Why I am taking more baths

TJs pediatrician has asked us to introduce rice cereal in an attempt to thicken his food due to his reflux. So far it has only succeeded in thickening his bath water.

How to Give a Dog a Bath When The Dog Doesn't Like Baths

You will need:

• One large dirty dog
• Dog shampoo
• Large cup or mug
  
• Peanut butter
  
• Spatula
  
• Large towel
• Bath tub

Begin by filling the bath tub with 4-5 inches of warm water. Once the tub has enough water, use the spatula to spread the peanut butter on the walls of the tub. The peanut butter should be slightly higher than the level of the dog's nose. Use the spatula to entice the dog into the bath. Once the dog is happily eating, use the cup to pour water over the dog until all the fur is wet. Apply shampoo. Lather. Rinse, using the cup again.
Once the peanut butter is gone, the dog will loose interest and exit the tub. The idea is to time the bath such that the clean dog coincides with a clean shower wall.


Use the towel to dry the dog.

beaUTAHful

This past weekend, Rob attended a medical course in Salt Lake City. Being unable to pass up the opportunity to see friends and family--all while staying in a swanky hotel--TJ and I snuck into his suitcases... Okay, we didn't really hide in the baggage. Even though TJ would fit, I doubt he'd much enjoy the ride.
We kept busy while Rob was at his lectures. TJ and I made the rounds, and visited alot of family. It was great to catch up and see everybody.
Once Rob was done, we took advantage of the hotel's pool, met up with some friends, and watched TJ cautiously splash about.

After working up an appetite in the pool, we joined some friends in cooking--and then eating-- a fabulous Thai dinner.


We then drove to Provo to surprise Rob's grandpa Compton. He had not yet met TJ. This is a picture of his face as he came around the corner and saw Rob standing in Katie's kitchen.
TJ had a good talk with his great-grandpa-- although the conversation did tend to be a little one-sided. I'll let you guess who did most of the talking.



TJ was even nice enough to let his Aunt Katie tend him while Rob and I went skiing. We had a great time, but were relieved to lay TJ down in his own crib last night-- albeit LATE last night. He tolerated the severe disruptions to his schedule like a rock star. We kept him out partying (ooo, here I go admitting to what a bad mom I am) until almost midnight on multiple occasions, and he only had one melt-down the entire trip. He did choose to have said melt-down in the Patagonia Outlet, but I think Rob is secretly thankful for this as my shopping spree was brought to an abrupt halt and probably saved at least a couple hundred dollars.

This morning as I checked Chasqui out the kennel I think I heard an audible sigh of relief. Now we just have to get him to forgive us: Chasqui has spent 23 of the last 35 days at the kennel. He is not impressed. And thus our travelling streak comes to an end. Utah was TJ's 7th state (he's not yet 4 months old!), last night he was on his 15th airplane, and his mother feels 5 years older than she did at the beginning of December.

We are happy to be home for a while.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Returns

So a few days ago, I got a letter from Avis car rental. I dropped it on my kitchen counter, didn't open it for a few days, didn't think much of it.
Yeah, it's an accident form, wanting details of how the damage to our rental car occurred. I called Avis, really confused, because there was no accident. The accented, bored and entirely unhelpful, somewhat rude phone attendant (who in all fairness has no reason to be all that excited about her job and probably makes minimum wage) told me just to fill out the blanks on the form. When I told her that there had been no accident, she said "just note that on the form, and we'll take it into consideration during our investigation".
Avis is claiming that there is damage to the front hood and bumper. Seeing how the rental car spent the weekend parked facing in at the Houston Plaza Hilton parking garage (yeah, remember the part of the story where I thought I had locked myself out of the car because I had forgotten I told Rob to drop them at the front desk? Hence I sat in a hotel lobby frantically calling locksmiths instead of perusing the Galleria Mall as planned-- I'm still crying in my rootbeer about this), I'm more than a little confused about how that could happen.
I can't help but wonder how long this trip to Houston is going to haunt us...

Christmas pics with TJ

All too often, there is no reason at all for a picture... other than that he is SO CUTE!!!

Check out our little Dino baby, comlete with stegosaurus spines on his hat.

We spent our Christmas holiday in Idaho with Mel's side of the family. TJ was a big hit with his Uncle Matt.


TJ spent some real time in deep conversation with his Grandpa Summers

We took the opportunity of being around so much family and blessed him in Grandma Summers' Ward.


Christmas Eve dinner.

Ever since Mel's dad grew his beard out, he's been getting comments that he looks like Santa Claus. Here are the two Santas, chillin' out.