Happy Birthday Brittany!

Random thought for today...

This morning I got on Facebook and wished the lovely Brittany Bruns a happy 24th birthday. And, I posted, Happy Birthday Britt! Then I wondered, how do you shorten the name Brittany? Is it Britt or Brit?


Have a great one!

The First of Many

I have promised and promised pictures of the house and am finally getting around to it. I've started with the outside...more to come from the inside of our house.

Welcome!


Southeast corner of our backyard...


Our beautiful magnolia tree! I can't wait until it blooms next spring.

Franklin posing in the grass by the patio.

Direct south view from the patio.

And, Franklin cooling off from the quick trip outside. :)

My Boys

Andrew thinks he and Franklin are so cute when they sleep together on the couch. He always makes me take pictures.

Here's the latest. :)


Franklin woke up even though I was trying to be sneaky, and Andrew's white thigh came out for a peek, too.

Frank the Tank

Franklin is such a happy dog. And, spoiled. Since I'm at home working all day, he's almost never in his kennel. Usually he is well-behaved and sleeps a lot since he's growing. But, sometimes he gets these crazy spurts of energy, and all he wants to do is attack my feet. So, I'm trying to control these spaz moments by frequent walks throughout the day - once in the morning before work, once over lunch and once after Daddy gets home. Yes, Daddy. Andrew started calling us Mommy and Daddy when we got Franklin. Creepy, but now I'm used to it.

Anyways, these walks would be great, except for Franko doesn't like to walk because he's a weird one. We're usually pretty good at evening walks because Andrew walks Franklin, and I walk in front of them enticing Franklin to keep moving because I am so fun and he wants to hang out with me.

The other strange thing about walking with Franklin is that he doesn't walk in front of you like normal dogs...he walks behind me. Exhibit A:

This is one of the rare moments Franklin was actually walking yesterday and not sitting in the middle of the road during our mid-day stroll.

I hope we get better soon! He is part of my workout plan and one full trip around the block isn't cutting it.

The Joys of Owning a Home

Buying your first house is awesome, but you soon realize there is always something to do and you are NEVER done with maintenance/up-keep/etc., especially right when you move in. There is so much to make the house your own. More on that in a bit...

This past weekend I went to Kansas City for Vanessa and Chris' wedding shower. Which was soo fun, PS. They are such a great, happy couple! Vanessa's bridesmaids threw the shower and set up this great game of Newlyweds. There were four couples participating - Vanessa and Chris, The Calcara's, The Gowers and The Carters. The Gowers' won in sudden death - props as I think they have been married for almost 40 years - AWESOME!

Anyways, I bought a new desk from Nebraska Furniture Mart...

(Thanks, Sarah, for helping me pick it out! Notice Franklin being so calm and nice underneath my chair.)

...and had a great trip and thought all of these home-improvement projects were going to be complete when I got home because Andrew's dad came to visit and help out. Well, they got one project done. My expectations were wrong, but that's okay - now Andrew and I have lots to do this weekend!

They did get a new garage/backyard door put in. Looks good. :)


A necessary replacement even though I would have much rather spent this money on more curtains for the house...or throw pillows...or rugs. Anyways.

And, Andrew and I were going to finish up painting our hallway. Well, when we finally got the second coat on around the trim, we let it dry and then took off the tape. And, part of our walls! I don't know if it's because the tape had been on for several weeks (yes, we just got to it even though we taped before we moved in!) or if our walls are just old or both.

(Not sure why the color is so weird in this picture...the color of the walls is shown better in the pic below.)

Anyways, now I have spackled (I think that's the right term?), and we have to sand and paint again.



When will we be done? Hopefully this weekend. I am making a big list of honey-do items. I will help, too. I'm a good assistant. :)

Toodle-loo!

Our First Guests

Cody and Lilly were our first house guests this past weekend. Andrew was so glad to have his friends visiting. The boys got to our house on Friday evening and because Andrew is on second shift the three of us went to see The Goods. Good movie - surprise appearance by Will Ferrell = really funny one-liners. I think I'd recommend it as a good renter. It's not as funny as The Hangover, but still very funny.

We grilled Saturday evening at our place, and the boys played washers. Franklin is a big fan of the game himself. His favorite part is running between the two boards and shoving his nose in the board holes. :)

Anyways - dinner was so yummy, a la steaks grilled by Andrew. He's such a manly man. Grill - check. Beer - check. Beef - check. Fire - check. Man - check.


He's especially manly because the steak is farm-fresh from Moore farm cow #7. #7 was a rebellious cow that always escaped its fenced-in pastures. So, now she is occasionally our dinner. Thank you #7.

Franklin goes to the vet this Thursday for his second round of shots. Andrew is the lucky one who gets to take him. They are the boys of the house and like to stick together so it should be a fun adventure.


We are finishing up painting a few rooms this week - so far the grand total is formal living room, office, master bedroom, master bathroom and hallway. We definitely need to paint the hall bath and guest bedroom...just not sure what colors yet. Stay tuned.

Quinnie Jo Jo

I forgot to mention, Andrew and I did get to see our niece Quinn for just a bit on Sunday before we headed back to Wichita. She and Noel and Hillary had been in Kansas City for a wedding where Quinn and her friend Elle were flower girls together. I got a full report that she did awesome and made it down the aisle like a star. Here's a couple of pics - before and after the dress. So cute!

Making a House a Home

Andrew and I are back from Hiawatha and had a great, but exhausting weekend. We got to show off Franklin and attended a great wedding! Congrats and best wishes to Kindra and Griff who are currently in St. Lucia on their honeymoon. Makes me excited for Andrew and I's one year anniversary trip - coming up in less than one month. Dominican Republic here we come!

"Us eight girls" were in full force at the wedding. We managed to snag a couple of pictures together. And, it seems maybe we should have been us nine girls that night. Who's this sassy lady?

So fun catching up with Nancy, Katie's mom. She was a big part of our lives growing up. Love her!

Andrew and I are busy this week trying to get our house in order. I'm finally making decisions on where to hang pictures (although I'm still undecided on a few). And, we have to get our guest bedroom in order because we're going to have our first house guests this weekend - Mr. Aaron Lilly and Mr. Cody Allen. Should be fun. I see lots of grilling and beer in our future. :) Nebraska Furniture Mart is delivering our new bed, and I need to go pick out a mattress ASAP. We still have quite a bit of furniture to buy...right now we're planning on purchasing a brown leather couch, chair and ottoman for our family room, Andrew is dying to get a man chair, AKA recliner - bleh, I need a new desk for the office and we need a few end tables, etc. It takes time to make a house a home, and I'm sticking to my mantra and only buying things I love.

Franklin is doing lots, lots better. He woke up on Sunday morning as a brand new puppy. I'm convinced he was sick when we got him. He never had this much energy before. And, we have definitely lessened our trips out to potty at night. Hallelujah. He is also now wearing his big boy collar.

He threw himself on the ground after I put it on...he still hasn't gotten used to it and scratches at his neck all the time. And, he's sleeping in his very own kennel now! He's doing soo well - I think he likes being nice and cozy. We got him a metal crate that you can make smaller with a removable divider which has worked great so far. No accidents, and he likes being able to see out. Now he has his very own home. :)

Hope everyone is having a great week! Only two more days until the weekend!

Franklin Update

Franklin is feeling much better. He is eating and drinking, and therefore pooping. In fact, he's feeling so good he just pooped directly on the top of my foot.

He got up from a nap, and I snagged him to take him outside to do his business, but when I picked him up I guess I squeezed his poop out of him because it fell on me.

I think he feels he can poop wherever he wants? Maybe Andrew told him that... :)

Being a Puppy Parent is Tough

Andrew and I had a big scare with Franklin yesterday.

On Wednesday morning, Franklin ate a big breakfast and was acting pretty normal. He slept a lot during the day paired with intermittent periods of trying to eat my fingers and toes. Of course, you already heard about his potty experience down the hallway, which I thought was a one time thing. However, Franklin continued to have diarrhea. When he woke up on Thursday he didn't eat much and throughout the day finally refused to even drink any water. He was soo lethargic and started to freak me out. I tracked down a vet that said we could come in for a 3:20 appointment that afternoon. They said not to take diarrhea from puppies lightly - it could mean parvo. So, I look up parvo and start getting upset because parvo is serious! Puppies can die from it. Franklin just looked more and more miserable and his pooping sprees became more and more frequent so finally at 2:30 I took him to the vet even though we were super early.

Long story short - he doesn't have parvo, but he may have some bacteria virus in his tummy making him not feel well. And, I found a great vet close to our new house. They were really great with him and explained things very thoroughly. They had to give him some fluids under his skin because he was so dehydrated. He was not a fan. I could hear him squealing in the back of their office. However, do not feel too bad for him because he came back with cheese whiz all over his mouth. They gave him a good treat for being such a trooper.

He is perking up today and starting to play although we're still having a few potty issues. Hopefully he'll keep getting progressively better throughout the weekend!


We are off to Hiawatha for the wedding of Kindra and Griff this weekend - an event we have all been waiting for a long time. I hope their wedding pictures turn out this good. Just kidding - they will be beautiful! :)


I'm very excited to see everyone from back home. And, Hiawatha weddings are always very fun. Andrew and I are pet sitting for Noel, Hillary and Quinn as they have a wedding to attend in Kansas City. We have to keep Franklin away from their two dogs, Isabelle and Cooper, just in case they would happen to catch something from him. Highly unlikely because their immune systems are much stronger, but better safe than sorry.

I will have pics to post when we return from all of the festivities!

A Day in the Life of Franklin

I promise that this blog will not be entirely about Franklin. However, he is the most entertaining thing happening to Andrew and I right now, plus he's brand new so we need to give him some blog time.

Franklin is beginning to sleep a little better at night. I think we only got up five times last night. And by we, I mean Franklin and I. Andrew takes the last potty trip when he's about to get up for work and then keeps him busy while I sleep just a bit longer. We have cut him off from his food and water around 9pm hoping to lessen his potty trips at night. It helped a little last night.

Franklin is dealing with his life as a flea bag. We're giving him a bath every night in order to drown his itchy friends, and it seems to be helping a bit. Hooray! He may look miserable during his baths, but he's always so fluffy and frisky afterwards.


OKAY - literally as I am typing this, I just squished a flea running across my arm. It will be awesome when Franklin turns eight weeks old next week and we can get him hooked up with flea-repellent. :)

Franklin is also having tummy issues today, and I'm not sure why because we only give him his dog food, no people food. Anyways, this morning he took off sprinting down the hall which means he is about to do his business in the house, so I ran after him. He squatted and started pooping right in front of me. I said NO! and picked him up. I was trying to run to the front door to get him outside, but he kept pooping and pooped all the way down the hall. By this point, I am screaming and he's very shook up by the ordeal. He slept/hid under the couch the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon.


It's Wednesday, so that means it's mowing day. Andrew and our old man neighbor Bill are on the same mowing schedule. Bill is a great neighbor so far, but if you see him outside you better be ready to listen to him for a long, LONG time...he's a talker.

Better start sometime...

I've become a blog-follower addict, checking in on all of my friends' blogs daily. Why not start my own? Surely someone wants to know what Andrew and I are up to.

Speaking of which...we finally got our puppy last Thursday! Many of you know I have been waiting to get a dog for a long time. New house = new puppy so welcome to the family, Franklin. He will be seven weeks old this Thursday so he's still just a baby. He is really stinking cute right now.



I have learned several things since we brought Franklin home:
1) We are not ready to have children.
2) Getting up throughout the night 5+ times is not fun. Tiny dog = tiny bladder.
3) Being responsible for something besides yourself is stressful.
4) Andrew needs to get a stronger stomach, i.e. Franklin had a messy accident on the floor this morning, and as I had gotten up with him all night, it was Andrew's turn to take care of things. He told me several times he just could not clean up the poop, while consistently gagging and almost throwing up. For several minutes.

On a side note, I've discovered Franklin has fleas and we can't give him anything until he is at least eight weeks old. Fleas have the equivalence of lice in my mind so now I constantly feel bugs crawling on me and itch all the time, whether these feelings or real or not.

The house is really starting to come together...at least the rooms we have furniture for. I will post pictures soon!