It was pretty adorable - we gave her the pupcake outside assuming she'd make a big mess, but instead she licked off all the frosting and then came and whined at me to cut it up for her to eat. Tuesday she had eggs for breakfast, a walk with Chris and Lila, and another pupcake for dinner. Pretty good birthday for a Scooper Dog if you ask me!
Inquiring minds want to know: How is Scoop doing with Pumpkin?
We tried to make the transition as smooth as possible, setting up furniture and making changes - like moving her bed and stopping letting her in our bed in the mornings - way ahead of time so she wouldn't blame the baby for all of the changes. Chris brought home some clothes Pumpkin had worn in the hospital the night before we came home for Scoop to smell, and when we came home I came inside first and let Scoop in the house and played with her for a couple minutes. Then I took Scoop outside to meet Pumpkin. She smelled her and her carseat, and then we brought her inside and Chris laid her down and Scoop sniffed her some more. 
At first she was confused and maybe a little jealous - although we've been trying to keep her routine and give her attention she knows it's not quite the same. But overall, she's handling it really well. I think now she's more curious, wanting to look inside the pack and play or crib when Pumpkin's sleeping and see what she's doing. And she's very gentle with her - just mostly wants to smell her.
On Saturday, Chris and I took what is most likely our last little trip before the baby arrives and spent the day in Quincy. I went to a baby shower for my friend Julia while he hit some golf balls with some of the other husbands. Julia, another friend Jenny who co-hosted the shower and me are due in back-to-back-to-back months. I haven't seen the picture of the three of us yet, but I did get a picture of a deer as we left the shower. After that we had dinner with Mom and John and John's sister and brother-in-law who were visiting. The day before was my Mom's birthday - Happy Birthday Mom! The trip was too short to see everyone I wanted to see in Q-town, but hopefully we can go back with Miss G later in the summer.
We were also treated this week to a quick visit from Andrea on her way to D.C. by way of Elko. We had girls night on Monday and it was great to visit. Chris also got to see her before she left at lunch on Tuesday. It's always a good time hanging out with my old roomie and it makes me a little sad we won't see her and Jeremy as often now that they'll be on the other side of the country. Especially since our little ones will be so close in age (in the picture, I'm 36 weeks and Dre is 22). I am happy that she will get to be so close to the V-Team and my sister, though!
I guess that just about sums up our last week or so. Chris and I have spent this evening out on our patio, where I'm writing this now. It's been really hot this week but the evenings are cooler and right now we can see all kinds of stars and hear crickets chirping. It's really nice and I'm looking forward to many more nights out here.
Mom, Deb, Mena and Dad did a really great job with food and decorations and I didn't have to do a thing. My cousins helped set everything up, too, while I was getting ready, and I came downstairs to a room full of 100 balloons! It was great. Lots of friends came over from the shower, from here and from Quincy, and I know I've said it before but it's just overwhelming how much support Chris and I have had and how much love there is for Miss G already. She is going to be one lucky baby.
On Saturday, Scoop and I got up early and headed to the Marina where we met Julie, my co-worker Angela and her dog Yogi for the March of Dimes March for Babies. There were lots of people there to do the two-mile walk and it was a great, sunshiny day with good company. 
It was quite a big weekend for such a little Scoop.
Did everyone have a lovely Easter? Chris, Scoop and I headed over to Erin & Sandor's for Easter brunch with friends. (This is the first Easter Chris and I have spent together since we've been married because of baseball, so that was a treat). 
There was quite the spread of yummy food - egg strata and coffee cake and fruit and muffins and all kinds of deliciousness. The dogs all got to come, too, so Scoop had fun playing with six of her best buddies.
I neglected to take any pictures of people. Whoopsie. We had a fun time eating and visiting. I hope you had a nice Easter, too!
The rest of our weekend was really quite mellow. After snowing on Thursday and Friday, it warmed up into the 50s (heat wave!) on Saturday and the sun came out so we went for a family walk. 
Chris and I spent the rest of the afternoon running errands to places all married couples are familiar with, like Home Depot. And, we stopped at a new, self-serve fro-yo place which was awesome. We have to go back at least 15 more times so I can try all the creations I've invented in my head.
Sunday was spent just doing things around the house. We really are a boring old married couple! But it was a nice weekend being home together. The Aces have their home opener this weekend and will be home the next three, so these kinds of weekends will be rare in the coming months.
P.S. How cute are Chris and Scoop? This picture makes me think how amazing it will be to see Chris with our daughter. I could cry just thinking about it.
You would think (if you were judging only on size) that Scoop and Amara would be the best of friends. But Amara isn't super excited about playing with other dogs and Scoop is overexcited about playing with other dogs. So, at first, they got on each other's nerves. 
Despite Scoop's pillows being quite oversized, they wouldn't lay down next to each other, and Scoop would get jealous if I tried to pet Amara or let her sit on my lap. (She's never acted like that with other dogs).
But finally, after a couple days, they started playing together and actually seemed like maybe they were having fun.
They chased each other up and down the stairs and all around the house and fought over toys, and even played dress up ;-)
And, eventually, they even got close enough to share the same pillow. 
Scoop and I got the Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. (After I went out to cover the Black Friday story at 4 a.m. and we took a long nap.) But what's more exciting is that, this year, for the first time, Chris put up Christmas lights! Since he was in junior high he's been in charge of hanging the lights at his parents' house. But we haven't been able to hang lights since we moved to Reno because our apartment didn't have any outlets out on the balcony. We had to wait a couple weeks to hang lights this year until we could borrow a ladder high enough to reach the top of our house.
Finally, we got it on Sunday, and I supervised while Chris climbed the ladder.
Here's the front of the house. I think next year we'll add more above the garage, too.
And a late addition to the decorations last night, Scoop helped with the garland for the banister. 
Remember how little Scoop was when we brought her home last October? So cute! Well, on Monday she turned 1. I guess she's not much bigger now and she's still pretty cute, but she's definitely not that little puppy anymore! I tried to give her a good birthday, but she decided to try to tear up the new lawn, so she spent part of the day in big trouble.
At first she was the only dog, but then a few more showed up and she had fun chasing after them. She even got into the water a little bit!
On the way home, we stopped at the store and got a new dog toy. I was hoping she would pick the little cupcake, but she preferred this squeaky dog bone. 
She got dressed up in a new bandana that I cut out of some fabric I bought in Okinawa.
