Boo!

It's my first Halloween and I've already seen the wickedest witch in Guatemala. Unlucky for us, she's our neighbor. Mami says not to be scared of her, but this morning we were hanging the laundry on the line when she came through the door and gave me and mami a look that said "I'll get you and your little dog too!"

It's a long story, but here's what I know. A while ago before I even was born, the witch accused my mami of letting her dog doo in the mean lady's garden. In fact it was the first time she even ever talked to mami and it went something like this.

Witch: I think your dog *%$# in my garden.
Mami: We don't have a dog.
Witch: I cleaned it up, but *%$# was everywhere.
Mami: Sorry. We don't have a dog.

After that mami, wasn't feeling so friendly toward the wicked witch, but it worked out ok because she never comes outside of her house. She must be in there putting hexes on us and boiling her brew all day long.

Then lucky for mami & papi, one day the wicked witch left for a really long visit back to the USA - 2 months in fact. She found some people to rent her house, but they had a dog....and we're not allowed in the 3 houses that our landlord owns. Just a few days before they moved in, papi had emailed the landlord to see if he would allow papi to get mami a pet for their 5th anniversary, but he said no. However when Calli (that's the doggie) moved in, mami & papi were confused. If the wicked witch can do it, they can too! And along came Mia a month later.

The renters were nice, but not very considerate. They were from the US too. They never cleaned up Calli's doo and they made lots and lots of noise when they left for work at 5:00 in the morning. Plus Calli cried all the time when they left her alone. Mami & papi nicely talked to the people about the crying and soon they started to take Calli to work with them, but they was still lots of noise and doo.

About 3 weeks after I moved in with mami & papi, the renters left and the wicked witch came back. Last saturday afternoon (after our unsuccessful trip to the border) papi and I were outside doing our watering when mami came out to see us. The wicked witch was outside too, having someone work on her car and that is when the doo hit fan again. It went something like this - I heard it all.

Mami: Welcome back. How was your trip?
Witch: She's cute (pointing to me). I cleaned up her *%$# twice today.
Mami: We've been gone all day and just got back. When we left this morning, I double checked to make sure we got it all.
Witch: Well I cleaned it up this morning and again this afternoon.
Mami: (getting mad) We've really been trying hard to clean up after her.
Witch: It was right here.
Mami: (very angry) I'm sorry. We'll be sure to get it from now on, but just so you know we've cleaned up after your subletter's dog for the past 2 months.
Witch: What? You shouldn't have. They promised me they would.
Mami: (feeling spicy) Well they didn't and we got tired of seeing it and driving over it, so we picked it up.
Witch: You should have emailed me.
Mami: You didn't leave us your email address or we would have.
Witch: (hanging her head) I guess I owe you a few.
Mami: (in her head) And that's just the beginning you witch, you're so ungrateful that you didn't even bother to ask us how things went with the renters.

It's true. My mami and papi have been really good about cleaning up after me. Sometimes at night my papi even uses his headlamp to make sure he can find where I left my deposit. And they hardly even get mad at me when I have accidents in the house. I love them very much. Oh and later mami and papi realized that visitors were staying in the other house (the one the Swedish woman lives in) and they're pretty sure there was a dog too. Ha! Take that. My doo doesn't stink!

The craziest part of the whole thing according to mami is that the witch is a yoga teacher. I only know a little yoga, like Down Dog, but I'm pretty sure most yogis are relaxed and peaceful. Papi says it's to be expected - most of the foreigners living here in Antigua seem to be running from something.

But in the end I've got the biggest surprise for that witch........

This pup is a vampire in disguise! Watch out Witchy!

Road Tripper!

Last weekend mami, papi & I took a little road trip in Dewey. They needed to renew some paper work to keep Dewey legal in Guatemala, and I wanted to get in on the road trip fun that they tell me about. The border with El Salvador is only about an hour and a half away, but the trip felt really long because we got held up at the border for a long, long time and they wouldn't even give Dewey his papers. I made sure to behave really well the whole trip so that mami and papi could see that I'm going to be a good little road tripper just like them! Take a look at how I kept myself busy.

Cruisin' from Krista on Vimeo.

hot dog! it was warm at the border!

the trip wore me out!

up from my nap and ready for action!

On the way home mami & papi were rockin' out and I wanted to get in on the action. I know they say it can't be true, but I'm pretty certain that I'm their biological dog-ter. I love all the same things that my mami does, like singing and dancing....and peanut butter!

Happy Girl from Krista on Vimeo.

I can't wait to road trip with the 'rents again.
Next time though, let's go somewhere fun!

pretty girl stuff

Today I'm just having some fun with pretty letters that my mami found here. Sometimes she calls me Mimi when we're playing. I like it better than what my papi calls me - Puppy Puddles. I'm only 9 weeks old. Doesn't he understand that I'm still working on the whole potty thing?

Take Your Dog-ter to Work Days

These days I've been going to work with Papi. Since I'm too wittle to stay home all by myself (mami thinks I will cry all day & she is probably right), I go to the office with dad! He works in a big house with a really big yard. That's where I hang out most of the time - in the yard. It's pretty great. For now they have to chain me up, but Papi says he going to build me my very own play pen. I spend my days playing with the staff when they need a break, taking naps, hanging out with Mari (my butterfly pal) and chasing Don Alejandro around. When Papi has to leave (that happens a lot), Don Alejandro keeps an eye on me. I'm really lucky to have him.

Mami gets sad during the day and calls us. She misses me and wishes I could go to work with her. I miss her too, but I can only go with her on the weekends. Then she introduces me to her teams and drives us around in the big green van. Plus I get to explore that huge place where she works. It has the best grass in town! When Papi and I get home from work, Mami showers me with kisses and plays with me for a long time. She also takes care of me in the night.

Here's a peak into mornings at our house. After we get up, I eat, then play, then nap. Pretty soon it's time for Papi and I to leave. We ride to work with Miss Dani a lot. I like her a lot too and I'm even beginning to get used to her furry son, Don Akira. Miss Dani blogged about me & Akria here. I get the feeling that he is looking for a girlfriend, but I think of him more like a big brother.

Just making sure Papi can't forget me!

Isn't my Papi a good one? He makes sure my play area is well stocked!

Cutest Dog Competition

Remember how we're volunteers? (Well at least me.) This would really help us out and just think about how happy it would make Mia!

She Drives Us Crazy!

Since the arrival of my most recent vision team and Ben about to inaugurate a new water system this weekend, we've both been working overtime. Since Mia can't exactly stay at home all by herself as of yet, she has been going to work with Ben, where she spends her days playing in the grass at the office. Don Alejandro keeps his eye on her when Ben has to be out and about, but we fear there are days that she is rather bored. If she sleeps too much during the course of the day, the nights are a bit difficult for us. Look at what happened the other night, when we both arrived home from work after 8pm. Obviously she was not stimulated enough during day because she was a WILD puppy girl!

Mia Loca from Krista on Vimeo.

Got Milk?

Slowly Mia been weaning off of her puppy milk diet as she dabbles in the world of solid dog food. Since we have a hard time saying no to our baby, we still let her slurp up some milk before heading to bed. She loves it so much, she tends to get a little piggish sometimes. Look who we caught with a milk mustache the other night!

Got Milk?

Girl Around Town

Last weekend was quite busy for Mia - as it was for the both of us too! She spent most of the day saturday with her mom at work, winning over the hearts of my most recent vision team. It didn't take much - just a couple of licks, about a million cuddles and 1 piddle on the rug - and they were smitten with her too! Since I was acting as chauffeur for most of the morning, she tagged along with me and rode in her trusty little basket (see photo below) in the Gran Pepino and even met a couple of ducks at the home of Don Filiberto. (As for those of you who are curious about my progress in the area of clutching and shifting, let's just say I'm functional. I'm sure it's not perfect, nor is it pretty all the time, but we make it from point A to B. That being said, I'd love one day to experience the open road though in a manual vehicle that does not roar like a lion at the zoo!) Unfortunately she has learned how to do stairs and hilariously tackled them at the Project (that's what we call Common Hope) a couple of times. I say unfortunately because we have silently been fearing the day that she has complete free realm of our home. Currently she is limited to being either upstairs or downstairs and will sit at the edge of the steps and wait for us to carry her. But fortunately she has yet to make the connection that if she can do stairs at the Project, she should also be able to do them at home -so we've bought ourselves a couple of days. I fear though that the way she is growing by next weekend we'll be singing a different tune!

All of the hard work she put in Saturday left her quite tuckered out, so by the time evening rolled around and we were sipping some tea on Abby's patio (Abby is my office mate), Mia was a so exhausted that she passed out for a couple of hours. Of course, Abby didn't seem to mind. Who doesn't want to hold an adorable, sleepy puppy girl?

Sunday morning we were up bright and early (since our baby just couldn't sleep any more), so we decided that we'd take advantage of our free time and walk into town for some coffee, a couple of errands, and a romp in the park. Mia tried to do some walking on her leash (she's still too little for harness, so it's not the most ideal situation), and actually did quite well.

For those of you with actual human babies, you must think we're a couple of kooks, but we love her so much. She might have 4 legs instead of 2, but she's our little baby and we do what all adoring parents do - take pictures of her all day long. Here's a couple to commemorate Mia's first trip to town as a big puppy girl (not needing to be carried the entire time - just half the time!).

She LOVES riding in her basket. Can't you tell?

Big puppy girl in the park

Ahhh! Finally grass to play in.

Taking a breather on the cool tile floors of Hotel Aurora.

Pila Park is usually her favorite stop. She gets lots of attention there.

Looks like a good place for a bath!

All tuckered out & getting a lift from Papi.

On the walk home Mia discovered a free toy - a giant leaf that has thankfully entertained her for hours ever since! Upon returning home we played in the patio for a few minutes where Mia demonstrated that she really is a dog and dug her very first hole in the flower bed. Her papi couldn't be prouder. Afterward we took a family nap in our giant bed. Ben wants it to become a staple in our Sunday routine.

Nothing like good 'ole free fun!

It's about time to look for a new toy.

Napping like a bebe after all that hard work.

So even though the weekend was jam packed with work, we still found time for fun - as always!

Puppy Play

This week is super busy for me at work, so my blogging is going on the back burner for a while. Sorry folks! Even though we've been busy, we just can't get enough of our girl. Her little personality is getting stronger and stronger each day - it's so much fun to watch. This must be what parenthood is like, right?? Hopefully these 2 cute videos of Mia playing will get you through until I find time for the next post!

Down goes Mia from Krista on Vimeo.

Mia discovers her ball from Krista on Vimeo.

This is me!

Hi everyone! It's Mia here! I know my mami & papi already introduced me, but I wanted to say hello and welcome too. After all, this is my blog about my life. Since the parentals were having some annoying problems with making their blog private, I told them not to worry about it and I started up my own. Mom has made a few contacts about jazzing up my site, since this one isn't really either of our styles, but for now it's just what it is.

I honestly don't think I need any help making myself any cuter. Do you?

And Puppy Makes 3!

At long last we have become a family of 3! Meet our newest furry addition - Semilla Maya, our little Mayan Seed. She's Mia for short & boy oh boy, she sure is sweet!

Before we share with you the entire story, we must first thank you for taking the time to type in that annoying little password to access our blog. Unfortunately Mia is the main reason we had to go private, but we (& hopefully you too) think she's worth it!

*Just a tip - if you make yourself a Blogger account you can add us to your dashboard list of favorite sites and then you will only have to type in the password 1 time ever. Just drop me a note and I'll officially "invite" you. Now that the house keeping is taken care of, take a peek!

Meet Mia

Most of you probably know that we have been dying for a dog for as long as we both can remember, but due to our previous living conditions (albeit great, it was a little apartment with no outdoor space) we just didn't feel right about bringing home a big dog, which is what we knew we wanted. Ben grew up with a black lab, Blackie, that was this faithful friend for 17 years and he has always wanted another one. As much as I love the little schnauzer boys (Toby 1st and now Riley) that are part of the Finotti Family, I always pictured myself with a big fluffy golden. So a while back we decided that a golden is what we would get. Multiple birthdays have passed, each with a card of a cute golden pup on the front and a promise that as soon as we could she'd become mine, until finally the time was right.

We began asking around and soon came across a litter right here in Antigua. During our first visit we were able to meet the mom, Beba, and the dad, Ceviche, and all 10 of their pups. But at that time they were only 2 weeks old and didn't really have personalities. A couple of weeks later we returned and were please to find that all of the pups were healthy, bouncy and ready for their new homes. So our plans quickly got pushed into high-gear and by Saturday afternoon we were driving home with one of the littlest girlies on my lap! We had no idea which one would become ours, but we had 7 embras (females) to chose from. Sweet Mia showed interest in Ben and played it a bit shyer than some of her more rambunctious brothers and sisters. And when I noticed that she had adorable white markings above her eyes (like eyeshadow) I knew she was our girl. We later learned that she had a special bond with the owner's husband. In fact, as Mia licked his face goodbye, his wife looked on with tears in her eyes.

We've just had her for a day and a half and have already bonded and learned so much.

Birth date: August 17th, 2009 (just less than a week before our 5th anniversary)
Birth order: Unfortunately we don't know, but she was 1 of the 2 smallest girls.
Favorite color: Fuchsia (I'm almost positive) - just like her collar.
Favorite food: Milk, but she's started to tolerate her Eukenueba puppy chow, soaked in milk.
Favorite toy: Her hackey sack ball - just the right size for her little teeth
Favorite position: She is completely relaxed when we hold her like a baby on her back.
Disposition: Playful yet calm. She gravitates toward people, especially kids.
Secret hiding place: Curled up in my sweats on the bottom shelf of our closet.
Big Brother: Don Akira, Dani's black lab.

brothers & sisters

She picked him!

Mia's 1st trip to the park

1st meal at home (note paw in the water bowl)
after her meal - wet paw!

Snug as a bug in a rug!

her secret hiding place - the closet. a girl after her mother's heart!

she loves the cool tile floors

smart girl, napping in the shade

Tomorrow we're off to the Vet's office for vaccines. Wish us luck!