Penny

January is a deceptive month because it always seems so lazy and quiet. NOTHING happens in January, right? Except taking down all the Christmas decorations, getting the kids back to school, making and breaking many New Year resolutions, snow and cold weather...ok, so maybe things do happen in January. But this January, we made the decision of all decisions. The decision that was 10 years in the making. The decision that changes EVERYTHING. The decision to add to our family.

Not another baby…duh. Chances are nobody would have even noticed or cared about that. No, this decision was much greater. I’m talking about getting a dog.

We promised the kids we would take this plunge when they turned 10, 8 and 6 respectively. And then we had Hannah. Of course the kids wouldn’t go for the argument that our Poose was MUCH more fun than a dog. (And in the beginning, just as slobbery.) So we had to make good on our deal…and we were running a few months behind since Tyler had just turned 11 in October.

After careful research on what kind of dog we wanted, we decided to go with a Boston Terrier. Over Christmas break we found a local breeder and interrogated her with questions. Then she posted pictures of her new little ones and the deal was cinched. Our hearts were stolen by Penny, daughter of Miss Penny, ready for pickup right before Valentine’s Day. Money was exchanged, and the secret-keeping began in earnest. We kept things hush-hush until Wes’s birthday at the end of January.

Wes got a ton of presents that night, but only one was really his. The rest were “Hey, do you guys want to help Daddy open ALL of these presents?” kind of presents. They were bags filled with collar and leash, doggie toys and treats, and 4 individual prints of a collage of Penny pictures, taken and posted just for us by our awesome find of a local breeder. It took awhile for the truth to sink in for the kids, but it was crazy fun when it did.

Snowmageddon threatened to hamper our Penny pickup plans, but we managed to avoid mutiny and get her the day before the big storm hit. It was love at first sight…and interesting trying to get her to go outside to do her business in two feet of snow. Not to mention the joy of crying in the night. (I thought we were done with that??)

Everyone was perfectly happy for 2 days. And then I think Emily asked for a cat.

Not a chance, sister. Not a chance.