but that’s just to be expected! Greg was able to “perform” the pregnancy test and it seems most of the cows are bred – woo hoo! I cannot wait for those cute little babies to be born! Stella and I loved watching our favorite guys mess with the cows!

{I got Miss Thing up early and we got donuts and went out to the farm}

{Emilio's work was done - after he rounded up the steers}

{Aunt Brigitte lovin on Stella - and Cadillac wishing he was in the action}

{She loves her donuts}

{She can stuff quite a few in her mouth}

{Watching daddy, Papaw, and G-Daddy}

{Trying to figure out how to get the pen set up}

{pregnancy test}

{my handsome cowboy}

{my baby daddy}

{workin' hard}

Big Girl

I figured it was time to go ahead and make the transition to a forward-facing car seat. Although Stella is still not even close to meeting the weight limit of the previous car seat, her little head was starting to get too close to the top, so we decided to go ahead and switch her to forward facing. I'm sad to see her getting bigger, but I know this is just the first of MANY transitions. She seems to be enjoying her new view!

And I had to show ya'll one of her favorite stuffed animals right now. It's a stuffed horse that neighs, whinnies, and vibrates when you push it's arm - and she absolutely loves it. She stands there and squeezes it while it vibrates her little arms up and down. It cracks me up!