Personal Post: Pieper’s "Adoptiversary"

Yesterday was one year since we picked up the tiny six pound puppy Pieper at the PetSmart branch of the Humane Society here in Green Bay.  We had stopped there the day before to look at a puppy my brother was interested in, but couldn’t resist the tiny little black and white mix who looked so melancholy wandering around quietly in her kennel.  Ben had never wanted a dog - he hadn’t grown up with pets and saw a dog only as an inevitability (since he decided to marry me) but something he could hold off on until he was ganged up on by his wife and future children.  When he held little Pieper in his arms and she wriggled her way right in, he had this change of expression, and I knew we were getting a puppy.

When we picked Pieper up, she was named Brianna and we were told she was a rat terrier/husky mix and would be a medium size dog... we were in for a surprise.  As the weeks wore on, she got longer, and longer, and longer, but barely any taller.  We had her in puppy classes where she started as the biggest dog in class (being a few weeks old than the other puppies) and by the end of those six weeks, she was by far the smallest.  Now, fully grown, she is just over 16 pounds.  I never thought of myself as a small dog person, but I don’t think Pieper knows her size; she is one tough little dog.

Yesterday Pieper and I celebrated one year together with a trip back to PetSmart for some goodies and a visit with her teacher, then headed over to the Howard dog park for a hike on the trails and some play time with other doggies.  Happy Adoptiversary, Pieper; we’re glad to have you as part of our family!

Personal Post: Pieper’s First Birthday!

With such a busy fall season we haven’t had much of a chance to share with you the things happening in our personal lives. Over the next month, I’m hoping to catch up a bit on our blogging and share a few special milestones and little peeks into what we have going on outside of our photography business. Future highlights include our anniversary train trip to Albuquerque and progress on home renovation, but right now, I wanted to share a few photos from the little Birthday party we threw for our puppy Pieper.  :)

Pieper’s Birthday was October 22nd and we celebrated the first weekend of November. I made a few fall desserts for us humans to enjoy including pumpkin mousse and salted maple sugar cookies with cider glaze (thank you Martha Stewart). We also baked a tiny layer cake for Pieper made from whole grain flour, shredded carrots, peanut butter, applesauce, and various baking tidbits and frosted it with yogurt and cream cheese. I was certain the little Birthday hat I made her wouldn’t last a minute, but the moment she saw the cake, it didn’t matter - I could have put her in a scuba suit for all she cared.  She dove into the cake with gusto - a dog possessed.  The entire time she had this expression on her face that said ‘I better eat as much as I can before someone catches me and I get yelled at.’

Later on, with a belly full of cake we took her to the dog park to play with her puppy friends and hand out some homemade doggy biscuits.  Overall, she had a great Birthday with her favorite people.  Happy First Birthday, Pieper!

Gabe Turns One Year!

Never have I seen a little one as happy and excited as Gabe.  He is just a naturally cheerful kid, smiley and energetic - it was such a pleasure getting to know him and his mother for one year photos.  When they arrived, I couldn’t believe how adorable his outfit was with the little cuffed dress shirt and bright Avengers tie - he is the cutest, tiniest comic book geek we’ve ever seen.  Gabe loved doing cake smash photos and was not shy about digging in.  Sometimes we need to assist our birthday boys in getting messy, but Gabe didn’t need any help; he did it all on his own! Happy First Birthday, Gabe!