The best dog in the whole world...

The photo below is of Annie and me B.D. (Before Daniel).


And here is a photo of Annie today.


Many things have changed for our sweet dog over that past couple years. Despite the fact that some of these changes (such as being relegated to the outdoors and receiving less attention from the adults but more attention from a rough and tumble toddler) have probably been somewhat disheartening for Annie, she remains her sweet, gentle, loving self. She will let Daniel do anything to her...reach in her food bowl, ride her like a horse, pull her tail, pat not-so-gently...and Annie never even growls. She looks somewhat persecuted at times, but that is about all. Of course, Brian and I are doing our best to teach Daniel proper doggy manners, but sometimes he forgets. A constant phrase at our house is "Gentle, Daniel, pat gently!" He is learning, and I have a feeling someday these two will be the best of friends.

Puppy love

Daniel loves Annie. He laughs every time he sees her. He reaches for her, lunges toward her, tries to pet her. Annie, on the other hand, is what I would call tolerant of Daniel. Note her expression in the photo below. Somewhat pained.

One slight problem with this relationship is that Daniel tested positive for dog allergies. Since then, Annie has been living outdoors. With the cold weather, we have allowed her inside once again, but she is restricted to the linoleum floor. Daniel is delighted with this arrangement and constantly comes to "visit" her. We are thankful that he exhibits no negative reactions to being around her. No stuffy nose, no sneezing, nothing. Maybe there is hope for this friendship after all!

Our little visitor

Tonight we ate supper on the deck because the weather was just beautiful. I could hardly believe the temperature was so mild in the middle of August. Our dog, Annie, was roaming through the back yard. She suddenly began sniffing around like something was out there. Brian went to check things out, and he found this tiny baby bunny. The little guy was so adorable! And our gentle Annie did it no harm. Most dogs would have eaten it up for an after-dinner snack, but Annie seemed to just want to play. However, Annie's "play" has been deadly for many a grasshopper and beetle, so we put her in the house. I hope the little guy finds his way back home!

Update

I can hardly believe two months have passed since my last post. Time flies when you are raising a baby! Speaking of the baby, Daniel is almost five months old. He is growing so quickly and changing every day. His new favorite thing is our dog, Annie. For the first few months of his life, Daniel ignored the dog and the dog ignored him right back. However, they have suddenly developed a mutual interest in one another. Daniel tracks Annie with his eyes whenever she is in his vicinity. If Annie jumps or runs, Daniel gets this big grin on his face and often laughs out loud. Annie will come over to Daniel and "inspect" him, which usually entails several good licks to his hands, feet, or face. This really gets Daniel going, and he will let out great big belly laughs. It is absolutely adorable. I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!
Daniel also loves listening to music and dancing. His favorite artists are Raffi and Chris LeDoux. (Anyone else think that is one interesting combo?) You should see us twirling around to Cadillac Ranch, me singing at the top of my lungs and Daniel grinning from ear to ear. We have a blast!
Nothing much is new with the adults in our house. Brian is busy at work...I am busy at home. Brian has planted another garden this year. Our apple trees are also flourishing, so it appears we will be doing some canning this summer/fall. We are looking forward to the Fourth of July. It will be Daniel's first time to see fireworks and a parade. Hope you and yours have a blessed holiday too! Here are some recent photos of the little man.

Brian and Daniel having fun!

Mom likes to play dress up with the baby!

Aunt Sara is training Daniel to be a card shark.

Daniel Update

Hi folks! I keep promising myself that I will update this blog weekly, but time certainly flies these days. Daniel had his well baby visit yesterday and received his first round of vaccines. He was supposed to get those shots about a month ago, but I kept finding reasons to postpone. I am not fond of people sticking my baby with needles, and I am even less fond of the possible reactions. However, we finally got them done, and Daniel did fine. Praise the Lord!!! He is currently in the 97th percentile for height and 90th percentile for weight. Can you believe that? Since I am only 5'4", I figured our kiddos would be on the short side. Perhaps not! Do we have a basketball player in our future?
In other news, Brian (and various family members we recruit) have been putting a fence around the back yard. Annie will be happy. Our poor dog has become low girl on the totem pole. Now she will at least have some room to play. Here is a photo we took several weeks ago. I came around the corner and was met with this sight. Brian had propped Daniel up against Annie. My first response was, "Get him off the dog! He just took a bath!" And then, I recovered and said, "Get the camera!" It certainly made for a great photo opportunity.

One itchy family!

Every summer, I (Melinda) manage to get poison ivy. Most of the time, I have no idea where I came in contact with it. This year I actually made it to October before the dreadful poison ivy struck. And to make matters worse, Brian got it as well. He noticed the tell-tale patch of red bumps on his arm first. He had never gotten it before and had previously assumed he was not allergic. Guess he was wrong. Praise the Lord for Zanfel! If you ever get poison ivy, I highly recommend it.

Annie must have felt left out because she promptly began scratching like crazy too! The vet diagnosed her as having grass allergies. Can you imagine a dog being allergic to grass? We got her hooked up with some doggy Prednisone, and she felt better almost immediately. I snapped the pictures below while Annie and Brian were napping together. They were both wiped out from a hard day of work...although I am not exactly sure what kind of work Annie had been doing. :)

Welcome to our blog!

After much discussion, Brian and I decided it was time to start a blog. We figured it would be a good way to share pictures and happenings, especially of our soon-to-arrive baby. Our little boy is due at the beginning of February, and we can hardly wait! Brian has already started working on the nursery. I will have to post some sonogram and nursery pictures soon. In the meantime, here are some pics of our beloved beast, Annie. She does not like bath time very much, but she does love feeling clean afterwards. While in the bath, she always has this pitiful look on her face. I think she strikingly resembles a river otter (or sea weasel) when wet. Anyway, here are some before and after bath photos of the dog. Annie better enjoy her blog fame now, because I am sure the baby will dominate our blogging entries once he arrives. Poor little dog! She has enjoyed two years of being our "only child" and will now be suddenly demoted by a baby. :)

If anyone has noticed that Brian seems to be doing most of the work here, just remember someone has to clean the bathroom after the dog-washing fiasco!