Mabel Update (in Instagram)

Today Mabel, our basset puppy and newest member of our family, is 17 weeks old!  It's crazy to think that she's only been in our lives a little over two months.  Life with Mabel has had its ups and downs.  She had a lot of health issues when we first got her: worms, ear mites, fleas, etc.  Combine that with all the puppy vaccines and our vet bills were definitely not fun.  She's also still struggling with her potty training, and other things like jumping and chewing on things she shouldn't (i.e. my winter hat, Cheese's harness, rocks, mulch...).  She's also a wild, little ball of energy, more so than Cheese ever was, or at least that's how it feels!

But man, oh man, does she melt my heart.  Those big brown eyes and her utter silliness just slay me.  She loves to chase her tail like it's out to get her and she will very often roll around in Cheese's dog bed (by herself) and growl and do somersaults!  She is definitely a mama's girl and will curl up on my lap like a cat...but then, true to her puppy-nature, the next second she's flying off my lap to investigate the cat or to crawl up Antoine and put her face in his face.  She's also quite fond of climbing on the back of the sofa, like Gui used to do when he was a kitten.  She's a little weirdo, but I love her!

Project 365: Days 13-28

Hi there!  It's been awhile, I know.  Life has been a little crazy lately and editing photos has been the last thing on my mind.  Here's my second installment from the photo-a-day project I started at the beginning of the year, which unfortunately I've already abandoned.  While taking a photo a day was a good challenge in that it pushed me to take photos and get more familiar with my camera settings, I wasn't finding it very enjoyable.  Instead, it was mainly just stressing me out and I really wasn't into what I was taking photos of, so the photos themselves felt disingenuous. Also, since I'm really struggling to keep up with editing the photos I take of things I actually enjoy taking photos of (the woods, flowers, fun stuff, etc) having even more photos that technically need to go to the front of the line even though I really don't feel like editing them is not ideal.  So, yeah, mid February I gave up.  Oh well, at least I gave it a shot and found out it was just not for me.

Day 13:  Our dining room curtains, which might look slightly familiar since they used to live in our guest bedroom.  Guillermo has been scratching at this window perch in the dining room and scratched up the existing curtains in the process, so I thought these would look nice in the room (plus I was never really in love with them in the guest bedroom).

Day 14:  Silly Cheese rolling around on the floor and then he and Mabel playing around.

 

Day 15:  Guillermo on his window perch, as the sun is starting to set.

Day 16:  Pioneer Woman's chicken piccata with angel hair pasta for dinner.  It's one of our favorite dishes that's in my personal recipe book, but I hadn't made it in a long time.  This wasn't my best version of it, but still very lemony, which is all that matters.

Day 17:  Pretty flowers from Antoine, because he's a sweetheart!

 
Day 18:  Cheese actually tolerating Mable AND posing for a picture, unheard of!

Day 19:  Antoine is known for the delicious breakfasts that he makes.  Seriously, they are amazing.  Occasionally I will make a fruit salad to go along with it.  This particular one had apples, pears, nectarines, strawberries, blackberries, mango, and starfruit.  Mmm!

Day 20:  One of the things currently on our chalkboard wall in the dining room is a list of some of the places we want to travel to in the near future.  This year for our anniversary we'll be crossing off Banff, and I so excited about it because it's been on my personal list for a long time!

Day 21:  The makings of Antoine's famous hash during on of our "breakfast for dinner" nights.

Day 22:  The mini-gnome that lives in front of our house underneath one of our forsythia.

Day 23:  Throughout all the work on our gas lines that went on for months, the construction guys dug several holes in our front yard.  While some were filled with soil and topped with grass seed and straw, this one, which is right next to our driveway, was filled with sand.  So it's basically a giant litter box in our front yard for all the neighborhood strays.

Day 24:  Some of the glasses on our open shelves in the dining room.

Day 25:  Some sweet white sangria wine from Cooper Hawk with some tasty strawberries as a little nightcap.

Day 26:  Vicious little basset baby teeth!

Day 27:  It's dangerous that I have a husband who brings home tasty treats when he knows that I've had a bad day.  So very dangerous!

Day 28:  Random shots from our backyard, featuring the trace amounts of snow that we had gotten and hadn't managed to melt yet.

I think I've still got another round of these Project 365 photos, but who knows if I'll ever get around to uploading them and editing them, seeing as how I still have photos to edit from November and December of last year.  Oh and I still have a ton of photos I haven't even uploaded yet, let alone even thought of editing.  Anyway, until next time...

Little Mabel (on Instagram) & Goals for 2015

I thought I'd share some of the many, many, many photos I've been posting of Mabel on Instagram.  I just can't seem to help myself.

 From the night we brought Mabel home.

 Cheese starting to warm up to Mabel. It's been a slow adjustment for him, but there are moments when I think he's actually really enjoying having someone to play with.  Hopefully their bond grows more each day. 

 They've definitely got the whole cohabitating on the couch thing down!  Now I'm just holding my breath until they snuggle up in Cheese bed together...

 Cheese has decided to take possession of all of Mabel's toys (and has destroyed several of them).  Mabel doesn't seem to mind, in fact she'll play with anything including Cheese's lobster, which is as big as her!  And she loves playing with Gui's cat toys, especially the ones with jingle balls! 

 Look at those eyes!

 She's great at being my lap warmer while I read in the morning.  She's also really great at chewing the corners of my book...which I am not so keen about! 

 Oh, come on!

 It's hard to get up and do dishes when you're trapped under a baby basset.

There's just too much cute in this photo, I don't know what to focus on!  That "what'd you say, mom" expression, that belly, or those little crossed legs?  

It's almost the new year and while I hate making big resolutions because I usually always break them here's a short list of what I'm going to strive to do in 2015:

1. Participate in Project 365 - take a photo every day during 2015.  I really want to use my camera more, get to know its settings better, and sharpen my skills.  This is going to be a tough one since I'm notoriously lazy, but I figure even if half the photos I take are pictures of my fur-babies at least it's something!
2. Read at least a book a month in 2015 - This might not seem like a big feat to the average person, but for someone with a reading disability who doesn't have a ton of spare time to read this is going to be a challenge.  But I think it's a good one to take on.
3. Continue to do the things that make me happy - baking/cooking, taking photos, being crafty & making books, etc.  It might seem like an easy goal...and yeah, maybe it is.  But I still think it's a good one.

How about you, any goals/resolutions for 2015?  Any fun plans for tonight?  I've never been one to celebrate the New Year in any traditional form and in previous years I've often slept through it!  This year Antoine and I are planning to go see a movie and then spend our day enjoying our time off together.  Anyway, happy New Year everyone!

Mabel: The Newest Addition to Our Family

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram then you already know that Antoine and I added a new member to our fur-family just before Christmas.  Her name is Mabel and she's a 9 week old basset hound.  We've been thinking about getting another basset puppy for years, but the timing was never right.  But since I have all of this week off  from work we thought Xmas might be the perfect time to get a puppy so I can be home to train her and get her adjusted to our household and her new family.

Our little stocking-stuffer!  We just couldn't resist the urge to put her in a stocking and take pictures...it's just too cute!

Me and a very sleepy Mabel.

After we took her out of the stocking she immediately fell asleep (with back legs crossed like a proper lady) and then we noticed this was stuck to her butt! 

We've had her for almost a week now and I'll admit it hasn't been the easiest week.  The first couple days were really rough: tons of accidents, nonstop crying/whining, and very, very little sleep for Antoine and I.  When we got Cheese he was the last of the litter and was almost a month older than Mable.  He slept all the time and potty training him was a breeze.  Since Mabel was weened only a week or two before we got her she obviously had some separation anxiety from her mother.  But each day gets better, she sleeps more and more during the night, she's stopped whining and whimpering for the most part, and her potty training has greatly improved.  She is very smart and a very quick learner, so I don't doubt that she'll progress even more this week!  She already knows her name, knows to go to the door if she wants to go potty, that she has to wait for me to put on/take off her leash, and how to go up and down our front steps!

It's been a definite adjustment for Cheese and Guillermo, as well.  We expected Guillermo to hide at first and be standoffish, which he has been, but I expected Cheese to be more excited.  He has been cautious and even a little grumpy about the new addition, though each day does seem to get better and better.  He'll even lay with her on the couch now, as long as she doesn't lay on him...he's not a fan of that yet.   I don't doubt that with time he'll come to love his little sister and the two will become inseparable.  At least we're already half way there, she's crazy about him and follows him everywhere!  Baby steps, I guess.  Literally!

Until the next Mabel update, happy Monday everyone!