Operation Rescue Daisy and Star Wars Easter Eggs

Easter weekend was a big one at the Brownell household in Sioux City, IA. My parents, aka proud new grandparents came to Sioux City for the weekend. Olivia had her baptism. It went great, and her godfather, Mike has all the details and pictures here. Also, Nicole put up some baptismal shots on Olivia's page too. We made sure to get some Easter egg coloring in too, and since I got to pick the coloring kit, out, well, you can see the results above.
For all you out there that know my dad, Brad, isn't this funny to see? He does great with Olivia.

Cake shot.

Olivia post baptism photo op. With all the grandparents. She went from crying baby to happy child of God after the water was poured on her head. Mike and Jenni Galles, are OGB's godparents.

Last but not least, especially by her standards, is Daisy. Also known as Dizzle. On Sunday I decided to let her run off leash in our back yard because my parents dog, Lady, a lab was running around. If Lady can run around off leash, so can Daisy. Again, my mistake. Daisy is a wonderful dog, but she has a few issues. One of those is a legitimate psychiatric diagnosis of R.O.D., or Rabbit Obsession Disorder.

So, off she goes, not to play with Lady, but to head for our deck where rabbits apparently have secret meetings that she knows about. We have this large step off the deck, and it is just mainly rock underneath it with a space much too small for Daisy. Or at least kind of. She went to this little crack, flattened out in a way I thought not possible, and squirmed and flailed her legs until she disappeared underneath the wood. To make a long saga short, the next 30 minutes involved her becoming completely lodged, lots of howling, me shoveling rock out from under the deck and pulling a semi scared and muddy beagle out from the little rabbit crawlspace. She then got an impromptu bath and shivered for 2 hours despite the blanket wrap pictured above. Gotta love Diz.

The Best Catch I've Ever Made, and I wish I didn't.

So, I went to drop off a birthday present for Nathan Murray, a friend of ours 3 yr old who just had a birthday. I took Daisy for a ride with me, and we stopped over at their house. I wish I had a picture of it for you. It is a beautiful big log home, between two well sized ponds, and the interior is gorgeous- and immaculate.

Soooo, Dizzle, aka dog who has a healthy sense of entitlement, and I are standing outside of Scott's house talking to him. I was just getting ready to leave, to head over to Outback and pick up Nicole and I's to go order when Scott asked me to come in for a second. Really, I need to go, otherwise food is going to get cold, and Nicole is going to be wondering where I am at, because I have already been there a while talking. But, I say sure, because I wanted to see the deer mount and his saltwater fish aquarium which I love.

Now, Daisy can't be off leash, so she steps in with me, and I initially asked Scott to hold her leash so I could go look at the deer mount and tank. Innocently, Scott asked, can I go ahead and unhook Daisy? Foolishly, I answer, 'yes, as long as you don't care'.

My mistake. I should have remembered what Daisy has done every time she goes into a new house she's never been in before. I should have said, 'Sure, you can unhook her if you don't care if she runs around like a possessed monkey howling and possibly dropping a present off on your carpet for you.' But, I didn't. I had forgot. Daisy is a good dog. She hasn't pooped or peed in our house since she was a puppy. But the first time she was in my parents house, Nicole's parents house and several others....well, there was some cleanup to do.

OK, the next minute went fast. Scott unhooks Daisy, she starts howling and takes off like a wild beast. She is essentially doing her famous hot laps around his house, and I realized my mistake, and what was coming. She bolted for the stairs. I followed in pursuit. As I am racing up the stairs, I see her, just starting to squat at the top of the stairs. I am closing in, but I can't make it in time to stop the inevitable. So I dive. In slow motion, picture me diving up the last few stairs. My arm stretched, palm upward and scooping underneath the dog poop now falling, just arriving to catch the pile in my hand before it hit their nice carpet. I was relieved and disgusted all at the same time. It was really a magnificent catch.

So there I am, dog poop in hand. I startled Daisy enough when I dove at her I interrupted her, so she ran across the room and finished off her business on their carpet in the corner, with me helplessly watching. Scott was laughing the whole time. I don't think he and Jen were mad, but I felt stupid, and more than a little mad and annoyed at Daisy, who really somehow had no clue she'd done something wrong.
So, next time we go to Scott and Jen's house Daisy is staying outside. I also won't plan on making any more magnificent catches, I would have just been better off letting her go in one spot. I'll add though, while it was the best catch I've ever made, it wasn't the best catch I've ever seen. That involves a softball player, a farmer and his hat, an umpire, and a really efficient sequence of events. But I'll let Cullen tell that story if he feels like it.

More Babies, Please

Introducing William "Will" Theodore Steen

Sharon delivered a healthy 8 pound 10 oz baby boy 3:45 AM, 2 March 2008. Mom and baby are doing well.

He probably looks like Stewie, except loves his mom more. For those of you who know Jamie and Sharon, they are doing well with their new addition. Jamie and I were in ER Residency together, and he is now working as an ER doc in Mississippi.
CONGRATS JAMIE AND SHARON!!!!

Joining the many babies in our midst of this last 12 months or so. Olivia, Ainsley Proud, Ava Trigger, Gabrielle Burkett, Jack MacLagan, Sophie House and now Will Steen! Holy baby town.
Next Up: The Brights' and The Fields' babies on the way...

Blogtastic

Olivia Launches New Blog!

click here

Given that my posts on such topics as oil hungry dark matter producing gorillas, star wars minis and the like are a little off topic for Olivia, I launched a blog just for Olivia, as many of my smarter friends have already done for their new kiddos. I will put a link off to the side under my friends links so moms, grandparents and family who know my site but really just come for Olivia can always find it quickly.

I have lived with Travis and Nicole for 3 years and I still don't have my own blog. Hmmmpphh.

DelpCon 2008! Star Wars Minis, D&D, pure nerdom fun. It was a blast. When I get my pics from the Con, I will make another post.