Being A Dog Mom

I love being a Dog Mom. So much so that I have a magnet on my car that says Dog Mom. I find it to be so rewarding. I love being a Cat Mom too, but that's more like being a slave, than a mom. Olivia makes me laugh. Every. Single. Day. The dog breed books weren't kidding when they called Boston Terriers the clowns of the dog world- I've never met a dog that can hop, skip, and run in reverse the way she can. And Olivia is so happy. I can't not be happy when I'm with her. She's the light of my life. So on Mother's Day I can't help but reflect on my relationship with my baby girl.

Meeting Olivia for the very first time

Olivia was a college graduation gift from my parents

I love having a shadow- a little someone who looks up to me and adores me so much that she even wants to be in the bathroom with me. Olivia looks to me for guidance, support, and love. In the morning she "helps" with barn/horse chores (which really means I spend a lot of time chasing her away from eating manure).

For Olivia's first birthday I went all out. For her little Boston Terrier Dog Park Party I made a penant banner (DIY How-To Coming Soon), I got party hats, I made goodie bags with Milk Bones in them to hand out. By the time (if) I have real two legged babies, I'll be entirely burnt out from all the DIY-ing special stuff and putting together play dates and birthdays.

The early days together were hard. Like any new mom I was up at all hours of the night. Olivia and I went in-out-in-out until she got the hang of sleeping in her crate. It was still a while after that that she was potty trained. It took the two of us time to get into a rhythm together, to learn each other. But one thing was sure- from the very beginning Olivia saw me as hers.

I've been proud of Olivia's every achievement- things as little as learning to sit to bigger things like her graduating the highest level class Petsmart had to offer. My heart swells with pride when people compliment Olivia in anyway (except, perhaps, when they call her a French Bulldog- lol).

Proud mommy at Olivia's
puppy class graduation

I take Olivia to parades, to car shows, horse shows, shopping, and out to eat. I do almost anything with her that a human mom does with a human child. She went to see Santa and the Easter Bunny. She's gone for cocktails at a restaurant. Olivia even has a stroller, like a lot of small dogs these days, and yet people are still surprised when they look in and it's a little funny looking, black and white dog. She may not be the type of baby they were expecting- but she is my baby.

I can't believe how much better my life has gotten since Olivia came into it but now that I have her, I also can't remember life without her either. Olivia is such an inspiration. Because of her I now make Boston Terrier jewelry, I've branded myself as Olivia's Human- and I plan to continue growing that- I'm even writing a book! All because a cute little dog came into my life.

our Christmas family photo

Even Olivia had an ugly sweater for our
ugly sweater Christmas party

And The Winner Is.....

Congrats, Duke!

And a big thank you to everyone who entered!

Stay tuned for future contest/giveaways!

Christmas Carols

As Christmas approaches and I get in the holiday spirit, I've found myself making up my own Christmas Carols. They go something like this:

Jingle Bostons, Jingle Bostons

Jingle all the way!

Oh what fun it is to ride

In a fart powered sleigh!

Olivia is quite gassy (I hear it's a Boston Terrier thing) so this one is based on the fact that Olivia farts constantly whether she has to go potty or not.

Hark the Harley

Olivia sings,

Glory to Fern Louise!

So Harley is my cat and those of you who read my previous post from Monday know that Fern Louise is my parent's/the family dog. 

My own bad singing made me interested in other pet related takes on the classics, this is what I came up with:

But First, my favorite dog Christmas video... yes it does star a Boston....

Ok, here's the Christmas carols:

Olivia's Christmas Dog Toy Giveaway!

Olivia and I would like to spread Christmas cheer with our fellow [dog] bloggers (sorry kitties!). I put together a prize pack that I hope will be appropriately sized for most pups.

Contents:

1- Mickey Mouse Bottle Cruncher

1- Ginger Bread Man Crinkle Toy (Stuffing-Free)

1- Sweet Potato Pie Wet Nose Stocking Stuffer Sized Treats

1- Apple Pie Wet Nose Stocking Stuffer Sized Treats

If you would like to be in the running for Olivia's Giveaway please e-mail me with the subject Olivia's Giveaway and in the body of the e-mail your name and email address so I can e-mail the winner. 

I tried to set up a linky tool but got confused. I'm going to pick the old fashioned way- put all the names (with their e-mail addresses) in a hat and then blindly pull one.

I will pull the winner on December 10, 2013 and will let the winner know via e-mail as soon as I can after that. Hopefully, if everything works like I hope the winner will receive their prize in time for Christmas!




The Amazing Pet Expo: Atlanta

So I've been taking a blog-cation. But here it ends.

Brian (my fiancee), Olivia, and I went to the Amazing Pet Expo: Atlanta on Saturday. We drove 3 hours to get there and we were there when it opened at 10 am. We brought the stroller but Brian insisted on carrying Olivia around.

The East TN Boston Terrier Rescue was there and they loved Olivia. I made a $25 donation for their calendar, which is really well done! The photos are all based on movies and it's so cute :) Especially if you like Boston Terriers BOL.

There was a pet photographer who was taking the photos for free and emailing them to you later on. If you wanted to buy the photos you could once you saw them. Of course, we had Olivia's photo taken.

There were free dog cookies every where you turned, free handouts, flyers, all sorts of free-bees. We got many frisbees and tennis balls, travels bowls, and chap stick, even.

I bought Pet Cakes microwave dog treats, a JackSack poop bag holders, and some misc. other Boston Terrier and doggy items. Olivia also got her nails trimmed for free!

We got to see lots of demos, frisbee, obedience, and agility. It was funny how interested in it Olivia was. We saw Shorty Rossi (Pit Boss) and Hercules. And the biggest celebrity we met was the blogosphere's very own Preston!

Preston is very cute (he was wearing a nice polo) and because we follow his blog we got a PrestonSpeaks frisbee! We chatted with Preston's parents and then later heard Preston's mom talk about how to save money buying stuff for your pets, with an emphasis on traveling. It was really interesting!

We had to stick around until 5 pm for the costume contest and some people took it overboard, check out the photos below to see what I mean!

Olivia exhausted at the end of the day

our swag

shorty and hercules

preston and olivia and their daddies

with the petco dog

toy dogs and tiaras (spoof on
toddlers in tiaras)

toy chihuahua

olivia watching frisbee

min pins dancing for snacks

"georgia peach"

olivia and her preston
speaks frisbee

Wordless Wednesday: It was our birthdays!

Monday was my 23rd birthday and it was also Olivia's 6 month birthday!

I got Olivia this cute ensemble as her "birthday" present:

Wordless Wednesday

Halloween Outing

My dad is part of a car club here in town and two of the couples' church has a little trick-or-treating thing for kids. The car club along with other townies park their cars at the church and the kids went from car to car collecting candy. I brought Olivia dressed as a bat and the kids loved it! (I'm saving my favorite picture for Wordless Wednesday).

Olivia and I posing on the parked hay ride wagon

Olivia sized pumpkins!

A Plan in The Works

So I'm a member of South Carolina Writer's Workshop, which is an organization for people who write. It meets monthly and we critique each other's work. There are different chapters throughout the state.

Today was the annual conference. Apparently, it's usually a 2.5 day affair at Myrtle Beach, but due to funds, this year it was 1 day symposium in Columbia. I think for my first time it was more than enough, I think 2.5 days would have been an overwhelming amount of information.

So. You may be wondering what this has to do with Olivia. Well, I'm going to write a book- memoir style (sorta)- about my adventures with the little monster. So basically my blog posts but longer and with other stuff in between.

This is something I've wanted to work on since I read the book You Tell Your Dog First by Alison Pace. She wrote a memoir in which the memories and essays she chose were all centered around dogs and usually, more specifically, her dog Carly. I thought it was really well done and not one of those books about someone's pet that makes you cringe.

Anyways, hopefully I'll have something in book form to share with all of you in the coming future! I mean, who wouldn't want to read something that starred this adorable girl?

Wordless Wednesday: The Snood

I knitted Olivia a snood! She looks so cute in it.

Halloween Pawty!

So Olivia and I dressed up and attended the Petsmart Halloween Party this morning :) Yes. I dressed up in costume too. We received and goodie bag and a big stuffed animal with a squeaky (Olivia loves it even though it's sorta bigger than her). My parents came with their dog Fern and she received goodies too! Olivia is doing so much better from her spaying but it is hard to keep her under wraps... she's not supposed to be too active yet, but she is one excited little girl!

Snow White and the Queen of Hearts

Fern, me, and Olivia

Olivia's First Pumpkin

This past weekend I got a pumpkin that I'll carve closer to Halloween so it doesn't cave in and shrivel up before the holiday. Olivia was very interested in what that big orange thing was, she'd never seen one before!

Olivia and Friends Go to the Horse Show

So I've been super busy but I'm finally getting to post this!

Olivia and I got up at 5am this past saturday, and went with my riding instructor to a horse show that she was competing at. We drove in her sedan with her, her Golden Retriever, her large Carolina Ditch Dog (mutt), and her Boston. It felt like a clown car. Haha. Not even sure how we all fit!

Olivia's favorite part of the day was playing in the water jumps with her buddies, which I was really proud of her for. Since her horrific incident of terror (falling in my pool at about 9-10 weeks old and sinking like a stone) she has had an understandable aversion to water. But on Saturday she hopped right in with the rest of them for the first time! What a brave puppy! The water was dyed blue and I was worried I'd have a blue Boston, it didn't stain her but she definitely got a bath when we got home!

my phone cam was in panorama mode... so Olivia looks like she has 2 heads!

Cooling off

Walking 2 Bostons at once. Princess (left) and Olivia (right)

Bostons playing (Olivia is the one in pink)

exhausted Princess

"maybe water isn't soo bad after all..."

Hudson with his stick he retrieved from the water

swimming Princess

Pup Pup cooling off

a dog sized boardwalk!

Princess likes to sit on the console of the car

Hudson was exhausted from the day out