There Is a Young Cowboy...

We celebrated Andrew's second birthday wild west style.  I selfishly hope to indulge in as many classic birthday party themes as possible while A&A are young ;), and they have been in love with Woody from Toy Story as of late, so a cowboy birthday was an easy decision.  I found an invite on Etsy, and we were off to the races!  Bandanas, cowboy hats, and sheriff badges - check.  Sunflowers, burlap, and hay bales - check.  BBQ - check.  Trail mix favors - check.  Horse pinata - check.  Wait, what?!  See below...

This party definitely had a laidback feel, and our family and friends fully embraced the theme...

We enjoyed a delicious KC barbeque spread, complete with cheesy corn, before moving on to the gift opening.

AJ was cool, calm, and collected throughout the whole affair.  I almost wondered if he knew that all of this fuss was for him!  He spent most of the gift opening reclining on the fireplace, scarfing down Cheerios.  He hit up Grandpa for more than a few refills.  ;)

Daddy used his personal tuba to serenade the little man and his guests with "Happy Birthday."  We'll give him an A for effort!

Next, Andrew blew out the #2 candle on his homemade horseshoe cake.  Happy to report that the baked goods were produced with no smoke or squabbles this time around!

You can never have too many crazy hat photos...

One exciting new element added to the Walker birthday party repertoire was the PINATA.  I think that watching the spectacle definitely made the adults feel like kids again.  All the little ones got several whacks before Adam rigged the game a bit and Grace dealt the final blow.  Candy!!!
 

Miss Belle made an appearance at the end of the party.  It was her big introduction to many of our friends and family.  She fit right in with the kids!

We had to get one pic of the whole family.  :)

The moments captured as the birthday party winds down are often some of my favorites.  This time I caught the kids feeding each other candy like birds in a nest, Miss A taking a pony ride, and lots of balloon magic.

The sure sign of a good time?  One tuckered out cowboy!  Happy second birthday, dear Andrew James.  We love you more than words and can't wait to see what the next year holds!  I'll leave the rest to James Taylor.

"Good night, you moonlight ladies.

Rock-a-bye, sweet baby James.

Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose.

Won't you let me go down in my dreams?

And rock-a-bye sweet baby James."

Bringing Home Belle

In late August, we got an unexpected phone call from our breeder.  There would not be a Christmas litter after all.  :(  BUT there were a few pups available if we wanted one immediately.  Eeek!  Decision time.  I thought it would be nice to have a few months to heal after Tini left us, but Adam insisted that the only way to fill the void would be to get another dog as soon as possible.  He may have been on to something.  Of the three available Rotties, only one was a female.  We received this pic of her and knew she was ours!

The next few days were filled with a flurry of puppy supply purchases and deep dog name discussions.  As many have heard by now, Annalise campaigned hard for Rainbow (a sweet re-interpretation of Adam's suggested name of Rambo).  We kept asking her for alternatives and, after rifling through a few less than ideal Disney princess names (e.g., Ariel), she decided on Belle.  We were sold, too!

An important event like this had to be a family affair, so we packed the kiddos and a kennel in the car and headed for St. Louis.  The breeder offered to drive three hours from her home base in Illinois (!) to meet us halfway, and Grandma and Grandpa kindly agreed to host the puppy meet and greet at their house.  

The moment we'd all been waiting for...

The kids fell in love with her instantly, as did we!

Belle (and Andrew!) were treated to plenty of belly rubs on the lawn.

How happy does Adam look here?!

The ladies of the household...

The Belle-Sierra meeting was a much calmer affair than the Martini-Sierra introduction.

After such a busy morning, Belle was tuckered out!  Amazingly, both she and the kiddos slept for 3 of the 3.5 hours in the car back to KC.

We capped off our big day with potty training (with lots of helpers!) and introductions to the Greens.

Over the remainder of the long Labor Day weekend, Belle quickly acclimated to the ways of the Walker fam.  She enjoyed late night couch snuggles, nature walks with A&A, tongue wagging car rides, wet and wild bath time, and basement movie screenings.

Belle's funniest moment thus far came on September 16th.  Adam took off work on his birthday and was assembling his brand new weight lifting equipment.  He stepped away for a moment, only to return and find...  Look closely at the instructions in the center of the shot.  Those are definitely NOT nuts and bolts.  LOL!

My favorite part of Belle, by far, is her tail.  It's like a long, tufty paintbrush.  It's super expressive.  And it's so completely different from Martini.  Which is perfect.  Because no dog will ever replace Martini.  But I think it is safe to say that Belle already has stolen our hearts, all in her own way!