Bath Bombs

This Christmas, I decided to give out homemade scented bath bombs. I have created a tutorial that will show you how you can make your own bath bombs, so I hope that you can continue to enjoy your fizzy baths!

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The Toy Graveyard

Indy had a very destructive 48 hours...

... we'll have to see what we can do to repair the damage.

Indy at 6 months

Indy weighs 19.9 lbs!!


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Birthdays

Today Indy is 6 months old (and Rebecca is 28 years old, no big deal.) We did a lot to celebrate both of these milestones. Rebecca got tastes from home with a Legal Seafood delivery (Thanks, Keith!) Since we're going to celebrate Christmas in Boston, Keith gave her her big Christmas present on her birthday.... a Chromebook! (Rebecca is just a little excited about her new toy...)

For Indy's celebration of 6 months, we had been giving him a treat a night (a la Chanukah even though it hasn't started yet. ) For his 6 month celebration, we gave him his two holidays presents that Rebecca had knit. Like his Schadler cousin, Indy is proven himself to be a destroyer. Within minutes, Indy destroyed both of his new knit toys. (Somehow the ball he received months ago is still intact... we think the lesson is to only give Indy FELTED knit toys.)

Rebecca thinks she will felt these toys so they will still be fun to play with... even if they will no longer have their cute shapes!

As Indy gets older he is learning many impressive things, like how to quickly destroy knit toys or ring the bell to go outside. One thing he recently learned was how to jump onto the bed. Its pretty impressive considering the bed is taller than him. However, he has not learned how to get down. Frequently he is overzealous and leaps up only to immediately realize that he doesn't want to be there. It is a common occurrence to hear him barking from across the apartment and enter the bedroom to find him stranded on the bed looking expectantly for us to carry him down. Or perhaps he has just trained us very well in getting him down.

At 6 months, Indy is pretty well behaved. He isn't biting at us as often, and he is having less accidents in the house. His biggest issues are loose leash walking (he will pull and start breathing funny from the effort) and jealousy. Indy gets along well with other dogs, but does NOT like it when another dog tries to get into Rebecca's lap. The two times this has happened, Indy has let out the only real growls we've ever heard. The first time happened with Ella from his class, and the second time happened with the new 10 week old puppy in our building (Kasey just put a paw on her leg, and Indy freaked out.) Thankfully, Indy didn't scare Kasey, and they seemed to be totally enamored with each other... as long as Kasey stays away from Indy's mommy.

One of Indy's favorite new toys is a frog. He has been carrying it around everywhere!

Rebecca made Indy a "cake" (it is really more of a pudding) to celebrate his big day:

• Layer of pumpkin and bananas
• sprinkled with dog food (he needs his nutrition after all, and he is getting this instead of dinner)
  
  
• more bananas and dog food
  
  
• Stripes of peanut butter and pumpkin
  
  
• More bananas
  
  
• Topped with whipped cream and chereos
  

Of course Indy loved this treat, but this is the first time we have combined many of his favorite things all in one bowl.

Many good things have been happening in our lives, but this week has been a hard one for Rebecca. This past weekend, her Grandma Julia passed away. Julia had a long life, but it is still hard to say goodbye to someone you loved so much. It is much easier to think back on fun times. The following picture is 10 years old, but it is one of Rebecca's favorite pictures with Grandma:

Rebecca and her female cousins in 2002.

ChemKnits has had some exciting news. Rebecca was invited to contribute some of her molecule knitting charts to an exhibit running at Williams Center for the Arts Gallery at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania between Jan 8 - Feb 5, 2012!

In the new year, we will be sharing more adorable Indy videos so you can get your cute fix.

Indy at 5.5 Months

At 5.5 months old... Indy is 18.7 lbs! His weight had plateaued for a while, so I'm happy to see he's gaining weight again.

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Birthday time

Keith gave me my first birthday present yesterday.... but guess who thinks it is for him!

Holiday Time and Indy at 5 Months

In the Brown family Christmas tradition, we set up our purple and silver tree while watching Die Hard. Why Die Hard? The first year Keith and I had our tree, we wanted to set it up while listening to Christmas music, but found that neither of us had any. Die Hard was the movie we owned that had the most Christmas music, and has been our background to decorating the tree for three years now. We are aware that once we have kids we will need to modify this tradition a bit.. but not for the first few years!

Indy was pretty stressed out by setting up the tree. So stressed that he had two accidents today. There goes our record for having no accidents for a long time!

Indy is 5 months old now. He graduated from the intermediate class at Pet Smart, and his growth has substantially slowed down. Pictures from his graduation and more cute times are coming soon.

It's time!

Indy at 4.5 Months

Today Indy weighs 16.7 lbs!

He has been a little sick this weekend, and is having more accidents than usual. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon. It is frustrating, but in general Indy's behavior has been really great. He hasn't destroyed anything (except his toys) and he doesn't chew on the furniture.

Indy has loved the fall weather. I think he likes the cold outside, but he also really loves chasing and playing with leaves.

Here is Indy in his first Halloween costume at 12 weeks old. Since he wasn't feeling well, we didn't make him wear this at our Halloween party. He wore his Boo shirt (from his great-grandpa) instead.



Indy loves his new bed from Grandma Rosalie, and Keith and I love the bed too. You may find us curled up in it...without Indy! (We figure, if Indy can sleep in our bed, we can chill in his!)

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Indy's Knit Ball

This week, I published a knitting pattern I designed for a toy ball for Indy. This knit dog toy ball has been felted (shrunk so the stitches don't show) but Indy loved both versions:

Indy (8 weeks old) playing with the unfelted ball:

Indy (9 weeks) playing with the felted ball:

I have some other knitting designs planned for Indy in the future. Just you wait!

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Indy goes to the Beach (Indy at 16 weeks)

Indy had a big week this week. He went to the beach for the first time, "swam" in the lake for the first time (he didn't go deep enough where he couldn't touch), successfully played fetch for the first time (at the lake) and lost his first tooth. We also entered him in a costume contest by PetSmart (please vote for Indy! You can vote once a day until October 24.)

Indy's First Day at the Dog Beach:

Indy is getting VERY good a "wait." I can leave the room and he will be in the same spot where I left him. He can also wait for 3 min while looking at a treat he REALLY wants.


Tomorrow Indy will be 17 weeks old, and he is just over 13 lbs. It is so hard to believe that he was so tiny when we brought him home!


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Marc and Rachel's Wedding in Maine

Keith and I had a wonderful time at Camp in Maine where we attended Marc and Rachel's wedding. The day was filled with camp activities, sports, crafts and fun in the lake.

While we were waiting for the ceremony to begin, Keith decided to have some fun...

All of the weddings this summer have been lucky with weather. Many predictions of rain turned false, and we had a perfect day for an outdoor wedding. The lake was so clear, that you could see the clouds in the sky reflected on the surface. If I cropped the pictures a bit, it could be hard to tell which part was the reflection.

It has been a wonderful wedding season, and we are very happy for all of our friends who got married this summer. I cannot wait for the next wedding season to begin!

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Poor Monkey

Poor Monkey. I discovered today that his head started coming off his body, leaving his insides exposed. As this would not be safe for the puppy, I decided to surgically remove them. (I considered trying to fix the Monkey, but knew that my sutures would not hold against Indy's sharp baby teeth.)

Indy was anxious during the procedures. He yelped and woofed (softly) as I worked to remove every bit of the stuffing. I was able to save the squeaker intact, so that may be able to be used inside a handmade puppy toy.

after the Monkey's surgery, Indy picked him up and slowly and carefully walked over to his toy box. So cute!

Indy has spent the last 20 min carefully chewing on his monkey. It is sad, because he just realized that he could squeak the squeaker himself earlier this week. Thankfully, he is still happy to fall asleep on this less cushiony toy.

Indy's Graduation

Indy graduated from puppy kindergarten yesterday! He has grown so much in these last 6 weeks, and not just physically. When he first came to class, he was scared of Ella. Last night he was flirting and teasing her, running around staying just out of her reach wanting to play.

Indy's Tricks:

• Sit
• Down
• Wait (=stay)
• Let's Go (loose leash walking)
• High five
• Shake
• Take it
  
• Leave it
• Drop it
• Roll over
• Spin (both directions)
• Crawl (we just learned this one today)
  

Indy wasn't a huge fan of his graduation hat, but he got used to it after a while (and lots of bribes!)

We were thrilled that Indy was still happy to be in PetSmart after he stayed in the kennel last weekend. He was still very confident, and didn't seem to be afraid of us leaving him behind. This will make the next time we go somewhere without him much easier.

Intermediate Training starts in two weeks. We are trying to learn as many tricks as possible before then to impress Tara (the instructor.)

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Catalina

As promised, here are some photos from our trip to Catalina for Alan and Jenn's wedding.

I loved the tile work that is displayed all over the island. Next time we go to Catalina, I intend to bring some home with me.

I'm sure that I've said already the wedding was amazing. Keith and I are so lucky to be blessed with amazing friends who we consider to be family. It has been incredible to have two other couples that we've shared big milestones with, and I know we will have a lot to share with them in the future.

On the way back to the mainland with the Pals, we were luck enough to see a pod of dolphins!

At Jenn's bachelorette party, we decorated shopping bags for her. On mine, I drew portraits of Pita and Indy (this was just before we brought Indy home.) I cannot wait for Indy to finally meet his godparents (Jenn and Alan) in November! I should also mention that I was thrilled that Pita seemed to remember me and was very happy to see me this last weekend.

Coming soon... pictures from our trip to Maine for Marc and Rachel's wedding!

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Did you take any pictures at our wedding? Please send them to us!

I think Indy is happy to be home... (Indy at 15 weeks)

I just picked up Indy from the pet hotel, and he is really happy to be home. After running around excited and whining for a while, he finally fell asleep. (And I think I'm going to go join him in a nap!)

Pictures from our Maine trip coming soon!

Ryan in the news!

My brother Ryan was just interviewed in an Audio/video/lighting website! Congrats to Ryan!

-Keith

PS Notice the giant crowds behind him in the photo.

Indy at 14 Weeks

Indy now weighs 11 lbs! He has almost completely outgrown his old crate, so we really need to get him a new one. We had to have his harness on the smallest setting when we got him, and we have had to let it out so much.

The classes of American Eskimo are based on their measurements, not their weight. Indy is around 11-12 inches high at his shoulder, making him on the cusp of the toy-miniature range. (He should end up being a large mini/small standard.)

It is amazing how many improvements we've seen over these last few weeks. Our biggest current problems are biting, distractions (making him listen to us), and barking at strangers. He is doing so well with his crate and potty training. He is even starting to ring his bell to go outside!

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Did you take any pictures at our wedding? Please send them to us!

Indy's Toy Box Part II

If you remember, Indy discovered how to climb into his toy box and treated us with a little surprise when he was 8 weeks old. Well I'm finally able to share with you what he discovered at 10 weeks. He only managed to do this twice, and both were on the same day:

Indy's further attempts to get into the top of the toy box caused the toy box to tip forward. He doesn't try anymore.

Indy is getting much better with potty training (although he did climb up on my shoulder and pee on me last weekend....) He isn't ringing the bell, but he is sitting by the back door when he needs to go out.

Keith and I are finally able to get more sleep. Indy is waking us up between 5 and 7 AM now, but won't complain (much) if he's put back into his crate before 6. When he wakes up after 6AM, we'll bring him into bed with us and he'll sleep until we're ready to get up. Keith and I love these cuddle mornings, and I think Indy enjoys them, too!

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P.S. He's SPINing in both directions, and is actually getting pretty good at SHAKE. (At least compared to his lesson on Wednesday!)

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Did you take any pictures at our wedding? Please send them to us!

Indy at 13 weeks

I have discovered a magical treat that Indy loves - sweet potato and rawhide. In bone form this will keep him busy for well over an hour (letting me get work done!) In disk form, it keeps him busy for 15 minutes or so, depending on how determined he is.

Indy with his favorite new bone

Look at how dirty his paws got! It is hard to see, but he has flecks of stuck on sweet potato all over them.

This week in class we worked on COME when called, SHAKE and LEAVE IT while on a leash. The week before we added TAKE IT, LEAVE IT and DROP IT to his list. Indy and I have been working on SPIN by ourselves. He is getting really good at DOWN and WAIT, but he doesn't always listen to us.

Indy's 12 Week Vet Visit

Today I took Indy to the vet for the second time. At 12 weeks, Indy now weighs 9 pounds and is in good health. He had round worms last time, but the meds they gave him should have cleared them out.

Indy at the Vet

In addition to the standard vaccines, we got the Kennel Cough and Rabies vaccine this week. It is a little on the early side for rabies, but we will need to board him at a kennel while we go to Marc and Rachel's wedding in Maine. Now that Indy has had his first rabies shot, we can finally get his license.

This is a little silly, but I was excited that the new tag is the same shape as the old one. Plus, the rabies tag is green which also goes with Indy's collar really well.

Indy is exhausted after his busy morning.

Yesterday I was all excited because Indy slept through the night... but tonight he did even better. Indy stayed asleep in his crate from 8:40 pm until 6 am! It was so nice to get all of that sleep.