This moment - dimples and holding hands

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama.  A single photo(or several)  – no words – capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

All about the puppies: my furbabies update.

The pups...Jackjack and Abigail are doing good! They are adjusting to their new life with 2 sisters well. They love their sister Carmen and are enjoying the baby sniffs they get. Here are some of my favorite recent pictures of my 2 furbabies! Hope you enjoy! I know once I had Carmen they stopped showing up on the blog as much but we are going to work on bringing them back into a Thursday post.

That last picture is a rarity! We had to throw out Abby's bed and this was before we got her a new one. They now have their own beds again and all are happy. Jackjack doesn't like being THAT close to this sister. :) Love these pups! Happy Thursday!

How are your puppies/kitties/pets doing?

DOT: Sleepy clean puppies!

Happy Dogs on Thursday!  Hope you all had a great day yesterday.  Oh how I wish I had the rest of the week off but off to work I go.

Yesterday, the pups got baths and I LOVE bath day for them!  They both get dirty so quickly and I love to snuggle them but not a fan of snuggling stinky puppies, even though I still do. :)  So after getting baths, last night Miss Abbygirl knows she's not going to get kicked off the bed immediately so she snuggled with me on the bed for a while.  And Jackjack, the non-snuggler, let me pet him a bit before he was ready to be left alone.

I am thankful they are fine with the firework noises but Abbygirl always becomes my shadow when they start going off.  She's a clingy puppy.

Happy Dogs on Thursday!!!

How did your pups do with the fireworks?

Dogs on Thurday: A pup and her ball!

Abbygirl LOVES to play fetch!  If you are willing, she would fetch a ball for you for as long as you let her!  When we first got her, she was frustrating because she wouldn't drop it and so the game ended quickly.  Once she figured out that if she drops the ball the game can then go on, it got to be more fun to play with her. :)  It took treats and lots of training but she figured it out!

I found this video on my iPhone that was taken back in late February when I first got it.  It's super cute! Abby is really good about not stealing the ball from CGR...even though it's killing her not to just grab it!  I'm working on teaching her to play fetch with Abbygirl.  I think they will love that game!

This next video is from yesterday at lunch.  When it's a nice day and I have time during lunch, I like to play fetch with Abby.  I usually use our Chuckit Ball Launcher so my hands don't get all dirty but wasn't sure where it was yesterday.  The launcher is awesome because it also helped with getting Abby to drop the ball.  I could get to the ball faster before she picked it back up again.  Jackjack as you can tell is not interested and just wants to be left to his own devices.

Hope you enjoyed the fun videos of my golden girl!

Happy Dogs on Thursday!!

Does your pup like to play fetch?  Or do you have a pup like Jackjack who is just not that into it?

Dogs on Thurday: Pictures, pictures and more pictures!

For today's DOT post...we are going to catch up on some cute pictures of the pups Jackjack and Abigail! Here are some of my favorite recent pics of them....some of them from instagram. Starting with the most recent...

Abbygirl needing me to hold her hand while I knit.

My spinning buddy Jackjack.

Another Spinning buddy Abbygirl.

Carmen thought it was time to take the pups for a walk....so we did! :)

Carmen trying to put my knit sock on Jackjack.

A slobbery doggie kiss!  One of the best kind!

The pups keeping me company while I knit and watch tv.

My Jackjack turning grey before my eyes. My old grummy man.

Wearing Carmen on a walk with the dogs.

Giving Jackjack a wipe down. She's ever the little helper.

My absolute favorite picture of my girls!  Wet kisses!

Hope you enjoy all these pictures!  I am bias but these two pups are just so adorable and I love them so!  They sometimes get into trouble like my Jackjack who has learned that highchair swiping is a new art form of his and Abbygirl who is always wanting more love that little miss Carmen can handle sometimes.  They are still the best dogs I could ask for and I love them dearly!

Happy Dogs on Thursday!

DOT: Napping with momma.

Nothing like napping with momma...

This was taken last Friday when momma was home with our sick baby and while little Miss CGR napped, we took naps too!

Love that nose!

Happy Dogs on Thursday!

PS.  One of Carmen's new words we've heard was Abigail!  I thought I called her Abby more but I guess I call her Abigail enough for Miss Carmen to point to her golden puppy and said "Abigail!"  Was so adorable!

Leaves are yummy...

I have never been a big fan of the day called Monday...it's that first day of the work week and it just always feels like it takes FOREVER!  Today was unusually bad because of the time change. The first hour of work felt like 5 and the rest of the day seemed to be going in slow motion no matter the amount of actual work I was accomplishing.  When the clock struck 4 and my workday was FINALLY over, I got to pick up my girl...which is my favorite time of day.  When the daycare lady opens the door, I usually get greeted with a big screech that I like to interpret as "MOM'S HERE" and now that I have a walker...a cutie pie walking over to me!

After chatting with the daycare lady and the other mom, we headed home where our nanny-cousin met up with us.  We had snack because snacks are VERY important to a walking baby and then headed out on our walk with the pups.  Nanny-cousin opted not to bring along the stroller this time and she paid for it.  Little miss CGR with her new found walking ability, has decided that walking is the way to go! She also learned today that she can stop to pick up leaves and leaves are crinkly and fun and when no one is looking taste pretty good too!

The pups had a great time as usual.  They love our evening walks and get lots of time to smell all the smells only dogs can love. I posed them for a picture and the lady who walks every day around the lake stopped to tell me how great my pups are.  She said her dogs would never just sit there like that but would be jumping all over her.  After I released them from their sit/stay, they did go over and try to jump on her to get some loving...so I guess they aren't as good as she was thinking.   Love their cuteness though!

I hope you all had a great weekend and Monday!  I'm looking forward to a better Tuesday...especially because Tuesday brings knit night with it! :)

Happy Monday!

Dogs on Thursday: A pup on the mend.

This weekend our little girl Abbygirl wasn't feeling good.  This weekend she wasn't acting strange but she puked up a couple times, which she never does.  Jackjack is our puker dog.  He's the one where every couple months he'll decide that he wants to puke up his dinner for a couple days and then he's over it.  We've had him checked out and there is no reason why he pukes he just does.  So, at first we though the puke we found was his...but then we actually saw Abby do it.  That was the start of being concerned.  Then on Sunday night she refused her dinner.  Abbygirl never refuses food!  Special K made her a pb sandwich and she ate that.  The next morning, again she had puked in the middle of the night, she refused her breakfast and this time refused the pb sandwich as well.  We waited a little bit and at this point we started getting a little concerned.  Right before leaving the house I tried a piece of bread and she ate that. 

On my way to work, I called the vet and they said that we should bring her in.  I went to work for a couple hours and then raced home, grabbed her and off to the vet we went.  She is so spoiled!  I love her to death but she is so funny when all she wants is someone to hold her hand.

 (Here is where I go into a bit of detail about stuff...if you don't want to read that kind of stuff...skip this paragraph.)
Once we got the vet, we waited to be seen.  The vet tech came in to check her out and took a stool sample.  She then came back and wanted to get a pee sample...in my mind I was thinking...Yeah right! :)  They took her out without me first and nothing.  She came back in and asked me if I could help her and out we went.  I walked her around and told her to go potty and she would pee. She did relieve herself and this time the vet tech looked and we could plainly see there was lots of blood in her stool.  We went back in and waited for the vet to come see us.

 When the vet came in, he asked more questions and said that he thought she got into something and that it seems to be passing through her system.  He gave her some meds for the bloody stool and some nausea meds.  I took her home and let's just say she proceeded to then have the opposite of constipation.  I was worried about leaving her home and not being able to let her out frequently.  I went to work, told my supervisor that I needed to be home, packed up my stuff and headed back.  CGR stayed with the nanny because 1. it's the nanny's last week and 2. I would be able to deal with Abby a little better and I wanted to wait until she was able to stop going often before bringing CGR home. 

I spent the afternoon organizing somethings in the house that I don't normally have time to work on and letting Abby out every 30-45 minutes, which I'm very glad I was there to do.  Here is some proof of my organizing.  If some of you have been to my house you are not surprised of the state of my dresser but I'm not sure any of you have seen it this cleared off. ;)

Well, Abbygirl is doing much better now and she started feeling so good later that day that she started annoying her brother again. :)  That's when I know she feels good.  He of course was not too pleased with being bothered but I was happy she was feeling good.

I hope you and your pups are all doing great!  Happy Dogs on Thursday!

DOT - The importance of Recall!

A little bit of housekeeping to start off with.  When I posted yesterday's post, I originally misspelled Coma...I said I had a Baby Comma.  Comma is a punctuation and not what I was initially intending to say. However, comma as defined by dictionary.com is the sign (,), a mark of punctuation used for indicating a division in a sentence, as in setting off a word, phrase, or clause, especially when such a division is accompanied by a slight pause or is to be noted in order to give order to the sequential elements of the sentence.  If I think about it, Comma makes sense too if we think of my life as a long run on sentence.  Those weeks were a pause in most activity in my life and was a division in my life between my life before Carmen and my life with her in it.  I edited the post and changed the spelling but in the end I think it worked either way.

I've gotten a lot of feedback about yesterday's post already, both private and public.  I'm glad I posted what I was thinking.  Thank you to those who have sent me messages and comments for your support and feedback.  I appreciate that you took the time to let me know what you thought. 

Today is Thursday, which in this blog space was always Dogs on Thursday!  It's the day that Abigail Grace and Jackjack take center stage.  When I first started blogging, I thought maybe they needed their own blog but in the end it was hard keeping up with two so stories about them were just added here.  
I love my puppies.  They have their faults like I do and well, we all do but in the end they are my dogs and their faults are part of who they are.  I've worked hard to train them so that they are safe just as you discipline a child you need to make sure to train your pups.  The training is not only for your sanity but also because with training you bring safety.  

A very good example of this happened the other day.  Our backyard has a chain linked fence with two regular gates and a bigger gate for a car or boat to go through.  Usually our gates are all padlocked so no one can open them and us not know they are opened.  We've always been really good about keeping the gates closed and if you've read my blog or listened to old podcasts, you know that Jackjack has not always been good with recall.  Special K has been doing a lot of improvements to our yard and has been opening and closing the gates a lot.  The locks we originally put on there have rusted so we weren't keeping them locked either.  Well, one morning as we often do, Little Miss Carmen and I went to let them out.  The dogs went out to go potty and I was standing in our screened in fence with Carmen when I looked out into the backyard.  I saw my two dogs between us and the open gate!  I stayed as calm as possible because they weren't running out it but sniffing around the grass.  I quickly called for them. I had to call several times and get really excited but they looked at me and ran into the house without having time to go potty.  I put Carmen in her excersaucer and went out to check the gates.  Not only was that one open but the OTHER one as well.  I was so grateful that there were no dogs or humans walking by during the moments before I realized the gates were open!  I was also so thankful of all the hard work training them to come when called.  


After I calmed down and went back into the house, I told Special K what had happened and we both recall that the gates where closed the night before.  Freaked me out a little bit because even though we had some serious rain and wind the night before, that could not have opened both gates.  That day, Special K went and replaced the locks and it has made me feel much better since.  


As the lesson today...practice your recall...ALL the time!! Recall is one of the most important things your dog can learn and will keep both your pups and you safe.  A good way to practice is to play the recall game.  You can do this by getting a partner and having them sit or stand in another room or area and then calling your dog excitedly, have treats so you can give them to your dog when they get there, then you call your pups over to you.  You can play this at any time and in anyway you want but just practice it!  Always and I mean ALWAYS be happy when they get to you!  Hope this helps you!  It took us a long time but by golly I think my pups got it!  Deep down I just hope we don't have to test it much.


Happy Dogs on Thursday

PS...yes, you will notice both pictures are old.  Will work on getting new pictures of the pups for next week's post.

Dogs on Thursday!

Been a while since I posted about my pups, let alone posted a DOT post so I figured with one post I'd knock them both off my list.  Jackjack and Abigail Grace are doing great!  When I got home from the hospital after having Carmen they were so excited to see me!!

I came in first by myself and let them out back and loved on them.  Special K brought in Carmen into the house in her carrier and then the dogs and I came in from out back. They were very curious about her smell but they did great.

They were also very curious once we took her out but did so well when we asked them to give us some room.

At first they weren't sure what this creature was that was taking all of mommy's time and daddy was running around but then she started to cry less and make noises.  I try to remember every night to take her around and say good night to them and then in the morning we say good morning to them.  They know it's coming so when we go to say good night or good morning then come over and sniff her and sometimes get a good lick in.  It's our routine and I like it!

I look forward to the day that she interacts more with them but for now I hope to teach them to appreciate her and her them.  Abigail sometimes beats me to the crib when Carmen wakes up and sticks her nose in to check her out.  It's pretty cute!  Abby also likes to join us if we are on the couch nursing. She's figured out that I have a free foot to pet her.

Today it's been raining both cats and dogs all day and as I think I've mentioned before Miss Abigail and Mr. Jackjack do not like to go outside if it's raining.  The only way we can get them to go potty is to actually take them on a walk in the rain and get soaked along with them.  So, as I played with Carmen tonight, Special K took them out in the rain.  They got back all wet and really tired.  Here's Abby watching me wash bottles.

And since Jackjack is hard to picture in the dark, here is an old picture of him chilling on the couch on top of my knitting.  He's in the same position tonight but sans knitting.

Happy Dogs on Thursday!!

DOT of Abby.

Since Jackjack got a picture in yesterday's post. Here is my lovely Abbygirl...at her finest.

I love how she can make any position look so comfy. Sorry for the picture of the dirty couch...it's usually covered because it's mainly their couch.

Happy Dogs on Thursday!!

and Abigail Grace....

She is definitely getting SPOILED! Since the last two posts were all about Jackjack being up here, I figured that I would share how rough life is for poor Abby back in FL with my sister.

Here is Abby getting cuddles from my sister's husband Edmund. The other pup is their horse...I mean Golden Maui. :)
And here is Abby with her furcousin Maui enjoying some relaxing time. :)So...for anyone worried that Abby is not being cared for while Jackjack is on his adventure...I hope these pictures help. :) She is doing really well...and I miss her tons. She'll get to go next road trip.

Happy DOT and Merry Christmas Eve...again!

Jingle Bell Walkers with Abbs

Just a drive by posting of a picture of my sister CZbrats, her friends, Abby and me at the Jingle Bell Run!
Happy Friday!!

Happy Dogs on Thursday!!

Because she's so darn cute and I can't resist her face...this is what I see more often than not as I lay in bed. If it's not her...it's the other pup. :)Jackjack has become so silly! He has become this dog who asks for loving. He never was like that when I first got him...but when you come close to him now or get up he either starts wagging his tail which neither of us can resist and we pet him or he turns over on his back for you to rub his belly. I can't help but want to love on him then. :)
Ok...yes. I know I've neglected this blog a lot! I still have information to add to the last post and I rarely post anymore. So...I've been thinking how to get this straight again....that's when I saw a post from a friend about blog365. You post every day for a year. I'm thinking of starting it either Dec 1st or January 1st. It's still an idea. ;) I'm not sure I want to do photo365 along with it yet...that's my last deciding factor before we officially start blog365. Anyone else interested in starting too...I could use the support! :)

Ok...well...as usual don't forget to check out this week's DOT post! HAPPY Dogs on Thursday!!

Happy Birthday Abigail!!

Today is the day that I say is Abby's Birthday. :) I got her from a person who didn't know so I picked a day in the month I knew was her birthday month. So, Happy Birthday Abigail! For her birthday post, I figured I would share Abby's loves with you in pictures.

She LOVES stuffed toys....especially these long dog ones...She loves loves loves balls...she also love when people throw them for her!She loves Kongs filled with peanut butter!She loves napping on people...
or pillows...
She loves people who will pet her or let her lay on them too.
She loves her brother Jackjack.
She loves the Steelers. :)She loves loves loves the water!! and i mean any water. :)
and most of all...she loves her daddy! :) He comforts her when she has to get shots at the vet.
and he helps her find squirrels when hiking near a stream.
and I guess she loves me...I feed her, give her love and take her swimming and for walks.
Well...I hope you enjoyed her birthday post! She is a wonderful sweet and loving dog and I'm so glad she found us and joined my pack. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Today is also Dogs on Thursday and I posted today!