Happy Holidays!

I'm finally getting around to updating the blog... blame it on the holidays. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is ready for one last celebration in 2009.

We traveled to Baltimore to spend Christmas with my family. We had the pleasure of enjoying a White Christmas! It didn't snow on Christmas Day, but there was a ton of snow on the ground. It has been many years since I've had a white Christmas and Ian has never had a white Christmas. I think our Tour de Baltimore has been completed and I apologize for anyone we missed while we were in town. We visited with Dawn, the Pfeilers and other old friends. We spent Christmas Eve with my mom and her side of the family. We spent Christmas Day with my mom and her side of the family in the early afternoon and then with my dad and his side of the family later in the evening. We enjoyed spending time with both sides of the family, shared a lot of great food and laughed it up. Every time we visit and spend time with my family, I am reminded as to just how much I miss my family and living in Baltimore. We were supposed to bring the boys with us, but decided at the last minute to leave them at home. 

Unfortunately on Saturday I was a bit under the weather, so we really didn't do much that day. We bummed around my dad's house, watched some bowl games and took naps. Despite not feeling very well, it was a very relaxing day. We watched the Ravens game today, although I almost wish we didn't because it was a terrible game. The refs made some bad calls, the Ravens made some awful plays and the Ravens ended up losing. Oh well, the Ravens are still in the hunt for the wild card spot in the AFC playoffs, so at least they still have a chance. 

We leave tomorrow afternoon and will be back in Tampa and back to the real world. I really enjoyed having the past few days off from work and I can't wait for the next 3-day holiday weekend, which happens to be this weekend! We're in the process of making plans for New Year's Eve but I think we're going out this year. Obviously I will serve as designated driver, lucky me! 

As for the bun-in-the-oven... she is doing just fine and enjoyed all the delicious holiday food! I'm now 24 weeks and progressing as expected. The next OBGYN appointment is January 8th, but it's just a routine 4-week appointment; no ultrasound or anything fun. We did schedule a "boutique ultrasound" at Meet the Baby. I referred to it as a boutique U/S because it is conducted outside of the OBGYN's office, by a licensed U/S technician but it's just for fun. We're going to have a 30 minute 3D/4D on January 16th, when I'm 27 weeks. Hopefully she cooperates and allows us to confirm that she is, in fact, a she. 

That's all from the land of Ravens and Natty Boh! Oooh, which reminds me... I need to stock up on Tastykakes, Utz potato chips and Berger cookies before we leave. Yum! 

Love always,

Ian & Kim

P.S. We really miss our boys, Riley and Kaiser and cannot wait to see them tomorrow!

Merry Christmas... to me!

It's that time of year again, when we begin making plans for the upcoming holidays and begin our shopping. We're going up to Baltimore for Christmas this year, so the actual "gifts" will be scaled back due to us flying. We actually haven't started our shopping for others, but rather we have purchased a few gifts for each other. I know, it seems really selfish, but it's just how it happened!

I can't share with everyone what one of Ian's gifts will be, as he has not received it yet. He will be opening this gift early, which I am quite excited about. I'm terrible about buying presents for people because I want them to open it immediately so they can receive the instant gratification I received when purchasing the gift. Two years ago I ordered Ian a Wii for Christmas and it arrived about a month before Christmas. I couldn't wait to give it to him, so I made him open it the day it arrived. It's something I really need to work on, especially with a baby on the way.

I can share with everyone what Ian's gift was to me. As many of you know, our house was burglarized last May and thankfully the only thing that was stolen was my Macbook. All of my school work from graduate school, pictures from 2007-2009 and my master address book were all saved on that computer. I was devastated, however I was thankful that nothing else was taken and that no one was hurt. I have been wanting a new Macbook every since, however we decided not to file an insurance claim because the value of the computer was approximately the cost of the deductible. We purchased an HP laptop over the summer in hopes of replacing my beloved Macbook, but nonetheless, a non-Mac is not for me. Ian kept asking me, "What to you want for Christmas?" and I would jokingly reply, "A new Macbook." I knew it was selfish of me to request something so expensive, when our money could be better spent on preparing for the baby. Yesterday, Ian told me that he had been thinking and wanted to at least look at Macbooks. We priced the Apple Store and Best Buy, since now Best Buy is an authorized retailer of Macs. We went to look at Best Buy and were told there was an open box Macbook available. We decided to purchase the open box model, because it had never been used and still had the same warranty as an unopened model. Even better, the open box model was $100 less and came with Iworks (think Office by Apple). We brought the computer home and realized the software had not been installed, nor was it in the box, so we're going to go back to Best Buy to see if they can credit Ian for the price of Iworks. I'm hoping they'll be able to do so, which means we saved $179 on a brand new Macbook! Merry Christmas to me!!!

Today will be spent fantasy football stat tracking on the new Macbook and relaxing before the work week begins again tomorrow. I can't wait until the holidays because we'll both be taking time off from work and traveling up north to visit family and friends. It snowed in Baltimore yesterday, so I'm hoping it will be a white Christmas this year. That would be another wonderful gift!

That's about it from sunny Florida!

Love always,

Ian & Kim

It's a Girl!

For some reason I thought I had updated our blog in regard to our last OBGYN visit, but apparently not. I apologize for keeping everyone in suspense, but we've been busy with out of town guests and Thanksgiving! 

As you can see from the title of this entry, we are expecting a little baby girl. According to the ultrasound technician, there's a 90% certainty that our baby is a girl. She is still in the breach position and wasn't very cooperative the day of the ultrasound, but the U/S technician is fairly certain our baby is a girl. We have some U/S pictures, but they aren't very flattering to be quite honest. I've been contemplating scheduling a 3-D/4-D ultrasound at a place called Meet the Baby in hopes of obtaining some better U/S pictures. According to the U/S technician, she is developing as expected and appears to be in good health. We have an appointment this Friday with OBGYN as part of my routine prenatal care and to discuss the U/S. I have some questions about my due date because I've heard conflicting dates. At the first U/S we were told April 8th, then at the second U/S we were told April 20th and at our last U/S we were told April 17th. I keep telling myself that just as long as she is born healthy, she can stay in there for however long she would like. Personally, I would like to know for planning purposes what the doctor thinks the due date will be. Obviously the due date is not up to the doctor or me, but rather our little girl. If she's anything like Ian or myself, she will make her entrance into the world a few days sooner than expected, considering we both were born a few days before our due dates.

Sadly, we will be returning to work tomorrow, after a 5 day mini-vacation. We've both enjoyed our time at home and have completed many items on the to-do list. We spent time with family and friends, which is very important to me during the Thanksgiving holiday. Our house is decorated for the holidays and it's beginning to look, smell and feel like Christmas/Hannukah around our house. We put up the artificial Christmas tree this year because we won't be in town for the holidays. I'm a little disappointed that we don't have a real tree, but the tree looks great and we don't have to worry about watering it everyday. We leave for Baltimore in a little over three weeks and I'm really looking forward to this trip. We didn't go to Baltimore for Christmas last year and it just wasn't the same, so we decided to head up north this year for Christmas in Charm City! Kaiser and Riley will be joining us, which makes the trip extra special. Normally we fly Airtran because they allow small dogs to fly in a pet carrier, under the seat, but we've decided to try Southwest. Southwest now allows small dogs to fly in the cabin, like Airtran, so the boys will have their first flight on Southwest. It's going to be a great Christmas!

Well, that's it for now... enjoy the rest of today and GO RAVENS!!!

Love always,

Ian & Kim

It's a... ???

This morning, as I sit here and type, I feeling a wide array of emotions. I'm excited, anxious, nervous, happy, thankful and probably 10 other emotions. Why am I feeling this way? Today, at 3:00pm will be our 20 week ultrasound!!! Hopefully by 4:00pm today, we will know the gender of the newest member of our family! 

Let me also set the record straight by saying that I'm not nervous and anxious because I want a boy versus a girl, or vice versa. I'm nervous because the anatomy ultrasound will allow the OBGYN to look for any abnormalities. We have no reason to believe that anything could be wrong, but the thought still crosses our minds. Thus far the ultrasounds and fetal doppler readings have been normal, it's just the anticipation of seeing our baby! We haven't had an ultrasound since September, so we're anxious to see the baby and how he/she has grown since about 8 weeks ago. 

As for gender... we don't have a preference. We're just excited to be having a baby and we'll take a healthy boy or a healthy girl. I've heard that some women have intuition as to what their baby's gender was, but I haven't experienced the same feeling. I'm really going to be surprised today and I'm really looking forward to finding out. Ian has been looking forward to finding out the gender since learning that I was pregnant. The first question he ever asked the OBGYN was regarding when we could find out the gender. 

That's all for now folks... I'll post the big gender reveal this afternoon! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and please provide us with plenty of well wishes today!

Love always,

Ian & Kim

Give Thanks

"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little. And if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick. And if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." - Buddha

I would like to take the time to express my gratitude for everything and everyone in our lives. I believe that we often lose sight of what is truly in important in our lives and get caught up in the daily routine of life. We often forget to stop, reflect and say thank you for all that we have been blessed with. It's important to be thankful for things; both great and small. In November, we often sit around the table with family and friends and say what we are thankful for... but how many of us give thanks all year long? 

Thanksgiving is approaching, so be sure to give extra thanks for all that you have! Just some food for thought...

Love always,

Ian & Kim

Monday Night Football

The Ravens will be playing the Browns on MNF tonight and I couldn't be happier! I haven't been able to watch very many Ravens games this season, as CBS and Fox have chosen not to air many games. Unfortunately, the game does not start until 8:30pm and I will probably be asleep before the second half begins. In any event, I will watch as much of the game as possible and hopefully Ian is DVR'ing the game at home.

I am hoping that the Ravens win tonight and that Ray Rice has a stellar game. I want my Ravens to be 5-4 and continue with the wins. They have a tough game next Sunday against the Colts, but hopefully they can pull a win out of that game, too. I need Ray Rice to have a great game and get some serious yardage and a few touchdowns, as he is on my fantasy football team. GO RAVENS!!!

Ian is back home with the hounds all week, as I am in Tallahassee all week for training. Hopefully the house is as clean and orderly as I left it this morning, upon my return. My mom arrives Thursday evening... yay!!! The next two weeks are busy, but I'm looking forward to a little "vacation" in Tallahassee and some time off for Thanksgiving next week.

That's all from the land of the Seminoles... Haha, Ian will love that comment... or not!

Love always,
Ian & Kim

Fall is Finally Here!

After many weeks of above average temperatures in Florida, we are finally experiencing fall-like weather! I am quite relieved because I honestly didn't know how I was going to survive Thanksgiving with 90 degree weather. It's Florida, so obviously the weather is expected to be warm, but 90+ degree weather in October was ridiculous. Yesterday was a beautiful day and today looks like it is going to be another beautiful day.

Today we will be traveling to Ellenton to do a little shopping at the outlets. I'm hoping to pick up a few Christmas presents, some maternity clothes and perhaps something for the little one. As of now, we haven't really bought anything for the baby, unless you count the storage/organizers we've purchased to assist us in better organizing the garage. With the exception of the two closets in the master bedroom, I want the three remaining bedroom closets to be EMPTY! The goal is to have this accomplished by the end of the year, maybe sooner. I know that additional shopping may hinder the process, but oh well!

Tomorrow we will be cleaning and taking care of other household chores that need to be finished. While we were at Home Depot last night, we also purchased a new lighting fixture for above the kitchen table. We still have the builder fixture and I have never cared for the fixture. I'm hoping we can quickly and easily change out the old fixture tomorrow, too. We'll be having house guests this week, as my mom and her friend, Harlene, will be coming down to visit with us for a few days. They arrive Thursday evening and leave on Monday. I'm excited to see my mom and Harlene and hope this weekend is as fun as I'm anticipating.

Oh! I forgot to update the results of Doxapalooza 2009! Kaiser is the 2009 Doxapalooza Kissing Contest Champion and Riley is the 2009 Doxapalooza Senior Wiener Race Champion. Kaiser won his event with over 100 licks and Riley out ran 4 other senior wieners. I have a few pictures that I will post, once I figure out how to post pictures. It was a fun day and the boys enjoyed being around all the other Dachshunds.

Well, I'd better get going and head down to the outlets. Happy Saturday everyone!

Love always,

Ian & Kim

Doxapalooza 2009

Today is one of our favorite fundraisers... DOXAPALOOZA! The Dachshund rescue organization, D.A.R.E. hosts this event every year as a way to raise awareness, educate people and adopt out Dachshunds. Check out their website: www.daretorescue.com 

We adopted Riley from D.A.R.E. and love supporting this organization. Here's the story of Riley... Riley was living with a family in Pinellas County, FL and one day the family decided that their child was allergic to Riley (yea riiiiight). Rather than placing an ad in the paper or finding a good home for Riley, the dropped him off at the Pinellas County Animal Services Center in Largo, FL. While at the animal shelter it was discovered that Riley DID NOT like being in a crate. He would bark for hours and was an unpleasant and unhappy dog. Due to his dislike of being crated, his constant barking and dislike of the staff at the animal shelter, he was scheduled to be put down. Fortunately, D.A.R.E. intervened, rescued him from the shelter and placed him in a foster home in Wesley Chapel, FL. We brought Kaiser home in April 2007 and by September he was in desperate need of a friend. I did some research and found D.A.R.E and fell in LOVE with a scrawny, long Red Dachshund, whom they had named Riley. We met Riley in early September and after extensive background checks and a home visit, we were approved to adopt Riley. He has adjusted so well and is one of the happiest dogs I know. He loves being near us, sleeps in bed with us and follows us around the house. While he still doesn't enjoy being crated, he is tolerant of the crate. We still can't believe he was going to be put down... but we're so happy Riley joined our family. And as for his relationship with Kaiser? You would think they were born from the same litter because they absolutely adore one another and hate being away from each other. 

The event is hosted at a local dog park and literally has hundreds of Dachshunds running around. It's the funniest thing because the Dachshunds are of all shapes, sizes, colors and ages, but they're all "a half-a-dog high and a dog-and-a-half long." Last year we participated in a live auction and purchased the ramp that allows Kaiser and Riley to get on and off of the bed. In case you didn't know, Dachshunds are notorious for having bad backs... it's because of their long and narrow bodies. Jumping off couches, beds and even running up and down the stairs takes a toll on their backs. The ramp is designed so that the dogs put minimal stress on their bodies from taking the great leap. Unfortunately, Kaiser is the only one who understands the concept of using the ramp to get up and to get down. Riley enjoys leaping off the bed and doesn't quite understand the use of the ramp for getting down. 

Kaiser and Riley are very excited to see their fellow Dachshunds and will be participating in two of the main events: the kissing contest and the Dachshund Dash. Kaiser LOVES to give people kisses, so he will be our contestant for the kissing contest and Ian will be the recipient. Riley loves to run, especially for treats and if his mommy is calling him, so he will be competing in the Dachshund Dash and I will be coaching him. 

Today is going to be a lot of fun and I will be sure to post pictures from today's festivities. 

Love always,

Ian & Kim

Welcome to Our Blog!

After careful consideration, I have decided to create a blog to assist us in keeping up with the story of us. I have attempted to blog in the past and have failed miserably. I often forget about writing updates or simply forget my log-in information. My intentions are to update this blog on at least a weekly basis, but we'll see how successful I am at updating. I'm also hoping that Ian will participate in blogging.  

Our lives have merged into one. We are married and creating a life together. Of course we’re still two independent people, it’s just that now we have a common purpose. Although we’ve only been married for a little over a year, it seems like longer. I think back to our lives two years ago and we were such different people. Back then, we went out all the time, spent the majority of our weekends at bars and spent a lot of money on useless things. Now, we live in the suburbs, spend a lot of time at home and have become quite frugal. I’m happy with how we’ve changed because I feel like we’ve changed for the better. Here’s to hoping that we continue on the right path…

Speaking of changes… we’re expecting our first child! We are thrilled and cannot wait to meet this little one. I’m about 18 weeks along and I honestly cannot complain about the pregnancy thus far. The constant nausea plagues me throughout the week, but I’ve learned to cope with it. I’m still fairly early in my pregnancy, so I’m hoping the next 22 weeks are as good as the past 18 weeks. We find out on 11/20/09 if we’ll have a little boy or a little girl. Ian seems to think that we’re having a boy and I think that we’re having a girl. We’re excited to find out what we’re having and I’m excited to finally go shopping!

Well, there you have it folks… our first blog entry! Like I mentioned before, I’m going to attempt to keep up with this blog so that friends near and far can know what’s going on with the Lashers.

Love always,

Ian & Kim