i love my boys

I'm still outnumbered...we'll be adding a baby boy to our family this summer so it's 3 to 1 now! I'm totally ok with that though and I have to admit, even a little relieved (I'm scared to raise teenage girls!) We are so excited and I can't wait to start decorating! I'm thinking jungleish/safari theme...don't know about names yet...if you have suggestions send them my way!

Our Christmas Photo

We had a wonderful first Christmas in our new place and with Giacomo. We have a little bun in the oven who is due July 26th so next Christmas will be even more joyous!

Has it really been 7 months?

Ok, so it really has been 7 months since my last blog! I promise to update it more often...that's my New Year's resolution! Here's a montage of what's happened during that time...
Giacomo chewed my camera cord in half way back in May...turns out you can't buy this particular cord ANYWHERE except online. That took me a while to realize and do something about so I'll say it's my excuse for not blogging for a while...
He also fashioned his own home made doggie door out of our brand new screen and a friend's. Hence the reason (1 anyway) for obedience school. He graduated from school in September and even had a fan club cheering him on! Of course, no graduation would be complete without a cap and gown. My mom surprised us and made his outfit and one for Ronald Weasley, who was also graduating. I must say, "the dachshunds" were definitely the cutest!


Our little guy turned 1 on December 18th! Each of my kindergarteners get a weekend with Bono the monkey, who Giac happens to LOVE, and when the kids have a birthday they take the "Birthday Book" home to write about it. The kids personally requested that I create a birthday page for Giacomo with a picture of him and Bono...so this one will go in the book!

I don't think I'm insane about my dog...I do it because it's funny more than anything. We had about 10 people at Giac's birthday party so I made cupcakes to look like him! I saw them in a book and thought they looked pretty easy...they have rolled and trimmed tootsie roll ears, mini marshmallow snouts, jelly bean eyes and noses, and a pink mint tongue (no, they are not beaver teeth). I must say, I was pretty pleased with the result!

Can you tell that our lives pretty much revolve around Giacomo? Not for long though...baby Guzman is on his/her way so our precious pooch is in for a shocker!

China

My favorite part...

Here it is...the Great Wall of China! It was one of the best parts of our trip. We had a layover in Shanghai, then flew to Beijing and went straight to bed. The next day we got to go to the Great Wall, get a foot massage (which was fantastic after climbing all those stairs!), then see an acrobatics show.


We stayed in Beijing for 3 nights, then flew to Shanghai and immediately drove a few hours to Suzhou, where we stayed 1 night. The next day we went to Hangzhou and stayed 1 night, then we spent the last 2 nights in Shanghai.

Some factories we saw...cloisonne, jade, embroidery, silk, and pearls. I liked the silk factory the best. The night before we went Danika and I were laughing because there were beans in our pillows and we weren't quite sure why. When we went to the factory we found out that it was actually silkworm poop that is dried and stuffed in pillows to keep people cool when it is warm.

Can you guess what this little boy is eating?

Silkworm pupa! I did not try it.

We went to a local family's house in Hutong where we learned how to make dumplings. The rickshaw (sp?) ride was fun!

The MAGLEV Train

(Magnetic Levitation)

This is the fastest train in the world. It got up to 431 Km/hr. We took it from our hotel in Shanghai to the airport.

TVCC 9

Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce Bus #9...there were 24 of us plus our tour guide. The people were all amazing and we had so much fun together! We had a reunion BBQ (no chinese food) a few weeks after we got home.

We weren't served this but Danika thought it was funny. One thing I will not miss is the food...I'll just leave it at that.

The Boys

Here's Giacomo with his buddy Ronald Weasley. Ronald is a pretty calm dog...but we've realized that Giac is definitely not!

The Construction Zone

Yep, that's a hole in the wall...oops! There's been drama with hooking up the satalite for our TV so Willie needed to run a cable from the attic to somewhere else using a super long drill bit thingy...I don't know all the details. Needless to say it didn't make it to the proper destination the first time. Nothing a picture can't cover up, right?

Our New Toy

Well, this one is isn't ours but we have a brown & white one in the garage. Lenny & Anna live about 12 go cart seconds away from us so these are pretty convenient to have around.

Baby G

Here are a few of Baby G's favorite things...

Our bed: He doesn't get to sleep with us (yet) but occasionally he gets to jump in bed with me after Willie leaves for work. He LOVES it!

So, Anna has to show me how to rotate pictures, sorry!

Belly Rubs: Even from strangers. I looked out the door on Tuesday and saw the DISH guy rubbing Giac's tummy. I think baby G made a new friend!

Paper & Socks...he loves 'em.

And of Course...Plants: Pretty much any kind, as long as it has leaves or petals to rip off.

And the grand finale...his most favorite of all...

His Bed: He wants it with him at all times while in the house. We have a lot of stairs (43 to be exact) and he barks at us if he's on a level without his bed. Every morning he stretches and yawns and makes cute puppy sounds. Have I mentioned how much he LOVES his bed?

He also loves his hedgehog, his frog, playing soccer, and playing with much bigger dogs just to name a few...

A few of Giac's not so favorite things...

He hates getting his nails clipped (little daggers as we call them), having to go outside at night to pee (so we got him a jacket but he hated that too), being on a leash, people not paying enough attention to him, and people paying too much attention to him (like the stranger yesterday who tried holding his cheeks and forcing kisses out of him) (he refused but turned around and gave me a ton of kisses instead) (she came to the conclusion that he was a momma's boy) (I'm pretty sure he just didn't like that--although he is pretty fond of me, except of course when I try cutting his daggers).

Back When We Were Not Yet Three...

In December we went to Cabo (my 2nd time ever) for Willie's grandparents' 50th anniversary. They had a big wedding that we got to get all dressed up for. We had beautiful weather and got to see Willie's mom too (She moved to Argentina and it had been something like 10 months since we'd seen her last).

These are the 2 potential Christmas photos that we never sent out... I even got together with my friends Kristen and Melissa and made all our Christmas cards. That was in the midst of all the househunting madness so I never got around to addressing the cards. I even printed all the pictures to include...so don't feel bad, nobody got one! I think I still have a pile somewhere if you really want one...

I guess I'm just ahead of the game for next Christmas!

Yummy Coconuts...On the side of the highway there's this truck and you can pick out the coconut you want (I recommend the firm meated ones). The guy gets a macheti and whacks off the end and stick a straw in. When you're finished with the juice, he cuts up the meat and puts in a little baggy so you can add all the goodness and enjoy it some more. Yum Yum!

Our New Home

I've never gotten to paint before...so I went all out. It looks really green but I actually love it. I was worried Willie wouldn't like it but he does so it's even better!

Our pre-move-in living room...the fireplace still doesn't work but it's going to be investigated next week.

What I love the most is all the windows! There is so much natural light...Giac loves laying on his back in the sunny spots on the carpet.

Finally, a 2 car garage!!! With a crawl space for a ton of extra storage I might add--Willie says it's my crafting location, however, the garage has been claimed as his domain (I didn't want it anyway) :)

We Love the kitchen!!! It opens up into the family room but we have yet to get couches and TV service for it...so for now it is baby G's fetching zone.

There's no place like home...

Giacomo

Giacomo is our newest addition... and we love him. He is a chocolate brown dachshund who's 12 weeks old and already knows how to fetch, sometimes shake, and poop outside (usually). We appreciate that! I should have started counting the number of times people ask me if he's a chocolate lab. His best friend Zoe is a chocolate lab and Giac looks like "Mini Me" next to her. I'll post the 2 of them together someday soon...