We're Back!!!!!

Well with our crazy lives we haven't really been able to keep everyone up to date. Sorry about that. Can't say we are gonna get too much better. Tonight should be my last overnight til January. I also don't see anymore 6 day weeks of work for a while! Yay. Erik, however, has a crazier school schedule than ever. My computer, that has all the photos and videos, is the computer with the more up to date versions of office, etc so Erik often takes it to do all his stuff for school. But I will definately try to make more of an effort to at least post a picture or even something short!
We are now a family of four. We got Norman a little over a week ago, late Friday, October 29, 2010.





We made it home very late that night, about 130am. But was soo worth it. Norman was about 8 lbs and exactly 2 months on that day. His ears were up, head turning more and more red, and humongus paws. Norman was far from scared of Sammy. Sammy was more interested in the cats there, but in the car quickly turned his attention to Norman. Sammy became very tired and grumpy, which didn't bother Norman one bit, and they eventually found a way for both of them to sleep...on our laps. Norman made it the WHOLE way back to Omaha (5.5 hour drive back) without a single accident!!
We got the boys home and hit the bed. Norman and Sammy slept the whole night through. We had a big day ready for the boys (and ourselves), so it was a good thing. My mom and Aunt, who was in town for the weekend, were over at 7am. Let me tell you, 630am came very early! Haha. Got up, got the boys to potty, got them some food and instant play!

Erik & I went to breakfast with them. Yummy Ihop. Then a good 40 minutes later, came back to pick the boys up to go see my grandparents!
My grandparents ere quite excited to meet the new little one, and to see the big one. I hadn't told them we for sure got a puppy, so this was a BIG surprise. Put Norman in the bag, and pulled him out! It was quite exciting!
My grandparents are in an assisted living center where their meals are scheduled in the dining room, so we weren't there too long so they could go to lunch. Plus....we had to go get ready for the Husker game! Norman's first!
We had my mom, aunt and uncle over to our apartment to watch the Nebraska-Mizzou game (which we won! heck yes!). Sammy is not a good football dog. We usually go up to my grandparents for the game, in which Sammy can run around outside in a giant yard and in the woods (which is the bottom half of the back yard), then goes upstairs to the family room when he is tired for a nap. He does NOT like the yelling (he can't handle it in any form!) or all the tense emotions he can feel in the room. Our apartment doesn't have an escape, which is quite difficult for him. He gets stressed when it was just the 3 of us watching a game not involving Nebraska (thus less emotion!) let alone a new puppy, 3 guests and a closer game than we would have liked (our starting quarterback was hurt in the first quarter! ahh!)
Sammy did well though. It seemed as though he was fairly distracted by Norman. He still had anxiety, which was hard, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. Finally the boys were both tired and Sammy gave us the signal he wanted on the bed.


First Norman crashed underneath the table.





...but eventually found the corner behind the couch along the bookshelf! I would say he found comfort, but I don't know that I can call this comfort!


Norman also got some cuddle time with us!




It was quite a warm Saturday for November. So the boys got Frosty Paws! Sammy was pretty stoked 'cause he got one and a half cups, because I was nervous about giving Norman too much!


Our guests left, and it was just the four of us. They finished the night by lots and lots of playing! Even started some tug of war!



Day 2 started about the same. Lots of playing!











Seriously...Norman has no fear of Sammy. And they are both fairly lazy little guys, and Sammy loves just sitting and letting Norman attack him. Then wrestle away!


After a nap, I got this wild idea to try to get a Halloween photo. Sammy got a new Halloween sweater because he obviously grew out of the other one. Norman got Sammy's from last year. Last year Sammy was 6 months, though smaller for his age, still a few months difference. It worked good enough! Although they were not ready for a picture. Especially since Norman didn't know his name.










At least Norman loved the pumpkins!
They were well bonded by this point. Doing well on the potty training. The two don't enjoy being too far apart. Every day they are getting closer and closer. Right now they are pretty amazing, of which I will break up our update into a couple blogs rather than bombard you in one. We have tons of photos and videos, which are fairly well updated on facebook. They are so great together, when we hit our one week mark, both Erik and I were shocked at how it had only been a week. Seems like they have been here together forever! Norman just fits right in. And they have either had someone over or we went to see someone everyday, and everyone agrees that they are a fantastic duo. Definately good for each other! Sammy isn't quite ready to cuddle up with Norman yet. Norman is more of a doggie dog, and Sammy is still more of a people dog. Norman is coming around to the people more and more, and Sammy is tolerating Norman trying to cuddle more and more. Last night in bed, they laid alongside each other for a solid 20 minutes! And not like the other times, more back end, but face along face! Super sweet!
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that it is amazing! Norman is a true puppy. Sammy was super intuitive. Never chewed on anything he wasn't supposed to. Always super happy to see us! Potty trained super easily. Learned sit and kisses and all that right away. He was just super easy. So happy to have a family. Norman has always had a family so is so much more comfortable and ready to do anything. Not scared of the stairs, the bones, the whole apartment, other dogs, anything. They compliment each other well in that way. Sammy works really hard to keep Norman in line. "Norman, no!" or "Norman Brimley!!" is a que for Sammy. Not meant to be, but he takes it that way! It has made bringing him home so much easier than it would have been. In reality, if we had had Norman first, we probably wouldn't be at our second dog. Sammy was an amazing dog (minus cats and barking) that allowed us to get a second baby so soon! Lots more fun adventures to share with you, and I am gonna work on trying to change our banner and stuff. Complicated for me, so we shall see.
Welcome to the Adventures of Sammy and Norman! The greatest boys!