you be the judge.

Darling and I celebrated our three year anniversary this Tuesday, and celebrated the best way in the world: by bringing home a bouncing baby... puppy. I nearly cried. I mean really cried. Those "so happy I have no other way to express myself" tears that I am all too well known for. We have been talking about a little brother for Bailey for so long now, but never more than just talking. So when Andrew surprised me a few days earlier with a trip to visit our new baby, I was ecstatic. And when I was told that we couldn't bring him home for another week, it just about killed me. So I visited. Everyday I visited. And on the third day of visiting, the breeder let me know that he was ready and she felt comfortable enough with his progress to let him come home. Let's be honest, she was probably pretty tired of me showing up everyday, but who cares, I won. So the past few days have been full of chewing, chomping, barking, whining, and 4:00 am trips outside to potty. And I couldn't be happier about it.

 We had a few reservation about how Bailey was going to take the new addition. He would either love him right away and accept him as the new member of our family, or he would fight this tooth and nail and be a jealous jenny about the whole thing. Thankfully, his reaction was somewhere in between. He was pretty excited about meeting this new furry plaything, but once he realized that he didn't belong to someone else, and would, in fact, be staying with us for the long run, he was a little finicky. This new baby is small now, but we know that once he's all grown up, that will be the last thing he is. He's going to trump Bailey by at least twenty pounds. We think Bailey knows this, too. And he's having all the fun he can now, because pretty soon, he won't be the BIG brother anymore. That being said, we decided on the name Judge Levon. Judge because a big boy deserves a big name, and Levon for darling's favorite member of The Band. So far, he's living up to the hype tremendously.

So here we are, going into our third day as a new little family of four, and I really couldn't be happier. Bailey is being the big brother we knew he would be and Judge is being the rambunctious puppy we have long been waiting for. Seeing both of these furry kids of ours chasing tennis balls and fighting over the good tot, and I realize how blessed I am. So no more is it us and the dog. But us and the dogS. And I'm loving our little family so much. And eagerly awaiting what is sure to be our most exciting Christmas yet.