I'm pupped. I mean pooped...

So I just want to say that I have an incredible amount of respect towards dog breeders.  OMG it is so much work!  The first 2-3 weeks were pretty awful since Bella was a terrible mom and I was having to get up every 2-3 hours to let them feed and wipe bottoms so they would pee and poo.  (As mentioned in my last post...usually the mom does this, but she had no part of it)  But then they finally started going to the bathroom on their own!  What a glorious day!  I was thinking that this whole puppy thing was going to get so much easier...and it was...for about a week.  Then it came time to start weaning....

Cute, right? 

Ahh yes....I watched my "babies" begin to eat their puppy food and I may have even teared up a bit...my sweet little pups are growing up!!  But that little moment didn't last for too long...I don't think I realized that all hell was about to break loose.

Weaning the puppies may be more tiring than the first couple of weeks!  Yes, I get to sleep almost all night and this is VERY important for me, BUT my days are insane!!  I'm actually impressed that I am sitting here blogging...actually, now that I think about it...I am pretty sure I hear newspaper being shredded.  Didn't I just put them down for a nap!?!?!?

Anyway, so weaning puppies = more poop...and Bella isn't around them as much to clean it up for them.  (Yes, mama dogs "clean up" the poop for those of you not familiar with this process).  The past couple of mornings I have gone into the bathroom to find a poo explosion.  There is poo everywhere and then they must step it, roll in it, bathe in it...who knows..because it is all over the floor, side of the tub, the cabinets, the door, the walls.  Yes, I have towels down, newspapers and even puppy pads...but they have learned to play and these have become their toys.  Newspapers get torn, towels get dragged and the puppy pads are usually rolled up into a little ball.  So every morning I begin my day by scrubbing down the bathroom.  Meanwhile I have already gotten their breakfast ready so I usually put them in front of their bowls in the living room or kitchen (I would totally do this outside, but the rain/cooler weather has put a damper on this) while I clean up the bathroom.  Afterwards, I am feeling very accomplished and breathe a sigh of relief that it is finally clean again until I turn my head and realize the puppies have devoured their food and are wreaking havoc in the living room.  Here we go again...I furiously try to throw them on the puppy pads that I have scattered all over the living room, but for some reason they like to go right next to it.  Seriously???  Don't forget..there are EIGHT of these crazy pups that I am chasing around trying to teach them to potty on the dang pad.  They are getting really quick too...so this morning they were running everywhere...the kitchen, my room, the kids room...you name it, they found it. Every time I turn my head they are dragging around a shoe, sock, towel, clothing item, or even chewing on the furniture...Luckily their teeth are pretty weak, so I don't foresee them doing any damage...YET. 
I wonder how much longer it will be before they can actually tear stuff up.....
Hopefully, they will find nice homes soon before this happens.  I love 'em, but they are a HANDFUL!

But on the other hand, they are so cute.  They just take one look at me with those sad puppy eyes or lick my face with their skunky puppy breath and I melt.  Their sweet faces make me forget just how crazy they have become....almost.

But seriously...how can you resist these sweet faces?

Alex, the kids, and I love them so much and I can't believe they are 5 weeks tomorrow!  This means that in a little over a week it will be time to find new homes for the little guys.  We really want them to go to very good homes and if anyone knows of someone that may be interested, please let me know!  I am ready for things to be back to normal around here, but I can promise you that I will be shedding a tear for every one that leaves us.  We are keeping one, but I keep thinking...maybe we could just keep 2....yes, I know...crazy talk. 

Well, it is almost time for another feeding and I am sure there is poo all over the bathroom.

So here we go again!!!!

Hello 2012!

What an ending we had to the year 2011!


Christmas Eve we spent with Alex's dad and sister, who came over to our house for dinner.  We had a ton of food.  The menu included: clams, mussels, cold cuts, cheese, beef wellington, squid, struffoli and sfogliatelle.  The boys missed our feast, but did come home later just in time for Santa and they got pretty much everything they asked for.  Their list was pretty simple...legos, play-doh, video games, and board games.  Bryden asked for quite a few board games, which I am excited about.  He wants us to start having a "family game night" and I am going to embrace this idea because usually the kids are whining to play their nintendo DS or the Xbox.  So hooray for family game night!  Christmas afternoon we spent at my parents eating prime rib, baked potatoes, green been casserole, rolls, corn, and pie.  We opened presents and then of course had our stockings.  Aeson had not gotten too overly excited about his gifts that day until that point.  He was simply overjoyed that he got a banana and an apple in his stocking.  We spent the day after Christmas with my extended family at a local restaurant and then off to my grandmother's house for gifts.  Aeson, again, was so excited to have bananas in his stocking.  Next year, I am thinking a fruit basket for Christmas!!

Here is the entire McIlroy fam for Christmas!

The most exciting (and stressful) thing that happened over the past week and a half is that we have puppies!!  It is a fairly long story, but we took on a pregnant golden retriever (one that we knew) and decided to take care of her throughout her pregnancy/puppies because her owners did not expect it and didn't exactly have time for puppies.  It has been quite the event and was way more work than expected!  First of all, Bella (mama dog) decided to have these pups the morning after she was brought to us.  I had an xray done so I knew she had 10 puppies in her belly.  The first one she delivered I actually found dead in our closet and I had to run and grab her to put her in the bathroom to deliver the others.  She had no idea what was going on and neither did I.  I had to call Alex and have him come home because the whole ordeal was becoming a bit overwhelming.  Long story short, Bella delivered 4 more puppies before she quit contracting and we had to rush her to the animal ER where she ended up having a c-section to deliver the final 5.  At this point, we had 9 pups (7 black and 2 golden...the dad is most likely a black lab mix), but one of the golden ones did not make it and passed away the day after Christmas.  We are left with 8 pups and Bella is not the ideal mom.  She lets them eat, but we have to monitor their feedings to make sure everyone gets food and stimulate them to go to the bathroom.  We also can't leave Bella in the room with them when they aren't eating because she will squish the little guys. We have to get up every 2-3 hours at night to make sure everyone eats and goes potty.  Needless to say, this experience became way more work than we ever imagined, but we love those pups!  Bella will also stay here permanently, which works out wonderfully because she is an amazing dog.  We will also wind up keeping one of the babies, but I am sure we will have a hard time deciding who will stay.

So...if anyone wants a puppy let us know!!  They could make a great Valentine's Day present!!

 So anyway, we are pretty tied down to our house because we can't leave the puppies for long, but we did manage to get out on New Years Eve to go eat dinner with Alex's grandparents, dad and sister.  We didn't stay as long as we would have liked, but we always have a great time when we are with them.  We made it home pretty early and let the kids stay up until "midnight" (east coast time) and then I am pretty sure we were all fast asleep before midnight our time.  It was a nice way to ring in 2012 and I can't wait to see what this year has in store for us!