Puppy Puberty

Linus and Lucy have had a rather eventful twenty-four hours.

Last night, I kept seeing Linus's head bob up and down as I looked at him over the top of laptop. I was wondering, "What is he standing on?" Much to my horror surprise, I found Linus mounting and humping my poor sweet little Lucy. Granted, my roommate and I just laughed and laughed for about ten solid minutes after it happened.

By the time I got around to calling my mom to tell her what happened, I was laughing so hard that she thought I was crying. I think I was probably crying on the inside--who wouldn't after seeing their precious little puppies lose their innocence right before their eyes?

I had lots to update the vet about at our appointment this afternoon. After relaying the story about last night's little event, she said that it might also be a sign that Linus is fighting to be the dominant dog and that was a way for him to show Lucy that he wants to be the boss. I can live with that explanation. Needless to say, after their 20 week vet appointment in a couple of weeks, I am scheduling them to spayed and neutered.

Lucy is up to 12.8 pounds and Linus is a whopping 14.8 pounds! As often as I pick them up, my arms are really starting to develop some toned little muscles. :) They got their first rabies vaccinations today and finished the last round of their kennel cough vaccines. They go back in three weeks for their final rounds of puppy shots and then I won't have to take them back for shots for a whole year. (My bank account is very happy about this.)

Seriously?

Seriously.

Might As Well Have Twins

This week, Lucy and Linus turned 17 weeks old. Linus is almost getting too heavy to pick up and carry with one arm! They have a definite schedule now and are going longer in the morning and afternoons without any bathroom accidents. They scarf down each of their meals in a couple of minutes and have started to learn some basic commands. Here is a list of the commands that they seem to understand most of the time: no, sit, stay, up-up (to go up the stairs), out, and crate. I am really anxious for them to learn "drop it" and"down" but those are a little advanced for them right now. Either way though, they are getting so grownup!

To commemorate their getting older, I finally caved in and registered them with the AKC. Officially their names are now:

Byler's Lovely Lucia Gansa

and

Byler's Linus of Alexander

It's standard to use the breeder's name as part of their registered name. I call Lucy "Lucy Goose" all the time and wanted to use it in her official name, so "Lucia Gansa" is Spanish for her nickname. And if you know anything about me, Linus's name is pretty appropriate.

Here is a picture of my lovies from this morning: (please excuse the unmade bed!)

Linus (left) and Lucy (right)

They have a vet appointment on Tuesday so I will make sure to post their current weights and all that good stuff. I have a lot of friends that blog about their kids so I thought it would be fun to have a post about my "babies." :)

After two months of raising two baby puppies, I think I could probably handle twins at some point in the future, haha.

Seriously?

Seriously.

One Pretty Exciting Week

So now that I officially am employed, it's time to start all the official first job "stuff."

Tomorrow, I have a meeting at the Board of Education to start all my new hire paperwork. I will be signing my contract, picking my health/vision/dental insurance plans, and doing all the initial orientation stuff (I don't really know what all this involves yet but I'm hoping there aren't hours and hours of boring videos to watch, haha).

Then on Wednesday, I am going to meet the principal and assistant principal at the elementary school where I will be working. They are going to give me a tour of the school and then (fingers crossed) I am going to get a good look at my little speech classroom (I'm hoping they will let me take a few pictures to post on here for you all to see) and figure out what kinds of test and materials I will be working with in the fall. I am also hoping that I will get to meet some of the speech kids.

Everything is really falling into place! I have decided not to move - it's just easier and more cost effective for me to stay in my own little place. Hopefully, by the end of the summer, I will have saved up enough money to buy a living room suit and a new master bedroom suit. My dad has agreed to come up this summer and help me spruce up the place a bit (i.e. painting walls). He is the best painter I know so the walls will look amazing when he is done with them--instead of paint splattered haphazardly across a wall like it would be if I did it.

Now that I know what my life will pretty much be like for the next year or two, it's time to step back and let God take care of the things I can't plan. I sure don't know know what the next few years hold for me spiritually, physically (I am starting to train for a 5K this week so hopefully "physically means 20 pounds lighter!), and personally. But I'm hoping that since my mind is now at ease about my job, my living situation, and my finances, that all the other little things will fall into place on their own.

Seriously?

Seriously.