a rocky road

For years I've sworn I'd never get a pet. But then I had a daughter who lived and breathed all things canine. Never have I seen such an infatuation. Since she was 3 1/2 years old. She was so obsessed that she like to pretend she was a puppy, and not so secretly wanted to BE a dog, for real. So, almost two years ago, right after Brandon started Grad school, we promised Bailey that we would get a dog. A small, non-shedding, hypoallergenic dog.

For about 2 years, she told everyone and their DOG, "My Dad is in school, and when he finishes, I'm gonna get a puppy."

It seemed like a good idea at the time. But regardless, a promise is a promise.

As soon as Brandon had his last class, Bailey started asking about the puppy payout. We were trying to put it off until she was out of school for the summer, too. But the type of dog we wanted is not so easy (or cheap) to come by. So when I found one that fit all our criteria, we jumped. Three days after Brandon's last class. (he hadn't even had the Graduation ceremony yet!)

To keep excitement to a controllable level and so Bailey would be able to focus on anything, we didn't tell the kids ahead of time. We woke up on a Saturday and went to baseball like normal, and then told the kids we were going to go on a little road trip. We drove for about an hour, and finally got to our destination. A trailer. In the middle of nowhere. "We are going HERE?!," Bailey said when we drove up. Then I pulled a pet carrier out of the back and she looked confused. I asked her what she thought it was for and she looked at me for a minute and then nearly wet herself when she realized what exactly we were doing. Then she got to pick out her dog. Just like she'd been dreaming about for years.

A black and white Yorkie-Poo, that we named "ROCKY."

She loves him SO much. And it has seriously helped the canine infatuation.

She is REALLY great and responsible with him. She does most of the care for him. Even cleaning up his messes.

The picture is a little blurry, but it gives a little reference for just how TINY he was when we first got him. He weighed less than 1lb!

The kids all love him, and he's becoming quite civilized. I like him because he keeps my kitchen floor squeaky clean!