Pierced Ears

After much debating in my own head, I finally decided that I wanted to get Olivia's ears pierced. (Turns out I should have asked Nick about it much sooner, because he was all for it right from the start.) Anyway, we went to the pediatrician's office this morning, and now our little baby is sporting some bling that wasn't there before. She was most upset about all the fuss the nurse was making to get the marks in just the right spot, but once the deed was done, she was back to her normal, smiling, thumb-sucking, tired self.

Before, playing with the baby in the mirror:

The trauma of the felt-tipped marker is over:

The real action begins:

All done:

Better now, almost a smile:

Rock On

I was going to post a little video of Carter "playing" the guitar. However, thanks to its apparently large file size, blogger was not cooperating with me, so you'll have to settle for a couple of still photos instead. Nick is most proud that Carter holds the guitar correctly. He even asked me the other day how early he could start teaching Carter to play for real. Hold on there Dad, one thing at a time: let's conquer the potty first.





P.S. I'm happy to report that Carter has had a haircut and [several] baths since these pictures were taken. Sheesh! Who let my kid get this dirty?

Living the Uppercase Way

My master bedroom is now a little nicer all thanks to my dear friend, Courtney. She came over last night and helped me hang up my first "expression" as they are called. What in the world am I talking about, you ask? It's called Uppercase Living. Here's a picture.


Uppercase Living is a company that makes vinyl lettering expressions that you can put on just about any solid surface (and even some that aren't so solid). Courtney hosted a UL party back in the fall, but now, she is actually a consultant herself which is probably a very dangerous thing for me and my pocketbook. (Click here for her website.) Once you see a catalog, you find all kinds of stuff you want to buy and create. They even do custom lettering expressions like a name for a child's room or one letter monogram for custom gifts. The possibilities are truly endless. I'm starting to sound like a consultant here... Well, I'm not, but you better believe I'll be hosting a party in the very near future and inviting all of my local friends to come take a look. I have no doubt you'll love it too.

The Newest Addition To Our Family

No, no. Not THAT kind of addition. A dog, silly. He came to join us right before Christmas, as if this holiday season wasn't going to be crazy enough. However, given the circumstances, we wouldn't have it any other way. Let me explain.

Nick's parents have dogs. Lots of them. 16 to be exact. That's because, Gwlynda, Nick's mom, breeds English Bulldogs - (click here for her website). Anyway, before she started breeding them, she and my father-in-law, Dave, had a couple of labs. These were the type of labs that would go camping and hiking with them and were the first ones on and last ones off the boat when we would go out to the lake. Cisco, named after my father-in-law's employer (long story for later), is the black lab, and Rock, the one I've deemed a barrel-on-short-stilts, is a chocolate. For years and years, eight to be exact, Nick and I have been begging his parents to let us have Cisco. He's the perfect dog (except for that whole getting into the trash thing, but we're workin on it). He sits, stays, swims, jumps and even smiles on command.

So, in mid-December when we were talking to Nick's mom about getting another dog (all thanks to the bug planted in my head by Abby for the yellow lab we couldn't afford), she and Dave OFFERED to let us have Cisco. I guess the stress of all those other dogs, dogs having puppies and all the work involved in breeding champions finally convinced her to let him go.

Our first dog, Sam, already loves Cisco, so the match was made in Heaven. And except for the sporadic cat growl (yes, our cat growls at things that make him uncomfortable), he's been the best little holiday present we could have asked for. Now Sam has a buddy, and Nick and I each have a black lab to keep our feet warm in the winter. And for those of you that already know Sam, don't worry... Cisco's temperament is NOTHING like Sam's This dog is actually calm. So, without further ado, here are the pics:

Love those gray hairs around his mouth.