Birthday Bonanza

We celebrated birthdays for Mimi and Bop on Sunday with a delicious lowcountry boil. Charlie made her first road trip and loved all of the extra attention she received. It was great seeing everyone again and celebrating two very special people.

Blowing out the candles. Finn stands ready to assist in case of trouble

Charlie cuddling with her aunt Paige

A rare event: the WHOLE FAMILY

The grandkids: Todd, Finn, Mary Daniel, Luke and Amber

Mimi and Bop with the grands

Life with Charlie

OK, so I finally ponied up and paid the monthly storage fee so that I can keep posting pictures to this blog. Merry Christmas everyone! Thanks for the tip, Kriya and Lauren.

Of course I am posting more pictures of this fuzzy little snow bunny. Did you really think you would get off so easily? I'm not going to lie . . . Charlie's first few nights at home were RUFF! I'm talking sleeping on the sofa, howling all night, no sleep at all kind of ruff. Finally, I drug her ginormous (borrowed) crate into our bedroom, facing Lily, and I was able to sleep through the night. Still, getting up at least once in the middle of the night to take her out. Man, I had totally forgotten that part of having a puppy. Or blocked it out of my mind? I certainly don't remember Lily being high maintenance. But, she is so cute so I forgive her. But she really needs to reset her internal clock . . . 6:00 am is NOT a desirable time to be up and at 'em if you don't have to be. 

We have had more accidents than I care to count . . . mostly on my new rugs. Obviously. 

I don't remember Lily having any accidents or howling, or waking up extra early, but then again, I was 22 when I got Lily. So there's that. If I am on top of things and watch her like a hawk, we are good, but then there is life that gets in the way, and dinner to be made and lunches to pack and legos to build and baths to give and whoopsie, there she goes AGAIN on my rug. Because if there's one thing you need after you are almost finishing renovating and furnishing your home, it's a new puppy to tear everything to shreds! 

And another thing . . .Charlie has so much energy! I think she put on a show for Donna because that was my main criteria for choosing a new puppy was that I wanted a CALM puppy. I know she was keeping it all bottled in until she got home and then she let all the crazy out. She is a wild woman--and Finn loves it. If she is awake, you better be watching her or she will find some trouble to get into, clothes, shoes, blankets, dish towels, legos, you name it, she finds it. I have to admit it though, she has breathed some much needed life into our lives.  She always keeps us on our toes. 

She is growing so fast it's hard to believe it. She had gained 9 lbs between her first and second vet appointments. She eats three times a day and prefers Lily's food to her own. She is very vocal and is NOT afraid to let you know it when she doesn't like something, or she's ready to go out, or she wants your attention. 

Lily is handling the situation very well. Some days I would say she almost likes her! Stay tuned. Many more pictures to come.

Four out of the 10 puppies are local. And one lives right next door! Our neighbors are renting the house next door to us while they renovate their new house. They have 5 year old twins, who Finn loves, and now they have Fisher, Charlie's brother. 

I hope this is the start of a beautiful friendship

She loves her some Lily

Tuckered out after her first roadtrip

Homecoming!

On October 17, we were finally able to bring our new puppy home. What, you really thought Mark had a chance of saying no? Have you seen those faces? Of course we were bringing one home. I'm pretty sure Mark secretly wanted her too. Finn and I went to pick her up and this is the puppy madness that we were greeted with! My how they grow. Puppies were everywhere, but they were so cute and snuggly and furry balls of energy. We were excited about bringing her home but I was a little sad about taking her away from her brothers and sisters and mama Caper. Plus, if I'm being honest, I was a little nervous too. It had been 11 years since Lily was a puppy and I spent the entire night before googling "how to take care of a puppy." She was a little young when we brought her home at 7 weeks, but as you can see she is huge and was fully weened. Plus, I couldn't take it any longer. I had to have her! 

 

ps not to be gross but, that is a brown stuffed animal int he far left corner, not a big pile of poop, which is kind of what it looks like

 Finn was loving all of the attention but didn't realize how much bigger the pups had gotten, plus it was 10 on 1 so he quickly took cover on some boxes.

The "last supper"

"Grandma Donna" giving her one last squeeze

She's all mine! 

I almost didn't post these pictures because I didn't realize how "ruff" I looked, but you aren't looking at me anyway, right? Look at the puppy. Please

 Lily had to sniff her out but she took right to Lily. I hope they will be fast friends

all tuckered out after a very big day.

Oh wait, I just realized I never told you her name! 

Meet Charleston Rivers Lyles or as we call her . . .

CHARLIE

Almost Time!

This is what Lily did when I told her she would be getting a little sister. I found her hiding in Finn's tepee. 

I still didn't have the go ahead from Mark but let's be honest you can't go look at these puppies and not come home a proud owner of one. At least I can't . . .

The puppies are about 5 weeks old here. Moving around, playing with each other and of course, lot's of sleeping!

A Girls AND Boys Weekend

I had a fabulously fun, festive (and short) girls weekend in DC with some of my favorite people: Amy, Mara and Alisha. I haven't seen these ladies since they visited Charleston in the spring and we were all way overdue for some RnR (and wine). We decided to visit Amy in Vienna, VA, just outside of DC, since she is a new mama of 2 now! We also wanted to welcome baby Kate into our circle of girlfriends and set a good example of her--always make time for your friends. Amy was an amazing host and had such a fun weekend planned for us. Pedicures, brunch, dinner, shopping, massages and hanging out around the fire pit. It was a much needed mini-break to reconnect and relax with each other. I'm already counting down until our next adventure together. 

Meanwhile, on an airplane across town . . .  Not to be left out, Mark planned a BIG surprise getaway for Finn to see the Spiderman musical on broadway in NYC! I should backtrack and mention that Finn has been in a big spiderman phase lately, as seen below in exhibit A. That would be his Halloween costume that was purchased in September because he had to practice being Spiderman. 

So, Mark's NYC surprise went over very well. Finn was pumped to go to NYC but most of all to have his daddy (and daddy's iPad) all to himself for an entire weekend. I didn't get a very long report on their return except that they had fun and Finn blabbed that he had eaten candy, drank coke and played on the iPad! That was probably bigger to him than seeing a Broadway show! They also visited the mega Toys-R-Us in Times Square, rode the ferris wheel, and meet up with our friends Lin, Geoff and Jackie. Boys weekend was a huge success. I'm pretty sure that I will never be able to match that one.

Oh No We Didn't

Oh yes we did. Consider yourself warned . . .there are insane amounts of cuteness in the following post. This is kind of a long story, but I will try to keep it brief. Let me reiterate, I love Lily more than any other dog (and some people) in the whole wide world. She has been the best dog, friend, companion anyone could ever ask for. I know that she will live forever but there are others out there who have a different opinion. A few years back I began to think of this (slight) possibility and think about how I will handle it and what I can do to make the transition easier. Answer: nothing. Moving on

Some of you who know me know that I have always wanted another dog . . . specifically an English Creme Golden Retriever. This dates back years. They are basically just like golden retrievers, but with an English bloodline, a stockier build and their coats remain creamy white. I have done some research over the years but the timing was never right. Plus, I made a promise to myself (and Lily) that I would never go to a kennel where they produce puppies like machines. Instead, I wanted to find one in the same situation that I had found Lily, which is to say that a really nice family with a really nice dog decided to breed her just one time with amazing results. I didn't want to ship the pup, fly or drive insane amounts of miles to get her either. Too stressful on puppy (and me). Pretty much a needle in a haystack. It wasn't something I was fixated on but rather something that would pop into my head every now and then. However, in March of this year, I found that needle in the haystack . . . pretty much in my own backyard.

Meet Caper, an English Creme Golden Retriever

I don't even know how the conversation began, but somehow a girlfriend and I got to talking about dogs and I mentioned that I had always wanted an English creme but could never find the right fit. She said that she had a friend who had an English creme and she was planning on breeding her this summer. Even better, she lived on Isle of Palms. Crazy timing? I think not. Anyway, she introduced me to her friend Donna and I went to meet Caper. We talked and I told her I was interested in a puppy, we exchanged contact information and that was that. Donna and I became friends--she is so kind and warm and talented! She owns a home accessories store here called The Southern Curator. And she also has a little boy named Finn (this was the first of many signs that I needed one of her puppies!) Months went by and I forgot about it. Then I got a text: Caper is expecting! I set about convincing Mark, Finn and Lily that we needed one of these puppies. More time passed and then on August 30, Caper had 10 (TEN) perfectly healthy, white mini-furballs. One look and I knew one of those pups was meant for us. Oh, the dad's name is Hunley, he is a big beautiful English creme from Silvermine Kennel in Kentucky. 

The best thing about having the pups so close was that I could go see them pretty much anytime I wanted. It was amazing to be able to watch them grow and change over the first 8 weeks of their lives. These next pictures are from our first visit to see the pups at about 2 weeks. We ended up picking the girl with the lavender collar and it's funny to see pictures of her before we even knew she was ours. Donna was so gracious, letting me come over every single week to sit with, hold and love on those puppies.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!