Diesel Turns 1 !!!!

Our baby boy Diesel turned 1 today and oh what a year it has been! After arriving last November in the midst of a snow storm and home remodeling, there were many times that I vocalized that either you or AJ were going to have to go. You guys became best friends / frenemies very quickly which has been both blissful and exhausting at the same time. Here are some highlights from our 1st year with you.

When you arrived at the airport you refused to come out of your crate. I don't blame you. I have never met a family as loud as us either.

After several successful baths tied to the lamp post, we had a major FAIL. You won. No more tying you to the post and washing you with the hose.

You were a lap dog for like a week. I enjoyed that week immensely. Every day you would jump up on my big blue office chair and snuggle on my lap. When you got too big to be on my lap you would lay behind me. When you got too big to share the chair with me you began laying under the desk at my feet. It is our special bond. As a 140 lb dog, it melts my heart to see you gently ram your head into the desk until I move the chair back so you can lay down. What a mama's boy.

You are a big goober at the dog park. People take one look at you and think that you are going to rip apart their dogs. If they stay, (many people do not stick around to find out) they see a gentle handsome dog who is happy playing the submissive role to even the smallest of dogs. One day I heard you whimpering because a large dog had gotten on top of you and was making a bunch of noise. Instead of using your power and strength to get him off of you, you yelped so that I would come to your rescue and then literally played dead until I could. It was the funniest thing in the world.

I leave you alone for about 1 hour a day. In that hour you manage to single-handedly rip apart the entire back yard, rearrange the furniture and chew through any electrical cords that you can get your hands on. In fact, Christmas night we awoke to see that you had chewed through all the cords attached to Cienna's karaoke machine that Santa gave her. You have chewed the eyeballs out of stuffed animals, you LOVE Barbies and you have ruined more pairs of my shoes than I can count. Separation anxiety much?

You Had Better Come Back Soon Or Else There Will Be Nothing Left!

You have jumped from a moving vehicle (out the window none the less!), had animal control called on you for greeting the walkers on our street, stuck your head in a white paint can, ate a dozen cupcakes off the kitchen counter, and smashed the iPad with just one paw. All the damage and chaos has been well worth adding you to our crazy family. We love you Diesel! Happy 1st Birthday! Hoping we have many, many more with you!