Adler and Austen Go for Pictures

This Friday I am taking the day off of work to spend time with Adler and Austen. First day off since I came back from maternity leave. I'm looking forward to it.

First thing on our agenda is to get some professional photos taken. Austen will just be six months old and I need to get some updated professional photos of him. So I went to The Picture People today when I was at the mall to schedule his appointment. Turns out that Friday is "Bring in Your Pet Day!" How perfect. Now I can get great pictures of Adler and Austen together! This is going to be great!

I told Tom that we have to give Adler a bath this week so she's all spruced up for her photos with Austen. I'm sure she's really going to hate that bath but she will love the fact that she gets to go for a ride with me in the car and then gets to be admired by all in the mall. Check back next weekend and maybe I'll post a photo or two of my two:)

Raising Adler and Austen

Yup, that's the revised name of this blog. Originally people asked me after Austen was born if I was going to switch the blog to "Raising Austen." I told them no, but now I think it's appropriate to rename it "Raising Adler and Austen." After all, I am raising both of them! And this blog can be about the both of them.

So what's the latest on the two. Austen is so interested in watching Adler. He's learned to sit up and he can now grab handfuls of Adler fur. The best is that Austen puts everything in his mouth now and sometimes I will catch him moving his wide open mouth toward Adler trying to stuff her in his mouth. I just tell him there's no way our 85 lb. dog is going to fit in his mouth!

Austen likes to watch Adler eat her food and Adler still loves to lick Austen to death. Seriously, sometimes she gives him a complete bath! But Austen never cries. He knows his puppy is his best friend.

Adler's New Home

Adler's moving. Well, actually so are we. Probably the beginning of July. It's not a big move - just down to the first floor of our building so we will have not as many stairs to deal with and gain some square footage including an extra bedroom and bathroom. (We're the unit on the first floor to the left with it's own entrance.)

Adler will have more room to run around too and now she'll have to contend with stairs in her actual home every day. I'm sure she'll be a maniac tearing up the place unable to stop herself. We have two little stairs in the long hallway and she's already practicing running down the hallway and jumping off the top stair!


Anyway, right now Tom is currently doing some work to the new place. The usual painting and other projects you hope to do before you move in. Because our new place is in the same building, we are able to look in on the progress and we bring Adler down there most times that we do. I think Adler is beginning to understand that this is her place too as she usually stops at the many doors of this condo and looks at us to go in. Maybe she thinks she has two homes now in this condo. Well, actually, I guess she does for now - until we move in.

From Dogs to Kids

In an earlier post, I commented about my soft spot for animals. In fact my parents can attest to this as when I was first learning how to drive, I almost drove into my neighbors front lawn because I didn't want to run over a bunny that ran across the road in front of me. My dad's comment - "hit the bunny - it's better than getting in an accident!" I think I'd still take my chances and do what I could to avoid hitting an animal although these days I'm a much better and more experienced driver.

Anyway, so I stopped reading the Anti-Cruelty magazine that they send me every so often for being a donor. Turns out I couldn't get through one without getting upset. Now I've found that I feel the same way about little kids. Take little Ethan Powell (pictured- that's not Austen) - a little six-month old baby who was diagnosed with Leukemia when he went in for his two-month check up. He has a 15 percent chance to live and is undergoing chemo treatments currently that are designed for 1-21 year olds. But this little guy keeps fighting. The next two weeks are critical to his survival. I look at the pictures on his Web site and think of my own son just one month younger than little Ethan and how heartbreaking it would be as a parent to see your child in pain and faced with the possibility of not growing up. Thousands out there are praying for Ethan and I hope you will too -- I hope that he is one of the lucky ones.

A Mini-Adler for Austen

Austen has his very own Adler dog now. Friends of ours bought Austen a little Bernese Mountain Dog stuffed animal. Now we have several of these mini replicas in our home already, however, this one is great for babies. It's so soft and plush and travels with Austen most places he goes. Right now he loves to grab it with both hands and violently stuff it in his mouth. Of course, he also now loves to grab the real Adler's fur - handfuls of it. Adler just sits there and tolerates it or moves.

Anyway, the mini Berner sits guard and watches over Austen in his crib as he sleeps. What a great gift. And Adler thinks so too as we've found her licking the stuffed puppy on several occasions. Never actually taking it from Austen, but very interested in Austen's new little buddy. Now I just have to make sure that it doesn't get lost. It doesn't go to daycare with Austen, but it has fallen out of his car seat twice. Once almost getting run over by an unsuspecting old lady and another time in our front hallway. I had to call Tom to have him look for it. At least in our condo, most people would know that it would be our stuffed animal because of our big animal that looks just like it!