An addition by the name of George.

Monday, February 03, 2014

Our hearts may have melted a little yesterday, when we met the newest addition to our household. The kids named him George (no idea where they got it from, but they were adamant about it), and most of us now call him Georgie. He's a little roly-poly ball of chocolate Lab, and he'll most likely grow up to be quite a big boy.

A few years ago, we got a puppy named Lucy, and had her just over a year. I never really talked about it on my blog, because I felt so guilty, and like we had failed, but we re-homed her while we were still living in NC. She was adding so much negative stress to our house, amongst other issues, and after months of debating, we found her a new family. She is happily living with an older woman who adores her and all her quirks (and taught her to climb a set of stairs into bed!) - plus, there are no little kiddos in the house, which I think is just what Lucy needed. In the end, we knew it was the right thing to do for us, and for Lucy. We still hear about her occasionally, and are happy to know she is doing so well in her new home.

We have been talking about getting another dog for quite some time. We had been thinking we would adopt an older dog. And then I stumbled upon lab puppies in the area. And my heart melted. When I was growing up, I socialized a yellow Lab named Matti, to be a Leader Dog for the Blind, and have always had a love for Labs. I saw those puppies and quickly realized that it was something I wanted to consider.

I know it may be crazy that we got a puppy, with 3 toddlers, but it felt like the right time for us to bring a puppy home. The kids and I are home literally all the time, so we can spend a lot of time with a pup while they are little and learning what they need to learn. We are fairly certain (it can always change, because it's the military and that's just how things roll...) where we'll be stationed next, and it's not overseas. And we are ready for the time and work and commitment a canine member of the family will entail. I also realized as I thought about dogs, that I liked the thought of having a puppy that would grow up with our kids, learning to respect them as kiddos, and to deal with all things toddler/baby/toys/crazy-whirlwind.

Georgie is just a doll // he'll go-go-go for about 15-20 minutes and then just crash, it's adorable

waiting by the gate for the kids // my little shadow/buddy

We are all pretty excited about our new friend, Georgie. He is sweet, playful, super cute, and he loves the kids. He is doing great so far - eating and drinking and going potty like a champ. The first night of him being home was a little rough, so here's hoping it gets better soon ;)

I think we'll be busy these next few weeks teaching Georgie about life, but we are all very excited.

Welcome to the family, little fella.