On the floor

I'm getting more comfortable with Phoebe and Duck on the floor together.

A baby and a dog

One day this past summer, around the middle of my pregnancy, I was walking Duck and Chris was going ahead of us on rollerblades.  Long story short, Duck broke free from his leash and took off after Chris for two blocks on a very busy street.  It's a miracle that there were no cars and he finally caught up with Chris.

This really shook me up and I started being much "tougher" with Duck (I'm still a total push over).  We bought him a more secure anti-pulling harness and I realized we needed to train him much better, especially with baby on the way.  I also started googling "dog and baby" and "french bulldogs and babies"... daily... for the rest of my pregnancy.  I had no idea how Duck would react to a baby, or how I would handle them both.

Fast forward, and everything is thankfully going as well as I had hoped.  Duck was very curious and enthusiastic for the first few weeks, eager to give Phoebe lots of kisses.  We just started putting Phoebe in her bouncy chair a couple times a day, and Duck will give her a few licks and sit next to her.  So sweet.  I'm wondering how it'll be when Phoebe's toys are strewn all over the floor, a field day for Duck?!  Looking forward to all the stages of their relationship, as exhausting - but sweet - as they will be.

PS. Our two cats are alive and well!  They're just so independent and EASY.  They deserve extra treats these days.

Halloween

Chris and I aren't big Halloween people, but we can definitely get into dogs in costume and beer served from a pumpkin cask!  Our local dog park had a little dog costume party/contest on Saturday.  Our favorite dog costume, aside from the adorable duck of course, was Sandwich the Walmart greeter!  After the dog park, we went out for beer and... water :)  It was a great little fall-y weekend.

23 weeks

Making dinner.  My sidekick waits to be entertained.

Summer wind-down

We've had some really nice, cool weather this week and it's got me so ready for fall.  Duck and I crashed the daily dog walkers' meetup at the park.  I made some new friends!

In the last couple weeks I've had an urge to start buying a few baby things.  So I've been.... letting myself going with it a little bit!  This fall is going to be a very exciting time, I can't wait.

Summer heatwave

A few photos from this week, which included a sweet visit with our 6 year old niece, a massive heatwave, peak-season blueberries, and a new outside dog potty(!).

PS. Happy 21st birthday to my brother!

Lately on Instagram...

Summer is officially here.  Mom and I went to our favorite place, Tea & Sympathy.  Then Duck and I joined Chris on an overnight business trip to New England.  Our rule is that dogs are only allowed to sleep in bed on vacation - and he loved every minute.  New England is so pristine.  Instead of the usual nasty garbage Duck finds on our neighborhood streets, the only thing he could find there was a fallen ice cream cone.  So picturesque!

Too hot for Frenchies

 

Today was our first really hot day, my phone says 90 degrees right now.  That is not good for our Duck.  Poor guy needs some new toys!  Empty hand cream tubes are getting old fast and it's going to be a long, hot summer.

That tongue!

Our Ducky is such a ham.  That tongue is always hanging out to some extent.  There are many variations: sleepy tongue, crazy tongue, folded, crinkled, sideways slanted.  We love our cute & crazy boy.

At the back door...

Watching bugs & birdies, all summer long.

Pumpkin Pwincess

, a photo by annie loves chris on Flickr.