30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude (Day 10-16)

I'm a little behind the times. I planned on posting this Saturday, but we got a new-to-us computer and my dad was busy setting it up. I find posting on my iPhone difficult, time consuming, and totally not worth it, so I waited and am now EXTREMELY grateful for this wonderful gift. I might not be out of the stone ages completely, but people - I HAVE A MONITOR THAT DOESN'T TAKE UP OVER HALF OF MY DESK! Woooohoooo! That's something for which I can most definitely be grateful. It makes this "job" of posting and publishing that much more enjoyable.

Day 10 was "Nature" and as I was walking around looking for a good nature shot I realized that my flower garden still has blooms! It was beautiful, because colorful leaves had found a resting place in and around this particular plant and I found myself (once again) grateful for fall and all the colors.

After taking that shot I found myself wishing I had a worthy camera, and although that isn't a bad thing to wish for, I also chastised myself a tad. Instead of being grateful for the camera on my iPhone that does take remarkably good pictures considering, I was wishing for something else. Thank you Lord for providing me with the iPhone and all it's capabilities.

Day 11 was "Something Old" and this one wasn't hard. I display these antique books used by teachers and students from the 1800's and early 1900's. Occasionally I'll gingerly open the pages and peak at the handwriting, names and dates. They're falling apart, but it's so interesting to see what qualifies as "early readers" today vs back then. We are far, far, far behind the times. My 7th graders would've struggled with a 3rd grade reader. Makes me sad.

Day 12 was "Hands" and this one was a no brainer. I picked an old picture JUST because I loved my little Beans hands in it from the moment I took it.

Day 13 was "Written Words" and I chose John 21:25 for many reasons: 1. When my friend Deb pointed it out to me it blew my mind and I've been thinking about it ever since. 2. I'm studying the book of John with a high school student who asked me to help her learn God's Word and study it correctly. Since we started with John it's been at the forefront of my brain these last few months. 3. Our Pastor Hod taught chapter 6 of John to us in church one Sunday morning and it.blew.me.away. and I'm forever in awe over what the Bible is teaching me. Wow.

I wrote: "Wow! What He reveals to us is all we need to know for the moment. He gave us this 1 book for here and now." The way John states that last paragraph is so matter-of-fact and simple, "I suppose..." and the thought that the world could not contain the books had everything Jesus did been written down - blows me away (yup, that's a common occurrence as I study the Bible). It makes me wonder what we'll be learning in eternity. If one paragraph in the Bible "blows my mind" I imagine we'll be spending all of eternity learning about our great and awesome God. Seriously can't wait.

Day 14 was "Movement" and I captured Kyle playing tug-of-war with Quigley (his favorite game). Quigley is so strong!

Day 15 was "Technology" and I chose the keyboard. I'm forever grateful for the computer and keyboard, it's makes writing a breeze! The keyboard was a fantastic invention for all writers. It's much faster than a pen and paper and the delete button is so much easier than repairing mistakes on a typewriter. I'm thankful for the ease I can write up a blurb about -whatever-whenever- I want.

 

Day 16 (today) was "Animals" and I have 2 dogs that will forever crack me up, keep me on my toes, and show me the true meaning of unconditional love: Marley and Quigley. Marley doesn't believe he's a dog or that he's small. Quigley, on the other hand, doesn't understand how big he really is, therefore, Marley is the dominant one who is forever bullying poor Quigley. Cracks.Me.Up.

Marley (in an attempt to show dominance?) likes to sit on Quigley. Despite how difficult this is for him, he insists on doing it. The logic doesn't make sense to me, but this is a glimpse into the world of Marley. Haha.

Tomorrow (Day 17) is "Memories" and I'm really going to have to think on this one. There could be a ton of options here.... hmmmmm... I have a lot to be grateful for, so stay tuned, and join me on this photo gratitude challenge. It's never too late to start!

My Little Bean [13 Months!]

I am in awe of what she's picked up this last month! (Bear with me because everything she does is so irresistibly adorable to me that I think everyone on God's planet earth wants to hear about it.) I don't apologize for that. She is definitely loved.

This month she's picked up how to sign please and thank you. Haha, she says please for everything now because I think she's figured out it'll get her what she wants. Great.

This girl is an eater, she always has been, but she seriously wants to eat all the time (constantly signing for "more"). I'm not sure she has a favorite anything because one day she won't eat strawberries (for example) and the next day that's all she wants to eat.

Pancake and Egg. She was saying, "mmmmmmm..."

Her favorite place to be is outside. She's figured out that a jacket and shoes means that's where we're going and she gets so so excited. If she's a grumpy mess - outside we go! She's a different child in the great outdoors.

She LOVES  books. We read a book after breakfast and lunch and I'll usually find her sitting in the turtle (a pool flotation device) talking and giggling and turning the pages. She amazes me really because she holds them with reverence and gets so irritated if she can't turn the pages (who knew that'd be a difficult task at times).

She is really good at expressing frustration. It reflects how I react in moments of frustration: clinched fists, a growl, pouting, &etc. I don't know that I've ever been frustrated enough to do that in front of her (I probably have) but she's obviously watching me or she is very much my daughter, in which case I've got my work cut out for me. I've realized that I must become more intentional in the words that I say and the things that I do, because my daughter is going to repeat them. Oy.

She kisses her reflection in the full length mirror. I have yet to get this on film, every time I pull out my camera she stops. Dang it.

She scraped up her forehead and nose when she tried to run down our cement driveway. Poor girl. She's pretty good at this whole walking thing, but is still pretty wobbly.

If she loves something, it gets an aw-aw-aw: her blankie's, toys, food, mommy's legs (I'll be doing dishes and get a little Bean at my feet, squeezing my legs and repeating "aw-aw-aw" over and over again as she pats me, reducing my heart to a puddle on the floor.), poor Marley gets chased all day in a desperate attempt to give him loves...

So we put him in the crib with Bean and she took advantage, notice how he's loving all the attention? Hehe.

This is my "my-heart-is-reduced-to-a-puddle-on-the-floor" look.

She has an obsession with stuffed animals and their noses. She'll give the little toy aw-aw-aw's and then pick at the nose. Her Minnie Mouse has chunks missing from her little nose because I'm also pretty sure she chews on her! LOL.

Daddy gets aw-aw-aw's the moment he walks through the door. It's another heart on the floor moment, I'm going to have nothing left if she keeps doing this to me! ;) Quigley would get more aw-aw-aw's if he wasn't trying to lick her as she's simultaneously trying to give him loves. Those two crack me up.

Recently cousin Alexi has decided that she "loves Brielle so much that she's a sister" (she told her mommy she loves Brielle too much to be a cousin). (Did you say "AW!" out loud while reading that?)

These two are pretty cute. I have a feeling they're going to be BFF's.

Every where we go she makes a bee-line for wheeled toys AND makes a "brrrrrmmmmm" noise as she pushes it across the floor. I've never understood why until I watched her daddy playing with her, pushing around trucks making corresponding noises. This girl is a daddy's girl. I should've known! (By the way, I LOVE that.)

In my thankful journal this week I wrote about how amazing it is to listen to these two play as I was making dinner the other night. He is such an incredible father and I thank God for blessing me with them both, every day.

She LOVES dressing up. We put "pretties" in her hair (which she whispers "pre-pre-pre") and I gave her a bucket with necklaces and bracelets. It's hilarious to watch her put them on, for the longest time she didn't understand how to get the necklace over her head, so she stuck it under her chin and kept her chin down trying so hard to keep it on, now she's got it down. She holds her hand up in the air when she wears a bracelet and gets so frustrated when it falls off. She has this adorable little Minnie Mouse back pack that she insists on wearing all day, so cute. Also, her outfit is not complete without a "pre-pre-pre" in her hair. I'll get her all dressed up and say, "Oh, Brielle you look so pretty!" and she'll start patting her hair and -whispering- "pre-pre-pre" (seriously, she'll only say "pre-pre-pre" in a whisper).

It's so weird to think that I have this little girl who walks and talks (in her own little language) and is learning and changing and growing right before my eyes. I feel so incredibly blessed to be her mommy.

A Shout Out to My CrAaaAaaAAAAzy Quigley

Instead of becoming less crazy, Quigley has instead added weird quirks. However, as he adds to his craziness, he has also become one heck of a dog, that deserves a BIG SHOUT OUT. Let me tell you why:

Quigley knows that if it's Brielle's he'd better leave it alone. She loves to give him her food, right from the table. BIG no-no, for Brielle and Quigley. He's not allowed to take it unless we tell him he can and Brielle is not allowed to feed the dogs from the table. The rule for the dogs is that they're supposed to "GO LAY DOWN" as we're eating. When given permission they come over and clean up the disaster under her high chair. Here's what we're currently working on: Brielle LOVES to play with the dog dishes, but Quigley knows that if Brielle touches it, he cannot have it. So when Quigley is eating Brielle has this obsession with playing with his food. When she touches it, Quigley follows the rule "GO LAY DOWN!" (Impressive, right?!) I'll tell Brielle "No!" and he'll come back over to eat, but it takes A LOT of convincing on my part before Quigley understands it's okay. Oh my goodness, he's such a good dog! I feel so bad for him when this happens, so Brielle is usually in bed or in her high chair (unable to crawl to his bowl) when I feed them.

Brielle + Quigley = BFF's. Where ever there's a Quigley, there's a Monster Bean. If Quigley is looking out the window, Brielle is looking out the window. If Brielle is playing with a toy, Quigley is right there, staring longingly at it, wanting to play with it too. If Brielle and I are walking in the yard, Quigley is RIGHT THERE walking beside us. They're two peas in a pod.

He buries his stuff. Which is kinda annoying when you go in the back yard and see the gazillion holes he's dug, but it's hilarious when Kyle finds a rawhide under his pillow (seriously).

I know he'll protect me. We were at my sisters condo in Winter Park hanging out, when her hubby and Kyle walk through the door. Jokingly I told Marley and Quigley to "Get 'em!" (Mistake.) Quigley's hair was raised and he went after them, once he realized it was Kyle, he was all good, but I won't say that unless I'm really needing him to "Get 'em!" If you're reading this, I have a gun and I have a Quigley. If you break into my house with the intention of hurting anyone in my family (including Quigley) you. will. be. meeting. your Maker.

It takes a day to learn something new. It took a day to learn the term "LEAVE IT!" (We practiced with treats and toys.) It took a day to learn the command "COME!" It took one evening, yes... one, for him to learn that he needed to "GO LAY DOWN!" during meal time. He is smart and he wants to please.

Brielle LOVES to ride on him. He loves it too. He'll just run around while I'll hold Brielle on his back and he'll turn around and lick her to death. She just giggles non-stop. CUTE.

Quigley LOVES visitors. I cannot get him to stop licking anyone I invite inside. Ugh. He reminds me of that dog from Up, "I just met you and I love you."

When I blog, he's under the desk hanging out with me. (Or trying to sit in my lap. He's an 80 pound-ish hefty monster so this is impossible, but he continues to try.)

Marley beats him up. Not kidding. We're constantly yelling at Marley for bullying him. Poor Quigles.

Here's why I'm telling you this. You see, we know Quigley is a lab/bully breed of some sort. We know that wherever we go there will be a prejudice against this crazy, but well-behaved, loveable, desperately-wanting-to-please, lick, lick, lick-crazed, baby protecting, smart dog. People see him and they're instantly terrified, and I get that... he's big and muscular (same goes with humans, it's so hard to not have this momentary feeling of desperation when you see a guy dressed in all black, hood up, pants sagging...), but give him a chance. I have a feeling that he is going to be one of those dogs that leave the biggest impact on my life, my husbands life and mostly my daughters life. We love this crazy dog to death (Marley will never admit this, but he loves him too).

The Lone Pea Plant vs. Crazy Quigley

If you haven't figured it out from my post a long, long time ago that Quigley is crazy, well, just know that stories involving this sweet, HUGE, goober of a dog will always be interesting.

To our everlasting frustration Quigley is a digger. If he has something that he likes, his way of keeping it is by burying it, thus it is hidden in his mind. I'll find random rawhides, for example, "hidden" (or "buried") in corners and couch cushions throughout the house. Welllllll, I made the mistake of putting my little potted garden by the hose in the backyard.

He dug in my peas.

We decided to smooth out the dirt and just wait. If I didn't have peas, I'd replant them. To my surprise they survived (they're a jumbled mess, but I'm not going to complain! It's an easy fix.).

This weekend my father came up to visit us and as we're BEEEEELAXIN (what my 3 year old nephew Gary calls relaxing) on the back porch, Poppy looks over and hmmmm's... "that looks like a pea plant!"

And lo and behold, in one of Quigley's holes, there's a lone pea plant in our backyard. We laughed about this for a while.

I decided to keep this lone pea plant there as a reminder of this crazy dog, who can irritate the fire out of me, and yet bring so much joy and laughter into our home and is most definitely teaching me a valuable lesson in patience.

I was trying to get a picture with him and Brielle but he was only interested in giving me kisses or sitting in my lap (we haven't told him that he's not Marley sized and we haven't told Marley, who's a miniature rat terrier, that he's not Quigley sized. Oi.)

CraaaAaaAzzy Quigley, Part 2

Quigley has been particularly crazy since my last post (CraaaAaaAzzzzzy Quigley) and I had to share his latest....

• He loves to stand in front of heaters with his mouth open, breathing in the warm air. I had to spent a significant portion of the day teaching him that it's not ok to sleep RIGHT up against the space heater.
• He also loves rattles. I had to put all of Brielle's toys that we play with periodically through the day in a tub, (and make sure they are always picked up when we are done) with a lid, because he'll take them and shake his head around vigorously.
• He is a HUGE fan of anything FEET. If you walk by him he believes that it is an invitation to play and will shove his head between your knees and attack your feet. His new thing is to hide under the bed and attack your feet as you walk by. He also loves shoes, socks and slippers. He has yet to destroy anything (ok, the insole of Kyle's right slipper has seen better days) but if we're missing a sock or shoe we always know to look in his kennel where he "stores" them. He's been known to take the socks right off Brielle's feet. She doesn't seem to mind this in the slightest, but his obsession is getting out of control. So Kyle took some old beat up socks, tied knots in them, and gave them to Quigley. He's in heaven.
• If Quigley likes something that he doesn't want to share, he'll "bury" it. I'll find rawhides under the rugs, blankets and pillows. It's absolutely HILARIOUS to watch him bury something in the house. He'll use his nose and paws to "keep it hidden" which of course, it's not.
• Lately he will shimmy himself under the bed in the basement guest room, bark, growl and whine at whatever is under there (which is nothing, cause I've looked). He'll sprint under the bed, make a significant amount of noise, fly out from under the bed, sprint around the bed and into the family room, and he does all of this with his ears back and tail tucked (which I'm guessing is a tactic he uses to increase speed).
• Marley, who looks like a midget dog compared to Quigley, displays his dominance daily by sitting ON him. Quigley could care less. In fact, MARLEY gets in trouble for nipping at Quigley's ears, making him cry! So much for Quigley being the bigger, more dominant male dog.
• If I'm sweeping, I'll find Quigley with a dust bunny hanging from his mouth, which scatters the pile everywhere, causing me to start all over.
• He is a quick littler learner as well. It didn't take him long to learn to sit and lay down. We're still working on the ability to stay - he gets SO EXCITED! He also does very, very well on a leash. Better than Marley.... We're so glad that Quigley is the opposite of Marley's stubborn behavior, because we couldn't handle it if he was. Quigley is so laid back. Marley is high strung and doesn't understand that when he gets himself all worked up over something (like the mailman) Quigley INSTANTLY wants to play, which frustrates the HECK out of Marley, who hides under tables and growls at him. Quigley, in the mean time, has his butt up in the air, whining, and wagging his tail, ready to play, which was never Marley's intention. Poor Quigley, he just doesn't get it.

Quiggles (yes, we occasionally call him that) is such a goofy, crazy dog and we love him! Kyle and I laughed at whatever crazy thing he was doing the other night and commented that we are so glad we picked the name Quigley, it just suits him! He most definitely brings a whole new level of entertainment to our home.

CraaAaaAzzzzy Quigley

Kyle came home one evening telling me that some friends of ours in town had a puppy randomly show up in their back yard with no intentions of leaving. They have two dogs of their own, a three year old and a newborn, so they had their hands plenty full already. They called the police hoping someone had reported a missing dog... nada. They called the pound hoping they'd have more success finding someone to adopt this adorable pup, but pounds are overflowing and their policy is that if the owner does not claim the dog within three days he would be euthinized. That yanked at our heart strings and we decided to give this dog a home. We took him wondering if this was going to work out. After all, we have a needy dog of our own. Marley's a spoiled rotten brat. AND we have a two month old. Kyle was worried if I'd be ok taking care of a newborn and training a new puppy. So we made no promises in keeping him around. Plus, we're trying to get rid of expenses not tack them on! We know this dog is going to be BIG so we guessed we'd be plunking down at least $50 a month for food, not to mention vet expenses (he definitely needs to get those balls chopped off... poor guy), and shots, etc. etc. There were a lot of big "IF's"...

However, that all changed once we got to know this silly dog! He's so laid back and sensitive. So far he's been a breeze to train, only having a few accidents in the house. I laughed so hard one night because he was sprinting as fast as he could to the back door, with his legs spread apart, crying and dribbling the entire way. He gobbles down the water so it's no wonder he barely made it, and when he does pee its his own small pond. He's getting it.

He thinks he's a lap dog. If I'm on the floor, he's right there wanting to be in my lap.

If I'm sitting down, he's right there wanting to play. Placing his head on my lap, nudging the book, licking, licking, licking, grunting, crying, bringing a toy (hint! hint!), trying to steal my slippers... it's all really irritating until I look down into his sweet little puppy eyes.

We had to teach him NOT to lick Brielle. If Brielle's on my lap, he wants to be RIGHT there checking her out. If she's in her swing he puts his big head right in her lap and just stares. He sat in the back of the truck with her on the way to Kyle's parent's house for Thanksgiving and we look back to see Quigley's head on her car seat, watching her like a hawk. He constantly wants to lick her hands (which she wants to put in her mouth all the time) so that had to be stopped immediately. But it was reassuring to see him being so gentle with her!

He chases Marley around the house. Marley is NOT a fan. He hides where ever he finds a spot Quigley cannot or will not go. Like behind doors or down the stairs.

He's scared to death of the stairs. I can totally understand why since he biffed it going up the one step onto our porch. He seriously landed flat on his face. My neighbors probably heard me giggling over that one.

He's still rather clumsy, constantly tripping over his enormous paws!

He doesn't seem to mind cats. I took him to a farm where he met them (I think for the first time). He's so curious about everything, so he was doubly curious about these silly looking creatures.

The thing is, we learned all this stuff within the first week of knowing him and we were hooked. We still hadn't named him (for fear of getting really attached) but he was beginning to respond to "PUPPY!" so we picked a name. We were randomly calling out names, trying to decide what fit and what we both agreed on.... here was our  "potential" list:

Moose (cause he seriously looks like a gangly moose!)
Thor (cause we know he's going to be BIG and his bark LOUD)
Quigley (cause we guessed that he had been on some kind of adventure, like Quigley Down Under!)
Shiloh (cause we both like the book, lol)
Optimus (to go along with Gorgatron - Marley's weird nickname given by Kyle's friends!)

I really liked Moose, but Kyle thought it was "okay". Thankfully we both really liked Quigley. Plus, it just fits his crazy, laid back personality.

He already has a stocking that I can't wait to fill with all kinds of toys to chew. He can definitely entertain himself as long as he has a chew toy. So far he's a fan of ropes. Those seem to be his favorite, especially when Kyle and I play tug of war with him.

We can't leave anything on the floor. He's already destroyed a hair clip, rattle, one of Kyle's slippers (eeek!), and a blanket (just the tag).... The baskets that are on the floor, under the coffee table, used to have neatly tied bows on them. He decided he didn't like that too much. No more bows.

As far as what type of dog he is we're not sure. We're guessing he's a mix of lab and bulldog. We've even thrown around lab and boxer. He has a pit bull face, so maybe lab and pitbull? We don't know, but we have an appointment with the vet this week so hopefully he'll be able to be more precise. We know he's lab and something. Whatever he is, he's a keeper. I don't think Marley agree's just yet, but yesterday he did play with him for a whole five seconds, until he realized I was watching.... ;) I have a feeling they'll be best buds someday. It may take a while (cause Marley's super stubborn) but Quigley already worships the ground Marley walks on - doing EVERYTHING he does (goodie) - and knowing Marley's personality I think he'll appreciate having him around, just like we do! He brightens up my day with his goofy, nutty personality. He fits right in!

I can't wait to see what life has in store for this crazy dog. I'm almost 100% positive I'll have stories to share and things to write about the crazy stuff Quigley does.