Thursday, December 8, 2011

We are HERE!!

Wow. Why has it been so long since I have posted? Probably because I can’t do it from work anymore ;o) Anyways… I guess I should take a minute and get everyone up to date. One disclaimer that I would like to make is that Marshall and I just got a new computer and I have been using a PC my entire life and Marshall talked me into an iMac so to avoid me throwing it out the window it may be a while until I post again because it is going to take a while for me to get the hang of things.

Marshall’s summer project.
While I was studying, Marshall found a project to keep him busy. This is the left side of our house BEFORE:
AFTER:
We moved the fence up about 30 feet to add more room to our backyard, built a retaining wall flush with our neighbors yard, added rocks and a few plants out front and bod a bing bod a boom!

Addition to the family #1.
Long story short. While in college, Marshall’s roommates got a dog. Marshall’s roommates moved out and left the dog. Chris adopted and cared for the dog with Marshall’s help. Chris moved to NY. Chris’ parents adopted and cared for the dog with Marshall’s help. Chris’ parents adopted a new dog. Chris’ and Marshall’s love child dog came to live with us.Why hasn’t this happened before? Well, you see, I am NOT a dog person. Especially not a dog that lives in the house. Ever since we have been married Marshall has wanted his college dog (Archimedes) to come live with us. When we were in the apartment it was not a problem because they didn’t allow dogs and Marshall knew it was not smart to keep him cooped up all day and in an itty bitty apartment. Well, since the day we started looking into buying a house the topic of Archimedes coming to live with us has come up once or twice (a week). I have been trying to get myself prepared and let the dog join our family and stop acting the part of the wicked witch of the west and to be honest I was not ready when he finally came but I will be the first one to admit that I was WRONG about dogs living in the house. It has been a total joy with him! He is amazingly well behaved, I feel safer when I am alone and it has made some amazing changes in Marshall. The only thing that bothers me is the shedding but since Marshall knows this was a huge sacrifice for me he is totally on top of the hair business. He vacuums at least twice a week, the dog is not allowed upstairs or on the couch, and he dusts the furniture items that may collect the hair. It has made things a lot easier for me to say the least.

And there is more...

Addition to the family #2.

Well, things with Archimedes had been going so well (1 week in) and I thought… well, the poor little guy is left home alone all day and having a dog inside has been nothing like I thought it would be, why not get him a little friend? So I started looking… I have always loved Yorkies but never though I would get one because they have to be house dogs and I never thought I would have dogs in my house. Since that was no longer an issue… we got this little delight!Brynlee Kay
The minute we saw Bryn we both knew she was coming home with us. We did however resist the temptation and go home and really put some thought into it but you can all see the outcome.
It has been so much fun! She is super smart and catches onto things pretty quick, especially for being only 13 weeks old. We got her when she was 6 weeks and she would fit in one hand, and she loved sleeping there ;o) she has more than doubled in size and also in personality. She has been a TON of work but Marshall and I came together and have been getting through it with minimal stress. Even though sometimes she drives me a little nutty I do not regret bringing her into our family for one second. We absolutely LOVE our new life.
Unfortunately, Archimedes, wanted NOTHING to do with Brynlee. He growled at the very sight of her. A side we had never seen of him before and we were quite worried. But a revelation happened a few weeks ago…Brynlee was getting a drink, when Archimedes came over she moved, let him drink, then she finished her drink when he was done. And since that moment they have been getting along MUCH better. And now, almost 2 months later, they are the BEST of friends...
Yeah, so big changes. We went from being a little family of 2 to a family of 4 in 2 weeks! Good times. And I could not help posting this picture...
Halloween.
Simply put. This lasted for the length of the picture.

One last disclaimer... I know small dogs have a stereo type attached to them and pictures of her in a sweater don't help that but she has hair, not fur so she gets really cold and if it is super cold outside she won't go out to go to the bathroom but the sweaters take care of that problem so don't judge the sweaters man, you would wear one too if you had to go outside to go potty!