puppy puppy puppy...

So Copper has been dominating most of my posts lately, so it is only natural this on be about him too. As most of you know we went to go pick him up the day after Christmas, and what a Christmas present he is! He is the snuggliest, cutest, softest puppy ever! He was pretty anxious during the car ride back to our house. I am pretty sure it was his first car ride ever and on top of that it was an hour and a half. He was pretty alert most of the ride, but towards the end he finally fell asleep. He has basically been asleep ever since. haha. Not really, but he does sleep A LOT!! The first night he only cried for about 5-10 minutes after going in his crate and then he slept the whole night, the second and third nights were the same thing. His first full day at home in the crate while Gary and I were at work was yesterday. He didn't even go to the bathroom in his crate at all!! He seems to be quite smart so far, although we know we still have a long way to go in terms of "potty training."

He loves anything with a string.... shoelaces, robes, toys, sweatshirts... etc. He seems to like the snow. He hugs you when you pick him up, he wraps his front paws around your arm and clenches down really tight. He has a really small bladder and drinks a lot of water so we have to take him out almost every hour. Although miraculously he hasn't had an accident in his crate yet. He follows us around everywhere, always at our ankles. Of course like any puppy he loves to chew on things, so we have already invested in 3 toys... he gets bored easily so we have to interchange them... I'm sure more toys will be on their way soon. Although his favorite toy seems to be the Christmas tree, luckily that is not permanent decor! haha! I'm sure you can tell how much I adore him, I miss him while I'm at work, yay for only 3 day weeks! Enjoy some pics!!

meet Copper McNeillie....

Gary, Amanda, and I went to Shadyside Acres to pick out our first new family member, Copper! We got to choose from two of the cutest pups you ever saw. But ultimately my heart fell for the hugging pup you see before you. He is already over 10lbs... haha he is going to be a big one. At first I couldn't really decide between the two but when I picked up the one we ended up choosing he would hug me! No really, he would, if you put your hand/arm between his two front legs/paws he would squeeze in really tight like he was hugging you.... and he was a good snuggler! Anyways, sorry for the blurry picture, I forgot my good camera so all I had was my old one. Don't worry though, once he is mine forever you will probably see more pics than you ever wanted to!

picture update...

I haven't blogged in quite a while, so I figured the best way to update everyone would be just a picture update. Otherwise this would be a very VERY long blog. So here is what the pictures indicate: our visit from David, our finished stockings, our first kinda big snow (4inches), new carpet installation, baking with my new stand mixer! (buckeyes of course), visit from Amanda and Christina, and baking Gary's birthday cake (late).

david... for christmas....

I made stockings!! Of course since Gary and I are now on our own, we didn't have any stockings. Our stockings from childhood remain at our parents' houses. This would just not do for me, so in traditional fashion I decided to make us some. I thought about knit, but in the end I decided to go for a sewn fabric version. I found some red velvet on sale and some goldish rope. Of course, still sewn all by hand.... still waiting for that sewing machine! The two on the left are the finished versions. The terrible one on the right was the trial version. They still aren't completely finished, I'm going to sew a "G" and an "M" on them, you know... to make them official. :)

This weekend we have been visited by a great and long time friend, David, Dave, Gustav... one in the same! Mostly while he has been here we have done some Christmas decorating. He has helped us put lights up outside our house and also inside and removed the piles of leaves from our backyard. We worked on sanding and painting the kitchen cabinets too. Now, before you feel like we just worked him to death, there was also a surprise early birthday gift for Gary that was also a gift for David!! Playstation 3 with Gran Tourismo 5. Talk about faces of little kids in a candy shop... when they saw what it was I could have sworn one of them was going to pass out! Needless to say, playing the game was a major part of the weekend. Oh and Gary already wore down the battery on the wireless controller, that is why he is sitting so close to the TV... so it can charge back up.


Hope you enjoyed the update! We are sad David's trip has to be so short, but so glad he was able to come! Congratulations on your Graduation Dave, Mechanical Engineer.

until next time....

4 weeks old....

Our puppy is now 4 weeks old, half way to pick up!!! I am very very very excited to have him in our house!! I can't remember if I told you guys what we decided for his name, but if not, we decided on Copper. We are going to Mt. Airy, MD to pick him up the day after Christmas. This ends up working perfectly because I have to work Dec. 23rd, 24th, and 25th. So Gary and I will be celebrating Christmas on Sunday! A Christmas puppy!! As Gary mentioned to me yesterday, at the top of my Christmas list was P-U-P-P-Y with three exclamation marks!!! So I am so ready to have Copper in my arms!!



These are the three boys, one of these is Copper!!

rockin' around the christmas tree....

Just before Thanksgiving my most favorite movie came to theaters! HARRY POTTER! And boy was this one good. I have been preparing for months... I knit a Gryffindor scarf to wear, and we found gary a round-ish pair of glasses.

We just got back from a Thanksgiving trip to Chapin, one that will probably be our last for a little while. Throughout this fall we have made a few trips back to the great state of South Carolina, but since I have to work on Christmas and we won't be traveling it seems all the holidays have run out.

Aside from that, our Thanksgiving was great. Short, but great! There were many members of the Langhorne family at my house, along with the Lougherys. Some of my favorite times are with family and this holiday will rank up there with the best! And on Gary's side of the family we have a new nephew, so it was great to be able to hold him! And of course hang out with the rest of the gang.

Next on the update list, we got our first Christmas tree today!! We went to this cute farm and there was a cute old man trimming our tree telling us about how long he lived on this farm. haha, I'm corny, I know. As we pulled in the driveway with our tree, the song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" came on. It was perfect, I started singing and Gary called me crazy. We got the tree inside, put the lights on and then put the few ornaments we have on the tree. It's perfect!!

puppy update

Well, it seems like 10 years of waiting, but the pups are only 12 days old. haha. I got my first email picture update from the breeder today and didn't want to waste any time getting the updates to you. They are still cute as ever! We have FINALLY decided on a name for our pup, Copper. Now this name is a great compromise for us; it is unique (sort of), it is a working metal (for gary), and it is the name of the hound in Fox and the Hound (for any of you Disney lovers). Enjoy the new pictures!

all moved in... sorta

Gary and I moved into our house last weekend. We still aren't completely finished with all the things we thought we would before we moved in, but we have made a lot of progress! The kitchen is basically done except for the doors to the cabinets and drawers. They still need to be painted. (I'm hoping Gary will get that done this weekend (:-) I lucked upon a good looking dining table for our "breakfast nook" area in the kitchen. I got a really good deal on it and although it isn't the most expensive looking item, it is really good for what we need it for. I was so thankful to have our first meal at the table because since we moved here we have been eating from the coffee table. (doesn't exactly make one want to cook a beautiful meal...) Needless to say, I love it! We are also able to use the place mats my lovely sister, Christina, made for us!











The living room has had almost nothing done to it. The walls are primed and ready for paint, but we haven't yet decided on a color. We are also waiting on carpet to be installed. So the pictures of the living room will be out of date soon hopefully! After that, we will pretty much be done with the updates of the main floor, aside from some small odds and ends.


I hope you all have enjoyed the update on the house... more to come...

until next time...

he's here, he's here....

Our nephew, Peyton Kyle was born the morning of November 15th. 9lbs 2oz, and 21 inches!! what a monster! :) Needless to say, I'm not sure if the baby cocoon I made for him will be big enough. Maybe it can stretch! haha. We cannot wait to get home next week for Thanksgiving so we can meet him!

Hailey, our niece is already becoming the best big sister!

puppies.... !!!

I have been waiting for a puppy for about three years now, oh how patient I have been. At first I couldn't have one because my college apartment wouldn't allow it, then because Gary didn't want it to live with me and like me better (prior to being married of course), then because when we moved to Maryland and were again in an apartment where we would have to pay way too much to have one. The final decision came down to "when we get a house we can get a puppy." Well, well.... just so happens we now have a house. Wait no longer....

Our puppy has been born! He was born November 7th and is currently 3 days old! growing up so fast! We haven't come up with a name yet, we have been debating the name for about 3 weeks and still haven't come to an agreement! Our kids will never have names, we will just have to call them kid1, kid2, etc. Anyway, we have a few more weeks to decide. We won't be able to visit him until he is 4 weeks and then he will be ready for us to pick up a few days after Christmas! Now that he is here it makes the three year wait seem like weeks and this 8week wait seem like years!

Here are some pics of all the puppies in the litter. Oh labradors by the way! We are getting one of the blacks and he will be a he! Any name suggestions feel free to comment on the post!

Welcome Peyton...

The newest edition to the McNeillie family is due to arrive November 15th! And before you ask, NO, it is not a child that belongs to Gary and I. Our nephew, Peyton, Will be born soon and we couldn't be more excited!

I was thrilled when Brandy, my sister in law, asked me to knit him a "baby cocoon." There has been a lot of talk about these among knitters in forum and other websites, they are quite hard to find patterns for. Unless of course you are willing to pay for one. Well everyone who knows me will testify to the fact that I hate paying for things like that, so I have fabricated my own pattern! I trialed it with some cheap yarn and then made the final product with a soft/warm yarn with a greenish/blue color. Perfect for the outdoorsman Peyton is bound to become! (along with soccer player! ) :)

Here are the pictures of the finished product... and don't worry Brandy, the tassel is removable incase you would prefer the plain cocoon. I wasn't sure what you would like, so I just gave you the option! I hope you all like it. P.S. if you are looking for a pattern, I'll try to write one down from my head, but no promises anyone would be able to follow it. haha

Also, it will be way cuter with a baby in it instead of a towel!

colorful kitchen...

So far in our home "renovation" there has been mostly prep work. Work that no matter how much you do or how long it takes, the room still looks the same: white and blank. Since purchasing our first home, we have begun work on the kitchen including taking down wallpaper, spackling all over, sanding, and priming the cabinets and walls. Finally, the day has come that we can PAINT! I have been looking at white walls for far too long!

The color we have chosen to paint the kitchen is called "Churchill Hotel Maple." Truthfully, it looks like skin. haha. The kitchen isn't finished by any means, but having some color on the walls makes it feel a lot closer! Here are some photos of the progress!









by the way... I know the color looks yellow from the pictures, but it isn't. It is just the lighting, it was getting dark so I used the spot lights. I will put of pictures during daylight soon!

until next time...