making a mess, and the dogs (not related to each other)

Heidi loves to paint, color, use stickers etc. I now have a system set up where she wears a large t-shirt, and I cover the table. Heidi can make a mess, and then we clean it up. I have to tell myself not to worry about the mess each time, but it is worth the effort to watch Heidi learn new skills.

Heidi finger painting

I was working on dinner one afternoon, and needed to keep Heidi entertained and away from hugging my legs while saying "up, mommmy, up" over and over and over again :) So she received her own bowls of flour, a spoon, and a cup. It kept her occupied for quite awhile. 

Heidi playing with flour.

Yes, we still have both our dogs. How life goes, they have moved down the priority list. We still love them, and Heidi is starting to gently interact with them. She likes to throw the tennis ball for Sophie, or try to play keep-away with one of Sophie's toy. 

Sophie

Skipper keeps his distance too, but once in a while Heidi can calmly get close to him and pat him for a minute. He still loves to soak up the sun.

Skipper

Here, Heidi and Grandma are blowing bubbles, and  yes, Heidi tries to eat the soap. Ewwwww. This was this past week, and could be our last warm day for a long time. I've pulled out the next size in warm clothes for Heidi. She is mainly up into 3T already, with just a few 2T left that she can fit into.

Grandma and Heidi

Never tired...

Never tired of looking at Heidi pictures. I went back into December and pulled a few of my favorites.

We had to get a picture of us a new home owners! With our great Realtor, Mary.

Heidi, Me, Mary, Kelby

Heidi has learned that Sophie loves to play with the dog toys. Heidi knows which ones are the dogs, and will hold out the toy, or throw the toy. Sometimes Sophie is interested, as in this picture, other times not so much. (excuse my finger, it's hard getting an action shot!)

Sophie, Heidi

Heidi's first Christmas morning. What fun. She was most interested in the paper.

Heidi Christmas 2013

Here we are using the remote to the camera. 2 out of 5 looking at the lens, not too bad!

The Reeds Christmas 2013

Not sure who is more jealous, Skipper or Heidi.

Me, Heidi, Skipper, Kelby

therapy cont.

- sensory idea: Using a dog. Skipper is not interested in getting close to Heidi, probably because he can't predict her movements. Sophie will sit close by for a few seconds, until Heidi pulls on her hair, and then Sophie moves out of reach. This picture is only 'slightly' posed, meaning I helped Sophie to lay down next to Heidi, but I didn't have to make Sophie stay. In terms of sensory exploration, Sophie's hair (and Maggie's) is a very unique feeling compared to all of Heidi's plastic, paper, cloth, and wooden toys. It's good for her to experience.

Sophie, Heidi

Maggie and Heidi. Maggie is currently in training to be a therapy dog.

- another sensory idea: I now lay Heidi down on the bathroom floor while I take a shower, so I can play peek-a-boo from behind the shower curtain (a good social activity), and make sure she is okay. I put toys around her, but she likes her hands in her mouth the best. She also likes exploring the carpet and the wall, by moving her fingers back and forth, or flicking. The texture of the wall is different, along with the sound that it makes. On a side note, I love being able to connect behaviors of kids I worked with, to the point in development where it started. Fun. No picture associated with this one. water + camera = not a smart idea.

- feeding: I learned to much from some of my co-workers (Nicole and Melissa specifically!) in how to help a baby eat, and tricks to use. I was/am very purposeful on how I introduced Heidi to food. Per her pediatrician, we started with rice cereal. I placed the spoon with a little runny cereal on it, in her mouth, and let Heidi try to take it off the spoon with her lips and tongue. I didn't scrape it against her top lip. This way, she was more in control of what was happening. I also let her get as dirty as she wanted. The cereal ended up everywhere! On her feet, elbows, hair, face and every crevice in her hands. But that is part of the food experience. I didn't clean her up until the end, so she can become accustomed to feeling the food on her face and hands. When Heidi reached for the spoon, I let her hold it, and she guided it into her mouth, where she sucked off the cereal. Self feeding is important, and I want to do what I can to keep her interested in it.

Heidi's 1st time trying rice cereal.

Heidi tryng cereal.

 - Oh, and for now, eating food is only for the practice of trying to chew/swallow/taste the foods. She still receives all her nutrition from breast milk. Therefore, the quantity of food that she is eating is pretty irrelevant. :)

Unexpectedly stressful Day

The day started out with a phone call to my sister. She had been on nights at the hospital, so early morning was a time I thought I could catch her on the phone. I explained that Heidi had gone almost 4 days without a bowel movement, and she encouraged me to call the pediatrician. I'm thankful I listened to her, as Heidi became more and more uncomfortable as the day progressed. The pediatrician said that breast-milk babies typically have a bowel movement between 5 times a day to once every 5 days. But since every 4 days was not typical for Heidi, she didn't feel good, and he suggested a glycerin suppository and apple juice. Therefore, Heidi received her first taste of juice! She sucked down 2 ounces faster than I expected. The suppository took 2 hours before we saw the effects. She filled up a diaper, but that is manageable. Oh, but I did put a disposable diaper on her to make things easier!

And my other big event, is that for a while now, I've been thinking that Skipper hasn't been doing well. Nothing that I could put my finger on, as he was still eating normally, and became excited for walks or the park. But he was lagging near the end of walks. And seemed to sleep in one spot on the couch more frequently. So I packed up Heidi, Skipper, Sophie, and myself for a trip to the vet. Not good news, which did not come as a surprise as we had a heart x-ray back in December. Skipper's heart is beating too fast, and his blood pressure is super high. An EKG showed irregular beats. He started on medication to make his heart beat slower but stronger, and to reduce his blood pressure. We have to go back in a week to make sure the kidneys aren't negatively affected by the medicine. I'm hopeful this will work. At the same time, I need to be realistic and acknowledge that this is pretty serious. Boo. I'll be giving Skipper some extra cuddles and treats.

Side note, Sophie went because I needed the vet techs to cut her nails. She cries and squeals and screams, and it isn't worth the stress of Kelby and myself trying. Instead, I let them hold her as she cried, squealed, and screamed. Through the door, I could her them telling her it was okay, but she wasn't believing them!

And since too many words without pictures tends to bore people, here are a few pictures.

Heidi entertained by Sophie.

4th of July, my birthday, Heidi's 1st parade, 2 freaked out dogs.

A sleepy saturday.

Stay tuned for blog catch-up!

I unexpectly took a break from writing on here. I couldn't believe that I was sick with strep throat and ear infections but I am finally recovering. So on this note, here I am.

Sophie fell asleep before Kelby the other night. He prefers for Sophie to cuddle rather than sleep in the cage. This night I didn't have the energy to persuay Kelby otherwise. Sophie picked the soft spot, and then Kelby lay down. I told him that Sophie is now dominate over him... what do you think?

Picture of Sophie

Here is Sophie in her old cone. A few days after we took this picture, she was wearing her cone (while in her cage). Kelby came home and noticed she chewed out three of her stitches. He took her into the vet, and the vet put in staples. OUCH! They also gave her a larger cone. We had her wear it for another week, and now it is off. Sophie is running around and is enjoying playing without plastic inhibiting her movements. She is also enjoying scratching her ears. hehe

Sophie is home

Kelby picked up Sophie from the vet this afternoon. When I arrived home after work, she was in a cage, and was standing, wagging her tail. I would definitely say that she is on the road to recovery. Her right hind leg and hip is shaved, and there is a row of stitches along her knee, heading upwards. She has a cone around her head to prevent her from scratching or biting at her leg. There is no bandage or cast on her leg, so we will have to be extremely careful.

Skipper has been very careful. He went up to her and sniffed for a minute, and went back to his spot on the couch to sleep. Sophie ate a little food, and tried to walk around. She hobbled on three legs. When she tried to turn to the right, she fell over as she is not yet putting weight on that leg. She is on 2 pain medications, and sleeping often.

The vet was pleased with the surgery. It will take her a few weeks to a few months to fully recovery. But so far, so good! :)

Thank you all for your prayers and phone calls.

Our sweet Sophie

Sophie is scheduled for surgery this Tuesday. We drop her off at the vet in the morning, and not sure if we can pick her up the same day, or wait until the next day. Her right hind leg, the knee keeps popping out of joint.  The first time, we couldn't get it back in place, so off we rushed to the emergency vet (expensive bill!). That night, even without much activity, it popped out a few more times. The next day Kelby dropped her at our vet, and they did lots of tests, bloodwork, and x-rays (expensive bill #2). Sophie is now taking a pain/anti-inflamation pill, and Kelby would like to wrap our apartment in bubblewrap to try and keep Sophie safe. It's been hard trying to keep her from running and jumping. She is wanting to be close to us, more so than in the past.

We will keep you updated. Prayers are appreciated.

A little of this, a little of that

I have been hearing about a popular website for awhile now. It's called Pinterest, where one can post and save different ideas about anything. Now, I haven't joined because I have lots of fun ideas already, and do not need more. But by using links from facebook, I have found a couple new websites for recipes. But then poking around, I found the follwing idea and wanted to try it. Grandma is always needing more magnets to keep all her pictures on the fridge. I liked this idea as I could customize each one. Here is what I have come up with. What do you think? The first set are snowflakes, and the second bunch are fall leaves.

I have found a few blogs which describe home life raising large families. And by large, I mean 10 kids, some biological and some adopted. It is neat reading their struggles and joys, and how they rely on God. Not that I want that many kids, but I feel as though God is leading me to help kids even more in-depth than I am through work. Time will tell as to Gods plans, Kelby's ideas, and where life leads us.

I had to say goodbye to a family whom I had worked with for awhile. This boy captured my heart, and I will always think about him. I'm not sure why I become closer to some kids over others. I wonder if at some point I will feel less, but then my heart continues to open and love. I always try to enjoy my visits and have fun; because if I am not having fun, than neither is the child and they are less motivated to learn. J, you have a piece of my heart. Now, my heart is growing to love new kids.

Here is Sophie tired after lots of playtime. Kelby thought she looked cute panting. I'm not sure about that deer skull in the background...

 Sophie and Skipper are fun to watch together. Sophie follows Skipper on walks, and where he smells, she smells. Sometimes she is in Skippers way, and he uses his body to push her over. Sophie watches Skipper as he chews on a bone, and the second he stops, she runs in to get the bone, and runs away carrying it. Skipper has learned that sometimes Sophie leaves food behind in her cage, and when she gets out, he goes in looking for food. Once in awhile, we let the puppies in bed to cuddle. Here I am going to sleep, and I called Kelby in to take a picture. They are both in their preferred positions, Skipper under the blanket next to me, and Sophie on top of the blanket but still getting body heat from my legs. hehe

Sophie loves to try and play with more than one toy at a time. Here she is, unable to decide if she wants to chew on the monkey, or the ring. 

And I couldn't end a post without a picture of Skipper. Typically, he has a scared expression on his face when he hears the shutter on the camera, but not this day!

A Park with the puppies

One advantage to my job is that I have some flexibiliy in my schedule. I try on friday afternoons to use my flex time in order to leave early. I had driven by this park for my job, and I knew I wanted the puppies to go with me. It was a beautiful day, with lot of space for Skipper and Sophie to play.

I tried to get a few nice pictures, and it reminded me how hard it is to focus two dogs at the same time.

I received my first fixed lens from Mom and Dad for Christmas, and was able to try it out. I wanted a picture of a butterfly, and wow I had to work to get it. I have a stronger appreciation for all animal and nature pictures after this. It took me around 45 minutes to get a remotely ok picture. Every time I moved closer to the butterfly, thet flew away. Can you believe that! I next tried sitting next to a flower, but now I was at the total mercy of the butterfly. And then one time, instead of a butterfly, I captured a fly. Cool!

  

On our way home, I took a detour to see if I could find a house that I had driven by years ago. I found it, and I love this house. I love older homes, especially in this style. Sorry for the crooked picture, I was driving and didn't want to stop and become that creepy person. But I would love to live in a house like this one day... hopefully sooner rather than later.

Sophie

I watched Sophie play last night. She was interested in a towel on the floor that we use to wipe dirty and muddy paws. Sophie grabbed the towel in her mouth and pulled it across the floor. The towel is larger than herself and almost as heavy. It was fun watching her, but it also brought to mind an activity I use at work with kids who have sensory issues and need more input into their bodies. Sometimes we recommend the child do "heavy work" activities which involves pulling/moving/carrying heavy objects. This gives the child an appropriate release for their energy. It also gives the child information as to where their body is in space. Sophie needed to release energy, which she did!

And on another note, I finally gave Sophie a much needed haircut. After talking with others who have Schnausers, we did not Sophie to be shaved, as it makes their hair stiffer and not as soft. Also, as you can guess, I didn't want to pay for a true grooming session. So one night this past week, I took my embroidery scissors (they are the sharpest ones I own) and we sat on the floor and I cut and cut and cut. And when I thought I was done, I cut and cut and cut some more. Over an hour later, Sophie no longer looked straggled and disorganized, and I had a huge pile of hair on the floor. I decided to keep her beard long under her chin, and primarily gave her a puppy cut everywhere else. Now she is even cuter... if that is possible.

Smart Sophie

Last night I was home from Bible Study, and on the computer checking emails. Kelby was nearby reading. A little background: we had rearranged the living room to fit the Christmas tree. Once we removed the tree, we liked the arrangement as there was more floor space. This places the large couch along a half-wall. Back to present time: we, along with Skipper are in the second bedroom. Sophie was playing with toys in the living room. I heard her chewing food, and I thought it was just a few random pieces of food from the floor. A few minutes later, it registered that Sophie was still chewing food. There couldn’t have been that much food on the floor, so I got up and peeked around the corner. And I found Sophie on the back on the couch, eating Skipper’s food. We had placed the bowls of food on the half wall, thinking they were out of reach. Instead, Sophie figured out that she could climb on the back of the couch and then reach the food bowls from there! We laughed, but had to scold her anyways. And then we moved the food bowls. Now, no more smart Sophie sneaking food!

Life has been busy

Sorry for the lack of attention to the blog. I know some of you have consistently checked for new postings (hi mom) so I appreciate that you haven't given up on me. My time at home as been busy, which equates to less computer/internet/blog time.

Back in November, I decided to have a partial "DIY" Christmas. Instead of buying things as presents, we bought yarn and I made lots of scarves. Now, I love to crochet, but making that many scarves with time constraints was a challenge. I believe I made 8 scarves in all. Just a few days ago, Kelby asked why he hadn't received one. So back to the craft store we went, and he helped to pick out yarn. Now I am busy again :)

Another project I worked on for a few of our relatives, was taking this blog and turning it into a book. I didn't want to just send the whole blog off to be printed, as I wanted to revise the layout to make it more book-friendly. The website I found, and Love! is called Blurb, found here. What was most helpful with this website was that I downloaded a program to the computer, formated each page with the layout of text and pictures, and decided how long I wanted the book to be. Since the price jumped up at page 41, it stayed at exactly 40 pages (have to get the most for my money.) Once I formatted it to my liking, after 6 hours one Saturday in front of the computer, I uploaded it to their website, and ordered books. They came before promised, and look AWESOME. I couldn't believe it was my pictures, and my stories, in this book. The quality was impressive, and turning into great books. It was primarily to give to my Grandma, who doesn't have access to internet :)

And since it is Christmas, Kelby and I spent time decorating the apartment. When I moved to Texas, I promised myself that I would only use real Christmas trees, and not fake, plastic ones. No offense to those who use the plastic trees, as they are more economical in the long run, and much easier to find. This is one area where for me, money isn't the first consideration. The first few years in Texas, I was super tight on money, so no tree. Starting a job full-time helped, along with Kelby's encouragement. This year, we spent a Saturday afternoon driving to, finding, chopping down, driving home, and setting up the tree. Down here, there are not many Christmas tree farms, and the selection is nominal. But we found a tree, and it's pretty! Kelby has been out of school for a few weeks, and unable to work much due to his knee, so he spent a lot of time working on christmas lights for the front balcony. He was creative, and it says "The Reeds" along with a cross and tree.

I have been spending more time reading recipes and trying out new ones, while staying within our food budget. I had 1 flop, but some yummy ones!

Sophie, our puppy, was old enough to get spade a couple of weeks ago. She was tired and sleepy the first few days, but recovered fast. During this time, she wore a cone to keep her from messing with her stomach stitches. As well, one of her duclaw's was misformed, and would have caused issues in the future. So the vet went ahead and removed both of her duclaws (the 5th digit on the side of a leg). Even with a cone on, she could reach her front paws with the stitches, so she needed to watched. She gets these stitches out tomorrow, and should be good to go!

Oh, and how could I forget. We went down to Houston to visit some of Kelby's family. We got to meet his new niece, and exchanged a few Christmas presents. And then after Christmas, my parents flew in to spend a few days with us, and to meet Sophie. I wasn't sure how mom would do with her, but everyone did great. I enjoyed watching my mom and dad play with Sophie's toys with her.

I'll add pictures once I am on the other computer. :)

Fall pictures

This day was a beautiful fall day. In the morning, it was cool, in the 40's, and smelled like fall. There is that distinctive, sharp smell which is so much better than any perfume. By lunchtime, we decided to take the dogs on a walk. Given Kelby's knee issues, we kept it short. I used this opportunity with both of us, with the dogs, in the daytime to take some pictures. Sophie moves so fast! It was hard to get her into certain poses, but we were able to get cute ones. Enjoy

This is Sophie's typical position.

Trying to get Skipper to play!



I couldn’t decide on which pictures I liked best, so you are able to see more than expected.


I love when Sophie carries toys.
She is too cute!



    

  



Sophie-ism's

I've been wanting to spend time writing down funny or interesting stories about Sophie, before she gets too big. These will be random, but hopefully entertaining.

Sophie loves to be outside. She has started to bark at dogs or people if she can't go and meet them. She is learning how to fix her leash if it is caught underneath her. She has not yet learned to stay away from Skipper while he pees or poops... she has almost gotten dirty more than once! She also does not know to stay away from other dog's poop. She has almost walked on it before. Yuck! Sophie loves to pick things up, and chew them. She will chew anything from leaves to rocks, to trash. If she grabs something with her mouth as we are walking, she will prance as she carries it. If she is jumping down from a wall, she hasn't yet figured out how to land on her feet; she will typically land on her head and back feet. Sophie gives kisses, but also likes to bite ears, noses and fingers. One day, she fell asleep with my finger still in her mouth. When she sleeps, she is so tired, that I can move her legs around and she doesn't wake up. When she is tired, Sophie digs to try and make her bed more comfortable. However, her bed can be on my stomach, legs, or doggie beds.

Skipper nudges Sophie to try and get her to play. When he is tired, he jumps up on the couch. Sophie puts her front paws on the couch, but isn't big enough to join him. Sophie and Skipper will play tug-and-war with different toys. I've watched Skipper go after a toy Sophie is playing with, just because she has it. Sophie plays fetch with any toy. But it is super cute to watch with her little tennis balls. We're still working on the release part of fetch. I tied a rope toy to the leg of the coffee table. Sophie will chew and pull on the toy. It helps to keep her self-entertained. Sophie has a very strong jaw - we can pick up a toy she has in her mouth, and she will continue to hold on to the toy, in the air.

Sophie wants to eat Skipper's food, and Skipper wants to eat Sophie's food. For the first week we had Sophie, I mixed their food together, and they ate out of the same bowl. But then the vet told me that Skipper gained a pound, so that ended that idea. They now each have their own bowl, and they only eat if Kelby or I are watching them. Skipper is eating so much food since Sophie has been here. I wonder if it is because he doesn't want Sophie to get it. We've taken Sophie to different events, in order to expose her to lots of people and situations. My goal is for her to become a therapy dog once she is old enough (she has to be over a year to take the tests). So for now, she is getting lots of socialization. Skipper is never happy when he watches us leave without him.

Sophie is small enough that when Skipper is standing, she can walk underneath him. I made Sophie a small fleece jacket. It is super cute. I'll make more as she keeps growing. Unfortunately, Sophie has stinky farts. I mean, clear the room, or hold your nose stinky. We've tried having her eat slower, and not giving her rawhide bones for now. Hopefully this improves shortly! We are working on commands. Sometimes she does 'sit', unless she is distracted. We have started having her learn 'down' and 'stay.' Also, I don't want her to jump up on people, so we will be working on that.

Pictures will come later!

Playtime

For your viewing pleasure... Sophie and Skipper playing. TOGETHER

Meet our new family member

It started with just Kelby in one house, and Kristin in another.

Kristin added Skipper.

Kristin and Skipper added Kelby.

Kelby, Kristin, and Skipper added.... Sophie!

Sophie is a 4 month old Schnauser, weighing around 2 pounds for now. We are not sure if she is a Miniature or Standard. A friend of a friend bought/rescued her from a pet store. Our friend asked if we wanted a puppy, and how could we say no to this adorable face?



She met parts of what we were wanting in a second dog - non-shedding, female, and someone who Skipper will tolerate. Skipper is doing well so far, he even allowed her in his bed once. Can you just imagine what is going through his mind in this picture "fine, I will let her be here for a minute, but come-on, really? Do I have to?" Other times, she is playing with all his (now to be their) toys, as he sleeps on his blanket on the couch.

I, Kristin, was folding laundry this afternoon. Sophie decided to help, by climbing into a pair of pants. 

She is definitely in the chewing phase. Sophie will put everything and anything in her mouth. We are working on her just chewing appropriate things like toys, and not her leash. Sophie plays hard, and then sleeps soundly. Sometimes she is so tired we can move her and she doesn't wake up. She has learned in just a few days to go up and down the stairs to our place. We are practicing the command "sit" and her name.