Happy Birthday, Little Buddy!

Today marks our 6 year anniversary with Shep!  And since Shep's history is pretty unknown we also consider this to be his birthday - so much to celebrate!  It was just a little more than 6 years ago that Jay decided he was ready for a dog and after a thorough search he received an email from the UC Davis Vet School, in the same building he was working at the time, that there were 2 dogs from the Colony program still needing homes.  The Vet School students care for dogs and practice non-invasive procedures on them. Shep had been a part of the program for 2 years and had many, many ultrasounds during his stint, leaving him very easy to handle.  The Vet School had picked Shep up from a local shelter where he had been left in a nighttime drop box - whoever had him as a puppy didn't know what an amazing dog they were giving up and were too cowardly to surrender him during the day.  Based on his time at Davis, the fact that he wasn't still a puppy when the school adopted him, and the 6 years we have had him, we are making this Shep's 10th birthday - huge milestone!

  Jay made a few visits to the Vet School to meet Shep as the Vet students made sure that each dog from the colony program are going to the right home.  Shep and his good buddy Cole were the last two dogs to be adopted.  As much as we can figure Shep was passed over because of some premature gray - he's so distinguished.  One of Jay's co-workers snatched up Cole before any other latecomers could and Shep and Cole enjoyed walks together until we moved back to Oregon two years ago.  On July 13th 2005 Jay and Shep officially became a part of each other's lives!  I moved down to Davis a month and a half later to join the fun and we've been together ever since!

  I can't imagine life without Shep.  He's one of my favorite beings (I have to admit that I anthropomorphize him and believe that our side glances to each other have a lot of meaning behind them). We have had so many adventures together and have built a plethora of memories.  Shep, Shepherd, Shepdog, Shepdoggy dogg, Shepperton Argyle Well, Shepherd's Pie, Mr. Shepherd, Shepstar, ShepBeast, Beastdog, Shepdog in the city, Little Buddy.  No matter what we're calling him at the time we just love him so much! Even when he escaped from the yard last year (multiple times!) before the fence was built; even when he peed on my backpack and Jay's tent; even when he tried to take over my sleeping bag and pad on a backpacking trip; even when he doesn't listen at the park and runs away from us; even though he insists on digging holes in the backyard, no matter how many times we fill them in.  No matter what I am always so happy to see my Little Buddy when I get home and he is happiest when the three of us are all together.  This fall will be a big test for Shep - adding a little one to the house might be pretty tough on the guy but I think he'll be a great big brotherdog.  Here are just a few (ok, a lot!) of my favorite pictures of Shepdog.  Happy Birthday Buddy!  You've got a big rawhide treat coming your way!

Scaling down

Jay and I like to look for ways to cut down on our monthly expenses and feel that we do a pretty good job while still being quite comfortable.  The pellet stove was a huge step toward lower utility costs - we didn't use our gas heat all winter, prompting the gas company to contact us stating that the meter must be broken!  We recently stocked up with 2 tons of wood pellets for the coming winter, though with our new little addition coming in the fall we know that gas heat will be needed as a supplement to the pellet stove.   We try to be efficient with our electricity use and even keep our microwave on an outlet switch to turn on only when we need it which helps keep the bill low.  We made the decision upon relocating back to Oregon that we would cut out cable from our monthly bills and only have our internet costs, which aren't the cheapest (we couldn't happily survive without our high-speed!), but serve us well.  When we lived in Davis we had the full cable package with DVR and we were commercial-skipping zombies! 
  Our most recent effort to cut costs was to eliminate our garbage service.  We are hoping this is a long-term change for us.  We were already on a schedule for trash pickup every 2 weeks and there were plenty of times when our little can was mostly empty.  Along with the garbage was our yard waste container, which rarely gets used as well thanks to our leaf bin.  So we decided that we can bundle up our garbage once a month and take it in when we drop off all of our plastic film (plastic bags, plastic wrap from packages) at the recycle center.  The best part of this is that Corvallis provides free recycling pickup!  So we still get to keep our rolling recycle bin for cardboard, paper, plastic containers, etc., and have it picked up weekly at no cost.  What a deal! 

6 months, here we come!

  Next Tuesday will mark the start of our sixth month of pregnancy, Wellkin is growing and exercising, and there's still plenty to do!  We will be painting the nursery and moving the furniture in over the next month. We are on the lookout for a recliner that won't take up too much space (there was a kids Spiderman chair that caught my eye for a second!) and we will be rug shopping soon.  There are so many great craft projects out there to be done, it's hard to choose where to start!  And there are plans to make our own baby wipes, so that might get interesting. 
  In the meantime we have plenty of other house tasks on the list and our sad little garden plot has been a bit neglected. Hopefully some nicer days will give us the motivation we need!

Little Kicker

Last Tuesday we met with our OB, Dr. Card, and learned that Wellkin's measurements are all on target!  Due date is remaining the same and we are almost to the "exponential growth phase" as Jay likes to call it. 
On Saturday evening little Wellkin must have been feeling particularly feisty because that was the first  night Jay was able to feel a kick!  It was an exciting moment!  Jay has been antsy to get to feel some movement and here we are! 

On Sunday we went to the ATT store to get Jay a new phone.  After a few months of semi-threatening letters from ATT claiming that soon Jay would be without a working phone (he is on a super old plan from before ATT even became Cingular) and offering him a free new phone with no strings attached, he decided to give in.  Of the three free phone choices available Jay chose a Samsung slider model.  No stranger to technology and an avid user of his iPod touch, Jay was surprisingly (to me) captivated by the new phone!  I guess not having a new phone in over 5 years will do that to a guy.  Hooray for new things that are free!  Here's Jay excitedly showing off his new gadget.

Halfway there

Yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound to see little Wellkin.  If everything continues to progress normally that was the last time we will see Wellkin until we meet in person!  There were many measurements of different body areas and we will get a collective report on growth at our OB appointment next Tuesday.  So exciting!  Now we just have to get to work on the room!

Things to celebrate

One week from today we will be heading to our 20 week ultrasound appointment!  This is the big one with the big reveal...though we won't be letting ourselves in on the secret of Wellkin's gender.  We are looking forward to seeing baby Wellkin!

Tomorrow we will be celebrating the one year anniversary of our engagement.  Time flies and we sure have managed to have a lot of happenings in the past year!