3 months old!

Carter is already 3 months old! time is flying by and I dont like it! He has already gotten SO much bigger! I also feel like there is so much I have not shared yet!!

In the beginning Carter was not sleeping through the night at all. We would have to take him out in the middle of the night. John and I worked it out that he would go in the middle of the night and I would take him before I left for work. Carter only woke us up in the middle of the night a few times! He quickly transitioned into waking us up around 7 or 8am depending on when we put him to bed. It was MUCH better! Even though John would take him out in the middle of the night, I would still wake up, which made me not sleep that well at all. We also got in the bad habit of when I took him out around 7 or 8 and I still had time to sleep, John and I would just stick him in bed with us. It was better than him whining and not letting us sleep! Carter moves a lot when he sleeps, so we still didnt get to sleep well. We started putting him back in his crate in the mornings and have learned to let him whine it out.

The first 2 weeks we had him was the second time in my life I have been that tired. The first was when I was graduating college, getting married, working, and applying to grad school. That was EXHAUSTING! this was a very close 2nd. I think between him and having so many people visit us I was not getting any sleep. It got to the point where people at work told me to go and take a nap. HAHA. I have finally caught up on sleep now and am not nearly as tired as before! It helps that Carter sleeps through the night now.

One night, I believe it was the 2nd week we had him, we let him sleep in the bed with us through the entire night. BAD IDEA! He was super cuddly, but he moves SO much! and John and I didnt want to roll over him, so both of us refuse to let that happen again! Now our routine is I get up in the morning when he has to pee (luckily he whimpers to let us know!), put him back in his crate until I get up about an hour later, then I feed him and stick him in bed with John. Carter cant be in his crate for that many hours so when I leave for work and John still wants to sleep for a little while, I'll stick him in bed with John and he is fine. :D

During the day John has been taking him for walks and playing with him and then during lunch I get to spend a lot of time with him. After work we take him out and play too :D We found this huge field near us that is fenced in and it is awesome! It belongs to a school that is RIGHT next to my building, so we cant take him there during the day when school is in, but we take him there every night now and let him off the leash to run! He LOVES IT! We got him a dog frisbee to chase. It is so funny watching him try to pick it up. It's SO big next to his little head, but he tries so hard :D We try to keep him up pretty late so he sleeps through the night. It works for the most part. Around 10pm though, he gets grumpy and doesnt listen to us. We found out that it just means he is super tired. So when that happens I pick him up and put him next to me and rub his head and he passes out in no time!

Let's see what else do I need to catch you up on....food! Last week I was playing with Carter and realized that I could see his ribs! I was mortified! I thought we had been feeding him TOO much! We talked to a friend about it and they brought up a really good point- he sat around at the rescue all day and now we exercise him A LOT! So we started feeding him 3 times a day instead of 2 like they told us. He is MUCH happier now! He still wants to eat everything in sight though! haha but I think that's just because he is a puppy.

He has also gotten extremely better about being potty trained! He will bark now when he has to poop and start acting a little funny so we know to run him outside. He hasnt had an accident in our apartment in a few days now! SCORE! We have still picked up all the rugs in our apartment in case he has an accident. That seemed to be where he liked to go when he first got here. I wish we would have thought about that sooner. haha oh well.

I have learned that I really enjoy being a "parent." There is SO much responsibility though! I knew that, but it's still different when you go through it. He makes me the happiest and also makes me so frustrated sometimes!! He is learning a lot though. He also has not gotten into chewing too much still. We can tell that he is becoming more familiar with us and the area and testing his limits, but he's pretty good about not chewing anything. We decided to start a list of things he has ruined. So far, he has only ripped one of John's shirt and that was because they were playing a bit rough and his teeth caught it. I consider us lucky so far!

Here are a few more pictures of him. He's getting so big so fast!

I was taking a nap and John put Carter down next to me, he snuggled right up to me and we slept like that for awhile. lol Me and Carter playing outside with sticks. I made him take a picture with me. lol

He LOVES blankets! If you have a blanket or towel he will be cuddling up with you for sure!!

Watching basketball. I thought this was cute and just had to take it :D

He looks so guilty. He didnt actually do anything wrong!

Carter's first day at the beach!!

Chris came to visit us again! YAY! and on the Sunday he was here and exactly 1 week after having Carter we took him to the dog beach! Unfortunately, there is only 1 dog beach in Miami! You would really think there would be more with as many beaches as there are. Anyway,we couldnt take him to the beach until then because of him being neutered, so we were really excited to see how he would take to the water and the beach. The beach was packed with other dogs and it was a gorgeous day! Cater watching the other dogs We let him sniff out the beach some and then went straight for the water! He did not like it at all!!!! He was scared of the waves. hahaha. He really does not like things coming at him and the waves were, so he didnt like them much. We ended up picking him up and carrying him into the water and he would swim back to shore and run away from the water. haha. Carter is not so sure about the water...

John trying to convince Carter the water is fun!

Carter swimming!

I think once the water gets warmer and we start going more he will enjoy it more. We met a lot of dog owners there and one of them had a black lab that was a lot older. She told me that her dog was afraid of the water when he was a puppy too. Made me feel better.

Carter had a TON of energy on the beach! I ended up walking around with him for a long time so John could spend some time with Chris. Carter and I met other dogs and he found one he really liked a lot. Her name was Lucie. They wer both puppies- she was a shih tzu. They went at it! they played so rough and ended up getting so far down the beach. At one point they got near the water and since they both dont like it, they stopped playing and ran away from the water and then started again. It was really cute. He got a lot of his energy out with her. We also met a VERY small dobermin pincher. Carter got on top of her and you couldnt even tell there was another dog. I was a bit embarrassed so I took Carter back to our area. haha.

Carter ended up falling asleep on the beach after the play time. He would get hot and uncomfortable so we would take him in the water every now and then.

Carter right before he fell asleep after playing with Lucie...I LOVE this picture!

After we left and came home we gave him another bath to get all the sand and sea water off him. He didnt mind this one as much, but he still soaked us! Chris got to help with this one and he got very soapy and wet. It was funny.

Carter's First Bath

So after having Carter for about a week, we had to take him back to the Abandoned Pet Rescue for a few shots. I love that they provide all of that free of cost. They really love their animals and want them to have amazing homes :D Anyway, so it had been a week since he had been neutered so we had to take him to have that checked out and get a booster shot. We got him in the car and drove to Ft. Lauderdale. He doesnt like the car as much as I thought he would. He doesnt like it moving. lol. He ended sleeping most of the way. YAY! When we got there he was so excited to be back. haha. We weighed him and he weighed about 20lbs.- He gained about 4lbs in 1 week!! Apparently that is normal though. I was worried at first that we were over feeding him. haha. He got his shots (he didnt even notice he got one) and since he had been scratching A LOT, we asked the vet about him. She checked him for fleas and he didnt have any (whew!). She did find that he had some sort of rash. The type he had comes from living in a rescue type place and stepping and sleeping in poop. She gave us some medicine for him to take that would help. She ended up seeing him scratching and biting himself and we think it may be a food allergy. She told us to keep using the food we bought and see if an allergy develops- so that's what we are doing. After that,we got the okay to give him a bath! YES! I love my puppy dearly, but he started to stink! We had to wait until the next day to give him a bath, but we did so as early as we could! haha. He did NOT like the bath. Again, I think he didnt like the water coming at him from the water hose. So for the next bath we used a tub and he did much better. We ended up washing him twice because that's what the bottle told us to do. He got us covered in soap and water! haha :D My sweet puppy all wet! haha John getting ready to hold him while I washed him for the second time.

Getting scrubbed down!

He smelled like vanilla after he dried! LOVE HIM!

and our wolfpack....it grew by one

WE GOT A PUPPY!!!!
The week before Krystal and Josh got here, we found out that the little yellow lab we put in an application for was going to be ours!

I'll start at the beginning. A few weeks ago John and I were going to Blockbuster. We happened to see a Petco and decided to go in and see if they had any puppies. We had been talking about getting a puppy for a long time now and so we just wanted to look. In Petco, the humane society was there putting pets up for adoption. There happened to be a little black lab! John and I decided that lab would be the best for us at this point in our life. She was SO cute! We decided we couldnt make a decision that fast, because our plan was to just look. We went home and talked about it and decided that the next day after I got off work, we would go back and adopt her. We named her on the way and were SO excited! When we got there though, she had been adopted a few hours earlier. I started crying in the store. lol. I am such a baby.

Well that event put us on the lookout for a dog. We really wanted a yellow lab that was a male, and happened to find one the Abondon Pet Rescue in Fort Lauderdale. It was far, but we really wanted him. We went up and met the people and put in an application. We also got to see the puppies. They were SO cute! There were about 6 or 7 of them. The lady told us that they had not been seen by the vet yet and they would need to make decisions about who they wanted to give the puppies too. She told me she would be in contact. It took FOREVER! I called SO many times! Finally, the week before Krystal and Josh got here they called and said he was ours! His name was Butterscotch at the rescue. We went and visited him that day and played with him for about an hour. He was adorable. She told us it would be about 2 more weeks because he had to be neutered. We went and visited him one more time before we could take him home.

During the meantime at home, we got our home ready and went and got a bunch of stuff for him. We also started thinking of names, but would not commit until it got closer because after naming the other one and not getting her- it was too hard.

The Sunday Julie was here, we went and picked him up! We named him Carter. He is 11 weeks old, 16lbs, and was born on Dec. 24th :D I LOVE HIM!

He was SO scared to leave the Rescue. Then he fell asleep in my lap on the car ride home. We ended up having to stop because we thought he had to use the bathroom. LOL. When we got him home we played with him and tried getting him to walk around the lake. He refused to walk most of the way. We realized later that it is all so new to him that he was probably terrified. He was really good though. Now we are taking him a little ways at a time so he can get used to the area. It seems to be working MUCH better!

We are also working on potty training. It's exhausting and frustrating. Good training for a baby I am sure. He has had a few accident and is still learning the routine, but nothing major :D poop stinks. lol. Crate training seems to be working though. He loves his crate too :D He will just walk in it whenever and sit down:D I think it helps we play with him near it and feed him in it.

He is also VERY smart! We have already taught him sit and down. He knows the hand signals better than the words for now. But we are working on it. We are also working on name recognition, stay, and shake.

Carter is SO easygoing! I hope this lasts forever. He is really one of the sweetest puppies and loves cuddling with us! He is still very scared to be by himself. The first time we left him for 2 minutes and he peed all over his crate he was so scared:( we have been working up from there. We are up to about 30 minutes now. I think because he was with other puppies for his whole life and has never been by himself that it will definitely take some adjusting.

We have sliding glass doors in our apartment and at night he can see his reflection and he barks at himself. He is too cute. He also LOVES sticks! he has brought SO many to our back door! haha. He also LOVES the sand! We have a volleyball court that he can run in because it's fenced. He is so confused by the sand, but has so much fun in it :D I have SO much more to share, but I think this post is long enough. I will tell you all more later! Here are some pictures :D
First family picture! At the rescue still
His first walk around the lake

He will pick up ANY stick and bring it with him :D
Refusing to walk
So John had to carry him...lol
Family picture!
Tired
Playing in the apartment with his squeaky toys :D

I LOVE this picture! We got him a red collar- duh ;D
The two loves of my life :D

I didnt know I would love him so much already! but I DO!!

Julie :D

Thomas and Kaity left Friday morning and Julie arrived Friday night! It's been a bit busy around here and I am bit exhausted. However, I love seeing all our Raleigh people so it's worth it :D Julie got here late on Friday night. Aunt Vicky works at the Miami airport and was getting off around the time that Julie's flight got in, so it worked out for Aunt Vicky to bring her to our place. Aunt Vicky had not yet seen our new place yet either, so it was nice to have here there and spend time with her too :D I had made some cookies and after showing them around our apartment we sat around chatted for a bit.

The next morning we were planning on getting up early because we had reservations for a segway tour of the art deco district in south beach. Our plan was to do the 2 hour tour and then spend the day at the beach. It was SO much fun! None of us had ever ridden a segway, so we all had to learn. It's all about balance- which I am not good at. haha so I was a bit worried. It was actually really easy.
Julie learning how to ride the segway

Johns turn!

We looked like huge dorks, but it was super fun. The actual tour was very interesting too. Art Deco is the architectural design of the buildings. I wont bore you with what I learned, but it was fun to learn. Those kinds of tours are always fun to me- but I like history and dorky stuff like that :D
Some of the buildings we learned about. Art Deco is symmetrical.

On our tour we also saw the Versace house. He was shot on his door steps one morning by a man that had been stalking him. Then the man hid in the city for a week. The cops finally figured out who it was and when they went to get him, he killed himself. Now, the house isnt called the Versace house anymore, it's a private club and has a fancy restaurant in it.

The Versace House
Us outside of it. If you go behind the ropes, a bouncer will come out. haha. This house is also the 3rd most photographed house in the US!

The Versace symbol is on the plant pots outside of the building still.

On our segway tour we came across some girls handing our free pita chips and hummus. They loaded us down! I have enough hummus now to last me a LONG time! haha it's really good too!

Getting close to the end of our tour, but we wanted a group pic on the segways :D Thank you Groupon :D

After the two hours we stopped and got lunch. Our tour guide told us about a little hole in the wall cuban restaurant on south beach. It was SO good! Julie got something called Ropa Vieja (John had it when we first moved here) it's a tomato based beef. It was delicious and I am going to attempt to make it soon. After lunch, we headed out to the beach for the rest of the day. Around 4 it started getting chilly because of the wind, so we headed home. We were all exhausted! However, it was an AWESOME day!
South Beach!
John and Julie ready for the beach :D

Sunday, John and I had plans to pick up our PUPPY!!!!!!!!! I havent mentioned much about it yet, because I want to share it all in one post but we got our puppy on Sunday! We spent the rest of the day playing with him and hanging out with Julie. (more about this later!).

Monday, John and Julie headed to the beach and then we watched a movie and made dinner. Tuesday Julie headed home. It was a short, but nice trip. It was nice to get to spend some time with Julie and catch up. I am also glad she got to meet our puppy!

The Chases!

The Monday after the Seaquarium Thomas, Kaity, and Rick came to visit for the week! Unfortunately, I had to work the entire week but I got to spend plenty of time with them in the evenings. Rick is ADORABLE! I cant believe he is already as big as he is! He is 6 months old already! Kids grow up so fast.

John and Rick
Thomas and Kaity- SUCH a good picture!

Me and Rick- the only picture I got with him, I really need to get better about taking pictures!

Most of the week Thomas, Kaity, Rick, and sometimes John went exploring around campus and Miami. Since they got here in the afternoon on Monday we went to eat since everyone was so tired. One of our favorite Cuban places is called Sarussi. The sandwiches there are awesome! it's a bit far, but worth the drive :D The next day Thomas, Kaity, and Rick went to the beach for Rick's first beach trip! I am sad I missed it :( but that's okay. I got to spend a lot of time with him.
Rick in his shades!

Beach day!

Thomas and Rick- Rick was not sure of the water

Over the course of the week we played a lot of Catan. John and I LOVE that game and get so excited when other people either know how to play it or want to learn. It's such a fun game. One of the nights John and Thomas also made shrimp bisque. It was DELICIOUS. We also watched a movie. Thomas and Kaity left on Friday as Thomas's spring break was almost over and they had to drive all the way home still. I wish I could have spent more time with them. They are such fun people. I look forward to the next time we all hang out again :D
John playing with Rick- He LOVED this!

LOVE this face! hahaha

Rick is a REALLY good baby. Thomas and Kaity got very lucky. He actually wasnt fussy most of the trip at all. He is a really happy baby too. It's weird being around so many babies now. John and I are definitely not ready for a baby, but we have gotten more ready than we were before (dont worry, unless God wants us to, we wont be having a baby for a while).

Seaquarium!

Seaquarium!

The day after Krystal and Josh left, John and I chaperoned a trip to the Seaquarium! We left around 11:30am and stayed at the seaquarium until about 3:00. My RAs had purchased lunch for everyone, so when we got there we had a picnic. When everyone was done everyone went on their own to explore.

Lunch

The Mahoney staff that was on the trip

Me and my boo

The seaquarium is not as big as I expected it to be and to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. It was really geared towards children. However, we still had fun. John and I missed the shark feeding :( but we did get to see the flipper show! It was awesome. Dolphins are so smart!
I kind of wanted one after watching the show. lol
John and I also made it to the stingray feeding! First we got to pet them and then the trainers let us feed them :D. They gave us shrimp and you were supposed to hold it between your fingers with your palm up. Their mouths are under their body so they had to swim over your hand to get the food. It was the weirdest feeling! It felt like a vacuum hose's suction. lol.
Me feeding one

John feeding one- he fed the southern one!

My favorite stingray- of course it's polka dotted!

Next to the stingrays were all these exotic birds. they were so pretty and so well behaved!
We also got to see some manatees. One of the manatees in the aquarium had been hit by a boat and had 75% of his tail gone :( and he was paralyzed. It made me sad for him.

Shark! I took this just for AJ;D

There was an awesome view of the skyline!

The sea lions

Crush!;D I took this one just for Krystal! She LOVES turtles!
Alligators
More Dolphins! They were so cool to watch. They would put on shows because they knew people were watching.
Overall, we had a lot of fun. I probably wont go back because the price for a ticket is outrageous. I do wish we got to see more shows, but it was a nice day out and it was relaxing.