All Dogs go to Heaven

The other night Arya and the dogs had some time together. As some of you may know, Daddy does not like the dogs to be out around Arya much right now. He wants to wait until she is about one, which I think isn't the best idea because then she will be learning to walk and might get knocked over.

Lilly (6 yr old Beagle) and Teddy (5 yr old Chow-Shepard mix) have been around Arya a little bit. We "introduced" Arya to them when she came home from the hospital. We had done the whole letting them smell the blanket, hear baby sounds, etc before she came home. They spend most of their time outdoors while Arya is still little and lays on her play gym and the floor (on blankets).When they are roaming the house Lilly tends to go lay on our bed. She kind of sniffs Arya then walks away. Teddy, on the other hand, wants to be with Arya the whole time. I keep a watchful eye on them and keep him from smothering her (with love) or beating her with his tail. Okay...this brings us to Friday night...

I had gone to bed to read and brought the dogs with me. Daddy and Arya stayed in the living room and joined us a while later. Bradley decided to let the dogs and Arya get a little better acquainted. 

First up was Lilly. Lilly sniffed Arya and gave her a couple licks. Arya wasn't too sure about this and pulled back. We tried to get her to pet Lilly but she kept her hand in a little fist. Lilly did her usual- went and slept on the end of the bed.

Next was Teddy. He surprised me! He was so good and calm. (Not that he is usually a bad dog, just overly rambunctious.) He just put his head on Bradley's lap. Arya has always enjoyed watching Teddy. One time she was outside with Daddy. She laughed and laughed watching Teddy run and jump. She seemed to have the same opinion Friday. She liked to watch him. She sat up real well, leaning forward to get a good look at him. She even reached out and patted his snout on her own. This made Teddy decide to lick her-that made her a little unhappy. Bradley thought she seemed scared and was surprised commenting that fear is often a learned response. But, Arya did love watching Teddy, especially enjoyed seeing his tail thump on the bed.

We ended the night by cleaning Arya from all the doggy kisses. I really hope she learns to love dogs and animals as much as I do. :)

A few of my favorite things....

Some of Arya's current favorites:

Person: Daddy

Place to Sleep: Mommy and Daddy's bed

Thing to grab: Mommy's hair
Place to play: Exersaucer

Thing to sleep with: Tigger lovey

Toy to play with: Little purple stuffed bunny
Favorite Blanket: Muslin SwaddlePlus

Outfit to wear: Nothing, this girl loves to hang out in just a diaper

TV show: Wheel of Fortune-it gets her so excited!

 Notice her tigger lovey was watching wheel with her in this picture!

Sound: Blowing raspberries!

Food: Applesauce, Sweet Potatoes (She likes white foods and orange foods;pears, apples, carrots, etc)

Tutus, Hairbows, and Money OH MY!

I am sure many of you have noticed the trend of baby girls being dressed in tutus and gigantic hair bows. Personally, I kind of like the big bows. I have a couple for Arya. (Three of which are thanks to Grandpa Brian!) While I do like the bows, I won't be putting Arya in a tutu anytime soon.
What I find interesting though are the prices. Most bows and tutus are made in home businesses by Stay-at-home-moms (SAHM). When looking for bows I looked into a couple different SAHMs businesses. I have found bows for $7-8. I buy some, then find out the ones Grandpa got for Arya are $3 for small $4 for big. Hey, if I can get two for the price of one of the others that's were I am getting my bows!

The outrageous thing is tutu prices! I am not a crafty person...not at all!! I was looking at some pictures of a little girl in a tutu and easily could see how you make one. Then, I see that the person who had these pictures sells tutus for $50!!!! (You do get a free matching bow.) Okay, it would cost probably between $3-$5 MAX to make one of these. I scurry over to one of the bow sites- she charges $12 for tutus. Much more reasonable (In my opinion), I understand mark up because it IS a business. Then I was on babycenter. I find a women who sells them for $22. And there was a woman talking about how she made her own after watching a how-to video on YouTube.  Okay, so how can someone charge $50 for something so cheap to make, so easy to make (since I the non-crafty figured it out) and that there are free how-to videos? Just seems insane to me.

Genesis

Well, welcome to my new blog. Ready to read all about my life as Mommy to Arya Quinn? For those of you that don't know- I am a stay-at-home Mom to my seven-month old daughter. I have a wonderful husband Bradley who works very hard to provide for us. I have two dogs-they were my babies before Arya.

Arya is my miracle. I have myotonic dystrophy and some other health conditions. I was advised to never have children and was told it would be difficult to conceive a child. We conceived with in a month of trying. Arya is perfectly healthy, despite being a preemie. We love her to death and thank God for her every day.

I am starting this blog because of the persistent suggestion from Bradley and other family and friends. Hopefully it will help keep family and friends up to date on my tricksy little hobbit.