1 Week Old

We survived our first week. The first few days home were a bit hard but we are adjusting pretty good. Cordon has Jaundice, which isn't to bad, but he started out not eating very well and that can make the Jaundice worse. The first 3 days he would go 6-8 hours between feedings. Our Dr. told us he has to eat every two to help flush the Jaundice out of his system. If he doesn't nurse long enough then we have to force feed him 1/2 an ounce with this cup.

It was pretty frustrating at first but he is doing alot better. We only need to use the cup about once a day now and he is gaining weight nicely. He is also losing his yellow color so he is no longer our little Simpson's character. He is still extremely mellow. When he needs something he just grunts and squeaks till someone comes and he rarely cries.





Chris is already trying to brain wash him and get him addicted to Air Jordan




He makes this face all the time. I hope this isn't a preview of his teenage years as a Casanova

It's a Boy!!!

We were both expecting Jr to show up past his due date so imagine our surprise when I went into labor Wednesday morning, 10 days early. The contractions started coming regularly around 6 am and by 4 pm they were close enough that my Dr. sent me to the hospital. From 6 am to about 9 pm my contractions got worse but I had only progressed 1/2 centimeter. To speed things up my Dr. put me on pitossin. For anyone who doesn't know pitossin = horrible unimaginable pain. Fortunately they gave me wonderful pain killers to take the edge off. A few hours later they finally gave me the epidural and 1 1/2 hours later I was fully dilated. At this point it was 3:30 am, Chris was delirious due to lack of sleep, I was loopy from all the pain killers given earlier, the Dr. and nurse both had a great sense of humor and kept joking with us so the whole birth turned into a laughing fest. I basically laughed the baby out. At one point they had to calm me down and get me to stop laughing because it was pushing the baby out and the Dr wasn't ready. 4:30 am on 8.21.08 Cordon Wendell Thompson was born. He is 19 1/2 inches long and 7 lbs 6 oz's. He is very healthy and mellow and we are so excited he is finally here.

No Baby

I've had about 5 people ask for an update today so here it is short and sweet.....
Nope, the baby isn't here yet. We have no idea when he will show. I have my next appointment tomorrow so I hope I'll get some sort of news but so far this baby is being stubborn and I'm preparing myself to go over my due date.

Ode to Bud

We have had Bud (our Beagle/Pit Bull mix) for over 10 months. We have completely fallen in love with this dog and he has become part of our family. He cracks us up and drives us nuts every day, it's been good practice for when Jr. come. Buds world is about to change drastically. We know it will take some adjusting for us all but he is really good around kids and even played 'tag' with our friends toddler the other day. Since Bud will soon no longer be #1 in our life here is our little tribute to our crazy mutt. We also realize that he's our dog so this blog is only really exciting for us so feel free to ignore.



Although his name is Bud we have several nicknames for him:

Bud Man

Buddy Boy

Budzilla (he can be a terror)

Prancer (He leaps and prances when he is very excited)

Slinker (He gets sneaky sometimes and slinks around like Gollumn)

Crop Duster (He loves to run by you as he is letting his SBD's out . . .)

Call me crazy but we both have gotten to the point where we can read his moods and even facial expressions. It blows us away how animated and how much personality he has. For example: he knows that when I fill my water bottle in the morning it's time to go in his kennel. He runs in and waits for me to shut the door. Sometimes he waits till my back is turned and sneaks back out. One day when he did this I heard a small bang in the other room. I turned and yelled out "Bud what are you doing?" He came flying into the kitchen and dived into his kennel. By the time I got there he was already laying down all cozy and gave me the most pathetic "I've been here the whole time" look.



Sometimes he really doesn't want to go in his kennel because he feels like he is going to miss out on something. When we tell him to go in his whole body slumps and he slowly walks in giving us guilt trip looks along the way. This is now called his "Green Mile" walk



He's also like a 2 year old and is always testing his limits. He will see something on the floor and eye it, then eye us, eye it, then grab and run just to see what we will do. You can almost see the whole thought process going on in his head "should I grab it? They are pretty close and might stop me, but I'm really fast. I could get it......"





We went troughs an 8 week training course with Bud and he did pretty good. One of the days the trainer set up an obstacle course for the dogs. Chris led him through it as I watched. I was so proud of Bud. He had no problem getting through it and was so fast and obedient. When I mentioned this to Chris later he laughed and said "Thats only because the dog in front of him is in heat"...... well..... he still made it through who cares what the reason is right?





He loves to give kisses, but sometimes he will fake you out and nip your nose




That is one happy Bud



He isn't allowed on the couch so when he gets really pathetic and wants to be pet I'll sit on the floor with him. He has pretty much taken over this blanket. If it's out it's the only thing he will lay on. Even if he can only get to 1 inch of it, he will fluff up that inch and lay down.



He looks all ticked that Chris took his bone




If he has access to your lap he has to climb on and sit or stand. We aren't sure why he does this but we think it's some sort of dominate thing.




Busted!




This is by far my favorite. When ever Chris leaves, Bud watches him walk out the garage door then sprints across the house to see him drive away.




He always chews his bones like this. His back legs look deformed





I lost him one day. He had found ''His" blanket and cuddled into it




Silly puppy




He was getting mad at Chris for taking so many pictures and started to growl at him




Prepared to pounce



He carries his bones in the side of his mouth so it looks like a cigar

This last week Chris' parents, John and Mary, came to visit. One of the days they were here we went to Spring Mill. It's a beautiful state park with a little pioneer village. I think Mary is the only one who got anything educational out of it. Chris and John spent their time looking for the best angles to take pictures and I spent all my time trying to find a place to sit in the shade.

The mill

I thought these little Mennonites girls were so cute. They spent hours running up and down the river like it was the greatest thing they have ever seen.

Mary took over walking Bud for us while she was here. It was nice to have a break for a few days. I have no idea what they did on their walks but Bud would come back and lay on the floor and not move for about 20 min. You know you have an out of shape dog when he can't keep up with the Sr. citizen.