Princess Whiskerface

Did you think that I forgot about our precious fur baby in the midst of all these wedding shenanigans?  Not a chance.  Trust me, Lola would not allow that.  She barks at you if you look at her for 5 seconds without talking to her. 

I originally planned to track Princess Whiskerface's growth month by month like most people do with their human children, buuuuut that was before I got months behind on blogging.  So, this post will be a long one and it will include lots of pictures/video.  After all, I have 2 months of Lola pics to catch you up on, which is like 14 months of human time.  She's practically driving now!

Since the last time we visited on the topic, our little Lola-bean has developed quite the personality.  She is incredibly sweet and would literally probably lick your leg off if you did not stop her.  When she first wakes up from a nap she's the world's biggest cuddlebug.  She has 2 periods during the day where she's a total spaz and I'm convinced that she's been taken over by some kind of aliens- once in the morning between 6 am and 7:30 am and once again in the evening between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm.  During these periods of craziness she has been known to do any of the following: (1) run in circles/triangles around the backyard, our living room or the kitchen island, (2) pull every toy and/or her bed out of her room, (3) look at you and bark for no real reason, (4) find cardboard boxes you were previously unaware existed and pull them into the middle of the living room (5) discover rocks in the fireplace you didn't know were there and drag as many as she can into our shag rug and/or (6) make it her personal mission to trip you.   These are the times when I call her Ryan's dog.

The remainder of the day she just makes us laugh.  She's quite the diva.  For instance last weekend I went out to run errands and Ryan texted me about 5 minutes after I'd been gone that she went into her room and shut the door.  Obviously we were not entertaining her sufficiently.  Another particularly diva-esque time Ryan and I were working on maneveuring rugs under our newly purchased bedroom furniture (oh don't worry- that post is coming) and when we were done and went to find her... she was seated on the stairs... butt and hind legs on the first stair, front legs on the ground (please try to conjure that mental image)... like she was waiting for a bus to take her to a home where people would never turn their attention from her for more than 5 minutes.  Also, I kid you not, she wants her hair dryed.  When I dry my hair each morning she lingers around me- weird right?  Most dogs would be terrified of that noise.  When I point it at her she moves her head back and forth to ensure consistent drying.  Obviously she really should have been a Hollywood dog.

If you fall asleep on the couch, be prepared for an incoming wet nose to the cheek or forehead in 30 minutes or less.  If you get down on the ground, she WILL run full-speed at you and leap into your lap, I recommend wearing pants.  She has extreme fascinations with the dishwasher and the ice maker.  She has a superhuman ability to discern when you're walking towards her room and when you're about to hit up the icemaker because she will awake from a dead sleep and be under your foot before you know what happened.
I could probably think of about 100 other funny stories from our little Lola-face, but I'll start posting pictures instead.  Overall, I just can't say enough how much I adore her.  There are few feelings in the world as satisfying as going to let her out in the morning or in the evening when you get home from work and seeing her so excited her entire body is wagging.  I love you Princess Whiskerface.

Oh, P.S., because I'm sure someday I'll forget such facts- when we first brought her home Lola weighed 16 pounds.  As of her last vet trip (approximately 2 weeks ago), she weighed 31 pounds.

Sadly, I can no longer do this.

I'm sure we were watching House Hunters.  Chip off the ol' block, right?

Helping Ryan hang a mirror.  D- in understanding of personal space.

Can you tell she's as excited about me getting a Cherry Limeade as I am? (P.S. We were at a stop sign and she's only in the front seat because Sonic is close).

Just a little afternoon army crawl.

Visiting Abby.  And stealing her bed.

On average 3 times per week Ryan says, "Look- I tamed the beast," and I run into the room to find something like this...

... or this...

... or this.  (She laid like this completely content for a solid 7 minutes.)

Hoping if she stares at me long enough the camera will morph into an ice cube.

She's definitely sleeping in this picture.  No, seriously.

Mmmhmm... Also sleeping.  Still stealing Abby's bed.

I think this might be the strangest sleeping position to date.

Worn out from playing with Bill, our neighbors' dog.  Yes, her nails are pink.... that was short-lived.

Because my favorite thing about puppies is the adorably clumsy way they move, which isn't easily captured in pics, I took some video.  I know, I know- I'm so sweet.  Enjoy.  :c)  (I may be sweet but I have no knowledge of how to make video shorter, so I apologize that these may go a little bit past the cute/funny part...)

Lola playing with the hose.

Little bit of Henry the Hedgehog (R.I.P.) and a little bit of din-din.

This is no longer an inside toy.

Thunder from the CatHouse

The weekend after Melissa's shower, 7 of us departed for Vegas to celebrate Jen's final days as single lady.  We left bright eyed on Thursday July 28th and returned home on Sunday exhausted and reminded that we are NOT in Kansas college anymore.  I never quite know how to sum up a weekend of debauchery and non-stop laughter into one post, but I'll do my very best.

THURSDAY
After work we all met at Hobby airport to embark upon the greatest weekend ever. The cast of characters for this epic journey was Shawna, Dena, Rashell, Lori, Chelsea, Jen & I.  I carpooled to the airport with Shawna & Dena and we got a mini preview of exactly how the weekend would go when we parked in a suspect lot and had to walk about half a mile following essentially hand-written signs with arrows to find our way into the airport.

Oh look... there it is.

Obligatory plane pic- Lori & the Bride

Shawna & Dena... Apparently enjoying the in-flight menu.

Thursday night we all arrived and spent some time ooh-ing and aww-ing over our amazing rooms at Aria.  Like any adults, we displayed our love of the room by jumping on the beds, repeatedly opening and closing the blinds with the touch screen controller and touching things we shouldn't in the mini-bar. 

Kriss kross will make you... (I seriously can't believe I just went there)

... jump, jump (but I'm not so appalled with myself that I won't finish the lyric).

I want a touchscreen remote for life.

The most expensive late night snack ever.

The only time it looked like this all weekend.

After we exhausted the photographic opportunities in the room, we decided to head down to explore the casino and the rest of the hotel.  The remainder of the night was fairly low-key... Jen nursed her roulette addiction with Lori & Chelsea while the rest of us decided to grab some late night food and people watch in the hotel's 24 hour restaurant.  Low-key was definitely a wise decision considering what the rest of the weekend held in store for us.

FRIDAY
Friday morning on our quest to find breakfast we serendipitously ran across our new friend Joe from New York who runs a frozen to-go beverage stand.  Like the responsible adults that we are, we waited until AFTER we had eaten breakfast to have a jello shot with Joe.  Our parents would indeed be proud.

Cheers to matrimony.

I wonder if Joe enjoyed New York as much as he enjoyed this picture.

We helped finance Joe's trip back home that weekend  by purchasing a few tastey beverages for our walk and then hightailed it to the pool at Aria.  We planted ourselves in the pool at the Aria for the better portion of the rest of the day.  While there we made several new friends- 1 of whom had a "mortal cord" tattooed on his body, 2 of whom were there for the National Beer Pong Championship, and many of whom were there for a bachelor party who scored a suite at Aria.  With our new friends we discussed such cultural hot topics as the market for Bachelorette party koozies with male members on them, the names of teams in the Beer Pong Championship and the fact that Chelsea is "from Africa" and attended "Cape Cod University".  She may or may not have meant Cape Town.

Poooooooool.

Bathing beauties.

Koozies- definitely the golden ticket.

Around 3:00 Dena and I disappeared to decorate the bachelorette's room because- let's be honest- what kind of Bachelorette Party would it be if the Bachelorette were not wearing AND sleeping amidst male part paraphernalia?  Due to a miscommunication we were nearly caught in mid-renovation but thanks to Shawna's vast knowledge of charlie horses, body parts and selling a story, we completed the room in a fashion I'm sure Genevieve Gorder herself would have been proud of.

While You Were Out: Bachelorette Party edition

Willie.

The makings of an excellent evening.

After the great reveal we got snazzy and headed to dinner at N9NE, the delish steakhouse at the Palms.  Post best-meal-ever we headed up to Moon to get our dance on.  On our way up to Moon, we were summoned by Caesar, the Chaffeur-tainer (seriously his business card says that), to "meet his friends."  We briefly talked to 3 gentlemen, 1 of whom obviously played in the NBA.  He took a shining to Chelsea and third grade-style had Caesar follow us after we left to retrieve her number.

Our pretty Bachelorette.

Me & the BFF (Jen not Willie).

Trouble times seven.

Lori, Chelsea & Shawna at N9NE.

Me, Dena, Jen & Rashell.  We are also at N9NE - crazy coincidence.

Once we made it up to Moon we spent about an hour trying to decipher whether we stuck in the middle of a SYTYCD episode or whether the little man Rashell dubbed "Tiny Dancer" was really dancing like he was part of Newsies to Katy Perry's "Firework".  We eventually decided it was way too crowded... (and how were we ever going to compete with that little man's dancing skills?!)... and decided to head to Marquee at the Cosmopolitan as our new NBA friend had a table there. 

Tiny Dancer fan club.

Proof we were at the Palms.

No wonder Caesar pulled these hotties aside.

We high-fived Tiny Dancer and headed to the cab line.  After the most entertaining cab ride ever (Cash Cab, TMZ Factory, "Shawna?", "I've been roofied by 25 drugs," and "Would you rather...."), we arrived at the Cosmpolitan.  We somehow managed to skip the line even though we pronounced the name of our new NBA friend incorrectly- which should have signaled to the bouncer that we did not know who he was.  We hung out at said dude's table for about 30 minutes and once we felt we'd sufficiently put in our time to deem it a story... we took off our shoes and headed home.  Night 2: in the books.

Oh, I forgot that Jen got serenaded by these gentleman on the way back home.  Outside Tiffany, no less.  Brendan, watch your back.

SATURDAY
Saturday we lazily wandered the Strip and grabbed some breakfast.  At 3:00 we surprised Jen with a massage at Aria.  The rest of us either got massages or mani/pedis.  We lounged and watched awful TV until about 7:00 when we all reconvened for room service din-din and a surprise lingerie shower for the Bachelorette. 

Mmmm... Bellagio chocolate fountain.

Looove the Bellagio.

Paris.  Obvi.

Brady bunch action.

Groping the Situation.

Shawna relaxing.  Duh.

Roooooom service.

After sufficiently making Jen blush, we headed out for the final surprise of the day- Thunder from Down Under.  Nothing makes you more excited about getting married than watching men with fake Australian accents dance around in knee pads.  Nothing.  We were unsuccessful in getting Jen on stage but we had a fantastic time nonetheless.

Look how excited everyone is about some knee pads.

Ohhhh yeah.

As we were exiting the theater, we were approached by yet another club promoter, but something about the glow of Australian shirtless-ness and a few more jell-o shots made us actually listen to this one.  He promised us a table and a free bottle if we went with him to CatHouse.  We, of course, had no idea what CatHouse was but we were lured by the promise of a table and free-ness.

We agreed to follow him and we wound up having the best night EVER.  Why is that?  Let me count the ways:  (1) Jen shaving a man in public, (2) Jen's signature dance move, (3) Rashell agreeing to go to San Diego, (4) Dancing, (5) Yours Truly thinking I was the Ice Princess and flinging ice on everyone in a 1.5 foot radius, (6) Not knowing we were at Luxor instead of Excalibur until we went to leave and (7) Good old fashioned AWFUL dancing on a booth with some amazing ladies. 

Shaving a random man's leg. 

This is either a baseball pitching signal or some other inside joke I've now forgotten.

I hear this is actually how Celine Dion got her start.

Dance fever.

Byyyyyye!

SUNDAY
We woke up on Sunday feeling like... well like we'd spent 5 hours at the CatHouse.  We hurriedly packed and booked it to the airport for our way-too-early flight.  Somehow we wound up scoring a limo for the first time on our trip there- which is ironic considering we were probably looking the least luxurious we had all weekend.  Some members of our party may or may not have still been wearing their attire from the previous night.

We spent the rest of what felt like the longest day ever slowly making our way back to Houston.  Layovers on the way back from Vegas are never a good idea.  As awful as we felt, we still spent most of the day laughing at the weekend's ridiculousness.

All in all I would say it was an incredible success.  Thank you to all of my fellow Veg survivors and thanks to the Bachelorette for giving us reason to celebrate.

Adios Vegas.

The end.