A while ago I promised that I would do some sort of giveaway - well post number 100 seems like a great time to follow through. I'll do a comment based giveaway - you comment, you get one entry into the give away! If you blog about this, you get a second entry! (Just comment a second time and include a link to your blog entry in your comment). I'll do the good old print out, cut up and draw randomly from a hat. It'll be fun. I'll document it with photos, goodness knows I love documenting things with photos. You must enter before 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, February 21st.
What exactly am I giving away? Mmmm... it's a secret. Suffice to say, it'll mostly be handmade things - though who knows? I may include some crafty supplies as well! If there are over 50 comments, there will be more than one winner! (And it's okay to enter if you're out of the U.S.A. - I'll do my best to figure something out for you too, if you win!)
This past weekend we went and met my brand new nephew:
And Greg took the best picture of me all year:
The hair looks a little funny if you stare - but if I glance at it out of the corner of my eye and then swiftly look away, it's a photo that I don't have the urge to rip to shreds and stash under a couch cushion. Baby plusses? Sleepiness, cute hair, teensy tiny finger nails. Baby minuses? The belly button thing grosses me out a bit, and the whole crying-without-being-able-to explain-yourself is frustrating. My mother-in-law's main observation? "You look awfully comfy with that baby.... *wink wink* *nudge nudge*"
In other news, this whole - hey-we-found-a-kitten,-let's-find-her-a-new-home,-oh-wait-we-can't,-i guess-we-keep-her-and-never-get-a-dog,-oh-wait-we-can,-now-we-can-get-a-dog thing has really inspired us to take a closer look at whether or not we want a dog. The verdict, my friends, is that yes - we want a dog. Now the question is when and where. Do we get a dog in the extremely near future, meaning that we'll knowingly be going on 7 hour road trips to visit family while owning a dog which probably means we'll have to board him or her before hand? Do we get a dog after we move away from Pittsburgh (another year or so)? Do we get a dog before we have a baby so as to get used to a dog, integrate it, train it and THEN start a family? Or do we start a family and then get a dog?
I don't know if you agree with this logic (and I'd be interested to hear if you do) but something in my gut tells me that a year (or a little less) would be plenty of time to get used to a dog and to integrate a dog into your life enough so to feel comfortable starting a family and eventually introducing an infant as a fellow pack leader (Oh Cesar...). But - introducing a dog to a one year old seems a lot more unsure, a lot less... wise. If we waited to get a dog till AFTER we started a family, currently I would rather wait till we're done having kids and all the kids are out of the toddler stage. If we wait that long, that could mean another 10 years till we own a dog!
My family got a dog when I was 13. She still lives with my parents. She's 11 years old now - a border terrier. She's not the best behaved dog, but I loved having her. I know I would love having another dog. One of the main attractions for me, however, is helping Greg to have his first dog. I think Greg is SUCH a dog person. He's never had a dog - and he doesn't have much of any dog experience, but the more Dog Whisperer he watches the more he understands the appeal of dogs. Greg used to be really active - racket ball, frisbee, roller skating - but now, he works on the house and that's really it. I'm not very active - and walking more would be great for me, even though it would feel chore like. The thing is, it wouldn't be a chore for Greg - it would be a pleasure. I think he'd really enjoy the kind of active companionship a dog would provide for him and that's something that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling too. We could all go to parks together, and I could join them on walks - but I wouldn't have to and if I didn't feel like it or if my Sciatica was acting up, Greg wouldn't feel like he couldn't go roller skating with the dog.
Oh - have I also mentioned that I can't skate? Any kind of skating - I can't do it. I've tried time and time again to roller skate or ice skate. I've tried roller blading... even skiing and snowboarding - I suck at all of them. Greg can roller skate circles around me... backwards... blindfolded.
It really makes me happy to think of having a dog. Then again - I think ALL the time. Lately, alot of my thinking has been about dogs. These feelings of wanting to pursue having a dog may just be because I've been thinking about it constantly. It's on the brain. It may not be the best thing to do.
I also want to explore fostering dogs. That may or may not be a good first step - so I filled out a foster application ( Haven't sent it in yet ) and I sent a bunch of questions to a local rescue group. She's busy but said she'd get back to me soon. I tried to be really honest about our situation - small yard, we work full time so we're gone out of the house for 10-11 hours a day... but we'd walk the dog in the early morning and again at night.... but we also have three cats.
Yea. The cats.
I'm a little stressed out about this whole dog thing. Simultaneously I'm excited and eager.
Have any of you bought a dog and introduced it to cats? Did you have a dog before you started a family? Is there a breed of dog or mix that you love (we would be getting a shelter dog)? Any advice?
11 comments:
Hmm, we are eerily similar in some ways--the back thing, skating (ugh some disasters there), partner profile, lots of cats, age, +.
Dog question: I agree, before kids. As far as breeds...first figure out what can keep up with skates? :) My aunt is a cocker spaniel breeder so they've had a million of them around since their kids were tiny, and never a problem. Lots of people like labs for their docility with kids. We had a mutt growing up (got before I was born, I'm the eldest) and he died when I was around 12. Traumatizing. There's that to think about too, plus then there's the asthma/allergy in kids question--does exposure cause it or?? My parents had two cats and the dog chased them and ate their scat :O !!! Also got skunked sometimes. But otherwise, got along fine so long as the cats could jump to high places. My 2(00) cents.
we've done just about it all. 1 dog before kids and with 2 cats. 1 dog when the kids were 1 and 3 yrs respectively (1 other dog and still 2 cats). And finally 1 dog actually a puppy, two boys 4 and 6 yrs and two other dogs (and still two cats).
Whew!
Our second dog was about a year old when we got her. She was actually the easiest to integrate. But I feel that had to do with her personality which is quiet, pleasing and a bit neurotic.
Our first puppy was difficult mostly because we were still young and stoopid.
The latest puppy has been a lot of work. But we were better prepared for it this time round. And he's turning out okay. Still lots of work.
As for the cats. Well we just sort of let them figure it out!!
Good luck!
AAAARRGGHH!! Have just sat and typed a huge long comment then Blogger dumped it!!!
That baby is soooooo sweet. But you don't look old enough to be thinking of having your own.
Dogs? Hmm.. I think I've finally persuaded my other half against getting one. I know I'd be the one who ended up walking it it the rain and snow and darkness, and sorting out kennels before holidays, etc. I don't want the hassle to be honest. (Boo hiss!)
I'm cracking on with my attempt at the rainbow skirt. Check it out on my blog and see what you think. I'll also put a link to your giveaway in my next post.
ttfn
Lindsey
x
hey congrats on your 100th post! :)
Just to let you know we had a dog about a year or so before we did the kiddie thing and I must admit I think its the best way round, we let our dog sort of check out the baby's cot and car seat and stuff before he was born and dogs are kind of weird when you are pregnant too (or mine was) he used to follow me about everywhere and just sit with me. He was fine when baby arrived, hes a lab cross so maybe you should think about the breed of dog carefully if your thinking of having children in the near future too, needless to say my dog and my son love each other to bits and are the very best of friends which is a really beautiful thing to see! :) xx
Congratulations on your 100th post! I love reading your blog and always look forward to new posts. My boyfriend and I are about to buy our first home and your remodel posts are inspiring, especially since our first home will most likely be a fixer upper and we will also have to do a lot of the work ourselves. I look forward to your next hundred posts!
I blogged about your giveaway at sewsimplysmitten.blogspot.com
Cute picture, you do look comfortable, so maybe motherhood isn't too far off in the future? I'm allergic to both dogs and cats, so no pets for us, but I would probably want to wait to have kids that were older. That way they can help take care of it, or at least in theory they could.
i love your blog. its very inspiring... and great.. thanks for the inspiration..
keep up the good work.
I just posted my 100th post too! Missed commerating that and my one year blog-a-versary. Life happens!
Congrats on yours from your first commenter!
We got our dog before we had our kids. A Rhodesian Ridgeback. Very tolerant of the kids, but keeps to himself. Also a stubborn breed, very hard to train. He was 2 when we had our son. As long as the breed is good with kids, it shouldn't matter when they come into your life, but I definitely would not want to have a baby and a puppy!
We love our dog, but on the flip side: We are never home. He does not get the attention that he deserves. I feel guilty about this constanty. My life is a juggling act with way too many balls in the air. Occasionally I drop one or two.
You know yourself very well, but you won't know what joys and challanges kids bring. If I had a chance to do it all again, knowing what I know now about my life. I would not have gotten a dog.
Oh, I'll link for that extra entry!
curses, no blog here
Nothing drives me insane faster than comments about how I should have babies, just because I'm holding someone's baby. My MIL once dove for a camera and said "this is such good practice for you" as I held a cousin's baby. *rage*
My only dog experience is based on my mom who got one after we were grown up and gone but she was very serious about training - did not want a troublesome dog - and based on that alone, I would say get the dog before the babies come because I'm guessing with toddlers around, you won't have time to properly train a dog and they it'll just annoy the crap out of you. In a cute way. But an annoying cute way.
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