Finally a girl in the Braisted Clan

Nope. I'm not pregnant. But I am a new mother of two new puppies. Sisters.

We've been praying about and looking for a new puppy to give us some added security and a play friend for Landon. Plus, Mike and I love dogs. Ever since we had to give our dog, Simba, away when we moved down here...we've been thinking about having one again.

Well, we were working on one of our churches in Brisas de Ocampo and I spotted these black puppies that looked SO cute from far away. There were three large dogs chained up in a garage and the two puppies were asleep. Every day for about two weeks, I passed the garage and wanted to jump out and ask if I could take one. It wouldn't have been a good idea. Mike and I had two stipulations about a puppy. We didn't want to pay for one and we wanted it to be a rescue situation. Because the puppies actually had owners and the mama dog was around I figured it wasn't really a rescue. So I didn't think it would happen.

Well, Mike told our friend Luis about how I was in love with the puppies (from far away) and Thursday Luis went right in and asked for them. Mike surprised me as I was having coffee with my friend Yajaira. I was MORE than ecstatic. Well we didn't have to pay for it at least...it wasn't a rescue though. Or so we thought.

When Mike showed me the little girl there were some awful news. He lifted her ear up and inside each ear were MORE THAN 100 ticks! In between her toes, on her neck, under her arms, her stomach...just everywhere. It was the most horrific thing I had ever seen. The moment I saw her, I knew she was ours and we weren't going to let her be miserable like that. So we jumped in a car and drove to the vet.

The vet removed all of the huge ticks and treated her for ticks/fleas, gave her a vaccination, and anti-parasite meds. We were happy that it didn't cost very much as it would have been a FORTUNE in the states. So her recovery began.

The other puppy was left in our "almacen" or area where they store vehicles and equipment. I thought about her all night just wondering if she was getting something to eat or if she was cold. Then Michael said something I never thought I'd hear..."I think if no one wants her we should just take her too." I about died! But was so excited.

So the next morning, I went looking for her. She wasn't there. OH NO. Someone wanted her. But long story short...I found her. We took her to the vet too. We reunited the sisters and they slept through the entire night until 6:30 this morning. (well, with a couple presents on our bedroom floor...oh well, they'll learn!) The two puppy thing is still on a trial basis. If it gets in the way of our jobs or is too much to handle, we will find a home for one of them.

Landon's not sure what to think. Sometimes he laughs hysterically. Sometimes he tugs on their ears or hits them in the face.

So here they are...our little girls, Frankie and Finley.

Sisters

Finley

Frankie

We figured it out....

We've been trying to figure out (now that Landon is older) who he looks like. Then today, Mike was scrolling through some of Landon's birth pictures and we found this one of his mom, Debbie, holding Landon the day after he was born. I knew where I had seen that face before. And then we found the matching photograph. If she were crinkling her nose they could be Irish twins :) Pretty amazing, huh?

Mid-Summer Fun

Sorry it's been several weeks since I posted anything about Lando but we have been on the go quite a bit lately.  Some of our favorite times is with Lando and his bucket baths and this time was no exception. Man do we love this little boy!  Enjoy!

Our Very Own Neil Armstrong

That's right...he just up and decided that today was the day he was going to be a walking fool. He's a little wabbly but our lives are definitely going to be a bit more busy. One small step for Landon...one giant leap forward from life as we know it.

A year has passed...

It is BEYOND hard to believe that our little boy is one year old today. It's weird to think that a year ago this morning I was taking a shower wondering if these cramps were worth waking Mike up at 7:00 in the morning. Turns out, they were! I want to put together a little slide show of Landon's first year but haven't had the time. I still plan on doing that but for now, here are some pictures of Landon a year old and eating his first birthday cake! Enjoy...before we know it he'll be having kids of his own!!!

His new favorite thing...brushing his teeth

Un-enthused 

Look at that beautiful cake!  :)

Mad because we were taking pictures and not giving it to him

Clapping for Mommy and Daddy's pretty birthday song

And....he dug right in

Can you please just check out Lando's face!!!!!!!

Ok, mom, I'm ready to be cleaned up!!!!

Thank you!

We just wanted to say thank you to several of our friends and supporters who gave us some money for Landon's 1st birthday. We have had a huge need for a nice crib for Landon since we moved here and we used some of his birthday money to buy it! And let me tell you...he slept like a LOG!!!! He didn't wake up once last night. I got an incredible night of sleep. It is the gift that keeps on giving! I know, it's a little unorthodox to buy a crib for a first birthday but we know that it is something he will use everyday for at least the next year and we are also planning on at least one more baby in the future that will be able to use it. Not to mention, at this stage in Landon's life he'd rather play with a plastic bottle than a fancy toy anyway! So here are a couple pictures of the almost-finished nursery (I want to paint a mural in the future when I have time). Enjoy and THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Bucket Bath

Some of Landon's cutest stuff comes when he is in water. He is such a little fishy! So I couldn't help but post this couple minutes he had with his Daddy. I sure love my boys!

First Steps

Just wanted to let everyone know that Lando took his first steps, solo, today. He took three steps about three times and then cried his eyes out because Yajaira, the kids and I screamed so loud. I'm not sure if he'll do it again anytime soon because we scared him so badly! But if he does, I will get it on video.

If only I had wheels....

In Landon's attempt to feel independent even though he can't walk solo yet, he has taken up a friend in Mr. Stroller! He will literally go round and round for several minutes without stopping or getting bored. It's pretty funny to watch. So here it is.

11 months old!

Our little Lando is 11 months old now, just a month away from a full year of life. Kinda hard to believe. We had his checkup right before we left for the DR and he was about 27 1/4 inches long and 20 lbs 14 oz. He is walking using one hand for balance and cruises all over furniture. He doesn't seem to be interested yet in trying to walk by himself but I'm sure it is in his near future. He says "ma ma" and "da da" pretty consistently but "da da" is definitely his favorite to say. He also this week started to say "pa pa" which could be his interpretation of Papi (the dominican name for a dad). He drinks out of a sippie cup but its not his favorite yet and we have switched his "bobo" (pacifier) and blanky time to only when he is getting ready to sleep. We hope to have him weined of his bobo by a year or a little after and his bottle by 15 months. We'll see how that goes.

He is such an incredible baby and we enjoy him so much everyday. This summer will be a little weird as we will see him less throughout the day because we'll be working with teams...but my best friend Yajaira will be watching him 8-5pm Monday-Friday and that's just as good, in my eyes, as us being with him. She's an incredible woman.

Anyway, enjoy the photos of our growing little man.


Chillin' on our balcony


Lando and his "cheesy" smile


Doin' his new trick, feeding himself (thanks to Grandma Braisted)