Our Little Nerdling

I'm not one to dress my puppy in clothes and frilly bows and crap, but the other day, I thought it'd be funny to see her with my glasses on. Yup. Nailed it.

First 2 Weeks Home

Wow... Has it already been 2 weeks since Waffles has been home with us?? It's been a crazy whirlwind of different emotions throughout this puppy mommahood journey. The first week I was a complete wreck. I was waking up twice a night to take her out to pee, then waking up to go to work. For those of you that don't know me, I LOVE my sleep. I love it like a fat kid loves cake! I'm a hot mess without it. My poor kids at work probably felt the brunt of that. Thankfully it was only 3 days of grumpy teacher. :P

Which leads me to the next point.

Thank GOD for the boy. If he wasn't around to help watch her while I was at work, it would have only intensified the stress levels by 10967 fold. He helped entertain her, helped potty train her, and best of all, loved her with his whole being. He set the strong foundation of trust and respect in the crucial first few days. I truly couldn't have survived without him. I'm willing to be a hundred bucks that Waffles feels the same way too. :)

I'll be real with you guys and put it out there and say the first couple of days without the boy were absolutely miserable. I wanted to DIE. Giving her back was definitely an option for me. Not only was I backlogged in sleep, but I learned fast that she was an absolute terror. She constantly ate rocks, she ate EVERYTHING in sight, it took her forever to do her business, and her puppy urges to play were out of this world! Hot damn! I was ready to give her back! I definitely questioned my ability to handle her and be her pack leader. At my most desperate moments, I even went as far as calling dog trainers to get some professional help. There was one named Steve who I will write a separate post on, but he was a godsend. Because of him, I was able to survive my first week and truly enjoy week 2 of puppy mommahood. I got a better handle on her by learning her behaviors, her habits, and signals. Now, her and I are inseparable and I can't get enough of her!!

Some things that makes Waffles, well... Waffles. This is her in a nutshell.

Her Loves:

• Sleep - this girl loves her sleep. I believe that your pet is a reflection of you, and this one matches to the tee. After some fun play time with momma or dadda, she sleeps for a glorious 2-3 hours. It's absolutely heavenly. I've also learned that when your puppy sleeps, it is absolutely mandatory that you take advantage and sleep as well.

• Bull's Penis - Yes, you heard that correctly. Our little girl loves to chew on a bull's penis. It's her wooby and she carries it everywhere she goes! Her first day of discovering this delicious piece of meat, she actually debated whether to drink water or put down the bull's penis. You get one guess who won that one.

Her happy place. She only brings toys that she absolutely cherishes here. She loves digging it in the crevices of the cushions so nobody can steal it.

Will take it in her crate too to help her fall asleep.

• Tennis Balls and Alligator - She can play fetch for HOURS if her puppy parents had the energy for it. She also loves playing tug a war with her alligator friend. 

• Rocks - Oh. My. God. Does she love rocks. She loves to go hunting for them and will eat them any chance she gets! It drives me bonkers!!

• Water bottles - It's magic what a cheap water bottle can do for her. We spent so much money on buying her fun toys, and then we find out that all she really needs is a watter bottle! Wth?! She loves the crunching sound it makes and loves chasing it around on the floor. It's endless entertainment for her which means guilt free TV time for momma and dadda! :P

Her Hates:

• Camera - I loooove taking pictures of everyone and everything. If there's one thing you can count on me doing right, it's to take a million pictures of everything. So you can imagine how sad it made me to find out that she's not a fan. Right when I take the camera out, she looks away, up, down, left, right, anywhere but at the camera! It's a win for the day if I can get a good one of her looking. See what I mean??

Neener Momma. You can't get me to look!

• Digging for anything in her mouth - Wow... it's a battle on a daily basis between her and I. Her mouth is like a treasure chest. You can never know what goodies you're gonna find in there. And this little rascal will fight to the death to keep it in there. I've found things like pebbles, plastic tags, feathers, torn paper, plastic everything... And the crappy thing is is that she KNOWS when she has something bad in her mouth. She will get on her belly, keep her head down with her devious puppy eyes looking right at me calculating how long it's gonna take for me to take notice. She's too smart for her own good!

• Reflections in Mirrors - It's hilarious watching her look at herself in the mirror. She will paw at it and bark at it and eventually run away.

She Can:

• Sit - Two afternoons and a gazillion treats later, she learned how to sit. Right now, she can do it when she sees a treat or when she wants to be held, but anything other than that, she refuses to be my monkey. Damn it Waffles! What good are you if I can't be entertained on demand?? I've failed as a teacher with an extrinsicly motivated fur baby.

• Sohn - So I'm trying to teach her to be bilingual. I say "sohn," which means hand in Korean, and she gives me her sweet little paws! The boy didn't believe me, but we showed him!

• Do Her Business - She's been pretty good about going to the bathroom outside. We will only have about 2 accidents a day, which isn't bad at all! However, we've been her chauffeur and have been taxiing it to her pee spot. We now need to try to figure out how to teach her to tell us she needs to go. It's gonna be hard! 

• Sleep Through the Night - This was HUGE for me! I wanted to punch myself in the face twice a night when I woke up to take her outside for potty time. Thankfully after about 3 days, she's been able to sleep through the night without any accidents. She'll wake me up at about 7 AM, but will sometimes be very generous and will let me sleep in until 8!

Her Personality:

• Social Butterfly: If I had to use one word to describe her, it'd be hands down, sociable. She LOVES meeting new people. She gets excited and pees all over herself when she hears the door bell rings cuz she knows that only means one thing: GUESTS!! She has zero problems going up to people and wag her happy tail for some love! Unfortunately, I only have 1 picture with her and a friend. So far she's met neighbors, my family, the boy's mom, and friends. Researchers say that a puppy needs to meet about 100 people before she reaches 3 months to help build her socialization skills, so I'm happy to report that we're well on our way!

• Curious: She is such a curious little puppy. She loves playing explorer and sometimes sits quietly to hear what's going on around her. I always wonder what goes on in that developing brain of hers when she's in her thinking mode.

Hi neighbors!

• Sweet and Loving: Waffles is the epitome of a cuddlebug. She loves being scratched, played with, being held, and gives a million kisses to your face at every opportunity!

Waffles, some days are a serious struggle, but for the most part, your dadda and I love your sweet face! You've got so much spunk and personality in you that we hope you never lose. You're getting so big already so we're trying to soak up and embrace every puppy moment we can! :)

How can you not love this sweet face?!

And School is Out of Session

It's official. School is out for summer break!!! YEEEE HAWWWW!!!! I have year one at new school and grade level under my belt. I'd say it was a pretty successful year with a few minor bumps on the road. I was really apprehensive of going down a grade. With them being less independent, learning a new curriculum, and all the other emotional shenanigans that come with 2nd graders, I didn't know how the year would go. But they proved me wrong and they surpass all my expectations. They're super smart, more independent than I had imagined, and still had all their sweetness and innocence. That was my favorite part. They still enjoyed helping you out and pleasing you, and still looooved to do all the little things for me like drawing me pictures and giving me hugs.

But that's not to say that I haven't been looking forward to this day for a loooong time! Once that bell rang at 11:50, I rushed home to my 2 loves of my life!

I can't wait to spend a whole summer with this little one! It's going to be hard couple of weeks learning each other's behaviors and signals, getting used to new early morning routines, and most of all, potty training this little rascal. It's going to be just you and me little monster!!

Welcome to Your Forever Home, Waffles!

Today's the day that we brought our little Miss Waffles home! Out of the 4 3-hour drives we've made in the last 8 weeks, this one felt like the longest one ever! We couldn't get to Waffles fast enough.

When we got there, she was this squirmy little bundle of fur that wanted nothing but to play, play, play! We got all our necessities from Eva (who's been so helpful throughout the whole process!) and took some final photos with her brother, Henry. I bet he's so glad he got to live in peace for a couple of days before his forever momma comes to pick him up. :P

Yes Waffles. Dadda is a little special.

After playing with the two rascals, the boy and I were ready to bring Waffles to our home. Her forever home. But not before final family photos!! :P

Waffles: "Neener! I'm going hoooome!!"

And we're off!!

The drive home wasn't half as bad as we thought it would be. We were expecting ear deafening screeching, but this brave little girl barely cried at all! I have to put it on record and give credit where it's due. I wanted to hold her and make her feel safe, but the boy's idea of putting her in the crate was definitely the better one. After about an hour of her skinning me alive and squirming to find a hole to burrow her face in, I had to give the crate idea a go. She definitely felt more safe being in an enclosed space. I sat in the backseat with her with my fingers between the holes and she was as calm as can be.

Keeping one eye on momma to make sure she didn't leave her side.

I can't get over her sweet face!

After 3 pee stops, we were home!! She was shy at first, crawling around and sniffing and exploring, but it wasn't long before she warmed up to her new home and was zooming away!

When the boy and I discussed the different rules we were going to enforce, not allowing her to come on top of the couch was going to be one of them. Welp! That went out the door. Clearly.

How can you say no to her?!

She didn't eat too much, but obviously in a new home, that was to be expected. We played with her some more till this happened:

Yup, we pooped her out real good.

Then the dreaded bed time... The boy and I were dragged our feet on this one. We were expecting a sleepless night with endless wailing, but yet again, she surprised us and did exceptionally well! She cried for a little while, but with me sitting there next her with my fingers in the crate, it put her right to sleep. I had to wake up every two hours to make sure she didn't pee in her crate, and each time, she went right in her crate to sleep.

Good night sweet Waffles. We can't wait to see you in the morning!

P.S. We couldn't have asked for a better first day. We already love her so much, we don't know what to do with ourselves!! 

3 Years Down, 9834 More to Go!

The boy and I made it to 3 years today!! I must say that this year is the year that we've grown the most as a couple. It's been a long trek to get to the point we're at now, but all the hard work we've poured into us is finally paying off.

The boy and I usually celebrate our anniversaries in style. And by style, I mean STYLE. For instance, our first year, the boy surprised me with a weekend getaway to Napa. We went on a sunrise hot air balloon ride that overlooked all of Napa. We also stayed in Auberge. I double dog dare you to look it up. I promise it will blow your mind to a million pieces. We celebrated our 2nd year in Banff, Canada for a whole week! We still talk about that trip to this day! This year, with Waffles joining us in a few days, we decided to keep it low key. But that didn't mean the surprises came to a halt. No, no, no. That's not how he rolls. The boy surprised me with the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers that I've ever received from ANY boy in my life. It was 7682 kinds of awesome and I just about went batshit crazy when I opened the door.

Absolutely stunning.

My all time favorite: peonies.

The boy treated me out to a fancy dinner at Cin Cin in Los Gatos! When we walked in to the restaurant, the bouquet turned heads. All females were eyeing the beaut and their poor boys probably heard an earful all night. I walked to our table feeling like the queen of the world and couldn't help but feel so lucky to be the one to receive it! 

Now, I don't consider myself a food snob at all. If the food is yummy, the food is yummy and that's about the extent that I can describe it. Which is why I can't explain the food here at Cin Cin, but I can say it was pretty top notch stuff. I can't comment on their entrees because we just gorged ourselves in wine and appetizers. Were they yummy?? Ummm... Let's just say that we couldn't breathe by the end of the meal. 

Even after all the food, we just had to get dessert. I mean... an anniversary without dessert?! Unheard of! So we fought our flashing red I'm-stuffed. Please-don't-put-anything-more-in-me! sensors and managed to convince ourselves that dessert was a must. It did not disappoint.

How I was impatient to further stuff myself was just beyond me...

Thank you for such a romantic night, Puffin! But more than that, thank you for being there for me when I needed your support. Thank you for always being so patient with me. I know I'm not the easiest person to handle. Most of all, thank you for always making me laugh by making a complete fool of yourself. You're my constant light that always shines so brightly, even through my stubborn dark times. I can't wait to see what year 4 has in store for us!! It's gonna be good! <3

Happy anniversary love!

Puppy Nesting

The countdown is officially on! There are officially 5 sleeps left until we bring our new addition home. And might I say... the boy and I are INCREDIBLY stoked! She is going to add a new element to our every day life and we can't wait to see what the future has in store for us!

Time's a tickin' fast so the boy and I went puppy shopping. We bought all the essentials for our little Waffles, so that girl is set!!

Puppy bed must get my stamp of approval. Fluffy and soft?? Check and check. Our Waffles gets nothing but the very best!

Yup, I think it's safe to say that we are ready for her arrival! All that needs to be done is puppy proofing the house so she doesn't accidentally break anything. 

Waffles, we can't wait to bring you home! Hope you're ready for us!