Police Wiener Dogs

That's right. I said Police wiener dogs. You see, the Gallatin County Sheriff's department just traded in their 3 German Shepherds for 36 Dachshunds. There was an article about it in today's paper. I laughed so hard I snorted in public. I only wish I could find the article online. But, I can't. So you will just have to read the quotes I found humorous enough to merit typing out.

"These little guys will get you," Sheriff Jim Cashell. "They aren't afraid of anything, and they're not trained to be gentle. They're meaner than snakes."

"These little guys" of course, are the 36 ill-tempered wiener dogs the department acquired recently to replace its trio of larger but less aggressive German shepherds. The shepherds lost favor with deputies because they are more costly to keep and, frankly, don't bite as hard as daschunds, Cashell said.

"We weren't happy with their ability to grab a bad guy and not let go until some real damage is done," Cashell said of the shepherds. "They're too easily distracted by things like dog biscuits and other treats an offender might throw at them." "These little wiener dogs, though, boy look out. They go at you and don't back down until you've learned a hard lesson," he added. "They like nothing more than grabbing an ankle and digging in like a tick."

I knew there was a reason I never liked wiener dogs. They used to chase us while we were riding our bikes and we were scared to death. Apparently, we were right to be.

Soooo Big!

Eliana is getting so big. She was in her 0-3 month clothes for what seemed like FOREVER. Then, finally, at about 7 months she was able to start wearing her 3-6 month clothes. Those lasted for all of 3 weeks. Now at 8 months she is wearing 6-9 month clothes and is too long for all her 3-6. She's still a skinny minnie, but she's growing like a weed. We are going to have her 9 month checkup in the next few weeks, so I'm very curious to see how she's shaping up weight and height wise. I could try to measure and weigh her myself, but she's such a wiggly thing I think I'll just leave it to the professionals.

Today Ellie is wearing her first pair of denim overalls. She's a very busy girl and getting into everything. She growls when she's happy, and she's curious about absolutely everything. Yesterday she discovered that we have outlets on our walls. Greeeeeaaat. She crawled over to one and reached up to pat it, grinning at me as if to say, "Look, Mommy, I found something new!" It made me sad, but I flicked her little hand and told her not to touch it. She hasn't gone back since, thankfully. *sigh* All those times my parents told me that spanking hurt them more than it did me... I think they might have been sincere. Discipline is good for children. It teaches them to obey and it keeps them safe. But it is sad for parents. Still, I'd rather she learn now that outlets are dangerous than wait for her to stick something into it and get shocked.

Our weather is starting to warm back up just a little after the snow we had the other day. It's into the 40's today, or supposed to be. I know that I could put a jacket on and still go for a walk, but really I just want it to be warm and sunshiny. I don't want the sunshine with a bit of chilly! Spoiled, yes. Maybe I'll call up a friend and we'll go for a walk to get some coffee.

I know I'm cute...

10 things I learned from my mom that I want to pass on to my daughter.

10. Always wear a slip.
9. Choose your words carefully.
8. Height is an attitude.
7. When you're finished with something, put it away.
6. Only get one thing out at a time.
5. Always look presentable.
4. Always do your best.
3. If it's not yours, don't touch it.
2. Take time to build and maintain a good relationship with your spouse.
1. It's not about me.

What DO you do all day?

For those of you wondering what us stay at home moms do all day, we clean up after THIS all day long.



Ellie has become a very busy girl and is into everything. She loves exploring and army crawls and scoots her way around pretty much anywhere. She's not content to play with the first thing she comes across... instead she has to dig until she finds exactly what she wants. My little mess maker!

Highlights

Our trip to Texas was great. Here are a few highlights from each day:

Day 1 (Sunday) - It was a little difficult to get on the road by 3am to get to the airport on time, and I will NEVER drive myself and park in long-term parking then try to haul myself, two wheeled suitcases, a carry-on, and a baby in a stroller a quarter of a mile to the terminal again. Nope, not going to happen. But there were no real problems and we arrived on time in Dallas. It was great to see my folks.

Dad and Ellie

Day 2 (Monday) - I got to see Jenny and ride in her veggie-oil powered car!! Mom kept Ellie so I could go be a "real" person with other "real" people for a few hours. :) Thanks, Mom.

Jenny in her veggiemobile

Day 3 (Tuesday) - Ellie and I went to play with Charlotte and Alyse for the afternoon! It was fun to see the girls playing together, and we went for a nice walk around the neighborhood since it was a beautiful afternoon.

Ellie, Alyse, and Charlotte

On Tuesday, Dad had to make an unexpected trip to Kansas to be with his parents, who were both in the hospital, though in different cities. My grandmother has Parkinson's and fell, causing her trip to the hospital, and my grandfather felt weak, so called an ambulance and ended up having triple bypass surgery a couple days later. It was good that my dad was able to go up since he was on Spring Break, but we missed him. My mom is up in Kansas now, and my grandparents are in a nursing facility recuperating while she helps keep things in order. I would appreciate your prayers for them as they recover.

Day 4 (Wednesday) - I went out to eat with Angie while my mom showed off my baby to "Grandma" Bennie and to one of the doctors at the clinic. I have missed good Mexican food. Sorry, Bozeman, you just can't beat the good stuff at The Jalapeño Tree.

Day 4 (Thursday) - I ate dinner with the Hubers. It was fun to see their kiddos and to catch up with Dana. Next time I see her she'll have another little girl!! Little girls are the best (says the unbiased mom of one.) ;)

Day 5 (Friday) - Since Robert's employer has moved to a four day work week, he was free on Friday. So Robert, Mom, Ellie, and I spent the day in Tyler. We ate at Bennigan's for lunch, then strolled around the mall. Mom got an awesome painting for her newly remodeled kitchen / dining room / living room. On the way home from Tyler Ellie babbled or growled or giggled or squealed or blew spit bubbles the entire way home. She was noisy for almost an hour solid. Oh yeah - this day also marks Ellie's first taste of a caramel cream Frappuccino. Thanks, Mom. ;) I have to say, that girl has a sweet tooth and it was the cutest thing ever to see her taste the drink, then smack her tiny lips after every little taste!

Day 6 (Saturday) - Angie came over for a girls' night of scrapbooking. We had a lot of fun, took some silly pictures, and scrapbooked for hours. This is also the night she gave Ellie the cowgirl headband.


Ellie also took a bath and looked super cute wrapped in the towel Mommom made for her!


Day 7 (Sunday) - Today Ellie got to see everyone at Kilgore Bible Church. They ooh-ed and ah-ed and she acted just as sweet as could be. She certainly knows when to behave herself! This was also the first time she has ever been in a church nursery. She's just too busy to keep in the service these days, so when she got wiggly we took her out. But she was great in the nursery and just played with the toys and watched the other kids.


Day 8 (Monday) - Because our flight out of Dallas was early Tuesday morning and my dad was still out of town, my mom, Ellie, and I headed to Dallas on Monday night. My dad had a meeting he had to attend in Fort Worth Tuesday morning, so he drove down from Kansas and we all stayed in a hotel together and had one last night as a family. It was wonderful.

Day 9 (Tuesday) - Dad, Ellie, and I woke early to head to the airport. From there, Ellie and I headed back to Montana, Dad went to a meeting in Ft. Worth, then headed back to Longview, and mom checked out of the hotel and drove up to Kansas to be with my grandparents. Once we got back to Billings, we met up with some people for the afternoon before heading back to Bozeman and finally arriving home around 7:30.

Whew. What a trip. It was busy, but it was great. Ellie learned to do a few new things on the way, too. First off, she talks and wiggles non-stop whenever she's awake. Mom got a walker for her and she pretty much went wherever she wanted on the tiled area of the house. She was a big fan of making a bee-line for the cat whenever she saw him, but he was too fast for her!
Ellie learned to smack her lips (like little kisses) and that was very cute. I also saw her army crawl and "real" crawl for the first time one day, but neither stuck. She still prefers to half- crawl and scoot her way around, though she's getting much faster at it! She is a busy, busy baby. But she loves her Mommom and was happy to be entertained by her any chance she got. Now that we're home, I think she's bored with me. =)

Our Li'l Texan...

... is back home now!! After a morning of flights and an afternoon of shopping in Billings with some other July 2006 (and a Feb 2007) moms and their wee ones, we are back safe and sound in Bozeman!! Hooraaaay!

Texas

Well, Eliana and I made it safely to Texas! Mommom and Poppy are thoroughly enjoying the time with their granddaughter, and Ellie is enjoying exploring a new place. Mom went to Goodwill last week and bought Ellie some things to play with, including a walker. As long as she's on the tile floor in the dining room and kitchen, Ellie can make that walker go wherever she wants it to! It's especially cute when she sees the cat and makes a beeline for him! Thankfully the cat is scared of babies, so he stays away from her. =)

The older Eliana gets, the more I think she doesn't like new places. At least, not going to sleep in them. Our first night was rough, with LOTS of screaming before Ellie finally fell asleep, only to wake up at quarter to six the next morning, screaming again. NOT fun. My parents took her and let her sleep with them, though, so I could get some sleep after having been up so early the day before. Thank you! Last night, though, she did fine. She napped well during the day and went to bed okay. She's sleeping soundly now, though I'm not. I should be tired, but for some reason it's 4:00 in the morning and I've been awake for two hours already. I finally gave up trying to sleep after an hour and got my computer. Still not tired. It's terribly frustrating to be awake like this, but I guess when you're not sleepy, you don't sleep.

We've had a great trip so far. We arrived in Dallas at 11:30 on Sunday, so we were back in Longview by about 3 after stopping for lunch. Charlotte and Alyse Allen came by that evening to drop off the Pack 'n' Play they let us borrow, so we had a nice visit with them. Monday Jenny (Edinger) Bradford came by. It had been years since I'd seen Jenny. I think the last time I saw her was right after we moved to MT four years ago. It had been a long time. She came over, we played with Eliana, then my mom watched Ellie so Jenny and I could go into town. I got to ride in Jenny's vegetable oil powered car!! I was very excited. We got coffee, then went to The Boy and Christina's house to see Josh and their nursery and all the baby stuff they got at the shower last week. Then we went to Chick-Fil-A and met Christina there for lunch. Then Jenny headed back to Dallas. In the evening, Robert came over after work and ate dinner with us. He's got Friday off, so we're planning on getting together then and doing stuff. Today Eliana and I are going to spend the afternoon with Charlotte and Alyse. Those are pretty much all the plans I have now, though I need to make plans with Dana and Angie. So hey- if you guys are reading this, give me a call at my parents' house and we'll get together! =) Angie, I desperately need my Mexican food fix!!!

Well, now it's 4:30 and I'm still not tired, but maybe I'll try to go back to sleep anyway. It's worth a shot.

Hot Tubbin' Baby

Eliana likes the hot tub. I think she likes water in general. But about once a week Leif takes Eliana out for some good ol' Montana hot tub time. And she loves it. In fact, she's out there with Leif right now. Here she is in her new swim suit top to go with the cute swim diaper and hat we were given.

Bad Timing

It occurs to me that my flight out of Billings is at 6am on Sunday. With a two hour drive to the airport and the requisite hour-early check-in, that means I have to leave the house at 3am. It will probably take me an hour to get myself and Eliana ready and out the door, so that means I'm looking at a 2am wake time. Yuck!

But the worst part is that this Sunday marks the end (or is it the beginning?) of daylight savings time. So my body will think I'm getting up at 1am.

Talk about bad timing.

On the Mend

Ellie is getting better. She's been fever free for about 36 hours and is back to her cute, chipper self. She's not eating very well, though, which makes me think that she's still not feeling 100%. It's everything we can do to get her to drink her formula throughout the day, and she only takes a couple bites of food at meals. She's sleeping a lot, too, which is good for her recovery. This morning at breakfast she was fussing and I couldn't figure out what was wrong, when all of a sudden she threw up. Then she was fine for the rest of the morning and went down for her nap just fine and is still sleeping now. I'm happy that she's feeling better and I'm also very happy that her first illness was a mild one.

In other news, Stacy Dingfield was here last night. She came out for a quick visit and to do a PartyLite candle party for me. It was a lot of fun to see her again, for a little more time than our quick visit in Sandpoint. Seeing people from LeTourneau definitely makes me thankful for the friends I made there. A lot of people's college experiences were so different from mine, and not nearly as positive, and I am glad I went to LU. (Not to mention the fact that I wouldn't have met and married Leif, nor ended up living here in MT, had I attended a different school!) Just one more thing that makes me feel blessed.

Sicko :(

Poor Ellie... She's a little sicko today. :( Leif has had a bit of a cold and now it looks like Ellie's got it too. Today she had a 102.4 temp, though now after a bit of Tylenol, it's down to 99.9. She's been a little fussy, but not too bad. We're still getting smiles and I got giggles tonight playing peek-a-boo, so she's not too out of it, but it still makes me sad to see her not feeling well.

And now that I've made all of you sad with sympathy for my poor little girl, here are some pictures to cheer you up. =)

Think Spring!

All of you living in warm places, send warm thoughts this way! We got a little more snow today. I can't wait until it gets warm and we can go for walks outside again. I do this every year about this time, but I guess it's the Texas in me - I just think it ought to be warming up by now!

Eliana is now 7.5 months old and she's as sweet as ever. She still isn't crawling, but she's getting closer. She's got two little teeth now (you can JUST barely see them in the picture), and she's getting better at eating solid foods. She LOVES cottage cheese, and she can eat rice puffs and graham crackers. She's not so good at the self-feeding, but on Tuesday night Leif did get her to take a rice puff from him and put it in her mouth successfully. It's the first time she's managed to get one to STAY in her mouth! And today she pulled up to a standing position from sitting in her crib. YAY! She was pretty proud of herself, and I was too. She has become quite proficient in playing with the pop-up toy Mommom and Poppy gave her for Christmas, also. She's such a busy little girl and she certainly keeps me on my toes!

And speaking of Mommom and Poppy, Ellie and I are headed to Texas in a week and a half! YAY! We'll get to stay and visit for about 10 days and I am very excited about it.