A note from Copper:

I got this new bed a few weeks ago.  I think KB and SGM spent a lot of money on it.  It was to replace my old bed, which I had chewed into the insides so many times that KB was tired of sewing it together, so she ordered me an indestructible bed from Orvis, with an indestructible guarantee.  Tonight I chewed a big hole it.  Because I felt like it.  I'm that good.

KB immediately chatted with Orvis about my bed through their internet chat site.  This is what went down:

I realize that this isn't an adventure and doesn't have much to do with Copperland, but I have so many (14) adoring fans who have been asking for nursery pics I figured I'd go ahead and post them before the little one arrives and the room never looks this clean or organized again.  We're actually working pretty hard on training Copper that she is not allowed in the nursery, period (via the shock collar), as per advice from our on-staff (you think I jest) dog whisperers but otherwise I would have incorporated her in these shots.  I'll add a few recent photos of the pup from the lake when we were down there over Thanksgiving so you can be sure to get your fill.  Enjoy!

We had a fabulous baby shower a few weeks ago and SGM and I got all kinds of amazing things for the baby, especially many wonderful baby clothes.  Well I have been washing and washing and washing and ironing and ironing and ironing baby clothes for what seems like the last 3 weeks (supposedly you need to do this with everything before the baby wears anything, especially when they are little little when their skin is still sensitive) and had laid them all out and organized them on the guest bed so that I could put them all away.  Well, we let Copper out of our sight for approximately 2 seconds a few Sunday nights ago, she ran into the guest room, jumped on the bed, threw the clothes all over the place and then peed on the bed and ran out of the room.  You think she's excited to meet the baby?

Cheers to more Adventures in Copperland!

PS.  I took Copper to DDC this morning.  We walked in at the same time as another dog her size, maybe some sort of beagle.  The beagle's owner asked the DDC people if her dog and Copper played together and the answer was, "oh no, [beagle] is in the medium size group and Copper plays with the big dogs."  Awkward silence as the beagle owner took this personally and then said, "but they are the exact same size, why don't they play together?"  And the DDC people said, "well, because Copper is crazy and is super fast and strong and plays with the big dogs really well."  The beagle owner then slinked off.  Is this what its like to be a parent, always comparing your kids to everyone else's?  Yikes!

SGM informed me this morning that when he dropped Copper off at DDC yesterday he saw pictures of all of the dogs on the wall in their Halloween costumes.  It turns out that the costume contest was ongoing and wasn't decided on the day costumes were actually worn to DDC, but by popular vote by anyone who was dropping dogs off at DDC over the last few weeks.  Well, SGM said the results are in....and poor little Copper came in DEAD LAST.  I'm not saying I thought she should have taken home any prizes (here is the reminder of what she wore and what she was up against) but how mortifying, last place!  And she only got ONE VOTE.  And I'm pretty sure I remember (although don't hold me to it with my preggo brain these days) that that vote was from yours truly last week when I dropped her off.  Oh dear, I'll have to get on the ball for next year. 

Cheers to more Adventures in Copperland!

This morning it was time to fall back and what better way to gain lose an extra hour of sleep than by waking up to your dog throwing up a large rock boulder at 4am.  Ahhhhh, the joys of parenthood.

But it's Fall, and in Copperland that means we are raking every weekend from now until January.  The 100 year old oak in the backyard hasn't even started to drop its leaves but we already have a lot of work to do with the other trees around.

SGM was out raking the front yard today and decided to bring Copper out there with him.  We've gone back and forth about getting her an electric fence so that she can go out front by herself but have decided (at least for now) against it since she has the whole fenced backyard to play in if she wants.  Besides, I'm pretty sure she'd jump the fence and there would be no turning back.  So needless to say, Copper doesn't get to spend a whole lot of time in the front yard and there are many things for her to explore.  SGM hooked a rope to her collar and tied her to the (fairly heavy) wooden bench near the sidewalk.  I happened to walk out there to hang out just as Copper managed to topple the bench over so that she could move around with a little more flexibility.  I wish I had the whole thing on film, but I did catch a snippet of her out on the town, with just a small weight dragging behind her: