Farewell Tess!

No, Tess didn't die.  We gave her away.

Yes, I feel incredibly guilty about it.

I used to be so irritated when I would hear that someone had given their pet away.  I would think, "Why did you even get the pet in the first place if you couldn't commit long-term to it???"  I truly do feel like pets are members of the family and they shouldn't be bought or given away on a whim.  I understand that circumstances come up where you just can't have your pet anymore.  For instance, you develop an allergy or you are forced to move somewhere where pets aren't allowed.  But for the most part, I used to think, "Buck up!  You brought this pet into your home.  It's like a child.  You can't just get rid of it!"

And I still feel that way!  Which is why I feel so guilty for giving Tess away. 

But two dogs, a toddler, and a new baby...it was about to become too much for me.  Sloane hadn't even arrived yet and I was beyond stressed with the responsibility of all these creatures running around at my feet.  I realized around the start of the 2013 year that I was constantly yelling at the dogs.  Together, Molly and Tess were just crazy!  I would feed them both in the morning and then try to usher them out the door to go potty and I'd get one out but the other would be sniffing around the kitchen for a scrap or two and I would be yelling to get outside and the other dog would come running back in.  All the while, Seth would be asking for milk or for me to turn on the TV and then I'd get frustrated with him too. 

So, pretty much, the simplest of tasks was just becoming an all out yell-fest.  I hated it.  I didn't want Seth to hear so much yelling, I didn't want Sloane to be around it either.  And I didn't like being the one yelling! 

One night in October we had a major fiasco with Molly.  We had just put Seth to bed and Clint was doing the dishes and I heard the tell-tale sound of heaving from Molly.  It's her little warning that she is going to puke.  I madly searched for her and found her 1/2 way up the stairs.  I didn't want her puking on our carpet so I quickly grabbed her and turned to get down the stairs and at least get her to the tile before she threw up.  Unfortunately, being pregnant, I was already clumsy and Molly weighs at least 30 pounds so I lost my balance and fell down the stairs and fell on my ankle.  The pain!  So bad!  I thought I had broken my ankle and we rushed to the doctor where it was determined that it was a very severe sprain.  It took more than 4 weeks before I could walk on it again.  We thought seriously about giving Molly away that night.

Another night we were getting ready to leave for my parent's house and we heard Tess randomly gagging.  It sounded like she was coughing up a hair ball.  But we discovered that the little spaz-oid had puked not once, not twice, but THREE times on our carpet.  In the hall, on the stairs, and at the bottom of the stairs.  And what's worse, it smelled like poop.  So clearly, she had eaten poop outside and decided it just wasn't sitting well in her tummy (duh!) and chose to expel it into our new carpet.  As Clint and I madly scrubbed the floor and tried to keep Seth away from it, we thought seriously about giving Tess away.

We finally realized that we just didn't have the time and energy to devote to the dogs like we had before Seth was born.  We weren't giving them the attention they deserved.  So we put out feelers to see if anyone was interested in having Molly or Tess.  Clint's sister told us she wanted to take Tess for a little trial run to see if her little boy would like her. 

The rest seems a little surreal.  She came over to get Tess, we put her kennel in Char's car and explained some things about Tess' routine, and then she was gone.  I didn't really even say goodbye to her.  I think I was expecting the trial period to not go very well and that Char would bring her back.  But she didn't.  

I'm not going to lie.  It was instantly less stressful in the house.  Molly seemed a little upset at first that her little friend was no longer around.  But she got over it.  And she is much calmer now.  It was also nice not to hear Tess' incessant howling each morning from her kennel.  But it suddenly hit me a few days ago that Tess is no longer my dog.  We had her for 7 years and now she's suddenly not mine.  And while the house is less stressful, I'm starting to feel sad that she's gone.  I'm glad she is somewhere safe, with someone we know and trust.  But I miss her.   

So, farewell Tessy!  It was a hard decision to make but hopefully you are having fun with Aunt Char!  We miss having you follow us around the house, your snoring, your stinky bum (not really) and your big goobery eyes!  But we'll come visit you sometime!

 It is amazing how quickly the time seems to go...Sloane is almost 7 weeks old and I'm already back to work again.  Sloane is such a mellow baby.  It's a totally different experience from what we had with Seth.  He wasn't a colicky baby but he did seem to cry a lot throughout the day.  He just never wanted to sit still.  He didn't like to sit in his swing or bouncer for very long periods of time.  He didn't take long naps. He just wanted to go go go!  But Sloane will sometimes just lay in her bassinet or crib and look around and grunt.  She doesn't really cry much at all and she's easily soothed.  She will sit in my lap and just look around at things. 

So that's the upside. 

The DOWNside compared to Seth is that she wakes up a lot in the night.  And I guess when I compare Sloane to other babies, her waking in the night is VERY normal.  But compared to Seth, she is a little devil child.  Seth was sleeping 6 hours a night by 2 weeks old.  By the time he was 9 months old, I could only count on one hand how many times he had woken up in the middle of the night.  Sloane wakes up consistently between midnight and 1 am and between 3 and 4 am, then again at 6 am.  And then she wants to sleep in and won't really wake up until 10 am.  I don't think I've gotten more than a 4 hour stretch of sleep since her birth. She's my little night owl! 

So these two kiddos are very different.   But I'm loving this little girl so much...even while having very sleepless nights.  Here are a few random pictures of Sloane since her birth. 

Her first pair of "shoes." I'll make a shoe lover out of her...just you watch!

Taking a bottle for the first time.

Mornings at the Cunningham house

Sleepy Sloane.  I still have difficulty waking her from a nap sometimes.

She was particularly alert one Sunday morning when I took this picture.  She really has the cutest eyes when she is fully awake.

You can see she is definitely getting some super chubby cheeks in this picture. 

I love this picture for a few reasons.  1) I love her face.  She looks really suspicious of me. 2) That belly is HUGE!!!  She has a gut like a middle-aged man! 

One month old today. 
I seriously have SO much fun putting outfits on her.  It's all about the bows.  Her outfit is cute but once I put that bow on her...BAM!  She became adorable!

Some Sloane/Daddy cuddle time in the evening

This is a fun picture.  I caught a shot of Sloane in one of the rare moments that she cried out loud.  It must have been the onesie she was wearing.  She is super content in BYU blue.