Bringin' The Blog Up-To-Date

Finally, a little breather on this Friday afternoon so that I can tell y'all some of the things I've been wanting to tell you for weeks!

First is this. Remember the dog I mentioned a month ago? Well she has now become a member of our family! We surprised the children with her a couple of weeks ago (see pictures of their surprised looks when they look in my van to see her) and have just been SO happy with our decision to adopt her. We had actually caused the previous owners to start re-considering their decision to find her a new home. They got really sad at the reality of giving her away. That made our decision easier. If they weren't going to give her away, then obviously we weren't going to get her.

About 3 weeks passed and we received a call. The owners had made a final decision and it was to find a new home for their dog. Even though they were heartbroken at the idea, circumstances just forced it upon them. They told us they really wanted us to have her because they knew she would be loved and well-cared-for.

So, there you have it. We now have an almost 5-year-old female (spayed) Boxer. She is AMAZING! Her name is Dixie (one we probably wouldn't have chosen for ourselves but she definitely responds to her name so we didn't want to change it.)

Next, we have the issue of Sam Catser. He does NOT like Dixie. We attempted acclimation processes and squirts with a water bottle when Sam attacked, but we decided it is best to just keep the two separated. It's pretty easy to do and is definitely the easy on ALL of us (furry and not.)

Here's poor ol' Sam on the very tip-top of our cabinets in the kitchen. We have totally rocked his world. Poor guy.

In other family news, there's the issue of the baby growing deep in my womb. And I say "deep" because DANG this baby is low. We had two scares during doppler attempts because the baby's heartbeat could not be found for many minutes. The second scare was worst than the first because it was 6 weeks AFTER the first scare and my mind was thinking, "SURELY the baby is bigger now and easier to find!" But, the key to the problem did not lie in the size of the baby but in the position of the baby. This baby is WAY down.

Sigh.

So I question, 'Why?" Is it a boy? Boys definitely are wives-taled into being low-lyers. Hm.

More likely is the fact that this is baby number 5 and my uterus is a little more relaxed than it was with baby number 1. The rubberbands are stretched out and just not as supportive (not something I'm bragging about for sure.) Then we have the fact that I'm 6 feet tall and have quite an impressive torso :) LOTS of room in there and with the impressive width of my hips (again, definitely not braggin!) there aren't even any BONES to help lift the uterus up into the belly.

Another deep sigh.

Which brings me to the next thing about the pregnancy. I'm feeling the baby move! This is a HUGE relief considering the two scares we've had. The movements aren't huge but they are definite. I love it! The movement of the baby is definitely my favorite thing about pregnancy. But again, it is amazing how incredibly low I am feeling it.

Now, low babies make for interesting silhouettes but they also make for interesting PAINS. Babies who lie low in the pelvis tend to cause more-than-normal hip pain. Yippee.

In happier areas of baby development, I will say that we're getting closer to name choices. But there's no need in asking me what those options area because I'm not saying. Henry and I are not 'fer-sure' ourselves and we're just not ready to say anything yet. But we're getting closer. We hope that maybe we can have firm-ish decisions by Christmas.

Now, to the thing that MOST of you care about -- REALITY TV! Ha! :)

Actually, Charlotte mentioned in a comment that she had surfed over to see what I thought about last night's Surivor and that spurred me into committing to a better blog-updating routine. Not only does Survivor need to get some more publicity (ha) but there's also my favorite, Dancing With The Stars!

But before I get into my reviews, let me just say that Henry and I have become TOTALLY addicted to Digital DVR (TiVo but from our cable company). Oh my. This is the most incredible invention EVER! It's like swtiching from dial-up to cable internet! We LOVE IT!

First (and I'll try to keep this short since this is already a long post) Dancing With The Stars - I'm pulling for Emmitt and Cheryl. He's just as cute as he can be and Cheryl is my fave pro. I'd be very surprised if they made it to the top prize but who knows? Maybe they can pull it off?

Mario definitely seems to have the most natural ability of all the celebs. He just seems a little arrogant, in a charming but turn-off-ish way. Joey was really cute, too (and MAN, those arms!) and I hope that he'll figure out a way to WOW us.

The women are just kinda sad. They're not terrible but they're nothing wonderful either.

I hope Springer is the next to go. He disgusts me.

Survivor:
I think the newly-premised division of tribes is incredibly interesting. In very subtle ways, you see WHY we have stereotypes of these groups. Each had their own slight glimmer of things we knew might be seen. The black tribe was chanting about "represent;" The Asian tribe had a "black sheep" who was considered a "black sheep" because he was a hippy! He pointed out that Asians are supposed to be well-educated computer engineers who drive nice cars! The Latino group made jokes about their own "row boat" experiences and how they are hard workers. And the white group? Well, they just know how to classify themselves within their group and then hook-up with those they find worthy of their clique. The cuddling on the white tribe is definitely going to be the soap-opera part of the Survivor story this year where I doubt there will be a romantic issue in any other groups.

Charlotte, to answer your question about the "punk" girl who let the chickens loose...I don't know if it was on purpose or not. If so, she was very good at not letting that appear to be a motive. It looked VERY accidental to me. Also, I think she would be completely sabotaging her life on the island if she released chickens because of vegetarian beliefs...and on the first day! She should be axed immediately if that is what she did.

And real quick, before I close, I will say that thanks to the miraculous technology of the digital DVR, I was able to catch-up on "Project Runway" in about 3 days. I had never watched it before and in one of their marathon weeks, I watched every episode up to the present. I am now firmly attached to it as well. And of course, I'm pulling for Michael, the local fella making it big in Atlanta. Anyone else watch this?

Allright, I've been working on this post entirely too long. Hope it brings me lots of comments! (hint, hint!)