Something in the water....

It is crazy how many pregnant women I know right now.... well, it's more like the past year has been a year of knowing lots of pregnant women. Ha ha. I know that it's definitely my age and the stage of life we're in, but it seems surreal sometimes. Just about every week, I hear about another friend...or friend of a friend who is pregnant, and the thing is, not all of them are first babies! lol. It blows my mind. When did we all grow up? Some ladies I went to high school with are on their 2nd and 3rd babies! Seriously, these babies will practically be able to babysit the Gamble babies when they come! Ha ha. But, I'm not complaining...just reeling a bit from reality :) I could not be happier for my friends...and friends of friends...and the beautiful ways God is blessing their lives! I'm very grateful for the opportunity to learn from their experiences in the future. Plus, I adore being able to go love on all of these new babies being born! :)
(Um.... that is one fat baby.)
One thing that I like is that you can also rest assured that I don't let all of the other babies being born put pressure on Josh and my (God willing) time line. We know that we absolutely need to do what is best for us and are praying for God to show us His perfect will in all areas, particularly this one. He is so good to us and I want His timing for our lives, because it is PERFECT. I am SO excited... elated even, for our future and all the babies to come. Josh is going to be the most precious father and we will love those babies like crazy. Right now, I'm relishing in the present: Josh, Miley, and me. I cherish this time that we have together before babies come. Being happy where I am in life right now is a comforting feeling. Thank you for that peace, Lord.

On a side note...

For those of you in Birmingham, (or who would like to come to B'ham) my sister, Grace, and her Berry College volleyball team will be in town this Friday, August 29th to play at Birmingham Southern College. We'd love for you to come watch her! Let me know if you're interested and I'll get you more details :)
Come on.-All the cool kids will be there!

Home from Dr. and lake pics...

Well, our little Miley girl is home from the Vet and very lathargic. Which, sad to say, it's kinda nice for now, after how puppy-wild she's been lately haha. Geez, I'm horrible! I hope she feels better and gets back to herself soon though! I can't imagine I'd be too chipper after having the same procedure done! lol.

Ok. I've been promising lake pics for a while now... here they are! It was lots of fun and I can't wait to watch as Miley develops more and more into our lake-lovin' dog! :)First swim at the lake!
She's a fast swimmer!
All about those goats!
She found a nice perch at the beginning of the lake trip. haha
Playin' with Dad.
Nappin'
The rug at the lake is GREAT for napping :)
Come on, Barney! Let's play!Playing with her lake friend, Barney!Playing with lake friend, Barney! He even got her to walk into the water on her own!

Napping in Aunt Paige's arms
She swam out to Josh on her own- he was particularly excited :)
Playin' with Dad.
Riding in the boat with my sweet girl :)
Exhausted from playing with Barney!
Clearly she is not stressed by riding in the boat haha.
The lake will wear you out!
So pretty.
Look at my handsome hubby!
Love this one :)


"I'm all over this boat thing, Mom." I promise that is what she said.

Miley Update...

Ok... so either it was explained to me incorrectly, or I misunderstood... either way, Miley's tee-tee problem is apparently not due to her early spaying, according to Dr. Okin when I asked him to clarify the procedure for me. Also, it is not surgery, thank goodness. From what I understand... It seems that there is some narrowing or something, which can cause some tee-tee to pool inside her and bacteria to grow-causing infection. This narrowing is apparently very common. However, some Dr.'s will go in while they are spaying them and fix the narrowing, which was not the case with Miss Miley. They will fix the narrow area with a little "balloon" procedure in the lady region. Details aside, she's at the Dr. with Joshy right now. Hopefully the procedure will help her not get infections anymore-that's got to be miserable! (and expensive haha)

I will update soon with pics from the lake, but I'm trying to get ready for class right now, so I'm going to scoot. Have a beautiful day!

It's a (play) date!

Before we left for the Lake last Monday, Miley had a play date with Macy, my cousin Laura's Golden Retriever at our house. They had such a fun time chasing the tennis ball... running the back yard...and wrestling in the kitchen. Apparently Miley doesn't just have a thing for her own tail, b/c she was all about Macy's tail! Bless Macy's heart, she was SO patient and indulgent of Miley biting her tail and climbing all over her. I definitely thing big dogs know when they are playing with puppies vs. just a little dog, b/c so far, all of the big dogs Miley has played with have been so indulgent and gentle with her, which has really impressed me. Here are pics of Miley and Macy playing!







Katie Byington: To answer your question... you collect dog tee-tee by quickly shoving a small tupperware container under the dog when they squat. haha.

When in Rome...

Well, Miley is proving to be an excellent traveling dog! Praise the Lord. She slept the entire trip over to Rome. (Such a lady, crossing her legs...haha) We got over to Rome about 7pm, when we met Gracie for a quick dinner at a place with outdoor seating so Miley could come. After dinner, we checked into the hotel with my parents and then Josh, Daddy, Grace, Miley, and I went to the storage unit. Unfortunately, they had changed the code, so we were unable to get in and had to wait until the AM to unload Gracie's stuff. Miley spent the night with Grace Friday and Saturday night since the hotel was not pet friendly. Grace loved the snuggle buddy, but did not appreciate the poop under her bed (new place, gotta poop lol) nor the 1am wake up call. Apparently Miley woke her up to go outside, they walked around for a while and no potty. The minute Miley got back to Grace's room- she peed on the floor. hahaha. Saturday morning, we got Grace's stuff from storage and went to town unpacking boxes, organizing, etc. Grace somehow lucked out and got a double as a single room, so she has the hook up! With her bed lofted, she has enough room for a futon and "office nook." Quite the setup. Miley spent most of the unpacking time sleeping, drinking water, and stealing parts from one of the storage racks lol. . It was a fun weekend and I always enjoy going over to Berry College. Such a beautiful campus and cute town. Here are some pics from the weekend.

Ah ah... Not so fast....

Yeah... so the same day that they gave Miley Moo a "clean bill of health," they called and said that her poop sample came back bad... meaning they found worms and coccidia (sp?) a parasite. Both of which, she couldn't hardly help but get... one of them apparently came from being at the Humane Society and the other came from her mommy's breast milk. BOOOOOO... so, that afternoon, before heading out of town to Rome, we had to stop by Dr. Okin's so she could be de-wormed and get some meds. I think that is all taken care of now... THEN, yesterday, I noticed something abnormal about her tee-tee (won't go into details) and gave the vet a call. I took her and her tee-tee sample to the vet this afternoon and, it turns out the sweet girl has what seems to be a bladder/urinary infection from being spayed too early. (I'm also choosing to omit the details of why on here; however, if you'd like to know, I'd be happy to tell you personally, but don't want to give TMI). She has been put on the same antibiotic (that she LOVES, fortunately!) that she was on for her resp infxn and then next Wednesday morning, she's set for a procedure to fix the adverse effects of the early spaying. Bless her sweet heart! We'll get her totally healthy one of these days :) I'm just so glad that God gave her to us, because there are people that would not care and wouldn't make sure she was healthy.

Quickie post...

Well, I'm soooo glad to say that Miley was given a clean bill of health today at the Vet! YAY! They also said that she looks great-- healthy, shiny coat, etc. Oh, and when we took her to the Vet the 1st time, you'll remember she weighed 8.25 lbs at 9 weeks. Well, at almost 12 weeks, she weighed 10.5 lbs! She is a growing girl! After another vaccination shot today and the clean bill, she is now free to go to the lake and to socialize with other nice, vaccinated doggies :) Josh and I are so excited. The first thing Miley and I did after the Vet was go over to Aunt Eden's to meet her, Wyatt, Buck, Mattie, Louis, and Emmitt. She did GREAT socializing. Josh stopped by to see us and witness some socializing. We were both very proud of Miley and how she seems to just love everyone at this point haha.

This weekend we are headed to Rome, GA with my parents to help them move my sister, Grace, into school for her senior year at Berry College and Miss Miley is going with us. Gracie got the go-ahead from her R.A. for Miley to stay with her int he dorm b/c it'll just the the R.A.s and Grace. She's going early for Volleyball practices, etc.

Soon we're headed to the lake with the family! Josh and I are anxiously awaiting Miley's introduction to the lake experience- particularly the water. We desperately want a dog that loves the water....sooo fingers crossed!!! I'm thinking she'll be great. Just take it nice and slow.

Ok.... that's it for now. You KNOW I'll take lots of pics in Rome, GA and definitely at the lake. Have a beautiful weekend!!!Here's our sweet girl in her crate all by herself! (sorry crappy camera phone pic) Definite success for the Gambles... We desperately want her to like it and to learn that it's a safe space and all hers.

Growing babies: sisters... nephews.. and puppies.

Yesterday I got my books for my classes that will be starting in about a week and 1/2. I shopped around online and at the UAB bookstore... and eventually bought them at Snoozy's, right by UAB's campus. I was happy that I saved about $20. Hey, saving is saving... and every little bit helps!
After textbook shopping, Baby Wyatt invited me over to visit with his mama Eden for a bit :) It was so good to see both of them. Eden's baby weight is just flying off of her- thank you breastfeeding, good genes, and some self-discipline! Baby Wyatt is growing like a weed. Eden thinks he's already up to about 10 lbs. He was 7lb 15 oz at birth 4 weeks ago and lost a little with the jaundice at first, plus- most babies lose a little at first just due to change in environment, etc. He was just as precious as ever and I really enjoyed just getting to hold him while he slept and visiting with his mama :)I was sad to rush off from the Keevers...but I had to get back to my girl, Miley, to feed her, take her out, play for a bit... and bless her heart... I had to put her right back in her crate, b/c I'd promised sweet Grace Brannon that I'd take some pics for her to use with her Vet School applications and then us girls went to see "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2." It was very cute and I wouldn't mind if they came up with a 3rd movie haha. I'm a nerd though. Here are some samples of Gracie's pics... She's just keeps getting more beautiful. They are with just a little point-and-shoot and need some touching up with the color and brightness, ya know... I don't claim to be a pro...I am, however, one of the few that can get her to smile for pics :) I can hardly believe my sweet Grace and Paige are Seniors in college. Where did the time go?? They are growing into such beautiful young women and I can't wait to see what God has planned for their futures! Although, there's definitely no rush, I'm excited to see who they marry... where their life takes them... to raise babies with them... be Aunt Taylor to their babies... and more. For now, I'll just focus on being their friend and prayerfully watch them grow, mature, and be successful. :) Here's an old pic of Grace and Paige.. I'm guessing they were maybe 2?The other night, we got Miley a new leash, new AKC mallard b/c she tore the other one's face off, and a pillow bed for the living room. She could take or leave the leash, but loooves her new mallard and pillow! It made me so happy that she took to the pillow right away. I think it is very cute, too--it's green and white gingham. The nerd that I am... I'm going to get Regenia, Josh's mama, to monogram it haha.... probably with Miley Jean on one end. :) Here's MJG in the kitchen with her new toys....