Duke's New Drink

The pictures say it all!

Dukes new choice of drink!

FINALLY

So it is official, Joey finally got his leave approved! He will be coming home on August 2nd. I found out last night at 12:34 and I was so happy I screamed and woke Duke up! Oh well it was worth it! Don't know what time on the 2nd, probably won't figure out his flight information until Monday!

I am so excited, I cannot wait!!!!!

Venting

So, 10 days and Joey should be on his way home! He should have his flight information and we should know our plans for moving down to San Antonio a week after he is supposed to be home. But do we, NOPE! We know nothing! He still does not know if he is going to be granted leave so that he can come home and we can be together with our families, finish packing, and travel together down to Texas to start this adventure! It is so frustrating and I feel so bad for Joey because he is trying so hard to figure this out and they keep giving him all different information! Whenever we start to feel hopeful we are shutdown! This is something I honestly thought we would know in the first 2 weeks of him being gone! But nope, everything has to be put on hold until the very last minute! I guess I should get used to it because from what I hear it is hurry up and wait! Sucks to be owned by the government at times!

Please pray that he gets leave and can come home so that we can start our adventure together! I'm sad and sick of not being able to be with him! I just love him so much! And he needs to come home so he can help me with the Dukester!

Duke

Well it is hard to believe that we have had Duke for a whole week! The week has just flown by, which I love because that means everyday that goes by is one day closer to Joey being home! I just wish I could stop Duke from growing though so that Joey gets to experience all his puppiness!

During this past week, Duke has met our families and some friends! I was very impressed with how well he has been doing with our nieces while I am watching them. He is not too nippy towards them, not like he is towards me anyways! Don't know what that means towards me but he does amazing with them! Especially since they always want to pick him up! The best part of taking him with me to watch them is that they usually tire him out big time! He loves to chase them, plus they have a nice big yard for him to do lots of exploring! He also likes to go and hang out with our parents and visit!

He is doing really well with being in his crate in the car, no whining at all really anymore:) The crate in the apartment he doesn't mind as much but doesn't enjoy being in it for long periods of time! But we are working on it, part of me is just nervous because we do live in an apartment that doesn't allow dogs, so to really let him get used to being in a crate at home will take sometime! Really we are still trying to get used to each other and that will take sometime! I just have to remember that he is only 8 weeks old! Still a baby!

1st Night Pretty Good

Well our 1st nite was pretty successful! Not a lot of sleep for me, but I think Duke had a good night's sleep! A lot of the reason I did not sleep was I was talking to Joey! It was so nice, it has been awhile since we have just been able to talk without to many distractions! He is doing good, working really hard on helping the cadets and it sounds like he is doing an amazing job with them! I am so proud of him and how hard he is working! He seems to be enjoying his time for the most part but really misses home and can't wait to meet the little guy! Here are some pictures of some places Duke slept when he wasn't in his crate! He definitly prefers to be out in the living room sleeping then in his crate! Will definitly have to work on that!

Duke is Home!

So this afternoon my mom, Katy, and I went to pick up Duke. I had such a mixture of emotions-excitement, nervousness, and sadness. Excitement because I have been waiting for this moment for a long time! Sadness because Joey was not with me to pick up our new addition! I would have given anything for him to be here with us! But so thankful to my mom and Katy for coming and welcoming the new guy home with me! Nervousness because I have no idea what to expect from him tonight!

When we got home, of course Biff was waiting by the door! For some reason I just had a feeling that he would be, which made me very nervous-wasn't quite ready to introduce them to each other yet. But it was all okay, Duke could of cared less and Biff was very curious. Duke was a little nervous and not quite sure what to make of everything! He played a little with each of his toys, it was funny because it almost seemed like he was like wait a minute these are all mine, I don't have to share? Biff just kind of started at him. So so far so good...thank goodness!

Biff checking out Duke's food dishes! So cute!

After my mom and sister left, Duke and I took our first car ride alone together to visit Grandma and Papa Ross! I put Duke in his crate for the car and lets just say that he really did not like it! He squawked the whole time! It was terrible! So on the way home he sat on my lap-much quieter! Duke got very comfy at the Ross household, taking up a spot on the floor and falling right asleep! I am pretty sure that they feel in love with him, even though he slept the whole time there.

After dinner, my parents stopped over so my Dad could meet the little guy! He was sleeping again and kept moving away from my dad! It was funny, he kept moving by him and Duke kept moving away! He just wanted to sleep! I think Duke will really grow on my dad and who knows maybe he will even love him!!

Duke is now sleeping again...he has had a very big day! Interested in what the night will bring for us! Hopefully a quiet one without a lot of crying! I'll update tomorrow on how he did!

Oh and so far he has had no accidents in the house!

Visiting Duke

So, yesterday my sister Katy and I went to visit Duke and he is definitely starting to get bigger! I want to stop him from growing until Joey gets home so he can see all his cute puppiness! He is doing great, looks great, and loves to sniff and explore! He also likes to nibble on things, cute now but I know it won't be so cute later on! He tries to run but he is still pretty clumsy on his feet. He also tires easily and when he falls asleep he's out!

Here are some of the new pics I took of him!

CAN'T WAIT TILL JOEY CAN MEET THE LITTLE GUY!!

Keeping Busy

So with Joey gone my goal in life right now is to keep busy! My parents started on a big project the week Joey left which was putting in an in-ground sprinkler system! I love to do yard work so I of course volunteered to help! It was a super big project but I think it will be worth it in the end!

I also started babysitting 3 of our nieces! So far it has been AWESOME! I feel so lucky to get this opportunity especially with us leaving to go who knows where! They are such amazing kids and so fun to take care of! The pictures are when I took them to the Plymouth pool! The wind was kind of cool that day when we got out there so they seemed to enjoy the park more! I can't wait to make more memories with them that I know I will cherish forever and hopefully they will too!