Moosie and Us

So I just finished "reading" Marley and Me. I put quotes around reading because I am pretty sure I just saw parts of the last chapter or two through tears and inferred the rest. Around here, it takes to long for a movie to come to town so I finally just bit the bullet and bought the book.

Obviously, I LOVE my dog, but it really did give me a new respect for the big guy. He's not so bad after all.

Moose turned 6 months old yesterday. He's a whopping 85pounds-ish (it's hard to get him on the scale). He continues to grow at a rapid rate but his eating and playing have begun to slow down. I'm sure all of the growing really wears a big puppy out. He sleeps until 4, naps and plays until 8 and is back down for the rest of the night! I hope we have this much luck when we have children!

Check him out!

Soon, he'll be taller than me! (Pay no attention to the dorky pj's)

Moose is one of the funniest dogs ever. We laugh at him on a daily basis. He's gaining about 5lbs a week. That means he has no time to get used to his size before he gets even bigger. He's constantly tripping, bumping into things, and falling, but the funniest part is watching him try to get comfortable on the couch. He LOVES lounging on the couch with us, but lately, he just hasn't been able to do it.

Here, Steve tryed to help him off the couch to go to bed, but he was too tired to move. So, he just stayed like this for a bit.

He fits!...well...all but a leg fits.

This works for him! :)

This didn't work for me.

During one of our snow days, I made Moose this bed. He loves it. He would love it more if I would make one big enough for all three of us to cuddle up on. If he can't get comfortable on the couch, his bed is his next choice. Isn't he a cutie!? Look at those awesome paws!

Moose Update

I just realized how mean Moose looks in the picture I posted earlier of his collar. Really, he's a sweet dog, but I caught him while he was playing with Steve. They play a bit rough.

Every time I post new pictures, I always see the puppy pictures of Moose from September like this:

Luckily, he doesn't have a cone head any more, and he's growing into those paws, but he also weighs 50 pounds more. Here's what he looked like a month ago:

Here he is now:

I love watching him grow up, but I must admit I am ready for him to be full grown. The way I look at it, he's already a big dog (70+ lbs) so why not have a BIG dog?

He is SO smart (in some ways....he's still a puppy). He learned to sit, shake, and lay down very early. Now, he can jump up to put his front paws on my arm while I am standing, spin, and take a bow (so cute).

Sometimes, we don't remember that he is only a 5 month old pup because he's so big, but he certainly reminds us when he starts doing laps around the room and pulling all of his toys out of the basket, but mostly he likes to sleep on the couch (that's my kind of dog!).

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

For Christmas, I asked for a sewing machine. I mostly asked for it because I was so impressed with all of the cute stuff Karla was making. Steve continued to tell me I wasn't going to get a sewing machine because I would never use it. HA!

I got a sewing machine!

Then, I got real nervous because I don't/didn't know hot to sew. HA!

I figured it out!

First, I made Steve some not-so-fancy curtains/panels to cover the windows in the garage and basement. I had to...he bought me the sewing machine. I'm sure one day I will look at them in disgust at how bad they are and make new ones. :)

Then, Steve gave me a pair of jeans he was going to throw away and we made some new toys for Moose. He didn't really care about them at first (he was tired), but now he's a fan.

This morning, I decided to make something for me...a coffee coolie! Then, I made Steve one!

I made a collar cover for Moose. I snapped it on real quick while he was playing outside. He doesn't nomally wear 3 collars. He wears 1 all the time and his shock collar while he's outside. I have the third so I decided to make a cool Michigan State cover for it. He can wear it on game days because Steve refuses to let me dress him up.

My next plan is to make a bed for Moose that fits in his giant crate. I'm waiting (praying) for a snow day.

Happy New Year!

Last night, we hosted our first New Years Eve party. It was quite a success. Since Moose just had his surgery (yeah, THAT surgery), we weren't sure how he would do. He loves it when people come over, but since the party started past his bedtime, he chose to just find a place on the couch and snooze. As he gets older, we are beginning to learn that Great Danes really are GIANT couch potatoes.

We had lots of fun eating (wings and fries...yum), drinking, and playing games with our Marshall friends.

After cleaning up this morning, the day looked like this...

Happy New Year to everyone! I'm not sure how 2009 can top 2008 (Steve's graduation, moving, new jobs, wedding, new house, Moose), but I am excited to find out what is to come.