Do big things really happen in 3's?

If so, I'll be posting about something else big in a few days! Because a couple big things happened here recently!

Monday, Judah decided he was potty trained. All the Skittles in the world wouldn't get him to go potty a few months ago, and me, not being quite ready anyway, took some friends advice not to push him. I secretly thought all that "he'll do it when he is ready" stuff was baloney...don't tell anyone! But he really did. He was ready this weekend. We have been doing pull-ups for my sanity, b/c he still has little accidents here and there, but for the most part, he os doing really well! I went out with the ladies Monday night, and Brent and Judah were at a friends house, and Judah told Brent 3 times that he had to go potty! And this morning, we were at Sharon's and he yelled at me from upstairs that he had to go. I ran up to get him to the potty, to find he had just pooped in the pull-up. I was a little sad, and cleaned him up, and let him try to go on the potty, and he FINISHED POOPING on the potty! I was VERY proud to say the least! Anyway, we're just taking it one day at a time, with lots of trips to the bathroom and positive reinforcement. So YAY!!!

The other big thing, not so big to most people, but big to me. I helped Sharon rescue a litter or feral kittens this week. A feral cat that hangs out at their house had 3 kittens about 6 weeks ago. The mom is untouchable, and we knew that without any intervention, the kittens would become the same exact way, socially fearful, and very very feral. Around 6 weeks, they can survive away from mom, and it is early enough that they should be able to be socialized to humans. So Tuesday, we caught all 3 of them. And boy, were they already wild! I got scratched and bitten (tiny scratches, mind you) getting them into a little crate. And every time you would move your hands near them, they would hiss and spit at you. Sharon and I were both shaking after the catch, and sat there wondering how a 1 pound kitten could strike such fear in your heart!!!

Well, last night I got them all set up in Jager's big crate with a bed, litter pan, dry food and water. I got them to the point last night where they would let me scratch their heads without hissing at me. This afternoon, we went over to feed them some wet food, and I GOT TO HOLD ALL 3 OF THEM!!! They are coming around so quickly. I am really suprised! I will get some pictures up of them as soon as I can. We are planning on doing a trap-neuter-release with the Mom cat as soon as we can.

This is all so exciting to me because after Guiness left, I felt like I needed to do something else to help. volunteer, foster, something. And this is so perfect. It is something that I have never done before, so I am having to research and figure it out. It is really keeping my rescue skills sharp as well as my vet tech skills sharp! I have been praying that Go would show me where I can best be used, and what a blessing to have this to do!

Maybe it seems silly to you, but the more time I spend with animals, I realize that this is really one of my passions.



A friends puppy we did some behavioral consulting with.


Enough rambling for now. Have a great rest of your week!

Can I just say... ...

I'm so freakin' excited!!!!!

I just picked these up at the Pechanga Casino box office!!!!!

After roughly 13 years of being a serious fan of the Indigo Girls, I FINALLY get to see them in concert! This was Brent's Mother's Day gift to me! They are playing a concert right here in Temecula at a casino. Micah and Erica are babysitting, and we're going out!!

I know that the Idigo Girls aren't for everyone, but they are such amazing writers and musicians, that I feel everyone should love them just as much as I do. If you have never really heard any of their music before, check out some of these links. You may find that you really like their music.

Some music samples
Closer to Fine music video: it's a classic!
Least Complicated Video...one of my faves.

Indigo Girls Myspace

That is all for now...can you tell I'm excited?!?!?!?!?

M & D 's visit in list form

Wednesday:
-airpirt
-in-n-out

-visit Brent at work
-relaxing nap time
-ravioli and meatballs for dinner!

Thursday:
-pack lunches and head to the beach
-play play play in the sand
-dig a big hole

-get our feet wet (the water was really cold)
-get burned through the clouds

-dinner at the tortilla factory
-SURVIVOR

Friday:

-hang out at home
-church BBQ at our place for a missionary
-swimming
-Bosnian Coffee

Saturday:

-Brent had a CPR class all morning
-new Crocs for me! yay!
-San Diego Golden Retiever Meetup Dock Diving Seminar!

-hanging out at Dog Beach

-Flat tire
-Flat spare tire
-Call to roadside assistance
-no open tire repair shops
-a walk to Jack in the Box
-a rental car
-crammed ride home with a wet, sandy, stinky dog in my lap

Sunday:

-HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
-church
-after church BBQ for Guatemalan orphans
-Trip back down to SD for Mom and Brent to fix tire and return rental car
-Dinner at Micah and Erica's house

Monday:

-planned trip to the Zoo in San Diego...too sick of driving to San Diego, so we bagged it!
-went hiking instead
-found the falls this time...no water...

-met some men working for the forest dept. clearing out a pond of all the pollywogs and crawdads..Judah was enthralled!

-another BBQ up at our house for a giant staff meeting (wherever 2 or more from our church are gathered......there is food)

Tuesday:

-drive to the airport
-lunch with Brent at Chick-fil-a
-drop M & D off at the airport

We had so much fun Mom and Dad. Thanks so much for sacrificing a week of your vacation time to spend it with us!!!

Mom and Dad's visit!

Just want to post a few pictures right now. I have lots of stories to tell, but the pictures can't wait!

At the beach in Oceanside

Catchin' some raysDigging a really big hole
lookin' at stuff with Papa Paul
Washing dishes with Grandma

Eating Breakfast on the couch
Hiking to the falls

The "falls" with no water....

Saying goodbye at the airport

Guiness is home.

I know you all think that I am a crazy dog lady, and well, you're right. I am. And I love it. Sunday afternoon we drove to Frazier Park, a little north of LA, and met Guiness' new mommie. Her name is Mary, and she lives in Sacramento with her other 2 dogs, Bruno and Vinnie, and her 3 cats, Blue, Maggie, and Mooly, and oh yes, her husband, Ryan. She is scientist for a auto immune research company during the week, and a dog trainer on the weekends. They don't have any kids yet, just plenty of animals. In keeping with the Italian Maffia themed dogs names, Guiness' new name is Gino.

I was sad to see him go, but so incredible happy that I found him the best home possible. Mary is a wealth of knowledge on training, dog health, and behavior. She has already started him on the same raw diet the other doggies eat, and he is doing well with all the transitions. The one thing that suprised me was how hard Judah took it all. When Mary put Guiness in her car to leave, he just started crying, asking where he was going, and bawling that he didn't want Guiness to go. That just made me start crying too. But we re-explained the whole situation, and he calmed down relatively quickly. He had gotten really attatched. Here are some pictures from the meetup, and then of him in his new home.

what a difference....

a year makes...

Easter, 2006

Easter, 2007

Same cheesy forced smile, but a lot bigger boy! Brent and I were just looking through some pictures and realizing how old he looks in alot of his pictures, and then we realized, it's not just the pictures. He IS older, and he looks older. He is slimming out, he has a skinny neck, he feeds the dogs, he takes showers, he rides a trike, he plays baseball, .....I could go on and on. Anyway, all you mothers out there know how bittersweet this is. It just hits you every now and then.

All of you mothers out there also know how we all have irrational fears concerning our children. Well, I have a very rational fear surfacing right now. Dino (whose house we live at) found his 2nd (yes 2nd) rattlesnake today while doing some hedge trimming. And of course he had to catch it and put it in a glass cage for all the kids to study.....Judah and I go over snake protocal every day, it goes a little like this:

M: Judah, what do you do if you see a snake?

J: I run away.

M: Then what do you do?

J: I come find Mommy and tell her I saw the snake.

M: Good boy.

We are about 10 minutes from ANY medical facility. So yesterday I asked Brent what I should do if the unthinkable happened. What would you do? It would take too long for an ambulance to get up here and get him to the hospital. Would you put him in his carseat? How fast would you speed? Do you try to suck out the venom? AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!?!?!?!?! Just pray, Alicia, just pray.....

Ok, I got that out of my system...

Guiness is going to his new home tomorrow. We are driving up north of LA and meeting his new mom in a little town to make the exchange. I am going to miss him, but I think Jager will miss him even more. They have really developed quite a bond..

Judah is a little attached too.



New favorite picture of Judah (photo credits: Erica Durham)

pruny fingers... ..... ......

Since we moved to this house, we no longer have a bathtub, so Judah has started to just take showers with us. And this morning, he just didn't want to get out! By the time I fianlly convinced him it was time to get out, his fingers were soooooo pruny!!

Those little pruny fingers were so cute, I told him I just wanted to eat them, and Judah said, "no, because then they'll broke off." and I said, "please? just one little nibble?" and he said, "no, because then my hands will get all slobbery."

playing catch

Judah and I had our very first catch today. He has been quite taken with baseball lately, and the boys (Cello and Austin--boys whose house we live at) have lots of different sized mitts in their collection. So Judah and I played catch! He is getting really good at throwing, and now is learning how to catch. He was so excited, he couldn't wait for Brent to get home from work so that he could play catch with Dad.



Sorry about the blurriness of the pictures.....it is REALLY time for that new camera I have been wanting...it is slowly turning into that new camera I need...

Happy May Day!

About halfway through the day I realized it was mayday. I tried to remember if this used to be a celebratory holiday growing up, I don't remember decorating a May Pole or anything like that. Then out of nowhere, my mind became flooded with memories of constuction paper, glue, stickers.....what was it that I used to make....oh yes! May Day baskets! I remember making little construction paper cones with glued on handles, and picking all of my mothers beautiful flowers, stuffing them into the "baskets", and leaving them on my neighbors doorsteps, then quickly running away after ringing the door bell! What fun we had suprising everyone with our humble little crafts! By the time I thought of doing this with Judah, we were halfway home, and miles from the store. Maybe its too girly of a thing to do with him anyway. But he would've enjoyed it. Oh well, maybe next year.

Tonight when we got home from our small group, I headed downstairs to do laundry while Brent and Judah went upstairs to start getting ready for bed. I had put Gracie's food in her kennel with her while we were gone to give her a chance to eat away from the boys. From the bathroom, Brent heard Judah saying, "Jager, you can't eat Gracie's food. If you are hungry, I'll get you your own food, but you can't eat Gracie's food." and then he brought Gracie's food dish into the bathroom to Brent! What a smart little dog trainer he is becoming! I was very proud of him!

We have been fairly busy, hence the lack of updates. It has been hot, and with no air conditioning, we have been spending alot of time by the pool, and not sitting around in the house sweating! My mom and dad will be here in a week, and I'm getting really anxious, in a good way. I feel fairly overwhelmed with Judah right now, and it will be a good time for a little break.

Brent's company bought everyone tickets to the baseball game Saturday night. About 15 minutes from our house is a Minor Leauge team, the Lake Elsinore Storm, who I believe feed directly into the San Diego Padres. They barbequed hot dogs and hamburgers right at the stadium, and then we had seats about 3 rows up from 3rd base. We had a great time, and Judah really enjoyed watching the baseball players.....for about 10 minutes. After that, we took turns climbing up the stairs with him, getting treats, chasing down the mascot for high 5's, etc... He had fun, expecially when he figured out that after he deshelled and ate the peanuts he could throw the shells onto the field....not really sure if that was ok, but it was keeping him busy and that was just fine with me!

I went to see a movie Sunday night with some girls from church, we saw Music and Lyrics. It was very cute, and fun to see Hugh Grant in a very different role. I definitley reccomend it for a chick flick rental night. I don't et to the movies very often, so I pretty much like everything I see....for me it's all about the fun of being out, and kid free....

Judah and I made some banana bread today for our small group tonight. He loves cooking with me, and I think it is because he knows he gets to take some "tastes" at the end...

Well, enough rambling for now. I'll leave you with this...