Princess Harley

Here's what happened at my house today!  Harley became the true princess that HE really is!  Madelyn said "Pretty Pretty princess Harley!" 

I also have some killer video footage of the two of the "singing" to Smile by Uncle Kraker but I have NO idea how to upload it.  Hopefully I can figure that out soon!

My fur babies

While Madelyn was napping (a very short nap at that), I looked down from the couch at my sweet baby boys.  They were practically begging me to love on them.  After I got on the floor and hung out with them, I realized that I haven't said much about my boys on here.  I know I always post pictures of Madelyn with them or of the things she does to them, but I never just talk about them.  That being said, here goes...
Bruce, our Great Dane, is such a wonderful big baby.  He weighs way more than me, but is honestly the "baby" of the house.  He has such a kind heart.   We got Bruce in college when he was 2 from a Great Dane rescue.  His entire family was starved to death and he was the only one left.  My poor baby :( The lady who took him in got him back into shape and worked with him on "manners".  For the first six months or so, he wouldn't let anyone near me and slept on my side of bed.  He would only cooperate with me.  (He and Harley never had any problems.) When we finally felt that he'd be okay around others, we began our quest to get him "comfortable".  It took many trips to the football games, ball fields and fraternity house but he eventually came around.  Many years have passed and he is perfectly fine. All he ever asks for is love... and some table scraps.  Every once in a while something will trigger his nerves and we'll have to soothe him. He HATES bad weather and will literally curl himself around the toilet.   As you've seen, Madelyn jumps all over him. She's just like that taunting little sister. She bugs him all the time, but he never lets it get to him. He just lets her do whatever it is she wants.  He's such a big (no pun intended) part of our family...
Harley, my pug, is my sweet baby boy.  He joined me when I was a junior in high school and has been with me ever since.  We took a brief vacation from each other about a month in college, but I quickly came back for him.  He's been through a lot with me and has always been there.  Before we banned them from the bed and couch, he would always curl up with me and cuddle.  He knew when I needed him.  He's extremely hard headed and stubborn and typically only listens to me (definately takes after his owner).  He will mark his spot on every blade of grass in sight and makes it impossible to enjoy a walk around the block.  He's pretty easy going and almost no trouble.  He is, however, the one who, every once in a while, I have to clean up after...His favorite thing in the entire world is to curl up underneath some blankets.  Although he rarely gets to do this anymore, he still savors it occasionally. Jeremy used to say I loved Harley more than him.  I'd joke with him all the time about who I'd save first if they were both drowning.  I did have a pretty good answer though..."Harley can't swim very well and he'd have a hard time holding on the the lifesaver. So, I'd throw Jeremy the lifesaver and jump in after Harley."   Harley definately just tolerates Madelyn.  She plays dress up with him, hugs him, kisses him, feeds him, chases him and sings with him.  I'm sure he misses the days when he was the baby, but he handles Madelyn pretty well. 
Jeremy and I really lucked out to have such mild tempered boys around Madelyn.  I would have been SO devistated if they hadn't gotten along with her. They've been so great with her and adjusting to all the changes we've had to make.  Bruce is her best buddy and I truly think if given the opportunity, he'd protect her.  They are my boys and I am so glad they are a part of our family.  (Watching Madelyn and Harley snuggle under a blanket at this very moment.) Just wanted to share a little about the other part of our family :)

PS- I'll do an Easter post later....

How can I get on to her?

Seriously, sometimes it's just too hard to correct a wrong.  Especially when it's so cute and you really can't help but laugh.  So, what did I do?  I took pictures!  THEN told her not to do it again.  We'll see how that goes. 

Madelyn was being really quiet in her playroom yesterday.  Quiet usually means trouble around here.  So, I peeked in to see what she was doing.  At that very moment, Madelyn poured a play kitchen cup full of dog bowl water onto Bruce's head (our great dane).  I have no idea what she thought she was doing.  Either she thought he was thirsty, or that he needed a bath.  Whatever the case was, I was pretty stunned and told her to stop playing in the water and had her help me clean the mess.  (I was too in the moment to think to snap a pic of this.) So, fast forward to when Jeremy gets home.  He and I are standing in the kitchen talking when I hear "here you go barley."  (Barley is how Madelyn says Harley-our pug's name.)  I don't know what made me think to look in on her, but I did.  This is the first pic I saw.

Yep, she's back at the dog bowls.

(Nevermind the terrible temporary dog beds--theirs had had it.)

So, I sit and watch her for just a few minutes to see exactly what it was she was doing.  She had gotten the play spoon from her kitchen, and was "feeding" Harley a spoonful at a time.  She'd get a scoop, take it to him, dump it, and say "here you go Barley."  She also very well knew she was doing something wrong, because when she saw me walk by, she stopped what she was doing, smiled, and blew me two kisses.  It really was cute and I even called Jeremy in there to watch when she started back up--she thought I had walked away.  However, when I actually went into the room, I was not so pleased.  Here's a visual for you...

Oh yeah, look closely.  There is water in their food.  That little stinker used the cup I previously wrote about to add a little water.  Maybe she felt Harley could eat it better if it was softened a little.  Or, maybe she was just experimenting?

See that cup?  That's the one that she used for all that water in the dog food.  She MUST have been there a while.  The spoon in the dog bowl is obviously the one she used to feed Harley with too.

All this said, I did tell her not to play in the water anymore and that her bubbas could get their own food/water.  I told her that if she did it again, I'd be very upset. Well, she obviously got it because she is sitting beside me looking at the pictures saying "I not." I am assuming she's telling me that she either isn't supposed to do this, or that she didn't do this again.  Oh well, some things are just easier to laugh off.  Here's a final pic of a very happy and probably full Harley.

Irresistable

So now let me explain these.  Madelyn is quite the shopper as you can see in the first pic.  She also LOVES her bubba and spends most of her time laying on him like this.  And last but certainly not least, Madelyn dressed herself last night.  This is Snow White's skirt that she very cleverly used as a dress.  She accessorized with her teal blue and yellow sunglasses and her rockstar microphone. I MUST have a little star on my hands.

Today's Cuteness

Just thought I'd share a couple pics of Madelyn and Bruce.  Everytime she sees my phone sitting around and she is loving on him, she says "cheese momma."  So here they are!

Just a cute moment

I wanted to share something cute that Madelyn did today. She cuddled all her babies up to one of her bubbas (Harley). I guess she thought he was ready to go night night or something since she asks for all her babies at night for bedtime. The way she imitates us is so remarkable....