Finn is Six Months Old!!!

Our little Finn is six months old today.  It has been really fun raising Finn since he was just a baby.  Really fun, and really challenging!  Getting Charlie when he was two years old was so much easier!  Of course that brought a host of other behavioral problems, but all in all it was easier.
Anyway, Finn has grown up so much since we brought him home, which was almost four months ago.  He was nine weeks old and weighed nine pounds.  Now he weighs 28.6 pounds!  The first few weeks were pretty rough.  We knew we really wanted to crate train him from the start, so he used Charlie's crate and started from day one.  We didn't really know what we were in for, but it was awful!  He had never been away from his mom or seven siblings, so he cried all night.  It was really sad, but we knew it was best for him and us in the long run.  On top of all of that, we were of course potty training.  So every two hours, either Bryan or I got up to take him out to go potty.  That was REALLY rough!  The crying only lasted a few night, and it got less and less every night.  We continued to get up several times in the night for Finn to go potty because we really wanted him to get the hang of it.  We figured if he never got used to pottying inside, then he would figure it out a lot quicker.  He really only had accidents inside a handful of times because we were so diligent, and he was potty trained in record time!  (I can't confirm that, but I'm pretty sure he's an all star.)  Our work schedules are pretty opposite which isn't so great for us, but it meant that one of us could let him out most of the time.  Special thanks to Grandma Joy and Madeleine for helping out when we couldn't do it!

The day after we brought him home

Just this past weekend, we finally moved Charlie's and Finn's crates out of our bedroom.  Our room is really small, and they took up a lot of space!  They have adjusted nicely to being in a separate room from us (Charlie always was beforehand), and I love being able to walk to my side of the bed!  When I woke up on Monday morning, I was instantly very aware of how alone I was.  It was really weird, but I am looking forward to no longer hearing Finn's random barking at nothing and smelling dog in my bedroom.

Halloween

 

Finn is still your typical crazy puppy, but he has learned a few things since he's been here.  At first, he chewed on EVERYTHING, so we bought him a playpen to stay in when we weren't home (or just wanted to get something done!).  It allowed him more space than his crate, but there is still only so much he can chew up.  He has, of course, managed to chew through our laptop charger, tear up our rug, and empty the stuffing out of a few dog beds.  For the most part, as long as we keep our eyes on him, he knows better now.  He still can't help himself when he sees a stuffed dog bed; his beds are all now made up of piles of blankets. =)

Finn as a sheriff on Halloween, when he was 13 weeks old

His favorite toys are stuffed animals with squeakers, and he loves unstuffing them, as you can probably imagine.  He has grown fond of chasing a ball, and he'll bring it back, but doesn't like to give it back to you.  We're working on that!

We were playing ball when Finn lost a tooth--oops!

He has now been to two obedience classes, and tomorrow is his third.  Bryan has been a great trainer for both Finn and Charlie.  (Charlie has been going to reactivity classes and is doing AMAZING!)  Bryan has been diligent about practicing Finn's new skills (waiting for his food, sitting, laying down, going to bed, waiting at a doorway), and walks him every day he can to practice loose-leash walking.  Finn is improving and we are proud and amazed at how smart he is!

Sitting so politely in puppy class just a few weeks after we adopted him

Our newest challenge with Finn is his poop-eating hobby.  He loves to eat Charlie's poop, and it's so gross!  Per vet and trainer recommendations, we have tried putting certain products in Charlie's food to make his poop taste bad, but nothing has worked.  He has even started trying to bring poop inside the house!  And succeeded once!  He has most recently tried to outsmart us by setting the poop by the door where we can't see it, waiting at the door, and when we open it to let him in, grabbing the poop and sprinting past us.  Sorry for the grossness--just thought you could share in our pain!
It isn't always fun, but we love our pups and can't imagine life without them.  (Okay, when I'm sweeping up piles of dog hair every night and lint-rolling myself both before leaving for work and after arriving, I can imagine it a little bit.)  They are so fun though, and have such funny and unique personalities.

Dad and his boys

Jasmine loves Finn!

Catch-Up Continued (Computer Problems!)

March 19, 2012--our first anniversary.  It was hard to believe it had been a year!  We didn't get to do anything really special, but we got to spend the day together since I had a final that evening, and we did dinner a few weeks later.

In April, Bryan started his new position at UPS as a pre-load supervisor.  He had been a pre-loader (loads the trucks in the early morning) for four years at this time.  The supervisor position is great experience for him and got him off of his feet most of the time.  He had to start working earlier, though--2 AM is his normal start time now.  Yuck!  Around this time, he was also re-hired as a permanent part-time employee at Costco.  He worked as a seasonal employee during the Thanksgiving/Christmas season, and he had been crossing his fingers for a re-hire for a few months.  What a blessing to our part-time incomes!

On June 17, 2012, I graduated from OSU with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.  BEST DAY EVER!  I was (and still am) so excited to be done with school!  (My grandma and me at graduation--I don't have my graduation pictures on this computer so this is taken from Facebook!)
  




The following week, on June 25, 2012, I started my new job as a Staff Accountant at Kuenzi and Company in Salem.  It was exactly the job I wanted, and such a blessing because most similar jobs are in Portland, which would require a move (or an unfavorable commute).



We completely overhauled our front yard in late summer.  It was a lot of work (shout out to my dad again!), and the transformation is amazing!
Before:

After:
 



On October 3, 2012, we adopted our second baby, Finn.  He was only nine weeks old when we brought him home, so was truly a baby!  We learned a lot about puppyhood that we didn't experience with Charlie.  It wasn't always fun, but we are proud that we made it through and have managed to train Finn pretty well on the basics.
 

Last Tuesday, I took my first portion of the CPA exam.  There are four parts, so I've still got quite a way to go, assuming I passed the first test!  There is a lot of information to know, so it's pretty overwhelming.  Either way, it was a good experience.  I have to wait until February 25th to find out my score, though!  That is what triggered me to start blogging again.  Once I finished my studying frenzy, I figured I could catch up.  And now that I'm caught up, I will try to KEEP caught up!  We'll see how it goes!!!

I am starting to feel the beginning of tax season.  I have been assigned new projects every day, and I have to admit, I kind of like it.  We just came off of a few VERY slow months, and while it was nice (especially while studying!), the days are much more interesting when there is work to be done.  I am feeling good about my progress work-wise at this point, which is good.  I feel relatively confident in my abilities and have gotten lots of good feedback from the partners and managers at the firm.  Of course, there is always MUCH more to learn in the accounting world, but it's nice to feel comfortable-ish in what I'm doing.

This last weekend was busy for us!  I spent most of my free time studying before the test, so it was nice to have a weekend to catch up on some housework and actually have fun!  We laid low Saturday morning; actually, Bryan got up with Finn and 

let me and Charlie sleep for a few hours on our own.  Finn is ready to start the day with crazy hyper-ness at 7 AM every day, and I needed to catch up on some sleep since I slept horribly in the weeks leading up to my exam due to stress.  Anyway, Saturday afternoon/evening, we went to our friends Rob and Monique's house for dinner and to hang out.  We had fun and got our fill of one-and-a-half year old.  Their daughter Bellamie is so sweet; we had a great time visiting with her and playing Play-Doh.

On Sunday, Bryan had to work, but we were able to go to a church small group in the evening.  Family friends of mine, the Stavroses, recently started a group at their house, and since we've been wanting to join a group, we decided to join them.  We had a lot of fun and hope we can go regularly, even though Bryan works on some Sundays.

Now some Christmas pictures for fun: