Funny Story

Our church hosts a monthly get-together at Starbucks, so tonight before we went over to hang out, we decided to grab something to eat. I really was planning on cooking {been on a roll lately}, but Josh mentioned going out, so I wasn't about to complain.

Josh and I split a steak {ahhh heavenly} and Noah got a corn dog and some cinnamon apples, which he pretty much picked at the entire time we ate. Of course, I kept trying to get him to eat more, but all I could get out of him was a nibble of it here and there.

He only nibbled, that is, until I mentioned giving his corn dog to Einstein. I said, "Noah, if you are finished eating, then let's take the rest of it home to Einstein."

"Noooooooooooo. No. No. No," was his response. And then he stuffed that corn dog in his mouth like he hadn't eaten in a week.

I guess we know the trick to getting our toddler to eat now: offer to give his food to Einstein. Haha. Love it.

Free to a Loving Home

Einstein here. I'm putting myself up for adoption, and I thought this might be the best way to get the word out.

Three-and-a-half-year-old champion bloodline Pug free to a loving home. I am house broken, well mannered, and low maintenance.

Adopting family must not have any young children who will use me as a bean bag, landing pad, or any other form of pre-kindergarten entertainment. In fact, an ideal adoption candidate would not have any children at all; I am at my best when I am the center of attention.

Additionally, the adopting family must be willing to accommodate my daily exercise regimen, namely, a half-block's walk at a leisurely pace in which I will have free reign on the leash and will be able to stop and sniff, eat, or relieve myself on anything (or anyone) I choose. Interested families with even the slightest predisposition to taking me on a Bataan Death March of a walk--lasting longer than a half-block, walking in temperatures above 73 degrees, or jerking the leash like it's a thirteen-year-old lawn mower--need not apply.

I have a pleasant, easy-going temperament, and you will find me easy to love. My current owners complain about my tendency to shed, but they fail to realize how fluffy the carpet is when I've shed all over it. My current owners may also spread venomous lies regarding my snoring and various noises I produce. I've never heard myself snore, so I have no idea what they're talking about.

Any potential candidate should be ready to accommodate my strict diet, which consists of only the choicest cuts of beef, dark meat poultry, and slow roasted pork. Oh, what the heck, I'll take white meat poultry too. And Spaghettios. And...well, my diet may not be as strict as it may seem. Just know this, the words dry and dog food do not find themselves anywhere in that diet.

Interested families that meet all of the above criteria are welcome to come and take me immediately. As my current owners spend all their attention and energies on The Golden Child, it will probably take them a few months to notice that I am not around. Come to our apartment in an unmarked limo and leave a trail of Swedish meatballs to the vehicle. I'll find you.

Thank you for your interest. I've lived a cold, harsh life, especially in the past 2 years, but with your help I'll be able to salvage what's left of it.

--Einstein

I'm a Pug, Not a Beanbag!

Oh, Einstein...



Bless your sweet little heart.

Home

I am so happy to be home...



I missed my babies.

Growing by the Day

Noah you are 21 months today. I know I say this all the time, but how do you grow so fast? You are such a big boy now and growing up by the day. Let's see Mr. Noah, what are you doing these days?

1. For a while you quit playing in Einstein's water bowl. So Mommy and Daddy started keeping Einstein's water bowl on the ground. Then all of a sudden, you decided you were missing out, and now I cannot keep your little fingers out of it! You also love to transfer Einstein's food into his water bowl. Quite a stinker you are!

2. You are becoming more & more ornery by the day; you are always doing something to pick on Einstein. Lately you have started this thing where you will just fall on him. And you think it's pretty funny. I don't know how many times a day I tell you to, "Be nice to Einstein," or "Be gentle."

3. You are starting to get the hang of brushing your teeth now. Yay! You are very cooperative now and willingly open your mouth for Mommy to brush your teeth.

4. Like any growing boy, you love to eat. Some of favorite foods are, bagels, grilled vegetables, string cheese and cheerios. Oh yeah, you also love orange juice; you'd drink a gallon a day if we let you.

5. You are a BIG Momma's boy, and you hate it when I leave to go anywhere without you.

6. You love cups and bowls. Anytime you see one sitting on the counter or in the dishwasher, you want it! The other night I let you take your three cups to bed, and when I went in to check on you before getting into bed, I found your three cups lined up along the edge of your crib. You are always doing something to make Momma laugh. It was too cute!

7. You love TUMS {yes, the antacid}, and the red ones are your favorite. You can thank your pediatrician for giving Mommy & Daddy the ok to give them to you.

8. You are pointing to everything wondering what it is. Your favorite things to point at are lights and lamps. And every time we say, "light" you start laughing. It's so cute. Even though you aren't saying many words yet, you are soaking it all in, and I bet it won't be long before you are telling us everything!

9. You, Mr. Noah, have quickly learned what "time out" is. In fact, now most of the time all I have to say is, "Do you want to go to your room?" and you stop whatever mischief you are doing. Such a smart little boy.

10. You still give the sweetest hugs and kisses ever!

11. You love to splash water everywhere when you are taking a bath. Tonight, I was sitting on the floor outside of the bathtub watching you play, and you almost soaked me with all of your splashing.

12. You are a pretty independent little guy throughout the day. But the one time you always want me to hold you is when I'm cooking dinner. Of course, I just can't resist those little arms reaching up to me, so most of the time you are on my hip helping me get dinner ready.

13. You love sweeping your hands along Momma & Daddy's dusty TV stand. Then you look at your dirty fingers, and do you know what you do? You come over and wipe your dusty little fingers on Momma's pant leg. What in the world? How did you learn that?

14. When Daddy is leaving for work, you love to go on the porch and watch him get into the car. You wave "bye-bye" to him and talk to him from the balcony until he leaves. It's the sweetest thing ever!

15. You are really picking up signing so well. We are very proud of you. In the past few weeks, you have added cracker, thank you, ice cream, your name, eat, and many more signs to your vocabulary.

You amaze us everyday sweet Noah bear. You are our greatest blessing! Mommy & Daddy love you so much.

p.s. Don't forget-- today is the last day for the giveaway! Winner will be announced tomorrow.

Silly Ol' Pug

Remember this blog post I wrote about our Lord Protector?
Yeah, well, Einstein is determined to live up to that name.

So, I guess my only other option now is
to buy myself some ear plugs.
Silly Ol' Pug.

Why Snackrifice?

I was hungry.

I just couldn't help it. Of course there were the usual things lying around the house that the little guy had left behind: a little piece of cereal here, a half-eaten fruit snack there. And in my bowl, well, there's nothing but that tasteless, disgusting drivel that mommy and daddy call dog food.

But then I said to myself, "Einstein, you old dog, you deserve better than this. Why snackrifice?"

Guess what Noah Ate?

I guess it could be worse.
But still, I just cringe {and dry heave}
when I think about what Noah was chomping on.

What do you think Noah was eating?
Take a wild guess.

I'll give you a clue:

Okay, I'll give ya one more clue:



That's right, Mr. Noah had a mouthful
{and I do mean a mouthful}
of Einstein's dog food in his mouth.
Gag me. Makes me want to throw up
every time I think about it.

I thought we were past this
infatuation with Einstein's food.
But, apparently we are not.
Noah looked like a chipmunk his mouth was so full.

And really, there was no point wrestling with
him to try to dig the mush out of his mouth,
so I grabbed my camera instead.

Oh Noah.
What will I ever do with you?
I'm sure Einstein would appreciate it
if you left his food alone.
Silly, silly boy!

wordless wednesday

Einstein & Noah

See Einstein sleep.
He just looks so peaceful. So content. So relaxed.



But his afternoon naps don't ever last long.

Einstein has grown accustomed to life with a toddler.



Personal space for Einstein no long exists.



But he doesn't mind.



Well, sometimes he doesn't mind.

Einstein puts up with a lot for sure, but you can see why he does:

Melt my heart.

19 months

Noah, you are such a big boy now! I can't believe you are 19 months already. You are growing up right before our eyes, and as much as I hate to admit it, my baby is... really not a baby anymore. What a privilege and honor it is to be your Mommy. You bless me {and your Daddy} more than you will ever know, and you bring such joy to our lives. We are so proud of you and all of your accomplishments. You amaze us everyday, and we love watching you discover and learn new things. Just promise your mommy you won't grow up too fast okay?

Tonight I want to share some of the things you are doing right now, so we can look back and remember you at this sweet, precious age.

You are very, very ticklish just like your Daddy. Daddy knows each and every one of your ticklish spots, because those are his too. Someday you will figure that out and then it will be payback! You love to be tickled, and you just can't get enough of it.

You love Veggie Tales. Some of your favorite shows right now are Silly Songs with Larry, Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie, The Ballad of Little Joe, and Madame Blueberry. Nothing gets you moving like Veggie Tales does. Anytime a song comes on, you get a big smile on your face, and start dancing. It's the cutest thing ever.

You love shoes. Who would have thought? You love to carry your shoes throughout the house, and often you will come up to me with a shoe wanting me to put it on you. It is so funny to watch you walk around in nothing but a diaper and a pair of shoes. But it's not just your shoes that you're into; you also love to bring Mommy and Daddy our shoes and insist that we wear them too.

You love, love, love to jump on Mommy and Daddy's bed. And you look like a little frog when you're doing it. It's so funny. You love when your Daddy throws you on the bed too. That's something else you just can't get enough of.

Not long ago you discovered the refrigerator magnets, and you love playing with them. You carefully place each magnet on the fridge, and once you've finished that, you will start again and move them one by one to the opposite side. Mommy even discovered some magnets in the toilet the other day. I wonder who could have done that?

You hate getting your teeth brushed. In fact, hate is not a strong enough word to describe how you feel about it. You loathe it. I can't even imagine the first time we go visit the dentist. Yikes! I'm sure that will be an interesting visit. Honestly, I have no idea how the dentist will even get a look inside your mouth. You are one strong little dude when it comes to your mouth.

You are always doing something that makes Mommy and Daddy laugh. Lately, you have started gagging yourself, and you think it's pretty funny when you do it. It is so funny, although we try not to encourage it. I have no idea how you started that. You're a silly boy!

You love to give kisses. Almost every time I ask you to "give Momma a kiss" you pucker your lips and tilt your head to the side as you lean forward for a kiss. You are already such a romantic! We sure love your sweet kisses.

On a recent sick-visit to the doctor, you weighed 24 lbs! Such a big, healthy boy! We have a well check-up this Monday, so we will get to see again how much you weigh as well as how tall you are!

You almost have all your baby teeth in. It is a little hard to see, but it looks like most of them are in or are in the process of coming in.

You love playing at the park. So do Mommy and Daddy! Oh, and of course Einstein. We have discovered a couple of really fun parks to play at, and I think today was our fifth time to go this month. Your favorite thing to do at the park is just run, but you also enjoy the slides. When you slide, you love to go face first. What a brave little boy you are!

Your verbal language consists of: "Mama," "Dada," "Uh oh," "Oh," & "Nuh-uh". We love your sweet little voice.

You are very quickly picking up different signs. The ones off the top of my head are: please, more, Daddy, Mommy, bath, cookie, drink, milk, donut, finished, candy {fruit snacks}, and you are working on "I love you." You are learning new signs everyday, and we are so proud of you! You will be signing like your Daddy before we know it!

You love to hug Einstein, but you have to be in the mood to do it. Most of the time it is when Mommy doesn't have her camera in close reach or when the settings to take the picture are all wrong. Go figure. But when you "give Einstein love," you wrap your arms around his round belly and/or lay your head on him. You are such a sweet little brother.

You love to dip your food in sauces. Queso, ketchup, mustard, hot sauce are some of your favorites, but you aren't too picky. You never bite into the food; you just lick the sauce off and go for a another dip. Sometimes I wonder if you are getting enough to eat, but I guess you are because you seem satisfied, and you're growing like crazy.

You are growing and changing every single day, and we love and cherish every single moment we have with you. We'll be celebrating your 2nd Birthday before we know it!

Love you sweet baby boy.

Momma

Lord Protector

The weather has been absolutely beautiful for the past couple of days. Oh, I hope it stays warm; I love Spring. The weather has been so perfect that we've been able to open up the back door to the porch, allowing us to enjoy the weather even more. I love when the cool breeze flows throughout our apartment. The beautiful weather we've been having is just so serene. So calm. So peaceful. Well, it would be that way if we didn't have an obnoxious pug who thinks he is Lord Protector of the Bonjour home. Yes, I said Lord Protector. He thinks he has to be on guard 24/7, which means he is barking almost all. day. long.

Now don't get me wrong. I love this pug to pieces. He is without a doubt the best dog ever. I'm not just saying that because he is our beloved dog. He is the most obedient, faithful, and loving dog there is, and we are so blessed to have him in our lives.

But Einstein, sweet ol' Einstein, your incessant barking is about to make this momma go mad.

It doesn't matter what I do. I've given him spankings {I know, I'm so mean}. I've closed him in our bedroom hoping he would learn a lesson. Nope. The barking continues no matter what I do.

Oh well. At least from outside our home it sounds like we have a fierce guard dog. The funny thing is, we actually have a weenie dog trapped in a pug's body. If you haven't read the story, oh boy, you're missing out. Click here to read.

Lovin' on Einstein

Just doesn't get any sweeter than this.

Nose Sucker

A nose sucker sure does come in handy when you have a snorty pug.

Noah decided Einstein needed a little clearing of the nostrils.

I just love this picture.
It brings a smile to my face every time I look at it.
And I hope it brings a smile to your face today too!

My 3 Favorite Captions

Thanks to everyone who left a comment!
They were all really funny!

Is that You,Terrible Two's?

Well. Today has been an interesting day, to say the least. I think we are getting closer and closer to the terrible two's! Yikes.

It all started out this morning. Noah has decided he is quite fond of the word, "No!". I have to admit it was really cute hearing him say "nu-uh" when I told him to come put his jacket on. But after the first time, I realized this little behavior isn't so cute after all, and we are going to have to nip it in the bud {quickly}. I am also starting to realize how difficult parenting is going to be. But, what a blessing Noah is in our lives, and I pray God gives Josh and me wisdom to know how to discipline Noah in the right way.

So tonight, Mr. Noah, was in some kind of mood. He was tired, but things really went downhill when I got a treat for Einstein. I thought it would be cute to let Noah give Einstein the treat. I thought wrong.

"Noah, give Einstein his treat."

Noah looked at me with rebellious eyes as he slowly brought the treat to his mouth.

"No, Noah. Give Einstein the treat. These treats are yucky; they don't taste good."

Of course, Noah didn't care if they tasted good or not. He wanted Einstein's treat! Noah always shares his food with Einstein, so he did not understand why he couldn't have some of Einstein's food. I quickly realized Noah was not going to give the treat to Einstein, so I took it away from him and gave it to Einstein.

Oh heavens. I don't know if angry is a strong enough word to describe Noah's reaction. He was in a state of wrath. Noah stomped his feet, started screaming, and shook his fist at Einstein like he was going to choke him. I had to keep myself from laughing {gosh, sometimes it's so hard not to laugh} at his outrage against Einstein, who hadn't done a single thing wrong. Poor, poor Einstein.

So anyway, after Noah realized Einstein wasn't going to do anything about his crying fit, he turned around to me and gave me his sad story:

And in case you are wondering, I didn't run and grab my camera to document Noah's crying fit. What crazy mother would do that? Ok, maybe I would. But really, I was taking pictures of Noah and Einstein together and happened to have the camera near by when Noah let loose his fury. He sure is cute when he is mad though. I think he gets that from his daddy.

On a side note, Noah and I had a really fun day today! We met some friends, Laura & her nine month old, Ian, for lunch, and then we went to the Fort Worth Museum to play. The museum has a really neat children's play area, so we thought it would be fun to take the boys. We all had so much fun together! I'll share more on that later. In the mean time, you can head on over to Laura's blog and read her sweet post about our day.