The Newest Addition

When we were in the midst of moving all over the country, Elijah began asking for a dog. Not Andrew, I might add. Then last year, July 4th to be exact, after Elijah was attacked by a small dog, I was sure that was going to change his request. I was wrong.

Micah and I decided to answer Elijah with "When we get settled down in one place and if God blesses us with a Chick-fil-a, we will talk about it." Elijah's translation, "When Daddy gets a Chick-fil-a, we are getting a dog!!!"

So you can imagine the conversations over the past couple of months. Elijah will say things like, "Mommy, when it's my buwfday, you don't have to get me a boy cake; just a dog bone cake for my dog" and "I just can't wait to feel my dog's fuzzy fuw!" and then close his eyes and smile as he imagined what that might be like.

Then Andrew, the terrified-of-dogs-big-brother, joined in, "I know I am afraid of dogs, but Elijah really wants one. And I would be good with that. Let's all surprise him!" He would then proceed to plan just how the surprise would go down.

Then the name suggestions started pouring in. These were some of the choices:

Ventress
General Grievious
Captain America
Sweet Potato

Now let me assure you, we see many things in life as growing experiences:) Micah and I have been talking about whether or not this was even an option and were prepared to break the news if it just wasn't going to work. Being very logically minded, we did come up with a list of pros and cons. We live in an apartment right now, and that was a huge concern. We learned through lots and lots of research that there are dogs who don't mind apartments and who love being closer to families. After back and forth, back and forth, we decided to take the plunge. Maybe we are crazy, but it seems as good a time as any to welcome a little pup into our home. We have all had to endure so much loss over the last few months, it will be nice to have a new life running around. I am also convinced that the experience of raising a puppy will be educational for us all; especially the boys. Then, we found "him". After looking for very specific breeds would fit best our family, we found a group of pups a couple of hours away. We were sent pictures of his parents and I quickly realized they resemble dogs my grandparents had and loved when I was young. Immediately, I was sold.

Anakin Skywalker Hooper Childs will join us next Wednesday. He is a Cairn Terrier (like Toto from the Wizard of Oz). We are very excited! I will post pictures of him as soon as I can!