Christmas Came Early (for Darcy)

If you read my blog when I still wrote regularly, you will recall our dog Darcy, and her affinity for her chair

 

And also that she is an avid sun worshipper

Like here, lounging in our yard in California

Spring Update

Ok, so I fell off the face of the WordPress world there for a while.  We had a lot of stuff going on. I’m going to catch up in warp speed.

First, we celebrated New Years with a trip to the gourmet grocery store and me cooking all the loot.

The entrée components

The hors d’oeuvres spread, one of our favorite things

Dogs in Costumes

When I first got my poms, I fell into the trap of thinking that they looked adorable in doggie costumes. The phase was short-lived, as my dogs would rather kill you than wear a costume. Every once in a while, for special occasions, I persuade them to wear costumes just long enough for us to get a picture. The occasion is usually Halloween.

One year Stella was a princess (so fitting)

 

And Pizi was a pirate (also so fitting)

The cutest darn baby girl ever

I went browsing through my pictures today, looking for what I wanted to post about next. I stumbled across this really great series of my oldest niece from last Christmas. She was a little over 2 years old at the time, so it was the first Christmas that she got excited to see presents (she still didn’t really get it in advance, but I bet that is different this year). I know it’s not Christmastime yet, but the photos are really about her more so than they are about the holidays. So I’m indulging.

We actually have two beautiful nieces, but the littlest one had not yet graced us with her presence. We are taking a family Disney World trip after Thanksgiving, so I hope to have lots of fantastic baby photos in a few months.

So here we go…

Guys, why are we up so early? This sucks.

WAIT A MINUTE. WOAH. Who is all that stuff for??

Gratuitous Puppy

Brandon and I recently took a trip to his hometown. It was his grandfather’s 80th birthday, and most of the extended family was there. We had a great time. I’m waiting for Brandon to edit his photos from the trip, then I’ll do a proper post. Until then, I leave you with two unbearably cute pictures of my poms as puppies, too tired to function.

 

Pizi Poo

Stella, from my last post, is one half of our Pomeranian population.

The second half is Pizana Rose Bullard Huffman Mercury.

Our Pizi (pronounced like the letters P-Z). My heart.

Pizi and Stella are real sisters, from the same litter. Although I went to Alabama that day to get Stella, I came home with Pizi, too. I picked Stella, Pizi picked me. Where Stella was shy and scared, Pizi was all over me. On my shoulders, my head, down my back, in my lap. She said, “I’m going to go home with you, and you’re going to be my mom, ok?” I hadn’t planned it, but it was obvious in that moment that Pizi was mine. My godmom Pam drove with me to get the puppies. On the way back, Pizi rode in Pam’s hand (Pizi was 2.1 lbs) and watched EVERY single car that passed us.

Pizi is my adventurous girl

CAR RIDE!

Next Up… Stella

Oh my Stella.

My Stella Catherine Elizabeth Middleton Bullard Huffman Fiennes.

I started looking for puppies after my first year of college. I had always grown up with animals and life just wasn’t right without them. I needed something small to fit in my college condo, and I settled on Pomeranians after seeing one in the Westminster dog show. Stella was one of a litter of four, born in Birmingham AL, to a family that owned her mom & dad. I emailed them for pictures, and agreed to take her from those pictures alone. In person, she was shy and quiet.

Fast forward to today, where she is my ultra-sassy, very yippy, fancy-pants, high maintenance baby. Mommy’s perfect angel baby. She is beautiful and she knows it. She was named after A Streetcar Named Desire, but if I could name her again, she would be Sassyfras. She has more personality than you’ve even seen squeaked into one dog. If we’re not doing what she wants, you better believe she lets us know.

She does actually think she’s a human baby.

If you only knew how much she loves it

Meet Darcy

We have three girls, and they are the most spoiled dogs you’ve ever seen. They sleep on the bed, sit on the couch, and always drink my cereal milk. We narrate for them and dote on them constantly.

Here they are asking (demanding) to share my mom’s snack

So let’s start with Darcy

Darcy is our most passive and even-tempered dog. She is gentle and sweet. She adores other dogs, especially big ones.

Darcy’s start as a Huffman was not a smooth one. Brandon adopted her from a Columbus OH pound when he started law school. (We think she was about one year old.) The pound told Brandon she was voluntarily surrendered by her first family. Our poor baby was so nervous at this strange man putting her in his car, she had lots (and lots) of diarrhea all over his backseat. Then, when Brandon brought her to NC to meet me and the poms two weeks later, she ate a pair of high heels that I had bought that day. THAT DAY. They had never been worn. It was also several weeks until Darcy would accept affection.