Well, people -- Grace's life dream has been fully realized. This morning I surprised her by driving over to a nearby rescue shelter to adopt the puppy she's been fawning over online for the past few weeks. When Grace presented us with her Christmas wish list for the year -- and a dog was once again at the top -- Scott and I started to seriously consider whether or not we could take that plunge. Eventually we decided that Grace is old enough at this point to actually take care of a dog and since she's only going to be around the house for a few more years, it was now or never to make the magic happen. :)
Let the record show -- I am NOT an animal person. Like at all. But I know how much Grace loves dogs and I think I always knew I'd eventually cave. {Let the record ALSO show -- Scott is less enthused about this development, but is technically on board with it. So there's that.} I always knew if I were going to get a dog, it would have to be a puppy because they're so cute that you can't help but love them. So as Grace has been combing through petfinder.com over the last month or so, I've been paying special attention to any puppies in the area that seemed like a good fit.
Grace quickly became fixated on Maxwell, Chester, and Paisley -- a trio of Weimeraner mix puppies that were at a nearby rescue shelter -- and after doing lots of research online, I went to go check them out in person. Paisley had already been adopted at that point (and I knew that Maxwell was her favorite anyway), so after I had met them in person, I set up another appointment for Grace and the other kids to meet them, too. Having a toddler (plus 5 other kids) was obviously a big concern with getting a puppy and I wanted to make sure things would work out if we added another animal to the mix. Hahahaha. The kids all loved them (although, the record must also show that Ethan was not at that meet-up and was also not onboard with the idea of a dog), and after that it was just a matter of determining which one Grace REALLY wanted and when we could make it happen.
After misleading Grace earlier this week by telling her that I saw online that Maxwell was being adopted, I totally tricked her into coming to "run errands" with me this morning while driving to pick up the pup. Grace is almost too easy, because she doesn't pay attention to directions AT ALL while driving and she didn't even notice or realize that we were going in the opposite direction of Target. Haha. As we were pulling up to the shelter, I casually asked her, "You know how I told you that Maxwell was being adopted this Friday?" and as she looked around and saw where we were, she just about flipped out with disbelief and excitement as it dawned on her that WE were the ones who would be doing the adopting.
I have to say -- I kind of love making dreams come true. ;) Seriously, though, I'm kind of in love with this puppy myself! Hahahahaha. I never in a million years would have thought those words would come out of my mouth. But he is such a sweet, good puppy. Part of the reason I wanted to jump the gun before Christmas and go with one of these dogs was because they're older puppies (14 weeks); they've been with foster families since they were born (their mom was a rescue dog in Texas who then birthed a litter of 11 pups a week after being taken in) and have really been well cared for; and they're already potty trained, crate trained, and partially house broken. Winning! Haha.
Grace has been in heaven all day long taking care of her little pup. And as an added bonus, it's absolutely adorable and hilarious to watch Isaac interact with the other toddler in the house now. I wish you could hear how cute it is to hear him calling for "Maxwell!" and following him all around the yard and house. Ethan was the only one NOT happy about the newest addition to the family (and that's an understatement), but by the end of the day, I really think he's starting to soften. How can you not fall in love with a super cute, sweet little puppy??? :)
He's 50% Weimaraner, 25% German Shepherd, 15% Miniature Poodle, and 10% Terrier mix.
{How apropos is this?? This picture of Grace's Christmas wish list from 5 years ago popped up on my feed today.}
1 comment:
Grace is one lucky girl and maxwell is one lucky dog. I'm interested to see what tops grace's list next year.
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