I'm going to chime in here, just because I don't want people to think we aren't crazy about our little dog - we are! We did a whole lot of soul searching when we were looking for an apartment....we wondered if she'd be happier in Vermont with a big yard a two dogs to play with, if being in a little apartment with a little baby would be too cramped for her, and whether or not she'd get all the love and attention she deserves from us. We also thought that we'd be in Vermont within a year, too - that we'd all be back together in a house with a yard and plenty of space.

It turns out we probably should have sent her to my mom's. Like Ashley said, this place is so teeny that it's impossible for us all not to be in each other's way when it comes to sleep, privacy, anything. I would rather Lottie be running like crazy around my mom's land and not here with us getting frustrated with her. That poor little dog. None of this seems fair to her, and yet she remains SO good natured. It kills me.

I think we need to be more realistic about what's good for us all. With Mabel's gone now and Vermont becoming more of a possibility everyday, the picture becomes more clear to me each minute. I can practically hear Lottie tearing around our new yard....now we just need to practice a little patience and believe that that day will come.

Truth and Consequences

I though I would start off with some pictures of our little couch potato, relaxing at home after a long week at Mabel's... All lit up:


And in her peaceful yellow phase:


Obviously, she is still blisteringly cute and fun as can be, but okay, now down to business. I have always wondered how people can part with their pets once they have a baby. Honestly though, last year when we were looking for an apartment, we considered sending Lottie to Vermont. A dog makes it tricky and expensive to get a reasonable place around here. Well, we didn't, but now with the baby? The thought does occur to me.

One thing that I didn't realize before having a baby is that truly, from day one (yes, still in the hospital), my main thought would be "Will she sleep?". Now, after four months of trying to get her to sleep, or nap or something... The dog becomes too much. Elinor sleeps very lightly... The dogs claws tapping on the wood floor? The dog rolling around on her back on the rug? The dog whimpering in her sleep (poor paranoid little thing)? All of it can wake the baby up! To spend an hour trying toget her down and then a minute after she goes to bed to have Lottie wander in, clicking away with her feet and the baby's eyes pop open? Sometimes it is just too much. But honestly, I don't think we would be a content family without her.

And... Well, it isn't all the dogs fault. After spending so much time trying to get her to sleep, and then hoping for her to stay asleep, at least for a little while, you start to fear things. I fear walking around at night, taking much at night, walking into the bedroom (creaky wood floor), going to the bathroom, brushing my teeth, feeding the dog... Sometimes I also want her to wake up, just so I can get to the bathroom and bedroom without feeling paranoid that I'm am waking her.

The most important thing in the land is two fold.. 1) Getting Elinor to sleep so we can have some time to relax and, 2) Getting Elinor to sleep so she won't be fussy the next day. Everything else in the day seems to revolve around that.

all back together...

Yes, everyone made it back reasonably intact. I believe the the trip was good, Elinor sure loves her Grandma Mickey and I think had just an all around grand time! Caitlin enjoyed herself too, but between all of the things that she needed to do and falling of the porch and badly twisting her ankle (she even was using crutches for a few days), there are some people that she couldn't get out to see...

But them being back there rekindled, for me, feelings of moving to Vermont and, if nothing else, we now have tickets to fly out for a longer stay in October! So that will be fun!

But Elinor got visit Aunt Sue



have her first go at a swingset





shop at the West Barnet church store (look't those red pants! Keepers!)



visit the general store where her mother lived as a child



and, of course, see her grandma...



All in all, she had a great trip, in fact, the day after she got back, she was quite thoroughly grumpy.

Nope, no pictures yet...

The day has finally come! Tonight the family comes home and we are all ready for that.

If anyone ever thinks it is a good idea for their wife and 3 month old baby to fly across the country for 9 days, I would say that they are sorely mistaken. Somehow, we we made the decision that I wasn't going to go along, we hadn't thought about all kinds of things... Caitlin having to go through a layover and plane transfer with the baby, not being able to put the baby down during the flight, how much the baby would advance during this period (seemingly rolling all back and forth now... Or so they tell me). And, of course, just the plain old missing each other.

Anyway, this whole time it has seemed like a very bad idea to all of us, and we are very ready for it to be over... Today is Elinor's 4 month birthday, tomorrow is our anniversary, the Mabel's Liquidation sale started today, we have two week of Flight of the Conchords to catch up on... Then we have to catch up on Big Love (and big episodes they should be!)...

Anyway. Soon all will be back to normal, and there should be some nice pictures of "Elinor on vacation" to be posted.

Dereliction of Duty

And now...



There she is!

Yes, I have not been good with the old family blog this last month. I've been spending too much time with my other blog (trying to keep up with the wife's blogging) and, honestly, things move too fast with Elinor to even blog about them... Though watching Caitlin poke her in the back and the thrill on Elinor's face when she realized that she could turn around and see who it was, that was exciting. She had a great time, turning around to see her mother, and it is delightful to watch her change and advance every day.

But anyway, the point to this post is that in 3.5 hours (it would have been 1.5, but there are some of those famous "miss your connection delays), they are getting on a plane to fly to Vermont!

Quite sad for me, as I have nine days without them to just hang around. Well, I am going to try and keep busy, with work and hiking and watching movies... But without this little face to keep me awake...





I don't know what I will do!

Of course, I really should have figured a way to go back east, since it is for the long awaited wedding of our friends Kate and Ed, who we love dearly and who were themselves key players in our wedding. But the plane tickets were, for us, prohibitively expensive, so stay behind I do. Not only will it be Midge's first time away from Portland, and the rare occurrence of Caitlin and I being apart, but I imagine that there will come a time while she is back east that Elinor will be away from her mother... And that would be the first time (since those brief moments in the hospital) that she has been away from both of us. I know it shouldn't seem weird, and she will probably be safely under the eye of Grandma Mickey, but it still seems a weird thought to me. We are so close knit that it will be odd to think of Elinor without one of us looking at her. Of course, this whole absence, though short, will be felt quite strongly...

But, it is a good excuse to get some photos of the three of us, which there aren't many of anyway...








And in the end, it will all work out fine. The girls are returning on Elinor's 4 month birthday and the day after that is our 2nd wedding anniversary, so there is lots of good stuff for us to look forward to while we're apart...