Aren't they adorable?!

Have you seen our beautiful boy and girl???

Check it out!  (click the link, I know it isn't always clear to everyone when I post a link like that, so thought I'd be more explicit this time, hehe.)

~~~

I should probably clarify...we didn't take that photo.  A MN photographer named Bill Cady came out and "shot" our foster dogs at the time, Bailey and LuLu, and he was generous enough to let Paisley and Grady get in on the action too.  Okay, let's face it, like he had a choice when it came to the Bug!!! ;)  He did the shoot back in early January for the upcoming art show benefit that the webpage is advertising.  Anyway, you can check out more photos from that shoot by clicking here. =)

Talking

So what do you do when your 22-month-old keeps saying the f* word...over and over...and over again?

Well, for starters, you don't go out.  Goodness knows you don't want to be at the grocery store or the library when your cute toddler starts in with the trucker talk. ;)  Especially since he has really ditched the whole whisper-shy routine in favor of the top-of-the-lungs, make-sure-everyone-knows-I'm-here routine. =)

The next step is trying to keep your giggles to a minimum, so as not to encourage this new "word."  

For the record, NO, J and I do not use this word in our day to day discussions.  And NO, we rarely ever watch television when Bugga is awake, so he couldn't have gotten it there either.  My suspicion is that he is simply playing with new sounds and his ability to put sounds together.  Lucky us, he seems to have landed on a favorite combo that just so happens to be a taboo slang word.  Yippee!

It would appear the third step, for me at least, is to tell all of you. ;)  Who knows, maybe he'll be seeing some of you who visit this site and I wouldn't want anyone being surprised when my son drops an f* bomb and I just sit idly by as if it didn't just happen.

In other news, LuLu got adopted yesterday by a wonderful family with three young boys and two dedicated parents.  Life will be good for Lu, I can feel it.  Of course, I feel life will be good for all our fosters with their new families, or else I wouldn't let them go. ;)  

Before we took off for her new home and family, we attempted some family portraits to remember our good times.  Despite the overwhelming response Lu brought in terms of suitors and admirers, she remained with us longer than any of our previous foster dogs, including Miss Bailey.  Lu was with us a whopping two and a half months.  Still nothing compared to how long some dogs wait, whether in foster homes or in kennel runs at local shelters.  I really do plead with people...ADOPT if you are looking for a pet, there are just countless homeless animals out there.  I know, I'm a broken record with my standard PSA...yet I can't quite leave it un-said.

Anyway, here are some shots of Lu's final days with us.  Bugga and his girls on the lounger.

Attempted family portraits...

Everyone but Monkey made it in. =)  She's far too independent-minded to join a group shot.  HAHA.  

(For those not in the know, Monkey is our nearly senior female cat...the one who is tiny and spirited and has gone up against foxes and who knows what else and lived to tell the tale.  Well, not quite on the telling the tale part--we wish--but she is definitely still with us.)

Up close and personal with Luey, isn't she gorgeous?! 

 

Paisley is enjoying the incredibly spoiled and privileged life of an only-dog for right now.  We are hopelessly lazy dog owners when we are down to just her, because even at her worst around here, she is so easy.  She is still our give-an-inch, take-a-mile PaiPai girl though, so I'm sure the gravy train will have to stop soon.  For now, though...well, let's just say I was mighty warm in bed last night.  ;)

Yesterday

I'm remiss of something to say this year, but last year I wrote a long post.  

So this year, I'll keep it simple.  I miss you Mom, love you too.  Wish you were here.

{And because I don't have a scanner, I'm settling for a photo of a photo.}

The shape of Valentines...

It's that day.  The day of hearts and candies and flowers, oh my!  

But around here this morning, this was the shape of things...

Bugga up at 6:30, WAY too early.

Came to our bed, was acting all squirrel-y.

J changed him, put him back to bed, gave him his books

and came back to rest.

A couple hours later, we hear him around.

We come out to find, a huge mess to be found.

He had the Natures Miracle...open...everywhere. ;)

Then the dogs...someone brought poop in on their paw,

Pai wouldn't eat, she must have sensed it all.

Turtle's been sick, so pills he must have,

he won't eat either, but he pees in the house. =(

Everything and everyone finally cleaned up,

I open the computer to find...

The Bugga had been there too. ={

Oh my!  Indeed.

Somehow he opened countless windows

and changed the background to this:

{See...he loves her...but not in a weird way, HAHAHAHA.}

I have no idea how he managed it either...

So there you have it, the REAL shape of things around here this morning.  Not that I am ever deliberately fake on here, but I do sometimes keep some of the ugly details of everyday life to myself.  This morning though, it all had me laughing too hard to keep to myself. ;)

Happy Valentines!  Hope yours is more glamorous, more romantic, more calm than ours has been so far.  *Though I can't say for sure if I'd trade you...hehe.  I take my lumps and love 'em. =)  Most of the time. ;)

I'll share a few more pictures before I go.  It's the least I can do for having written both "pee" and "poop" in this post.  ;)

J has been on a black-and-white kick lately, so most anything I post in black-and-white was taken by him.  =)

Momma messing with him...and then Paisley joining in too. ;)

What is it with little ones and their parents' bed?!  He thinks it is hilarious to jump in our bed and throw himself under the covers.  Here he is demonstrating, complete with his signature one-eyed squint. =)

We routinely start the day now with the sound of Bug opening his door, waiting a moment, and then scurrying across the span from his room to ours, coming in and hopping in bed with us.  It is actually a pretty fun way to wake up these days (as long as it's not too early).

Trying on Momma's big winter socks. =)

Forget babylegs, he can just wear my socks, HAHA.

~Excuse the graininess of some of these photos, the ISO was CRANKED this morning and I didn't realize it and since we really haven't ventured much into the world of post-processing on our photos, I just left it. ;)

Don't know where I'm goin'...

Don't know where I've been...

I'm just going to dive right in here and pretend like it hasn't been eons since I last posted something. ;)  

See, I kept thinking to myself...it's been so long since I last blogged, now it needs to be something special, something spectacular even, to make up for the long silence.  

Then I remembered...duh, I don't do spectacular.  HAHAHA. =)

At any rate, I'm back.  And if nothing else, I come armed with some pictures.  I'll be honest, most of them are doggie photos, but I'll throw in a Bugga pic just so I don't lose anyone that doesn't have as severe a case of doggie-love as we have around here.

I also cannot think of a creative way to bring the blog up to speed, so again, in the most lackluster manner I can think of, here I go...

Bailey has been adopted.  *gasp*  *awwww*  Bailey has taken her zen-chewing, patented-somersault-into-a-snuggle, high-energy, ever-happy-gal ways and moved in with a new Momma.  

I had started to truly believe I could never let her go--she was my dog--but then we met her new Momma.  It was the day of an adoption event and honestly, on the way there, I was chastising myself for being a complete fraud, an impostor.  Because I was taking Bailey to an adoption event, yet I couldn't ever see her leaving our family.  There we were, at PetSmart, when a woman walked up and peered at our group--12 dogs that day, can you believe it?!--and asked for one of the puppies.  "Figures," I thought as I directed her to the puppy pen in the middle.  No hard feelings, just everyone wants to meet the puppies and can easily look past a mature beauty like Bailey Rae.  Well, lo and behold, a short time later the woman was back and this time, she was peering only at Bailey. ;)  The questions started coming, the petting ensued, and before long it was clear there was only one dog on her mind.  

I nearly cry just thinking about it.  I cried on the way home, softly, "not a big deal, who knows if she'll follow through," I thought.  Then that night in my email inbox...the application.  That's when I bawled.  At first it was only over my own sadness and sense of loss.  But at the same time, I knew in my heart this was GOOD, so amazingly good and everything Bailey deserved and all I ever wanted for her from the moment I first saw her.

It all happened so fast, which is kind of rare.  We were leaving for WA in a matter of days and the application and reference checks and all that goes into the adoption process happened fast enough for Bailey to go her new Momma for a trial visit the night before we took off for WA.  Trial visits rock, in my opinion, for 2 reasons:  a) it doesn't feel so final that I am a basket-case saying goodbye to the dog and b) it gives the family and the dog a real chance to get to know each other and take it slow before the people commit their lives to the dog.  Because that is what we're after of course, a lifetime commitment. =)

Anyway, last weekend, it became final, Bailey was home.  She has a new family and they are so happy!!!  That's what makes it worth it and always tempers my heart-ache.  Seeing the hope in the person's eyes, the promise of love in the way they touch the dog...it is those things that convince me every time that I have to let go.  

Wow, okay, so I started typing thinking I had nothing to really say today and look at all that came pouring out.  Whew...anyway....

Here are a couple pics of all 3 girlies--Bailey, LuLu, Paisley--on their last day all together.  The girls in their little jackets:

I will forever remember our time with 3 female pitties in the house as a time of amazing joy.  Amazing in part because I never quite thought it possible to have such harmony with 3 female dogs, let alone 3 female pitties, under one roof.  Anyone that knows the breed knows what I'm talking about here. ;)

Grady with his big girls, Bailey and Paisley.

We still have Miss Luey Kabluey.  Kind of shocking since she is blue (the color du jour it would seem, in some people's minds anyway), and adorable.  When she first came, J said "you know the sad thing is that she'll probably leave us before Bailey."  Just goes to show, you never can predict how long a dog will stay in rescue. ;)

What else has been going on around here?!  Let's see...

*J has taken to making his own bread, thanks to the book Artisan bread in five minutes a day.  We couldn't recommend it more, the bread is amazing and versatile and really as easy as the title suggests.  Of course, J's bread-making also somehow cost us our baking stone as it cracked into a beautiful puzzle of jagged stone while baking a loaf of bread one night (that was fun!).

*I have been trying my hand at some other creative pursuits.  What have I learned?  My skill level is no where near what I can create in my head.  ;)  Still, here is a sweater I made for Paisley out of an old sweater that J had decided he no longer needed (I just love re-purposing things, far preferable to buying new materials if you ask me):

*Grady is a toddler.  I know, I've said it before, and I keep repeating because it just boggles my mind each and every day.  He has ditched most all remnants of his young life now.  He sits at the table just like us, unassisted by any kind of harness of booster.  He drinks out a cup exclusively at home (sippies when out of the house still).  He sits on a regular toilet seat.  Daytime diapers are a thing of the past, the way past really because he's been out of them for quite some time now but I wasn't really feeling confident enough to go blabbing it on the blog (haha).  He sleeps in a regular, full size bed.  Okay, that one is way old too, as he has been sleeping on at least a full-size mattress since his first birthday.  But still, it is amazing to me that he has yet to turn 2 and we have been able to transition out of so many of those devices and "baby items" that you use to adapt regular life to a little being.  Bugga is just getting so big and so silly and so capable that is it simultaneously entertaining, scary, heart-wrenching, and don't forget, frustrating.  Must throw that last one in, because I wouldn't be being honest if I claimed it was never frustrating to have a toddler around. ;)

Here he is, the boy himself, in case anyone forgot what he looks like. =)

So that's life around here these days.  How are you all?!  Hehe.

~Contrary to what these pictures seem to indicate, we do dress the boy from time to time.  Thought I should clear that up, in case anyone has CPS on speed dial or something.  Given the frigid temperatures in MN in winter, I wouldn't blame you, honest. ;)