Is it too late to say "I told you so?"

Remember this post with the new "chew-resistant" bed Chris bought for Brooks?

We left it it the living room for a few weeks so Brooks could get used to it.

He likes liked it. I have a picture from my iPhone:

We decided to leave him in the crate for a little while, and figured he would be fine, he likes liked the new bed, remember?

Here is what happened after about and hour alone in the crate with the new bed.

Sometimes, puppy-mommas know best.

P.S. I told you so.

these are the good ol' days

house

sea oats

Dolphins

Shells

I love this pup. And he LOVES the beach.

I love this guy. He's my favorite.

Silly Boys

I have no idea what they were looking at.

I'm proud of my weight loss, but you didn't think I would post a full bikini shot, did you?

No oil here!

Us

Family Shot

we'll see about that...

Chris saw this "chew resistant" pet bed at Sam's Saturday night and decided that Brooks needed it for his tiger cage crate. The material feels like a waterproof snowsuit, which is much different than Brooks' normal bed of fleece and memory foam. When he steps on the new bed, it puffs up on one side and he is convinced that there is a monster inside. It is hilarious. I am pretty sure he hates the new bed and I am certain he will shred it to bits the same day we put it in the crate. We have tried fleece blankets and beach towels and crate mats but nothing survives the wrath of Brooksie. One time he even got a tarp from UNDER his crate while he was IN the crate (???) and shredded it. I wish we had the camera set up that day, like we did here. We used to keep a water bottle on the crate door but he refused to drink out of it and he eventually broke them all. Chris says we should leave the new bed in the living room for a few days to let Brooks take ownership of it and then he won't shred it when we put it in the crate. I am pretty sure all of this will just make a huge mess for me to clean up, but at least I will get a few good blog posts out of this. Stay tuned to see how chew resistant this pet bed really is...

distractions, updates, and Christmas pics

Well, I knew January was going to be a hard month for me emotionally, but I didn't really think it would be this hard. When will I ever realize that I must grieve? Anyway, today has been one year since my mom called me to come back to Little Rock because she was getting sick after her second stem cell transplant. I woke up on this day, and planned on having a good day. My dear friend Megan and her sweet family were going to come over the next day and we were on the phone when my mom called me. It was the last phone call I ever got from her. I am still so thankful that I was able to help as much as I could, even though I will never stop wishing the outcome was different...Enough about all that. I need a distraction, and I'm sure y'all are growing weary of my depressing posts.

I have been working and working and working. My part-time job is about 37 hours a week. Which is pretty much full-time, I think. Chris started his surgical rotation Monday. I am excited for him because being able to be in the OR makes him happy. It makes the last two and half years of madness seem not so bad. Also for the month of January, we have a house guest. Chris's friend Paul (who is a year ahead of Chris in med school) is also doing a surgical rotation in Tuscaloosa, so he is staying with us. I have been making hot chocolate and/or cider every night because of the cold weather. Speaking of cold, Paul will be traveling to the great land of Minnesota for his Mayo residency interview next week. He is going to make pictures for me. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about it. Ideally, Paul and Chris will both end up at Mayo, because it really is the best program in the nation. It would also be great to know someone when we move. What else is going on? Hmm, I am taking down Christmas decor today. I was off last weekend (my first weekend off since October) and I refused to do it then. Last week I bought one of those balance ball things at Dirt Cheap for $9. We also got a new PUR water filter for our sink (our other one broke) for $7. I love Dirt Cheap! I guess it's not for everyone though. I am working hard on toning up. I want to be able to buy a cute bikini and feel confident in it this summer. Yay for goals!

Of course I am not going to post an update and not talk about my dog child. He is spectacular, getting better with age. Brooks gets smarter every day. He brings his dish to the door when he's ready to eat (we keep the dog food in the garage), he fetches his leash when it's time to take a trip or go for a jog, and the newest thing I have taught him is to bring me laundry that I drop on my way to the laundry room. I love that dog! He always comes and nudges my leg if my phone rings or the oven timer beeps and I am in a different room. I didn't teach him those things, and I think he just gets annoyed with all the beeping/ringing.

Now for some Christmas pics. I really don't like making pictures much lately, but we got a few this Christmas. Enjoy!

That is a cinnamon stick from Chris's cider. Brooks LOVES cinnamon. It's bizarre.

the dreaded antlers

Momma & Brooksie

unwrapping his gift

Brooks and his weasel-duck. And Santa & Mrs. Claus.

my guys

The spacing and captions are driving me crazy so I give up! Argh!

Trick or Treat!

Brooks was the inspiration for this pumpkin carving. I found the template here. Didn't Chris do a spectacular carving job? TheShubertFam wishes everyone a safe and fun and Happy Halloween! (By the way, we totally ditched the trick-or-treaters and went and ate some Mexican food. We are not very friendly neighbors.)

At night, with my iPhone camera

happy fall, y'all!

A witch bowl full of apples.

"Why is it a witch bowl?" asked Dr. Hubby. Because it is my bowl.

I made this centerpiece. Pretty fancy-smancy, eh? Mini pumpkins and gourds and pine cones and "fake-corns" (acorns from Hobby Lobby, per Dr. Hubby) and apples on a three-tier cake stand. And my brown scarf wrapped around the bottom.

I found this cool dish in my parents' basement. It was made in 1970. I think it is rockin' cool, and someone hand-made it. Not sure who, though. It has some initials on the bottom.

Isn't he the cutest? I love him, even though he ignores the camera.

Fall Scene-I should have swept the porch before making pics but I was too lazy.

Stay tuned for a Halloween picture. I also have some Bath & Body Works Kitchen Spice hand soap and a cute kitchen hand towel and some very fall-ish candles from there. Yum! We have roasted marshmallows in the fire pit a few times. I bought some candy for trick-or-treaters. I have been making all kinds of yummy soup on these rainy fall days. Hooray for fall!

momentary impulse~a somewhat ridiculous but sweet tribute to our dog

***Warning-Really, really long post. About a boy and a girl and a dog. Bail out now if you have a short attention span.***

If you have known Chris for any length of time, you probably know that he attempts to plan out every moment of our lives. A few weeks after we got married, we had a discussion about getting a dog. In our six years of dating, we never once talked about even wanting a dog. Chris said no dogs in our brand new house. That would be destructive and would dramatically decrease the value of our home. Anyway, one Sunday afternoon, we decided to go to the GBHS, you know, just to look. Chris had never even been to a humane society (growing up, that is the only place we ever got our dogs) and didn't really think that humane society dogs were good enough. We looked at one dog, but didn't really feel a connection. We walked around one more time, and Chris told one of the volunteers that we wanted to look at this little white puppy. Actually, it was a rather large white puppy. We thought he was a few months old, but no, just eight weeks. We waited in a room, and she brought him in, cradling him. He was just chillin'. She set him down, and he started running around like a maniac. I was sitting in the floor, and Chris was standing there, watching us. Brooks (who was called Dakota by the humane society, ick) walked up to Chris, put his little giant puppy paw on Chris's leg, and looked at him with those intoxicating sweet eyes. Chris said almost immediately, "Okay, we'll take this one!" Sucker. Chris went back the next morning to fill out the paper work and get him settled at home while I was at work.

the day we brought him home-he was 8 weeks old

a few weeks later, still trying to get used to everything (I really have no idea how someone could have left him at the humane society...look at that face!)

a little bit bigger...

before we (er, I) let Brooks on the furniture, he would just nap under our bed

1st Christmas! (Trying to capture this oh-so-sweet picture is the reason our pup strongly dislikes all things Christmas.)

helping with the flower bed, he's about 8 months here. And he is STILL growing.

Check out the tongue!

one of my favorite shots ever

my guys

The photographer rarely gets her picture made...Brooks is 14 months here, and already way bigger than me!

trying his paw at retrieving

We had so much fun at the beach!

He's not so sure about this stuff...

our sweet little fam

Brooks was a spontaneous decision. Fortunately Chris and I are somewhat responsible adults and we stepped to the plate of training a puppy. I wasn't really sure about having such a big dog in the house. We became experts at crate training. When Brooks was a few months old, we got a privacy fence hoping he would stay outside some. Well, he suffers extreme separation anxieties, and prefers the crate. Except on days like this. And we have had many fun adventures, like this and this. Brooks is also the inspiration to some great posts about how wonderful Chris and I think he is . This week marks his three year adoption anniversary. I must admit (although you couldn't have convinced me three years ago that I would EVER say the following) big dogs are more fun. We like to jog as a family. Saturday we even went hiking together. He is always ready to play and never has a bad attitude, unless I am forcing him to stupidly pose for blog pictures. Brooks has really been great for our marriage. He is a very active dog and it helps keep us active. We have also had to agree on puppy parenting techniques. Now don't get me wrong, we don't regard our dog as a person, but we have definitely had to get on the same page about our expectations for him. Brooks has been a great addition to our little family and we are looking forward to many more great years with him!

my guys

typical day (mobile uploads)

Brooks, not on the furniture. That would be gross. Chris says no animals on the furniture. (And how can a dog have SO MANY toys??? We constantly trip over them. As soon as I put them in the basket, he drags them back out. Every single time.)

window treatment
too big for the bed (and he still sleeps with Ducky almost every night)
***Not for the faint of heart***He isn't drooling on the furniture, because he isn't allowed on the furniture. Yeah, okay. It got about, oh, ten or so inches long before I wiped it. He slept through the entire event. Chris couldn't believe I made and emailed pics of this, either. So gross. That's just how we do things.

desk job

hiding from the thunder (in my closet) & we are a Charmin household, in case you were wondering

begging to get on the couch with me

this doesn't' look comfortable-maybe he is trying to spell out a message to me???

me & my boy

So during the day, Brooks mostly sleeps. Or hides from me trying to take his picture. I send Chris mobile pics throughout the day, since he is so busy now and we really miss him at home. These really are decent pics to be taken with my on-the-fritz crackberry. I guess our schedules will continue to get busier as time goes on. Typical day for us: Wake up (sometimes 4:30am, sometimes 5:30am,) and I fix breakfast and help Chris get out the door. Sometimes I go back to sleep, sometimes not. I cook, and bake, clean, vacuum, make granola, lay out clothes, watch Food Network, apply for jobs, ride my (stationary) bike, eat Nutella out of the jar, read, stuff like that. Sometimes Chris doesn't get to come home for a few days, which is confusing for Brooks and sad for me. We are learning to deal. I am attempting to make arrangements to pass my time, but I am not ready to share all that just yet. In other Shubert news, Chris's cancer research is still going great, even though he isn't at UAB anymore. He will present again at UA in September, and they just started working on a new paper. I can't believe the third year of med school is already going by so fast. It has been one bizarre year for our little family and I don't really see anything slowing down soon...