Buddy?

Whew.......what a weekend:)  I couldn't believe the timing of the flu.  Caileigh got it Thursday and then Friday everyone was feeling good.  Just before we were to leave for the piano recital, Mikayla started getting sick.  I took the older two to the recital and when we got home around 9, everyone started dropping like flies.  The kids all woke up Saturday feeling horrible.  Sean went in to work early because he was trying to get a few things done before the big trip to Kamloops.  We realized that the trip wasn't going to happen with everyone sick, so I stayed home waiting for the call from the puppy owner.  I had to laugh when she called along the way to tell me that our puppy was getting car sick!  Ah, what's one more sickie:)   

The kids were all lying on the floor in the living room when the lady showed up.  She had forgotten to call and give me warning and Sean was still at work!  I brought the puppy into the house and the kids thought he was cute but were really quite indifferent about the whole thing.  I didn't want to say anything until Sean got home so I just said this lady and her puppy were visiting.  We sat outside watching the puppy play and I asked Aiden if he thought we should get a puppy.  He said no!  He started telling me all the reasons why this would't be a good decision, which is funny because they were all my reasons for feeling hesitant about getting one too.  Finally Sean gets home and tells the kids that this is their dog.  They were underwhelmed.  Mikayla was lying on the grass feeling awful.  Alex was crying because he wanted me to hold him, not the puppy.  Jordan was inside sleeping.  Aiden started to get upset worrying about the puppy leaving his mom.  Caileigh was the only one with a smile on her face.  Really, I suppose the whole thing was quite comical.  Not quite the scenario I had envisioned for so long!

I think it wasn't until the next day when it started to sink in for everyone that he was really staying.  This was right around the time that I started to feel sick.  When puppy arrived, we all started to call him Buddy.  This tends to be a term of endearment in our family.  I realized this wouldn't be a great name because we call all our kids buddy, quite often.  We started to brainstorm other names, Jake, Java, Lou, etc.  I started to feel worse and ended up falling asleep around 4pm.  I was pretty much down for the count until the next day.  I slowly started to feel better yesterday and then put my back out lifting the dog!  So here we are, 4 days later, all feeling better, and we're still calling the dog Buddy.  So, either we come up with another name, or our dog's name is Buddy:)  Funny how these things work out sometime.

Puppies are definitely a lot of work!  He's doing great though.  Aiden and Caileigh are getting fantastic at taking him out to the bathroom if I get caught up with other things.  Because it is nice out, we spend most of our day outside with him.  Sean has been taking the night shift as I have been so tired with the getting over being sick.  Last night he was up twice!  A huge improvement from the first two nights.  His temperment seems super easy going (so far).  Jordan and Mikayla sometimes get scared and run away from him which makes him run after them, but other than that, things have been good. Oh, and he chews everything which I am guessing is just the beginning! We've been working on getting him to sit and walk with the lease. (I'm talking 10metres and we're done:) Our cat remains pretty unaffected by the whole thing.  He typically stays in our room sleeping all the time anyway, and this hasn't changed. Buddy isn't allowed in our bedroom so this has become our cat's safe haven.  I'm super glad we got Buddy now while school is not full time.  I hope that he is fully potty trained by the fall and we're into a bit of a routine by then.

All in all, I think Buddy is the perfect addition to our family.  I'm looking forward to the years ahead with him.  I think it is a special thing for kids to grow up with a dog and I'm glad that he is ours:)

{The big anti-climactic surprise}

{The Great Showdown}