Mal and I were watching a video of Lily, our friends’ Josh and Cheryl’s baby, tonight on Facebook. Oscar’s reaction to baby noises was pretty amusing.

We think one day he might actually make his head spin around in a full circle. That could be really cool to see, but we’d probably have to go adopt another dog.

It should be interesting to see how he reacts when we have our own baby in the house.

Oscar seems to be pretty picky about his snow. It can’t be too wet. The temperature can’t be too cold. And, probably most important for him, it can’t be more than five inches deep or else he won’t go out in it. (That’s the highest it can be for him to walk and not have snow touch his belly.

On a somewhat-related-note. I have used the word “belly” more times in the past 15 weeks than I have in the rest of my life. I don’t have a hatred for the word like I do for “tummy”, but it just never seems right coming out of an adult’s mouth.

Back to my train of thought — Oscar likes the snow, even if it makes him look like a crazy rabbit/dog hybrid when he runs. Maybe I should go into business making ceramic figurines and stuffed-wall hangings of the mythical Beabitt (Beagle and rabbit) like the desert Jackalope.

I was happy to get some pictures of the dog playing today. Every time I tried to show Mal how much he enjoyed the snow he would always just stand and look at it like it was going to eat him and steal his toys (picture from last Wednesday). Now I have some proof and I can win a debate that she won’t care about at all.

And now, for the family members who need practice looking at every single picture that will be posted of the baby starting this summer, here are a few more of the dog playing with his tennis ball outside this morning. If it helps you get in practice mode, I think Oscar drools almost as much as a baby…

All photos can be found in my Oscar Bow-Wow album on Flickr.

Mallory, Max, Oscar and I (and our little bun-in-the-oven) wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

We had a lovely evening at my parents’ house in Rossville last night. I made a stupid mistake and grabbed the wrong bag of presents to take and didn’t realize it until we went to open gifts after dinner. Thankfully Mal’s parents saved my butt and met me halfway with the right bag for my family.

Mal and I had our Christmas Sunday afternoon because it was the only time we could both be home and awake at the same time. It is fun starting our own little traditions and thinking about what things will be like with our own kid to spoil next year.

We got presents for the pets… Oscar devoured his treats and loved his new toy. Max seemed more interested in cardboard boxes and tissue paper than his new toy. Oh well… he plays with the toy now that the boxes are gone.

Our tree turned out pretty well. Max didn’t mess with it too much, although Mallory swears he tries to eat it when I’m not home. Compared to stories of my sister, Kayla’s, cat climbing to the top of their tree I think I can live with a few chewed-on branches.

We are spending time with Mal’s family at her parents’ house in Fithian today. We’re going to have three dogs roaming around the house pretty soon, so it should be interesting.

I’ll have some photos to share soon, especially of my sister, Meagan’s, little adorable dog. It’s freaking cute…. like almost as cute as me.

I hope everyone gets what they asked for and gets plenty of family time in this week. Happy Holidays!

We got Oscar a Santa hat to wear… he didn’t seem to like having his picture taken with it. He spent most of the 36 seconds we had it on his head trying to eat the white ball off the end.

Normally I feel the same way about the holidays. I’m not sure what is different this year (baby, house, pain pills, etc.) but I am actually getting into the holiday spirit.

I’m hoping to update a bit more later tonight after we have Christmas Eve stuff at my parents’ house in Rossville. I just thought I’d take a few seconds to share one of my favorite photos of Oscar in the few seconds of internet availability at work.

Max is finally starting to realize that the dog is going to be around for a while… the past few days he has been a little more friendly and is now comfortable enough to lay down and nap with Oscar.

I think it’s pretty cute…

I’m not looking forward to the cat’s reaction when we bring a baby home this summer. Don’t worry… it will be our baby, not some random baby that we steal from the nursery while no one is looking.

Oscar is starting to become more and more comfortable around the house. I think we’ve gone a week without him peeing on something… he’s eating more regularly… playing more and acting less needy.

He still can’t seem to figure out the remote control, though. I’m guessing that will take some time. A few more weeks of Mallory’s “Sex and the City” reruns on top of her latest batch of “Full House” and “Roseanne” should be the motivating force.

We are bringing him with us today for Thanksgiving at Grandma Jerrie’s and to dinner at my mom’s house. Lunch should be OK, dinner will be interesting with mom’s cats.

Speaking of cats… Max has been the exact opposite this week, he’s peed on a few things… has decided that the flowers on the kitchen table are a treat for him to eat and has been 10x more obnoxious than usual. I’m no animal psychologist, but I thought he’d do stuff like this a couple months ago when we first got the dog.