life is good.

thanks so much for all of your dc tips.
thanks for taking the time to help me plan.
and thanks for being my friend.

i have a lot on my mind these days & lots that i would love to write about
but i also know that tonight i need to clean, do homework, wash clothes, pack and play with my pups
so that's what i'm going to do

but i just wanted to say thanks first
and also, isn't mr. briggs so cute?
g took these photos of him while we visited last weekend.
so many big emotions from such a little man.

i love these people.

welcome to the world, mr. briggs.
you are the cutest little man we've ever met
and we love you so much already.

{briggs was born on 9.27, so i've been waiting to post this darling pic for a while,
but of course, i wanted to wait until his mommy had the honors of introducing him first.}

we could be a snuggie family!

how sad is it that i am honestly considering getting one of these for toby?
but, the little man wont go outside from september through march without a sweatshirt.
i think he needs it.

someone please help me.

{i had the hilarious video up, until i realized it re-started after every page load. way too annoying. video here.}

naughty gentlemen.

this is my pup,
mr. j bubba olsen.

he is adorable, as you can see.
he is photogenic and loving and sweet.

his top to favorite past times are:
eating his poop
and kissing you on the mouth.

he is a real gentlemen,
except for the fact that he loves pull roots out of the ground
and in through the dog door in his spare time.

and he eats his poop.

did i mention that?

today, he was in puppy jail.
i can't remember what he did,
but i'm sure it was very naughty.

the end.

dear tiny family.

i love coming home to you at 5 pm every day.

i love the kisses i get from each of you when i walk through the door.

i love our evening strolls, jogs or walks.

i love being at the park with all of you when the sun is setting.

i love turning on the lamps, changing into pj's and watching our shows after the sun has gone down.

i love when we all cuddle in bed together

and i love kicking two of you out of bed when it's finally time to sleep.

thanks for being my tiny, not-legit-because-no-babies-are-involved family.
i hope some day we are a big family. but for now, tiny will do.

i'm supposed to be writing a talk right now.

g is sitting in the chair next to me, working diligently on preparing his talk for sacrament meeting (and if any of my family or friends are reading this, don't ask me when we are speaking...trust me, you won't be missing anything). every now & then he asks me a question about the format and the topics and i nod and agree and say something about "starting with a joke" and "ending with a testimony" and continue typing away. i'm writing my talk, too, you see....i am, i am.

toby magoo & mr. j bubba olsen are wrestling on the floor beside me. in case you are thinking to yourself, "wow! i wasn't even sure if she had dogs anymore, she NEVER mentions them!" i know i don't & i'm sorry...and yes, they are still alive despite several attempts i made to KILL THEM a few days ago when they brought solid poops in through the dog door (again) and scattered them in my living room.

j bubba is currently losing the wrestling match, which i'm sure has something to do with the fact that he can't keep up anymore. lately, g & i have been quite concerned about the weight of a certain mr. j bubba olsen and although we've tried to be positive, the real low point came when he tried to jump on our bed one night & failed after 10 straight attempts. now, j bubba is pretty much a portrait of "the little engine that could" in that he will try again and again and again until he succeeds. he fell flat on his face multiple times when he was a puppy before he ever made it to the bed. and once he finally landed on top, i'm pretty sure he shook his little paw at the sky & said "TAKE THAT!!".

needless to say, we were a proud mother & father.

so it's understandable that watching him finally give up and realize he could no longer catapult his rolly, polly body into the air and onto our bed, was a real rough moment for the whole family. i think g made have shed a tear or two.

i really can't tell you when he went from being slender to being a chub, but suddenly he was breathing heavily and not even attempting to jump on the bed & though i tried not to see it, even i, HIS MOTHER, couldn't ignore the rolls that were accumulating on his sides. we finally took him to the vet and as the scale tipped to a whopping 8 pounds i knew we had a problem. it was then, that the vet firmly sat me down and informed me that 8 pounds for a dog his size, was "moderately overweight and something to be concerned about".

now he weighs 14.

i don't know what to do with my little man. i assure you, i'm not one of those crazies that feeds my dogs hot dogs & bacon smothered in butter every night. the pups stick to a strict diet of healthy, organic dog food (seriously, the stuff's good. the petco salesman maybe told us it was 'even good enough for humans', so g & i maybe tasted it when we got home, just to be sure.) g has even tried to take him running a few times & we are a park-lovin', walk-takin' family. i'm convinced he must be sneaking out at night and smuggling girl-scout cookies from the pantry, because i rarely see him eat. closet eater, maybe? is he hiding out in the middle of the night, consuming all his calories while he cries into the tub of ice cream he's working on?

g is looking at me funny now & wondering how i am just typing this talk without any research, so i suppose i better

s l o w
d o w n
m y
t y p i n g . . .

more looks, more suspicion.

i'm out. (like shout!).

do you do this with your babies?

My dogs watch TV. Do your dogs watch TV? I am learning that this is a very rare thing for dogs to do, but mine have both watched TV since day one. They are definitely more interested in the Animal Planet than anything else, but will usually watch The Discovery Channel, too. Any time a dog comes on TV, they run up to the screen (as pictured) and either move their heads from side to side, in that "curious dog-look" or bark if the dog pictured poses a threat.

The other day I was making carmelitas, and between Ober trying to jump in the oven & Jack sitting on my feet every time I stood still, I needed some serious alone time (I am laughing as I write this, I talk about them like they are kids). Anyways, I turned on the 2009 Dog Championships & the pups watched it for an hour and a half straight...Toby, from the couch & Bubs, front and center.

I realize that this basically means I am already a mother who shoves her children in front of the TV in order to get them out of her hair, but whatever, my dogs are the coolest.

**and Mom's who shove their babies in front of the TV are the coolest, too***

so, those dogs.

does it offend you that i do this to my dogs?
ober o wears a sweatshirt from october to april & jacky b. owns 15,000 toys.
they both sleep in the bed & take up 90% of the room.
we wake up in impossible positions and with mind-blowing neck-aches & yet still, night after night, we welcome them in.
i think somebody needs a baby.

this weekend i...

• screamed bloody murder in my sleep, which normally isn't a big deal, only now it's super awesome when i do it, because not only does it wake up g, it wakes up our downstairs friends, too. sorry, guys.

• witnessed g break his first glass & celebrated when he did it, because it meant that i am obviously not the only cluster in the family (but we all knew this, right?)

• finally did all the laundry. blah.

• climbed inside the freezer at smiths in search of a low fat ben & jerry's only to have my loving husband close the door behind me. being locked in the freezer in front of strangers is awesome. really.

• polished off previously mentioned ben & jerry's with b & k. who make me laugh so hard i cry.

• saw this movie with some lovely ladies. (it was good)

• finally spent some quality time with our lovers, the burbanks. (they rock my world.)

• thought long & hard about doing pilates. but didn't.

• and knocked a huge decoration off the wall (it fell on my pup & gashed a whole in the baseboard) in the middle of a lovely dinner party. i know how to make a good impression.

hope your weekend was full of less embarrassing moments.
cheers to a happy (and accident-free) week ahead.

j bub goes nuts.

earlier this evening,
mr. j bubba olsen
snuck into his uncle jon's room and ate between
15 and 20 bite sized snickers bars.

as we all know, chocolate is not good for pups
so i have been monitoring him closely waiting for the vomiting to begin.

surprisingly, j bub doesn't seem to be feeling the least bit queasy...
instead of a losing his dinner, he seems to have lost his mind.

he is currently sprinting laps around the house as fast as his little legs will take him
with his new gingerbread man in tow

i just turned around to see that the gingerbread man has been shredded alive
(sorry jennie & m)
his guts strewn all over the house.
{may he rip}
earlier, i am pretty sure j bub tried to do a back flip.

i looked up the symptoms of chocolate consumption in canines and sure enough it said:
hyperactivity & restlessness.


now, i apologize, but this will have to be the end of "j bub goes nuts",
i'm off to go rescue his next victim (the slinky dog)

hey, at least he's not dead!

the past two days.

number of times Jacky B. has barfed on our bed: 2

number of times Jacky B. has barfed on his bed: 2

number of times Jacky B. has barfed on our carpet: 3

number of times Jacky B. has barfed in our tub: 1

number of times he had done other things that you seriously don't want to know about: 3

hours of sleep G & I got Monday night: 3

hours of sleep G & I got last night: 4

loads of laundry we've done at 3 in the morning: 2

number of hours Jack has cried & whined with discomfort: 48

number of times I wished I could stay home with him & rub his sick little belly all day: 8 million

get well soon, my little J.

I love you.

the gentlemen.

My cute friend from the ward, Rachel, tagged me to post 6 quirks about myself. Since I've already revealed many many quirks about myself in the past (are you guys so sick of me saying this same thing?) I thought I'd alter it a bit a deliver 6 quirks about the gentlemen in my life. Namely, jacky b & ober olsen. Hope you don't mind, Rachel!

1. Toby is a deep sleeper who loves to be under as many covers as possible regardless of the temperature. I can never find him in the morning because he is always buried under piles of blankets. He takes forever to wake up is usually still asleep in his bed when I leave. Jacky, on the other hand, is completely alert & awake the moment he gets up. We are talking running down the hall or out the dog door to get a toy within seconds of the alarm clock going off.

2. Toby gets nervous whenever he sees me get my shoes out of the closet. I think its because he knows that I always put on my shoes before I leave. As soon as I put them on he nips at my ankles all the way to the front door :(. Speaking of morning routines, Jack loves to watch me get ready in the morning. He especially loves to watch me blow dry my hair. He just sits in the hallway and moves his head from side to side (the confused look).

3. Jack loves to bring "presents" in through the dog door from the backyard. When I say presents, I mean, apples with worms in them, walnuts, dirt, sticks, dried up pieces of poop & once...a dead bird. That was a fabulous day. (If this doesn't convince all of you to go out & by a dog RIGHT THIS MINUTE, I don't know what will).

4. Everyone already knows this, but I have never seen a dog who loves to give kisses the way Jack does. He would lick your face all day long if you would let him. He frequently does "air kisses" which consists of him getting so excited he licks the air vigorously (when a face cannot be found). On the other hand, he is only fond of faces, he rarely licks anything else. Toby likes to lick your feet when he wants attention.

5. Toby sort of freezes mid-jump whenever he jumps off of our bed. We call it the "wonder jump" because he looks so noble, almost like a superhero. I seriously don't know how to describe this one- you just have to see it for yourself. Some dogs just sort of fall of the bed, but Toby really gives it his all, his best little jump, with all 4 legs straight out.

6. Jacky can jump at least 4 feet in the air, probably higher. Toby can't even jump onto the couch. Toby eats all of his & Jack's food, but he is teeny tiny, maybe 6 lbs. We never see Jack eat & he weighs at least 11 lbs now. Jack once scaled a rock climbing wall to get to me (it was about 5 ft. tall & I was standing at the top of it). He is a good little climber & mostly, he is just OBSESSED with being exactly where I am.

7. They both know what it means to "find brother". If one is missing, we will ask the other to "find brother", in which he will run off by himself & return with his buddy in tow.

8. Jack only barks when he sees other dogs in our house. He barks at the TV whenever a dog comes on & frequently barks at his reflection in the mirror. Toby growls, yelps & "runs" (twitches his little paws) in his sleep.

9. They both get crazy excited at the mention of the word, "grandmas house" or "park". They both love little kids & our nieces especially. I can always tell that they are trying so hard to be good around the babies.

10. They are both smart, but I just have to say that Jack is an exceptionally smart dog. He understands the emotion in your voice & seriously expresses concern, joy, excitement or sadness on his face. I have never seen a dog with such an expressive face.

In case you can't tell, I love my pups so much. They lift my spirit every day when I come home to them. They are both such good dogs and I feel like they haven't gotten much blog-lovin lately, so here is some love for the gentlemen.

Thanks for the tag, Rachel. If any one's running low on blog material, I would love to hear 6 quirks about you or your kiddos!

He's a whole new man...

In case you care, Jacky Bauer is sporting a new do these days. On Saturday, I decided to clip him (like I do every few months), but I got a little scissor happy and this happened:

BEFORE:
AFTER:

We love his new haircut because he is now softer and more huggable (if you thought that was possible), not to mention, now he seems a gazillion times cleaner.

If you see J, please don't laugh at his new haircut. He is feeling a bit self conscious with his new nakedness. Personally, I don't care what he looks like. He is my favorite little buddy, ever.

Jon is going to make fun of this post.

Dear little Toby & Jack Jack,

Thank you for always being happy to see me when I come home.


Even though I've left you alone for hours by yourselves,
and really, you should probably be mad at me.

Thanks for smushing your little monkey face against the window.


Everyone deserves to come home to a face like that.

And I am sorry that whenever I take a picture of you with my camera,
your eyes glow green and you look like an alien.

And I am sorry, Jack, that you sort of look like an alien anyways.
Don't listen to the people who call you ugly.


You are the cutest.

Thanks for thinking you are big...even though you are insanely little.

Thanks for that little face and those perfect paws.


I can't get enough of those paws.


Thanks for making me happy.
Even when I've had a really bad day.

Like today.


You guys were worth every penny.

Little studs...

There has been lots going on in the lives of little Jack Jack & Toby, I just have to share a few of their recent adventures!

The other day, G and I decided to take them to a dog park to make some friends! We were hoping there would be little dogs for them to play with, but quickly found that little dogs don't really go to dog parks. However, huge dogs do.

We came to this park in the Avenues and let the dogs out for a bit. We were bumbed to see 5 or 6 huge dogs and were about to leave when little Jack took off to join the pack. Let me just tell ya, friends, my dogs can hang. Not only were they running, chasing, and engaging the other dogs, they were taunting them too! Jack stole their toys several times and wasn't afraid to egg the bigger dogs on. Being that most of the dogs weighed at least 100 pounds more than little J & T, I thought they might be cautious, but cautious, they were not!
It was so much fun to watch them play with these big dogs, Everyone watching was laughing their heads off, especially us. Jack seems to be oblivious to the fact that he is tiny & that is one thing I love about him!

Being that our dogs love nothing more than making new friends, Greg and I decided to take Jack & Tobs to their first day of "Puppy Preschool". Both of us are gone during the day at work and school, and although we can stop by to check on them & let them out, we feel bad they they don't get to play more. The "Puppy Lounge" seemed to offer a good solution...It is basically just a place for little dogs to go to interact with other little dogs. They get to play all day with new friends & run to their hearts content.They had so much fun, the second we got them home they both crashed on the floor and didn't wake up for hours.

As you can guess, not much is going on with G & I, but at least we have these little guys to keep us entertained! They are such little studs!

No more girlfriends.

This week has not been my favorite. Let's just put it that way. I know that I have absolutely no right to complain, because I am heading off on a 10 day tropical getaway next week, but seriously, this week has sucked.

It all started Monday morning when a certain professor of mine decided to cancel class. Cancel class? Sounds great! Why would that make me mad? Well, friends--I am ALL for a canceled class. In fact, I would argue that no one enjoys a cancelled class like I do, however, I appreciate a warning before said class is cancelled. That's right, a little heads up. In other words, I do not appreciate getting up early, scraping piles of snow off my frozen car, almost getting in a wreck on 13th (slick, icy, snowstorm roads), wasting 20 minutes trying to find a place to park & finally resorting to a pay lot, walking across campus in a blizzard, up 3 flights of stairs and down the hall to find a friendly little note: "Class is Cancelled--Have a good one"

"Excuse me?!?!?! Have a good one? Alright, I'll just traipse back out into the Arctic & dig my car out off an igloo (again) waste another 40 minutes driving home (on a day that I, otherwise, would have avoided driving anywhere) and have a good one!"

Grrrrr.

That basically set the tone of my entire week & things have progressed accordingly.

So 4 crappy days later, here we are at Friday. I took these pictures (and yes, they are awful) of Jack & Toby laying on my lap (which is why they are so awful). Jacky has had a rough couple of days. Yesterday the poor little man was stripped of his man-hood when his heartless parents decided it was time for him, like his brother, to be neutered. As you can guess, he is very upset. Making matters worse for him, the doctor found a hernia on his belly, so Jack had to have 2 operations yesterday. All he wants to do is sleep, cry, shake and be held. As you noticed, Toby is also on my lap. I don't know if he is just wanting attention or feeling sympathy pains for little J, or what, but he has decided that he, too, is not feeling well and is also whining, shaking and needing to be held?

Ugh.

Like I said, I shouldn't be complaining. Next week, I am going to Hawaii & that basically gives me no right to complain about anything for at least a year. But still, poor little sperm-less men.

Goodbye puppies...hello dogs.

G & I took Jacky B. & Ober O. to the vet the other day for a check up & to see how much they have grown. It blew me away! My little gentlemen are all grown up...It breaks my heart. I miss their puppy days...them being itty bitty, too little to go up a step, falling over when they tried to run on the hardwood floor & their puppy breath.

Toby then. He weighed just over 2 lbs & had much darker hair.

Toby now. He weighs about 6.5 pounds and has gray hair.

Jack then. He weighed 2 lbs & had dark hair.

Jack now. He weighs 7 lbs 8 oz. & has redish gray hair!

Both Jacky and O have changed a lot since we got them. When we first got Jack he was very shy. He hid under our couch all the time & was afraid of everyone. I am now happy to say that you won't meet a friendlier dog. Jack loves everyone and is always jumping on people's laps to give them kisses (which is a bad thing, I realize!). He is, by far, the sweetest dog I have ever met...he is a little lover.


Toby was a crazy little man when we first got him. He was always into everything and loved to nip at things, chase things and rip things to shreds. He has mellowed out a lot and is now a little sweetie. He loves all little kids. Whenever our friends bring their babies to our house, he won't leave them alone. He gets down as low to the ground as possible and licks their fingers and toes. He is so gentle & cautious with babies, which shows how much he has grown up!


Jack & Toby really love G and I, but mostly they love each other. Our #1 reason for getting Jack after we got Toby was so Toby could always have a buddy, even when G & I weren't home. Luckily for us, it has worked out exactly as we planned. They love each other so so much. They refuse to sleep in separate kennels (and when I say refuse I mean, they will not go to bed and cry until we put them together) and if Jack is in our bedroom and T is in the hall, they stick their little paws under the door to try to touch each other. One time I had Jack with me in our family room & G had Toby in the bedroom, Jack stood at the very edge of the couch (so he could see T) and Toby stood at the very edge of the bed (so he could see J) and they refused to move. They stayed that way all night just staring at each other & wishing to be together. They are best friends.

This is a creepy picture of both of them, but it shows you their sizes.

T used to be much bigger than little J.

Now Jack is bigger than Toby.

And just a little side note: I realize that dressing dogs in clothes is pretty ridiculous, but YOU go ahead and put two tiny little puppies out in a freezing cold snowstorm to go to the bathroom & watch them shake and cry and then try not to put a sweater on them!

And this is just one of my favorite pictures of them. This is when we first put them in their life jackets before a trip to the lake. They were so mad...but look how adorable they are!

I realize this is a ridiculous post & I won't feel bad if no one reads it, but Toby turns 1 this February (which officially means he is no longer a puppy) and I just wanted to reflect on my little guys. I love my little family so much! Even if most people wouldn't consider us a family at all!