exit, pursued by bear

merry, merry!

warm wishes for a very merry Christmas, from our family to yours!

and don't worry, we didn't forget our other boys:

darling!

darling little earrings from Betsey Johnson:

{Piperlime, $25}

(P.S. there's a ring, too.)

Keep Calm and ...

... Love Frenchies!

{"Keep Calm and Love Frenchies archival print" from etsy seller TheLobsterPot}

Just another variation on the now ubiquitous "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters, but this one is pretty fabulous. And even more special because my darling husband surprised me with it for Valentine's Day - I had never even seen this print before! He showered me with lots of sweet Valentine gifts, but this one might just be my favorite (hope you don't mind, honey!).

We've decided to frame it and put it in the nursery, hopefully serving as a lovely little reminder to Baby Bean :o)

tiny prints, part III + more

Since our holiday cards should have all arrived - I thought I'd share the finished product!

It was not ... the best of years for Santa pictures with the boys. We must have an every other year thing going, because last year's pictures were pretty fab - here's one of the great shots we got:

But 2007 wasn't pretty either, 2006 was good ... Anyway - this year, I had to do a lot of cropping and adjusting to salvage a cute photo for the Christmas card - but I think I managed :o)

I was really pleased with my Tiny Prints cards and I will definitely use them again. I had to order some additional Christmas cards for a holiday card exchange that I'm a part of, plus some extras since I (as per my usual) grossly miscounted how many cards we need each year ...

This is the card we ordered from Snapfish - pretty cute, right?

So, what do you think? Everyone keeps asking me if this is the last year we'll use pictures of Louis and Norman on our Christmas cards ... we'll probably always do at least one version with the two of them, since we usually participate in a French Bulldog holiday card exchange (so many cute pictures of puppies!) - but for our "regular" card list next year - we might just have to feature our newest member of the family :o)

Here's a photo from one of our recent "photoshoots":

I think the baby has my nose :o)

festive door.

Love this:

{image from One Kings Lane}

Turquoise and gray are so fabulous together. I wonder how this door color would look on our brick house ... Hmm.

madsen cycles.

think I could train Norman and Louis to not jump out the back? ;o)

think of everything you could put in that bucket! groceries, picnic items, sports equipment, menacing French Bulldogs! Even kids, apparently!

the price tag ($1200) is definitely out of reach for me, but Madsen is sponsoring a contest and you can win one of their cargo bikes! Click here to find out how you can win!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

In honor of Mardi Gras, a few photos from this year's Krewe of Barkus Pet Parade in Soulard:

{a Lou!}

{better view of his festive Mardi Gras fleece}

{part of our "security detail" -- the cutie-patootie Charlie}

{a very handsome fella who was lined up near us -- I LOVE bull terriers. I took about a hundred photos of him.}

{speaking of taking hundreds of photos -- here's the best one I was able to manage of our fine Mayor. FYI: yelling "Mayor Slay! Mayor Slay!" does not help in attracting his attention}

{my attempt to snap a pic of my dear friend Tammy with the mayor in the background failed -- thanks red coat guy!}

{Tammy's crazy dog Axel -- who is Louis' best friend, naturally}

{goat! you never know who will show up for the parade ...}

All in all, a good time -- great weather, too!! Anyone else attend this year?

Oh, and in case you were wondering -- Norm stayed home, he was feeling lazy that day. Well, that day and every day. (I usually end up having to CARRY him the entire way, anyway ...).

menace: managed.

I was finally able to upload some two hundred photos last night, and I just had to share this picture of Louis (and my husband's legs).

This is from the December meeting of the Saint Louis French Bulldog Meetup, a little group I organize of French Bulldog owners. Right before Christmas, we had our annual "Howliday Pawty" at Lucky Dog, in Webster Groves.

As you can imagine, it gets a little chaotic with a dozen or so frenzied, four-legged frogdogs scampering about. Jeremy is illustrating how we contain one of our little menaces: by (gently!) squeezing him between our calves, right at his waist. It's largely effective and doesn't involve us constantly bending down and scooping him up -- we can keep our hands free (perfect when there's someone at the door).

The expression on the Lou's face pretty much sums up how he feels about this mode of restraint ;o)

be mine.

I am sadly behind in sharing with you the most absolutely perfect Valentine's card that my husband found for me:

{letterpress card from Sycamore Street Press}

I think I may have squealed with delight when I opened this. How darling is this card? It's just absolute perfection.

Look at this face!

Oh, it looks so much like a little Lou.

I immediately wanted to frame this -- but I didn't want to lose the lovely message inside. Fortunately, when I mentioned this to my handsome husband, he said that I didn't need to worry: he had accidentally ordered a six pack of these cards, so there are plenty available for my framing pleasure. And apparently he's set for the foreseeable future for lovey-dovey cards ;o)

What's even CUTER about this whole thing, is just last month I ordered this lovely calendar from Sycamore Street Press (Frenchies also make an appearance, along with darling pugs and somewhat alarming looking cats that I still manage to love). That husband of mine, it's like he can read my mind ;o)

{"2009 Letterpress Poster Calendar. Yellow and Gray."}

I promise to get back to my regularly blogging schedule soon!

smooshy faces in need of a smooch (or two).

Some very cute photos from Westminster, via Jezebel:

{if only my big guy was this calm getting a pedicure ... and, oh that face!}

{all the dogs at Westminster are winners, obv., but you know I think these guys are stealing the show}

These shiny, clean pooches have also inspired me to go home and give my two boys a bath ;o)

Need more, to meet your RDA of cuteness? Click here.