Introducing Bruno

Well, we'd like you all to meet Bruno. The latest McMurtrie addition.

We have been wanting a 2nd dog pretty much since we got Sadie. Tom's friend Troy just adopted a dog from the Monterey County SPCA last week and that sparked our interest again. Tom was off on Friday since it was his week of finals so he kept Jack home and they had an SPCA field trip. Jack loved looking at all the dogs. There were 2 Dalmatian puppies from a liter of 4 and a few mixes that were all possibilities. Tom fell in love with a German Shepherd named "Theo" (now known as Bruno). He was absolutely gorgeous! In order to adopt they make you bring the whole family (including other pets) before they let you have your animal. So Saturday morning after I spent 2 hours at work....we, Sadie included, ventured out to the SPCA. As we walked in the last Dalmatian puppy was being adopted. We went right for Theo. He is the sweetest dog. He totally took to Tom. We took him for a long walk and played. He has a great temperament! He was awesome with Jack and even pretty good on the leash. They did a meet and greet with him and Sadie in a play area. They could have cared less about each other. They sniffed each other but never showed aggression and even off their leashes they were great. So they passed that test. He really seems like a great dog.
The SPCA knows nothing about Bruno. He was found in a mall parking lot last week. They're guessing that he's about 2 yrs old. We actually think he's younger, his teeth are perfectly white. He's about 80 pounds and very strong. We decided that we definitely wanted to bring him home. The catch was since he was a stray they have to hold him for 5 days so the owner has a chance to claim him. Today was the 5th day. We called this morning, no one claimed him so we went and signed all the papers, he's ours. He gets neutered tomorrow then we can pick him up.
I can't believe how inexpensive it was to adopt him either. All of his vet bills (neutering, shots, and microchip) are included in his adoption fee. It didn't seem right so we made a donation too. Seeing all these dogs and cats with the saddest eyes ever was so heart breaking. We felt like big losers for not going out there sooner and volunteering to walk the dogs, take bags of food or to drop off old blankets. While we were there we saw 2 dogs get dropped off. One by an owner and another by 2 kids that found a dog at a busy intersection wondering in the street. I wish we could bring more home. I know you all think we're crazy for getting a 2nd dog 9 weeks out from having a 2nd baby but it feels so good to have rescued Bruno! We can't wait to bring him home!!!!





Here's a few pictures of Jack's long haired mohawk from bath time the other night. The boy needs a haircut, but it was cute! :-)

Somewhere Over.....

The Rainbow.....


Last weekend Tom, Jack and I went out for Mexican food and made a pit stop at the Aquarium. Coming out of the aquarium we saw this rainbow. I don't think I have ever seen a whole rainbow end to end. Pretty cool.
The reason we stopped at the aquarium was because we saw in the newspaper that a local diver caught an 11 pound lobster. He decided not to eat it but give it to the aquarium. Tom being Tom, we had to see this thing! It was GIGANTIC!!! I wish my pictures would have come out better. They had it in the touch pond area but it was under a piece of plexi glass. It was like a football with claws. After we oohh and aahhhed at the lobster we did our usual rounds. We checked out the sharks, the jellyfish and the best part....the otters. It was a lot of fun! Then we had good Mexican food and headed home. It was a great weekend!
Baby news...I'm at 30 weeks, moving right along. I had a dr's appointment this morning and all is well. I'm ready. I know I have some time yet but I'm ready. Since we moved Jack into the guest room the baby's room is all ready to go. I just have to pull out clothing and the newborn necessity.....the swing! :-) YEAH!

Here's a more random pictures of Jack.

This is Jack running to Tom and I on the pier.


This is Jack wearing one of his favorite dog shirts. He has favorite clothing that he insists upon wearing. He didn't want to snap the onesie under his pants, so we went over the pants. He wore it that way until we went to the aquarium. Goofy!!


This is one of my new favorite pictures. He was sitting on the couch and it was the sweetest face. He looks soooo innocent too. :-)HA!

Neglect

So life has been so insane here lately I just wanted to send out an apology. There's about 40 e-mails that I haven't returned, I haven't blogged, I have been trying to call my grandparents and aunts for over 2 weeks now, I didn't even get to call my brother on his birthday. :-( I'd like to blame the time change but in all honesty I have no excuse other than when I have a second to stop and think that second is then followed by rushing around to do the everyday stuff that's been neglected on top of my family and friends. Now I know no one likes a whiny blog. You'd all much rather see pictures of Jack or hear about sunny Ca. But I just need to put it out there, it's cheaper than going to a therapist, right?
We had this huge inspection at work and basically the shit hit the fan. There were some MAJOR findings and now we're all scrambling to fix all these issues before we have to answer to the COL next week. Last week most of my co-workers and myself, have put in 12 hour days. The crazy part is that I inherited these problems. These things were broken well before I came on board but now it's under me. I'm feeling truly stressed for the first time in a LONG time. I'm beginning to think that my pay check really isn't worth all of this. Did I mention that I'm 10 weeks away from having our 2nd little boy, which I not prepared for in any way, and Jack is currently on another round of anti-biotics for another ear infection and my doctor WOULD NOT give me a referral to the Ear, Nose and Throat Dr??? I'm just trying to get through the next 10 weeks, have this baby and go on leave so I can feel the normal craziness of having 2 kids and a husband. Tom has been so great to me putting up with everything that's going on. I feel so guilty because he's now in the last 2 weeks of his semester and has 3 projects and a few papers due. I'm ready for that AH moment where everything just calms down and you can catch you breath and look back and say..."Wow that was a shitty month!"
So please forgive me for being "off the grid" and I'll be in touch soon! I promise!! I miss you all!

Craziness, change, work, and silliness

So the last 2 weeks have been CRAZY. You already read my daycare drama that ended with me eating my words. Go figure. With Jack being out 2 weeks ago from daycare I only worked 1 full day of work. Two Fridays ago I was out all on my own though. We had a friend in town for almost 2 weeks and went out to dinner that Thursday night. I woke up around 2am and I thought I had food poisoning. It wasn't pretty. The up-chucking continued every 30 minutes right along with Braxton Hicks. Tom made me call my OB in the morning and he sent me to the hospital. LOVELY! I was in rough shape! Turns out it was a virus and after a lot of IV fluids and anti nausea medication I was starting to feel better. The hospital didn't make me stay over night which I was happy about. I was still off work last Monday and then it all started over again with Jack... On Wed. after being on his anti-biotic for a full week he spiked a fever at day care of 101.7. Tom was super dad this week and stayed home with him Thurs and Fri. I felt so bad because he actually missed a class trip to the San Fran airport to check out airplane engines. Since I missed so much work the week before and my upcoming week involves a regional inspection that we're getting ready for, he stayed home from class this time. (He's such a great dad and hubby!) We called the doctor trying to get an appointment. Apparently there's been some bug flying around here that only results in a fever. They told us to treat with Tylenol and keep him on his anti-biotic and if his fever goes over 103 to call. Nice! Jack is done his medicine and hasn't had a fever since Friday so I'm guessing it's out of his system. We'll just have to see. So that's been the craziness....
The change we went through is this....I'm 7 months along with baby #2 which means we're starting to prepare. I can't believe I only have 12 weeks left but anyway...one of the things we wanted to make sure happened before the baby came is that Jack would be in a "Big Boy Bed". This weekend was our first go at it. We switched over the guest room and bed and just made it his room. That way Jack's old room is already set for baby #2. We put a double bed on the floor and made it kid proof. We put him down for a nap yesterday in his bed and with some resistance at first, he eventually fell asleep on his bed, YEAH! We peaked on him thinking he would be laying, asleep, right in front of the door but he was all curled up with his blankets and monkey. Then when he woke up and he just played with his toys. We thought this equalled success and that's where he slept last night. There was some crying again but when we went in to peak he was racked out, snoozing like normal. So my little guy is in a big boy bed. I almost can't believe it! Potty training will be our next adventure.


We spent most of yesterday doing yard work. It's been so miserable here with rain the last 2 week our yard was looking more like a jungle. So we mowed, trimmed, weeded and whacked pretty much everything. Jack helped out of course and Tom and I are both hurting today. Hahahh



While I was at work Friday and Tom had Jack all to himself they had a silly moment. Tom won't let me post the pictures he took of them together since he's anti-blog, but he didn't say I couldn't share the story. ;-) For Halloween Jack had an Elmo head/bucket. For some reason it became a hat on Friday. The best thing is that Tom joined him. We have Tom's West Point parade hat (The big one with the 2 ft. black feather plume on it) on a shelf in our living room. Since Jack was wearing a hat, Tom needed a hat too. I wish he would let me post the pictures, they're so hilarious and sweet at the same time. It's one of my favorite pictures of them. I hate that I was at work and missed all the fun!!

Bad Mom

Poor Jack. He didn't have a choice who his mom was and he got stuck with me.
For the last week he's had a runny nose. Nothing green, all clear. We noticed that his 4 eye teeth were all coming in at the same time. It's very typical for Jack to get a runny nose (like a fountain) with his teeth. He was a little fussy at times but he's basically been himself. On Monday we took him to day care and around 2:30pm, I got a courtesy call saying he had a low grade fever of 99.7. A fever that requires a pick up is anything over 100.4. I decided to leave work early and pick him up before the low grade fever went higher. (the rules with day care are you have to be fever free for 24 hours before you can come back. I was hoping to avoid that risk.) So Tom takes Jack to day care Tuesday morning only to be refused. WHAT? Apparently they took Jack's temp right before I picked him up on Monday and it was 100.7 and they NEVER said anything to me. So that was a fun way to start that day. Last minute scrambling trying to figure out what to do since I was already at work. As a side note, I'm all about not sending Jack to school when he has a fever. I understand the rules and agree with them. The catch with this center (the NPS center) is when they take a temperature they add 1 degree to it. I didn't think anyone did this anymore. Our policy (army policy) is whatever the thermometer says is what the temperature is. My problem with this system is according to me, Jack had a temp of 98.7, (NORMAL!) according to them he had a temp of 99.7. Does this mean that every parent of a child with a normal temp should be getting a courtesy call because according to them it's 1 degree high. ARGH!! Anyway, moving on....We keep Jack out of school Tuesday, take him today only to get another courtesy call by 9:30am. He had a temp of 99.8. Technically he had a temp of 98.8. So here I am insisting it's his teeth and being frustrated I make a Dr's appointment so I can have a note backing up my thoughts. This appointment was made purely out of spite and to prove them wrong. He stayed in day care with no other fevers until 2pm when we had a our appointment. I get to the doctor, explain everything, even ask about the possibility of allergies. He had a rectal temp of 99.8, nothing crazy. Then she checks his ears....of course......this is where the "bad mom" comes into play. He has DUAL ear infections. WHAT??? Not once did this child tug at his ears, become overly whiny or melt down to the point of a red flag being thrown up. I couldn't believe it. After the doc tells me we're 1-2 ear infections away from needing ear tubes she recommends a different, stronger antibiotic. This is because we just got over an ear infection 2 weeks ago using Amoxycilan. So Jack is stuck with a mom that's been playing off ear infections as a side effect of teething and may now he may need ear tubes. Of course because we're starting a new medicine Jack's not able to go to day care tomorrow either. I secretly love these moments. Spending all this time at home with him really makes me miss the days of no work! It's bitter sweet! Anyway, I guess the moral of this story is....It's just crazy how things work out sometimes. I really wouldn't have taken Jack to the doctor's if it wasn't for the drive to prove the center WRONG. So I thank them for being annoying and persistent. :-)

Here's pictures, just for fun! This sad, lonely turkey has been wandering around our neighborhood with out his herd for over a month now. The other day he was on top of our neighbor's car. Not something you see everyday....

Catching up

Well, it's been a long time since I blogged. This is going to be a collection of things that have been going on in the McMurtrie house over the weeks so hang in there....

Last weekend the weather was beautiful here. They were calling for rain but it never came and the temperatures stayed in the 60s. Of course that meant a long over due day at the beach. Sadie's still recovering from her knee surgery so it was just the 3 of us. The waves were so rough and crazy it was a huge weekend for surfing. We walked from Seaside down to Monterey which was so much fun. Jack had a great time of course. Here's a few pictures of the waves and my guys and fun with sidewalk chalk.

Monday morning I flew out to Charlotte, NC for a week of fun filled work. Hahahah. Last minute there was a training put together for "SKIESUnlimited". It's an Army CYS program that offers instructional classes for military kids. It's a pretty cool program for Europe bases since Americans really don't have any options for going off post for gymnastics or karate lessons. Here in the states it's struggling a little, especially at our small installation. Anyway, SKIES is one of the 3 hats I wear at work. I thought it was my easy program. HA! Sitting through the conference I realized that's not the case. I won't bore you all with the details of the surprises at my job. That's a whole other blog. Anyway, me in N.C. for a week left Tom being single, super dad. This was the longest I've ever been away from Jack. I got to talk to him every night so he could say "bye bye momma." I loved that! His vocabulary is amazing. Everyday he's saying something new. Yesterday our words of the day were "alligator" and "basketball". I can't believe how much he's talking and starting to put a few words together for mini sentences.

So back to N.C. ..... I flew in Monday, the conference went to Thursday but I couldn't get a flight out until Thursday. So Thursday morning I got up a 4am (eastern) to catch my first of 3 flights home. First flight-no problem. I get to Dallas to catch my connection and the flight's canceled. I was supposed to go to LA then on to Monterey. The ticket lady told me that she couldn't get me to Monterey until Saturday since there were so many other cancellations. There was no way I was staying over night in Dallas!! So I mentioned that I'd be willing to fly into San Jose (about an hour north of home). There was 1 flight and I had 10 minutes to catch it. HAHahahah!!! Of course I was in terminal A and needed to go to terminal C. I took the option and hauled ass to the gate. I definitely entertained people in that airport, I'm sure they've never seen a pregnant woman run so fast. Hahahah. Anyway, I got there in time and even though my seat on the plane was double booked it miraculously went in my favor and they moved the other guy. YEAH!! I also had about 2 minutes to call Tom and tell him the change of plans and hope that he could come pick me in San Jose. Good thing, Friday is his lab day so he was able to ditch and pick me up. So I made it home and surprisingly my luggage was delivered to our house Sat. morning. It was a long week! :-)

This weekend will be spent cleaning and doing some more work for my upcoming week. Our friend from high school, Wagner, is coming Thursday for almost 2 weeks. I love getting visitors! And now that we have Jack, Wagner will definitely be entertained. There's never a dull moment in this house. It'll be great to see him.

Once Wagner leaves we're going to be moving Jack to his big boy bed. We're taking our guest room and turning it into his room. We're hoping that once the baby comes there won't be any issues since Jack won't care about his crib and old room any more. That's the plan anyway. We'll see how it works out. Plus.....we're starting to potty train. Oh boy!!! We're definitely in the beginning stages but he's catching on quick. I'll have to keep you all posted. It funny what our conversations are about now that we have Jack. :-)

To end this really long blog.....here's some fun in the tub pictures. We rediscovered that we can splash. Oh Joy!!!

It's a.......

BOY!!!

I'm just at 22 weeks so we had our ultrasound appointment yesterday. The baby cooperated and we're happy to say it's a boy! I was really pulling for a boy. I know that's horrible but I was in panic mode that it was a girl. I totally fear the tween/teen years with having a girl. I know boys have their things but I just think I can handle boy issues better than girl issues. Or it's in the back of my head what I did to my parents and I really don't think I could handle all of that (sorry mom and dad!!) So, Murtie baby #2 is a boy. Tom claims he didn't care either way, and that's the politically correct thing I should be saying but I really wanted another boy. ;-) So here's the ultrasound pictures....