Guest Post from Chloe The Beagle

That's right, it's the Newest Caccamo Family's first guest blog post. So, take it away Chloe:

Hi everyone! Remember me? It's me, Chloe! Yup, you remember. I'm the one that you all used to fawn over. I'm still here. And I'm still adorable, but I've gotta tell you, things have taken a turn for the worse over here in Caccamoland. Let me tell you my story...


I started out in a sad little pet shop on Ashland. All my brothers and sisters were meek and quiet, but not me! I barked and barked. How else is anyone going to notice how much better I am then the rest? Apparently most of the shop's patrons were idiots, because they kept on picking the quiet ones. The shop owners made an extra special sign over my crate, which said "50% off!" in big red letters, because sometimes, you have to make it clear which puppies are the best. Finally, this 15 year old Girl picked me and I went home with a family.

It was a good start. I had two teenagers, two adults, an older sister and a backyard. We all lived in a nice house with nice wood floors (perfect to pee on!). Everyone came to visit me because I was so soft and cute. My big sister was always trying to tell me what to do, but she was a Golden Retriever, and what do they know? I did what I wanted! I liked her though, my big sis. She always gave me her left overs. After a few years, things started to change.

My teenagers grew up and left the house. Then, my Girl came back from where ever she was for four years, and took me away from my big sister and my adults. At first, I was pissed, but soon, I realized that she needed me! How could I stay with the adults when someone had to take care of my Girl? Poor Girl, she was left behind. I had to be strong. I spent lots of time her. She always wanted someone to sit with her on the couch, or sit at her feet when she was at our table. I took her on walks, I took her to the beach, what more could I have done for her? I was so important to her, I even had to go on airplanes with her. My adults and my big sis came to visit a few times, and sometimes we went to see them at their new place. I took good care of her, we made a great team.

Then, this Guy started coming around and kicked me out of my bed. It's cool though, one less thing I needed to do. I like the floor better anyway. He brought a bunch of things into our house, and he was kind of a pain in the ass. He was always trying to play with me! No way buddy, I'm a Beagle. I am too good for those dog toys you're throwing around. Clearly, he'd never had a Beagle before. He was probably used to those other kinds of dogs, like Golden Retrievers, those suckers. She started wearing something shiny on her finger, and I think she was happy. It turned out, his lap was pretty comfortable, too.

Anyway, it turned out that this Guy needed me too. He probably didn't have anywhere else to go, the poor Guy. So, I started taking care of him too. I took them both on long walks by the lake, to the beach, and we even went on road trips! I sat on my Girl's lap, or at her feet, while he drove me around in the car. We went and visited my adults and my big sis. We went around to other people's houses, I think they were my Guy's people, because they all talked real loud, like him. They were all wanting to pet me all the time, telling me how cute I was. But, I put up with it. They were cool.

Then, one day, we went on a car ride and stopped at this place with lots of cats and dogs. They brought this little dope of a puppy around to meet me, and he was so annoying. He looked so scruffy and had a beard, and I don't know why everyone thought he was so cute. Hello, everyone knows that a smooth coated dog is superior. I don't know what this puppy's deal was, but he would not stop following us around, and he came all the way back into my car and then into my house.

They called him "Swarley". What kind of name is that? That's not even a real name. My Girl even set up a second bed on the floor, like he was staying! Man, I was pissed. He was always bugging me, and bugging my Girl and my Guy. Always asking to go out and to be taken care of. I don't think they knew that he was the kind of dog that needed taking care of, one of those Retriever types. They even let him come up on my couch. We still went out on long walks and the beach, but he took up so much of their time, it just wasn't the same. I guess he got better eventually, but he did have the nerve to get bigger than me. Don't worry though, I'm way tougher. This kid needs me.

The one day, my Girl started getting fat. Like, really fat. She didn't want to go on long walks anymore. We went on a long road trip and now, I don't need boots or a coat in the winter, but sometimes, it gets really hot. I wasn't too mad at her though, I didn't feel like going on long walks anymore either. One day, she went away for 3 days. I didn't know what happened to her, and I had to take care of Swarley. Everyone was always out of the house and my Guy only came by for a few hours a day. Then she came back. But she wasn't alone...

You guessed it. It was a Tiny Human. I had heard about these at the dog park. Those other dogs warned us this might happen soon, but I never believed them. It cried. All the time. My Girl's always holding it and kissing it. And me? I'm not allowed on the couch. I'm not allowed on the bed. Those other people, they're always asking about that Tiny Human. Nobody asks about me anymore. What's the big deal? The Tiny Human doesn't even have any soft fur to pet like I do. Even Swarley has better fur than the Tiny Human.

Sure, my Guy still takes us on walks. Sure, sometimes she still needs me on her lap, but only when the Tiny Human sleeps. Yeah, alright, I still get food, and water, a warm house, a soft bed, but it's not the same.  My Girl promises we'll go to the park again when the Tiny Human gets a little bigger, but I'll believe that when I see it. Sometimes, that Tiny Human watches me and Swarley run around and she laughs. And I guess that's kind of nice. But I'm still mad.

So guess what? I'll pee on your floor. That'll show you.

TGI tuesday?

About 3 weeks ago, on Thursday, I couldn't believe it wasn't already Friday. About 2 weeks ago, on Wednesday, I couldn't believe it wasn't already Friday. Last week, on Tuesday, I couldn't believe it wasn't already Friday. Yesterday, I actually managed to channel my uber-nesting-energy into work, being extra productive and working from 7:30am-5:30pm, even though I was allowed to leave at 3:30 since I started early. This morning, I slept in until 9 am because I had an 11am doctor's appointment, got to work around noon and immediately had lunch. It's now 3pm, so I've been working for about 2 1/2 hours, and can't believe 1) I still have 2 hours until it's 5 pm 2) Tomorrow isn't Saturday. I even caught myself reading the Pregnancy Calendar post for week 38 (which I usually do on Fridays) in anticipation of my new pregnancy week. I had to remind myself that it's only day 2 of week 37. The moral of this story is that pregnant ladies get tired REALLY fast when they are 9 months pregnant, despite these monster energy bursts.

I had my now weekly doctor's appointment this morning. The waiting room misadventures were at a minimum today, except for one lady campaigning for her daughter to be voted Miss Teen Nevada (she was there for a postpartum visit, she had a baby girl with her named Hermione). My blood pressure went up from 118/80 to 130/90. This explains the slight sausagey appearance of my fingers, and the slight mooniness of my face. As long as my ankles and toes don't swell, I'm OK to stay pregnant (signs of preeclampsia would likely require an induction). My uterus actually didn't grow since last week's measurements, so the Doctor actually withdrew his prediction of a big baby. We'll find out next tuesday, when we do the birthweight ultrasound and my first dialation check. OH, and YES, I still have that darned UTI. I'll be taking Amoxicillin until I deliver.

I had another (slightly more severe) case of Nesting this weekend, where I once again took my energies out on poor Swarley. He was innocently shedding all over the carpet I had just vacuumed, so I took him out on the balcony and brushed him for about 30 minutes. When he kept on shedding, I switched to a comb. When that didn't work, I took him into the bathtub and washed him. I promptly took him back onto the balcony and brushed some more. Then, I decided to grab my blow-dryer, turn it to "cool", and blow out all of his extra hairs (probably all over our downstairs neighbor's balcony...). After this 3 hour process... I've got a lovely smelling, fluffy puppy... who continues to shed. But, I'm telling myself that this was not a useless saturday afternoon, because at least the hair he's shedding is now squeaky clean. Right?

This boy is going to miss doing this when the NEW baby comes!

One step closer

Yesterday, Brian and I completely rearranged our bedroom to accommodate the bassinet. Although the bassinet is pretty compact, the way our room had been arranged, the bassinet would have to be right next to the dog crate. Although I want to create as little separation between the dogs and the baby as possible, having her sleep directly next to the crate which they spend 8 hours per day in doing who knows what doesn't seem like the best idea. Even if I did clean it everyday, it would still be kinda gross. Brian surprisingly didn't have his usual reaction to my suggestion of him moving a bunch of furniture, so we got everything done all in one afternoon. Since he basically had to move all the furniture himself, I built the bassinet (mostly) which was quite the ordeal. You try putting something together with a watermelon strapped to your abdomen. The bassinet now has a spot directly next to me on the bed, with room directly next to Brian if we ended up doing a combination of formula and breastmilk. The dog crate is in the opposite corner of the room, but not so far that they would feel like castaways. The diaper changing pad is set up on half of Brian's dresser, with some boxes ready for baby diaper changing products, which I have yet to purchase.

Swarley is pretty averse to change, so I feel like the best thing to do to keep him sane once the baby comes in is to make all the furniture rearrangements and additions at least a few weeks before she comes home from the hospital. The goal is for Swarley not to associate the baby's arrival with his crate/bed/food bowl etc being moved. I think the biggest obstacle we are going to have to face as far as baby furniture is the baby swing. He doesn't generally like machines that move or make noise, like the vaccuum, blinds that get blown by the wind, or the washing machine. The baby swing both swings AND plays music. Plus, it has a a mini mobile with little stuffed sheep, which you know he's going to think are toys for him. I am planning on putting up the swing this weekend, and we'll see what the reaction is. I am guessing it will be vaguely reminiscent of his reaction to the Christmas Knitting Granny in a Rocking Chair. I'll be sure to have my iPhone set to video. Chloe, I am guessing, couldn't care less as long as her food comes at the same time everyday.

Lastly, here is the Easter Bunny that I made for Tyler. It turned out much nicer than the Teddy Bear. My newest project: baby leg warmers and a cardigan!

Here it is before its big trip to Chicago

And here it is arrived safely and in the arms of its owner!

Rounding down to 2 months

According to one of my favorite pregnancy guides, I can round my answer down to 2 months whenever anyone asks how much longer I have to go. Although it is somewhat relieving, it's still pretty deceptive. I regularly read 5 different guides (combination of online form, book form, and iPhone app form) and today (officially week 31), I found myself hoping that one of these guides would say something different, mainly, "It's time to give birth now!". But, no dice. Still 9 weeks until the due date, 5 weeks until full-term.

On a more positive note, the weather seems to have taken a turn for the WARM. Forcast for the week mid-70s to start, mid-80s to end. If the mid-80s keep up, maybe the pool will be warm enough for a swim by the first week of April!

We had a lovely weekend. On Friday, we went to see Limitless at the Red Rock theatre. It was pretty good, certainly very entertaining. Saturday, my friend from high school, Toni and her girlfriend J were in town, so we had a lovely afternoon of hanging out, an evening on the strip, ending with an awesome dinner at a Tapas restaurant in our neighborhood. I am thrilled to have found something decent to eat in our neighborhood. Even though we still haven't found a decent Mexican place, Tapas is certainly a good substitute for now. Too bad I didn't get to try the Sangria! Sunday was the perfect weekend day. After an excellent breakfast at EggWorks (also in our neighborhood! score!), saw Toni and J off, and brought Chloe and Swarley to a dog park in Summerlin. Although there was no water for Swarley, there were plenty of dogs for him to chase. Chloe had a lovely time sniffing rocks and eating grass. After Swarley exhausted himself a bit too quickly, we realized that Swarley needs more exercise than the zooming around the apartment he's done all winter. Good dog owner fail. We promised to bring him to this park more often, we will not allow pregnancy (or later, the baby) to be a valid excuse anymore. We have a baby bjorn-type carrier, that's what they're for!

Random Vegas Thoughts

I'm here:

For the week. (That's the New York, New York in Las Vegas, for anyone who might be confused) I arrived this morning to work on the company's new Employee Handbook, and other issues. This may sound like a silly reason to plan a trip, but it's actually a bigger job than it sounds. Also, we jumped at the chance to have a scouting out trip, before our big move date.

Brian will be joining me on Thursday night, and we'll spend half of friday (I do have to work, after all) and all of saturday looking for an apartment. We've decided (almost) to go with a two bedroom, to save the extra $200/month for a 3rd room that would only come in handy 3-4 times a year. We are checking out some condo rentals, but we'll also take a look at some of the full-service apartment complexes they have out here. They are a little more expensive ($50), but come with a pool, gym, dog run type things, a playground (I like swings), and a full maintenance team. I think it will be worth the extra money, but I want to keep my options open.

The weather is gorgeous. It was 84 degrees today, but it felt nothing like the Chicago equivalent of 84 degrees, aka hot and muggy. It's supposed to be this way for the rest of the week, which means this little city should make a good impression on Brian.

The Chicago condo has not yet had any interested visitors. The realtor has not yet scheduled the professional photographer to come in. Maybe once that happens, it will get a few more bites. We did repaint the bathroom though, at the realtor's request. I guess it has more mass appeal than the purple that it was before.

Yesterday was labor day. This was the first time that we were over at Brian's family's house since we told them the big moving news. Everyone was very supportive, and seem to be excited about the prospective visits. Brian's nephew is getting cuter every time we see them. He turns one year old next month. He played in a box for most of the afternoon:

Anyway, we had a great time, and were happy to learn that everyone is already planning their visits to our soon-to-be home. But, I will miss this place:

Chicago Air and Water Show

This past weekend was the billionth annual Chicago Air and Water Show. According to Brian, who knows about these things, the CAWS is good, not great. Two years ago, we decided to skip out on the crowds of North avenue beach, where you can see the water show, and stick closer to our neighborhood and watch the water shower from the Belmont section of the lakefront. You still see all of the air show, so that's good enough for us.

This year, we thought it would be fun to invite some of the Caccamos down. Iryna has never been down to the lakefront, so it was a nice way to show her what her new city has to offer. Also, she really likes Tyler:

Tyler was not a big fan of the sonic booms some of the airplanes were making (probably not the most thought out portion of inviting the 8 month baby, but what can you do). Other than those few booms, he was, as usual, in excellent spirits.

Chloe and Swarley were happy to be out of the house for an afternoon. They were exhausted for the rest of the day. We only had to take them on a pee break before dinner!

It was a gorgeous day in Chicago, a nice change from most of the summer's weather, which has been hot, sticky and humid. I've found that after spending a week in the dry Nevada climate, despite the high temperatures, I much prefer it to the gross stickiness of Illinois. But, this week has been a nice change. It's been in the low 80s, with very little humidity. I can't wait for Chicago's fall, and I will make sure that Brian and I take advantage of (possibly) our last Chicago fall, the best season Illinois has to offer.

In parting, I leave you with an adorable picture of Brian and his nephew.