Hello everybody! John here - Christine once again allowed me to hijack her blog. Well, things have been pretty busy around here lately. Holly, our 7-year-old labrador, gave birth to 9 beautiful puppies on 3 June. As you can probably imagine, it's been a bit hectic in the house lately, with 11 dogs and 3 kids. With regard to the puppies, I can only describe it as having 9 babies but with a wife that can't tell you what she's thinking (Holly). But she's been a great mom so far, taking good care of them. We had to get these pictures up because the pups are growing so fast (about a pound a week) that they will soon lose that innocent puppy face.

They all love cuddling with Mom, to stay and warm and to feel safe. Others, of course, are in search of something else!

You've probably noticed the blue and pink dots on them. Don't worry ... it's not some strange disease. They are a bit too small for collars (not to mention growing like weeds), so we marked each one so that we can easily tell them apart and keep track of their growth, behavior, etc. The girls and boys are marked with pink and blue dots, respectively, in different locations. Their names, for now, correspond with the dots (F3 = equals female, with the dot in the number 3 location (middle of the back)).

Just this week they started opening their eyes for the first time. It will be so much fun to watch them react as they discover this new world around them.

Some of them love to sleep on their backs, just like Holly.

Of course, all of them love to eat, just like Holly.

The daily weight check and body painting ritual.

"High five sister, we made it!"