Busy!!!

Things are going well.  Ok, as well as they can when you have 3 small kids and a 10 week old puppy at home.  It’s Easter break this week and I’m guessing Kathie will probably go crazy fairly soon.

Braden continues with his gross and fine motor skills therapy sessions twice a week.  He is already getting tan from playing outside!  He loves playing with all his friends and (sometimes) his sister.  His birthday is next Monday and he’ll be five.  He’s very excited.

Emma is a constant:  A constant roller coaster of emotion.  She can be the sweetest girl one minute and a screaming devil child the next.  She’s very smart and I think she takes advantage of our lack of constant discipline at times.  Wait, I meant to say consistent there.  No, actually, with her it’s probably constant.  But I mostly joke about Emma and her fits.  She really is a sweet girl.  Her latest thing is pretending to be a baby, a momma or a daddy.  “I’m not Emma!  I’m a baby. Waahhhh”

Alex has had a rough week or so.  He hasn’t been feeling quite himself and we suspect it’s new teeth coming, but really aren’t sure.  No fever or other symptoms.  He’s just cranky a lot.  Ok, a lot for him… because he still is a very happy kid.  He’s also getting physical therapy once a week to help out with his core muscle tone.  But that doesn’t stop him from trying to climb everything in sight.  The other day he figured out he can get into the bathtub.  Or, rather, he figured out that he can get over the edge of the top and that gravity takes over from there.  He also really enjoys being outside and swinging.

Bindi is doing well.  Probably amazingly well for a 10 week old puppy, but it’s a little hard to judge when your embedded in the situation.  She has had a few accidents, but is house broken for the most part.  Of course we don’t really let her out without supervision yet, so there’s still some work there.  She’s getting a little better with the nipping and is starting to learn commands.  She came up to Emma the other day and Emma said “Sit!” and her little..um… moderately sized… butt plopped right down on the ground and she sat there looking for her treat.  At last measurement she was 27 pounds, but I think she’s growing in size faster than weight.

I know this is getting a bit long, so I’ll leave you with a Bradenism.  Braden took on himself to hide an Easter egg for Emma in his toolbox.  Then he wanted to give her a subtle hint, so he said “Emma, there’s an egg in the toolbox.  No.  Wait.  I didn’t mean that.  Um…. there’s an egg someplace where we carry lots of tools.”  Subtle he isn’t!

Count Down to Puppygeddon!

Puppygeddon descends on us in 24 days.  I’m still not sure we know what we’re really getting ourselves into here.  But the odd thing is I’m very excited about it, even with the anxiety and knowledge of all the work this is going to take.

We haven’t received any more pictures from the breeder, which is driving Kathie (and me) a little nuts.  I almost feel like we’re stalking the breeder waiting for more pictures! 

We have a safe place setup in the kitchen, but still need to get some supplies:

• Short leash and collar
• Pee pads
• Dog Dishes
• Slip proof rugs for the hardwood floor
• A good chew toy
• Dog Food
• More pee pads
• Training tools, like shaker cans and some good treats
• And the list goes on…

The plan is for Kathie and I to drive to Ohio on Friday, March 19th.  Hopefully we can leave fairly earlier and take our time getting there and enjoy a nice dinner out or something.  We’ll probably stay in Chillicothe, which I’m sure you know was the first capital of Ohio.   That’s the closest city to the breeder that has hotels, but it’s only about 10 miles form the breeder. That way we can get to the breeder fairly early and meet our new pup and still get on the road back home pretty early.  I think that’s important because it’s probably going to be a much longer trip back with potty breaks and potential cleaning of the car along the way. 

It’s about an 8 hour drive, so I hope to get home around 8 PM or so.  I’m sure the kids will have worn out Grandma and Grandpa by then, but I’m guessing they’ll still be up to meet the new addition to the family.

Clowning Around

Nothing really needs to be said about these pictures, except that Kathie and I laughed for about 15 minutes straight.

Four blogs in one week!?!

This must be a record!  Just dumping some thoughts, so bear with me on the rambling… 

Braden and Emma went to the Big Backyard yesterday for a play date with Braden’s friend Allison.  Sounds like they had a blast.  It’s a big indoor playground with huge slides and pedal cars and apparently helicopters.  I asked Braden if it was fun flying and of course he set me straight: “Dad!  They don’t really fly.”   Apparently they had a lot of fun.  Allison gave Braden a big hug and a kiss when they said goodbye.  Don’t worry, I think Braden is leaving his options open and won’t commit to a girlfriend quite yet. 

The play date also highlighted the fact that Kathie and I are…well… old. *cough*  Allison’s mom knew of Mark (who doesn’t, really?) and asked Kathie if she was related to a Mark Ehlke who went to MLC.  A Mark Ehlke that apparently was ‘quite a bit older than me.’  Great.  I just felt my arthritis start.

I brought home new pull ups for Emma yesterday.  I was excited because they had princesses on them and she LOVES princesses.  She was briefly excited about the princesses before she asked “Didn’t they have Tinkerbell?”  Um, no, Emma, they didn’t.  “But I like Tinkerbell!” Followed by some crying.  The ups and downs of being a father.

Kathie and I are both very excited about the dog.  The kids are very excited about the dog kennel we brought up stairs.  So far it has served as a tent, a jumping platform and a pretend washing machine.  I’m not sure they really understand the whole dog thing yet, and I’m not sure they will until we actually have a 16-20 lb puppy running around. Yep, Mastiffs are 16-20 lbs at 8 weeks. 

Now that’s a growth chart!

This is take from a testimonial from a American Mastiff owner.  The dog is a male, but it gives an idea of how fast these dogs grow:

On Jan 13th-  22.7 pounds

On Feb 10th- 41.7 pounds

On Mar 10th- 62.6 pounds

On Apr 08th- 87.4 pounds

On May 21st- 123.7 pounds

Yep, that’s right… 101 lbs between 1/13 and 5/21.

The Great Dog Adventure Begins

And I do mean GREAT.  We are adopting an American Mastiff.  The American Mastiff is a Mastiff breed that consists of both the English Mastiff and the Anatolian Mastiff.  The intent of the breed is to maintain the size, disposition and appearance of a Mastiff with fewer health problems and less drooling.

There are currently only 10 breeders, so it’s a bit of a rare breed.  That also means we have to make a trip to get our dog.  We learned tonight that a breeder in Ohio will have a dog available for us, ready to pickup March 19th. 

We’re getting a female with Fawn coloring.  Females are typically 28 to 34 inches and weigh a svelte 140 to 180 pounds.  This litters mother is two years old, 30 inches at the shoulder and weighs 145.  The father is only 18 months, but stands at 35 inches and 185 pounds.  

Mastiff’s are well known for their calm disposition and being great family dogs, especially with children.  A friend of ours brought their bullmastiff to visit us and we were just amazed at how calm she was and how good she was with the kids.

We’re very excited and can’t wait to begin this adventure. 

Some more info about the breed:

American Mastiff Breeders Council

Sycamore Creek - Our Breeder

Flying W - The original breeder and some great testimonials

New Dog

We have a new dog. Yes, I know… we’re crazy.  Braden picked out his name: Chuck.  He’s a very nice dog.  Braden loves feeding him.  Braden even likes it when he licks his face.  Quite often we find Chuck looking at Alex.  He also likes sleeping with Braden. 

Braden walks Chuck and makes sure we pick up his poop.  We’re also very careful when we see other dogs when walking so that Chuck doesn’t get too excited.

Here’s a picture of Chuck with Braden and Alex:

Yes, Chuck is an imaginary dog.  But Braden has been taking care of his imaginary dog 24 hours a day for 2 days now.  He has even been telling our neighbors and people we meet on our walks about Chuck.

So, maybe we don’t need to get a dog after all.  We could probably  even get an imaginary pony for Emma.