Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Change




Change isn't always easy. I like change. I guess because my Dad dragged me around the world growing up. I am a military brat, as they call it, but I think being a Marine's kid is really a positive thing.
I think I accept change a lot better because of it. I do think as I get older, it does not get easier. Naomi didn't accept change very well to begin with. Zeke was a new addition to the home and now she shares her toys, her home, and little Zeke occassionally tries to steal her bed. (He liked it so much he peed on it....or I guess the polite way of saying it is he marked it.)
I have to say I am proud of Naomi. She's the big one now, but give it a few more months and she'll be the little one. Right now Zeke takes advantage of her: nips at her, teases her and then runs and hides behind mommy as if he is innocent. She tolerates him and often plays back. That's when he realizes how little he is! A little brother he really is, loving and adoring Naomi while at the same time completely annoying her!! She loves him though. I've never seen her happier, even though the change wasn't easy.
Pretty soon the leaves will turn color, and being the labby mommy that I am, I am already trying to figure out how to get Zeke to stay still enough in front of the colorful trees to get a picture. I am also trying to figure out how I can get Naomi to not be scared of the camera!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Little Man






I never did get to post this. I thought Zeke looked like a little man. But if that' so, in his pictures now he looks like a big man and he's probably only half way there.


Nay has resorted to hiding from him instead of him hiding from her. He use to be able to be able to hide under the table. It looks uncomfortable but at the same time I am sure he felt safe there! I can't say I blame him. What a picture of life! If we could just hide under the table whenever we wanted and come out whenever we wanted. :) Of course, it's not the real way to live life but can you blame him?

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Growing Like a Weed



Growing like a weed, and yes I do say this considering there are dead flowers on my back porch. Someone who is reading this is going to notice the dead flowers and probably make some comment to me about them!
I must start this blog with saying my little Naomi will not let me take pictures very often. She is afraid of storms.......(making a connection yet?). Well, she attributes camera=flash=lightening=storms. Now, when I whip out the camera she pretty much turns the other way. I am sure as I continue my blog you will see those pictures. That's why I have to take 'side-view' pictures of the labs.

In the meantime, little Ezekiel is growing like a weed!! He's almost half the size of Nay and he's just 10 weeks! Of course, Naomi is a petite girl. She can eat anything she want and she doesn't gain weight. The kind of girl you love to hate!
The vet told me Zeke is "SOLID" and will be a big boy. I couldn't decide if "solid" was a polite term for "chubs", but as he grows my worries of Zeke become "chubs" is lessening. (Though he eats his dinner out of the bowl about like my Dyson sucks up chocolate hair off of berber carpet.) Everytime I look at him I think he's grown an inch or two. My father-in-law has fondly nicknamed him "The Bus". Poor Zeke, if he were a girl I am not sure how he'd like those terms: solid and bus. A girl would interpret that as "good personality". A boy, I am guessing, likes to be "bulked up". With Zeke, I guess we'll say he's "bussing up".
Since his full name is Ezekiel Barnabus, I am guessing that's where "the Bus" comes from. I then imagine: Jerome Bettis: Height: 5-11 Weight: 252. I do hope my father-in-law's nickname does not come forth as prophecy!
The pups are sweet and cute no matter their size. Zeke is AKC, and Nay is a rescue lab mix (fluffy tail gives her away). It doesn't matter to me their packaging, I love them the way the are.
God has made us all in unique packages. I imagine when he looks at us he loves us in whatever state we are, inspite of our package, or downfalls, or our failures. I am so grateful God loves me inspite of me!
I love Zeke even when he's having trouble making it to the door to announce he has to potty.
It's good God has patience with me when I fail!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

I want to be Like Brutus!

Brutus Cassius....the little wizard. Well, I thought that 's what Tina was calling him. Brutus had a problem of potty in the house. I think Zeke got wind of it and decided that he would have a potty problem too!
I do love my little chocolate but I am sure he's pottied in every inch of my kitchen floor. (I do think positively, at least it's not the carpet!) I think he wants to be just like Brutus.
I can only hope he will continue to follow in Brutie's footsteps and finally get the "potty thing" down.
I hope he imitates Brutie's good traits....loving on me, puppy kisses.....
Why do we like to imitate bad habits? I wish I could have everyone's good habits in life. I would be very organized, very skinny, very healthy....I would run marathons for a hobby. I would write my grandmother on a regular basis. I would be more generous to people. My prayers would be "effective" and "fervent"!
I think though that God just wants my best, and if I give that, and do so heartily then I've done my part.
I do know, if....(actually when)....Zeke stops pottying in the house.....I will give him lots of little blessings!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Trip to the Vet

I guess I own a "climber". We went to his first Vet visit yesterday. ALL OVER my lap! The guy would not leave me alone driving down the road. I was thinking if he kept up the doctors would be coming to us instead of us going to them!

So I had to find a distraction. I keep a box of Milk Bones in the glove compartment for Naomi. I pulled it out and there were still some treats left at the bottom of the box. He and I were both entertained by the box. Poor guy got so stuck in it from trying to reach those treats! I be he'll like vet visits all the time if I give him the box of milk bones to play with!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Wiggling Through Tight Places


This weekend Zeke saw Naomi running through the yard and decided he wanted to play too! I guess he forgot about the stairs....he decided to squeeze through the deck posts. It was quite a sight! He got just about all the way through when his little bottom got wedged between two posts. He wiggled and wiggled and wiggled....I had socks on and was trying to decide what I needed to do in those brief 5 seconds! Wet grass, stuck dog....poo in yard...hmmm....I really thought he'd get smart and back out but once he was hanging by his little bottom he had no choice but to force his way through the tight place. SQUEEZE he did!!! I figure if you really want to get to where you want to go, you WILL squeeze your way through!
It really made me think of how I get stuck in tight places sometimes and often I won't try to wiggle my way through but instead, if I were a pup, I'd stay stuck and whine!! I think if I can "do all things through Christ" then maybe I wouldn't stay stuck and whine, but instead I'd wiggle through the tight places!!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Never Too Much Chocolate





I've recently found many old friends on facebook and found they have blogs describing their adventurous life with their children. One, two, three...and five children! So I thought, how neat it would be to do that when I have kids. I sat thinking this as I yell at the puppy running through my home, seeing him circle around as if ready to "go". I make a mad dash toward him and pick him up only to carry him out and say "Go Potty!". I am sure my neighbors can hear me and are tired of the "Go Potty" that they hear about 20 times a day. I then realize, hmm....maybe I do have something to write about.

So in my first blog I introduce my two favorite chocolates....Naomi and Ezekiel. Naomi is our loving, 6 year old, rescue lab. We call her NayNay for short (unless of course she is in trouble). She is quite, and loving, and gentle. She is so emotional and when we brought Ezekiel home she was mad for 3 days. Wouldn't come in the same room as him. Ezekiel we call Zeke. He lived in our home for 2 1/2 days as "nonameyet". My first puppy! Right now I don't have much description for Zeke, except for possibly "chocolate loyal lightening".

In case you are wondering, Naomi was named before we got her. Since Steve once had Isaiah and Hannah as labs, we figured we'd stick with the Bible name theme. (sometimes we admit she was really named at the shelter when she arrived with her puppy Wynonna, but since Naomi means pleasant in the Bible, we thought to stick with it.) Ezekiel was a compromise between Barnabus and Judah. I just couldn't call him Barney.....I know you are thinking big purple dinasour too. Steve didn't like Judah as much as I did....so we landed with Zeke.

And now I have streaks of chocolate running through my house.... barking through my house....and occassionally one of them is peeing through my house....(but he's only lived hear a week, give me a few more and he'll have the potty thing down!)

Truthfully, God's blessings come in ways we least expect. What loyalty in both my chocolates. What unconditional love. I imagine I could disappoint Zeke and NayNay every day, and they would still be loyal and loving. They would still be seeking my attention. I am glad that God loves me unconditionally. That no matter how I dissappoint Him, He is faithful! Sometimes I get so busy in life I neglect what is most important to me. I think of only what happens in my 7:00-4:30 day that I lose sight of the other hours God has given me and the other blessings in my life.

So as you can see there is never too much chocolate in the Fincher home! I hope you can share in the life and adventure with me, Steve, NayNay, and Zeke.