You know It's a Bad Sign When....

You call your veterinarian and your conversations goes something like this: "Hi Dr. Ulrich, it's Laci" and he says, "Oh no, what is wrong with McD this time?"

YES!! We had to take McDuff to the vet again this week! McD (what the vet calls him) has visited the vet's office 8 times this year! EIGHT!!!
We knew that Westies were notorious for having skin allergies, but we were not prepared for all of the vet bills with this guy this year.
So far, and we still have 3 months to go, McDuff has been to the vet four times for tests and what not to figure out that he has pancreatic enzyme insufficiency and has to be on medicine for the rest of his life. Once for a hurt foot, another time for his bug bites getting infected, his annual shots, and this week......a MAJOR ear infection.
I have never seen an ear with so much goop and junk coming out of it; the worst part of all is that my very tough little guy was in so much pain. He just kept scratching it and making it bleed, it was awful. He is now on antibiotic cream and steroids for 10 days; he is already showing great improvements. This poor guy is really struggling! Our goal is to make it until the baby is born before we have to go back again, with his record we feel like this may be an unrealistic goal, but one we would like to shoot for nonetheless.

Other than health issues, McDuff continues to be a great source of joy around here, always making us laugh and keeping us entertained. His friend, Bob, an elderly gentleman two doors up, comes and takes him on walks while we are gone during the day about once a week. It is great to be in a neighborhood where he is so loved by everyone. Agnes and Charlotte across the street always have treats on hand when they see him; he knows they have treats and is always trying to go over to their house. Agnes makes sure to buy the dogie treats with the picture of the Westie, because looks just like McDuff. We have to tell them to stop feeding him treats after 2 or 3, reminding them that he does have some stomach issues; they just love to see him sit up and lay down for food, they cant stop.
It is a good thing we love our little man so much!

Stereotypes

I was taking the "T" (subway), Red Line, to work this Monday. I enjoy taking the T to work for many reasons, but mostly because it means I don't have a super stressful commute, driving the lovely streets of Boston. It gives me a change to read the paper, read a book, nod off a bit; all things you can simply not do in a car. (Disclaimer: I am NOT a good person when I drive in this city! I am mean and unhappy and can even be rude; I know this may come as a shock to you, but for those of you who drive in Boston you know what I mean right?) Okay, back to my story. So I am now visibly pregnant and am excited about the "perks" of being pregnant like how strangers can be extra nice to you. When I got onto the T on Monday I did not have a seat, this is not uncommon during rush hour. However there was only a handful of people standing in my car. I look around and I see many business men going to work, dressed nicely, sitting down comfortably. Some of them see me and are just not willing to give up their seat. I am FINE with this because, even though I may be pregnant, I am a woman and I do not NEED to sit down, I just think it would be nice to see some manners.
So wouldn't you know it, the last person I expected to offer me their seat does, not that I consciously thought that this person wouldn't give up his seat, but once he did I was a bit surprised. It was because out of all the Caucasian businessmen sitting there, this was the only African American gentleman with baggy pants, his hat tilted to the side and big head phones on. He was the one and only person who offered me his seat. I have noticed that African American men are more partial to my body type and perhaps that is why he recognized me, but perhaps not, perhaps he just saw a cute pregnant lady standing up on the T. I realized that I had made a judgment thinking that he wouldn't give up his seat before more of these "civilized" business "men"; boy was I wrong. I was a bit ashamed of myself as I thought about this because I am a social worker for crying out loud and I like to think that I have a very open mind and that I really try not to judge people. It opened up my eyes to remember that it is always something I need to be aware of, and make a conscience effort to avoid.

Rollin' with the Homies

During my trip home to Utah I was lucky enough to spend some time with my family! Here is a picture of me and my two "little" brothers. This picture is from youngest to oldest and obviously I was not blessed with any of the height in the family. If you look at our sibling picture in the background, you will see I was not always the shortest one!

Here is my dad Steve, he can seriously do anything with his hands! He is a car mechanic by profession but can also hem my pants if I need him to! Thanks Papa!

We took a trip to the Utah State Fair while I was in town. I always love me a good fair, but Utah's fair doesn't even hold a candle to the Kentucky State Fair or the Big E, which is the New England States Fair.

My brother Steven is obsessed with BATMAN! We went into a local Halloween Store and my brothers were able to find their costumes! I am not sure what is going on with Batman's ears?!

One of the things I always do when I go home is cut my hair! I have not found a hairdresser in Boston; it is so stinking expensive out here, $40 for the cheapest haircut, no thanks! So a special thanks to Mike; I told him to make me look like a Diva and he didn't let me down.

I also got to hang out with the Taft family, I just didn't take any pictures with them for some reason. They took me out for my first experience with eggs Benedict and I loved it!

Thanks for my family who wined and dined me during my short trip home! It was great to see everyone!

Shower Time

This past weekend I flew out to my home state of Utah for my very first baby shower! I was more excited about the baby shower than I ever was about my wedding showers; baby stuff is so cute and more exciting than dishes and towels.

Example:
Towels at a wedding shower: Plain white
Towels at a baby shower: Yellow with a ducky hoodie

This is me and my cute mama who is so stinkin' excited to be a granny she can't stand it! She went a little crazy buying clothes and other adorable baby items. She was convinced I was having a girl and bought me lots of girl stuff; she was shocked when the call came and it was not a girl at all. She had to do some returning and re-shopping!

My Aunt Mary made this stroller cake which was too cute to eat! However when women get together they will eat about anything and we did partake. I am so impressed by people who make cute cakes; I have never made anything but a rectangle and circle cake.

My little baby boy's Godmother, Julia, flew out from Seattle to the shower! Yay for Godmothers! Why don't more Mormons do this, it is a great idea if you ask me?

I finally got to meet Julia's boyfriend, Jed, who I have been waiting and wanting to meet for over a year!!! He is for sure a keeper and I give him two thumbs up! He doesn't appear to have any psycho features like other boyfriend attempts ,which I was very pleased about!

Our little man got so much great loot! I LOVE this UTE shirt; that is right Gentry family we are raising another Ute! We walked away with tons of handsome clothes, blankets, books, sheets, crib pads, toys, towels, wash clothes, etc. Everyone was so generous and good to us! I really feel blessed to have such a wonderful family and amazing friends that care so much about me. I can't wait to bring the little guy to Utah so everyone can meet him. (I am not sure I am looking forward to the flight, but that is a different story)

It was great to see old friends I haven't seen in years! It is hard to see everyone when I come into town because things are so hectic with family, so this was a great opportunity to see people I haven't see since before we moved out of the state. Here is my cute friend Amanda, we grew up together and went through grade school, high school and college together. Amanda and I were roommates my first year and Dixie and we had a BLAST together!
A special thanks to all my friends for making efforts to be there even after not seeing me for so long. I do try to keep in touch with ya'll but it can be difficult at times!

OMG, have you ever seen anything so cute? Don't these totally remind you of Christian? He had never had a red pair but we probably need to get him a pair now so he can match his son. Too cute!

Julia's baby is Dr. Pepper from the fountain and as seen it appears to fit in the 5-8lbs. onsie quite well. Isn't she a cute mom?

What a great shower! Thanks to my mom, Nean and Gram for all the shower planning and preparation. Thanks to Aunt Mary for the cake. Thanks to Carolyn, my second mother growing up, for allowing the shower to happen at her home. Thanks to everyone for taking time out of your busy life to attend the shower and bring us such amazing gifts!
A special thanks to everyone who told me how cute I looked and was, because I am not feeling that way at all!!! You Rock!

The Sweet Things in Life

As of August 28, 2008 I started feeling our little boy move; it has been so exciting to feel him scootch around in my tummy. This whole growing another human in my stomach just gets more and more fascinating. Christian has really been wanting to feel the little man, but wasn't able to until last night.
As we were laying in bed, I told C that the little guy has been kicking harder lately so maybe he should see if he could feel him. I tried to wake the little guy up and as soon as C's hand reached my stomach he gave a big kick for his daddy. C was so excited! What was the most tender part of the night was after about 5 minutes, C puts his head really close to my belly and says, " Hey little guy, this is your daddy; I love you." Right as he said this the baby gave C's hand a big kick as if to say, "love you too!" It was one of those fairytale moments, small and perfect.
What a scary and exciting journey Christian and I are on. We are thrilled for this little one to join our family, we feel so lucky and blessed already, and he isn't even here.

King Richard's Faire

Our Labor Day activity this year had a Renaissance theme; we visited King Richard's Faire in Carver, MA. Our friends the McMuray's joined us for the festivities, little did we know that showing up medieval garb enhances the experience. It was hard to tell who was a paid employee and who just owned a bunch of Renaissance clothing for events such as this.

This really is a tortuous position to be in!

Christian found some of his ancestors in Carver so we got a family photo. Can you see the family resemblance?

No Faire would be complete with out a "turkey leg" for lunch. Yummy!

Sir Peter really enjoyed his "turkey leg," which turned out to be more pork that turkey. He really eats meat, so you can only imagine how he felt after chowing down on that thing!

It's a lion....no it's a tiger......no it is a REAL LIVE LIGER!
Meet Hercules who is a 900 lb. beast! He was seriously massive and amazing to see! To be a liger you have to have a Lion father and a Tiger mother.
I remember seeing Shasta the stuffed Liger at the Hogle Zoo growing up, but this was the first time I saw a living Liger and they are pretty cool you have to admit.

We enjoyed all the jousting events that took place. We had the Evil knight who killed almost everyone, but like all happy endings, the bad guy has to die.

This guy just freaked me out!

What a fun juggler!

All in all, a great time was had by all who attended.

Fenway Park

Christian and I attended our first Red Sox game together this weekend.

There really is no place like Fenway Park, they seriously know how to cram a lot of people into a small space. Boston peeps sure do love their Sox and so do we! We have become completely converted as fans while here; it is hard not to get sucked into the excitment!

The Sox didn't let us down, they killed the White Sox in a very exciting game. I was sad that Mike Lowell was on the injured list, he's my favorite, but we did get to see a lot of the new players on the team and they were awesome!