Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Our Newest Family Member...


Oh boy, it's been awhile. In my last blogging hiatus, I mentioned life not being busy or intersting enough to blog about, but this blogging hiatus is due to quite the opposite. We've been busy! And I've been wiped out!

The newest member in our family is our dog, Calvin. We've had him for a couple of weeks now and he is pretty precious. Had I written this post prior to Sunday, I could have said that he completely loves the boys and is 100% gentle with them despite them racing their cars down his back, Caleb pulling his hair, and Corban thinking he is a horse. But, unfortunately, Sunday evening the boys were playing in the other room and we heard a growl and a scream and Caleb got his nose bitten and now sports a big scratch on his face. According to Corban, Caleb bit the dog first and then "Talvin ate Taleb". Who knows, but it served a reminder to us that no matter how sweet the dog is, in the end it still is a DOG and we shouldn't leave an animal alone with our babies.



Anyone who has ever had a discussion with Nate about pets, has heard his mantra of "People inside, animals outside." Every discussion we've ever had about getting a pet ended with this reasoning. So, a few weeks back I was in Lawton and saw these puppies for sale that were way too precious. They were Austrailian Shepherd mixes and so I came home and told Nate about them and we researched the important things that a) they are good with children and b) they are outdoor dogs. So when we went back to get a puppy, they were all gone and we were truly disappointed. I could have taken this as a sign that life is too busy right now to add a dog to the "Needs Love and Attention" list I have in my life, but those who know us know that we are gluttons for punishment and if our plate isn't completly full, we get bored. So... I "Craiglisted" our dog and found him in a town about an hour away. He had been abandoned twice, but the lady at the pound said that he was the sweetest of them all and her own children loved him to death. Plus he had been an outdoor dog at the pound for the past six months, so we thought he'd be a great match...

Well... guess who is NOT an outdoor dog and is sleeping on my leather couch!! And let's just say that I was not the "softie" in this situation. Mr. "People inside, Animals outside" has turned into quite the dog lover. We feel good about rescueing a dog from the pound and feel so blessed that he is generally good with our kids and is already housebroken, etc. A good deal all the way around.

On a side note, I've realized that it may not have been the wisest thing to name all of our children and the dog with "C" names. I go through the entire list before I get the right name with the right child (or animal.). Even though Canaan is not here yet, his name is thrown in there as well usually. And I've realized that even the dog is male, so I am truly, truly the queen of this house.