Watchdogs (Diesel)

We do an excellent job of keeping lookout while mom sits in the nursery rocker with the baby, don't we???

Zzzzzzz.... (Lola)

You may be wondering what is up with our lack of posts lately... Well, not much is going on! We are really enjoying Mom's maternity leave- it's so strange to have her home almost all day every day. But truly, all we really do is SLEEP! Here are a few recent pics to keep you satisfied:

10:30am on a weekday... Mom calls us "pathetic." What's the big deal?!

A little sister bonding:

New Addition (Lola)

So..... we have a baby sister! A little less than three weeks ago, Mom left for about five days and Dad was in and out too (upon each return he tossed little blankets and shirts at us to smell). Aunt Becky spent the night with us, our next door neighbors were letting us out and walking Deisel, our grandparents were popping in to feed us. Obviously something was up, and when Mom finally came home, she wasn't alone.

Now, clearly mom had a baby. I knew this. Dogs have instincts you know, and it was pretty obvious for the last ten months as it got harder and harder to spoon Mom's belly on the couch that there was something growing in there. Mom and Dad were so worried about us reacting to the baby, but to me, it's no big deal. They have been calling me "Dog of the Year" since baby Maija joined the family since I've been so good. Diesel, on the other hand, is still Diesel... big, dumb, rough, bull-in-a-china-shop that he is. We all believe he lacks the instincts to understand what's going on here, and so we have to be really careful around him so he doesn't grab a flailing baby arm or anything... but how could you NOT want to eat this up?!: Having a baby sister is SO fifteen minutes ago... There aren't any pics of me and Maija, since I've pretty much just been asleep on the couch since she got here:

Some pics from the first few days at home... Diesel inspects Maija - can you tell he's ready to pounce?!

He forgets his head weighs like 20 pounds:

Daddy lets Diesel sniff her tootsies:

Finally, he assumes his usual position on the couch cushion, still looking a little suspicious!

I think our happy little family is going to be just fine!Mom forgot to post these pictures from back in January of Diesel helping Dad set up the crib in the nursery. He was so helpful!

Happy Birthday Lola- Take 2 (Lola)

Yes, mom forgot about my birthday on Monday. But, she made up for it on Tuesday by making me delicious cupcakes using this recipe below. They are really tasty and I feel very loved!

Muffins:

•2 cups shredded carrots
•3 eggs
•1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
•2 tsp. cinnamon
•1/2 cup rolled oats
•3 cups whole wheat flour

1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Lightly spray cups of muffin tin.
3. In a large bowl stir together the carrots, eggs and applesauce. Set aside. 4.In another medium bowl whisk together the cinnamon, oats and flour.5. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Stir until well blended.
6. Spoon mixture into muffin tin. The dough will be thick, so you may wet your fingers to press the dough into place.
7. The dog cupcake will not rise very much, so do not worry about over filling the muffin tin.
8. Bake for 25 minutes.
9. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting or serving.

Frosting:

•8 oz. low fat cream cheese, softened
•1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened

1. Blend both ingredients with a hand mixer until well blended.
2. Spoon into a pastry bag for easy decorating.

Make sure you let the birthday dog lick the mixers!
Storing: These dog cupcakes will keep fresh in your refrigerator for 2 weeks. You can freeze them for up to 2 months. If you are going to freeze them, do not decorate with the frosting until they have thawed.
Voila!

Happy 5th Birthday Lola! (Diesel)

it's 7:45pm and mom just announced... "Today is Lola's 5th birthday!" which essentially just means that she totally forgot. I've always heard other humans say that when a baby is born, your dog children become "just dogs", and if this little birthday slip up is any indication, we're in big trouble! To her credit, Mom is beating herself up about it, as she prides herself in making our birthdays special... Remember Lola's pool party last year, and my kick ass cake for my birthday back in September? She promised the Doodle she'll make up for it tomorrow...

You may recall that we were expecting a baby sister. Well, she has arrived... And her arrival deserves its own post altogether, but mom's internet is broken on her laptop and she can't figure out how to upload pics on Blogger from her iPad (hence this picture-less post). Lots more to come as soon as possible!

Movin' Up in the Ranks! (Diesel)

This morning on the Today Show, there was a story called "Which breed is America's Top Dog," in which the Labrador Retriever was named the top dog in the United States on Wednesday for the 20th consecutive year by the American Kennel Club. Whatever!!! It seems the most exciting part of the story for everyone was the move up in the ranks for us bullies... why is this so surprising?! Of course we're amazing and popular!!!

"The rankings remained largely unchanged from last year with the German Shepherd in second place in 2010, followed by the Yorkshire Terrier. The Beagle beat out the Golden Retriever, which ended up fifth. Most surprising was a jump in popularity for the Bulldog, which ended up sixth, its highest ranking in a century. "'Bob' was the first AKC registered Bulldog in 1886, and today the breed enjoys its highest ranking in 100 years at number six," said American Kennel Club spokeswoman Lisa Peterson."

Here's the pic and caption from the Today Show story - what a handsome fella!
"The bulldog has been steadily rising up the list of AKC’s most popular breeds since it entered the Top 10 in 2007. A medium-size dog, they are not your typical lapdog, but would like to be! Bulldogs are calm, loyal family dogs that are happy to curl up on the sofa, eat two or three square meals a day, and have their bellies rubbed."

Healing (Lola)

For all of you who have been out there worrying about me and my recovery... I am doing very well! The first few days were rough but I am back to my usual self. I've overheard mom say that I am not allowed to run, play, jump on furniture, go for walks, etc. for about 8 weeks, but I'm not slowing down- just try and stop me!

You can see from the picture below that my leg is looking pretty good- I got my staples out last Saturday and my hair is starting to grow back. That weird brown square is left over sticky stuff from a pain patch that was there. And, by the way, I just woke up when this picture was taken, hence my sleepy face...

Ouchies! (Diesel)

On Christmas Eve, Lola went out to pee and came in limping. Mommy and Daddy weren't too worried about it at first, but Grandma had seen this before and heard that suspicious clicking sound... After the holiday weekend the Doodle still wasn't walking any better so she went to the vet and was diagnosed with a torn ACL- eek! She left Thursday and came back Friday with this shaved leg and gigantic stapled cut... Poor Lola!!!! Stay tuned for more on her recovery.

Merry Christmas to All! (L & D)

Remember that last post with Lola and Santa?? Well, our fabulous Aunt Becky took Diesel to see Santa at Petsmart last weekend so he could have a picture too- plus he wanted to have some one-on-one time with Santa to try and convince him that he was a good boy this year...

We had a wonderful low-key Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Honey had us all over to her house for dinner. We did scratch off tickets and socialized, then Diesel went to Grandma and Grumps' house to spend the night. Lola and Daddy rested on the couch and we all went to bed to wait for Santa... On Christmas morning, we all headed over to the Kamps (Honey too) to open LOTS of presents. Here's Diesel helping Aunt Becky open Emma's gifts (see that tempting candy cane shaped rawhide?!):

Emma got us this fabulous Santa soft toy which we promptly pulled a leg off of. Our favorite gift was the delicious all natural cheese and pumpkin-y treats from Baron's. YUM!

Here's a handsome and very bulldoggy picture of Diesel boy observing what's cooking in the kitchen:

Looks like someone got into the mimosas... or had a little too much fun with the gifts!

Beautiful Emma Rose with her rope gingerbread man:

Merry Christmas!!