A little bit of my sister

My little sister is amazing. She has been through a LOT, and has come out of it not only alive, but thriving. At this moment she is in Honduras living with a family and teaching English to some of the village children. She is writing down some of her experiences HERE, and if you need an inspiring read you should check it out.

If you happen to read this Kathryn, Happy Birthday, I love you, and you are my hero!

2nd AKC Trial of the Year

This past weekend was our third trial of the year and our second AKC trial of the year. It was a learning experience, and I gained some perspective about the importance of Q'ing in runs.

This was a three day trial, but Hobbs and I were only entered for Saturday and Monday.

Saturday started out with FAST, and it was another great run. This send bonus had the A-frame in it and Hobbs' contact performance on that is pretty inconsistent so I was worried about being farther away. He did it perfectly and we Q'd in 1st place with 72 points. At least that is what I think we got. I just got a trial results email saying that in that run we got 2 time penalties, but our time was only 34.something. If I understand the rules for FAST correctly, the maximum time for 20" preferred dogs is 35 seconds. That would mean that we got no time penalties and we get to keep our 72 points. Either way we got 1st place and our second Q in novice FAST.

Next was Standard, and it ended up being a rough run. There were some tough parts, all of which we did great on, but he jumped his A-frame contact and then when I went to rear cross him going up the DW he turned around and came back down. After the run, I thought about it and I don't think I have rear crossed him going up the DW in a very long time, if ever. Hobbs was really upset and stressed after the run. I tried to be happy and praised him, but he was weird. Actually, he got weird on course right after he jumped the contact. I am pretty sure he knows when he does it wrong, but he doesn't understand what he is supposed to do. After the run I took him outside and walked around for a while to let him relax until he seemed to be back to his happy self. His attitude after that Standard run really baffled me.

Next up was our first Open JWW run ever! I was nervous, but knew it was just a learning experience so I didn't let the course stress me out. It turned out to flow really well, and it felt great! Hobbs got in and finished all 12 of the weave poles for the first time in competition, and I was so proud of him. We got a Q and placed 1st in that run, and I was so excited. Hobbs was ecstatic after that run and his attitude was a complete 180 from what it was after standard.

On Monday we started out the day with Standard. It seemed like a pretty easy course and I was confident we could do it as long as Hobbs got his contact on the A-frame. It was the third to last obstacle, and when he got the contact I started to celebrate on the inside. Next was the chute and then the panel jump. Looking back, I think I started to bring my arms up to clap as he went over the last jump and my little boy dropped his back legs and knocked the top off the panel jump. What a heart breaker. I shook my head, and praised Hobbs anyways trying to keep him happy, but he was just as weird after this run as the one on Saturday. I think my little boy is stressing in his standard runs.....and I know I am the cause. I really would like to get our final Q for his NAP title so we can move up to Open, and I think it is making me overly nervous before our runs and Hobbs feels it. And, naturally, when we don't get it I feel disappointed, and even though I have been trying not to show that to Hobbs I know he can feel it. I am not disappointed in him, I know that 99% of problems on the agility course are the handler's fault.

Next up, and last of all for the trial was JWW. This course was pretty intimidating to me, but I did a lot of thinking in between Standard and this run and decided that no matter what I would not get caught up in trying to get our Open titles. I decided that even though there were some tough parts of this course I would use them as an opportunity to try more aggressive handling just like I would in practice. And I did! I gave Hobbs much more space than I usually do out on course at trials, and he did great. He was a little slow in the weave poles, but I could tell he was mostly just tired. We got another Q and a 2nd place behind a lady who just placed 12th at the AKC invitationals. They are GOOD. She has dropped her dog down to preferred and has been in a few of our classes. They beat us by about 3.5 seconds, but her dog is naturally much faster than Hobbs, and has a MACH (or two). Hobbs was once again really happy after this run, even though he was tired and basically done for the day.

What I learned from this trial was that I need to get a handle on my competitiveness to get Q and to our novice title in standard. I am making it no fun for Hobbs and that is inexcusable on my part. I also learned that I need to build myself an A-frame to practice on so I can get Hobbs understanding exactly what he should be doing on the A-frame contacts. I actually am planning to try the Box method once I am too pregnant to run him in trials. That is something I would be able to do no matter how huge and immobile I get. The only thing I worry about is that he might have a hard time with all the repetition.

12 Weeks

For some reason I can't believe I am already 12 weeks along! This little one is going to be here before we know it!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 12

Size of baby: 1.5 inches long

Weight: 188.2

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 1.8 lbs - not as bad as it seems, but I would rather not gain much at all this time around.

Maternity Clothes: 1 pair of my regular pants fit and one pair of maternity pants fit.....still wearing regular shirts so far.

Gender: Unknown

Movement: Not yet

Sleep: I have been having a very hard time staying asleep at night. I am going to be changing prenatal pretty soon to see if that helps.

Symptoms: Still pretty nauseous most days, really really really tired, it is very rare that any kind of food sounds good to me.

What I miss: Feeling good enough to run on the treadmill

Cravings: Nothing big yet.

Best Moment this week:

Getting this baby's first picture taken!

12 Weeks

What I am looking forward to: To hear the heartbeat!! The doctors have yet to find it at our appointments, which is why we got the ultrasounds. But I really want to HEAR it! Feeling this little one move. I can't wait for that first movement.

Comparison: Week 12

4 years!

4 Years (and 6 days) ago Robert and I started our life together. It has been an interesting and wonderful 4 years. It seems like forever and not very long all at the same time.

Robert and I decided to spend a couple nights at the hotel we went to for our wedding night. My mom came to stay with Kaylee and they had a great time together. We went out for an amazing dinner on Wednesday night, spent some quality time together on Thursday, and went together to see our little one at the doctor on Friday. It was so nice to just spend time together.

ASCA Weekend

Hobbs and I had a wonderful day on Saturday running a total of 6 runs at our ASCA trial. It was a LONG day. It was a really small trial, but instead of the round 2 courses being the exact opposite of the round 1 courses, they were different. So instead of running excellent 1 then 2, they ran exellent, open, novice 1 and then exellent, open, novice 2. So it took a lot longer than it should have with so few people.

Jumpers was first of the day, and it didn't go too well. The first run Hobbs was WAY excited and he dropped a bar (my fault) and went around a jump (also my fault). When I called him back after the missed jump he came scooting back to me like he was about to run labby scoot loops around me. Luckily he controlled himself and we finished the course. We got 5th place out of 6 and an NQ. The course:

Round 1

Round 2 went pretty well but we had an off course and a knocked bar, my brain just didn't seem to be working. We got 4th out of 5 and another NQ. How is it that Jumpers is where we do the best in AKC and the worst in ASCA? The course:

Round 2

Gamblers was next and it was a world of difference! We got both the gambles and Q'd in both rounds getting 1st in one and 2nd (by 1 point) in the other. Our first Q gave us our novice gambler's title! I think it is......GS-N, so that is the pretty ribbon in the picture. It is one of the best title ribbons I have seen yet! Both of our runs felt really together and we ran exactly what I walked both times. Hobbs got all his A-frame contacts, which was great. Here are the course maps:

Round 1

Round 2

Last of all was our Regular runs. Our first run was great with an almost off course, but we saved it and finished nicely with a Q and 1st place.

Round 2 was a much trickier course and I didn't plan the first part very well. He went off course, I called him back, and he thought I wanted him to go over the A-frame and unfortunately got 4 paws on it before I got him back. The rest of the course (including a tough tunnel/dog walk discrimination) went really really well. We got a Q and another 1st place. Ugh, it looks like I don't have the regular course maps either.

By the last run both Hobbs and I were really done. I was exhausted after the first Gamblers round. Luckily Hobbs had some time between runs because he was pretty tired by the end too. I have videos of some of the runs, but it will be a little while before I can get them posted.

Week 10

It looks like Friday is going to be the day for weekly updates this time around!

Things have been pretty good so far during this pregnancy! I had a couple weeks that were a bit tough nausea wise but I wasn't puking. I have been pretty tired, so dealing with a super busy stir crazy toddler has been interesting. Luckily Kaylee is a good girl, and can happily play for a while with me laying on the couch/floor/bed. This week I have started feeling good again, and I think I may be past the worst of it.

I have been able to keep up with Hobbs' agility training and today and tomorrow he and I are going to a trial (competition). Next weekend we have another trial! I am hoping to be able to continue for a while longer.

Robert and I went to our first appointment today! I decided on a midwife this time and hopefully will get a more personal experience. Our midwife spend quite a bit of time with us getting to know us and explaining things. She tried to find the heartbeat with the doppler and couldn't so we got to see our little one on the ultrasound. He/she was jumping around and moving like crazy! Way more active than I remember Kaylee being at 10 weeks. We didn't get to hear the heartbeat, but we saw it. I am really glad we got to see him/her today because if we hadn't we would have to wait until 18-20 weeks.....which is forever. I will miss the Circle of Life Women's Center and their ultrasounds every appointment.

Stats:

Weight -187.4 - Blah....that is all I have to say

Due date - 9-9-11

Googility

Has anyone heard of Googility.com? It is the google search engine for dog agility. I haven't had a chance to really search through it a lot, but what I have seen I like! Check it out!

Poison Control

Yeah, so I got to call poison control for the first time. The culprit?

Don't recognize it?

Does this look better?

How about this?!

Thats right. In the 5ish minutes the bathroom door was left open she decided to scrape the toilet gel out of the bowl and eat it. Talk about panic attack! Luckily, I had the box still and so I looked over it for the usual warnings and accidental ingestion instructions. And there were none!

I actually had to google "how to call poison control". When I called they said the product was non toxic, and that she shouldn't even get an upset stomach from it. The guy said this is actually "a really safe product to have in the house" and he explained why, but I was too relieved to really hear any of it.

What a frightening experience! I can't even imagine how awful it would have been if they told me it was really poisonous and to get her to the hospital immediately. I feel bad enough with her being fine, I don't think I would forgive myself if it had turned out badly!

Random Pictures of December and January

I haven't posted many pictures since we got home from Oregon (ok, like none) so this post is going to have most of them from then until now. I am hoping to be better at doing the posts when I take the pictures, not at the end of the month.

Playing in the snow:

Never mind the crazy Hobbs dog running in and out of the pictures.....he kind of likes snow.
Playing in the rain a week or two later:
Watching the airplanes
Playing in the drain pipes
and investigating the dog agility jumps
Compare the picture above at 16-17 months

to this one at 1 year
or this one to

this one!
More drains.....she really liked the running water

Organizing her animals in the entertainment center
Her Christmas shirt

Putting her baby in the stroller

pushing her around
and giving her kisses
big smile (and weird squinty eyes)

Her trains
Her "choo choo" face


She set these up one day and I just had to take a picture

Crazy hair
Playing with her farm