Maeve

You may have guessed by the lack of shepherd pictures that we rehomed our puppy earlier this year. It wasn't a decision we took lightly, but it was the right one. Buying him, trying to raise him, and rehoming him were all things that I feel bad about, so all you dog lovers out there...go easy on me. We live and we learn! Odin is on a farm in Idaho and loving life.

We will never own a puppy again (big lesson learned) but after Odin we still knew we wanted a dog in our home. A family dog that would teach our kids to respect animals, get us outside to play, and be a sweet companion to us for a long long time. Enter in Maeve (May-vee). :) 

This girl came to us from a rescue. She's a 6ish year old lab mix. She had a ROUGH start where she was used for breeding and then neglected outside. She had very little fur and was in bad shape when her foster got her. With a little love and care she sprung right back to life! We've had her for about a month and she seems to be a perfect fit. Man, I love that dog!! She's still got some sores that we're working with the vet to heal, but we know we still have a good chunk of time with her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She's gentle, and sweet, and truly the best dog!! 

Nine and Ten Month Update

Here's the kiddo's 9 month update! Ryan •puts himself to sleep •loves his daddy best •wants to crawl so bad, and is so close. He goes backwards and in circles on his belly but not forward •has some serious stranger danger, but it's nothing a little peek-a-boo won't fix •weighs 18lbs and is 30in long. •has 2 bottom teeth and one top that's almost through! We love him so dang much! This has been a super fun stage as he gets more and more playful.

 

 

 

 

We also paid another visit to the cardiologist during his 9th month. Ryan has VSD, if you feel like googling. We were expecting the little holes in his heart to close by now, but they're still open. The doc says as long as he continues to grow and doesn't show any symptoms, he'll be ok and we will revisit it again in another 9 months or so. It's not the news we wanted to hear, but we trust this doctor and will just continue to keep an eye on him! 

 

Our three toothed little hick is 10 months old! Currently Ryan •is all play all the time... kid never slows down •is so funny and if you laugh at him he'll keep doing whatever he was doing •loves the "I'm gonna get you!" game •gives the sweetest loves and slobbery open mouthed kisses •still takes 2 naps a day, but I have a feeling we're transitioning to 1 soon. Love my days with this baby, it's hard to imagine having two!

 

 

 

 

 

Big Family News!

I mentioned in another post that we went through the temple as a family, and wanted to elaborate on that a bit more! The three-ish months leading up to my endowment and our sealing Jake and I worked really hard to receive our recommends. It was a challenging and rewarding process that I would go through again and again to be able to be sealed to my family! This is in the church parking lot after meeting with the stake pres, recommends in hand. :) I love these boys! 

 

The day of our sealing (Nov. 1st, we did my endowment session a week before) we dropped Ryan off at the temple nursery. I'm so grateful my sister Hannah was able to be with him because I was SO nervous about leaving him with strangers! Even cute little old lady temple worker strangers. :) 

The ceremony was beautiful! We had our closest friends and a few family members there. I will never forget the words spoken and seeing Ryan being carried in all in white. Precious beyond words!! He was soooo tired by that point and was a little sad, but he kept it together. This was on the drive home, poor little guy just needed a nap. 

 

We did pictures beforehand (thanks Angela Young Photography, you rock!) and they turned out so amazing! I think you can really feel our happiness through these. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy, happy day! 

Our other big news is that we're expecting baby #2 at the end of May!! We knew we wanted our first two babies close, and boy are we getting what we wished for! I'll be honest, I'm nervous. Nervousness is trumped by elation though, and we can't wait to welcome a little squish to the bunch. 

 

 

I'm 16 weeks now and we find our the gender in less than a week! For my sake I hope it's a girl, but for Ryan I hope it's a boy. I think it'd be so fun for him to grow up with a brother close in age. We'll see!!