Happy 2017! We are finding a new normal around here with our young pup Brutus! This week is all things pup it seems as you will see with the photos. Hardly a human to be found other than Finn. We moved his crate up to our room after a few nights of being home and he is doing much better at night. He will go into his room on his own now (no more forcing him in there!) and he lays down right away. Sometimes he muffles a whimper or two but then he’s out. We’ve put him out a few nights around 2:30 am and then he’s ready to wake up about 6 or so. 
Everyone I show a picture of Brutus to comments on how big his paws are. Yep, he’s gonna be a big boy. Here are some pics of his paws at 14 weeks for reference 🙂
Griffin just loves dogs. He has always loved snuggling with Lily and Cameron. He now goes back and forth cuddling with Lily and Brutus. At night time he usually lays next to one of them during songs and the other during prayers. 
Brutus loves to lay on my side of the bed on the floor. We’ve found him in some crazy uncomfortable looking positions at times when he is sleeping!
Lily is warming up to Brutus and allowing him to snuggle up close to her pretty often. They also play tug of war and try to get toys away from one another. They are getting along great!
This week Debbie was sick for a few days so on Tuesday Griffin went with me to work for a few hours. We took his tablet and he setup his “office” and worked a bit while I was working too. He was a trooper as I ended up being there far longer than I had anticipated! Silly me, I forgot all about Brutus needing lunch and Finn and I had planned to have a lunch date on our way home. But instead, we ran through the Panera drive through and ate at home! He was so excited to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich – like it is a delicacy! I guess we’ve never really made him one before (or at least in a REALLY long time) so he thought it was great and has since asked for it again!. 
On Wednesday Jim and Pat came up for the day to play with Griffin while Kevin and I worked. I didn’t snap any photos! But Finn had a great time. On Thursday Finn had school so I took him and then went to work a bit late. Amy was able to pick him up and take him to her house with the kiddos for the afternoon. We were expecting a lot of snow that day but it didn’t really happen. The kiddos were excited to play hockey (Amy too) outside on their patio. When I arrived to pick Finn up Amy pointed out that Finn had gotten a bit of a black eye at school. Yikes! Seems as though Maggie ran into Griffin smack in the corner of his left eye! 
These photos are from Amy!
And here you can see the beginnings of his black eye!
On Friday we celebrated Chad’s birthday with a nice dinner out at Harold’s in Worthington followed by drinks at Chubby’s. I must say, I have the best hubby ever, as I said “I just want some ice cream” when everyone was putting in their drink order at the bar. Next thing you know I was sitting at our table and he walked over with a double-scoop cup of ice cream from the UDF that was next door. Yummers! I am so spoiled. 
January 8, 2017
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I love this time of year and I love how I will find Griffin just sitting on the couch cuddling with Lily and admiring the Christmas tree. He regularly asks about the “Christmas season” and if it is still the Christmas season and how long it lasts. His mind is always working and he continues to surprise me with his thoughts and the concepts he comes up with and understands for his age. 
While this is a fuzzy picture it is one I love because this is how Griffin has slept since he was born – with his arms under his head. He doesn’t do it all the time as he is typically a tummy sleeper, but when he’s on his back you can usually find his hands under his head. 
On Tuesday after preschool Finn and I venture up to Mom and Dad’s to help cover the greenhouse for the winter season. It was a dismal day – cold, raining, just all around yucky. But shortly after we arrived the rain subsided as did the wind and it was one of the easiest covering jobs we’ve done!
Here Finn is doing some morning yoga 🙂
On Friday night we celebrated Jim, Brett, and Kevin’s birthdays with a lovely dinner out at Liberty Tavern. Afterward we headed back to our house for cake, ice cream, and prezzies. Nice pic of the birthday boys!
Our winter adventure for the weekend was heading downtown to see the Nutcracker. This was Griffin’s first time, although technically I was pregnant with him when Kevin and I went in 2012, lol! We joined the Bethune’s there and afterwards our crews headed to Buca di Beppo for an Italian Feast. It was a fun night!
This week was our Lily’s 8th birthday! Our sweet Lils is such a great girl. Griffin absolutely loves her. He always likes to feed her breakfast and dinner, let her in and out, take her on walks or bike rides. Every night before bed he lies on the floor next to her, then gives her a hug and a kiss before telling her “you can go now Yils” and she prances off to bed. She’s just the best and she’s been out on the road trips with us more now that she’s our only dog. She’s enjoyed several trips to Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein’s and Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong’s! She got a special nylabone and cupcake, and Finn, Debbie, and Sam stopped off at the store and got her a special lovie too :). 
It was a lot of arts and crafts this week with Pumpkins! Painting ceramic pumpkins, real pumpkins, carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds – it was a fun time for Finn with Debbie. I love that he gets so excited in the morning when I tell him Debbie will be here soon. He says “yay, yay, yay, Miss Debbie is almost here” and does a little dance. 
Here is Cam with Finn this year on the left, and two years ago in 2014 on the right. 
I’ve been enjoying snuggles with Finn lately. We had a long afternoon after preschool on this day and he fell asleep in the car on the way home from the mall. I let him sleep for awhile and then got him out of his carseat. That usually wakes him up, but this day I carried him upstairs and was going to put a show on for him to just rest a bit more and he didn’t wake up for another hour until I woke him up! Love these snuggles.
On Saturday afternoon we headed to Indian Run Falls in Dublin to do a Fall Family photo shoot with my sister. We decided to take Lily this year too. She’s been in other photos with us but they’ve always been at our house. I thought it would be pretty smooth – and after the first 10 minutes, it mostly was, but oh nelly was she excited and choking herself to death to go investigate any and everything. As it turns out the photos went well and Amy snapped some really great pics that we are thankful to have. This year we even got a couple of just me and her :). And we also did a cousins session. The results of which look amazing compared to the chaos behind the scenes. Even bribing with pizza and ice cream was a stretch at times! And I still do owe them a surprise “treat” that I bribed them with to cooperate. Rowan was quick to call me on that at the end of our session :). Here are a few of my outtakes. 
And we are getting excited for our upcoming trip to the cabin. One night when I was out Finn and Daddy made a pretend log cabin in the basement. 
