Dog Joy

I'm always amazed at how happy Winnie is to just BE with me. Here she is helping me clean the bathroom... Which I did last night after baby went to bed. Gotta love that Corgi smile. :-)

Corgi / Baby Update!

We're still here! Oh my gosh... I can safely say two thing now that I am 2 years and 9 months into dogie parenthood and 7 weeks into human parenthood...

1. Having a puppy really is a good "warm-up" to having an infant.
2. Having an infant is the hardest thing I've ever done.

I'm not complaining, mind you... both experiences have, to date, yielded huge dividends in cuteness as well as a general sense of compassion.

Our baby girl is growing like a weed and has started giving us 4 whole hours of sleep in a row this past week. Our furry girl has given up sitting with me for each of our midnight feedings. Here's a picture of Winnie chilling with us at one such feeding back in September... look in the shadows just above the sleeping baby.

*Sigh... I wait and wait but I GUESS they don't need a corgi for this.

Winnie still loves here baby. She sits with us for "tummy time" and desperately tries to "clean" Claire's face of any leftover milk drips. But is always very gentle. I'm so proud of her.

Just us girls... Mommy, baby, auntie, and me!

I'm only now starting to get a few things done around the house. (Like get a shower every other day) SO... in an effort to catch up I took Winnie to our local Petsmart Groomer for a once over. This was actually the first time she's been to a groomer (I dunk her in our laundry tub and grind her nails here at home) but she did okay! Here she is on the table getting the "Furminator treatment."

Boy... what a treat! I get yelled for getting on the table at home...

As an aside, Yes, Winnie climbs onto our table like a mountain goat is we leave a chair out and she thinks we're not looking... I REALLY hate that. We have evidence of this on two occasions once when we found nearly a dozen cornbread muffin wrappers on the floor from muffins that WERE on the table. And once when a squirrel was chattering in the window and she forgot herself, jumped up for a better look, and then jumped down when she remembered we were watching.

On another note, has anyone out there actually USED the Furminator. Those things are so stinkin expensive but it seems to have done a good job on Winnie today. I guess we'll see how long it lasts.

At any rate, I hope to get back in the habit of making more regular posts. And I've enjoyed reading YOURS from my phone... it's so much easier than sitting with a laptop as I hold the babe. Which is a lot these days. :-)

Welcome Baby Claire!

She's here!  Winnie welcomed her new baby, Claire, last week! 

Claire 1 Day Old

Here are the stats:

• 7lbs. 11oz.
• 20 inches
• September 1, 2011 @ 1:47am

Since we've come home from the hospital Winnie has been a champ!  She's been cool, collected, and very attentive.  Winnie has a very concerned look whenever Claire cries (which luckily is not over the top) as if to say "Hey!  Our baby needs something!"  And she sits up with me at all of our midnight feedings. 

Claire is a VERY good baby... the only trouble she's given us is that she's sort of a reluctant eater.  This cute little girl just gets too cozy whenever we settle in for a feeding and falls asleep!  Winnie, being the helpful corgi that she is, will sit next to us on the couch (when invited) and give Claire's feet a few good licks... this wakes Claire right up and we're good to go!  Thanks Win!

I'll try and get some pictures of the two of these guys over the next week or so.  I haven't quite figured out how to juggle a camera and a baby yet but we're learning as we go.  Thanks for all the well wishes!