We are home...

...from the youth retreat. We had a great time in NC. I'm exhausted. Adam had to go back to work today and I work tomorrow. I'll post pictures and stories later.

Jacob did great staying behind with Adam's mom and my mom. He is cranky today. He must have more teeth coming in. He just holds his mouth and cries. He was up in the night. I got him up twice and Adam woke me up twice because he was crying, but I fell back asleep before I could figure out if I was going to get up and get him or not.

I'm off to be productive...laundry, shower, grocery store...back to everyday life!

Jacob Graduated

Yesterday we took Jacob to an appointment with his developmental doctor. Adam was able to go with us (which Jacob was VERY excited when we pulled up to his work) and that was nice to have him join us for the afternoon.

Even though it was past his nap time, Jacob did very well. She asked us a TON of questions like does he do 2-word commands? (you mean "come here and give me a kiss"? yes) and can he kick a ball? (yes). We answered yes to probably 98% of the questions.

Next she put him in a high-chair and had him do a puzzle, put pegs in holes (he was really cute when he put all of the pegs in the holes and have one peg left and no hole...he kept looking for it). She then pulled out a book about animals and went through each one and asked him what the animal was and what sound it made.

Before I tell you what he did, I have to back up a little. When he was just playing in the room he found a dinosaur. As soon as he picked it up he started growling (at one point he did notice the dinosaur's long neck and made an "s" sound, like he was trying to say "snake"). So, when she pulled out the animal book, he growled at every animal. He growled so much that he choked.

(I'm taking him to the farm tomorrow and I can't wait to see what he does when the animals make noise. I'm guessing he will growl. Where did he learn this behavior?!?)

Jacob is 18-months old and 15.5-months old (the age he should have been if he could have "baked" longer). So he needed to test between that age range. He talking tested at 18.5 months and his motor skills tested at 17.5 months! She said that he still had a little tightness in his right leg/ankle, but it is nothing to be concerned about.

When we were all done, she said that he had graduated and didn't have to come back! I'm so excited and so proud of my little boy. We have one last appointment because he was born early (a check up at the eye doctor when he is 2) and then we should be done.

He is such a miracle baby. I love him so much. I am having so much fun with him lately, but I'll blog more about that later...

Funny Video

Our Beloved and HUGE Garnet

Today is a new day in the Shaw house and an odd one at that. I keep looking for my dog. I looked for him when I got home from work yesterday, I looked for him when I went to go out the door, I looked for him before I went to bed and I looked for him when I walked out of my room this morning, but I never found him.

Adam took Garnet to a wonderful family in Sanford yesterday. We made the hard decision to give him a better life and started the hunt for a new home about 2 weeks ago. We just don't have the time and attention that he needs. He is a wonderful dog, but he needs more from us and we can't give it. He doesn't play in the backyard like he did at our old house (there aren't any squirrels or rats or cats to chase or tangerines to eat). He just wonders around the house all day bored and depressed. He deserves a better home.

We found a family in Sanford who live on 6 acres and have a pond. They are a great Christian family. They have 3 kids left at home and their youngest is 10 years old. He and Garnet are going to be best friends. Their house is the hang out house for all of the kids. When they came to meet him on Tuesday, they were here for about 45min and even brought tennis balls to play with him. Garnet is going to be so happy there! They are going camping this weekend and taking him with them. In fact, when Adam called them to tell them that he got off work early and so was bring Garnet early, the mom screamed in his ear because she was so excited!

How I'm feeling: I'm giddy and sad at the same time. My kitchen looks weird with all of the space since his crate is gone. I was mostly giddy when Adam first told me he was thinking about getting rid of him and that giddiness has stayed as I would look at my kitchen floor covered in dog hair and realize that soon the only hair on the floor would be mine! Surprisingly I emotional about it now. The tears started Wednesday night. Every time I thought about it Thursday I teared up. I teared up several times last night and I'm even tearing up now.

He was a part of our family for 3 1/2 years! Although I didn't like having a horse living in my house and I couldn't really play with him (because every time I touched him too much, my skin started to crawl and I had to take a shower 'cause of allergies), I think I loved that dog more than I understood.

Garnet will be much happier. I'll be much happier and less annoyed. I'll miss my protector dog that made people think he could eat them (when all he wanted to do is rub on their leg like a cat!) when they came to the door. Jacob is too young to miss him (another reason why we wanted to get rid of him now). Adam says he is doing ok. We know that Garnet will be so loved and so happy and have so much attention that he will not have a second to miss us. One day we might get another dog--a smaller breed and maybe one that doesn't shed. When we're done having kids. And this time...I'm picking out the runt of the litter instead of Adam picking out the stud!