Maude-cam: post surgery & Christmas morning

Here is some video footage of Maude from when we first brought her home after her spay procedure, and then a few weeks later on Christmas morning.  

Maude's First Christmas

Maude had a super fun first Christmas!

She got a couple special toys from her parents and grandparents and thoroughly enjoyed all the wrapping paper.  After we opened presents, we took her for a long stroll along Sandy Beach over on Douglas Island (our old stomping grounds).  It's one of her favorite places because she can run freely through sand, snow, and water and play with lots of other dogs.

Thank you Grandma & Grandpa Vander Naald for the special Nylabone!

This is a look of hopeful anticipation….she can see the beach!

Maude loves sticks.

Taking in the beautiful view.

"Dad, let's go say hi to those people!"

Salt water tastes good.

"I love friends!"

What spay procedure???

Juneau is pretty.

Christmas is tiring.

10 Days Post-Op & Three Parties Later...

We made it to 10 days post-op for Maude, which theoretically means she can run and jump and play freely again.  Her incision, however, is still healing and the vet said we should keep her contained now until the full two-week mark.  

I think over the past 10 days, I have sent him four or five emails with pictures of her incision, asking if it looks normal.  He is a patient and good man.  Maude left him some cookies in his mailbox to say thank you.

This past weekend was the UAS Department holiday party, our Bible study holiday party, and our friend's baby's 1st birthday party.  All were fun, but not as fun as sleeping in until 9am this morning :)

Maude likes lazy Sunday mornings.  Three holiday parties in a row makes Anne tired.  

The semester is over and Brian just has a few more papers to grade and submit before he's officially on his Christmas break.  Hurray!

I can't figure out what magazine Brian is trying to pose for here.  Maude can't even look.  

Halfway there!

Dear Family,

I'm worried about my parents.  I don't know why they won't let me run or jump.  This is no fun.  I keep trying to tell them I feel fine.  Why oh why won't they listen!?!  I miss playing with my friends.  Oh well.  

I'm excited to lick your face when I meet you someday.   

Love, Maude

Merry Christmas!

Maude's First Snow

We have snow!

Maude is currently sacked out on the couch after an hour of romping in the first snow of 2013!  I took her to a nearby park and there happened to be no other dogs (or people, for that matter) around, so I let her run free off-leash.  She loved it!  She was good about coming back when I called her, too, and would periodically look back to make sure she could always see me.  Hopefully a good first step toward more off-leash fun :)

Our front yard covered in snow

Snuggle Time

  

The other morning Maude snuggled with me on the couch for almost 45 minutes straight. 

I think it helped that I was wearing my soft, fuzzy fleece robe :)

Some Play Time with Maudie!

A glimpse into our evening entertainment.  Wild times at the Vander Naald's!

A few of Maude's friends

Maude has a lot of friends already.  We think if she was a human, she'd definitely be in the running for Homecoming Queen.  

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she has lots of visitors.  Two of our neighbors stop by to help let her out and feed her, and they bring their kiddos along (three kids age 2-6).  

Yesterday one of Brian's colleagues stopped by randomly just to see Maude for a few minutes.

She also has several canine friends in the neighborhood that we regularly run into on our walks.  Pete, Soda, Moochie, Bay (her mom), Oliver (her brother), and crotchety old Casey are just a few.

Here, Maude is enjoying ladies book club.  We are "The Cliterates" and she is the first canine member to join the discussion.  We think she liked the book.

This particular night, Maude stayed close by to Lora who had just lost her own pet of 12 years.    It was nice to see Maude help bring a smile to Lora's face :)

This is Jordan, a favorite person of our's and Maude's.

This is Spirit, a retired sled dog from the interior of Alaska.  She is very good about letting Maude jump and play all over her.  They enjoy their play dates.

The Inside Tour of the Juneau Vander Naald Estate :)

Here is some video footage of a little tour of our home in all its glory.  We love it and hope you get to see it in-person sooner than later.  Hopefully by then we'll actually have fresh paint and pictures on the walls, ha!

Enjoy :)

Weekend Clean-Up

This weekend Brian spent a lot of time in the yard raking & picking-up leaves, cleaning out the gutters, clearing out old boards, etc.  

Another clean-up task set before us on Sunday morning was a big pile of bear scat on the sidewalk in front of our neighbor's house.  Brian did his good deed by cleaning it up for Rosanne :)

Maude: Juvi Fish Butt

Today is Maude's 3-month birthday, and marks the start of what the books call her Juvenile period of development.  Evidently she's going to start being more independent and "bratty" (the book's word, not mine).  After giving her fish oil on her food to help prevent itchy skin, her butt also happens to now smells like fish.  So, we're playfully calling her "juvi-fish-butt"  :)

Here are a few snapshots of a week in the life of Maude:

Hmmm….something tells me it might be time for a bigger dog bed.  

Maude got a little ear shave at the vet yesterday after getting bit by a bigger, older Chocolate Lab.  Brian took her to our friend's house and our friend's roommate's dog, Gus, is a great dog, but a little uneasy around puppies.  They were playing fine for a while and then Gus snapped and chomped down her Maude's ear.  The vet said one of the punctures is just a millimeter away from a "gusher" spot, which would have just been a lot messier. Her little wounds are fine and she's now on antibiotics (again) to prevent infection.  (Floppy ears are prone to getting infected, we hear.)

Maude went for her first hike on Perseverence Trail today!

Maude thinks walks in Alaska are fun.

Halloween, Juneau-style

Our neighborhood is called The Flats and Halloween is a really big deal in it.  One house nearby counted 472 kids that came to their door for trick-or-treat.  We think we gave out around 400 pieces of candy (and that was mostly one piece per kid).  Our doorbell was ringing constantly and it was a ton of fun!  Kids got candy and adults got jello shots (if they wanted).

Here are some shots of our decorated house, done by our old landlord Mike and his kids.

Mike and his kids

Some neighbor kids and the jello-shot eating mama nearby :)

Maude slept almost the entire time.  She was wiped out after a big day of playing with her mama all afternoon.  She assumed the sleeping position either on the couch or under a table all night.  Everyone commented on how good she was being - ha!  

In addition to the hundreds of trick-or-treaters, we also had a big party of our own!  There were probably 30-40 people in our house, eating, drinking, and hanging out in some pretty fun costumes.

Add caption

Brian and Matt, weightlifting buddies and for tonight, "Hans and Franz"

I dressed up as a gravid uterus and this is my midwife friend, Meredith.

Thank goodness she was there.

Creepiest. Birth. Ever.   Fun times!! 

Happy Belated Halloween from Juneau!

Just Take a Guess What This Post is About!

Yes, it's true - we had our friend who dabbles in photography take some family photos for us in our front yard. :)  At the rate Maude is growing we won't be able to pick her up easily for too much longer, and we wanted to be sure to capture glimpses of our "pack" with her as a puppy!  

This is Dr. Vic making sure Maude's ticker is working well, which it is!  He is our home-visit vet and we love him, as does Maude :)

Juneau Cross Fit

In addition to ogling over Maude, another recent addiction is Cross Fit!

My "coach" at Juneau Cross Fit took this recording of me on Monday to help me with my form.  This is just a mini-glimpse into a couple of the weightlifting exercises.

I have been doing Cross Fit regularly since September and have loved it.  (We even bought a beater car for me to drive to the gym because the mileage on the truck would have made Brian sick to his stomach!)  

What I love most about Cross Fit is that no workout is ever the same and they're definitely not boring...or easy!  

Fall snapshots of little "Maudie"

Maude is getting bigger and bigger every day and we continue to love every ounce of her immensely!

Maude, 10 1/2 weeks

Cardboard is fun to chew!

I miss Brian so much, I will nestle with his boots and let my ear rest where his shin has been.

Wanna play yet??

Here I come!

Are you ready?

Watch out!

 

Now Maude goes into her kennel without any prompting at all!  She seems to enjoy it as her little "alone time hide-away".