Basil's 4th Birthday

Yesterday was Basil's 4th birthday! He wanted us to say thanks for all your birthday wishes over on Facebook and Instagram! It's incredible how quickly time goes by — it feels like we just got him and like we've had him forever. I remember the day we brought him home clearly, thinking to myself the minute he set foot indoors, "well I guess we will have this dog from now on," which seemed like a foreign concept at the time (especially coming from me, never growing up with or living with a dog before).

Now it's sad to imagine him not in our lives. We celebrated by spoiling our big guy yesterday and even made him a doggie birthday cake:

It was a bit of a Shepherd's pie type creation (savory and dog-friendly instead of sweet) we'll share the full recipe for tomorrow.

As with year's past, today we wanted to put together a big photo-roundup of shots we've captured with Basil over the past year. They're always fun reminders of how much he's changed and grown — and just how much we do with our favorite guy. We loved flipping through this past year's photos, it's easy to tell which season it is by the type of collar he's wearing!

So let's get started! Basil loves the outdoors and prefers to just go with us, wherever it might be — this past fall we enjoyed walks along Monument Avenue, he joined us as we happened upon alley sales in the neighborhood and tested out all the new finds we brought home — especially the rugs:

He donned his Halloween collar throughout October and even made an appearance in his first-ever Halloween costume to parade up and down the sidewalks:

Basil was front and center at Thanksgiving, looking for snitches and "inspecting" the meal to ensure everything was good to go. He watched the dog show and curled up next to the fireplace down at Beechwood:

Over the holidays Basil got a special "under the mistletoe" smooch, received presents of his own and again, was the first to check out the holiday spread:

We can't forget about how much he loves the snow!

When spring came along, Basil kept us company throughout March madness, met some new neighborhood cats, and kept a watchful eye over our ongoing projects:

As we eased into summer, he was right there with us, to help celebrate our first year of being married, remembered Tim on Father's Day, got into the 4th of July spirit, has enjoyed running around outside and still hasn't quite gotten over his curiosity of just what might be hiding up in the attic:

The office makeover was probably the biggest change in Basil's routine this year. He went from having the front room and couch all to himself...

To wondering where the heck we were taking his couch...

To staking claim over the new rug coming in...

And finally settling into the new just-for-him bed in the office where he can keep us constant company as we work:

The transition didn't take long:

Speaking of projects, he came along with us to the hardware store, so much so that the Lowe's employees now know him by name:

He kept a watchful eye on all the projects happening around the house:

And he's been the subject of many art projects:

He's always a big helper when it comes to walking jewelry orders to the neighborhood mailbox:

He supervised each time we had the kids over and just like all 3 year-olds, competed for hugs when Tim came home:

Basil loves a good photo-bomb. If you pan out of nearly all the photos we take, you'll see him lurking in the background or just making a spectacle of himself:

Over the past year, he's worked harder than ever on chillaxin mode, only lifting his head to say, hey, what are you looking at?

He's never one to pass up a treat or give us a longing look while we cook:

Most of all, we love it when our big guy curls up to take a snooze or keep us company:

Oh, Basil — how did we ever get along without you? Here's to many more years together, celebrating YOU!

Discover More:

Basil's 1st Birthday | Basil's 2nd Birthday | Basil's 3rd Birthday