Welcome to the Family, Dottie!

We welcomed a sweet new puppy to our family on August 18, 2023.  Even though the newest member of our family is tiny, she sure has filled our home with a lot of love and happiness.  Our whole family is smitten with our new puppy, Dottie.  

Allow me to tell you the story of how Dottie came into our lives.  I've been feeling the itch to get another dog for several months now.  My heart had done some healing since we said goodbye to Jazzy.  My kids were getting ready to start kindergarten.  I just missed the presence of a dog in our lives.  So I started looking at Petfinder and some websites of local shelters.  I also started to really talk up the idea of a dog to Archer and Lyla.  They are a little leery of bigger dogs and just haven't been around a lot of dogs since Jazzy.  We read library books about dogs, we stopped to pet dogs on our walks and I showed them lots of cute videos of dogs.  Eventually, they started saying they wouldn't mind getting a little dog or maybe they just agreed to it so I would stop talking about it.

  

I happened to notice on Facebook that one of my former school colleagues Cheryl took in a litter of puppies to foster.  The puppies were brought into a local shelter (KC Pet Project) at 5 days old as strays without their momma.  After spending some time with other fosters, they ended up with Cheryl.  She bottle fed them day and night and shared updates on Facebook.  I would be lying if I said I didn't compulsively check for updates each day.  There was something about those sweet puppies that was calling me to them.  Cheryl did a DNA test on one of the pups and it came back saying the puppies were a mix of small breeds.  (47% Chihuahua, 20% Yorkshire Terrier, 12% Boston Terrier, 8% Dachshund, 7% Pug, 2% Miniature Pinscher, 1% Parson Russell Terrier, 1% Toy Fox Terrier, 1% Pomeranian, 1% Beagle)  That particular mix of breeds results in quite possibly the cutest litter of puppies I have ever seen.       

So I reached out to Cheryl and told her I was interested in the puppies and would love to meet them.  Mind you, I did all this without talking to Adam or the kids.  I figured there was time to get them on board and was hopeful that meeting them would be enough to convince them.  I casually mentioned to Adam that a former colleague of mine was fostering some puppies and showed him their pictures.  I asked if we could "just go look" at them.  Adam must have recalled that when I say we should "just go look" at a dog that means we will actually be bringing that dog home with us.  He looked at the pictures for a good while and wasn't really saying anything.  I was worried he would try to talk me out of it.  But instead he said, "Does it make sense to get two of them?"  It's safe to say he was on board.  We arranged to take the kids with us to meet the puppies.  Their reaction would be the true test of whether or not a dog could join our family.  Thankfully, the kids did great and were elated with the puppies.  We learned from Cheryl that the shelter she fosters for won't allow people to adopt puppies from the same litter.  There's something called Littermate Syndrome which can happen when two puppies from the same litter are raised together.  Basically, they form such a close attachment to each other that they have difficulty bonding with humans or other animals.  So we obviously ended up with only one puppy. 

All three puppies in the litter were absolutely adorable and had their own sweet personalities.  But there was just something about Dottie.  I felt like she just looked me in the eyes at one point and I knew it was meant to be.  She was the smallest of the litter, but wasn't afraid to explore a bit.  She was incredibly sweet and playful, but also had a little spunk.  Plus, she was Cheryl's favorite and I figured someone who has fostered lots of puppies before would know a thing or two about picking the perfect puppy.  So we agreed to bring Dottie home with us after her spay surgery at 8 weeks old.  Cheryl was kind enough to invite us to one of the puppies' vaccination appointments at the shelter and allowed us to visit Dottie while we were waiting to take her home.  Even though Dottie had a rough start in her life, Cheryl certainly swooped in and gave her so much love and the absolute best care.  She also made sure Dottie and the other puppies were socialized with people of all ages, along with her cats and dogs.  

I was a little bit nervous to take her home when the time finally came.  We would pick her up the day she had her surgery and I figured she would be sore and loopy from the anestheia.  Plus, we would be taking her away from her foster mom, her siblings and the place she called home.  But when the shelter staff brought her out to us and put her in my arms, I let go of all those worries.  She immediately climbed up to my face and gave me all sorts of kisses.  I might have had to wipe away a few happy tears!  Dottie took to our family so quickly and easily.  Her surgery didn't seem to even phase her at all.  We tried our best to keep her calm and quiet for the required 10 days after her surgery, but she just wanted to act like a puppy!  She never seemed upset or depressed even though she was around new people and a new environment.  She must have been able to feel all the love pouring out of Adam, the kids and me.  

We've had her now for a week and a half and she has adjusted so well!  She is rocking potty training and sleeps through the night.  She is eating well and already looks like she is older and bigger.  She adores playing with her toys and snuggling up next to us on the couch to take naps.  She has learned what "sit" means and has been practicing walking on a leash.  She's just growing up so fast already!  

The kids can't get enough of her!  They want to spend their time before and after school playing with Dottie.  They both request that Dottie wakes them up each morning, so I set Dottie on their bed to go kiss them awake.  It's just about too much for my heart to handle all those giggles and squeals of delight each morning.  I bring Dottie with me to pick up the kids from school so she can get used to being in the car.  Archer and Lyla always greet Dottie before me after they get in the car.

I can't begin to explain how grateful I am that Dottie has joined our family.  She has helped me through the kids' transition to kindergarten.  She had opened up the part of my heart that closed when I had to say goodbye to Jazzy.  Dottie just brings a lightness and happiness to my life that I didn't even realize I needed.  She's snuggled up next to me as I type this.  She's just perfection in puppy form.  

    Welcome to the family, Dottie! 

The LEGO Invasion

Archer has a newfound love for LEGOs.  And they are quickly taking over my floors.  There's nothing quite like a LEGO being shoved into your foot as you take an innocent walk across your living room.  Those pesky clear pieces blend right in!  And even if you think you are thorough in picking up all the pieces, there's always a rogue one that gets left out and manages to end up right in your walking path.    

The invasion started slowly, but has ramped up rather quickly.  A couple years ago, Adam gave the kids a small box of LEGOs that were from his childhood.  There weren't that many and he picked some of the larger pieces.  It was easy enough to pick up all the pieces and put them away when the kids were finished playing with them.  Since Archer really seemed to get into putting the LEGOs together, he ended up getting a few smaller sets for birthdays and Christmas.  I kept those sets separated into small bags and would let him get out one at a time.  Well, then the sets he got started getting bigger and more complicated and with more pieces.  And the sets would connect to other sets so he didn't want to put one set away before getting out a new one.  But then he'd inevitably take apart the sets and the pieces would get all mixed up and then he'd get upset when he tried to rebuild them but couldn't find all the pieces.  I even spent several hours one weekend painstakingly separating out all the sets and putting them in labeled bags.  But then they somehow got all mixed up again!  

My kids typically play either in the living room or their bedrooms.  We don't have a dedicated playroom, so I rotate out toys in our living room and keep some in their bedrooms.  I started by having Archer keep the LEGOs in his room, but then I'd find him with his light on tinkering with his LEGOs well after he was supposed to have gone to sleep.  So then I moved them down to the living room.  I would let him keep his creations on the fireplace, but have him pick up all the unused pieces off the floor each evening.  But each morning he would dump all those pieces out again.  Many of those tiny pieces would trickle into the hallway and kitchen.  Finally, I got sick of stepping on LEGOs all day long.  I gathered them all up and stuck them all in the family room.  Since that space is a work in progress, it is essentially a large open area.  Archer did like having a larger area to spread everything out and not have to pick up all the pieces each evening.  

But then, as LEGOs tend to do, they started slowing creeping into more areas.  He liked to use the hard flooring by the door to our garage as a base.  But this, being the entrance to our home we use most often, became problematic.  We all got tired of stepping over Archer's creations anytime we wanted to leave the house.  Adam and I tossed some ideas around and we decided to make him a LEGO base/storage unit.       

Adam whipped up a plan to use some of the plywood we had used when our family room floor was being replaced.  He cut up a base that would fit underneath our couch in the family room.  Then he added some wood along the edges to serve as a fence for keeping all of the LEGOs within the unit.  Adam made sure to sand everything smooth and even routed the edges of the fence so it would be safe for little hands.   

We also decided to put a divider inside the unit.  Our thinking was that one section would be the building area and place where he could keep his completed pieces.  The other section could house all the loose, unused pieces.  We ran this idea by Archer and he enthusiastically approved.  Adam also added a handle on the front of the unit to make it easy to pull the unit out from under the couch.  He made it nice and big so it can be easily grabbed and is super sturdy.  

The final step was to paint it all.  Since it wasn't made from the highest quality plywood, Adam decided painting it would result in the smoothest, splinter-free finish.  We showed Archer all the random paint we have in the basement and he settled on a gray, blue and green color scheme.  Before the paint, Adam and Archer put down a coat of primer.  Archer was pretty pumped to participate in this step.  He very enthusiastically slapped on the primer.  Notice that Lyla decided goggles were in order to keep any paint splatters from getting in her eyes.  

Waiting for the paint to dry was quite the challenge for Archer.  The night after he helped Adam put on the final coats of paint, he came down from his room (when he was supposed to be asleep) to check on how it was drying.  The next day he got to try out his new LEGO unit!  He was thrilled to get to add all his pieces to it and start building!  

Archer adores his new LEGO playing station!  The divided sections definitely help give Archer some visual cues about where to keep the creations he's built and also the pieces that aren't being used at the moment.  It's super sturdy, so it's no problem when Archer decides he needs to get up close to one of his builds.  

I adore the fact that there's now a physical boundary for all the LEGO pieces.  I don't find them scattered all around the house like I used to.  We keep the unit out for the most part so Archer can keep his creations up.  But if we need some more floor space or are taking a break from building, it tucks right under the couch.  Hooray for hidden storage! 

The large handle makes it easy for Archer to get it out all by himself.  This has been such a fantastic solution for corralling all those LEGO pieces.  My feet are most appreciative.    

As much as we all love the final product, watching Archer and Adam work together on this project was the true highlight.  Watching Archer chose paint colors and help out allowed him to grow his confidence.  Seeing Adam let go of some of his perfectionism to allow Archer to take the reigns was fun to see too.  Much like all DIY projects, you get just as much out of the process as you do the final product.    

Putting Our Family Room Back Together

I'm happy to report that progress is being made on our family room!  We are slowly, but surely getting it back into a functioning space.  After sharing about our debacle in the last post, we left off with the new concrete floor curing.  While we were waiting for the concrete to cure before working on the flooring, Adam worked on rebuilding the steps up to the kitchen.  The original steps had to be completely removed before the new concrete could be poured.  Unfortunately, they had to be removed in pieces so they weren't able to just be put back as they were.  So Adam had to build new stairs from scratch.  He decided to build two boxes to act as the steps with some help from my dad.  (Thanks, Dad!)    

Once the boxes were in place, he worked on adding some hardwood flooring on top to cover up the unfinished boxes.  Luckily, we had some leftover flooring from when we had the hardwood flooring installed.  It's a good thing we hung onto it!  I'm not one to hang onto a bunch of extra stuff just in case we might need it in the future.  But in this case I'm glad we had it.  Adam also put the handrail back in place, along with the spindles on the stairs.  Once the stairs were back in place, he worked on putting back the laminate flooring in front of the steps.  

While Adam was busy with all that work, I took a weekend to paint.  And paint.  And paint.  Since we had drywall work done in the half bathroom and family room as part of the project, everything needed a new coat of paint.  There were a lot of sections of the wall that had been patched, so I decided to put a coat of primer over all the walls in the half bathroom and family room to prevent any drywall flashing.  Once the primer was dry, I put a fresh coat of paint on the family room walls.  Since it was such a light color, I got away with only needing one coat of paint.  The dark bathroom walls did end up needing two coats.  I also gave the wainscoting and wood trim in the bathroom two coats of fresh paint too.  I was certainly ready to stash away the paintbrushes and take a break from looking at any paint cans after all those coats.   

By this time, it had been over 30 days since we had the concrete poured.  That meant it was cured enough to cover the bathroom floor with tile and the family room floor with carpet.  One of the silver linings of this project was getting to pick out some new tile for the half bathroom.  I decided to go with small white hex tile.  It's a pretty classic tile that will stand the test of time, while also adding a fresh feel to the small bathroom.  I picked a medium tone gray grout, which helps the tile stand out a bit.  It will also help hide dust and dirt a bit better than white grout.  Since we had already put so much work into the space, we decided to hire this job out.  I love how it turned out!  And I love that we didn't have to do it even more.  

After the tile was installed, we had the original plumbing crew come back to install our new toilet and hook up the plumbing for the vanity.  It's been pretty exciting to have another functioning bathroom in our house again!  We didn't realize just how much we utilized that bathroom until it was out of commission for several months.  

The next step was to have the carpet relaid.  We were able to save the carpet that was previously in the family room and just have it put back in.  We did have to get a new carpet pad, but at least we were able to use the old carpet.  Luckily the carpet crew was able to make the old carpet fit nicely within the space.  Having carpet back in the family room really helped the room feel like it was part of our house again.   

With the carpet in place, we could then move back some of the furniture that we had been housing in other parts of our house.  We moved the aquarium stand (currently a work in progress) into the room from our dining room.  That will be the next big project Adam plans to finish.  It's already taking shape nicely and I'm sure our fish are eager to get to move back upstairs from the basement when it's finished.   

Prior to this big ol' project, we had a red couch and love seat in the family room.  We decided to move the love seat downstairs to make more room for the aquarium stand.  And I also decided we should switch the red couch for the tan couch we already had in our basement.  The red furniture never really jived with the rest of the house.  We talked my parents (Thanks Mom and Dad!) into helping us with the couch switcheroo since there were stairs and tricky doors involved.  After seeing the tan couch in the family room, I'm so happy we made the switch!  It just flows so much better with the overall vibe and color scheme of the rest of the house.  

While this room isn't quite finished yet, it's looking so much more put together now!  The walls and floors are back to normal.  Adam even managed to paint the ceiling and add a new ceiling fan.  Now we get to focus on the fun part of decorating the space.  Adam is going to focus on the aquarium stand next.  And I'm going to start mulling over what other furniture and decor we should add.  

This whole project has been such an expensive headache, but we're so happy to be on the other side of it.  And we're trying to focus on the silver linings.  Now we get to make this family room seem like a cohesive part of our home.  I'm looking forward to all the hours our family will get to clock in here together.