Winter already?

Has anybody seen fall?

You know...my favorite season...the one with all the amazing colors on the leaves of every tree. I realize it's the last week of November but...where did fall go??

Here's what happened in our backyard last night:

Ember Sophia Hammen

I'm an AUNTIE...AGAIN!!!

Born November 23rd, 2008

at 1:58am

6 lbs, 11 oz - 20 inches

Proud Daddy Kevin & Mommy Jill

(my brother & sister-in-law)

Ember & cousin Mallory (with me and Grandpa)

Uncle Rock or Uncle Casey??

We can't decide...

It's amazing how much Mallory grew in just 10 short weeks!

They're best friends already!!

Great Grandpa Hammen

I can't wait to see her again...I want to hold her and kiss her soft, little cheeks!

Weekend in IL

We spent last weekend in Illinois and had an early celebration for Casey's 28th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

(Casey's favorite cake...Chocolate Eclair. I attempted to make one of his favorite pies, banana cream, last night for his birthday and failed miserably. It tastes fantastic, but something tells me you're not supposed to eat it from a bowl with a spoon. I give up on baking when physics is involved, i.e. the filling has to set or thicken. I made it from scratch. Now, I am fairly certain I could pull it off if I used a pudding mix, but I'm not making any promises. His other favorite is lemon meringue pie, that has never really gone my way either. I'll leave these both up to his grandmother. Nobody makes a better pie than Gran anyway...)

Crazy Uncle Seanie
Mallory laughing a her Uncle Stevie...
I swear she would laugh at him even in her sleep.

Mallory has 4 cousins who love her to death.

They lovingly maul her every time she enters the room.

(kids clockwise from the left: Kane, Finley, Braden, Cole)

Meme and her granddaughters

Cole and Finley "holding" Mallory

Left to right: Kane, Cole, Mallory, Finley, Braden

Isn't this a lovely picture of Cole's finger?? Funny little kid...

Cole making sure Mallory is never bored.

Finley "patting" Mallory's tummy.

Our little munchkin

Cole and Finley introducing Mallory to the Backyardigans

(whether she wants to meet them or not :))

Attack of the Backyardigans!!

P.S. Mallory will have a 5th cousin tomorrow!!

My sister-in-law, Jill is being induced in the morning!

Tummy Time

LOOK at all that hair! It's getting longer in the front and will be in her eyes soon...

Mallory did flip from her tummy to her back (twice) last week, but she hasn't done it since.

Mallory and I had company...

Merry Christmas from Hershey's Kisses

This commercial makes me smile...check it out.

Claddagh Update

Today is apparently the day of the dogs, I promise there are pictures of our ACTUAL child to follow. Here is a SIZE update on our horse, I mean, American Mastiff, Claddagh.

June 3rd - 10 wks - 24 lbs.

August 6th - 19 wks - 65 lbs.
Attempting to lift her...

November 9th - 7 1/2 months - approx. 120-130 lbs.

AND.............still growing!!!!

Another size comparison for you:

2 months - can easily walk under the table (and chair, for that matter)

7 1/2 months - can easily see OVER the table

Looking out our front window

She truly is a beautiful, beautiful dog!!

Doggie Nostalgia

After looking back through the last year with Buckeye, I decided to take a look at some old pictures of my first Cairn Terrier, Toto. My dad and I got him from the Humane Society when I was a freshman in high school. He was such a great dog.

Wow...who's this young kid?? That would be Casey in 2002! (check out our nasty old couch) This was a frequent location for Toto...Casey would laugh because when I sat down Toto would be in my lap before my butt hit the chair.
So crazy to see how different his coloring was compared to Buckeye's.

He looks like a lump right here...maybe the vet's concern that he was slightly overweight was valid...hmm...

Both of my boys like to sleep...

OMG...this was January 2007. I took Toto to get a haircut at a different groomer than normal. Long story short, she BUTCHERED his haircut. The worst part was what followed were the coldest weeks of our WI winter. I literally had to wrap him in a blanket when he came back inside to get him to stop shivering. It actually gave us a few laughs...poor Toto.

This makes me smile but it also makes me a little sad. If you look closely, you can see a TOOTH peeking out of the corner of Toto's beard. Hilarious! This was one of FOUR teeth he had left. Unfortunately he was such an old dog (we think 14 yrs old) we had to have most of his teeth pulled due to rotting and decay. Casey and I had endless laughs about our toothless wonder. It makes me a little sad because little did I know it was the last picture I would ever take...we had to put him to sleep two days later. Toto was my first dog, my little buddy and he lived a great life!

Happy Birthday, Buckeye! (and Rudy)

Okay, this post is well overdue - Buckeye and his brother, Rudy (who lives with my dad) turned one year old on November 4th! After losing Toto, my Cairn terrier of 10 years, last September, Casey surprised me with Buckeye for Christmas. It's fun looking back at pictures of him as a tiny puppy...have a look!

Here is a picture the breeder sent to Casey during the 'buying' process... (Rudy happens to be the puppy in the background.)

A picture of the litter on the day Casey and my dad went to get Buckeye...I think he's second from the left.

The big surprise...I...had...no...idea! Casey brought the basket into the room and, with an obvious Wizard of Oz reference, said, "This basket fell off the back of a mean old lady's bike." I was caught so off guard he didn't even have a name for three days. Oh...and in the end I was the one that named him Buckeye.

Just like a baby...he slept A LOT during those first few weeks.

Buckeye (left) and his brother Rudy (right) during a play date at my dad's house.

We fenced in an area on our deck so we could let Buckeye out the patio door to 'do his business'. As he grew he jumped over the board on more than one occasion. Terriers are nothing if not persistent. It will be interesting to see how he does in the snow this winter.

From time to time we take Buckeye (and Claddagh) to doggie daycare a the same center where I took both of them for training. Well...they also dabble in other things, i.e. swimming. We have discovered Buckeye LOVES swimming.

Buckeye loves to look out the window and bark at anything that walks by or moves...including a random leaf.

Sometimes curiousity comes with consequences...

This is what happens when I leave a basket of (clean) laundry on the floor unattended.

Buckeye and Claddagh enjoying a yummy treat (Frosty Paws doggie ice cream!!) on Buckeye's birthday!