It has been so long since I've really been on here but talking to a bunch of you Chazers lately (it seems like a lot of us have JUST hit the family planning part of life) and it's nice to be in a similar place as so many people. I have a lot of friends who are well into their family lives and then some who are not close- so it's nice to have people in a similar time frame as myself!
Just wanted to say hello and get back involved. If you can believe it- Jude is almost 6 and Jonah turned 4 in January. They're doing great (still working on some reactivity issues with Jonie- and bossiness issues with Jude) but they're very happy dogs. We don't do sports as I once wanted to do- but they seem to do fine as pet dogs. My best friend of 9 years became the love of my life this past summer (they know him really well) and they have been thrilled that he moved in with us and is their permanent "Daddy" now. I'm a little maxed out on dog interaction after 6 years- and so he's really taken over with the playing. Kinda a nice break for me after being a single dog mom for so long!
We also some how inherited 4 cats. Fiance moved in with one, we got another as a companion, and then since we moved into a 2700 sq foot farmhouse- my mom decided to give us back the cats she and I got together when I was 19 and living at home. I was nervous at first- but all the pets seem to be doing well. It's a lot of pets- but it seems to work well and we have a lot of space for it at least.
Getting married June 7th (never thought I'd see the day.... never even wanted to get married!) and TTCing the week after the wedding
(Or whenever my chart tells me we should- which should be right around then.) Also- I forgot to mention- we are 16 months into an adoption from Ethiopia. We are on the girl 0-12 months list and were originally told it would be about 18 months from start to finish- but now have another 2 years to go or so. It is a combination of many many delays in Ethiopia- and a few delays on our end as well. I started the adoption single but fiancé is an adoption nut like I am too
We chose DD's name a year ago and her name will be Lucille (Lucy) with her Ethiopian name as a middle name. So excited to finally get her home so she can use all of this baby stuff in the house I hoarded last year!
Another note, since I've become more and more free with being open about my situation- other than on my FB due to having a lot of photography clients on there that I prefer not be aware, my almost husband (2 months!) is trans- my best friend for 9 years- but only found out he felt male 3 years old and only started his transition last summer. We have a lot on our plates right now- but excited for the future! Once he transitioned, he chose the name Taylor.
Looking to get back into chatting with many of you... maybe not so much about dogs these days (altho they are still very central in our life... and I do still like to talk about them) but just about life in general. Nice to have people in similar steps as me as sometimes I feel very alone being in that "in between" mode with friendships. I keep up with a lot of you on FB but am gonna scroll through this thread to catch up more.
And Ps. A big shout out to the amazing Erin (stardogs) who has been a huge support for me throughout the last year as I doubted the adoption, tried to figure out a life/family plan, etc. So happy for your pregnancy and so glad you put up with my crazy baby topics all the time!
Oh and here's a few pics of the boys- including our Christmas card.
Christmas time at our house- 8 stockings- despite there only being 2 humans living here.
Holiday card:
Dogs birthday party at local doggy swimming pool (we do joint birthday parties):
Jude breaking in a Gira wrap:
Christmas Morning:
Halloween (the only professional photo that I didn't take on my phone- sorry!):
Okay now that I feel like I've updated you all on my life- I can randomly jump back into conversations hah!
