Threes Company

It's just the three of us now during the day...Adler, Austen and me. I don't think Adler gets as much sleep as she did when we were gone all day or even when Tom worked from home. She's not all that interested in Austen but continues to follow me around all day wanting to play.

Yesterday I actually bundled Austen up and put him in the Baby Bjorn so that the three of us could go for a walk. It felt good to get out and know that I could handle both of them. I think the hardest part was getting out the door. First I had to bundle Austen up and soon learned that his snowsuit was too big and fluffy for him to fit in the Baby Bjorn so I had to redress him. Of course this is all while I had my own coat on because you can't leave him all bundled up while I find my coat, Adler's leash, treats, bags, keys and cell phone.

Anyway, after about 15 minutes of getting ready and Adler waiting patiently by the door we were off. It was cold so we were only out for about 20 minutes but just enough time for a woman walking down the street toward us to say "what a beautiful Bernese." Even when I'm toting a newborn baby boy, Adler is still the one who can turn heads.

What did Adler Get Out of It?

Since we've been home, people have come by to meet little Austen. Unfortunately, Adler thinks they are all coming to visit her. She barely lets them have a look at Austen because she's all over them - sitting on their feet, jumping up, performing her best tricks, putting her head in their laps, etc. It's almost as if she's saying "Look at me! Look at me!" or maybe it's "Pay attention to me!" It's probably the latter.

Anyway, Austen is receiving lots of presents from our friends, however, Tom's business partner Ron and his fiancee Leigh Ann sent Adler Martha Stewart flowers (they have great flowers by the way) from their two dogs Gracie and Bailey. The card was addressed to Adler and said congratulations on your baby brother. Adler enjoyed them even if she couldn't eat them or play with them. She told me that it was just nice to be remembered.

Adler Meets Austen

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I've been out of commission after giving birth to Austen Thomas on January 11th. But now I'm back and Adler and I have some new material from her introduction to little Austen.

The Intro- Tom brought home Austen's baby blanket from the nursery about two days before Austen came home from the hospital. According to Tom, she sniffed it and that was about it. He tried again later and she gave him a look that said "why do you keep putting this in my face?" When we brought Austen home from the hospital, I don't even think she noticed him. She was more excited to see me since I hadn't seen her in almost four days. It took about 10 minutes before she knew we brought someone else home with us.

The First Night - Like a protective mother dog, every time Austen woke up and cried, Adler woke up and ran over to see what he was crying about. The first night this happened about five or six times. This didn't last though, the next few nights home, Adler wised up and so did Austen. Austen was sleeping longer and Adler no longer even got up when she heard Austen crying.

Already Partners in Crime - During dinner on our coffee table in front of our tv one night, Austen needed to be changed. Both Tom and I headed into the bedroom to change him, leaving our food on the table. Adler had always followed us before but this time she faked us out by following us initially, but then when we weren't paying attention she snuck back to the coffee table and ate all of Tom's salad off his plate.

Hey, at least she chose a healthy meal for her girlish figure!

Adler's One Cool Dog

We bought a new camera to prepare for the impending arrival of our baby and thought we'd snap a few photos of our cool dog to try it out and see how fast it captured the moment. Our previous camera was a Sony digital one we got about three years ago and worked well, but was very slow to take the photo. And, with a dog (and probably a kid), it's hard to get them to stay put for a few seconds - especially when dressing them up!

The camera worked well, Adler loved the sunglasses and we got some great photos!

Adler Likes the Car

Our families don't live far from us and they actually like having Adler around which means that Adler gets to go with us when we visit them. In fact, Adler loves the car. We started her when she was young taking her with us in the car to as many places as we could. Sometimes it would be to run errands if it wasn't too hot or too cold out. Other times it would be to our parents or on a vacation to Michigan, Wisconsin or the Smoky Mountains.

Adler has grown to like her spot in the car - she gets the way back of our Acura MDX all to herself (well, at least for now) and sits facing out the back window looking at all the world has to offer. I give her treats if we have to leave her in the car while we run an errand or two and sometimes she rests her head in between the head rests on the backseat and looks out the windshield.

Either way, we know she's happiest when she's with us and we're lucky she travels as well as she does. I'm sure she thinks she's in the drivers seat!