New Orleans Pictures

New Orleans

I got back from New Orleans a week ago but have been sick since then so I know I'm a little late in getting this up, what can you do? I was in New Orleans for a week to attend a training class and then the Marriott Extended Stay GM's Conference. All of Marriott's classes are always fun to attend and they pull out all the stops. I did have some time to sight see a little and the hotel was only a block or so from the infamous Bourbon St., which I was not all that impressed with. Maybe if strip clubs and all you can drink slushie hurricanes were my thing I would think otherwise. Needless to say, there was lots of other stuff to see. I finally saw the Mississippi River, I didn't have the time to go look at it when I was in Memphis, that was also just down the street from the hotel. The French Quarter is pretty amazing and beignets are a new favorite of mine. Beignets are pretty much French doughnuts, but SO good. I brought back a box of the mix so Michael would believe me. The food was good, I tried alligator, rabbit and oysters (oysters are gross) and every meal at the conference had some type of seafood which was awesome. Although I was glad to finally find a Subway for lunch one day. It would have been more fun if Bud had been able to come up to see me or if Michael could have come for a few days, but he had to stay home and watch the puppies. :)

So excited

This is what Petree thinks about being a dad, he just can't stop smiling! haha

Bright eyes...

They say that the puppies will open their eyes around 10-14 days old. So at 10 days we were ready to finally see some eyes- and nothing happened. And then nothing happened. Finally on day 14 Raiders eyes started to open up, they are still not fully open, so he kind of looks funny, hopefully the others will follow along soon!

Two weeks...

It has been two weeks since the puppies were born and they have been growing like crazy! All of them have at least tripled their body weight. They are starting to get their little fat rolls and their ears have started to flop over and grow, too. They are still pretty much worthless, though, they just sleep and eat all day, but they look cute doing it! These are some of my favorite pictures that we've taken...

Big softie!

So when we found out that Missy was going to have puppies Michael said, "That's it, once the puppies are born there will be no more dogs sleeping in the bed!! We will get a big bed for them but they will be sleeping on the floor. There is no way we are sleeping with that many dogs!"

Well, to the left is our now current sleeping situation (per Michael). Last night was the first night with the new puppies and Missy whined a few times because she was down on the floor in bed with the puppies but not up in the bed with us. So Michaels idea was to get this box that is big enough for Missy and the puppies but small enough to put up in the middle of the bed. "So she won't be sad she's not sleeping us but she can still be with the puppies" he says. He says that its just temporary, until the puppies are bigger and then all of them will start sleeping on the floor. We'll see about that...

Puppy pictures

They're here!

So we were laying in bed this morning around 8 and Missy started heaving like she was going to throw up. I took her into the bathroom and she threw up on the floor. I figured since I was up that we'd take her temperature really quick and see if it had dropped at all. It had stayed steady everyday so I was pretty surprised when I lifted up her tail and saw that the first puppy was making its way out! I called Michael, who was still in bed, and he ran out. I told him what was happening and he got a look of fear on his face and said "what do I do?!" We took her down to the box we had set up for her and she pretty much just laid there for about a half hour not pushing or anything. The first puppy is actually preceeded by a big bubble (to stretch stuff out) so the bubble was just hanging out, pretty gross. She finally started pushing and puppy #1 came out. It was amazing how she knew exactly what to do. She licked him and chewed off the umbilical cord. Puppy #1 (Spike) ended up being the biggest of the bunch so the next two came out pretty quick. Puppy #2 (Raider) and Spike look just like Petree. Puppy #3 is spotted/striped brown and white and looks nothing like either Petree or Missy. We named him Scooter. By this time it was about 10am and I was hungry so Michael went to get breakfast. We also figured that was in since we could only see 2, maybe 3 on the x-ray. But no- puppy #4 (Harley) is the only girl of the bunch and she came out about 10 minutes after Scooter. Michael sure got a surprise when he got back! We took them to the vet for a quick check up and everyone is doing good. They said the puppies look really healthy and Missy is a good mom. Petree is not sure what to think about them, he whines when they start crying and won't get very close to them. We are so glad they came today!

Still waiting

We are still waiting for the puppies and Missy looks like she is about ready to pop! Michael and I have worked out our schedules so that one of us will be able to be home at all times so that one of us will be there when it finally happens. I'm hoping that I'll be home since Michael hasn't prepared as much as I have. :) I got a fancy new camera for Christmas so once I figure out how to upload photos I'll post some picture of her belly.

Puppies! (plural)

Today we took Missy in to get her x-rayed to see how many puppies she'll be having. The vet tech started off by hurting her feelings (I know my feelings would be hurt if someone put a thermometer up my butt!) and so she sat in my lap and hid her face in my arm until it was time for the x-ray. Emily (our vet) said she did a really good job and didn't wiggle at all. We were able to see two puppies for sure, we could see their spine and heads mainly and Emily said that she thinks there may be a third one hiding behind the others. I won't lie, I was hoping for an answer like "you will be having x number of puppies" instead of a maybe, but now we are at least a little prepared. We only have about two and a half weeks to go so we are trying to think of names. I like the names Harley and Brutus, Michael wants to name them nerd names like MegaTron, Kal-El (superman) and any other name he can think of from a comic book or his wizard books. I veto the majority of them pretty fast but told him I'd think about naming one Bond (yeah, like James Bond). Good thing we have some time to think...

Snipped

Petree is getting fixed today. Michael dropped him off early this morning and we'll go back this afternoon to get him. They called after they had put him down and said that he still had his baby canine teeth, so they had to pull those in order to avoid problems in the future. Poor guy, he gets teeth pulled and his manhood chopped off all in one day. Missy is getting bigger every day! We only have about 3 weeks left and we find out in a week how many she'll be having.

Pregnant!!

So we took Missy in for her appointment today. Our vet, Emily, who is awesome (even though she did go to OSU), felt around for a minute and said there is at least one puppy in there, maybe two. The first time (that we know of) that they did 'it' was Halloween, so we are about 32 days into the pregnancy. Around 45 days is when the puppies would show up on an x-ray, so we are going to take her back in around then so that we will know just how many puppies to expect. The gestation period for dogs is only around 63 days and they say smaller dogs usually have shorter pregnancies. SO, we may be having New Years babies. We are excited but a little nervous too. I have been reading up on it online though, and it seems pretty straight forward. They say to start taking her temperature twice a day, and then when there is a drop in temperature of a degree or two, then she'll go into labor in the next 24 hours. So a heads up will be nice. Missy isn't the only one having all the fun, though. We are making an appointment for Petree to get fixed, probably in the next couple weeks as well. Missy will get fixed, too, probably about 2 months after she's had the puppies and they're weaned. Thank goodness we have their health plans!

Babies??

We will see! We've made an appointment for Missy so that they can check her out. Her boobs have been getting bigger but I'm hoping that's just because she's now a "woman". She has also been sleeping a lot longer than she usually has. Usually it is just Petree who is still in bed at 10am, but lately it has been her, too. So, the appointment is for December 2. I'll keep you posted.

Birthday Boy!!!

So, today is Petree's birthday, one year old!!! It doesn't seem like we have had him for a year. I will have to post pictures later, but yes, I did get him a birthday cake. And you can save your comments about how dumb it is- I am obviously not the only person who does this considering the pet store I went to had an entire pet birthday display. The cakes are super cute- I got two- one for him and one for Missy. He totally loved his birthday present and can't wait to try it out the next time we go for a walk. Petree LOVES having us throw the tennis ball for him to fetch when we go on walks BUT, Michael gets tired of bending over to pick up the ball (weiner, I know). So we got one of those cool ball picker-upper, flinger things.
On a side note- Missy went through her first "womanly cycle" these past couple weeks. GROSS, even if she did look cute in her tiny diapers. We tried keeping them apart but Petree is quick (we have pictures of that too, but I'll keep the blog PG). So we may be having some New Years babies. Who wants a puppy as a late Christmas present?! The gestation period is only about 63 days, so we should know fairly soon. For those of you wondering, there is no pee test for dogs, they go through the same hormonal cycle pregnant or not (I looked it up). The only way to tell is taking her to the vet and getting an x-ray in about a month. If she isn't pregnant then we are getting her fixed, because once again, gross. If she is, then we'll wait and do it once the hoopla is done.

A little bit of paradise...

The hot tub.

This is the entryway into the front of the house.

The "great room", one whole wall was windows/sliding doors, the view was awesome.

The pool....

The creek running through the golf course, there are a bunch of waterfalls just a bit further up.

So one of my best buds from college, Cherron, got engaged this past summer. They decided to do a joint bachelor/bachelorette party at her parents house down in Palm Springs. Her dad was super generous and paid for everyone to fly down for the weekend. We got there Thursday afternoon and returned Sunday night. It has been getting colder here so it was SO fantastic to spend a few days in 90+ heat. It was all in all a very relaxing trip, a lot of laying by the pool drinking margaritas, sitting in the hot tub at night and turning on the outdoor fireplace for smores! Their house is amazing, they just finished building it this past spring. Here are a few pictures...