We did IT!

We got a dog. Her name is Angel, until further notice. lol. The name the rescue gave her was Angel and I think it's because she acts like a little Angel. Anyway, we haven't decided yet if we're going to rename her or not but if we're going to we'd better hurry up and decide! Onto the fun information, she's a little dog, a dachshund pekingese mix. She doesn't bark a lot, chew on things, is mostly house trained (you've gotta watch for her cues or you're out of luck), good with kids, a good ol' lazy dog :), really just a very well behaved dog. Here is the picture of her from Petfinder (Dennis wonders how I was interested in a dog that looks evil, lol):



We did have the problem on Tuesday where she nipped at each of the girl's once but I told her no each time. I talked to the rescue about it and she'd given birth to 3 puppies at the rescue and although they were weaned and old enough to be adopted out themselves, she did leave 2 of them there so we think she might be trying to treat them like her puppies and I just had to tell her that wasn't ok. (My mom said that was to be expected with little kids around but you want to make sure you can trust an animal that's around your kids!). She's done better since then though which is great!



Anyway, so a cute story. Monday night when we brought her home, after we introduced her to the house I took her out back to go potty. Well, I decided to walk around the perimeter of our yard (since the one side isn't fenced in) to teach her our property boundaries and not thinking I took her to the front. I hadn't put the leash on her since I was planning to stay in the backyard. So as soon as we got to the front yard and she realized there was open space she just took off running. Me not thinking except for Oh no! What if she get's lost or run over!?! took off after her. Well, it took me about a block or so to realize that she thought we were playing because every so often she'd stop and look back at me. So, at that point I just stopped. The next time she stopped and turned around she saw that I wasn't chasing her and just waited. I said, "Angel, come." And she came right back to me. I carried her home since she's too short to try to just hang onto the collar but I should have let her just walk (I bet she would have followed me). So, then the next day on Tuesday (my birthday, yippee!) after we got home from the gym Charity let her out of the house through the garage door (we were working on going on). Well, Angel took off running again. This time I waited a minute and then I walked up the driveway to where I could see past the house. Angel was waiting there right on the edge of our property. The minute she saw me she ran a few feet and then paused and looked back again. Once again I said, "Angel, come" She came right back and she hasn't done it again even though I don't put her on the leash when we're outside in the yard. (see, I said really well behaved, didn't I?)



Charity loves to have her sit on her lap when we're in the car. Oh yeah, did I mention she travels really well? So here she is sitting on Charity's lap:

Now she tries to share Danielle's carseat with her but Danielle doesn't like it so I make her move! I'm going to have to try to get some cuter pictures. But yep, that's our dog.

(I weighed her this morning and she weighs 12lbs!) See, little.

Happy Birthday Charity

Happy Birthday my sweet 3-year old girl! How quickly time flies. Just barely we were celebrating your birth and then your first birthday and then your second and now look at you 3 years old! The things you've learned and accomplished in the last three years amaze your father and I! You are such a smart sweet girl. And so beautiful! You have such a huge vocabulary and understand concepts that are far beyond your years I think. Strangers can understand what you say, that is if you talk to them! You are quite a shy child but warm up to people quickly and are such a little chatterbox :) Some of your favorite games include talking about the dragon and what swiper is going to be swiping next! You currently LOVE the tv shows Dora and Blue's Clues. You are such a good big sister to Danielle as well, though sometimes I wonder about who likes to pick on who more!

Some of your favorite foods include anything with sugar in them! You really do have a sweet tooth! (Daddy says you get that from my side of the family, lol) but some other foods you really like include pizza and spaghetti! I think spaghetti is one of your favorite all time foods (Daddy says you get that from him! :) You absolutely love music and love to sing. You just start singing anytime you feel like it. What your favorite song is tends to vary but some of the songs you sing a lot are Jesus wants me for a song beam, ABC song, Row Row Row Your Boat, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Lullaby-And-Goodnight, oh and so many others. I need to get a video of you singing so you'll be able to see it in the future! It's just so cute!

And you're such a girl :) You love to wear dresses and pretty clothes and get your fingernails painted. I have so much fun with you! You love to paint Mommy's nails too! Life around here is never dull, that is for sure. I hope you know I love you and that Daddy loves you and that sister loves you and that in the coming years you're always able to feel our love.

Happy Birthday Danielle!!!

Happy Birthday my sweet girl who just turned 1 today! How time flies. It seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant with you and look at you now. At a year old you're walking, unwrapping presents all by yourself! (she LOVES unwrapping presents! lol), figuring out how things work (so smart), and just love toys. Right now some of her favorites are dolls. It's so cute to watch her walk around holding onto a dolly. I'm tempted to find one that's her size just to watch her drag it around :) You've gotten 6 teeth in your first year of life and are working on several more. I'll update after your appointment next week with your stats but you're around 17lbs and 29". Your cousin Mikeal came to visit today and he's bigger than you are, though not as tall! Your first food of choice is still Mommy's milk but your figuring out about all those other yummy foods out there and trying them out. A few you like are bread, peaches, and gummy bears. How sister loves to spoil you with candy, even if you get mad at Mommy when she takes it away! You are so smart at figuring things out, you already understand how the bar needs to be lifted to open the gate, though you're too short to open it. There is so much that you have learned in the past year, and so much more for you yet to learn.

You LOVED your cake tonight, and you LOVED making a mess with it as well. It's so fun watching your explore and learn about your world. You came into this world only a short year ago and I'm grateful to be your Mommy and have you as part of our family. I love your, your Daddy loves you, your sister loves you. Happy Birthday Baby.

To get a dog or Not... and other happenings.

So... yeah... it's been a while again... I'm not sure why I've been so bad at blogging since I got home from my trip... Maybe it's cuz I still need to spend hours working on my big post about the trip... I finally got some pictures uploaded to the computer yesterday. lol. I'd better get into gear. The trip was almost 2 months ago now! Wow, how time flies. It was so much fun.

Anyway, for the last week or so I've been trying to convince Dennis we should get a dog but it hasn't worked yet. I just think the girl's would LOVE having a dog. (I know, very weird for me the cat lover but we've tried having a cat and it hasn't worked) and Charity loves dogs as long as they're properly introduced and yeah, Danielle thinks she loves dog kisses...

Other than that we've been doing a lot getting ready for all the birthdays around here. My baby is turning 1 tomorrow! Wow, last night I was thinking back on a year ago at this time and it's amazing how life changes and how quickly it goes. I've been trying to figure out if we're going to do birthday parties together or seperate ro what we're going to do and I think we decided last night. We're going to have a small celebration each night of their actual birthday and then a big party for both of them with family and friends this weekend. Oh yeah, Charity turns 3 in a week! See, time really does go by fast! So, to all of our friends who might be reading this, party on Saturday!

This last Friday night we went to a work dinner for Dennis' work. It was for the Spirit of Excellence award. All of the people who had worked on a project that had won some sort of an award were invited. Grandpa came and babysat for us since ti was an adults only event. It was so much fun! I had such a great time. They had a live band playing and the food was set up buffet style with food stations all over. It was in the ballroom at The Grand America hotel (huge room!). It was a lot of fun we got to sit and chat with some friends that I haven't seen in a long time. And I got to meet some of his other work friends. It was an enjoyable evening that ended all too soon.

Well, now you have what's been going on lately. I'll try to write more again soon and not wait so long!