we got a puppy (!) and...that was our whole week!

 well, did you guess our big news?

 thatcher and i decided that after we moved back and owned a house again, we wanted to get a dog. the kids have been asking for one for years and we weren't allowed to have one in our seattle rentals. we told the kids we could get one right after we told them we were moving (to help soften the blow - ha). now that we are (mostly) settled in our new home, we felt like it was time. we wanted a doodle because we have some dog allergies in our family. we had been emailing with a breeder for a couple months. we saw on their website that they had a new litter of mini goldendoodles that were able to go home on november 10th, so we moved quickly to reserve one.  i liked the idea of a mini because it only is 20-30 lbs full grown. we chose our puppy from a series of pictures and videos. her temporary name was pinecone and we worked on figuring out what we wanted to call her.

i'm glad we only had to wait 6 days to bring her home. look at that little face!

last monday we picked up the kids straight from school and drove about 45 minutes to dayton. we met with the coordinator, and she brought out pinecone to meet us. she was very energetic and ran around the room. 

the coordinator spent a lot of time with us, which was nice. we were still undecided on her name when we left, but we promised to update them when it was official. then we were on our way! 

we had a long, dark drive home, with a very scared pup. she went between crying and sleeping in azalea's arms the whole way back. but we settled on a name for her - winnie! which is a different direction than we told most people we were going. but it just felt right when we met her. we set up her space in our dining room and spent the rest of the evening getting her acquainted to her new home. 

one of the biggest worries for the breeders and the new owners is that the puppy will refuse to eat when you bring it home because it's too stressed. thankfully that didn't happen, she gobbled up her chicken we made her (comfort food they recommended for the transition). she had a couple potty accidents inside but also went to the bathroom every time we brought her out. 

she tired herself out by 8pm

when it was time for everyone to go to bed. we got her into her crate, turned on white noise, left some very dim lights on, and talked gently to her. she immediately started crying. we left her in there for a little while and she settled down and fell asleep...but only for 30 minutes before she was wailing again. so we got her out of the crate and took her outside to go to the bathroom. when we put her back in the crate, it did not go well. lots of loud, frantic crying. this continued on and off (mostly on) until 3am. thatcher and i were super tired and the kids didn't sleep well either from all the noise. thatcher finally gave up out of desperation and took her to the couch where they slept together until morning. oof. we knew the first few nights could be rough, but it felt more like when we brought our babies home from the hospital than i was expecting it to. ha! 

tuesday morning we were tiiiired. we got the kids off to school (they were sad to leave her) and got ready for our first vet appointment. they gave her a great report. she is up to 6 lbs. she will go back in a couple weeks for more vaccines.

 thatcher and i spent all day with her. it's amazing how quickly they bond with you (and vice versa).

 having a little being who depends on you for everything is rewarding, but exhausting. i could barely keep my eyes open by the afternoon. i was really proud of how quickly she was catching on to potty training, though. she only had one accident inside this day. the kids were happy to see her when they got home. and shortly after that durant and cheryl stopped over to meet her. so fun! 

then thatcher's childhood friend paul came for dinner. we scheduled that before we knew we'd have a brand-new dog. so we ordered pizza to go easy on ourselves, and it was a perfect night. while he was here, our next-door neighbor knocked on our door to let us know that the northern lights were visible from our yards. so went out to check them out. i'd love to see them more vivid to the naked eye someday, but it was cool to see the faint lines. phone cameras are able to pick up the color much more. thatcher took this picture: 

night #2 with winnie involved more sleep than night #1, but that was mostly because we didn't use the crate much. she fell asleep on the rug and we were able to transfer her to the crate where she slept for about 30 minutes. when she woke up crying, we took her to the couch where she and i slept until 3am. she needed a potty break, so thatcher took her out and then he slept with her on the couch for the rest of the night. we're just kinda in survival mode for now and that's ok. 

wednesday was more of the same. frequent trips outside for the bathroom (she also had an increase in accidents), lots of following her around to make sure she's not getting into trouble, lots of snuggles. she sleeps a lot during the day right now. i wish she would save some of that for night. ;) in the late afternoon, my mom, brother, aunt cindy, uncle corey, and cousin jenna came to see her. she was a popular gal. 

she loves to stick her nose into little warm crooks to fall asleep

night #3 some progress was made with the crate. i got her to fall asleep in there (i could tell she was warming up to it more). she fell asleep in there at 9:30 and proceeded to wake up 6 different times until we got up for the day with her at 5:45. i'm happy she made progress with the crate, but oofta we are tired. 

thursday i had a doctor's appointment in the morning so thatcher stayed with her (he worked from home all week). even after only a few days, it felt weird to be away from her. i slowed down on the daily pictures of her, but i got this cute one of her napping away. 

in the afternoon, i picked up azalea early from school for an orthodontist appointment. she got her new invisalign(s) and she'll continue with it for the next year. in fact, her next checkup isn't until february which is way different than our old office. then she had her weekly babysitting gig. my friend jess and her daughter phoebe drove her home at dinner time, and they came in and met miss winnie. it was another night of starting off in the crate and ending up on the couch. 

thatcher worked from home the whole week to help take care of her. i couldn't have done it without him. we made a great team. it randomly got up to 70 degrees on friday . it felt amazing. we spent extra time outside with winnie to soak it up. she met some of the neighbors and they all love her (hard not to) :) 

we ordered thai for dinner and had our first family night curled up on the couch watching the final episode of 'wednesday'. like most nights, winnie started the night in her crate and transitioned to the couch with one of us. 

saturday morning i was actually able to get some reading in, which felt like a treat. 

the kids and i went to my aunt cindy and uncle corey's to hang out with cousin gracie. our family celebrity :)

we hung out at home in the afternoon. she finds the funniest positions to sleep in.

 durant and cheryl came over for dinner and more puppy time. 

sunday morning we made pancakes and sausage for breakfast and lounged around. i love this picture of ashford and winnie.

 azalea and i took a trip to trader joe's. after lunch, the kids and i went to azalea's friend nick's house so winnie could play with their 8-year-old golden retriever cookie. they had so much fun running around the backyard together. i didn't get any pictures, just video. we hung out at home the rest of the night. 

we've survived our first week with a puppy. it sounds cliche, but it's hard to remember our life without her. i'm hoping she sleeps better with time, as that has been the hardest part so far. and her just needing constant supervision, which makes it hard to get anything done. but i know it won't be like this forever.