Goodbye Charlie

Hi everyone, it's been awhile since my last post. Our family experienced a lot of changes these past weeks.  We left Michigan, drove across country, and moved into a new place in New Jersey. But the biggest change in our life has nothing to do with our move, it has to do with Charlie.

As many of you know, Charlie has been part of our family for six years.  We adopted him from an organization in the East Village that rescues dogs on death row.  Although we were hesitant to adopt an older dog (he was eight years old), we fell in love with his sweet and spunky nature.

Last week, hubby and I made the hard decision to put Charlie down.  It broke our hearts to do so.  He was sick before we left Michigan and his health got worse after our move.


Charlie was a wonderful dog and a wonderful friend.  He loved to nap, eat cheese, and lick people's toes.  He also loved to sleep with his head on my stomach and bark at ghosts.  We were so lucky that he chose us to be his family.   

Charlie- We miss you so much.  You've left a dog shaped hole in our hearts. 

Doggie doctor visit

Lately Charlie hasn't been feeling too well.  He's been lethargic,disinterested in his food, and having accidents in our apartment.  The vet diagnosed him as having a urinary tract infection.  So far we've tried two types of antibiotics and neither one seemed to help.  Today we're taking him in for an x-ray.

Hopefully they'll figure out what's wrong.

Update:  The results were inconclusive.  The vet doesn't know what's wrong.. so we're now debating our options...

Easter Pt. 2

Here are some more photos from Easter.

We had a really busy, but really good Easter.

Hope yours was good too!

Long time, no see

Poor Charlie.  

With Baby Chuck's arrival, he hasn't been starred in many posts.  

Here's a photo of him in his Christmas best: 

Can you believe he's 13 years old? He still looks like a puppy to me.

Oh zzzzzs, where art thou?

Lately Baby Chuck's been pretty fussy and not sleeping well.  The poor dear is suffering from some serious skin problems and allergic reactions.  So when he finally does sleep, I do a silent dance in my head.

Sleep, glorious sleep!

Can you spot sneaky Charlie in the background?

Spooky celebrations

Today we're celebrating two events:
(1)  It's finally Halloween, my favorite holiday of the year. 
(2)  It's the one year anniversary of my blog.  *Throws imaginary confetti in the air and blows noisemaker*

As we all know, Charlie just loves wearing costumes.  (As seen here and here.)  With the new addition to our family, Charlie was gracious enough to whip up two matching costumes, inspired by Dr. Seuss characters.   Although Baby Norris is still too young to fully appreciate this holiday, I do think he enjoyed dressing up. 

Baby Norris- "So this is what it feels like to have hair.  I kind of like it."

Charlie- "Aw mom, I'm having a bad hair day."

Happy Halloween!

I wonder what that feels like?

 I can attest to the wonders of swaddling a baby.  We do it every night to Baby Norris and it helps him to sleep.  The transformation really is remarkable.  One moment he's upset, arms flailing about, bottom lip quivering and then, once swaddled, he calms down.


And the wails become whimpers.

And then...
they...
disappear (and we sigh in relief.) 

Why does swaddling work?  Why does it calm him down?  Does it remind him of being in the womb?  Or, does it prevent him from jerking himself awake?

I asked Baby Norris, but he didn't have anything to say on the matter (go figure).  So, I tried another tactic to understand the swaddling phenomenon...

and asked hubby to swaddle me for a late evening nap.

Charlie, of course, had to investigate.

Conclusions?
I still don't understand it.  Babies are weird.

I hated being swaddled.  I didn't feel secure, I felt claustrophobic.  I couldn't roll around.  I couldn't find a comfortable sleeping position. And  I most certainly could not scratch a very annoying itch on my nose.

Me against the machine

Even though hubby and I purchased the sewing machine awhile back, I must admit something.

I've been too scared to use it.

Sure, I helped hubby tackle sewing projects, but I always took on the non-sewing roles. I created patterns, pinned fabric together, or cut cloth.  I never used the machine.  

Ack!  Make the scary machine go away!

Why was I so scared?  Well, with ten clumsy digits and one very sharp knife needle, I was afraid of sewing through my fingers.  Plus, I didn't care for all those new-fangled knobs and handles.  (Give me an old-fashioned needle and a spool of thread and I'm set.  Really.)  Lastly, using the sewing machine required me to move my hands and feet at the same time.  Eek.  I'm terribly uncoordinated.  Ask any of my gym teachers.  (On a semi-related note- I apologize to all previous gym teachers.  I didn't mean to hit you with the basketballs, tennis balls, footballs, kick balls, badminton birdies, or soccer balls.)  

As we waited for Baby Chuck Norris's arrival this past weekend (he's still not here), I realized something monumental:  Giving birth is way scarier than sewing on a machine.

Duh.

And with this very obvious realization the heavens opened and I became inspired to sew.  Using this set of directions I set to work sewing a nursing cover.  Although the directions said that the entire project could be completed in 30 minutes, it took me a tad bit longer (2.5 hours.)  But, I'm proud to say that after a lot of ironing, measuring, re-measuring, re-ironing, cursing (silently in my head), sewing, and re-sewing I did it!  Here's the final result of my labor:

I chose this fabric because the pattern reminded me of Charlie.

Ooooh!  What lovely boning and d-ring details!

Oooh!  Look at that terry cloth corner (to wipe Baby Chuck Norris's mouth).

And so, I'm proud to say yes, I can!  Yes! I defeated my fear of the sewing  machine.  Yes!  I still have all 10 fingers.  Yes! I know how to sew three pieces of rectangular cloth together!

Doggy greetings

Hi everyone! It's me, Charlie.

Happy National Dog day!

An ode to Charlie

Happiness is having a dog for a pet

If you’re looking for a good friend, then he’s your best bet

He welcomes you home with a wet nose and a lick

He snuggles you at bedtime; he’s good company when you’re sick

He helps with the housework, with crumbs and dinner scraps

And he keeps you warm at nighttime, sleeping soundly in your lap

Yup, a dog is a good friend; he’s always loyal and always true,

Much more than a companion, he’s family, and he’ll always love you.

Diaper bag

Hubby recently finished his latest sewing creation for Baby Chuck Norris.  Here's Charlie examining Hubby's creation for the first time. 

What is this thing?

A bag?  But it's too big for me to carry.

Ah, it's a perfect size for resting on.

Street performers

Every Thursday night local musicians, artists, and dancers perform downtown.  Today hubby and I took Charlie to enjoy the local sights and sounds.

I'm so proud of my two boys.  Hubby did a great job handling Charlie and Charlie was so well behaved.  It's a Holland miracle!

Charlie Potter

As this post goes up, hubby and I are at the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie.  Although Charlie couldn't join us, he donned his Harry Potter spectacles to mark the end of the series.

Happy July 4th!

Here are two photos of Charlie wearing his new patriotic bandana.

Mom!  I'm not ready for my photo yet!

That's better.  Happy July 4th!

Like daddy

like doggie.

Isn't it funny how dog and owner start looking alike?

3223 reunion

During college I lived in a large rickety house with some great friends.  I always look back fondly on those days with my "3223 gals" because we laughed so much, shared so much, grew so much, and threw such great dinner parties.  With everyone now scattered to the four corners of the earth, it's always a special treat to meet up and share what's happening in each others' lives.  This year four of us are meeting in Philly and skyping another gal in Thailand.

Good-bye Michigan.  Hello Philly and gals!

I wonder what Hubby and Charlie will be up to while I'm gone...

       

So blue

Charlie stopped to sniff something on the ground during our morning walk:

What is this delicate blue object?

At first I thought it was a tiny dyed Easter egg.  But who would dare to dye such delicate eggs?  A quick internet search informed me that it was a robin's egg and that they're naturally this gorgeous shade of blue.  Hubby and I are now keeping our eyes open for a nearby nest.

And when he was good he was very very good....

Over time we've given Charlie quite a few names:

When he's sweet and calm, we call him

Charlie Cheese, Chucky Cheese, Charlie-Barley, Little one, Daddy's boy, or Charlie Bear

And when he's crazy and feisty, we call him

Little Monster, Charlie Christopher Bear, Little Crazy, and (recently added) Charlie Sheen

Two things

Here are two things that made me happy this week:

(1)  Charlie is not experiencing stomach problems.

Mom- do you have to write about this?

We recently found out that Petco stopped stocking Charlie's food.  Unsure what to do, we ended up choosing another type of dog food made by the same company.  We were so worried.  Charlie has a really sensitive stomach.  Last time we changed foods he had terrible diarrhea.  After one week of carefully observing his pooing habits, I'm glad to report that all seems well.  Phew!

(2)  Our girls made it to Round 2 of the NCAA tournament.

Yesterday we watched them win.

Who would have thought that I, a clumsy nerd and geek, would enjoy watching college basketball?  I love eating concession stand food, cheering for a team, and doing "the wave."  And, I especially love watching our girls play because they're so aggressive, tenacious, and scrappy.  Tonight they're playing against Wash U, so we'll see what happens... Go Hope!

Dog Signal

Whenever Gotham City needed a super hero, they shone this signal to get help.

Batman, please come!

Recently I've found out that our dog also consistently responds to two signals.  

No, he doesn't always respond to his name.

No, he doesn't respond to this signal.

Instead, he responds to:

1. The sound of the fridge door opening  
2. The sound of jingling of keys

Is that normal?

image taken from here