I CAN'T STOP WITH THE PUPPY PICTURES

Sorry, I took these with my phone and emailed them to myself, so they aren't the best quality.

life is hard. so hard.

hugs for my sister

we love napping in the sun


Piper is Ben's baby. She sleeps curled up on me at night, but whines and sits by the door when Ben leaves and greets him ever so slightly more enthusiastically when he comes home. She loves me, but is more attached to Ben.
The day before we picked up Satchel, I read that female chihuahuas bonded more to their male caretaker. I cried and cried that both would be his babies and I would be their second love. I cried that I wanted a boy, a lap baby, and Ben was like, *sigh* "find a boy." (!!!)
However...Satchel will not let me go. She holds on to me with her little paws and follows me into every room. She has a pathetic howl when I leave (Ben recorded it) and prefers sitting on me to anything else.
She was terrified at first, and had to fight off Piper's "rough play advances." She seemed sad, and I was so worried about her (I will be until I take her to a second vet. Long story.) I gave her some fresh coconut water and about 20 minutes later we had a brand new dog. She wagged her tail, ran around the kitchen, played tug of war with Piper and a toy (Ben took video) and gave lots of kisses.
They are almost overwhelming...making messes, getting into things, crying for attention...but we love them SO much. They are so much love packed into tiny bodies.

I'm going to go cry now ;)

SO MUCH LOVE

Ben and I are surrounded by so much love...so much love in tiny, 2-pound packages!

They already love each other:

AI HAZ A FRIEND NAMED CHLOE TOO

I have to apologize in advance to a couple of my readers:)

Last Friday, I took Piper to PetSmart because she had had a hard day, and I wanted her to be around people who would "ooh" and "ahh" and pet her. (It worked. I was in there for about 90 minutes, and everyone loved her.)
I bought her some toys, and a t-shirt. And then I went back to an endcap that had Beverly Hills Chihuahua merchandise on sale. There was a stuffed dog (it's supposed to be a chihuahua) that was as big as Piper, so I picked it up, kind of as a joke.
When I got home, I looked closer. Her name (Chloe) is embroidered on her velvety pink dress/top thing.
So I went over to the computer and looked up "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." Sure enough, the little chihuahua girl's name is Chloe. (I'm not sure why so many people name their dog Chloe. My aunt's dog, I just found out today, is named Chloe. Just never thought of it, I guess. Then again, when I was in high school, my just-went-away-to-college boyfriend named his dog Shannon. Hmm.)
Anyway...Piper LOVES her little friend. However, she is mean to her sometimes. I really hope this is not indicative of her attitude towards her new sister who will be coming home Saturday.
If she does that to Satchel (name might change?) I will freak out. Hopefully, she realizes the difference between the two.

In other news, I was sad to discover last night that Sarah Palin has a daughter named Piper.
Since we got her right after the election, I am sure people are thinking we named her Piper for that reason. I swear, I had no idea the little girl even existed until I was flipping through a Newsweek yesterday. We got the name from a 6-year old chihuahua that I had my eye on...but she was adopted out before my husband decided "yes" to a dog. So we stole her name.

*SIGH*

I am having a bit of a "sick weekend." I think I overdid it yesterday; I had hair, nails, waxing , chiropractor, gym, puppy stuff, cleaning, and grocery shopping. (I know. Like I should complain about a day at salons. Anyway.)
I think I am losing my mind sometimes. I am taking Armour thyroid (natural thyroid hormone taken from, of all things, pigs, which is so NOT vegan or humane but terrifies me a lot less than the synthetics) and it has helped a LOT. I still have bad days. However, I think it would help a lot more if I actually remembered to take it, remembered if I took it, and followed a schedule. I know that some days I completely forget to take it all day, and then have to take the whole dose at night. I know that some days, I wake up, take some, and then think that I haven't, and end up taking too much. I have no idea how I can remember phone numbers of people I haven't spoken to in ten years, which page I am on in a book without using a bookmark, whether or not I fed the fish, etc. but not if I have or have not taken my stupid thyroid.
Anyway. That is probably why I feel so crappy; my blood levels are what the doctor would call "optimal" and a lot of the really bad symptoms are dwindling or gone. But yeah, I need to learn how to dose it correctly.

We have a big (well, a small) surprise coming next weekend! I am also going to try to clean up and organize the closet (which involves photographing anything that goes in a box or bag or is covered by a garment bag) so I will eventually post the promised photos of some pretty stuff. But for now, here are some more Piper photos (I know, this is not supposed to be a blog about chihuahuas, but she's too cute, I can't resist)

I love catalogs, just like mom!!

Pitiful bathtime Piper

I loves me some fluffy organic spa towels!!!

Sleeping in her new purple sequin hooded sweater

She does not want to be woken up.

JUST SAD

I haven't been writing because all weekend and the past two days, Piper is not feeling well. For several reasons, I suspect that she is diabetic:(
Husband takes her to the vet tomorrow. I am so sad for my little baby!! I know, I keep writing about her, but I can't help it. My blog is boring...still no pictures of pretty clothes and shoes:(
I will post them, I promise. I can't really concentrate on anything until I know Piper is going to be okay.
Hopefully I am just overreacting!

A COUPLE MORE PIPER PHOTOS

Poor Piper. She is not feeling well today.
I suspect that it is the treats I got her the other night. I ran (literally; I wanted more exercise) to the store to buy my husband some ice cream. It was a store I normally never shop at. They had a section of refrigerated dog food/treats. I guess the fluorescent lighting made me high or something. I eat organic food. I want to feed my dog organic food. But since the only ingredients were chicken and chicken broth, well, I thought "sure, these are okay." Yeah. Since I'm one of those people who can't leave a store without a small gift for my dog.
The treats smelled like those pre-packaged chicken strips for humans. Which I hate. But she liked it okay. She ate them.
And now, she is...squirting at both ends. I know that is not a nice thing to say, but I can't think of anything nicer. She's been good about making it to her litter paper for most of it, but she has thrown up on her cute pink bed twice. I need to call the holistic vet tomorrow to set up an appointment for her next shots, but if she gets worse I am going to demand a visit ASAP. I had to take her an hour away Thursday to see the vet affiliated with where we got her. It was required, which is good, but annoying, since it was far away and she is not so sure she likes the car.
She has not had an easy time. That vet said she needed ear drops (the wax tested positive for yeast, which means she may have an infection, he said) and she HATES the ear drops. She also shook them right out on Thursday in the vet's office. Right on to my new Marc Jacobs military style jacket. Argh.
I make it sound like life is hard for her. Yeah, right. I wanted to crate her at night, at least for now, when she wants to chew electrical cords and pee on new 100% silk comforters from Garnet Hill. (I have been using the same down comforter that my grandma gave me as a going away to college present. In 1997. I have sewn up so many rips in that thing, and it has not been white for years. Not having the heart to donate it, I put it in one of those XL zipper bags and into a plastic roll-y bin. But why could she not have peed on it? At least that I can machine wash.) The past two nights, however, husband puts her on the bed between us. Last night the following conversation occured:
HUSBAND puts Piper on bed.
ME: Oh, you want her to stay here all night?
HUSBAND: Ye-e-e-e-s
ME: I'm scared she will wake up and try to jump off the bed again.
HUSBAND: She will feel safe and warm here. She will be fine.
ME: I guess we need to get those doggie stairs now.
HUSBAND: okay!

So, he is totally spoiling the puppy. That's fine with me. I'm glad he loves her. But no, her life is nowhere near difficult. However, she seems stressed from all the ear drops, the upset digestive system, the cold...(for which my husband bought a dog heating pad...but it was my idea). Poor thing. I worry about her too much when I am gone.

In the past two days, her "lazy ear" has been standing up. Now she really looks like a chihuahua is supposed to look!
I am sounding like a crazy person, so I will end with two more photos:



Really not trying to show the world my husband's spare tire. But Piper climbed up on him and went to sleep. (And yes, that is the evil old TV in the background. It got to stay because I got a puppy, because "lonely dogs need TV." And it is a mess. I know.)






She really can sleep in any position. It is scary how heavy a sleeper she is. I want to photoshop a little drink into one of her paws.

SPOILED

I know, so many of you will think this is ridiculous, but I can't resist these.

I think Piper is going to be more spoiled than me!

...but she's so cute, it doesn't matter:

sleepy Piper




a really unflattering photo of Ben in workout gear...but they are so cute together!


passed out


she has a really long tongue...sometimes it pokes out when she is sleeping

she just has the weirdest sleeping positions EVER

She really is our little baby and as badly as I wanted a dog, I had no idea I could love one so much. Not that I didn't adore Gabby and Marley, but Piper is OUR baby and she has already made me so happy.

I VOTED

I know. I must be very mean! But I couldn't resist.

I promised more puppy stories and shopping posts...but I am exhausted. I promise to write more when Ben gets home and takes over babysitting duty.

I'll close with one more photo...don't be fooled. She is not always this sweet and innocent. Right now she is alternating between enlarging a hole in a pair of True Religion jeans and eating a Sigerson Morrison sandal.

Great. She has quite demanding taste, for a 9-week old.

Oh, by the way...we named her Piper. It was the one name both of us agreed on.

A NEW BABY

i like fingers
layin' on ben's belly
GIVE ME BACK THAT TOY!!
where're the target and petsmart ads?
giving ben a kiss

I am exhausted, so I will write more about her tomorrow. She does not even have a name yet!
She is 100% chihuahua...her ears will stand up straight when she is older!