The Arterburys: June 2011

This weekend we did some new things that got Lydia out of the house and moving around. She experienced City Center and the live band that plays there after dinner at Ruggles Green.

Here she is at City Center watching everything with Grandpa, Nana and Daddy:

We tried out the playhouse in the Galleria. (Lydia and I went with our neighbors on Friday and wanted to take Daddy back to show him how much fun it was). It is a little mock of the galleria and surrounding buildings with mazes and games and the best part is everything is soft and padded! It was a lot of fun seeing her interact with other unknown kids running around, dancing and entertaining...plus she was everywhere! It was hard taking focused pictures with my phone when she moves around so quickly.

She climbed up the slide...

Climbed over to me trying to take a focused picture...

Climbed up the stairs and was crawling around the top...Blair had to hold her back and slow her down.

She loved banging on the top of "little Neiman Marcus".

And climbed up the slide again at "little Saks Fifth Avenue".

I know this is long, but bear with me...I really wanted to dedicate this blog post to Harley. She was once my saving grace and everything wonderful in my life happened after I got her.

Most know the background of Harley. She was at the pound for a while and at an animal rescue center (Zeke Fund: Animal Rescue) for 2 years until I got her. I really wanted a dog and Mary and Brendan got Harley for me as an early Christmas present (2006). I had been researching dogs and breeds for months before we all went to see some of them during Thanksgiving. She was so pretty and very docile; I was drawn towards her immediately. Come to find out, she was the only one that was potty-trained and kennel-trained…yes! The people with Zeke were so sweet and so excited that I choose her and some were even sad to see her go. Over the next couple of months, we were definitely bonding and her personality started to come out. We really took heart to each other and she helped me to concentrate and study for my PHR exam. She was there for me through a lot.

This was all before Blair and I ran into each other and reconnected. We joke around a lot that Harley was just waiting for me to find her a good Daddy. So when Blair came over for the first time, I was a little nervous because if Harley didn’t like the guy, then I just didn't see it working out. But they totally hit it off! She truly fell in love with Blair (right along with me). And she totally had him wrapped around her little paw too. She knows what to do to get what she wants from Blair, just like from me.

Harley is truly an amazing dog and I don’t know what I would’ve done without her. She makes us laugh so often and brings so much joy to our lives. We love her so much. She’s so lazy and she really is dependent (which are both great qualities in our eyes). We probably pay more attention to her for our own benefit than from hers as she doesn’t seem to mind being by herself. She has amazing characteristics: like her soft mumbles instead of barks, her amazing tricks of getting what she wants off the counter tops without moving anything else nearby, the way she loves to sit in your lap when you sit next to her, how one good tennis ball can be her toy for weeks, how she knows if you had a bad day or if you aren’t feeling well. Dogs really do have great senses for everything going on around them.

When I was pregnant, she was a little slower with me on the walks (only when I held her leash though) and she was attentive to where I am was the house and will just come find me and sit at my feet. Bringing in a new human addition to her world has been fun to watch. She watched us put together the nursery and she would just sit at the door and observe it all. The day I went to get induced, I think she knew what was going on. She saw us getting up early in the morning, packing our bags - she followed us around the house until we left. Harley was very calm as I believe she could tell we were both very nervous and anxious.

Then we came home with Lydia, we met Harley outside to introduce the new addition to our family. She didn’t really take too much of her then. Now Harley waits outside her door and sometimes (not to our liking) will bump her door to open it when Lydia is sleeping so she can be with her. She also whines at the door a little when Lydia is crying and seems pretty protective. In the mornings, Harley gets so excited when we open up the door to the nursery and comes in after us and finds her spot on the floor to watch us get Lydia ready for the day. She also loves helping us put her to bed, which could be because she knows she gets a carrot treat afterwards.

Now that Lydia is eating solids, Harley is right there waiting for her to drop something and licks her hands and face whenever she gets the chance…though we don’t like that part. Harley is very attentive towards Lydia and watches out for her. Everyone said we would want to get rid of our dog once we have a baby, but it’s totally opposite. I think having Harley there has been the best thing for us as we have experienced the growing pains into parenthood. She’s extremely therapeutic and observant of how we are feeling.

Lydia thinks the world of Harley and when we both go in her room to wake her up, Lydia looks at me and smiles and looks at Harley and starts laughing. She’ll crawl over to Harley and climb on top of her or play with her collar/tags and Harley will just sit there and moves slowly when she’s ready. I think they are going to be great friends and probably culprits in crime.

Sure there have been times when Harley tests our patience. She likes to eat anything that is edible that we leave out on our counters after we walk out the door, she gets into the trash, she takes Lydia’s toys just to show us she can, she is very stubborn when walking on a leash, she has gotten into Lydia’s formula twice, I can’t count the number of times we’ve had to clean the carpet when she comes in with muddy paws and she’s completely oblivious to how much she weighs when she gets excited and throws her body around like a bull.

Even with all this, I can honestly say Harley has been a true blessing to us all. I thank God every day that she was brought into my life and that she has grown with me with the addition of a husband and a baby. We love her so much and are so grateful for her in our lives. She, beyond doubt, has been the best thing for me in all aspects. I know Blair and Lydia agree with me when I say we don’t know what we would do without her, having her in our family is priceless.

Here she is the week I brought her home, November 2006