... and puppy makes 5.

so... as i mentioned before..
we got a puppy.

you would not believe the eyebrow raising and sanity questioning that followed this announcement.
 5 months pregnant with your fourth baby... it's just time for a puppy right?  ;)

but they are so cute  ... IF you get the right one.

 we had THIS puppy for 2 days.

and yet another story that leaves you wondering .. are there drama magnets in your blood?? 

it's possible.

so i decided to get  a puppy because grayson's fear of dogs was getting a little out of hand.

small sleeping puppies were being treated like rabid wolves.

screams of terror if there was a dog off leash that even glanced in our direction.

i didn't want 'that kid'. 
we needed a hefty dose of exposure therapy.

so we went for the puppy. let's just go ahead and dive head first into that crazy lake.

after copious amounts of research i decided on the wheaten terrier breed.

i love a mutt as much as the next girl, but i had a very fine margin of error for what i wanted this puppy to grow up to be so i needed to know exactly what i was getting.

no shed. not big. not small. not easily breakable. energetic till death. 

the wheaten terrier.

unfortunately they cost $700. riiiight.

i'm sorry but i have bought cars for under $700. there was absolutely no way i was going to be able to convince my husband a dog should cost $700.
so i let it go. and when i say 'let it go' i mean i kept checking the breeders website and looking at the little furballs pictures 3 times a day.
one day when i was 'letting it go' i saw that one puppy had gotten discounted to $100.
i called up the breeder to see why.. 
turns out that her fur wasn't 'showdog standard'. she would never be able to show or breed.
well shoot... because i had been practicing my funny little run and just bought my ugly shoes. 
there goes my show dreams.
uh- no. i think that would be fine.

the only problem was that i had promised grayson he could get  a boy puppy since the babe in my tummy was a girl and he was sandwiched between girl sisters.
after much cajoling and promising him that he could pretend the puppy was a boy and even give him/her a boy name, he agreed.  
so we put dibs on that one and made plans to go pick her up...  5 hours away.

she was sweet and adorable.
they named her charlie watchdog.
the kids loved her... well after grayson cried and begged me to give her back then they loved her.
2 days after bringing her home we get a phone call from the breeder.
apparently they had accidentally given us the wrong dog.
ummm what??
yes. they had given us a hoity toity future show dog who was scheduled to fly to the east coast and make her owners lots of money while our not show standard reject puppy was still there.
and suddenly getting our first dog had turned into a mini nightmare.
i felt so terrible for my babies. 
i mean really?? who takes back a child's first puppy?? meanies.
i said i would give her back but they had to bring our dog out here and i wanted my money back.
yep.
sad days.
they came that afternoon.. i was crying. the kids were crying. it was a sad state of affairs.
i felt so bad for the little puppy they dropped off. we weren't exactly thrilled to meet her. 
she was scared and shy and i wasn't sure she liked us.
but she sure was cute... 

after a few days she warmed up to us and made friends.

first with a toddler...

then with a daddy...

and finally a very happy big sister.
who's heart is so big that she said she could love both puppies.
"momma i  whispered in the ear of the fake charlie that i would always love her and not to forget me and that i would love her cousin really well."
bless her little heart.

the *real* charlie's first walk to the park...

charlie wasn't sure she wanted a brother.
mainly because of this. allthetime. sigh.

one of the funniest things is that lucienne has been the boss of charlie since day one.
she has good dog energy.
here she is playing vet and pretending to give charlie a shot.
and charlie saying no thank you.

charlie is ferocious.

not really.

a puppy and a two year old.

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

who me? yes you.

only crazy people get puppies when they have kids and toddlers and new babies. 

it's true.

but i like crazy. in general. sometimes.

and the upside is my secret plan worked.

we are no longer running in terror at the mention of canines.

and charlie is a really good dog.

i mean it's totally out of control. no question.

but in two years grayson will be almost 7 and charlie will be nearly 3.

they will grow out of their crazy together ...

and i will be able to drink my coffee without re-heating and maybe even read a book.

and that, my friends, is what we like to call..

optimism. :)