Forgot to mention another bombshell...

I started this blog to tell about all the things I am thankful for right? I would list even not so great things and then say that I am thankful for SOMEthing about that. Then a couple days later, I learn that we have to sell our house and move. That was big enough but another bomb went off after I said I would be thankful for everything.........a puppy. Yes, I said puppy. The husband and children have been begging for a dog for as long as I can remember and I have just flat out said no. There are so many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that I, the SAHM, would have the majority of the responsibility and I do not desire more mouths to feed or things to do. I do enough already! So a couple days after Christmas we go to a home to "look" at dogs, OH excuse me, these are not trained animals or full grown, they are 7 week old PUPPIES. Living outside with all their brothers and sisters and mother. I am content to sit in the car while the kids and hubby are outside picking one out and falling in love. We are not bringing one home, I say, we will go and think about it and maybe come back. We stay there too long and it is inevitable. We take one cute little girl home. I get to name her so that maybe the bonding process will begin, she is named "Bailey". (When I had Daniel there was a little girl born the next day named Bailey and I have always liked that name, we couldn't use it because our last name begins with a "B" and it just doesn't sound nice with a "B" first name.) So now my life is turned upside down with more things to do, feed, train, train the kids to train the dog, all things I am not thankful for. Especially picking up poo, doggy poo. Poo in the diaper is tolerable, used to that. Even when the occasional poo ends up not in the diaper or potty, mommys are well equipped to clean up the mess. I am not happy about doggy poo. I am not happy about doggy pee. AND, did I mention, it is the middle of WINTER??? Yeah, like I am going to send out my 7 year old in 20 degree weather to take the dog out. I did that once and he came to the door, red cheeks and nose and all, and said "I can't take the cold". Awwww. So I go and the dog wants to play, remember she lived outside prior to coming to our house. I say, just go already, and be done, but her with her layer of fur, says "this is fun, I want to play with the sticks and mud". The hubby says that I don't have to take her out but once while the kids are at school and then they will do it after they get home and he will do it when he gets home. Yeah, right. THEN the hubby abandons me 2 weeks into this to go out of town on a business trip for 3 days. THANKS. Then this dog, we realize, is going to be BIG. She had a medium sized mother so it never occurred to me that she may be bigger than that. But she has grown about 2x in size since coming to us and that is the total OPPOSITE of the type of dog I wanted (one that would fit into a purse!). AND just to top it off my husband gets a HUGE bag of dog food claiming that she is "skin and bones" and we need to feed her more. WHAT?? Another thing is that I am now watching 2 babies and when the 2nd one came to my house to "interview" me, Bailey proceeds to not only pee right in the middle of the living room where we were right in front of us, but she does this horrible hacking throw-up sound and throws up! So much for good first impressions. So I have spent the better part of the month not in thankfulness because of this dog. I now have SOME things to be thankful for. One thing is that I don't have to vacuum as much food from under the table (some joker builder put CARPET in the dining area!). Another thing is that she is kind of cute with a floppy, gimpy ear. The ears either stick straight up or the both hang to the right. Yes, the left ear hangs over her head pointing to the right, it looks really funny, I'll have to get a pic and post it. More things to be thankful for because of the dog include: she did not prevent me from getting the babysitting job for the 2nd baby, apparently the family has a crazy puppy and has had more probs with theirs than we have had with ours and they totally understood the puppy stage. The first baby I had been watching, has dogs at their house only their dogs are HUGE and beautiful and totally trained, but they were happy to see a puppy when they came to drop off their child. Nobody has shown any allergies to the dog. Gabriel is supposed to be more prone to allergies and so far he has not been allergic to anything. That is God not fate, by the way! I am actually thankful that she was raised like she was before we got her. We have had dogs from the pound but those dogs are trained to "go" in their enclosures. Bailey was just outside and went outside to "go", so when we brought her to our house and use the crate, she has not "gone" in the crate! I am very thankful for the crate. Also, the kids have really stepped up to the plate concerning care of the dog, sometimes they have to be reminded that they asked for it and it is not a job for only when you "feel" like it. But for the most part, they are doing very well, mommy needs only to remind and keep track of who's "turn" it is to do things and if that is fair then they don't complain. I am thankful for the fact that she is a FEMALE dog. We needed more "girl power" in the house. My husband loves coming home to a happy dog. She is the first one to greet him, since she can run faster than the kids and knocks them down on her way, but STILL its cute and a happy time for the hubby. And for me, I realized that all I did at first was complain and whine. I also realized that something that is good for everyone in the family is good for me, too, even if it not MY desire. Bailey does not really come to me, probably because I am very stern with her since everyone else is so playful, that is not my job, my job is to keep her from chewing up our shoes and smelling up the house. But eventually she will learn that I am able to tolerate her and am thankful that the kids love her and for what she adds to our family.