More Barkley

Barkley quickly settled into life with us. Since he was still little and didn't have all his puppy shots he stayed inside a lot. He'll eventually be more of an outside dog than an inside dog, but I have to admit I have really enjoyed all the puppy time he's had in the house :) 

He LOVED jumping in my mustard greens. Normally, he'd get into trouble for jumping in the garden, but we were about to till these up anyway so I let him have fun. If he tries this in the summer garden, it'll be a different story though...

Sleeping on Eli's rug

Barkley earned the name "Mr. Pee Pants" after all the bathroom accidents he had, so Eli thought it would be funny to put some underwear on him. Barkley was less than thrilled. 

I'm partial but I think his coloring is just beautiful!

We discovered that he loves to sit in our lounge chairs by the pool. We find him like this a lot in the mornings after we let him outside. 

He still took lots of puppy naps :)

Isn't he just the cutest?

He also LOVES going on road trips. He was my passenger on a Sonic Happy Hour drink run. He was pretty pleased that he got to sit up front :)

Stay tuned for more Barkley pictures. He's definitely full of character :)

Barkley

On February 15th, our family grew by four feet...canine feet that is :) When Maggie passed away in November we didn't make any plans to get another pet anytime soon. We decided to just take it one day, one week, one month at a time and enjoy being together as a family. Occasionally, I would look through the Facebook page of pets at the local animal shelter that needed a forever home. I also found some websites selling golden retrievers but none of them were in our price range, so I started telling myself that another golden probably wouldn't happen. 

Then came President's Day...Josh spent the day off from work and well, if you know Josh then you know that the man can research like no one else. He will go from one website to another and just digest incredible amounts of information when he is researching something he wants to buy. He just happened to look at one of the websites selling golden retriever puppies and saw that there was a litter that had been marked down to a reasonable price. He called and inquired about the litter and talked to the breeder for quite some time. He found out that they were only about 2 hours away from where we lived and that there was one male left in the litter. The breeder sent Josh several photos of the puppies and we both agreed that we wanted to try a male this time. While I'm teaching at school that morning, Josh keeps sending me texts and pictures of all the puppies. I was so excited about the thought of getting another puppy, but more than that I was so excited about Eli having a puppy that would be his. 

We decided to keep it a surprise from Eli and just told him that we were going on a road trip after school on Wednesday. He didn't get to take a nap at school that day because we dismissed early so he crashed pretty quickly once we were in the car and slept the entire way there. When we pulled up to the house where the breeder lived, Eli woke up but couldn't figure out where we were. I decided to play a little trick on him and pointed to some chickens that were in the yard and told him that we had decided to get some chickens. The catch was that he had to go capture the one he wanted to be his. That sweet boy started unbuckling his seat belt because he was so excited about trying to go catch his chicken. I had to quickly tell him that really wasn't why we were there and then we drove to the back where the puppies were. The look on his face when he realized that he was going to get a puppy was priceless! It was the sweetest thing ever! 

The breeder let the puppies out of the pen and we watched them run around, jump, climb, play and have fun together. We showed Eli which one was the boy and he tried his best to catch him but he was really fast. He had lots of fun chasing all the puppies around while we talked to the breeder. We got all the paperwork and then it was time to load up and drive home. Eli couldn't wait to hold his puppy in his lap :)

While we were driving home we started thinking of names for our newest family member. I had originally thought we were going to name him Jake, but Eli didn't like that name. Josh liked Champ but Eli didn't like that one either. I started to think of the names of golden retrievers from different movies I'd seen and remembered that Tom Hanks had a golden retriever named Barkley in the movie "You've Got Mail." I threw out the name Barkley and Eli loved it, so it was official...we had a Barkley.

We stopped by Tractor Supply Company to pick up a kennel, collar, water/food bowls, and a chew toy for Barkley. We brought Barkley inside with us since it was a pet friendly store :) We quickly learned that Barkley loves to be held and cuddled. He was so snuggly. 

When we got home, we set up his kennel and it was time for everyone to go to bed. For his first night,  Barkley did pretty well. He barked and whined until about midnight but then he seemed to settle down for the night. He did better and better each night and seemed to adjust to being the newest member of our family. His first month with us was pretty much spent doing what a newborn does...sleeping. 

 

Eli and Barkley have really bonded. Barkley LOVES Eli with a capital L. His favorite thing is to play with Eli around the house. Since Eli has never had a puppy before he's had to learn that playing with a puppy is a lot different than playing with an adult dog. Barkley jumps and chews and treats Eli like he's one of his litter mates. It's cute to watch but we've been telling Eli he better learn to be tough with Barkley now or he's going to run all over him when he gets bigger :)

 



After we lost Maggie, Eli drew a picture of a dog he was going to get in the future. He decided that August 31, 2015 sounded like a good day to get a new dog. After we got Barkley, Eli went to the wall where I had displayed his picture, took it down, and changed the date to the day Barkley joined our family. I thought it was the sweetest thing ever!

 



 

Stay tuned for more pictures of our newest family member. He's already proving to be full of spunk and personality :)

Christmas with Grammy and Pop

New Year's weekend our little family traveled to see Grammy and Pop so we could have Christmas with them, my brothers, my grandmother, my Uncle David, and my cousin, Emily. Josh had to work late Friday night, so we didn't leave until Saturday around lunch time. That actually worked out great because Eli took a wonderful nap in the car on the ride there. We arrived around 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon and little man was in the best mood. He was SO EXCITED to see his Grammy and Pop (and all their furry companions, too). Even though it was technically New Year's Eve, Grammy and Pop were in full Christmas mode. They were busy cooking our Christmas dinner for that evening and the house was decorated so beautifully for Christmas. Mom just has a knack for making all her displays look like they came out of a magazine. I definitely don't have that touch. 

                             

While Christmas dinner was cooking, Eli and Emily found Pop's stash of fireworks that he'd purchased for Eli to pop later on that night. Mom's not a fan of fireworks, but I knew Eli would enjoy them, so I sent a little text message to Pop earlier in the week that said, "I think Eli would enjoy fireworks Saturday night." Dad took that little message and that was all the encouragement he needed (I think Dad's a pyromaniac like all boys) and he came back with a huge box full of fireworks for "Eli." Dad found some snappers for Emily and Eli, and they went into the front yard to enjoy them. I followed because well, I'm a over-documenter and I feel like I have to blog about every detail :)

Eli discovered that it was fun to dump them on the ground and then jump on them.

Andrea, Joshua, and their puppies, Brody Jack and Tinkerbell, followed us outside to watch Eli and Emily. The weather felt like Thanksgiving and was just so pleasant! Brody Jack became the perfect subject for me while we watched the kids play. 

My hubby, who loves to throw the football but doesn't get to do it enough, brought his football outside and threw some with my brothers. It's not that I mind throwing the football with him, in fact, I actually throw a decent spiral for a girl. I'm not so good at the whole catching thing, especially if it looks like it's coming in fast. I usually just sidestep and let it hit whatever is behind me and that doesn't exactly make Josh happy. I also have a condition known as "brick hands." Somehow I don't catch the ball easily, it hits my hands and bounces off. Oh well, I'm just thankful he was able to throw some with guys who don't complain :) He was super excited as you can tell!

Andrea and Tinker

Sophie

Joshua and Eli have lots of fun together. I love the next two pictures of them. 

Before we went in to eat, Pop came out and let Eli try a party popper. As you can see, Eli was a little hesitant about doing it and ended up letting Pop do it.

We came inside and after a round or two of sword fighting between and Joshua and Eli, we were ready to eat Christmas dinner. Pop and Grammy cooked a baked ham, dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and so many other yummy dishes. We all ate until we were stuffed, and then we started opening gifts. 

Eli and Josh

Josh and Andrea had a surprise for us all and they decided to let Tinkerbell and Brody make the announcement for them...

Yes! I'm going to be an AUNT!!!! Andrea is pregnant and is due in August. I am so excited for them!

Letting the dogs announce it was one way they'd planned on telling everyone, but the second gift was another option. They gave my mom and dad a onesie that said, "I Love Grammy and Pop." I didn't even think to ask where the one that said, "I Love My Aunt," was...

Our Christmas started off with a great surprise and it got even better after that. We all had a wonderful Christmas! We received so many great gifts and loved them all! 

Caleb and his girlfriend, Kailey

Kailey has a side business making custom cups and tumblers. 

We all got new cups from her for Christmas!

Kailey also etches glass on the side, so Andrea and I got canisters with our last names etched on them.

Josh got a new knife

"Hey, need a knife?" was heard about 50 times after he opened this present :)

Geaux Tigers!

Kailey got a custom Cricut cover that my grandmother made

Eli got a new Disney/Pixar game for his Leapster

He also got Pez. You think he's excited? HAHA!

Uncle David and Emily

Emily and my grandmother

My parents got Eli two remote control cars-Mater and Lightning McQueen-for Christmas. Pop had it set up where Mater talked to Eli so Eli would know which present to open. We all loved watching Eli's face when he realized who it was speaking from that box!

Eli immediately wanted to open every single one of his presents and start playing with them. 

We had toys everywhere!

Kailey got a new Cricut cartridge

Josh and Andrea got a gift card to Pier 1 for their new house

I love cheesing for pictures :)

Josh got new running gloves for those cold mornings when he runs.

Eli got a remote control bulldozer from Uncle David and Emily.

New jammies for Emily

Kailey made Grandma a personalized ceramic coffee cup.

One of Kailey's favorite movies

Yay! A dart board for our patio!

Eli got his first Webkinz, a clydesdale horse, we have yet to name. 

Pop got "real" cologne as opposed to that stuff he used to get from us when we were little called BOD. Anyone remember that stuff? HAHA!

Joshua and Andrea got a new mat for the new house.

I got a Life Planner from Erin Condren!!!

Rain boots for Emily

Eli got more cars! I think we have every single car from both CARS movies now. 

Cars are taking over my life!

Caleb tried to assemble the submarine he and Kailey got Eli for the bathtub. 

Eli realized he already had Grem so he shared with Uncle Josh.

Dad's new weight loss book (like he needs to lose weight!)

Josh and Eli got a new container of jelly beans!

Andrea gave all the girls a personalized bag. This just fed my bag addiction :)

Playing cars

Another canister for the new house full of goodies!

Eli gave Grammy a plate for her to display every Christmas :)

She LOVED it!

Love Pop!

Caleb and his goofy self got a Blu-Ray DVD player

Dad and Mom got a calendar of our whole family

Eli found his other remote control car

He was in love!

It took us about an hour and a half to open all our gifts because of the way we do Christmas. Everyone opens one gift at a time that way you get to see everything everyone gets. I like doing it that way because Christmas seems to last longer and it's not chaos with paper going all over the place. After we'd opened all our gifts, Eli took a bath and got ready for bed. We switched from Christmas mode into New Year's Eve mode and everyone went outside for the fireworks show. Eli loved doing the sparklers the most.

Pop, Josh, and my brothers all had lots of fun (notice it's all the boys) shooting fireworks and making lots of noise. I tried to capture some of the fireworks with my new camera, but I'm still learning all the different settings for stuff like this. I did manage to get a few shots but the quality isn't what I wanted. I'll get it eventually though!

After the grand finale we all went back inside. Josh and Eli immediately went to bed and the rest of us stayed up to watch the ball drop in Times Square. My New Year officially started at 11:00 CST, but it was 12:00 somewhere :) 

The next morning we woke up bright and early (it never fails, no matter what time Eli goes to bed, he still wakes up at the same time!). After some coffee and cinnamon rolls, we played a few rounds of Candy Land. Eli got this game from my parents for Christmas and loves playing it.

The weather was nice so we went outside to watch Pop and Caleb work on their project. Caleb was making a Buccaneers corn hole game for Kailey's parents for Christmas. If you don't know what that is, don't worry, neither did I! Eli didn't like the sound of the circular saw, so Pop found him these to wear :)

Eli and Grammy :)

Eli loved exploring Grammy's yard

Later on that night, Josh and I went out to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, so Eli got some one-on-one time with Grammy and Pop. They had lots of fun! They decorated a gingerbread man and a gingerbread house with Kailey, they went to Sonic to get a Wacky Pack meal, they watched movies, and they played Cars. I love when my little boy gets to spend quality time with my parents :) Before Eli went to bed, Pop read him a bedtime story and then Eli convinced Grammy and Pop that he needed to sleep with them :)

The next morning we had to leave to go back home. We made a quick run into town to get a few things we needed, and then we ate at my favorite restaurant, Newks :) Oh, how I heart that place! We said good-bye to Grammy, Pop, and Grandma and said we'd see them again soon. I love visits with my family and hate that they always seem to end so soon. I can't wait until we see them again! Thanks for a wonderful Christmas! We love you all very much!