One year...

August 30, 2007.
Wow has time passed quickly. One year ago today my Dad, Roger Arbogast passed away due to malignant melanoma. One of the nastiest cancers there is....I hate it. I miss my Dad terribly. He only had a little over a year after finding out what he had. When people say, "life isn't fair..." well there is a lot of truth to that statement. Otherwise God would not have taken my Dad away. He was only 61 years old.
Mom, my Aunt and me all went to his grave today. We bought some flowers and placed them next to his headstone. We each had things running through our heads to say I'm sure but none of it was said aloud. A few silly jokes and memories and that was it. I would have given anything for Dad to have met Hannah. This year has been very difficult for me and no doubt for my mom and my brother.

Please visit the memorial page and light candle or post a tribute.
Dad's memorial page:
http://roger-arbogast.gonetoosoon.co.uk/

Dad's blog about the farm:
http://arbydobro.blogspot.com/

I don't know how to get this video to work so here is the link. This song caught me off gaurd the first time I heared it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=532jxGDRjGY

Road Trip

Tomorrow morning Hannah and I are headed to VA to visit Grandma Rose. It has been a little over 3 months since we've seen her. We plan on staying until sunday afternoon and then heading back home. Aside form the visit, another reason for the trip is that August 30th will be the one year anniversary of my father's death. Time has flown by with incredible speed. Everything about that day....well, those days and months leading up to it seem so fresh in my mind. So we will be going to "visit" grampa and leave some flower for him. Someday I will tell Hannah all about her Grampa and about how wonderful he was.

On our way to VA we are going to make a stop off in Upperville to visit Blake. Michelle has him going really well and has several people lined up to come try him in within the next week. So Tomorrow he's going to have some acupuncture done and then on thursday he'll go cross country schooling.

On another note, I HAD to share this picture. It is just too cute not to. A friend sent it to me tonight. The title was "This is what happens when you sleep around."

A Milestone for Hannah!

She did it! She spoke today. Not just a babble or a girgle or screech.....today she said "Da-da." Clear as can be so there was no mistaking it. Lou had her on his lap and I had just walked into the living room. We were talking about how she's getting closer to actual word and then all of a sudden she looked up and said it. Shocked us both and she hasn't said it again since!

Another big thing for today....we have a tooth! There wasn't anything there yesterday but by gosh today she's got a tooth broken through. Sharp little sucker too. So let the teething begin! Woohoo can't wait for the crabbiness to start!

For the Moms

Oh this made me laugh!

Here's a new shot of Blake from today. Michelle says he's ready to step into the show ring now. He just needs his own person to have some fun with. She has several people coming this weekend to try him out. Cross some fingers, toes and anything else crossable that we find his new owner this weekend!

Too close for comfort

Yesterday is not a day I care to repeat. It was scary. It was the kind if day that reminds you of your own mortality and how quickly you can lose those you care for. Yesterday I almost lost a friend. Actually Pete is a new friend, along with his wife Cheryl. They are long time friend with my in-laws. Pete and Cheryl moved to OH about 3 months ago. They bought a travel trailer, shipped there horses here and left their home in Florida for good. The Gillette's have been working in our barn in exchange for having their two racehorses here. Cheryl works as a teller at the track placing mutuals. Pete and I ride together just about everyday because we are training two two year old geldings to run. We've had lots of time to talk about life and other stuff and I've found that Pete is a very good listener.
Anyway, yesterday Sharon and Pete took our "babies" to the track in the morning to break from the starting gate and then to have a good gallop. They have to go to the gate many times....until the starter decides that are doing it well enough to be awarded a gate card. Once that happens they are basically awarded their chance to go ahead and be entered into a race. My gelding, "King" went first. Sharon walked him with the rider aboard, down to the track and let him go. He did very well and got in a good sprint down the last stretch. Next it was Pete's horse, "Petey" to go. Pete also walked his horse down to the track with the rider on. Just a precaution to make sure they don't do anything silly and get our rider hurt. The last 50 yards before you make a left turn and go onto the track, goes alongside the back of another barn. The barn had screen windows (heavy screening) in each stall that face the walkway. he fourth horse form the end seems to like to rake his teeth on the screen whenever another horse walks by. It's loud and has caused many horses to spook. Well today was Petey's day. He jumped to the left bumping into Pete and knocking him off balance. Petey continued to move towards Pete and really bumped him a second time before he could get his bearings back. This caused Pete to go flying backwards, landing on the back of his head on the pavement. Pete was knocked out and laying in a huge pool of blood. Several people rushed to his aide and the ambulance was on the scene quickly. We were unsure if he was going to be moved to a trauma unit or not so we had to wait for word from Sharon. About and hour later she finally called to let us know he didn't have any fractures but he was in having an MRI taken. Later she called again to say the MRI looked good. Pete was going to be released. So he came home with 13 staples in his head, a concussion and short term amnesia. He remembers nothing about getting his horse saddled, legging the rider up, the walk down to the track of the accident. The good news is that he's alive.
So make sure you tell your loved ones how much you care for them everyday. Pete was extremely lucky. He was only walking beside a horse and nearly got himself killed. You never know what can happen.

Ugh, computers!

I took my computer to the "doctor" yesterday because it kept randomly shutting down and restarting. It would freeze several times a day as well. I was thinking that I must have a virus because I recently switched to dish internet from dial-up and the computer is connected all of the time. It couldn't be that simple though. They called yesterday and told me that my mother board was shot. So I asked him how much to get a new one for it? He rambled off how I'd also need to change this and that to make it work properly. Ended up being $100 less than a new computer. So I had to upgrade. I ended up picking up the new tower this afternoon. It is twice as fast with twice the memory by what the guy said. Apparently even a computer that is only 3 years old (and should NOT have died so young) is incredibly outdated. Go figure. So they transferred all my files and also all my email addresses. I was afraid this upgrade would cause me to lose all of them.
Lou will be happy. The new computer came with a new, fancy keyboard. He didn't like my old one because most of the letters were rubbed off from excessive use.....ha! I'm having a hard time adjusting to this one. It is curved and the keys feel just like a laptop keyboard. So please excuse mt typos if you find any. I'm normally just not careful enough and I don't use spell check. NOw I have a real excuse!

Other than that, the only thing to write about is that Lou is on his annual trip to Bowling Green for the Tractor pulls. Sounds like he's havingt a good time. Maybe a little bored because he's actually been texting a lot and has called several times. While he's gone I decided to go ahead with some changes in our living room. He doesn't like change so I do it when he's not home so he won't stop me! I gave my old recliner to his aunt. Also I set the coffe table out in the yard with a free sign on it. It was gone before I got settled into thye couch with the baby and her bottle ( literally 5 minutes). I'm glad someone else could use it. So now Hannah has more room to play in there and I can get a bookshelf put up for all my books and some pictures. Yay!

Spoiling myself? I think NOT!

Ahhhhh.....

I finally got to go treat myself fo a haircut, color and a little spoiling today. Although I don't really consider it spoiling. No haircut since last december means I'm allowed to splurge a little. Especially when I have hubby's credit card in hand. Yep, Sharon came over and watched Hannah for me while I shipped myself off to the spa. Been using the same stylist for four years yet when I called for an appointment I wasn't even in their computer anymore! How sad is that?

So this was the very first time I have left Hannah in anyone else's care for so long (except for when I'm actually on the property). I was extremely anxious about it but felt much relief when I got home to find her sitting in her bebe pod smiling at me. Phew....maybe now I can feel like I can leave her with Gammy Sharon and actually go ride my horse. That will be nice!

Since I finally got cleaned up and wans't looking like I was just dragged out of bed at 3am (yes the hair needed some help) I decided to have Sharon snap some pics of me with the baby. I have tons of pics of everyone else with my kid but practically none of me with her. So here we go!

Do we look alike?

Mommy gives baby kisses:

Baby gives kisses back:

You have to watch out (above) or you end up with baby slobber all over your face!

Hey....anyone know anything about volleyball? In the olympic games, why does one member of each team (indoor game) wear a different colored shirt than the rest of the team? Lou and I were talking about it last night and neither of us knows enough about the game to have a clue.

Olympic coverage

So Lou and I have been glued to the coverage each day. I actually got to watch THREE soccer games form start to finish. Two form the guys and one from the girls. Of course I never saw the Americans play. Lou doesn't like soccer....but he was glued to is, asking me all kinds of questions. Probably a bit like me getting into football. Never liked it, but when he's got the remote I don't have much of a choice so I get into it. Anyway, we've been watching swimming, gymnastics, beach volleyball, road cycling, archery, handball (ummm....where did this sport come from....ow odd), a little basketball and of course equestrian. I am so disappointed in our eventing team. What a let down. You see two of your idols go out there and bite it....that stinks! I watched the dressage today (for the non horsey people it was not part of the eventing) andwas in awe of some of the tests. Lou loves to watch the tempis. He thinks someday he will be able to get one of our fat cow ponies to do that.....right!

In other news, Hannah rolled from her tummy to her back twice today. Big milestone! I'm trying to get her to prop herself up more. She wiggles all over the floor on her back but doens't like being on her stomach much. She's getting better though. She's also sitting better but not all by herself. She needs just a little support behind her still but I'm thinking it won't be long before she can do it on her own.

The ankle is still thunping and I'm still in a brace. Such a tiny little fracture sure is causing be a bit of pain. I did gallop three yesterday and two today so it should be hurting I guess. The toe is still not healed. Coming along slowly.

I guess that's it form the trenches. Lou leaves for Bowling Green tomorrow. It's the big National Tracor Pulling Championships. Meaning camping out and lots of beer inbetween. I went twice, that was enough for me. That would be like me dragging Lou to Rolex every year. Just ain't gonna happen.

Videos!

I finally got my mini digital camera working. I kept forgetting to buy batteries for it. Then when I remembered, I couldn't find the USB cord for it. I have several different cords and none of them fit this camera. How frustrating!

Anywho.....this first video is from this afternoon. Hannah has a new "1-2-3 Tea Party" jumper thing she seems to LOVE. In here she screeches a bit and also blows rasberries. She's starting to look at you when you say her name and was also watching the cat walk around in front of her.

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Well I tried four times to upload the first video and something is wrong with it. So instead, here is the youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12W1xgKfJQk

This one is Hannah with her paternal grandmother "Gammy" Sharon. She loves giving kisses which typically means your cheek or your nose will be covered in slobber! Turn up the volume!

The results are in!

Hannah's doctor appointment was at 2pm yesterday. We waited in the waiting room for one hour...then waited in the exam room for another half an hour before the doc came in. We left the office at 4pm. Is it just me or is something wrong with that? I drive 40 minutes one way to this office. We've had the appointment set up for 2 months. Why do doctors, especially pediatrics overbook like this?? Someone please explain to me why it is okay to make a baby wait so long? I mena, it's incredibly annoying for ME to wait that long for my own appointments, but a baby? Seriously...WTF? So I've decided to look for another doctor. One that is not only closer to home, but who will slow down and talk WITH me. Not AT me. I have several other friend's who babies pretty close to Hannah's age. Their doctors have them feeding their babies different things that Hannah's doctor says she shouldn't have yet (she told me no meats until 9 months for example). Anyway, I'm tired of it. We wait like this for every visit and I've had enough.

Blech......vent over.

Anyway, Hannah weighed in at 19 pounds and 14 ounces. She's 28 inches long. So she's in the 100th percentile for her height and weight. No teeth yet but she's been chewing everything she can get her hands on. She got three shots, just like last time plus one oral vaccine. Today she's slept a lot and was running a low fever. So she has been getting her tylenol every four hours.

As for me, I went back for a recheck on my toe today. Been having pain in my foot and ankle for a few days and mentioned it. I just figured it was form walking funny to stay off my sore toe (which BTW is healing nicely) but I guess that wasn't the case. Two days ago I rolled me right ankle when pulling the saddle off one of our horses. I stepped back and just too a bad step in the sawdust. It hurt at first but then stopped hurting until the evening after I was home for the night. Since then each time I step on uneven ground or point my toes to get shoes on it hasd been incredibly painful. Well, x-rays showed I have a small hairline crack/fracture in my ankle. So I have a very fancy ankle brace on and have to go back yet again in two weeks. I'm allowed to do normal activites as long as I wear it. The doc just wanted to make sure I don't twist it again with a misstep.

Ack! If it's not one thing it's something else!

Hello Again!

Wow, it's been longer than I thought!
Tomorrow Hannah has her 6 month check up. She'll get the usual exam and measurements taken as well as more shots. I hate that part! I'm interested to know what she weighs though. On my scale she was 20 pounds! So I went out and bought a new carseat for her. The old one only goes to 22 pounds. Her feet were hanging over the edge and she looked cramped in it. The new one is pink with brown polka dots. I know....I bought something pink for her. Everything else was either black or dark grey. Can we say HOT in a hot car with a baby who already runs hot?

So tuesday I have to go back for a recheck on my toe by the foot doctor. I had an ingrown nail cut out last week. Yuck...sorry if that's TMI. But yeah, that hurt! Still hurts. They cut the skin too so it's extra sore. Especially when I have to ride and where boots. wahh.....okay, enough of that!

Next issue....anyone want a super cute, super sweet ex-racehorse? Lou called tonight after our race and told me to find a new home for Watch and Wager. He's 10 this year and it's time to retire. According to the jockey, Wager only put in a little bit of effort tonight. We planned on retiring him by the end of this year anyway. He deserves it, he's been good to us.

Blake is still at the trainer's and Sealy is still stuffing her mouth out in the pasture. Hopefully soon Blake will sell and Sealy will get back into work. Wishful thinking!

One last gripe...is anyone else getting tons of calls from political parties at all hours of day or night? I'm so sick of ad campaigns, phone calls, mailers and such on this election. I'm tired of people being nosy about my political views and tired of people calling me with surveys. Can't wait for this election to be over. I just wish we had someone running who would actually make me feel safe and confident about my choice.