Waylon

I will never forget the day we got Waylon.  Brad and I had taken in a crazy rescue dog, and we had come to the decision that Maggie needed a friend.  Brad wanted a lab, and we found a breeder outside of Houston that we liked.  After a visit one weekend to my parent's house in Houston, we stopped at the breeder to see the pups he had before heading back to San Antonio.

One by one, he pulled the pups out of their pin.  The first several pups just "smooshed" to the ground and huddled together.  Then there was Waylon.  His little feet hit the ground, and he popped up on all fours with his little tail wagging as hard as it could.  He started running around in circles as excited as he could be and I took one look at him and said, "Brad, that's our pup!"

Over the past 11 years, he's been our constant supporter and the world's best nap partner.  He loved snuggling.  Brad sent him off to "retriever camp" when he was two years old.  We had the perfect "couch" lab, but "birdie" he was not.  It took the little guy 6 months to get trained, but eventually he learned how to retrieve.  Waylon finished retriever camp when we moved to Nashville to begin residency.  Despite all his awesome new skills, Waylon and Brad never went hunting together after that.  But in every city we lived, they found parks to practice retrieving his duck dummy.  With his training collar on and duck dummy in tow, Waylon looked every bit the proud hunter when they went to the park to practice.

Watching Waylon with the kids was so fun.  He loved to watch the babies and of course nap with them.  He was ever gentle and loving; allowing the kids to do anything to him.  His reward for his patience - eating all the food that the kids dropped and licking Campbell clean before bath each night (Mack was not a fan of that practice, C always thought it was hilarious!).

And so our journey continues without our beloved Waylon.  Tomorrow we begin our move to Orlando, FL.  Springfield as it turned out was not our forever home (ha, I will never say never again...).  We're excited for the new opportunities we have in FL and are looking forward to getting settled there.  We had so hoped that Waylon had been able to make the trip with us, but our weary pup just didn't have another move in him.  Waylon we will miss you so much!!

*Photos are not in chronological order because I can't figure out how to re-order them.  :(

Waylon was the best 80 lb. lapdog.

And he loved shredding his bed - why is shredding foam so fun!

Napping in medical school....

Our first "family" Christmas card photo.

Napping in residency...

The pups first snow - they loved our Nashville yard.

Just a few weeks ago with our big five year old.

Waylon had to get creative in our tiny Toronto duplex.

Merry Christmas from Toronto.

Napping with bubba.

Our last Christmas photo of all of us together

Another classic Waylon pose from Toronto.  The winter was so long; he sat in this chair to look out the window.

Waiting for brother to wake up.

Keeping watch over prized possessions.

Enjoying a beautiful day outdoors.

The best movie buddy.

No dog was better at lounging!

Waiting for baby Campbell to arrive.  I was never a napper until I was pregnant and Waylon loved it!

Fast friends.

Waylon meets Campbell.

C and W have been watching movies together since the beginning.

Watching the horns on TV...

Really the couch was his couch, and we just got to share it with him.

Snuggles.

My favorite napping pose.

Checking on his charge.

My attempt at multi-tasking.

Bounce time.

Pretty sure Waylon thought the Boppy pillow was a new special thing just for him.

Best buds.

Waiting for Mackenzie's arrival.

A new nap partner.

Tummy time - Waylon was great at this.

Not many pups have been to Niagara falls!

Waylon showing off his skills at Retriever camp!

Easter Celebrations!

After our long first winter in Springfield, we were all so excited for Easter weekend.  At times this winter it felt like we had never left Canada.  But we finally thawed out just in time to celebrate Easter.     We put on our new spring clothes, ran around the yard in bare feet hunting for eggs, enjoyed a beautiful service at church followed by a fabulous French brunch at The Aviary.  All in all it was a glorious weekend.

Our Mackie is a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl.  I rarely buy dresses now because getting her into a dress is an hysterical-inducing sobbing ordeal that results in Mack wearing exactly what she wants (life's too short to force my baby to wear outfits she absolutely despises).  But call me a hypocrite, I couldn't help myself and bought a beautiful dress for her.  Well, we made it through the sobs and screaming - and got that dress on her.  You'd never know from these pics that at 9 AM she was screaming at the top of her lungs - I don't want this, I don't want this!

Mackie in her Easter hat and jammies - she seriously dislikes dresses, but loves her accessories.  Go figure!

Ready for the hunt!

While in Canada I think the bunny left eggs inside our house because it was so cold.  Having the bunny leave eggs in our yard was such a treat this year.  Mack and Campbell's unique and individual personalities continue to develop, and I love seeing how different they are.  Mack attacked the backyard with gusto.   She sprinted from egg to egg filling her basket as fast as she could.  Campbell would find an egg; sit down in the grass; carefully open the egg; discover what was inside and then ask if it was okay to eat it.  After Mack filled her basket she helped big brother to fill his.  Great team work!!

Springfield's First Fall

Fall came and went.  That was quite obvious last week after we got a foot of snow some of which is still on the ground.  Fall was great though.  We got moved into the "new house" as Campbell still calls it.  We've watched Mackenzie grow up so fast it's blinding.  She has become so independent and doesn't want help with anything!  It seems like she only started talking two months ago but now has more words than I can count.  She will steal something from Campbell and then run around the house at full speed squealing.

Campbell did great in his first year playing soccer.  It was more about the overall experience this year; putting the jersey and shin guards on and being with the team.  I do think he got it more toward the end of the season, but there were a few times he would just take off running in the opposite direction; pretty Forest Gump-esque.

September brought our first fishing experience.  We had a pole and lots of worms - we were ready to catch fish!  I was surprised how quickly Campbell grabbed the worms and held on to them tight.  He normally is very particular about clean hands, but he was fascinated by the gooey wiggly worms and held onto one the whole time fishing.  Sadly we didn't catch anything, but it was a great experience.

With our birthdays in September and October, we've had lots of cake.  The kids have quickly figured out that with birthdays comes the good stuff - lots of icing!  

Mackenzie has really gotten into drawing.  She will grab her tin bucket full of crayons and markers out of the drawer and then sit down and go to work.

Halloween was a ton of fun.  Campbell was a velociraptor and Mack was a pumpkin.  We have gotten a ton of use out of that pumpkin costume!  Three times now.  It was great trick or treating.  We met a ton of people in our neighborhood, and they couldn't have been nicer.

So far we are loving our new home and city!