Alila Settling In

Once we got back from Paris, we wasted no time in bringing this little one home! The next day I went out to Long Island to pick her up. She is already settling in so well! At first Siena was a little wary of a new visitor, especially such a little one, but she adapted quickly to her role as big sister. Siena has been a huge help - Alila has already taken after her and is learning things like house-training so much faster than it took us to train Siena. They also play together so cute. Alila is sleeping through the night, snuggling, and learning what to chew and what not to chew (she really likes to chew my hair, and pillows... we're trying to stop those habits ;). Her personality is a little different from Siena already. Alila doesn't like to be picked up, and she prefers sitting next to us to sitting on our laps. She seems to prefer Siena to both Nate and I... but Nate a little more than me, haha. To be honest while it's more work to have a second dog, it feels so natural because they have each other and it makes us so happy to see them bond! It also makes us really happy to know instead of leaving Siena home alone, which makes her sad, we can turn on our puppy cam and see the two of them snuggling on a pillow together.

We will see how the next few weeks go - Alila will get her first puppy visit when my sister and her dog Missy visit for the holidays! We can't wait to see how that goes. See below some of our favorite pictures so far:

We love being a family of four! We love our sweet little Alila!

Meet Alila!

Exciting news from the Schweers! We have adopted a puppy - a little sister for our Sweet Siena! She is a cream-colored dachshund who is roughly 8 weeks old (she will be 9 weeks old when we bring her home next week). We have heard she is sweet and super snuggly and she'll be a welcome addition to our household!

Nate came up with her name - we will call her Alila. It is where we stayed on our honeymoon in Bali this summer - super fun because it continues our travel theme and has great meaning for us. The name Alila comes from Sanskrit meaning surprise - which is perfect since we did decide quickly to get her (although we had been talking about it since our wedding).

So - why another puppy? Another dachshund, at that? Well we've learned in the past two years that we've had Siena that dachshunds are true pack animals. Siena loves to be with us and hates being alone - as a result even going to work, or out to dinner, is hard because she looks so sad. Our vet said that a lot of dogs feel this way, but dachshunds more so that most. We think she'll take to being a big sister well in time, and once Alila grows up they will have each other. Most of all, having Siena has brought us so much joy and happiness, we just love having a dog and know that Alila will bring us equal joy. We can't wait for her to come home next weekend - after we get home from PARIS!

Stay tuned for an update on Paris & Alila coming home next weekend!

Siena Turns ONE!

Happy Birthday SIENA! Our sweet dachshund puppy turned one year old on Labor Day (September 2nd). Even though we got her in October it was still hard to believe the tiny little puppy we brought home is already a year old (and technically not a "puppy" anymore - although Nate and I show no signs of stopping referring to her as a puppy anytime soon).  Siena had a very special birthday thanks to all of our amazing friends in NYC. Our good friends Janie and Russ came over with a birthday bandana for Siena and she played with their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Charlie, for an hour! All the puppies got puppy "chocolate chip cookies" (not real chocolate - just puppy treats - although Nate was still tempted to try one!). After Charlie left, my friend Julie came over with her cockapoo Kobe to play with Siena. Siena and Kobe are about the same size (Kobe is smaller, but is a little taller whereas Siena is longer). They played together great! After a while they were both pretty tired and hung out on the couch (see the bottom photo). Overall it was a great day. Neither Nate or I have ever had a dog as a pet before and Siena has made us feel like a family. She is just so sweet, snuggly, funny, and she makes every day better. We're so thankful she's our little pup pup!

Siena's 6 month Birthday

Our sweet puppy Siena turned 6 months old today! And how did she celebrate? Well I can tell you that she didn't celebrate earlier this week when she had a mini-seizure in her crate. Thankfully, because of a webstream camera Nate set up (that we dubbed puppycam) we saw it immediately and Nate rushed her to the vet. She's much better now... and spent her birthday playing with her new "hot dog" chew toy.

Having a puppy has been a learning experience for me! I love her so much but it's also very hard to train a puppy, particularly a stubborn little dachshund. That said, I couldn't be happier with our family, our sweet little pup who brightens every day with her funny faces, sweet kisses, and soft snuggles. I can't imagine life now without a dog in my life - they truly make every day better :)

Happy half year birthday to Siena!

Siena Settling In

Our sweet puppy Siena has been with us exactly two weeks! We got her at 8 weeks and now she's 10 weeks (and into everything!). She loves to snuggle and is sleeping well through the night, but has bursts of energy where she runs like her tail is on fire through our apartment. Her favorite toy is a yellow dachshund dog we affectionately dubbed "Ricky" - basically he's her boyfriend. He goes everywhere with her. She is learning what she's allowed to chew (Ricky, her hot dog, a bunch of toys Nate's parents brought her, Nylabones, etc.) and what not to chew (her wee pads, the carpet, the bedskirt, our fingers, my sweatshirt, the list is endless really).

She weighed in at just 3.5 pounds but she's growing fast! Our vet says she shouldn't get bigger than 9-12 pounds which is still pretty small. Friends joke with us that some cats will be able to beat her up. She's a sweet girl, super loving, and once she gets trained she will be a very well behaved girl! Here are some of my favorite pictures of her from the last couple weeks! We just love her and already she's part of our family.

Happy Halloween!

Or should I say, Happy Hunger Games! 

Nate had the idea we could all go as characters from the Hunger Games for Halloween - giving me the Mockingjay pin for my birthday was the first part of the costume, me as Katniss! The rest was easy, olive green pants and black shirts and jackets (which we already had) for Nate to be Peeta. Once we got Siena we decided to include her as the famous loaf of bread that Peeta gives Katniss when they were kids. All in all we had fun dressing up, even though we stayed in our building due to the weather.

Hope everyone else had a very happy Halloween and stayed safe!

Love,
Dana, Nate & Siena

Welcome Home, Siena!

Siena today, October 27 2012, 8 weeks old

Today our baby girl dachshund puppy came home with us! It is surreal to have a puppy around the house but we are so excited and loving her already. For the past few months Nate and I talked about wanting to get a dog - but decided to wait until we were done with all our travels for 2012. Last month we started the discussion again and after dog-sitting our friend's dog, decided to start looking seriously. We found an ad on CraigsList and eventually were sent pictures of a few puppies, but we knew our dog as soon as we saw her. It's a huge commitment to get a dog - I've been reading "The Art of Raising Your Puppy" and doing tons of research online. We feel ready, and even though it's an adventure she is part of our family now!

We named her Siena after one of our favorite cities in Italy. The city is believed to be the inspiration for the color siena (sometimes spelled sienna) due to the shade of the city's ancient walls and the color of the earth. Given our puppy's beautiful red coat, it seemed like the perfect name for her, combining our love of travel and our new love for her into the perfect name. So far, she seems to like it! The next few days and weeks I'm sure will fly by and before I know it she will be a full grown dog! Her birthday is September 2, so she will join Nate and I in celebrating our "birthday month" next year!

Here's one more picture... this was the first picture we saw of her a few weeks ago:

Siena at 5 weeks old

Stay tuned for more pictures and stories in the weeks to come!

It's FINALS WEEK and one week till Tanzania!

Oh my gosh this is EXACTLY how I feel about statistics.... so close to the end! So ready to be done with school! So ready to be on a jet plane on my way to Tanzania!!!

My itinerary is:
Washington DC to Doha, Qatar
Doha, Qatar to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
van from Dar to Bagamoyo

I should have reasonably consistent access to email! That is good news! I will be doing my very best to post really fun pictures and stories of my travels. If possible, maybe a video or two!

In other news, I really want to adopt a puppy when I get back! I think it would be really fun. If I get one I want to get a Beagle. Beagles are so sweet! I don't know I feel like I have too much free time at Duke. I need to be more busy so I don't waste so much time doing nothing.

Look at the sweet beagle! I want him!!!! Also I am glad I've decided to return to the program next year. I think I just have to get more involved and meet new people. There's a lot to look forward to in the fall:

September
-Basketball Campout
-Birthday weekend in NYC

October
-Fall Break in Boston with Chrissy
-Allyson visits
-Halloween in Chapel Hill

November
-Net Impact conference in Ithaca
-Thanksgiving

Also in the fall Rachel will be coming to visit one weekend and I might go to DC for a short weekend or something. We shall see! It will be interesting to see what happens, I am really looking forward to having a break from school for the summer and focusing on immersing myself in Tanzanian culture, learning Swahili, meeting new people, traveling, challenging myself, and growing as a person.

I will miss all my friends and family! Make sure you click to follow the blog so you get my updates. :)