Summer is almost over!

I know, most of you have another month. But Rob's contract with the school means he goes back to work tomorrow. He hasn't done any of the things I wanted him to get done this summer. I don't think I even had time to tell him what I wanted done! So while school is starting and our lives will get even busier, this is our life. This is normal for us. I never have to ask Rob what he has going on during the week. I know. I have all of the home events on my calendar. He will be at all of them. Add that to school board meetings and a few more weeks of golf and we have a busy household. I think what I'm sad about is that I like 90 degree weather. I don't like snow. I don't like to be cold. I want summer all year long. I also know we don't get that luxory living in South Dakota.

We had planned to go to the lake for the 4th but Rob had to do the color guard in the parade that day. The parade route goes right by our house so I took a blanket outside and Murphy, Riley, and I sat there and watched. Riley made it to the first guard vehicles going by and then I had to take her in because she was scared to death. Murphy loved the parade. Rob was first in the parade and I didn't know if she would recognize him since all of them were in their BDU's and would look similar. Not a chance! She knew her Daddy! She stuck out her arms and kept saying "Oh Oh Oh" while every guard guy had a big smile on his face. I'm sure they were supposed to be pretty somber but how do you not smile at that!? We kept getting candy thrown at us but Murphy's mother won't let her have candy. So we gave it all to the people watching down the street. I did let her have a package of Smarties and I'd get her one at a time. Until I wasn't paying attention and she reached down and grabbed the rest of the package and stuck them all in her mouth. By the time the parade was done Rob was back at our house. So we loaded up the car and went to the lake. Riley road really well. She slept the whole time. She didn't really like the boat but she was content sitting outside the cabin in the pen we have for Murphy. She had her toys, bed, food, and water so she was set. Plus we went on many, many walks. Murphy did not like her life jacket. It's pretty tight and she just did not want it on. Rob took her out on the jet ski and it put her to sleep. He didn't go very fast so I think the hum of the motor was soothing to her. She had varied reactions to the boat. She was tired when we took her out so she was pretty grumpy. She did like to see all the people on shore and the boats and jet skis going by.

Our anniversary was on the 19th. A Saturday this year. We dropped Murphy off at Haley's house, dropped Riley off at Rob's mom and dad's house, and went to Watertown for the day. We got a few things at Target, got a couple of things for Murphy to wear next year, and went to the movie. There wasn't a huge selection (five choices) and none of them looked overly good. We finally settled on Mamma Mia. Rob didn't know anything about it. I knew it had something to do with Abba. So when they started singing, Rob threw a glance my way and I said "I did not know this was a musical". Now that I've watched the previews, it sure looks like a musical to me. I'm not sure why that didn't click in my brain beforehand. It was good. Very good songs. Just not what we had expected. So then we went to Applebees for supper and back to the motel and played Phase 10 until 10:30. Totally relaxing. And then I got to sleep in a king sized bed and didn't wake up all night long! No baby crying, no dog barking. It was very, very nice. But I was still ready to come home on Sunday!

Yesterday Rob golfed in a tournament and I went to Aberdeen and found lots of good stuff for Murphy for next year. JC Penney's had their stuff for $1.97. I loaded up and still only spent $20! Then we went to a going away party for my niece Kara who is leaving for Forest Grove, Oregon to attend Pacific University's College of Optometry. It was really nice. Murphy and I got there early and were able to spend some time with the girls. Murphy didn't take a nap until late in the day so she was tired and sobbing by the time she finally fell asleep. We lasted until 9:30 and then we came home. Rob stopped in Aberdeen for a few things and Murphy and I came straight home. She went from the car seat directly to bed and slept all night. I knew she was tired.

Tomorrow Murphy goes back to regular daycare and Rob goes back to school. We have a post placement visit on Tuesday. We had a little scare this week. Back in May I had been working with one of the girls at LSS of MN to start the process for baby #2. I had one last question before I sent in my paperwork and money and she didn't get back to me. I emailed her again about two weeks later and she still didn't get back to me. Then when we were at the workshop, Erin told me that this girl was taking a leave of absence starting that day for the rest of the summer. So I called LSS of MN after we got back from the workshop and got a voice mail that said they were closed on Tuesday, July 1 at 10:30 for a meeting. But I called on Thursday, July 3. So I called again this week and got Wendy's replacement and she told me they weren't accepting families for 0-36 months. I said "well we aren't a new family (which was one of their requirements when I'd talked to Wendy in May) and I've been working with Wendy for the past few months." She could see my emails to Wendy in May and June so I had proof that I'd emailed and she hadn't gotten back to me. PLUS I had a message from their director that said I didn't have to pay the $250 registration fee. PLUS we'd gone to a two day workshop that cost us $2000! So I said "I'm going to insist that you put us on that list" and she said she'd have to talked to her director and get back to me. I called Erin at SF and told her I wasn't going to throw the biggest fit she'd ever seen if we didn't get on that list. Fortunately, we did get on the list. We know it's going to be three years before we get a referral and we're OK with that. But we can't get a referral if we don't get on the list. So that problem has been fixed. I still didn't get an answer to my original question from May but I should hear that answer this week.

Riley is doing well. We're struggling a little with house training. We take her on about seven walks a day, take her outside when she wakes up, when she eats, basically a lot! And she still goes to the bathroom on the floor. The other day I said to Rob "Remember when I said I wanted a cat? I meant I wanted a cat". We love Riley and know that we'll make it through this but some days are very frustrating. I'm not sure what's going to happen when we don't have a babysitter here all day and Rob's back in school. For the next two weeks, Rob's cousin's daughter is going to take her for walks. Plus, she'll stay outside in the baby pen. But she has performance issues. She will only go to the bathroom if we're watching. So if we tie her to her leash and leave her outside, she won't go. And the walks her keep her calm. So we'll still try to keep up on that.

Now for the big news on Murphy...she is walking! She stood up in the baby pool on Sunday, July 13 so I figured it was coming. And then on Wednesday, July 16 she took her first steps. Rob was at golf so I called him and told him. He came home fairly quickly and was able to see it too. Now she can run from Riley when he bites her ankles! And she can get into way more things. She still crawls every once in a while when she's feeling lazy but otherwise, she's moving all over. She got tooth number 4 on July 6 and tooth number five on July 22. She had no effects with either (and we aren't counting the stomach virus she had) and it was much more pleasant than a few of the other teeth. We don't go back to the doctor until December. Her new expressions is to make an O with her lips and say "OH". All the time. Really...all the time. It's pretty cute so we like it.

OK, well that's our July. See you in a month!

July pictures

I love cake!

I get my coloring from my aunt Christy!

My fancy new dress from Colombia!

Murphy tormenting Riley.

My first jet ski ride! (It put me to sleep!)

I love boat rides but I don't like my life jacket!

Riley found a comfortable spot to sleep.

Murphy loves the pool.

So does Daddy.

The lake was a little cold.

There are always two helpers in the fridge.

Murphy and Riley.

Our 11th anniversary. What a difference a year made! A baby AND a dog!

June update

Although it's more than a little late. Not a whole lot happened. Rob spent the first part of the month finishing up the year at school. Murphy started swimming lessons on Monday, June 2. I took her a couple of days, Rob took her a couple of days, and Rob and Haley took her one day. Haley videotaped and took pictures and Rob got in the pool with Murphy. She really enjoyed it. She had a perpetual smile the entire first lesson. The other kids were at least a year older so they could say "I don't want to go under!" but Murphy didn't have that choice. We did things like "The Wheels On the Bus" and "Ring Around the Rosey" and she went all the way under a few times. She never coughed or sputtered and the instructor told us that babies have a natural reflex to hold their breath but older kids lose that reflex until they relearn it. So she did really well with that. She got tooth number three on June 3 while I was at golf. With the tooth came quite a bit of diarrhea. Unlucky for Rob's parents as they were watching her the day she got sick. So we didn't take her to swimming the next day in case it happened again. I golfed in a tournament on Friday the 13th. We didn't come close to winning but we did have to sit under a tree for about a half an hour while it poured. After the tournament got over I came home and we took Murphy to her first drive in movie! It was What Happens in Vegas. Murphy and I stayed awake until about 11:00. I'm pretty sure Rob saw the whole thing. I don't know that I've ever stayed awake for an entire drive in movie. That's just way past my bedtime. That was Father's Day weekend and Rob's first Father's Day was pretty uneventful. We went to Aberdeen for dinner and he wanted a golf bag so that's what he got. On the 19th and 20th we had our two day workshop for baby #2. I thought the workshop was really good this time. I don't know if it was different material or maybe because we had a clue this time. Of the seven (?) couples there, most had adopted before so we had lots to discuss. It was just really interesting. Rob's sister watched Murphy and she ended up getting sick. She got a fever on Thursday night. I just figured it was because she was getting tooth #4 and gave her some Motrin. She was better after that. But then we went to the lake on Friday night and by the time we got there she had a fever pretty bad again. I gave her more Motrin and called the Ask-A-Nurse. She told me I could give her a little more Motrin and then give her more at 3:00 a.m. She said she wouldn't be too concerned until her fever hit 105. At 3:30 her fever was 104.7. She was just burning up and bawling really hard. So we headed out to the emergency room. We got as far as Webster and decided we'd just stop there. I still thought it was just her tooth coming in. She's had an ear infection with the other teeth and also a fever so it wasn't out of the ordinary. What was different was that she wasn't responding to the Motrin. Usually that works really well but not this time. While we were there her temp went from 105.1 to 105.3 and 105.7. The doctor told us she had a slight ear infection, not really enough of one to cause that high of fever, charged us $137 for ear infection medicine and sent us home. Plus the cost of the visit. That was Saturday morning. We got back to the lake and slept for a little while. And then it was time to get up and get ready for my parents' anniversary party. We had some people over that afternoon and it was really nice. We also had Murphy's birthday party that day since most of my family was there. She was awake for that and then went right back to sleep. She wasn't sure what to think of the cake. But then she started squishing it in her hands and really liked that. She didn't get very messy, though. She slept quite a bit of the night and we kept giving her Motrin every three hours like they told us. The next morning she woke up hot and crying again and Rob went to move her (she was with us by this point) and there was poop all over the bed, Rob, the sheets...poor thing. So I stood in the shower with her to get it off of her and then we decided to just head home. She still wasn't any better and we figured we'd stop in Aberdeen at the hospital if she still had a fever by the time we got there. She finally slept well in the car and by the time we got there, she wasn't very warm. So we kept going home. That night we decided if she still had a fever in the morning we'd take her to the doctor. She did, so we went back to Aberdeen. She DIDN'T have an ear infection at all. She had a stomach virus and by the time we got there, she was about over it. They said we really couldn't have done anything about the virus but we did the right thing by giving her the Motrin the way we did. So we have $137 in ear infection medicine if anyone needs it. Wednesday the 25th was her birthday. We thought we should do a little something so we had Haley and her mom in for supper that night. We gave her an interactive table at the lake and then a set of golf clubs the day of her birthday. The at party number three we gave her a CD of kids songs. So anyway, we just enjoyed her actual birthday and it was quiet and relaxed. On the 28th we had Rob's family over for her birthday. That was party #3. We don't normally plan to have three parties but that's just the way it worked out this year. She really went to town on the cake this time. I think she knew what to do. It had rained earlier in the day but that afternoon was really nice. Sunday we went and got Murphy's last birthday present...Riley, a beagle. We'd been trying to decide if we were going to get kitties or a puppy. She was just really drawn to dogs. Even if she'd see one on TV, she'd stick out her hand and Oh, Oh, Oh. I wanted a small dog about the size of a cat that snuggled like a cat. Basically I wanted a cat. Rob thought we should get a medium sized dog. Somehow we ended up with a beagle. They told us she was more mellow than her littermates and I'm just not sure how hyper they actually are because she's a hyper little dog. At first I was afraid that Murphy would love her to death. Now I'm sure they're pretty evenly matched. Sometimes Riley won't leave Murphy alone and sometimes Murphy won't leave Riley alone. We're having a little trouble with the house training aspect of dog ownership. She will go outside and pee (and I can spit more than she pees) and then come right back inside and pee on the floor. And she has been known to poop on the floor and eat it. Ick. Ick. Ick. So we've taken to going outside with her about once an hour. She goes on about six or seven walks a day. At least I'm getting a little exercise, too. On the 30th Murphy went back to Dr. Mayo. I was really surprised because she hasn't gotten as tall as I though. She's still 29 inches (but I know she's gotten taller in the past three months!) and 22 pounds. So she's in the 75th percentile for both now.

I already posted pictures for the month so there is the update. Since it's almost July 25 I'll start working on the next update. News of the month...she walking!