Dustin's Little Soccer Star

I think I mentioned earlier that Dustin was going to buy a soccer ball after we found out the gender. Well, the pink and purple soccer ball came in the mail today. Here it is! It is smaller than the standard soccer ball, but still bigger than she will be when she is born. HA HA. Clearly he wants her to be a soccer player, which is more likely than being a dancer or a ballerina. This poor child will have no dancing genes!!

Poor Cocoa already feels left out! As soon as Dustin took the soccer ball out of it's box, Cocoa immediately thought she was going to get to play with it. She whined the entire time we took the picture and until we hid the ball! Poor Cocoa!! You wouldn't know that she just got a new toy Sunday!!

20 Weeks

Here is the 20 week picture!

Her Little Legs

The pictures from the ultrasound that they printed off for us were scary looking. Because the eyes are darkened and the features are shaded, the face pictures look ghostly. So, my favorite pictures from the ultrasound are her cute little crossed legs. Poor thing, there isn't much room to move around, but here are her little legs. The big round thing to the right of the legs is her abdomen.

Here are the details...

So we didn't really give many details in the last post because we had to rush out. But here are the details from the Dr. visit.

They check to see that the organs are there and that there are no abnormalities. Everything looked just fine, so we were relieved to hear that! As for whether it REALLY is a girl or not, she was VERY confident that it is a girl. Obviously certain parts of the anatomy were NOT there which is one good indicator that it is a girl. But, there are three little dots that kind of make up a triangle inside the baby and she found those. The dots are the developing female organs. So there should be no surprises!!

We haven't thought of names yet. I think I mentioned on an earlier blog that Dustin had been searching for boy names but not girl names. Well, the new search begins!! He is going to have to break down and talk about girl names with me. The only name in the book that we both thought we would put in the "think on it" pile for a girl is Morgan. So we will have to see what it means and do a little more searching. We will let you know though! I think that's the toughest decision!! The poor kid will have to live with whatever we decide forever!

So of course neither one of us cared if it is a boy or girl. We were just praying for healthy. However, now that I know that it is healthy AND a girl...I didn't realize how much I guess I really wanted a girl. Dustin was SHOCKED because he has thought from day one that it is a boy, but of course he is excited too! His first response was, "Uh, oh, girls are expensive. I'm going to have to take out a loan!" His next sentence was, "Can your dad let me borrow a gun cleaning kit to scare off the boys?" He is going to be in a house full of girls with me, Cocoa, and a baby girl!!

I was excited that when I stepped on the scale I had only gained 1 pound since the last visit!!

Guess What!!!!

Our ultrasound went wonderfully!! The doctor said that everything looked great!!

Break The Tie!!

OK, People!! Break the tie!! I can't take it!!

SICKNESS!!!!

Well, it is going around....sickness!!

Dustin went to bed last week with a stuffy nose. That same night I woke up and found no Dustin next to me in bed. I assumed he was taking Cocoa potty and that he would be right back, but seconds later I heard Cocoa roaming around the room. So I was stumped....no Dustin could be found, but Cocoa was in the bedroom. So, I searched for a moment and found Dustin on the couch sleeping! I was confused! I asked him why he was on the couch sleeping and he said in his most sickly voice, "I didn't want you to get sick". Poor guy, he went to sleep on the couch to keep me from catching what he had. Well, I told him he was silly and to get in bed where he could at least get a better night's sleep.

I am beginning to think that I should have moved him out of the entire house, not just the couch, so I wouldn't catch what he had because now I have it. It isn't anything too serious....constant headache, stuffy nose, runny nose, watery eyes. So, I am hoping that I am over the hump of the sickness and that today was the worst day. I can't teach if it gets much worse! I will have to wait and see what the Dr. says Thursday. I am eating my oranges, fruits and veggies to help my immune system, but they aren't doing as good of a job as I would have hoped. I'm sure I am just a day or so away from my healthy self.

On another note: Baby kicks...it seems as though every time baby is kicking I tell Dustin to feel. The second he takes his hand away it moves again. So, last night we were actually able to SEE it move! It was the WEIRDEST thing ever! My stomach was just hanging out like normal, and all of a sudden the earthquake happened! There's nothing quite like it, and nothing as strange as sharing your body and watching it change and not being able to control it. This whole process is blowing my mind!!

I see that as of today the boy/girl poll is tied!! I can't wait to let everyone know what we are expecting!!! I will let you know Thursday evening/night when we get back from the Dr. It is a long appointment because of the anatomy ultrasound. But I promise, I will update Thursday!!

Gazing Out The Window

Here is Cocoa and I gazing out at the falling snow. She LOVES being up high in the window looking out!

Winter Wonderland

Front Yard


Front Yard


Here are pictures of our front yard. I haven't measured with a ruler yet, but my guess is that we have about 3-4 inches on the ground with snow continuing to fall! Church was cancelled today because the town our Pastor comes from has road advisories out telling people to stay off the road!!

Of course weather has always been a topic of discussion in any town, but if you ask around or listen to the "old timers" talk, they are saying that this is going to be one of the worst winters in years here in Lewisburg! I don't know how they know these thing, but they usually seem to be right! I guess we will see what happens!

Dustin, Cocoa, and I are planning to go out this afternoon to build a snowman.....maybe one of many snowmen this winter! I will be sure to post pictures!

Oh, by the way...I WILL post a blog Thursday evening about the gender of our baby. My appointment isn't until I get off work at 4:00, so it will be after that sometime. YAY!! We cannot wait!

Map

Here is a map of WV. Click on it to make it larger. It gives a better story of where we are headed. You will notice Lewisburg in the southeastern part of the state (near 64 hwy) and our destination, Huntington, is on the western border of WV.

I thought the map might be a nice visual.

Site Selection at WVSOM

This evening was site selection at WVSOM. This is where we find out where we will be spending our third year of medical school for rotations. Lewisburg does not have the medical opportunities to host 200+ students.....it only holds about six students, which is why they have to put us in various communities around the state. The buzz around the event was intense, but I didn't actually get anxious until we arrived and reality set in. I knew what was supposed to happen would, but a little anxiety snuck up on me tonight!!

So, I completely left the decision of where to go up to Dustin since we are here for his medical school and we need to make the best decisions concerning that. He chose to write his name to go to Huntington, WV. Unfortunately Huntington went beyond capacity so our names would all be drawn out of a bowl. There are 15 spots in Huntington and our name had not been called by the time the 13th person had been called. That's when my anxiety began to rise. Luckily, we were the 14th name drawn for Huntington! So, in June we will be moving to Huntington, WV....that's right, when baby is a little more than one month old!! We are welcoming all free moving helpers! HA HA!!

Well, we can take a huge sign of relief now that tonight is over!!

On another note, it is snowing again here in Lewisburg. Another day off of school would be nice...we will have to see!

Three SNOW DAYS this past week

Students here in Greenbrier county were able to have an early Thanksgiving break due to snow days. We only went to school Monday and Thursday of this week. Teachers have meetings this Monday, then our break begins Tuesday. YAY!! I can't wait!! We are heading to a warmer climate which I am also excited about!!

Baby update: I think we do have a soccer player on our hands (more like, in the belly than on our hands). They asked me at my 16 week appointment if I had been feeling movement or kicks and I was reluctant to say yes or no. It is hard to tell since I have never experienced it. But now I am 100% sure I have been feeling kicks, especially in the past 3 days! They are faint little poking feelings, but it is obviously our little one in there saying "Hello". It is a bummer for Dustin because the kicks are still unpredictable and spread out so he is isn't able to really feel anything yet. He wants to be able to feel it too, and I know that time will come soon for him.

I am going to put up a poll to see what all of you think we will have....boy or girl. I already told you that Dustin thinks it is a boy, but he thought that before it was even a boy or girl, ha ha. Anyway, vote and we will see if the poll is accurate in the next couple of weeks...just in time for Christmas...and on my dad's birthday!

Another SNOW DAY!!

Today was another snow day! So far we do not have a delay or cancellation for tomorrow (Thursday). Hopefully we will have school tomorrow for the sake of getting the kiddos out of school before the middle of June. We will see!!

SNOW DAY today and delay tomorrow

Snow filling the sky


Cocoa enjoying the snow


Today Greenbrier county school were closed due to snow. Here in Lewisburg there was about an inch of accumulation; however, the kiddos living in the western part of the county were sledding in 10-14 inches of snow. There is always a large accumulation discrepancy between the eastern and western parts of the county. We can never tell if we are having school just by looking outside. We have to check the website to know if school is cancelled. We already have a 2 hour delay for tomorrow, but that usually turns into a complete snow day by 6:00 am. I will keep you posted.

Cocoa LOVES the snow!!! We took her out today and she ran with her head down and her tongue out so she could lick the ground while she ran. Picture that one!! Of course we didn't get a photo of that, but you can see her in the above picture enjoying the fluffy white precipitation.

Cocoa's First Snow

Snow update: The ground here at the house is almost covered. It is sticking this time....will tomorrow be our first SNOW DAY!?!?!?!?

On another note....
Dustin comes from home and takes Cocoa to the park right by my elementary school as I am getting out of school. I walk to the park and we meet and exercise Cocoa there. Chasing her frisbee is one of her favorite past times...second to me sneaking her food scraps from the table. Today it was snowing, so Cocoa got to play in her first snow.

This picture is a great sky picture with Cocoa chasing the frisbee.



This picture is of Cocoa checking out the snow. You can see some snow flakes, and the blurry white things are snowflakes being blown by the fierce wind.

Here Goes Nothing!!

This is my 16 week picture. I decided to get over my fear of posting it on here.

So I had my first baby dream last night. I haven't had a dream about it yet......but in this dream the baby was a GIRL!! We will find out soon!

So the pants I am wearing are maternity pants and I do not yet have them stretched to their limit. So, the bunch in the back is the elastic gathering. I am not getting a bump back there too....yet anyway!!

(16 weeks)

Another Snow

This morning when we woke up we had some snow on the ground. Here is another picture of our little deck thing in the front of the house as well as a few leaves. It accumulated on cars, roofs, and so on, but not on the ground. The leaves seemed to keep some snow in them, but it looks like we will be having school tomorrow! ha ha

One more full week of school until Thanksgiving break begins!!! Here we come, Atlanta! We can't wait to see Dustin's side of the family and of course, our new baby niece!! Maybe this will be a great chance for Dustin to practice diaper changing. He said he has never changed a diaper in his life. I think it is time!!!

Dustin's Pretty Toe

The last time we got a new coffee table, Dustin stumped his toe on it, as well as this ottoman. For some reason Dustin thinks he needs to break in every new coffee table with severely stubbing his toe on it. He complained of it hurting the first couple of days, but he said it is feeling much better! That poor little toe has had a rough life!! But it sure has pretty color in it!!!

Four Month Appointment

Today we went for our four month appointment and it went well!! We listened to the baby's heartbeat, which was a strong 150. He said it was a great sounding, strong pulse. That's great to hear! Of course they drew blood.....I asked if they had an open room for me to lay down, and she said they didn't. So, I took the needle sitting up......and didn't pass out!!! I am making leaps and bounds with this passing out business. HA HA.

As for my belly pictures.....I'm not ready for that one yet. I still think I am at the point where it looks like I could just be getting a fat stomach, so hopefully by 20 weeks I will post a belly picture. Then it will at least be obvious that it is a baby, not fat. Speaking of the "extra maternal tissue" (that's what we are calling fat around here these days) I have consistently gained one pound each week!!!!! So I have now gained 16 pounds. That's crazy!! If I keep going at this rate I will gain 40 pounds total by the end of this! I am going to have to schedule another race so that I have a goal to work toward to stay in shape afterward!! We will see about that one.

The next appointment is December 11. At this appointment we will find out the gender!!!! We are so excited about knowing! We are not one of those couples who can wait until it is born. We thought about it, and the four months of not knowing has been long enough. I cannot imagine choosing not to know for five more months!! Dustin's gut feeling has been that it is a boy. He has thought that from he moment we found out! I really haven't had any feelings either way. We are just excited for a healthy boy or girl.

New Coffee Table

As you know from previous blogs, our coffee table was quite a sight. All four legs had been chewed and one of the legs was not even connected. The table was simply resting on the fourth leg. So, I took it upon myself to order a new coffee table. The new one is more toddler friendly because it is soft and it has storage inside!!

As you can also see, I desperately needed to dust the old coffee table, and this one will not have those shelves to dust!! YAY!!

Old Coffee Table


New Coffee Table

Gas Prices and Next Appointment

Here in Lewisburg we are experiencing the lowest gas prices in what seems like forever. It is currently $2.35 a gallon here in good ol' West Virginia. It seems like taxes are so expensive across the board here. I'm guessing that's why our prices are so much more expensive than the sub $2 they are experiencing in Missouri! I have to say I am jealous!!

We go for our 4 month (16 week) check up this Wednesday. At this appointment we will just hear the heartbeat and they will drain me of my blood to run more and more tests. During pregnancy you gain about 30% to 50% more blood than you did before you were pregnant, and I am beginning to think this is because they drain you of so much blood for testing. I didn't pass out at the 12 week appointment when they took my blood. I think the trick was to let the lady drawing my blood know that I frequently pass out when giving blood and would like a place to lay down before even beginning to draw. I did just fine, but I am ready for this vampire business to stop!!! I hope they don't do it at every monthly check up!
I will not have an ultrasound this time, but I will in December and at that appointment we will find out the gender!!!

Cocoa's Friend, Lila

Our neighbors have a beautiful Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever/Poodle mix). Her name is Lila and she is about two or three times bigger than Cocoa. Nonetheless, Cocoa loves playing with her. Here they are playing in our front yard. Cocoa is hooked to a 30 foot tie out that allows her to have a 30 foot radius in any direction. This keeps her safe in the yard and also encourages Lila to stay close as well. Lila has an invisible fence, but often gets out of it to romp and play with Cocoa. They are so funny to watch, especially since Lila can put Cocoa's entire head in her mouth!!!

Raking Just Before Snow Began Falling

This is the large pile of leaves


Here is Dustin in mid air on his way down


Dustin making a soft landing


Our yard was in desperate need of some leaf raking. As you have seen from a previous post we have already raked once. Well, the next day our yard was pretty much full of leaves again, so we decided to wait to rake one final time until the trees looked completely bare leaving no threat of a leaf covered yard again. This is the biggest leaf pile Dustin and I had ever seen! Of course I let him jump into it, but it sure did look like fun! You can see at the bottom of the picture that Cocoa would have loved to gallop through the leaves. However, she had to stay on the tie out to be safe from the neighbors coming home.

First Snow.....October 27 & 28!!!!!!!

Slight Accumulation


Snow Falling


I went to be last night after sewing club with flurries flying wildly through the air. I woke up to slight accumulation on objects outside, like the porch, trash can, etc. Nothing stuck to the roads of course, but it was nice to see some snow falling. In honor of the first snow, Dustin and I went Christmas shopping after school today. It has stopped coming down consistently, but it continues to flutter. Snow is forcasted through tomorrow, so I guess we will see if it continues to flutter or begin to come down heavier.

Cocoa's Training

Make sure your volume is on!!!!! Sorry for the quality of video. For some reason it is choppy.

As promised, here is a video of "A Day In The Life Of Cocoa". In this clip, she is showing off for the camera as she performs her tricks for popcorn. I think this is her last popcorn feeding because later this evening she was barking to go outside. So, I took her and she didn't have to potty, she went to eat grass. That must mean that her tummy was upset. Unfortunately it was raining, and as I mentioned earlier it is COLD here, so I pulled some grass and I let her eat it in the house rather than standing in the cold rain while she searched for the perfect strands of grass. She did eat it all and seems to be doing great now!

BRRRRRRRRR it's cold!!

Well, my walking to school days are about over. It is nice to be able to walk to school, but at 7:00 in the morning it is just WAY too cold here to walk the 1/2 mile. I guess I won't have the "....I had to walk 4 miles up hill both ways in the snow story....." for our kiddos someday. We have the luxury of being able to drive when it is too cold. HA HA. Anyway, the low temperatures have been in the 20s and the high for next week are forcasted to be in the 40s, with snow expected on Tuesday! YAY!! Our first snow possibly before Halloween! I get excited about snow because that means Christmas is nearing! Next Saturday begins the countdown for Christmas and that is also the day I am allowed to begin playing Christmas music (when I am by myself). Dustin thinks I should wait until at least after Halloween to begin my countdown and play Christmas music. I'll take what I can get!! Otherwise he would be sick of Christmas music before Thanksgiving!

Tonight Dustin and I rented a movie and bought the good kind of popcorn. (I had been getting the healthy kind with no butter, but I decided that it wasn't worth eating, so I got extra butter this time!) Anyway, Cocoa's favorite snack is popcorn, so while we have some warm, fresh popcorn we are going to video her doing some "special" tricks! Tune in tonight for that video....unless we have video uploading problems. But it should go smoothly!!

Talk tonight!

Time To Announce........

Baby peanut at 7 weeks


Baby at 12 weeks


Well, many people have already been informed, but we have waited until today to make any public announcement. From the pictures that I posted it is obvious that we are expecting!! The first picture is of the baby at 7 weeks, and the second picture is at 12 weeks. What an amazing difference. You can even faintly see an arm at the side of baby's body in the second picture. YAY!! Today we went in for our 12 week appointment and everything was great! The heartbeat was 158 and it was forming well. It will still be 2 months before we can tell if it is a boy or girl, and of course we are excited about that day too!!

I have been feeling great! I have had minimal nausea and no complications!! I have been HUNGRY like never before, but now that has subsided. I am still hungry and need to eat about every hour or I do begin to get sick. So here is how our journey began......

At about 6 weeks Dustin's parents were visiting us. I was having some random symptoms and I was telling his mother about them and that I should go to the doctor. I made the comment that Dustin had said, "Uh Oh, what if you're pregnant!!" I laughed and told her, "Yeah right!" Well, needless to say the medical student was right! A few days later we decided to find out if his "joke" about my symptoms was correct. So within a few days the doctor confirmed our suspicions. Obviously you can tell that this was the biggest surprise of our lives!! We were stunned for a few weeks, and then we went to the first doctor appointment and the minute we heard the heartbeat and saw a little peanut thing on the screen, it became real!!! That first appointment turned out to be an exciting one.......when they drew blood, I passed out. That's right, I absolutely passed out!

Fast forward five weeks to today....
We saw our little one with facial features and arms and legs. That was great to see! The heartbeat was fantastic as well! The doctor's words were, "This is your beautiful baby. Everything looks great!" What a relief to hear! You will also be happy to hear that I did not pass out today at my appointment. I got a flu shot AND they drew blood! That's amazing! Our little one was moving like crazy!!! He/she was flipping around, twisting, and kicking those legs like crazy. This will be interesting when I begin feeling those kicks. As soon as we saw those legs being kicked around, Dustin immediately knew that it was going to be a great soccer player. He has already told me that he is going to get a pink or blue soccer ball for when it is born. I think he wants it to play soccer, what do you think?

Surprise or not, what an amazing one! We are over the stunned stage and into the excited stage. Unfortunately I have gained a little more than 5 pounds, but of course that is supposed to happen. One of my students actually said to me the other day, "Mrs. Tompkins, your stomach blew up overnight. Your stomach wasn't that big yesterday"! HA HA. You can always count on kids to be honest. And what he said described exactly what I was feeling and thinking myself. I will post a picture of me when I am up for that challenge!! I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. I'm continuing to work out by walking and doing pregnancy videos. I'm making sure it is healthy working out. I am no longer running 10 miles. (By the way, the reason that you only saw Dustin's picture at the half marathon is because I was expecting at that time and the doctor told me it would not be wise to compete in the race. I had been training for 3 months, but there will be other races.) We are doing well and preparing ourselves for a little one in about 6 months. I will be sure to keep you posted on our little one! Thanks for checking in!

Gutters and Rakes

Dustin and I have been talking about needing to clean out the gutters and rake the leaves because the leaves have been falling like crazy!! It makes our yard a colorful, fall wonderland, but we want to make sure the gutters do not get clogged.

The first picture you will see is of Dustin on the roof cleaning out the gutters. I am in the second picture enjoying my mound of leaves that I worked so hard to create. Unfortunately we did this work yesterday, and today the ground was already covered in yellows, browns, reds, and oranges. The plus is that we are probably done mowing. Now begins raking, then it is shoveling, and back to mowing again!!

Dustin's Ride In An Ambulance

Throughout this year, Dustin will be doing clinical observations at various medical facilities here in town. Today he was able to do one of those observations with the ambulance crew. He came home VERY excited and didn't stop talking about it for a few hours. He seemed most excited about being able to ride down the middle of the road at high speeds with the ambulance sirens on. Of course he mentioned that he learned some of that medical stuff and enjoyed that too. Luckily, and if you know Dustin you know how true this is, he wasn't the patient in this ambulance ride!

Shopping Update

Our trip to Roanoke was everything except uneventful!!! I did drive on the way there and Dustin did some studying between my conversations and road sickness. However, after a day of shopping, I could hardly stand on my feet by the end of the day, so he drove home and I SLEPT!!

The last time we went to Roanoke we ate at Olive Garden (our favorite place to eat there) and if we took a survey online we would get a whopping $4 off our next purchase. I know, it's only $4, but it IS $4 so I took the survey to get our discount. So, I was excited that I would have an excuse to get a dessert. Well, when we arrived at Olive Garden, we were promptly seated and began enjoying our bread sticks and salad. We had ordered our food and it arrived at our table. I had taken ONE bite of my delicious meal when all of a sudden we heard a crash and saw glass flying. We were sitting near the location where they put their drinking glasses, and one of the workers had pushed them too far and one fell off and shattered. Some of the shards of glass bounced up into Dustin's lap, and he told me to stop eating just in case there were shards in my meal. So, we let our waitress know that we were concerned that there might be pieces of glass in our meal. Within the next few minutes the manager came to our table to let us know that our meal would be taken care of and that he apologized for the inconvenience. So, we received new meals and of course I went on to order a dessert, but rather than getting a free dessert, we only had to pay for the dessert. The wait for our second meal was definitely worth it!!

Blog Update, Weather, Shopping

I was inspired to look outside the box and find a different blog template. With Dustin's help, I was able to get an autumn background for the upcoming season.

Weather in West Virginia: Our weather has been more extreme than "cool". I will step out on a limb and call it COLD!!! Dustin even broke out his heavy winter coat the other day. Luckily we park in a garage, but many of Dustin's classmates were talking about having to defrost their windshields before they could get to school. Everyone was covering up their tomato plants to save them from the frost!! It is so cool we can no longer keep our windows open. I mentioned turning on the heat because I was so cold one day, but Dustin insists on using blankets until we absolutely have to turn on the heat!! It is actually supposed to reach the temperature of 70 today, so we will see if it does. I even have to wear my winter coat for recess duty!!

Dustin and I are going to enjoy a trip to Roanoke, VA today to do some necessary shopping!! YAY!! I can't wait!! Too bad we have to drive one and a half hours to get somewhere with a mall and the basic shopping experience. The trip will be worth it though, and of course I am driving so Dustin can study on the way. He just cannot think of being forced to sit in the car for 3 hours without the thought of studying. His philosophy is that he has to be sitting in a car, so he might as well use that time to study. I will let you know how long that lasts. I usually make him sick with I drive and he reads. My other problem is that when sitting in a car with just Dustin, why wouldn't I talk?!?!?! Ha, Ha, but it is difficult to be in a car with someone for 3 hours and NOT TALK!!!! That's near impossible for me!!

P.S. Hopefully a black bear will not cross the interstate in front of me this time!!!!! I'll let you know if one does.

Talk again soon!

Dustin's Casting Lab

Today Dustin learned how to make a cast. He put a cast on someone and got a cast put on him. Here is Dustin with a cast on.

Vacuum Cleaner Disaster

I mentioned in an earlier blog that for our 2nd anniversary (which is traditionally a plastic gift) we got a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner we decided on was the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser, the contest we entered Koda into. Well, we took the first one back because the pet hair attachment was not rotating to pick up anything. Then, the day I was leaving for Missouri I was vacuuming with the second one. Well, I noticed that the vacuum was pushing the dirt around until it would clump in an area of the carpet, and continue this cycle. So, when I was finished vacuuming the floor looked even worse that it would have if I had left it. There were clumps all over the floor. I never believed how much Cocoa sheds until this happened. Come to find out the rotating thing was not rotating to pick anything up, it just pushed everything around. Well, today we took back the second vacuum to get a third one. Of course this time we did not get the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser, we didn't even get a Bissell! We got a Eureka, bright yellow!! As you will see in the picture of Dustin assembling it, he matched the vacuum, ha ha. That's not why we got it though. Dustin always thought that a bagless was the way to go, until he emptied it out the other day and it looked like a dust tornado came through. This time he agreed to get a vacuum with a bag.....Thank Goodness!!!

Anyway, so far it works like a dream. After Dustin assembled it, he wanted to try it out himself, and he liked it so much he even vacuumed the entire carpet!! Thanks, Dustin!! Talk soon!

Golfing at "The Greenbrier"

Dustin had the privilege of golfing with some friends at The Greenbrier golf course. This is an exclusive golf course where you aren't allowed to walk on and play. You have to be a member. One of Dustin's friends won a round of golf and invited Dustin. You will see it is a beautiful course with a mountainous backdrop.

Deer Visiting for Afternoon Snack

While I was in Missouri, the deer enjoyed my tomato plants. The plants are right next to the house, but the only thing that remains of the plants are raggedy stems; no leafs or tomatoes. Here are a few pictures of the deer in our backyard.....again!

Visiting Missouri

Well, I checked today and noticed that it has almost been 20 days since I last updated this blog. SORRY!!! I have been in Missouri visiting my family for about 10 days, and I have not had any pictures to share. Dustin is hopefully not starving since I am not cooking for him each day. I stocked him up on frozen pizzas and frozen dinners that he can just heat in the skillet before I left, so I'm sure there will be none of those left. He's a smart one, he will find something to eat!

I will be sure to write again after Wednesday when I arrive back in Lewisburg! Again, sorry for such a long delay in writing! Talk soon.

Half Marathon

Dustin and his friend, Ryan, competed in a half marathon yesterday, Monday Sept 1. Dustin competed in a hart pounding, adrenaline pumping foot race to the finish line for 100th place.

Cocoa Received More Sympathy Than I Did

Oh yeah, one more thing to add. When Cocoa and Koda got stung, they received VIP treatment! I got baking soda and a yard to mow!

Bee Sting

Whether Dustin is your child, grandchild, or friend you can appreciate this one.

So I just finished a run and Dustin had the mower ready for me in the front yard, and he was working on the back yard. I decided that I was not going to get out of mowing even though I was tired, so I got over it and began mowing. After 3 rounds around the front yard I felt a terrible pain prickling my leg. To my surprise, I had crashed a bee house, and they were not happy. After I ran to the back yard to let Dustin know that I was hurting with terrible pain because of a bee sting, he made sure I was going to live and put some baking soda on the wound (I didn't know why, but it did take away some of the stinging feeling). The next sentence out of his mouth came directly from his heart, and I know you will appreciate this one. Dustin said, "OH GREAT! Now I have to start the mower again for you!" I couldn't believe it. I still wasn't going to get out of mowing and where was the sympathy?!! That option didn't enter his mind until the second after his statement left his mouth, my chin dropped to reveal my astonished look. Only then did he realize that maybe a tiny bit more sympathy was required to get me to do more of the yard, and his response was then, "Oh, are you done then?!?!?!"

So, the ending to this story goes like this....he took care of the bee home and did the front yard himself, while I worked on the back yard. My exhaustion grew worse, and at one point I declared, "I quit now!" and laid on the ground. That was not going to cut it for him either. We did finish the yard in a few hours and we still have some bee homes in the ground. These bees make a hole in the ground and you don't see them until it is too late. And the thing about starting the lawn mower...the rest of that day I started it MYSELF, which I was never able to do before!

The next time you talk to Dustin, remind him that even if he doesn't feel sympathetic, at least act like he is sympathetic. That will get him further in the end!

Cocoa LOVES Corn!!

MMMMMMMMMMM! This corn is TASTY!!


OK! Now I'll show you my pretty new big girl pearly whites if you will give me the entire cob!


Dustin and I had corn for lunch today, and Cocoa was sniffing like crazy, like the sniffing Beagle she is, and I could tell she really wanted to sink her teeth into a juicy piece of corn. I left her a few kernels and the cob and as you can tell, she LOVED it! The first picture you can see that she is just gently sniffing and licking the cob. The second picture is Cocoa using her nonverbals to let us know that she has grown up teeth now and that she would really like to just take the cob and eat at her leisure, not eat it from my hands. Needless to say, she did get the entire cob, and I cleaned up a big mess!!

46 Degrees Right Now

I just thought I would post another temperature message. Right now at 7:30 am it is 46 degrees, in August! Time to turn on the heater, ha ha. Talk soon!

Low Temperatures in Greenbrier Valley

I just thought I would rub it in how beautiful the weather is here in Lewisburg. Currently at 8:30 it is 60 degrees. I don't think it topped 70 degrees today. I had a hooded sweatshirt on all day except for my afternoon run. We do not have the air conditioning on here, but the windows are open and I am in a long sleeved shirt and sweatpants. What lovely August weather. Sorry to all you Missourians and Georgians who are suffering from treacherous heat!!

On the flip side, our gasoline prices are higher than many places. We fueled up yesterday for $3.81 a gallon. The money we are saving by not running the A/C we are putting into fuel. But with our Prius we only fill up the car about once a month. Three times a month if we go on a long trip.

Enjoy the heat!!

Dustin Practicing His Sharing

Here you will see Dustin sharing his ice cream with Cocoa. That's pretty amazing because he doesn't even share ice cream with me. HA HA. Cocoa sat right next to him the entire time he ate it with the cutest puppy face. She didn't jump up or bark, she just sat there silently knowing that it pays off just to look cute! It paid off for her!

Tomorrow Dustin will be working in a medical booth at the WV State Fair. He will be taking the blood pressure of the people who come to the booth asking for a blood pressure. Funny story: I was telling a little boy that I was going to the fair on Tuesday evening because Dustin was going to be taking blood pressures there. The young boy replied with, "But the fair is supposed to be fun, why would he ruin everyone's fun by taking their blood pressure?" How funny! I had to clarify that he is not forcing blood pressure tests on all who walk through the fair gates. This is a booth that is set up every year and the second year students offer free blood pressures. HA HA

Talk soon!

Sunset

Here is another beautiful sunset from our back porch. All the trees you see are located in our backyard.

I do apologize for not posting in a while. Nothing exciting has been happening, nothing worth posting anyway.

Today Dustin began his second year of medical school. It was one of the greatest reliefs not to have to be thinking about everything the first year students and spouses were dealing with. It is nice to have that part complete, be settled, and thinking about moving again in about 9 or 10 months.

White Water Rafting VIDEOS!!!!!

After about one month of promising rafting videos, we finally deliver!!! Here are four videos of us white water rafting. If you are looking at the front of the raft here is where everyone is sitting. Dustin is in the front right, me behind him, and my dad behind me. On the left is Richard, behind him is his wife, Tricia, and behind her is my mom. The guy in the very back is the guide. Enjoy!!!

Stormy Day = No Camping

We had a camping trip planned with some friends this weekend. However, due to torrential rains, our trip had to be cancelled....bummer!! Here is a picture of the dreary, dark, and rainy Lewisburg.

Cocoa was going to be able to go on her first camping trip, but she settled for a bone chewing day instead.

The third picture you see is Cocoa begging me not to take her favorite sleeping blanket away from her. She loves to lay on this blanket!!

Dustin's Amazing Strength!!!

I will try to explain so you get as many laughs as I did. Dustin was dipping out ice cream because it was too hard for me to get out. He was talking about how solidly frozen it was. At that instant, the scoop and the handle broke apart. In complete amazement of himself and his new found strength, Dustin's instant reaction was, "WOW!! I'm amazing!! I can break metal!!!!" My instant reaction to that comment was to stop, drop and roll.....stop everything, drop with hysteria, and roll out of uncontrollable laughter. I am still laughing as I am typing this. The funniest part was that his honest reaction was excitement that he REALLY DID BREAK METAL!! After I gathered my composure and got to my feet, I tried to correct him. I informed him that he really didn't break metal, he broke a rubber handle off of a metal scoop. Well, this explanation was not one he was going to settle for. So, he proceeded to show me that the metal went through the rubber handle, and that, yes indeed, he really is amazing and can break metal. I took pictures so that you can be the judge for yourself. I hope you got at least a small chuckle!!

First Harvest

I am trying to grow tomato plants, and this is the first sign of success! I can barely keep any plants alive, but these seem to be doing fine. We may have a handful of juicy red tomatoes soon!!

Saturday at the Greenbrier River Trail

Cocoa and Dustin Swimming


Drying Off and Pointing That Tail


Walking Next To Me Without a Leash


Please, Can I Take a Break?!?!?!


Saturday we took Cocoa to the Greenbrier River Trail to get some exercise and enjoy being off the leash to sniff anywhere her little nose took her. Cocoa has been running with me more and more lately, but she is just up to about 3 miles so far. I bring her back to the house after her 2 ro 3 miles so I am able to finish the rest of my run. On this trail, we just walked, but it was a total of 6 miles, and she was exhausted by the end of it.

In the first picture you will see Cocoa's first swim in the water. She seemed to like it and after she left the water each time she was sooooo hyper!!

The second picture is her just getting out of the water and standing on a rock trying to dry off. Check out that tail. Do you think she has some pointer in her?!

We are working with Cocoa on walking beside us and staying close when she isn't on a leash, and we knew this trail would be the best place to teach her with few other people being a distraction. However, the few distractions we did have were great chances to test her and see if she would stay with us. She did an amazing job as you will see her in the third picture sticking close to me.

In the third picture we had about one mile left on our hike and it was as though she was begging us to just let her rest for a minute; so we did.

All in all it was a great day and beautiful walk. I will post some more pictures of the scenery. Enjoy!!