"IMPORTANT PARENTING QUESTIONS...???"

Yes, as Jamie and I were discussing Brodie's future the other night the common questions arose: "How are we doing to train him?", "Will he ever have a girlfriend?", "What if he tries to sneak out during the day?", "I wonder how we are all going to snuggle on the couch when he gets older and bigger?", then the question came: If Brodie is going to be the #1 hunting pointer dog, well then by all means he has to have a #1 Camouflage Doggie Bed! So, the journey began to try and find the perfect, cute, camo doggie bed. Our search quickly ended when the only camo beds we were finding were $100.00 and up... for a dog bed I asked myself!?

My ingenuous husband, being as smart as he is, decided that I could make one; and that is what I did! Just call me a one woman show... real estate agent during the day, and camo doggie bed maker at night. We went and bought a normal dog bed, and I took it home and started tearing it apart, or better known in the sewing world as, ripping! Once I had everything taken apart, I cut out my camo pattern, and had it all ready to go sew.

For my mom and brothers birthday we all went over to my parents house for a cookout and to watch the Alabama game... Roll Tide Roll! I decided that it was the perfect time to start sewing my camo doggie bed. (I did not have a sewing machine, and my mom did...hey, I still need help being a one woman show!)


I was sorely mistaken thinking that I could just "sew it together!" I mean how hard could it be? 4.5 hours later I finished Brodie's masterpiece of a camo doggie bed! If Brodie could talk I know he would say that he loved it. I didn't just get a top and bottom and sew them together, it had sides and tan piping around the top. What did I get myself into I thought to myself, but I was so proud when I was done. My grandmother, my mom and Mrs. Darlene all pitched in to help. The following pictures I will cherish, because this is the night it all began and that I knew I became...A Camo Doggie Bed Professional Sewer!

Brodie's Final Masterpiece

He is still trying to figure out what I am doing...I get this look often!

Seriously, I am over the picture taking!

Brodie's new dog house, bed, and cute doggie bowls

SPOILED....NAH!!!

PUPPY POWER!!

Ok... so this morning I definitely had to bow my head in prayer. Jamie and I are recent puppy parents. 3 weeks to be exact. Brodie, our German Shorthair puppy, is so incredibly cute and such a joy to come home to in the afternoons. We go for walks around the neighborhood, fall asleep together watching tv, and he also keeps me company when I get ready in the morning for work.

I want an inside dog, but have a huge fear of having an inside dog because I am a real estate agent and have those listings that when you go in you take one whiff and let out that huge sigh...seriously, do the sellers just not smell the awful pet odor! Oh My Gosh, what if I now become one of those people!! I am stressing out. I really try hard to to keep a clean and neat house for me and Jamie. That may be a quickly fading concept. Brodie has his particular "spots" that he likes to lay in and if you come in our house you will see blankets everywhere. I put them down so I can just pick them up and wash them like everyday and vacuum everyday! Paranoid, maybe...

Brodie, being only 10 weeks old, has not quite learned that we do not TT inside, only outside. I think the Lord brought this puppy into our lives to teach me patience. I have now learned that that is an area in my life that may be lacking. I am pretty paranoid already about the smell, so you will find me on my hands and knees with a toothbrush and cleaner scrubbing every spot that I find he tted in--Having to breathe in and breathe out while I am doing it. I know it is not a big deal and I am working on it and when you see his cute little face you just want to love on him and I know he doesn't do it on purpose. Relaxing is a virtue I am working on... "it is not a big deal" I tell myself.

Well.. this morning at 2:30 am he wakes up whimpering and needing to go out, so I get up and take him out thinking this will be great, surely he will sleep until at least 8. At 6:30 am he wakes up again needing to go out only we find it was raining. He goes and tts outside, but immediately wants to come back in. After he puts two paws inside, he starts tting on the floor! I pick him up and put him back outside and he precedes to tt outside again, I let him back in b/c he was barking up a storm and I didn't want to wake up the neighbors, and about 5 paws inside he tts again on the carpet. "Breathe in, Breathe out!" I tell myself. Again, I take him outside and scared half to death of the rain and barking so loud he is starting to wake everyone up in the neighborhood not just my neighbors, I let him in again after scrubbing the carpet with a toothbrush. Immediately he goes to the hardwood floor and makes a HUGE puddle! For the Love! He thought it was great and very fun and jumps in the middle of the puddle, onto me and then tracks it all over the floor and carpet! My blood pressure is up just thinking about it. Now I just have to laugh, because poor thing he just didn't know what to do in the rain. The bad thing about a garden home community is the houses are so close together it is not like you can just leave him outside and bark as loud as possible. I just can't do that to my sweet neighbors.

Needless to say I cried, so wanting to be a good puppy parent and at my whits end with knowing what to do. I love Brodie and love him being apart of our family. My sweet husband just laughs a little and hugs me telling me that I am a great puppy parent. What would I do without my handsome husband. It has been an adventure for sure at my house these past couple of weeks. Children may be on hold for a while...I have to get the puppy parenting down first! :)

FAMILY PICTURES

Brodie is about 10 weeks old now, and not until Mrs. Gina pointed it out the other day did I realize that Brodie has a perfect heart on his side! It just makes him more interesting and cuter by the day. He is now sleeping through the night until about 6:30 a.m., which is better than the every couple of hours he was waking up during the night. That did get old and fast. With him in this puppy stage I feel like I have a child at home because he is so reliant on us for everything. Jamie and I have certainly enjoyed having him as part of the family now. These are a couple of pictures that we took this past weekend

Isn't Brodie just so photogenic!