How dogs are preparing me for children

As I slowly approach my due date, I've come to realize that my 16-month-old pup Zora (with some help from Peanut and Zayla) has prepared me for children more than any book or mommy blog ever could. Now that we've had her for a smidge over a year, I've come to terms with a few things:

My house never will be and/or will remain clean for more than 10 seconds. 
As soon as I mop the floor, dirty feet come truckin' through. As soon as toys are collected and put in their basket, someone's there to haul them all back out for no apparent reason. Muddy feet on my white carpets, boogers smeared on my sliding door and windows, food crumbs smashed into the floor... yeah, I get it.

I can never have nice things/everything I own will be destroyed.
Furniture, nick nacks, clothing.... I have no hopes or dreams that they'll survive the next couple years.

Earning my Dr. Mom certification.
Like small children, dogs can't tell you what hurts and where their boo-boo is. Plus, Miss Zora is a wild child with no fear and an insatiable appetite for... everything, so there's always upset tummies and unexplained wounds. Good thing my medicine cabinet and loaded and ready to go.

I will never get things done/must work with lil ones under foot.
Nothing halts productivity like a whiney fur ball scratching at your leg and then giving you a clueless, blank look. What the hell do you want, dog?! Any activities done in a chair or on the floor are automatic failures. I mean, has anyone tried doing an ab workout with a 70 lb. dog that climbs on top of you mid crunch? Or tried wrapping a gift that doesn't result in wrinkly wrapping paper because the dog trampled over it half a dozen times?

Bickering and timeouts. Shut your face.
Like lil ones, fur children misbehave. Often. They listen as well as men, fight with everyone despite their size and would be strangled if not for their adorable faces. That's why dogs and babies are adorable... so when shit hits the fan, we don't sell them to the gypsies.

Bath and bedtime shenanigans. 
For the most part, Miss Zora handles bedtime pretty well. Hooooowever, this wuss is afraid of the dark when left alone, inanimate objects make her cower and she still makes daddy carry her 70 lb. butt upstairs at night. Then, if she beats you to the bed, she's taking your spot. There's no negotiating with her. There's just not enough room in our queen size bed for the 3 of us... or is there?

And if bedtime isn't bad enough, there's the shower dance we do together. Hmm, let's spin around in a circle with the sprayer and try to get all the soap off you before you decided to open the shower doors and haul ass out. Yes, that sounds lovely.

But I will love them no matter what.
XOXO.

Money can buy happiness. It's called an adoption fee.

One year ago today, this tiny lil 4 month old furball was brought to our house by a lovely couple from the Animal Placement Bureau. It has been a whirlwind of a year discovering all the perks and downfalls of having a puppy (rest in peace living room furniture). However, we couldn't be more blessed to have her in our lives. She's so full of personality and is my cuddle bug. I heart you Miss Zora!

Don't look for a dog from a breeder. So many beautiful animals are put to death every day because there's just not enough room for them all. If you can't find the pet you're looking for from the millions on Petfinder.com, just wait. They'll be a whole slew of new ones the next day. 

Discover how gratifying it is to know you saved an incredible animal. They will love you unconditionally and rescue you right back... 

16 weeks + Cali trip

Hello folks, I'm finally home from my 3 day trip to California for a work-related video shoot. (Rough job, I know.) Had a good time, but am glad to be back home with husband, pup and my own bed. I learned too that time zones + jet lag + pregnancy is a horrible combination. Landed in Irvine Tuesday afternoon and went right to work, put in a full day on Wednesday and traveled for about 13 hours today. I'm a little surprised I'm not already dead in bed.

View of Irvine from my hotel room.

Huntington Beach at sunset.

Huntington Beach Pier

My bird. I heart you. 

Apparently I had to have the In-N-Out experience to make my trip complete.

This little guy flung bark like Zora. Maybe they're related... ?

Needed daily dairy intake for the baby's sake. Unfortunately I had to share with 3 other people. 

In other news, Lil Arch is 16 weeks now and the size of an avocado. I've discovered in the last week that BeBands are a lifesaver. My belts no longer fit even though my pants do. (Mind boggling.) I've been using the bands as a "butt crack cover upper." Climbing in and out of vehicles and twisting in weird positions for 2 days during the video shoot surely would've resulted in butt crack catastrophe. Phew, thanks BeBands!

16 weeks

Other than my belly growing, I still pee, eat and sleep in 2 hours intervals like a toddler. No judging. Did any other moms out there experience this "my spine is crashing into my butt" pain during early pregnancy? I seriously feel like my back is crashing into my tailbone every so often and it lasts a few days. I'm pretty sure it's pregnancy related because apparently all unusual and embarrassing side effects can be traced back to pregnancy. But still, it hurts.

My bestie Moose sent me an awesome care package this week! She sent me some diapers, baby books, Oreos, Margarita water mixers (whoop!) and some adorable onesies! Clay opened it while I was gone, ate some of the Oreos (even though the note said "because mommy needs love too") and then repackaged everything the way it came. Yes, my husband stole Oreos from a pregnant woman. Isn't there a law against that? But anyways, thank you Moose for the great gifts!

Um, I believe some of MY Oreos are missing... Clayton.

15 weeks

Happy 15 weeks to the wee orange! Lil Arch is 2-3 ounces this week and roughly 4.5 inches long (the size of a navel orange). Well, normal babies at this point are 4.5 inches long... mine is probably 8 or 9 inches by now. I'm pretty convinced I'm going to have like a 4 foot long baby.

15 weeks

Sadly, I had to use the whole rubber band trick on my dress pants yesterday. I'm unfortunately at that weird "is she pregnant or just getting fat" stage. Booooo! C'mon bump, let's go! Today I opted for the much more comfortable skirt... but it had a zipper up the side instead of an elastic waistband. So my skirt sat right below my boobs like I'm 70 years old. Rockin'...

I also believe that the majority of my baby weight is Oreos. That bulge may not even be from a baby... 4.5 inches of baby + 15 bags of Oreos. #IHaveNoSelfControl.

Anyways, had to push out my 16 week appointment by almost a week. Bummer. However, it's because I'm going to California for a few days for a work-related video shoot. Man, I hate having an awesome job. ;)

Take care everyone! Most to post in the upcoming week(s) as we finally get started on the nursery!!