Bray's Alabama Charmer :)

That is Bama's "full name" aka - the name on his AKC registration. Oh, this dog, this dog, this dog. I really LOVE Bama, he is such a big, brown, drooly, loveable lump of sugar.

His very favorite thing to do is play "ball" in the back yard:

This - is "ball". Quite nasty.

At least to some people.

Such a big handsome boy (with a freakishly large tongue!) It's hard to believe that it was three years ago that Chris brought him home, looking like this:

He looked like a little chocolate kiss, so small and snuggly. And sadly, just what I needed after losing a pregnancy. Bama was there for me to love on and take care of, I had to wake up with him in the middle of the night, clean up his poop - he definitely helped fill the void I was feeling :) That's why he is so much more than just a dog to me, well our whole family really. We love him like a true member of our family, not just a pet. Now, don't get me wrong, his butt goes straight to his crate when he takes a big ole dump on my sisal rug (like this MORNING!!) but I wouldn't trade him for ANYTHING. He protects my babies (he used to sit outside Owen's door when he was first born) and me - for such a gentle giant, he packs a MEAN bark - I'm sure our mailman thinks we have a 200 lb. Rottweiler :) He's a playmate for Owen and Jack who's always ready to play, can take any amount of hitting, ear pulling, eye poking, etc. and a companion for me - he somehow always knows when I'm feeling down and comes and loves on me. He's a big dog, with a big heart (even though he convinced himself long ago that he's a tiny 100 lb. lap dog) who was and is the BEST Valentine's Day gift EVER!

Funny Face

It looked like we were going to have some rain this morning so I took Obe-Wan outside to play earlier than usual. Lucky for me, he just adores his "playground" of curb-side finds and craigslist treasures :) Our backyard is definitely starting to resemble some kind of hillbilly home daycare, but you know what - I don't care! I don't really remember having toys like these when I was little. My parents shelled out for this awesome wooden swingset with a playhouse and a sandbox (which I ALWAYS wanted) that was full of mulch (less messy than sand, i guess). So the kid in me occassionally likes to indulge in the silly things that I wasn't always allowed to have as a kid (velcro shoes, character undies) for my own kiddos (don't worry I don't currently own velcro shoes OR character undies). I know it probably won't be long until Owen outgrows these monstrous, neon, plastic blights on my patio, so I snapped a few shots of him this morning doing what he does best!

My Funny Face little boy

He Loves to swing!

He also loves his playhouse! He'll poke his head out the window and say "He-llloooo"!

About to go down the slide....

His "cozy coupe" circa 1970-ish

Apparently, his car broke down and he had to fix it. In two places. :)

Now THIS is a new, amazing trick that he' s just learned!

How sweet is this picture? I have one very similar that I took of Jack when he was about 7:

Okay, maybe their not THAT similar, but they both make me smile :)