Boone update :)

Boone is officially 2 months old today! He went to the vet on Tuesday for his 9-way shots and some other medicine. He weighs 15 1/2 pounds now! That's a 3 pound weight gain in a week ha! His tummy has gotten regular and he only has one more day of antibiotics. They gave us this flea, tick, and heartworm drops to put on the back of his neck. It was cool because I've never seen heartworm medicine not in pill form. The medicine also came with this awesome ID tag. You go to this website, getmehome.com, register your dog, and put this little tag on their collar that has an ID number on it. If he gets lost, God forbid, whoever finds him can go to this website and type in the ID number and it will pop up his information! :) We are still having issues with peeing in the house, however, he hates to poop inside so that's great! I worked nights this week and I was really nervous about how he would handle it. After the first night was a little rough. I realized real quick that I need to have a system down. For instance, I get home, let him out, put him back in his crate with his breakfast and his water while I take a shower, and then take him out again and play with him for a good hour before going to bed. Today was much smoother! He also LOVES his crate. He will crawl in there and go to sleep on his own. The vet tech was amazed because she had another puppy in the other room that was 4 months and HATED his crate. Bottom line, my dog is awesome :) The biggest thing Boone is having a problem with is walking on his leash. He absolutely hates it. I have been reading The Dog Whisperer's blog about training them on a leash. The tips have really helped. That guy really is a dog whisperer ha. For instance, I brought the leash out and just put it on him and let him run outside. At first, he was trying to run away from it, which was hilarious. Then after a while, he almost forgot it was there. I would occasionally pick it up and call him to me and praise him. Then I walked a little ways with him but gave the leash tons of slack and pretty much let him go wherever he wanted. After about 20 min he was just following me around as if it wasn't even there. I kept telling myself I was the "pack leader" like Caesar said to do and it helped! haha! There's a lot to be said for positive energy :) We still need lots of practice but I know he needs to get it down before he outweighs me. Then I will be screwed if he's not trained haha! We might try some obedience classes, too. We are going home next week to see the grandparents and we can't wait!!!

Boone :)

We took Boone to Red's Ice House on Shem Creek to watch the Orange Bowl. Naturally, he was a huge hit :)

My old roomie and best friend Marley who is in pharmacy school in Charleston came to see Boone and watch the game :)

Terrible first family photo haha this is what 2 nights of no sleep looks like :)

Stephen, Boone, and Kyle (Stephen's friend and fellow Coastie)

Stephen and his baby ha. I can't figure out how to get these things to rotate!

on the ride home!

L-O-V-E

love my chew!

Life is so hard...I live better than most kids in America ha

he loves to nap :)

Daddy and Boone taking an afternoon snooze :)

kennel :)

we are a snoozin bunch :)

Mar and Boone with his Clemson bandana! :)

It's a little big for him but it will be awesome when he grows into it! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Love of My Life!!!!

Can you believe it?! 2 posts in one day! This is a record for me! haha :) I just couldn't wait to share my new news!! So it's not really a secret that I've wanted a puppy for a while :) So after much careful consideration about how I could take care of him with my crazy schedule, I decided that with a little extra effort I could totally make it work. Stephen has also wanted a puppy for a while so we decided to go in together and get one!! On my birthday we rode up to Sumter, SC where Stephen had found a legit AKC breeder. Meet Boone Remington Wilson Clack  :) :)

He is a yellow lab pup born on 11/12/11 so he is just shy of 8 weeks old. He is going to be a MONSTER!! His "brother" in the last litter from the same mom and dad weighs 100 pounds at 8 months old!! He is going to be a hoss! haha! He weighs 12 and a half pounds right now and is the sweetest thing ever!!!! He is so smart too! While we are not totally housebroken, we have had very few accidents. He is being kennel trained right now and when he gets bigger we will put gates up in the kitchen so that he will have more room. I can't stand the thought of him being in a kennel for a period of time, especially if he's huge. Anyways, I really didn't realize how much my life was missing before we got him. It's only been 4 days and I am SO attached. It is exhausting having to constantly watch him to make sure he isn't chewing up anything or having an accident somewhere. It's like having a kid! However, it's the best kind of tired you could ever feel. It's made me get up and run around more. It's also nice to run around outside and get some fresh air, even though it is FREEZING in Charleston right now. Hopefully, I can ward off becoming a fat nurse haha! The first 2 nights he whined ALL NIGHT LONG. However, he has had some stomach problems too. This is really gross but we had to take him to the vet the day after we got him because he was having diarrhea with mucous and blood in his stools. He looked pitiful. He was still eating and drinking good as well as playing, however I didn't have a good feeling about it. The vet said he had a ton of bacteria in his intestines, more than normal. He even let me look at it under the microscope, and it was just a bunch of little guys swimming around...NASTY!! He gave him an antibiotic to take once a day and told us to get some of that live culture greek yogurt and mix it with his food. He LOVES that! It seems to have helped. It's day 2 of the yogurt and antibiotics and he seems to have more energy and is becoming more regular. His stools are more formed and less mucousy. Anyways, last night we put a radio by his kennel and got him a new soft bed and he practically slept all night long! Thank goodness! He just loves being around people and hearing human voices so the radio really calmed him down. He also loves country music like his mama :) I will start a new post with just pictures of him :)

Merry Christmas!!

So my favorite season has just come and gone :( However, I can't complain because it was an AMAZING Christmas, New Years, and Birthday!I'm very fortunate in that I didn't have to work on Christmas so I was able to go home for a couple days. It has definitely been a big adjustment from having a month off for Christmas and New Years to barely having 2 days off. I also had to work New Years day so that was a bummer :( It definitely makes you appreciate the precious time you have with your loved ones. I wish I had had time to see my dad's side but hopefully I will make it up to Easley again soon :) Even though, Christmas was a blur, I was determined to make my condo happy and homey. I know some of yall have wanted to see pictures of my place so here are a couple shots of what it looked like with all my decorations up! :)

It's Fall Ya'll!!

So, I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I am terrible at updating this thing. I don't even know why, really. I think it boils down to pure laziness ha! So, my new goal is at least more than one post a month. Between living in Charleston, my sweet babies, and my wonderful friends/family, I should at least come up with something interesting to read!
Anyways, here are some pictures of what I've been up to during this lovely football season! Enjoy! :)

Me and my beautiful old roomie Megan :)

The sweetest part of my Clemson visit...Jon Walter showed up!! :)

Cannonballs at the Battery!

Sarah, Me, and Ciara at Zac Brown Band!!

Ciara and me on halloween!! She was a cat and I was Sandy from Grease! :)

Mom and Lindsey came to visit!! On King Street!!

Me and Mom at the Battery!

Aunt Linds and me at the Battery! :)

Gorgeous Saturday at the Battery

Mom :)

my newfound love for decorating and other news....

Wow!! It has been forever and a day since I have posted in here. I have gotten several heated texts and e mails over my lack of posts. So if anybody is left still following this thing...I apologize tremendously :) I will really try to be better!!

Perhaps, my biggest news is that I am FINALLY off orientation. AKA, I have all my own babies, which means I am the lone ranger when it comes to making sure they are all fed, changed, weighed, and given all of their meds. Whew! It's a lot of responsibility! I still don't know how I feel about this whole transition to adulthood thing. There is usually always at least one set of parents around and whenever they come up to ask me a question like, "how do I feed this thing?", I have to fight the intense urge to say "how should I know? I don't have a kid" haha! It's just crazy to me that somebody would trust a meesly 22 year old, fresh out of college grad with their CHILD for 12 hours!! And even more than that, their critically sick child. To say that my nerves are shot to hell at the end of my shift would be the understatement of the century. But, all in all I love getting to spend time with my babies and I feel like each day I learn something new. At this rate, I should never have to worry about Alzeheimer's or dementia with the workout that my brain gets on a given day. Unless, of course, they find that it's possible to use up all of your brain cells. Which sometimes feels like a very real threat. Ha! Being on orientation is also a whole different level of stress..it feels like somebody is always there watching your every move, making sure you don't screw up and making sure you are actually doing a halfway decent job. Now that those 12 weeks of fun are over, I feel like I have a little more breathing room.


In other news, I have discovered my newfound love for interior decorating. I recently purchased the most adorable end table lamp and I feel like my apartment has finally come together. I think the last big thing I need is a TV stand and I will be set. I will post pictures soon of my beach themed cabana. I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself :)

Well my 3 days of work are about to begin..I have the joy of working night shift all weekend. I somehow got slammed with working back to back weekends. Lame. However, I'm looking forward to having the next couple of weekends off and going back to Tiger Town!! I will be at the BC game and I can't wait to see my family and friends! I will post more next week, since sleeping, eating, and working will be the major highlights of my weekend. Have a margarita for me and don't be surprised if you get a "hey whats up?" text at 3 AM :)

Oh, and I thought you guys would enjoy my new little guilty pleasure...

These are called Rewined candles...made right here in Chucktown out of recycled wine bottles that they cut the tops off of. The candles are scented to match the flavor of the wine bottle they are in. Bottom line...they smell delicious :)

Crazies and Babies...

Whew! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. I feel like all I do is sleep and go to work (hopefully my paycheck will make up for my lack of a life...ha!) I am really loving it. Work has been eye opening to say the least. I thought when I signed up for babies that my job would be relatively drama free, minus the occasional spit up and dirty diaper. Boy was I wrong! I have come home almost every day with a legit story. Let's just say between parents getting in fist fights to babies born in the toilet, it has been quite the saga! When you see the caliber of people procreating, you start to have genuine concerns for the future of our world. Eek!

I found this little poem the other day and thought it was cute:


You might be a NICU nurse if...

*You scrub your hands like a surgeon

*You measure age, not in years, but in weeks and adjusted weeks.

*You plan your day in 3 hour increments.

*You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if the phrase, "wow, it is really quiet" is uttered.

*You know that ‘Snuggle-up’ is an object, and is not referring to what you do with your boyfriend on the sofa.

*Finding poop in a diaper makes you cheer because you are obsessed with NEC and suspicious all your babies have it.

*You like to give glycerine suppositories out like candy- (for same reason above).

*You recognize that feeding tubes can be time-savers.

*You hear 4 or 5 different types of all-to-familiar beeping in your sleep.

*You recognize that taping is an art-form.

*You wonder why thermometers haven’t advanced with the times...

*The admission of a 28 week antepartum patient makes you antsy.

*You could describe poop about a dozen different ways…(eg. Meconium, transitional, green, yellow, yellow-seedy, brown…)

*The IV team won’t come to your unit… YOU are the master.

*You are a breastfeeding advocate but find yourself wanting to scream, “JUST GIVE THE KID A BOTTLE!”

*You measure weight in grams, and kilos

*You've ever heard, “The parents won’t be coming in today”, and been overcome with joy.

*You know that kangarooing has nothing to do with kangaroos.

*You’ve documented the amount of ‘jiggle’…Yeah, that’s medical jargon.

*You know that “Feeder-Grower” isn’t a description of a lawn care product.

*You’ve ever referred to a baby as a ‘glow worm’.

*You're sure you could write your own “crazy baby name” book using the names of your patients.

*You’ve ever cried at the discharge of a patient, because they felt more like family.

*You take pride in making up a “cute” bed for your patient.

*You’ve been in a critical situation, where the most highly qualified physician offered you the most advice, the least support…and illegible orders.

*You believe: if the baby is quiet, be scared.

*You’re patients don’t use a call bell when they need you- instead an orchestra of 3 or more alarms of different tones get your attention.

*You’ve witnessed a preemie escape mission…they made it as far as the portholes.

*You’ve ever wished for a restraining order to protect a baby from their idiot parents.

*You believe that to refuse a baby a pacifier is cruel and unusual punishment-for both the baby, and you.

*You refer to sweet-ease as ‘a shot of happiness’.

This is what I get to play with every day! Before you call HIPAA and accuse me of breaking 1,438,983 laws, know that I got this from the internet :)

Anyways, in other news....I'm still working on this whole "domestic diva" business. If anybody has any really good and preferably really easy recipes they'd like to share, I'd really appreciate it!!