Hodge Podge

I need about 4 more hours each day to accomplish the things that I either ought to get done or want to get done. But I'm not willing to give up sleep for this....so I'm stuck with the hours in the day given me. My old band mom, June, is one of those amazing women who need only 4 hours of sleep and have endless amounts of energy, optimism, and spirit. In high school, it used to make me tired. Now I just wonder what vitamins she takes in the morning!
A few things. We planted a garden. And it's growing!! We had to put up a little white fence around the raised bed to prevent the dog from making giant tracks in the middle of our growing little plants. We have a whole row of corn (right), carrots, bush beans, tomatoes, peppers (hot and sweet), and beets.

The bottom left picture is one of the bush bean plants. It was super anxious to sprout; it's buddies are barely poking their leaves through the soil and this guy is rearing to grow!
Darwin continues to make us laugh. He's the epitome of un-grace. For example, when he scratches his ear with a hind foot, he's lucky if he actually hits the ear every other scratch. The rest of the time is spent scratching behind, in front, the eye, his mouth...and the scratching session usually ends with his foot in his mouth, chewing. Such a dork!!
One of the women in our old neighborhood is an amazing seamstress. She is the mother of one of Chadwick's good friends and was kind enough to make Morgan a little ballerina outfit. It just now fits, and below are some pictures. There is beading along the collar and both wrists and a letter "M" on the chest. She's adorable! When I put it on the other night, Grandpa Steve said, "What is that?? Where is my little cowgirl?"She had her 4 month check-up at the pediatrician yesterday, with vaccines.





She is now 24" and weighs in at 13.6#. Growing like a weed and still the prettiest baby ever. =)

Four Years Ago Today....

Four years ago today, we were sealed in the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple! In fact, by this time we had been sealed, taken some pictures, and were in route to our ring ceremony. The day couldn't have gone more smoothly from my point of view, and we had numerous family and friends there to support us and celebrate our marriage. Those people are still a huge part of our lives and we are very grateful for their love!

So many things have happened since that day!
1460 days of marriage
2 degrees in veterinary medicine
7 days on a cruise ship to Mexico with 2 good friends
54 weeks of Julie being on-call
80 hour weeks during Chadwick's internship
Several trips to New Mexico
2 new animals - Cleo and Darwin
1 new house
9 months of pregnancy
And the cutest baby girl ever!!

We are grateful to be at this place in our lives - together and starting a new little family!

And yes, I made the cookie bouquet. It says "Happy 4th Anniv" on Oreo cookies. The sticks I placed in a head of lettuce (thanks, Mandy for the idea) and covered with tissue paper and red rose petals from when we were dating. Nifty, huh?

Happy Father's Day!

This photograph about says it all! I am so blessed to have an amazing husband and father to Morgan. He does so much for us both daily and doesn't always receive the credit he deserves for the routine tasks. We love you, Chadwick!

Darwin

Because life wasn't challenging enough with a baby, new house, new jobs, and daily living, Chadwick and I adopted a dog. Darwin, as we have chosen to call him, came to us a month ago through the clinic where Chadwick was working. In October, Darwin ate a rock and needed surgery to remove it from his intestines. He thought the ordeal was so much fun he did it again, and as before required surgery. His owners were unable to afford a second (third? fourth?) surgery and reluctantly gave him up to the clinic. Saturday after his presentation, the two of us did surgery to remove the rock from his intestines....and then took him home a week later.

Aside from the fact that he is a skinny 60 pound, tall, big-pawed, goofy, energetic lab cross living in our 950-sq-foot home, he's great. He doesn't chase the cat, he's potty trained, knows a few tricks, licks Morgan, and adores Chadwick. Life with him is getting easier, and even the cat has moved back into the house from the garage where she spent the first several days after he came home. In fact, she now drinks from the same water dish, growls any time he walks by and then tries to get his tail, and stalks him from the couch. I think she actually likes him, but is too much of a feline to let anyone know. She's still the princess of the house!

Note: we named him Darwin because according to Darwin's law of survival of the fittest, this dog would not still be in the gene pool. He's a sweet boy.....