Christmas Chaos

So, it is the holiday season again.  This time we have a new element in our home to add to the Chaos.  Not only do we have visitors for a week straight, but we have our adorable Chance, both of which are welcome additions during this hectic and fun time of year!  I was concerned how Chance would do with all the chaos, but he has shown his true colors once again!  He definitely feels my anxiety any time there is extra stress on my plate, but he adapts nicely.  We have conquered the potty regime pretty nicely, he has not had an accident inside for many weeks, that is, until two days ago.  I blame it on myself, I had so much going on and was stressed to the core.  Somehow Chance caught on and decided to add to the chaos.  He took a good old stinky dump right in the middle of it all!  Needless to say, after cleaning it up I realized I needed to decompress, so I took a much needed nap and forgot about it all!  Chance also took a much deserved and needed nap, away from all the crying and terrorizing kids.  Whew!  Thank goodness for doors!!!  We hid in Lexi's room together and ignored all the chaos.
Ken's sister has nicknamed him "Squishy".  She says he looks like he got squished with his long elegant face.  I laugh because I think it one of the things we love about him.  I am not impressed by any other dog, as horrible as that sounds!  Kristi (Ken's sister) has also given him an Indian nickname "He who hath no personal boundaries" (or something like that!.)  She is a hoot to have around, and has no problem telling it how it is.  Tonight her girlfriend, who is an animal behaviorist, is coming to stay for a couple nights.  We love Liz, she is an uplifting person, and we love her insight on all our pets!
Since we have had Chance, we have been trying to teach him to use a little "door bell" to inform us of when he needs to go potty.  We have a little rattle thing hanging from our back door, which every time we take him out we shake.  It is at the perfect height for him to reach up and tap if he wants.  Occasionally we will help him tap it before we take him out.  In the last month he has used it to our advantage a good handful of times.  Today, Lexi heard him tap it, went to the door, and saw he was standing there waiting for us to open it  She took him out and he immediately relieved his bowels.  It is moments like these that I just have to smile and say "yes!"  We love him, and feel he is the most intelligent and wonderful dog ever.  Our only problem now is that Zac has been asking Santa for his "own" Italian Greyhound.  Not sure how Santa is going to pull that one off!  In fact, I have put in a counter request to please give us another year or two to get acclimated before he brings us more adorable dogs!  We do LOVE Chance, but I am definitely not ready for another one yet, even if the kids are!  Lexi has the biggest claim on Chance right now, he listens to her best, sleeps with her most, and generally finds her his little master.  We call Lexi his snuggle buddy, and Zac his play buddy.  Ken and I are just extras!
Basically, the general consensus around here is "We Love Him."  Zac has even told me he loves him even more than he loves me.  Totally not cool, but it still makes me smile.  We are counting our blessings this holiday season for having such a wonderful, delightful friend, companion, etc.  Thank you Layle for this opportunity.  We feel very blessed that you allowed us to adopt this little heaven sent angel.  Merry Christmas to all!

Happy Birthday!

Well, our little baby is growing up!  He turned 1 year old on December 4th.  He lost one of his baby teeth last week, which may be why he was struggling with meal time.  He had no real signs of losing a tooth until all of a sudden, he started gagging.  Lexi noticed something in his mouth so she went to examine what he was gagging on.  It turns out his tooth was hanging from his gums.  I removed the tooth and he has been eating much better ever since.  Lexi asked if the tooth fairy would come if she put his tooth under her pillow.  I asked her if it was her tooth.  She thought for a minute, then said maybe we should put it under Chances pillow.  Maybe the tooth fairy would bring Chance a new bone or something.  Well, we must have all forgotten about the tooth fairy, but I bet she would bring Chance something, I mean, why wouldn't she, it is a tooth after all!
As for his birthday, we had a Christmas party with all of our friends that day.  He must have felt it was for him.  He was friendly and happy and loved being the center of attention and all of our affection.  He has warmed up to most everyone we know without any problems.  He bounced around from lap to lap all evening.  He even loves to play with the cats, although, sometimes they do not love it as much as he does, they tease him and sometimes they play back!  Tigger, our oldest cat, is still resistant to getting too close.  This last week however, he has ventured upstairs and into Chance territory more than ever.  He will hiss at Chance if he gets to close, but mostly just runs away when Chance is to playful.  Kisses on the other hand loves his attention, I think!  Kisses purposely follows Chance, and or steals his favorite resting spot (on the top of the couch right next to the window in the warm sun.  Chance takes this as an invitation to play with her.  Kisses does not budge, but rather seems to call him on.  I think the two of them will some day be snuggle buddies.  They are both so affectionate, and love to snuggle.

Chance playing with Kisses

Chance and Kisses resting on my bed

On Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree.  The cats have always LOVED taking their naps under the warm lights.  This has not changed.  Because our tree is upstairs, I was nervous about how Chance would do with it and all the trimmings.  We hung most of the ornaments out of his reach, and so far, he has not even attempted to bother any of it.  Of course, when he smells a cat underneath it, he cannot resist trying to check them out.  This mostly results in a hiss or two, they don't like to be disturbed while napping I guess!
Chance has been much better at going potty outside since we got him his winter coat.  It covers his entire body and is much warmer than his others.  We do however have to shovel our grass so he has less snow to tromp though to get to his favorite pooping place.  Once we figured this out, it has been a breeze!
He is a joy to have around, and to my dismay, Zachy tells me frequently that he loves Chance even more than me. =(  Well, Chance deserves his love, and Zachy deserves to have a four legged friend to love him unconditionally.  Lexi is proud that Chance listens to her the best, and I am proud that she has taken so much responsibility with him.  She does most of the work when it comes to feeding, taking him to potty, and keeping him well and happy.  We have found that Zac is his favorite "play" friend, and Lexi is his favorite "snuggle" friend.  This works perfectly, as Lexi loves to snuggle in soft cozy blankets and read,, read read.  While Zac loves to run and play fetch and chase with Chance.  They are all great together and Lexi and Zac both are wonderful examples when we have other children around.  They pay close attention to how the other kids are around Chance and are not scared to help the other kids be kind and gentle and not too rowdy with him.  We could not be happier with our perfect little family.  It is a blessing to have such wonderful children and pets and we thank our lucky stars every day.

Halloween

Chance is so polite to sit quietly while we dress him in the weirdest things.  This costume is no exception!

The very first Halloween Lexi got to pick what she wanted to be, she chose to be a pumpkin.  It was no surprise to me that Zac chose a pumpkin costume for Chance for his first Halloween.  He does not like the hat much, and shakes his leg warmers off as fast as he can after we put them on.  The sweater though, he can't get that one off so easily!  Besides, it kinda helps keep him warm. 

Welcome!

Just want to officially welcome you all to my newest blog.  This blog will be dedicated to everything by "Chance."  He is our newest focus, and we take great pride in all his glory.  I have started this blog so everyone who knows me will not have to 'hear' about how great he is all the time, instead you can now read it at your own leisure!  I hope you all enjoy reading the fun and wonderful things we love about our boy.