Even Bigger Belly

She's seriously getting bigger every day.  Big.ol'.belly.  Real big.  Like BIGbig.  Just when you think she can't get any bigger...she does. 


Let's not forget she still has almost 2 weeks to go. !!  We have an appointment for x-rays to find out just how many she has in there, on the 7th.  (If she doesn't pop before then, that is).

I took these last night as we crawled into bed.

"um, could you please turn off the flash...iz too bright"

 Belly!!

 Not Ethiopian any more!!

 Sweetest.Fillie.Ever.

Hauling a bellyful of babies around all day must be exhausting.  She sure does crash, and sleep soundly.

Love, love, love those white eyelashes on that black eyeliner of hers.  And those naughty spots that keep creepin' up all over her face and arms as she matures.  Adore this dog with all I have.

Sunday Funday

A week ago today, we took the pups on a horse trail along Lake Lavon.  It's taken me a week to post these because I had to somehow clean them up a little.  Click through and you'll understand.  

(Remember you can click on any image in this entry to see a larger version)

Puppies aren't gonna slow her down -- she can still get up and GO!!

Still always makin' it to the front!!  Srsly -- fastest dog I've ever seen.  

Even when she's barefoot & pregnant.

Still pretty as ever -- even sopping wet and chunky as can be.

Still intense

Still holdin' that one paw up in anticipation <3

 Still wanting to DIVE into the water

 Even if she doesn't have a dock to jump off of...

 ...she can still levitate out of the water and put on a good show!

 Nothing can hold a good Bean down!

& now...

I present to you  THE DIRTIEST DOG TO EVER LIVE:

So while the other dogs were racing around the lake, and frolicking in the fields...

 Neo spent the entire trip to the lake...

 Trying to hike this huge boat bumper between his legs.

 He made some seriously nasty mud pits in the process!

 Look at the size of that thing -- and he wouldn't leave it behind!

 He was very proud of his find.

 Sometimes he'd hike it into the water and get halfway clean.

 Being clean was unacceptable, though, so he had to re-PigPen himself ASAP.

 That mud was flyin' high!

 He had a lot to say about the situation as well.
"The bumper and I are WAY too clean -- where did all the mud go??"

"Come here, little pretty...."

I apologize in advance to any puppy owners whose pups inherit this PigPen gene.  It's something the likes of which I've never before witnessed.  Neo's propensity to cover himself head-to-toe in mud is nearly beyond comprehension.  You just have to see it to believe it!

As an aside, he sure does make a lovely matching bookend to my porpoise-like Fil'!!

So while they may be covered in mud...these pups will be able to FLY!

"You know, some people pay good money for such an all-over mud treatment.  It's good for the pores."

"I'm handsome anyway, you leave my mud addiction alone!!"

& that's that, folks :)

Fillie the Fattie

Josie wants to know "Where are the babies??"

Fillie's food intake for the day:

1 extra large, extra meaty rib bone

1lb cooked catfish fillet

1lb ground beef

1lb fresh green tripe

3+lb of food a day -- really, fatty??!!  She ate a few licks of yogurt, too, but she wasn't totally into it so the elder BC's got a little extra (they are enjoying her odd eating habits!!).  Speaking of odd eating habits -- today was the first day she has *ever* voluntarily eaten fish.  Of any kind.  She doesn't want a salmon treat, salmon oil in her food, fresh catfish just out of the lake...none of it.  A few days ago Jeff purchased a few pounds of "catfish nuggets", complete with silver skin and all, and none of the dogs (even Ivie -- wtf??!!) wanted to eat the fish raw.  So I cooked the remainder up last night and chilled it for a day.  I brought it out to feed to Ivie and Josie tonight and Fillie was drooling at my feet (what??).  I figured one sniff and she'd be gone, but she chowed it right down!  Must be like that pickle/ice cream phenomena in women.  

I figure I'll get her to eat as much fish as I can while she's with puppy, though, so maybe it'll carry over.  She's been eating about a pound of fresh tripe a day, and she's so funny about it.  You've never met a dog who could take longer to eat some ground up green mush!!  She picks it apart, leaves microscopic bits behind for her sisters...and doG forbid a piece of nature gets attached to her food -- she makes the most ridiculous faces and tongue gestures trying to rid her food of the intruding organic material.  Seriously, this dog is *special* in every sense of the word -- & I love her so much my heart just might burst if I loved her any more!!

Silly Fillie.  I'm just going to faint if she has like 10 or something.  Not like I've ever had a litter before, but with over 2 weeks to go, I wouldn't think she would be THIS BIG.  For a finicky eater and everyday-Ethiopian pre-pregnancy, she sure has turned a corner!

I've been swimming her this past week, since it's been nice and warm here.  The water's warm, too, so no Beanie-cicles ;-)  We went on a nice trail hike/swim in the early afternoon on Sunday.  We were all super tired of garage sale-ing, and with the crowds so much smaller on Sunday, we just closed up shop early, threw everything leftover on the curb, and took the dogs for a romp.  Much more fun than sitting around haggling prices with folks that ought to take a few ESL classes.

Fillie looks like the typical woman, completely irritated by her man's ridiculous behaviour.  

CLASSIC.

(& yes, that is Neo -- aka PigPen -- barking behind Beans)

Big Belly!

Ok, ok...so maybe "big" is relative.  It's certainly big for my StringBean, and it's only gonna get bigger!

(I think she got a little razor burn from the clipping she got at the vet before her ultrasound yesterday but that'll be all better in no time, no doubt)

BeanieBabies in the oven!!

Due date something like the 12th of March.
*gah*
So excited!!

1st Puppy PHOTOS!!

I took FillerBeans in for an ultrasound this afternoon and as soon as Dr. Esmond put his hands on her abdomen to palpate he said "well she's definitely pregnant".  I did a little 2-footed-hippy-hop Happy Dance in my head to celebrate.  I felt like I could see all the little signs at home in our every day life but having confirmation was such a big weight off my shoulders.  & my dog's not actually crazy.

Nor is she actually a raving bitch.

& she doesn't have some bladder disorder that makes her pee one MILLION times a day.

Nor is she getting "clingy", just extra cuddly, which is normal.

*PHEW*

So all my radar beacons going *dingdingding* really did mean what I thought they meant.  & I really do know my dog as well as I thought I did.  & those "velvety nipples"?  Really were velvety ;-)

TWO PUPPIES right up there at the top -- see 'em??

Here's one little Beanie Baby...

...and another...

...and then the machine ran out of paper.  WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!  :'(

But that's okay because I got to see their itty bitty little hearts beating.  *ah*  So precious!  I realize that this is what most normal folks feel when they see their child's heartbeat for the first time, really, I do understand, but ... I don't want a kid, I want BeanieBabies, and I'm SO excited about this!!  And seeing their little heartbeats was nothing short of amazing.  Made me all teary-eyed!  I'm sure the vet techs in there with me were like "dude, it's just puppies, we see this shit every day..."

But Fillie is so much more to me than "just a dog", so her puppies are of course so much more to me than "just a litter".  She will have amazing offspring, and she will continue to amaze me with her presence every single day.  If it were possible to have 2 heart dogs at once, I'd say that's what I have.  It's as if she and Josie have combined themselves to form the perfect compliment to me.  I can't imagine life without either of them, and both for different reasons.  Josie because she helps me out, Fillie because she breaks things that I have to fix.  Josie because she's my rock, she watches over me, and is always there when I need her, Fillie because she needs me to cuddle with her and be still with her and play with her.  Josie because she KNOWS me and I know her, Fillie because we're always figuring each other out and appreciating each other more with everything we learn.  Josie because she knows when to be loud and when to be quite, and Fillie because being "loud&proud" is all she knows how to be.  They are both amazing animals and my life wouldn't be half as fulfilling as it is, without them.  Josie brought me joy through hard times and held my hand through Jeff's deployment and all the tears that brought.  Fillie is the reason I met Jeff, and her antics took my tears away and turned them into laughter.  I adore these smoothies, and it means so much to me that they mean so much to each other.  They are the best of friends, and even though puppies scare the begeesus out of Josie, I know she'll be a great AuntieJo ;-)

Ah...bestill my heart.

Puppy Video!!

OMG, I ran across this itty bitty Felicity video and just had to share!!  How friggin' CUTE is she??!!

First Fillie Film!!

So "Fillie"

Inspired by my friend's video of her dog stacking rings recently, I decided it would be a good idea to teach this to a couple of my girls while we're all iced in.


So I start with Fil'.  
Center piece in front of me, blue ring nearby.
She puts her nose on the top of the yellow center piece.
<click>treat
She touches her mouth to the blue ring.
<click>treat
Next thing I know she has the yellow thing near her rear legs and she's lifting her right rear leg...like...well...like this:

Let me add that we have never, not once, worked on any sort of lift-one-rear-leg trick, or anything similar.  She...she came up with that all on her own.  I *so* wish I had been filming (silly me left the camera up at DogCity, dangit!) because it was seriously priceless and totally Fillie!  This dog has more unique way of approaching this world than anything I've ever seen.  She never ceases to surprise and amaze me, and make me laugh full belly laughs!

If  her puppies have half of her uniqueness they'll be oozing personality on day1!

Here's to hoping for a good report from the ultrasound on Monday (appointment's at 4:30p)!!

Waiting...

Not much news here, but I've been prodded for updates a few times lately, so here's one!!  :o)

I found a ton of Beanie Baby toys at the store and bought a whole bunch of cute bears to send with the puppies to their new homes (and to take photos of them with, of course!).  So that's exciting. 

Lindsey bought the puppies a Little Tykes playground thingie for the special puppy yard on the side of our *new house* we're moving into all this month.  The pups will have their own little yard so they don't get stepped on by bigger dogs on potty breaks and what-not.  And it'll stay safe and clean and free from any "roaming" germs the big dogs might pick up on their hikes.  Speaking of hikes, besides playing ball at DogCity, hiking's about the only thing the Beanie Momma's been up to.  Lots of fun times at the park, swimmings, jumpings, running, racings...posing for photos of course!

Of course, Fillie has also been a *big* help with the projects at the new house!!

Apparently I'll be able to get an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy early next week.  Will schedule that ASAP and of course try to get some photos to share.  Susie said her nipples would feel "velvety" if she was with puppy.  And while I don't really have any idea how velvety or otherwise they normally feel, they do seem to have stayed a bit larger than normal and do feel rather velvety to me :-P  Have I mentioned how hungry she is?  That's totally out of the realm of even-close-to-normal for Fillie.  She's like the daintiest, pickiest eater ever.  She chews everything so meticulously it's ridiculous.  When she eats kibble she chews every.single.piece.  Twice.  She's gotten faster at raw, and instead of just giving up her bowl to anyone that walks by and looks hungry, she stands her ground nowadays!  She's right there with me every time I venture into the kitchen and does spins when I get the dog bowls out -- WHAT??  This is for sure a new thing in the past few weeks.  Girl is HUNGRY.  It's the only personality change (besides being slightly bitchier to dogs at "her agility center") I've noticed but it's definitely a noticeable difference. !!

I did hear a bit of bad news this week, though.  I had an amazing home picked for one of the puppies.  Great dog parent, amazing life for the dogs...lots of hiking, unconditional love, and a house that would love and cherish the dog for what he/she is, no matter what.  The puppy would be one of three in the home, and would have all the luxuries in life a dog could desire, I feel certain of it.  Yet because of some hurtful gossip in the agility world, evil things were said to this person, about this person, and she doesn't feel right about having a puppy right now.  What a sad day when the cruel words of others make amazing people question themselves.  I can only hope that the time between now and puppy-to-new-home time comes the sting of those words subsides and the possibility reopens.  Here's to hoping. 


Let's all just sit around the fireplace, drink some hot chocolate (perhaps with a little whipped vodka in it!) and get along, pleasethanks. !!