Morning Routine: Schnauzer Edition

On days when I'm not in a rush, the schnauzers and I have a wake-up routine. First thing is Tobey will crawl up close and snuggle with me


She will stare at me with her big brown eyes as I pet her. She can be pretty darn cute sometimes. This will usually last for 10 minutes.

By this time, Scout (a ridiculously heavy sleeper), is just starting to become coherent. She will roll her massive body over, and slowly army crawl her way up the bed. When she gets to Tobey, she doesn't change course, she just goes right over the top of her. Tobey will get offended by this, sneeze a few times and march down to the foot of the bed to pout. Scout continues her awkward army crawl until she is right in my face (and usually positioned in the absolutely most uncomfortable place for me, like with her pointy schnauzer knees in my pregnant belly). Scout will then 'nudge' my hands/arms so I will pet her. I'm not sure if nudge is the appropriate word though, one time one of these "nudges" was so forceful, I ended up throwing my iPad on the ground.


My poor highly allergic doggy likes to have her ears and head scratched. If one hand disengages for even a second (say to read an email on your phone), Scout will run, jump, and belly flop on face so you can't possibly focus on anything but her.

After 5ish minutes Tobey decides it's her turn again and will back up to my face so I will scratch her 'bum' (it's actually on her back right above her tail). I thought about sharing a picture, but a face full of schnauzer butt is something Tobey does special for me :). Tobey will growl at me while I'm scratching her (no idea why), which makes Scout think its time to play. Then there is an entire UFC fight going on somewhere by my knees while I'm trying to work, or email, or blog from my bed.

And that is my schnauzer filled morning. Not really sure how they will feel about life next week when Dude drastically upsets their schedule.

On a side note, apparently I type 'the schnauzers' often enough that my iPad has decided to remember and store it. It kinda sounds like a band name or something.

On a second side note, there are about 8 million things going on right now that I probably should have blogged about instead, but I think I will just ignore all of our life changes and watch Alias in my pajamas today.

Instagram Photos

Just messing around with embedding Instagram images for work, my personal social platforms tend to be bombarded every time I work on something new.

Withdrawals

We have now just crossed over into what has been our longest time without Disneyland in the past year (2 months, in case you were wondering). Apparently I am officially addicted, pretty sure I'm going to develop the shakes soon.

Our next trip is tentatively scheduled for May, since I am such a planner (especially as far as travel is concerned), I decided to check prices with my favorite hotel today.


I don't think even I will be able to negotiate our regular price of $80/night this time. I have a suspicion that their prices are this high to discourage me, so I will focus on things like laundry and work, instead of planning a trip 9 months in advance.

Nursery

Oooookay. I thought I new what I wanted to do with the nursery, but there are too many options and I am starting to feel extremely overwhelmed. My original goal was to do a Disney/Pixar Cars theme, but I'm finding there is a very, very fine line between adorable nursery and "I bought all these trashy cardboard cutouts at Walmart"

Here is what I mean:

Adorable Cars nursery



Trashy Walmart Cars room



So I moved forward with the softer, baby friendly colors in mind and found a ton of great ideas, below I've included a few:
Name plaque



Radiator Springs Racers vintage style poster (sadly only available for purchase in-park, or for a ridiculous amount of money on eBay).



Removable checkerboard border



I finally had the perfect nursery coming together in my head. Colors were going to be black, white, baby blue, and a little red when Lightning McQueen was included. I wanted the artwork and accessories to reflect vintage Route 66. And I had already found most of the items I wanted to include.

Then I realized something absolutely awful. The carpet is green, and the walls are turquoise. Here is a photo of our crib that's also includes the carpet and walls:


I can not figure out how to make this nursery work around those 2 colors. After spending so much time picking out the perfect stuff, I really can't bring myself to do it all again.

I've had vague ideas like vintage Disneyland attraction posters



Construction crew (bulldozers, cranes, orange cones, etc.)


We also have a few other projects going on right now. We have moved all of our 'office' supplies into our dining area. All of my craft supplies are going in the awkward pre-storage room in the basement. And we bought a new bookshelf and have cleaned out some storage in the basement so we have a place for all of our books, magazines, etc. Hopefully inspiration will hit me soon, only 85 days left until due date, and we have so much to do! And every day that goes by I'm a little heavier, a little more tired, and a little more uncomfortable. Not sure how many good 'lets put together an entire nursery' days I have left in me!

Countdown 95

95 days until my due date. I sure thought my nesting energy would give me superhuman powers by now, but sadly, all I've accomplished so far is to remove every item from the shelves/closet in our office (soon to be nursery) and make piles on the floor. Tonight I had every intention of organizing said piles, but instead, I colored a picture. Of two dinosaurs. In love.


I also called the wisteria crayon a bastard as my husband was walking by. He just doesn't understand how frustrating certain crayons can be.

My big accomplishment for the day (besides the Dino picture) was to order our crib online. I got a great discount on it, and I didn't even have to leave my bed.

So yeah, 95 days doesn't seem like enough time to get everything done, I need to start making better use of my time!

Yay! Season 7 trailer released

A sort of, kind of, belly picture post

Since we didn't start taking "traditional" bump shots until 20 weeks, I decided to just throw together some photos I have, wherein I happen to be pregnant :)




6 weeks, I actually didn't even know I was pregnant until the day after this picture was taken




13 weeks - I was having a hard time finding clothes to hide my bump before Dalan's graduation.



13 weeks - thanks Husband for strategically placing your diploma frame in this picture ;)




14 weeks




14.5 weeks - announcement picture, we actually didn't share this with anyone until about 3 weeks later.




17 weeks




20 weeks




24 weeks (today!)

Holy crap only four more months to go!

Explanation

I find THIS


Absolutely hilarious. If Scout could talk I'm pretty sure her explanation would be something like below:

"Mom! You know how there are monsters living in closets? Well, the pantry is basically a closet, it's a kitchen closet, and there is a monster living in ours! A really, really big monster, taller than dad, and he has yellow eyes and furry teeth! I was just sitting on my pillow, looking out the window, and minding my own business when I heard a noise. I followed the sound and found the pantry door was closed, but hadn't been pushed in far enough for the latch to catch. I scratched and scratched and scratched at the side of the door until finally it slowly creeped open. Behind the door, there was the monster! Did I mention he was kinda wet and slimy? Like a slug. So I grabbed the thing closest to me, I darted between his legs and dragged out that ginormo bag of pancake mix, (you know the one from Costco that's too tall to fit on the shelf, so you set it on the ground instead?) I ripped open the bag and tipped it over. When the dry absorbent powder touched the feet of my attacker, it actually started to dissolve his moist flesh. I quickly coated myself in a protective layer and charged! It was touch-and-go for awhile, while the dry powder would dissolve him, when his sticky flesh came into contact with my dry coating it began to create a plaster, filling my nostrils, mouth, and sealing much of my fur together in what seemed a permanent bond. I prevailed in the end, the slug-like, furry-toothed monster collapsed, and then I um, ate him (that's why there wasn't a body, duh). Oh, and Tobey helped too."

A short post with no pictures

Second trimester absolutely rocks! My nausea finally(!) went away, I'm getting my energy back (no more lunch time naps AND I can cook dinner), and I can feel Dude kick pretty regularly now.

That is all. I think I will take an extra non-flattering, side-shot of my expanding mid-section this weekend.

Apparently I enjoy using hyphens. -- -


-

The Dad

There is a very tiny part of me that is slightly jealous with what I am about to reveal. Dude has already decided that Dalan is his favorite. I can talk/sing/read to him and he doesn't seem to notice, but anytime he is awake and hears Dalan's voice, that little punk will start kicking the crap out of me. At first this was just a small theory, but it has been confirmed multiple times. And although I am a smidgen jealous, more than anything I am so happy that our little one already knows and recognizes his dad's voice!

Bedding Upgrade

About a year ago we finally conceded that two adults and two schnauzers was way too much to fit into a full-sized bed. We bought a queen mattress and frame and grabbed the cheapest comforter they had at Smith's to get us by, until I found the perfect bedding. Perfect bedding took a whole lot longer than originally planned and our clearance comforter mixed with our pillows from our old bed set we looking extremely sad. (Isn't it great how the comforter is the exact same color as the walls?!)



Apparently old nasty blanket is Scout approved.

I found tons of bedding I loved, but all of it was white, which just wasn't going to work with black dogs. Finally (more than a year later) I found a set from Macy's that Dalan and I could both agree on, and it arrived today!




It also came with two additional shams in a pillow shape I didn't even know existed, so we're not quite finished yet, but it feels so nice to have something new and pretty in my bedroom!
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Dude

Pretty sure everyone already saw it on Facebook, but here is our official pregnancy announcement photo.


We have named the fetus 'Dude' (Dr. is pretty sure its a boy). We are SO excited for this little one to join our family in November! Big fat post about our pregnancy journey coming soon.

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Oh Scoutles

My extra special schnauzer has a knack for getting into things. We have a pair of carribeaners usually blocking her access under the sink. Sadly, I forgot to check it before I left for work this morning:




She will usually leave all of the other cupboards alone, but this must have been so much fun, she decided to invite the Tupperware to the party too:




Her most recent feat is somehow wiggling her fat body under our bed. I still have no idea how she fits. Once she gets under there she just stares at the backside of the bed skirt. She won't come out from her hidey-hole and I usually have crawl under the bed to drag her royal fatness out. This is already slightly problematic (and largely hilarious I'm sure) at 5-months pregnant. Not too much longer until I just leave her under there for good.

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Iconic

Just something little I noticed today. Pinterest updated their 'loading' screen to be a little push pin.


I think it's absolutely adorable.
That is all.

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Florida in February

I attended a conference in Florida last week. I actually already blogged about it (probably my best post ever, but you'll just have to take my word for it), but the post was cruelly lost by blogger after I selected 'save'. So we will try this again......

We left Logan at 5:45 on Sunday morning. We were all ridiculously tired, and after a day of travel and a very disappointing dinner we were SO ready to go to bed.

At around 3:30, I was awoken by what I assumed was the hotel room alarm clock, but after punching the clock a few times, I finally came to my senses and exited the building.



Turns out some yahoo decides he couldn't go outside for a smoke, so he tried to disconnect the smoke detector in his room. Jerk.

It took about 30 minutes for the fire department to get everything sorted out. Micah (ever the optimist) pointed out that we were all outside, in our PJs and perfectly warm, it was much better than if we had been in Utah.

Next day we had some free time before we had to pick up Patrick from the airport. We headed over to Sanibel Island which was just a few minutes from our hotel.



Sanibel Island is known for seashells, they were everywhere! More common than gravel, they were used in gardens, pathways, and even in the asphalt in the road.



We spent awhile at the beach, it was SO warm and absolutely gorgeous!



AND again, with a ridiculous filter, just to make my Utah peeps jealous.



We ate lunch at Holy Smoke (not to be confused with THE Holy Smokes in Layton where I've told y'all to eat).
See, different logo/piggy



They did have pretty great sweet potato fries.


So I guess I can forgive them for being different from my usual fave. (But seriously, if you haven't had the Holy Smokes in Layton, get in your car Right Now and go order some pulled brisket. YUM!)

We wandered the island a bit more and strolled along some perfect beaches.


I have never, ever been tempted to live in Florida before, but holycrap! This is what it looks like in February.

Micah wanted some icecream and thanks to Yelp! We found some tasty gelato.


This was apricot biscotti and it changed my life. I ate it on a bench next to this dude:


He wasn't to interested in me though, he only had eyes for Jason.

We decided to stop at an antique store on our way out, I thought this was an interesting find.


Only $85 and it could be yours!

My schedule for the conference the next day was pretty sporadic, I ended up having 3 breaks over 30 minute, so I spent every spare second outside in the 75+ weather.



I made another bird friend during a short walk.



This is the view sitting outside of one of the conference rooms.


Most of the rooms had large picture windows, it was pretty cruel to tease us like this during a lecture.

The next day Micah, Jason, and I all had an hour break before dinner, so we headed for the beach again.


By the way, I was wise enough to not pack a stitch of Florida appropriate clothing. All of the beach trips are with my dress-slacks rolled up and my shoes in-hand.


Micah and Jason were much braver than I and the ventured out onto that sandbar.


This guy and all of his creepy friends stopped me.


What the crap is that?! They were everywhere and I did NOT want to step on one, so I played it safe by the shore.

We made it back to the conference just in time for sunset.






Back at our hotel, I settled in for the night. I talked to Dalan and Tobey on FaceTime.


You see how freakin cute my dog is?!

Then....


At about 1:30 we got a repeat from our first night.

Dear Marriott,
What the heck?

The next night we skipped the conference dinner and headed back to Sanibel. We were searching for a restraint known as The Mucky Duck which was right on the beach and faced west. We found it right before sunset, and decided to postpone dinner awhile.


















The next day was our last full day. The last class finished early. Jason wanted to find an alligator head for his kid, so we went in search of tourist shops.

Marcel, I am very disappointed!



Micah and Jason had grabbed a Rib City menu earlier that day. And I was sold from the very first item!


SEE!!!



Aaaaaaand that's the end. I wouldn't say no to a February South-West Florida trip in the future.

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