Hi, everyone! These last few weeks (months?) have been a bit of a whirlwind with lots of changes and new routines to get used to. I’m here with an update on all of the newness in our lives including a new job, Invisalign, new daycares, and a new furbaby!

Beauty

I cut my hair and I started Invisalign!

You can’t even see them!

In middle school, I wore braces for two and a half years. Over these last few years I could tell that my teeth have been shifting. I was becoming increasingly unhappy with my smile and finally decided to do something about it – Invisalign! I started mid-November and wear a special set of trays for one week and then change to the next special set. Each set applies the right amount of force to move my teeth to where they need to be. I’ll be wearing them for about 9 months, which is a piece of cake compared to the years I spent in metal braces. I’m slowly acclimating to them but the best part is I’ll be done before you know it!

Work

In November, I started a new job at Duke University as a program coordinator for the Center for AIDS Research and I’m housed within the Department of Population Health Sciences. I coordinate the social and behavioral sciences program for investigators who research HIV/AIDS, so I’m still working in the field of sexual health – my passion – but in a slightly different capacity. I’ve been with this job for a little over a month now and I’m loving it so far. My team is amazing, my office is bright and happy, and I really like the work I’m doing it. It was a much needed change of pace and a great step up in my career.

My sweet digs at the new office.

Home & Family

As if a new job and new teeth (sort of) weren’t enough, we decided to move Sebastian to a new daycare and then we adopted another dog!

New School

Santa visited Sebastian at his new school. He was so excited! He told Santa he wanted cars for Christmas.

Seb’s new daycare is about 10 minutes from my new office and I like being so close by in case anything happens. It’s located farther away from our house than his previous daycare (about 20 mins vs. 7 minutes) so we’ve had to create a new morning routine to make sure we’re ready and out the door without being late. It has been worth it, though, because in the short time that he’s been at this new daycare he has flourished! He’s happier, speaking more, and singing songs. At his old daycare, he was having a bathroom “accident” almost every day but at this new daycare he hasn’t had a single one. I had had some suspicions about his former teachers not paying enough attention to the kids and this kind of confirms it. But the important thing is that he’s thriving now!

New Puppy

Meet Milo, our new puppy!

Milo Pilo

He’s a 1.5-year-old Chihuahua mix, and he’s quite the snuggle bug. We adopted him at the beginning of December and fell in love immediately. He’s such a sweet, wiggly little guy and we’re so happy to have him. We had a few early hiccups but he’s settling in quite nicely! We chose his name because we thought it sounded good with our other dog, Mia. Mia and Milo… kind of rolls off the tongue! His full name is Milo Pilo with ‘Pilo’ being a subtle nod to Nick’s and my favorite TV show in the whole world, Parks and Recreation per the clip below…

…and also because we make our dogs’ names rhyme! Chico Antonio, Mia Sophia, and Milo Pilo. It’s just what we do 🙂 I mean, look at how cute they are!

Mia & Milo

Anyway, I think that’s it for now. With the holidays coming up, we’ll be even busier but I have a few things in the works for the new year so I hope you’ll stick with me. Wishing you all the best!

Xo, Nicole

I’m one of those people who has always considered my dogs to be my children. They were in every family photo, they were involved in as many activities as possible, and I love them fiercely. Some folks don’t like it when pet owners refer to their animals as “furbabies” and compare taking care of them to the hard work it takes to care for a child. But, look, I have both now and, while I agree that it’s definitely easier to take care of animals, I still contend that furbabies are a lot of work and are just as much a part of the family as human babies. I love both my two-legged and four-legged babies with all of my heart.

Sebastian & MIa

That said, here are some hilarious ways I’ve found that make my furbaby and my human baby even more similar.

Mia Sophia and Chico Antonio – our two little furbabies.

These are my babies. They make the world a little brighter, even on days when they don’t feel like behaving and I get really frustrated with them.  One thing that I will always look forward to is coming home from work each day to frantic, eager, wet and happy puppy kisses.  Nothing beats a puppy kiss, that’s for sure.

Mia has been here for almost a month now and she seems to be settling in fairly well. I think she’s still getting used to the schedule and Chico is still getting used to her. Just about every evening now they’ll play-fight on the couch, even though we keep telling them to do that in the floor and not on us. But at least they play well together.

Tonight I think they were feeling a little more lovey than usual. They sat with me until Nick got home and then they took their turns jumping up into his arms to be held and petted by him. Now they’re cuddling with us on the couch. Adorable!

So I just want to say that I truly believe if you don’t know the unconditional love of a dog, then you’re really missing out on something incredibly amazing.