October 26, 2012 - admin

Big brother Baxter

All day yesterday Baxter moped around the house. He would flop himself down at my feet and let out a big sigh, or just sit and stare at me with sad doggy eyes. I actually texted Chris at work to ask if he had fed Baxter before leaving for work because I thought for sure Baxter was trying to communicate something important to me! “Baxter, bark twice if your daddy didn’t feed you today”! No response, he just sat and stared. Didn’t even play with his toys!

Today it finally dawned on me that in all the hullaboo surrounding our new family addition (Charlotte, of course) I forgot about our first born dog’s birthday! Baxter turned 2 yesterday – EEK! I feel bad that we let it pass by, but he knows we love him regardless. Extra apple slices for you today buddy!

You can read about last year’s celebration HERE and about how Baxter dog became a member of the family HERE.

Baxter is a very good dog. I can’t say that he meets all of my ‘dog requirements’ (If you’re really nosy, they are listed in the link above) but he certainly tries and by the time he started barking and shedding a bit I was already hooked – there was no going back.

Baxter is a very good big brother to Charlotte. Very protective and super calm around her, though he is always on high alert and nervous that every squirrel, mail man, and leaf blowing by is trying to break into our house and he must bark loud enough to alert everyone on the street.

“What’s that smell? I thought I was the only mess maker in the house”.

Happy Birthday Baxter – We are so glad you’re part of our family!

October 25, 2011 - Oh Happy Daze

Baxter Turns One!

You remember our little doggy Baxter?

He turned ONE today!

I wrote about our adventure in getting him and how we decided on his name here.

We have tried to be very good parents to Baxter by exposing him to a lot of experiences, taking him to obedience classes, and working on training (like roll over, sit, stay, etc.).

He has grown up so fast, but is still very much a puppy (thank goodness).

To celebrate I made a special hat for the birthday boy. Of course, he was scared of it at first. Not to worry, I practically have a bachelors degree in psychology (jk, I really do), but I never thought I’d be using it on my dog (and maybe occasionally my husband).

I allowed Baxter to engage (a speech therapist term, for sure) with the hat on his own terms – you know, sniffing and stalking around it for a few minutes. I also let him play with it in the car on the way to the ‘photo-shoot’ (AKA: my parent’s house).

By the time we were ready for some pictures he didn’t even bat an eyelash when I stretched that elastic over his head. So proud to wear his birthday hat.

Of course, we let him run around my parent’s house, harassing the goats and nephews.

It makes me a little nervous to let him off his leash with so much un-fenced space to run, but he always comes running when I call his name…and that makes me so proud that he is such a good listener!

October 22, 2011 - admin

Fall at the Farm

My friend Tiffany and sister Melissa both brought their boys to ‘Papa and Honey’s farm’ to run off some energy and play with the animals. I used the opportunity to practice my photography skills on my nephews (even some in full manual mode!) and wrangled Baxter into a photo shoot for something coming up next week… here’s a bit of a sneak peek:

I was sad that the sun went behind the trees so quickly.

Hunter was ready for fall in his adorable skeleton shirt.

Papa’s bees. I can’t wait for that honey!

Bubbles will capture any child’s attention, no matter how young or old.

‘Papa moo’ is N. speak for “I wanna see Papa’s goats”

Checking for chicken eggs.

Feeding acorns to the goats. Hunter didn’t want to let go of his ‘treasures’.

Just two boys playing with leaves, and acorns and sticks.

What an eventful day, and I bet every one of my nephews (and adopted nephew, Hunter) is sleeping soundly from their busy day.

FALL is for FAMILY and FRIENDS!

June 14, 2011 - Oh Happy Daze

Baxter learns to swim

Memorial day weekend we went to a good friend’s house to hang out and swim in their pool. They have a little Maltese, Buster, who is basically Baxter’s best friend (aside from Chris – he is always at Chris’ heels). Anyway, we get Buster and Baxter together for a little play-date whenever we can.

Baxter is an instigator and rarely gives Buster a break while we are over there. During one of their ten-thousand laps around the pool Buster seemed to zig right while Baxter, who was doing the chasing, zigged left…straight into the pool. He tried his hardest to come to a halt before he went over the edge, but it was futile and he plunged in head first. I screamed and ran over, almost jumping in to save him (with my camera around my neck).

Then I remembered he’s a dog. and that he can swim. crisis averted.