A Toddler's Best Friend...

Everyone says that dogs are A Man's Best Friend ... But what they neglect to tell you is that they are toddler's best friend too. Maybe even more so. Ever since Bria was born, Sierra (our Jack Russel) has been glued to her. Following her around like a ... Well, puppy!

Today I was in the kitchen cleaning and I could no longer hear or see Bria. I went through the house (it didn't take long, since it's so small!) and found this:

They are in Sierra's kennel!! 

These two are mischievous. They get into trouble all the time. They are always together. If one's doing something wrong the other is right next to her! Bria feeds Sierra food from the table (I know...I should stop this). Sierra licks Bria until she gets mad and then Bria will ask for more right after.

I swear. It's the most Sweetest relationship! 

Oh, wanna know something else that's pretty sweet? 

"Puppy" was Bria's very first word! 

The photo below is one I'm entering into the Something Sweet photo challenge over at Our Reflection.

If you have some extra time, go over there to get a sweetness fix. There are many, many, many sweet photos! 

Wordless Wednesday

{Love}

A Little Video...For You!

The other day we went into the kitchen to find Bria laughing and shaking Sierra's dog bowl back and forth.

 I think we thought it was funnier than the video portrayed, but I know how much you love watching and hearing Bria. So with that, I wanted to put this up for you guys-even though it's not the cutest or best video out there...

Her new favorite thing...

When Bria was first born, we had trouble with our dog Sierra not leaving Bria alone. Sierra was crazy in the fact that she could not stop pacing around the house. When Bria was being held by anyone, Sierra would try to jump on that person. When Bria was in her playpen, Sierra would actually ram her head into the side of the pen to try and get at Bria. To say things have changed is probably an understatement. Bria and Sierra have become best of friends now. They sleep on each other, Bria gives Sierra Cheerios....And Sierra even lets Bria play in her dog dish:

"You're Caught!"

*Before this picture, she was elbow deep in the water dish.*

ABKA, Miss B., & Other Shtuff!

We have been super busy. It seems like Clint and I can't catch a breather once we get back up to White Mountain. With school starting, the school picnic, Clint coaching cross country running, getting back into the routine of waking up at 6:30 in the morning and working all day it has been a whirl wind these last few weeks. On top of all of that, the American Bushido Kai Karate Association (ABKA) is here! It has been a blessing and a wonderful time devoted to karate practice,  and fellowship. This time there was a team of FOUR! Denny, Christa, and two younger karate students came to help build new stairs for the church to make it more accessible for the elders and to help clean up the cemetery to make it less about the shrubs and weeds and more about a restful resting place for the people who have passed on. It has been amazing! So come back later this weekend for pictures of their visit.

With the ABKA team here Sierra has been locked up in her kennel for the majority of the day. She is a trooper though. When she is out, she has found her best friend. Let me show you!

Bria has also been Sierra's best friend when she feeds her Cheerios!

 So Happy!

Bria misses Sierra when she's in her kennel. I find Bria crawling towards Sierra every chance she gets to visit her in her kennel.

P.S. Check back soon for a review and GIVEAWAY!!! 

Toys...Toys...Toys...It starts!

Not only is our baby girl lifting her head high off the ground, she is also sitting in her boppy, shaking her rattle, and focusing on Sierra (our fur baby). I have been having a wonderful time taking pictures when I see Bria doing something new. Like I said before, I am not going to miss a moment of her growing up.

 Bria's first time sitting in her boppy. This is her favorite position now and cries when she lays down!

I received her first natural rattle/teether in the mail the other day, and the first thing I did was give it to Bria. The first thing she did was shake it and put it in her mouth. At this point, I can safely say that she is beginning to understand and be developmentally able to use toys!

Bria's very first seconds with her new natural toy!

Everyone who knows our dog Sierra, knows that she is wild and crazy! The first time we brought Bria home, was like we were holding hostage Sierra's favorite toy! Sierra would not stop pacing whenever someone was holding Bria. Whenever Bria was in her bassinet or playpen, Sierra would jump and try to get her. Needless to say, Sierra didn't get much freedom outside of her kennel for the longest time. It wasn't until my parent's recent visit to White Mountain that Sierra finally calmed down in the tiniest way. I really do think that my Dad knocked some sense into Sierra when he smacked her so hard his hand hurt when Sierra tried to get to Bria when he was holding her.

Now a week later? Sierra and Bria are beginning to be great friends...Okay, not great but we can have both of them "out" at the same time....Sierra even sits and watches during Tummy Time! Don't worry though, we still keep a very close eye on Sierra and she goes back in her kennel when she starts to lick her lips :)

Sierra says, "Wanna Play?" ....Bria says, "Are you kidding me?!" - Such a cute picture!

I'm sure there will be many more pictures with our two kids :)

It's another crazy weekend here in White Mountain as we are hosting the WISA (Western Interior Ski Association) meet! And Clint is traveling to Golovin for Peewee Basketball. As much as I love the fact that he is so involved, I can't wait til' this weekend is over and he doesn't have after school activities...We have to have some much needed family time with just the three of us! 

Puppy Love

Last night Clint woke me up. "Honey, look at Jack and Sierra". When I looked down at the lil' guys Jack had his arm over Sierra and they were sleeping:

Of course, when I asked Clint to take a picture they both were wide awake! But they still didn't move :).

After we o-ogled over them for a few minutes we went back to bed.  I guess Clint took some tips from Jack because he put his arm around me while we fell back asleep!

Good job Jack!

Where Have I Been?

You may have been wondering where I have been lately. I finished college, I am a week away from finishing work, and I haven't been blogging? Well actually, I have. I have been creating a new project with Clint! It has been a blast working on it. Almost too much that I have been neglecting this one.  I am still going to recap everything else that we do in our daily lives here, but needed to take some time to do it. So, while he is writing up some running tips for us over at our athletic blog where we show the world how we live vivaciously, I am writing on our family/friends blog. If you have time, you should check it out....after you read this one of course :)

 What have we been doing lately? We have been working out. A lot. It has been a blast.  You can check out our running pictures here or here.

All week, Sierra and Jack have been itching to go for a nice long walk.  Today, since it was warm and not raining (notice how I don't say nice out?) we put on our Xtra-Tuffs and headed out!! They enjoyed every minute of it:

Sierra was thanking Clint because she loved being outside!

Jack, getting stuck in the snow. It's not quite spring yet :)

It was a shorter walk then we usually take them, but that was because the wind was blowing pretty hard when we went towards the river.  This ice is soon to break, and we have seen some overflow:

This week we stopped running on the river, it was making both Clint and I a little nervous while running.

I was talking to a local here and she said that the kids here play on the ice well after the ice has broken and even water skipping with their snow machines. We'll have to keep our eye out for those crazies who try to attempt it!

{Source}

Just to show you all what we have been dealing with, here is a picture of our front door. Please excuse the temporary gate held together by bungee cords and 550-cord. Clint will be making a nicer one here during the summer :)

BBQ Season is heeere!!

Clint and I got an early start this morning! We received a wake-up call from my dad at 8:00 wondering when my graduation was. I don't think he realized that although I'm graduating, I won't be attending the ceremony. 

Later, before we had breakfast we had changed my entire classroom (it feels a little weird saying that!) around and made it my own. I'll post some more pictures of that a little later when I have time to take 'em. It was too nice outside to stay indoors so we quickly went home and ate breakfast.

After, we slowly made our way out on to our deck. With temperatures like this: 

It was simply irresistible!

Workout Partner!

Every Tuesday night from 6:30-9:00 Clint teaches Karate to some students and adults here in White Mountain.  During that time, I am at home working on my kicks and punches with Jillian Michaels.

Her DVD's along with a ton of my Yoga ones have saved me from become insane from not being able to be outside or workout.

Anyway, this last Tuesday (I know this is a little late-but, better late than never right?) Sierra was feeling a little left out and wanted to join in.  While I was doing a 'circuit' with jumping jacks and running in place I was looking down at this:

 

While I was doing my core circuit, while laying down on my back doing some crunches I found Sierra like this: 

 It feels good to have a back-up workout partner while Clint's not around! 

And yes. I did stop the workout, ran and got the camera, and started my workout over again to take this picture. Hey, you have to take pictures while you got the chance right?

Cleaning Routine....

turned into a cleaning endeavor! 

I had a hilarious time vacuuming today. Usually it's really quite annoying to vacuum my house when I have a Jack Russel who is terrified of the vacuum. She is slowly learning and is quiet but only if I have a towel in my hand. Weird I know.  

So there I was, towel in hand. Sierra was STILL barking! Oh man it was funny: 

When the towel didn't work, I found myself 'chasing' Sierra with the vacuum trying to get her to bark! 

And then there was my sweet 'ole Jack! 

Wondering why I was laughing so hard....Or why Sierra was barking like a mad woman dog.

All in all it was a  humorous cleaning session!

Jack and Sierra....

For Christmas, we only bought one bone to give our dogs. We figured that Sierra would go after Jack's bone and Jack would go after Sierra's bone-if we bought them two. So? They only have one bone to fight over. It has been working out pretty well until recently, I found them like this:

Sorry they have alien-like eyes, but I haven't quite figured out photoshop :) So, bear with me and just look at the way they are standing. They were growling at each other for about 5 minutes. When I said, "STOP" they both looked at me, but still had their paws on the bone!

Our Kids!

Just wanted to post some pictures of our (canine) kiddos! We haven't really done too much this winter and definitely haven't taken any pictures! So, here are our 2 kids: Jack and Sierra. Jack is the one with the black spot, and Sierra is the one..well, with no black spot!

Jack and Sierra beggin' for food!Looking out the window

Sierra wasn't sharing the bean bag with Jack. Jack, trying to get us to play with him...It worked!