New Addition to our family

We have a new member to our family. Donkey was added a couple of weeks ago and is a 12-week old (tomorrow) black & tan mini-dachshund. Long story short, we had to put Phillie to sleep on October 1st (5 months exactly from the date Motley died unexpectedly)--he had 2 slipped discs & a calcified disc and was paralyzed from the waist down. The vet said that even if we could have afforded the very expensive surgery there was only a 25% chance he would make a full-recovery (there were risks that he might never be able to walk again or control his bowel functions, etc.). Daddy & I made the very hard decision to let him go to happy dog heaven and he buried him beside Motley under our Japanese Maple tree in the back yard.

The decision to get another puppy so quickly was one that I wasn't too keen on, especially that particular breed since spinal problems are well-known, but truthfully, the breed has the most qualifications I "want" in a dog. So far, Donkey (whose name was originally going to be Scrat (from Ice Age), thanks go Harlee..but then she decided she didn't like that name so he was nameless for a week until Daddy came up with Donkey) is a normal puppy--very energetic, very attention-needy and the occasional accident (or somedays very frequent accidents). Some days I feel like I have 3 kids (4, including Daddy...lol) but for the most part, he's not too much trouble. Here are some pics we've taken of him in the last couple of weeks.....

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Last Sunday we headed off to the pumpkin patch. This year we went to BoBrooks Farm Pumpkin Patch because the pictures on their website looked like it would be really cool. Unfortunately because of all the rain we've had recently the pumpkin patch was entirely flooded. The only pumpkins to choose from were those that they were able to "rescue" and they were all picked over. Needless to say we didn't come home with any pumpkins. We did take some photos but you weren't being too cooperative as you wanted to "explore" and pick up rocks (and of course once you had rocks in your hand, you were completely happy; of course you threw a huge fit when we were ready to get in the car and I took the rocks away from you). We were able to get some cute pictures and Harlee had fun looking at the animals so overall it was a nice way to spend the afternoon as a family.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Ava!!

Ava Hicks invited you and Harlee to her 3rd birthday party. The theme was "Candyland" and there were 4 different stations/areas: Peppermint Land (peppermint candy), Lady Frostine (ice cream & cotton candy), Chocolate Swamp (chocolate fountain) and Gramma Nutt (popcorn & nuts). Ava had a co-party with 3 of her other little friends that all had birthdays within weeks of each other and I have to say this party was out of this world supercool, complete with a clown that made balloon animals & did a magic show!!! At Ava's request, you and Harlee wore your Halloween costumes and we attended last Saturday morning. You wanted me to hold you for most of the party until you discovered the "steps" to the cotton candy table where you were content for the majority of the party demolishing them. You also liked Harlee's dog balloon and you had it demolished before we left the party--what can I say, you're 100% all-boy!!! You had your first taste of cotton candy (which you weren't too sure about) and Harlee shared her ice cream & cookie with you. Everyone thought you were so cute in your pirate costume. Here are some pics of your fun time (some of the pictures are borrowed from Ava's blog as I didn't get the chance to take as many pictures as I would've liked). The party was fun for me as well since I got to see a couple of my old coworkers....

Random Pictures

It is so difficult for me to take pictures of you and Harlee on a regular basis--neither one of you will sit still long enough for me to snap a good picture. These pics are a conglomerate taken over the last 3-4 weeks and they depict your overall personality: happy-go-lucky (for the most part). You have developed the desire to start climbing (hence the pic of you on top of the toilet paper), you like to watch Elmo, you LOVE to eat, and over the last 2 weeks you've started wanting to "draw/color" with Harlee's Aqua Doodle (although you've figured out if you suck the end of the "color pen" you can get water out of it so you just enjoy carrying that around). I swear I just cannot get enough of you, bubby!!

Photoshoot

One of my friends (Marria Hamlin) is trying to develop her photography business and she offered to take Harlee & Aiden's pics to expand her portfolio. I couldn't have been more pleased with the end results. We had the pictures done at her house on August 29th. To view Harlee's pics, go to her blog (harleegrace.com).