I can’t believe it’s been six years. Where does the time go? Six years since that beat-up 1980’s station wagon with wood panel siding pulled up in my college apartment parking lot.

The grizzly man had a backseat full of puppies, just crawling around in there. He made me pay $200 cash for the little brown ball of fur. I say he “made” me, because as soon as I picked up that tiny, fuzzy creature, I didn’t really have a choice.

Baxter’s had his share of awkward phases over the years. Some say he’s just an awkward dog. I’ll let you be the judge.

I wish I had more photos of Baxter as a puppy, but all I have are a couple of shots taken with an old-point-and-shoot film camera. He was a tiny little thing, yet he thought he was tough enough to carry around people’s shoes. See how tiny?!

After “cute puppy phase” comes the “awkward teenager phase”….

And then the time I though it’d be a good idea to shave him. Which obviously didn’t work out so well for either of us.

Followed by the time he tried escaping by jumping off the balcony. Yup; that’s a cast.

Followed by some slightly more flattering photos:

Just got back from shooting a fun wedding today, made even more fun by: 1. Andrea from Andrea Dawn Photography spending the day with me, and 2. Photo booth pictures at the reception!
Andrea and I decided that we are MUCH better behind the camera and should probably stay there from here on out. And don’t mess with me when I’ve got a camera in my hands. Apparently (as you can see in the first photo), I’ll give you the stink-eye.

I’ve been putting off blogging these images of my Merl. Merlin is a Schipperke/Pomeranian mix (and I totally made that Schipperanian thing up, though I think they should make that the official name!), and he is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. We adopted him from the Wichita Humane Society back in October, but we thought we’d give him a bit of a trial run before making this his permanent home. See, Baxter isn’t a big fan of other dogs. Or animals. Or small children. Or anyone or anything that doesn’t look just like me, really. Baxter is not exactly the most accepting of dogs, so we knew that adding another dog to our home may not go over so well with him. And let’s face it; he’s our first baby, so grouchy as he may be, he gets his way.

We thought it might get better as time went on, and it definitely did. If by “better,” you mean that Baxter no longer goes into attack mode when in the same room as Merlin. I’d say he’s improved to a point of reluctant tolerance and general disdain. Quite an improvement, considering where he started. Though he still objects when Merlin accidentally brushes against him and he still steals any treat that Merlin gets, I think he secretly enjoys the company. His tail gives him away.

Merlin had his first photo shoot back in November, and he’s quite a photogenic fellow. Just one of the many adorable things about him!

If you make a high-pitched sound, he does this really cute thing where he’ll tilt his head from side to side.

And finally, a little black on black in my office: