Watch Me Grow: 20 Weeks

Rory girl is 20 weeks old.  Yesterday she had a big vet appointment.  She got spayed, got her rabies shot & a few other vaccinations, and we had her microchipped.  She was really loopy and out of it all day from the anesthesia.  She basically slept the entire day but she did not want to be alone.  If we would leave the room she would start whining, it was so sad.  We watched a lot of movies & cuddled with her while she slept.  Even though it was sad I really liked how cuddly she was.  She's acting more like herself today and finally eating so she seems to be recovering well.  Now we just have to try to keep her from running, jumping, rough playing, and getting overly excited for ten days.  Yeah....wish us luck.

-Kami

Watch Me Grow: 19 Weeks

 

Rory is 19 weeks old!  I can't believe how fast it has gone by.  She has been so good lately.  We ordered a "gentle lead" on amazon and it has made a huge difference on walks with her.  It is a head harness that goes around her snout and high on her head.  You just have to apply a little pressure and she responds immediately.  She no longer yanks and tries to pull ahead the whole walk.  It has been so nice!  I need to get a picture of her in it.  She isn't the biggest fan of it but it works great.  Rory did really good on the 4th of July.  I wondered if she would be terrified of fireworks but she was not scared at all.  We took her outside on our front lawn and watched all our neighbors fireworks and lit a few cheap ones in our driveway.  She didn't get scared she was just curious and would stop what she was doing and watch them intently.  Those were the biggest events of week but I just made Bryce go get the scale to see how much she weighs....31 pounds! (Thanks Brycer)  She's going to be 60+ pounds in no time!

-Kami

4th of July 2013

Our 4th of July was pretty low key this year.  Bryce went fishing early in the morning with his dad.  There was no way I was waking up at 6 am on my day off so I stayed home and slept in.  After I woke up I did some pretty exciting things like scrub my fridge and clean my shower curtain.  It was actually really nice to have a day off to get a few things done I'd been putting off for a while.

After I finished my chores Rory cuddled up to me on the couch while I did some reading.
Bryce got home in the late afternoon then we picked up some dinner and went to a concert in Layton, the New American Philharmonic Symphony.  After the concert we came home, ate drumstick ice cream cones, and lit some cheap fireworks in our driveway.  Rory wasn't sure if she liked them or not.  We laughed at her confusion trying to decide if she should be scared or try to attack them.  I love holidays with my little family.  I have so much fun no matter what we do.  I'm so grateful to live in this country and I am proud to be an American.  Happy Birthday USA!

-Kami   

Watch Me Grow: 18 Weeks

At 18 weeks Rory is definitely going through a toddler stage.  All the books I read say that from months 4-6 puppies go through a rebellious toddler stage.  They try to push their limits, test their boundaries, and establish their independence.  Rory is definitely in this stage.  She has started putting her paws up on the counter & table to try to find food and snatches any papers we leave out and rips them to shreds.  Also, lately whenever we take her out in the yard she always waits until we're distracted and then sneaks away to the mud.  Then she goes crazy and digs and rolls around it until she's completely covered.  It's been fun ;)

Here she is trying to sneak away to the mud.

She's really curious and observant.  It's fun to watch her explore the world.  Whenever the wind blows the branches in our tree she always looks up and watches.  It always makes me laugh.  I was glad to finally get a picture of it.

She loves to chew and will spend a good hour just chewing away on a rawhide bone.  It's nice to be able to toss her a bone to keep her occupied when we need to get things done around the house without her getting into trouble.

She's definitely getting calmer the older she gets.  She's getting better and better at controlling her urge to bite when she plays.  We're still working on teaching her to heel and not pull on the leash on walks.  She's getting pretty strong so we are really working on getting her trained on walking before she's full grown and harder to control.  Hopefully she'll make some progress with that soon, my arms would appreciate it!

-Kami

Pictures and Goals

Last Sunday we had dinner at my parents to celebrate my dad's birthday and like a dutiful daughter I made sure to annoy everyone and pull out my camera.  I was thinking lately about how I don't have very many recent pictures with my parents or even just of my parents.  I made a goal to start taking more pictures when we were together and I'm happy to report I am staying on track.

My mom and dad.  I love seeing how happy they are together.

Mom, Dad, & Zoey.

I made sure to take pictures of my own little family too.  Rory made friends with the barn cats.  The cats weren't quite sure what to think of this new "friendship."

Brycer.  I like him. 

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it.  We were trying to get a decent shot of us and Rory was not feeling at all like being cooperative.  We were holding her down on our laps while she kept scrambling and struggling against us to get down and play.  This picture was the result.  It looks more like she was sleeping but but she was definitely not.  I have scratches all over my arms to prove it.  

Once we stood up and held Rory she stopped being a stinker and we were able to get a good picture together.  

I am also adding to my goal to take more pictures with Bryce's parents and mine and Bryce's siblings.  I'm sure they will all be thrilled to be new victims  participants!

-Kami

Rory's BFF Zoey

 

I was going through my photos the other day and found these that I forgot to share.  Two weeks after we got Rory we took her to my parents house to play with their dog Zoey.  Zoey is a sweet little Shih Tzu/Bichon cross.  Luckily for Rory, who is always so full of energy, Zoey is just as playful and almost at the same energy level.  They instantly got along and loved playing together.

 

After lots of playing they take breaks and cuddle up by each other on the couch.  This only lasts a minute or two until Rory starts pestering Zoey trying to get her to play again.

When we first took Rory to play with Zoey they were about the same size.  Now Rory is almost three times the size of Zoey!  I need to get some updated pictures of them together.  They still are best buds and love playing together.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that it will stay that way even when Rory is full grown and 60 lbs.

-Kami

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 
This is my go to recipe whenever I need to make a dessert or batch of cookies for something.  These cookies are so good!  They are my very favorite and everyone always loves them so I thought I would share the recipe.  They are really similar to Great Harvest's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.  They are a little crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle, just like a chocolate chip cookie should be.  They are made with whole wheat flour, so that takes away a little of the guilt :).  You could probably do a few other substitutions for the butter and sugar and make them even healthier but I haven't ever experimented with that on this recipe.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups brown sugar, packed

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups rolled oats

2 eggs

2 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon milk

1 (12 ounce) pkg semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Beat together brown sugar and butter until well combined. Add oats, eggs, molasses, and milk; beat well. Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture; beat until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop dough and drop about 3 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 13 minutes, until just starting to brown around the outside. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets. Remove and cool on racks.

Makes 24 giant cookies

Now hurry and go make a batch of cookies.  You can thank me later.

-Kami