what's going on here?

Poor Ruby.
This little person is quite the mystery to her.

She's struggling to understand what exactly is

happening and what her role with this new creature is going to be.

She struggling to understand why suddenly

she's not allowed on the couch as often or why we don't

play with her quite as often as we used to.

Thankfully, Brett is fabulous at spending time

with the dog every night.

Thankfully, Ruby hasn't been aggressive or

acted jealous towards the baby.

She's just desperate for attention from anyone that

walks through the front door.

I can tell she's curious about Charlotte.

Anytime Charlotte cries Ruby

paces back and forth as if to say,

"Do you hear that? What's that sound?"

And Ruby smells Charlotte and her things

(blankets, baby swing, etc) constantly.

Hopefully we can make her see that

Charlotte's just another person here to love Ruby-Roo...

although I have a feeling it will be easier to convince

Ruby of that once Charlotte's out of the

tail-pulling stage in a few years!

Happy Birthday to Ruby Pearl - our little treasure!

We can't believe it's been a year since little Ruby-Roo entered our lives! She has been such a good puppy. It's true that if you're not careful when you open the front door she is an opportunist, out to roam the neighborhood for a few minutes, but she does always return, much to our relief (someday she just might not since she doesn't watch for cars, etc) but other than that we truly can't complain. She is friendly, sweet and well-tempered - and very, very loving. Give her a moment of your time and attention and she's your friend for life. Here are some pictures of our first-year's journey with sweet Ruby Pearl (she earned her middle name because last year she was born on Pearl Harbor Day: Dec. 7). Can you believe how little (and dark!) she once was?

* * * * *

sometimes a little mischievous,

but the occasions are rare

and usually very laughable!

* * * * *

taking a little snooze

Here's a song our family sings to her often:

(to the tune of the Scooby-Doo theme song)

"Ruby, Ruby, Roo,

We love you!

We love to see your tail wag!"

She's Here!

Sweet Ruby finally joined her new family yesterday and we simply could not be more thrilled! She's sweet, soft, and ready to play! This little girl and I are gonna get along just fine!!!

Brett had sprained his ankle Saturday night (more to come on that later) and I was a little nervous to drive the 45 minutes home by myself with the puppy, so I asked one of my beautiful young women to come with me and help out. I'm so glad I had Kylie there to keep Ruby happy and calm the whole way home!

When we pulled onto our street, I had to stop the car in the middle of the road because my children, and several of the neighborhood children, swarmed the car to get a first-glimpse of the new dog - it was like Ruby had her own paparazzi!

Wyatt enjoyed showing her off to his best buddy, Maryn

Ruby was so excited and seemed to take to all of us right away - she was running and playing, licking our fingers and wagging her adorable tail! She's already put two-and-two together that I'm "mom" and so far am her favorite snuggling buddy.

Our cute neighbor, Quinn, was so precious with the dog - I loved watching her face light up and smile whenever Ruby walked over to her

The kids were beside themselves with giddiness! (is that a word?)

Ruby's stats:

Birth Date: Dec. 7, 2010

(Pearl Harbor Day - easy to remember.

Maybe we should have named her Pearl?)

Weight: 1 1/4 lbs.

Height: 7 1/2" (head to foot)

Length: 9 3/4" (head to tail)

we found our new "baby"!

Isn't she adorable??????

She's 5 weeks old and so, so, so sweet!

She had just gotten a bath when we went to visit her,

so I wish we would have taken a picture once she'd dried -

what a puffy, fluffy fur ball!

She was so nervous at first but after about 20 minutes,

she was giving me "kisses" and snuggling right up to us.

It was meant to be. She's ours next week and I cannot wait!

(Is it weird that I ***LOVED*** that I could smell her puppy-breath?)

Now,

onto names...

Brett wants "Queenie" (think of the 80's flick The Burbs with Tom Hanks). As much as I hate making a joke out of our dog, I must admit I hadn't ruled it out (it had potential) but now I really do not think our little girl looks like a "Queenie". To me Queenie is a pampered, prissy show-dog and this little one is so not that. To me she seems sweet, adorable, loyal, and cuddly.

So no Queenie. Sorry, babe.

On the drive home we brainstormed with the kids and everyone in the entire family contributed to the list of possibilities (it may be obvious that some came from a 4-year old. It may also be obvious that some came from a 33-year old man who had a hard time taking the task seriously). Here they are in no particular order:

PEPPER

MISSY (as in Mistletoe, since she was my Christmas gift)

CUTEY

LUCY

LULU

NEENEE

VENA (????)

HONEY

FRENCHIE (because we got In & Out French Fries after meeting her)

NANCY

BETTY

NELLIE

KIT

WIGGLY

DARLA

ZOE

COOKIE

PENNY

GINGER

ROSIE

SILKY

STARRY

SHINGADINGA

SHALALALA

RUBY

DOLLY

BUTTERCUP

RUFFERS

PIPER

and lastly, one name we loved but won't use:

SARA (we thought the story behind thsi was cute, since our puppy comes from SARAtoga Springs, UT - but unfortunately we have the most awesome cousin named Sara and it's just not nice to name your dog the same name as close friends or family)

And there you have it.

We're open to any other suggestions.

What does she look like to you?

a huge, wonderful, exciting announcement: WE'RE ADDING TO OUR FAMILY

We're thrilled to announce a new member of the

Taft family will be arriving soon. We look forward

to hearing the pitter-patter of feet running around.

-

OK, maybe not "feet" as much as PAWS.

.

Four of them.

.

Accompanied by a wagging tail.

-

Yes, we're getting a puppy!

My Christmas present from Brett was permission to get a dog!

He wanted to surprise me with one, but knew I'd love

picking it out myself, so instead he gave me a

cute little stuffed dog (which Carson has named "Puppio").

.

We pretty sure we've found what we want and are

anxiously waiting the day our tiny, fluffy

SHIH TZU will be coming home to us!
Here's me opening my gift:

And here's the kids' reactions (love moments like this!):