Luna inside

When we put Evie to bed the day we first got Luna, she was sad the day was over and simply couldn't wait for the following day to arrive so she could play with Luna more. So the next day, Saturday January seventh, that's exactly what they did. 

Playing after breakfast in pajamas

Fetch Luna! She has since stripped this ball of its furry covering.

Luna kisses. It's about time we had another girl in the house! 

Luna the cat-dog prefers to sit on your lap. She loves the kids - they're her new brothers and sister.

We had the kitchen area barricaded with chairs but Luna, who had just a few days before been separated from her litter, cried and cried if she was left alone in the kitchen. Plus, we had discovered she would mess on the floor when no one was present. So that night when the kids went to bed, we discovered it was also Luna's bedtime and let her hang out with us on the couch. 

The following night Jazmin and Natasha were dying to see the new puppy so they came over for about a hour. Jazmin famously hates all kinds of pets and used to jump every single time Snap came around her. It was hilarious. Not only did she think Luna was cute but she even condescended to hold her!

Natasha is a cat person but since Luna acts like one it worked out well. 

That night I again let Luna sit with me in the living room after the kids had gone to bed. Had to send a selfie smelfie to my family :D 

Perhaps those trips to the living room were a bad idea because Luna soon figured out how to jump over the chairs we had set up if she was alone for even a moment or the kids walked by. Therefore we had to come up with a different barricade system... This however was a bust. It was a bad, bad day. I had to start school with the kids that morning and it was incredibly annoying for all of us to have to continually climb over the fence, which required first climbing on a couple chairs (because she could also climb over the fences). Then we ended up just staying in the kitchen area for most of the day which was a sure fire way for mommy to get stir crazy and irritated. The following day we instituted the leash and took down the contraption. Luna was kept on a leash in the kitchen except for after she had just gone potty outside. She peed on the carpet a few times and proved that she was not to be trusted off the leash. It's nearly three weeks later now and we are still having to keep this arrangement. This too shall pass.

Two days later, after Luna had peed outside, we let her play fetch in the living room for a few minutes. She was so incredibly cute that I took a bunch of photos and videos.

A few cell phone pictures first...

Cute!

Waiting for the ball to be thrown.

So demure...

"Luna! Luna! Look over here!"

"Never mind, I'll move." Dawwww. Notice the blue fuzz in her mouth? Lol.

I'd get down right in front of her to get a shot and she'd pounce on me. Terry said this was a Luna-ttack. Ha!

Real camera!

I love her ears the most!

Evie and her baby.

Going in for a kiss?...or a bite...

Chewing her dino friend while also eyeing the ball. He he he.

Incoming ball amid a snuggling Evie.

Okay. Seriously she looks like a stuffed animal here.

ADORABLE!!!

naming Luna, who plays in the snow

On Friday January 6 we got a new puppy. Our three girl name ideas were Lucy, Granger, and Luna but we had decided to wait a while to choose in order to see what her personality was like (that's how we came up with Snap's awesome name). However, we were all calling her Luna in our minds and even out loud so we decided to go with that after only a couple days. 

We've had snow on the ground for nearly two months so any outside playing with Luna had to be done all bundled up. 

The kids thought it was hilarious that when they laid down, Luna would jump on them and lick their faces and ears. 

 So of course they laid down all the more and she scratched their skin with her razor nails.

It was my ambition to get some good shots of Luna, but it was tough since she was in constant motion. Here's a good one though. 

Ear flapping! Boy that reminded me of sledding with Thorin... 

If we enlarged Luna she would look just like Thorin below - flapping goldendoodle ears. 

These pictures are from two weeks ago now and already she's grown so much!

Watch out Evie! 

"My tail's froze and my nose is froze and my ears are froze and my toes are froze." 

Two days later we had more sun and went out after lunch in hopes of better pictures.

She kind of looks like a prairie dog here. 

She got snow on her nose all cute like.

Gah! She's so adorable! 

Luna wasn't as into jumping on the kids this day but preferred to run away. The kids still laid down in hope of her kisses. 

She's a snow baby. 

A week later we went out again. I wanted some photos of all the kids with her. I caught one kiss. 

Four kids with their dog. 

I LOVE THOSE EARS! 

Here's a video of speedy Luna running from the kids.

a new puppy

As I've already posted, our miniature schnauzer dog Snap died four days before Christmas and Nathan, Ana, Theo, Elin, and their goldendoodle Thorin helped to fill his gap. However, when they left one week after Snap died, December 28, I knew it would be extra quiet in the house and it certainly was. Since we didn't have school to keep me busy, what was I to do but hop on the internet and browse for new dog ideas? 

In the summer of 2015 I had fallen in love with Thorin when he was a seven week old puppy, but he grew up and his size was difficult to handle (he's such a good dog though, and so soft!). Since goldendoodles are half standard poodle and half golden retriever, I had the thought, "Why couldn't they cross the golden with a miniature poodle?" and I looked up the possibility. Sure enough, miniature goldendoodles were a thing and I wasn't the first person to think of them. During my search I found a breeder in northeast South Dakota that happened to sell them. I pinned their website to Pinterest and tucked away the idea in my mind should we ever need a new dog. 

Fast forward a year and a half, and we were indeed in need of a new dog. A google search reminded me of the breeder I had already found and I sent them off an email (and to a few others in Iowa), reassuring Terry that I was just looking into it, curious. Low and behold they all emailed me back fairly quickly. The Iowa breeders wanted $1,800 and $2,300 for their puppies! Outrageous!!! However, the SD breeder's price was much less ridiculous, but still out of our price range, except for one girl puppy labeled "homely" due to her longer poodle nose and the fact that she "wasn't as cute" as the other puppies and was therefore getting passed over.

Since they were seven hours away, there was no chance of us driving all that way just to take a look. If we were going to get this puppy, we'd have to make up our mind based only on pictures, video, and reputation. For the next several days I emailed and texted back and forth, called their vet, researched some more, and had all my questions answered. The problem was that their power was out due to the Christmas ice storm. Finally it came back on and we got some photos.

And a video. 

The puppy's mother was Scooper, the yellow one on the left. She was a "f1" goldendoodle, meaning she was a cross between a mini-poodle and a golden. 

The puppy's father was this mini-poodle. This meant that the puppy was an "f1b" mini-goldendoodle, 75% mini-poodle and 25% golden retriever.

 A friend's uncle and cousin owned four of this breeder's dogs, they loved them so much. They had great things to say about the breeder. No longer was I in doubt that this was a questionable idea.

Snap was pretty much the ideal sized dog for us weighing in around 25 pounds. These mini-goldendoodles full grown weight is approximately 20 pounds. A mini-Thorin!!! Ideal!

That weekend while Terry was away for the New Year's Eve youth group lock in, I showed the kids the pictures and video of the puppy. They loved her and wanted her...big time.

We took the weekend to think it over and decided to go for it. What made it work was that the breeder's daughter had a prearranged trip west river and was willing to bring the puppy to us. Score! We spent the following week preparing for the new puppy's arrival. The kids were counting down, especially Evie who every morning was like, "Only two more days!...One more day!" We went shopping the day before to get some puppy supplies.

Friday morning, December 6 finally dawned. The kids were beside themselves with excitement, even playing in the kennel that I had spotlessly cleaned earlier in the week.

Finally noon came and we met the daughter at the mall where we picked up the puppy. I took the puppy from her and was struck by how small she was! She seemed bigger in the photos and video! And she was so meek, calm, and quiet! After visiting a bit, we finally got in the van and drove to my parents house, the kids freaking out the whole time. Evie finally got to hold her when we arrived. 

Those are some happy kids! 

There's her cute face...and "homely" nose. Ha! We don't think she's homely at all. 

We stayed for only like five minutes since my dad's dog Bo was freaking her out, plus she needed to pee, eat, and drink. But my mom sure loved her.

And so did my dad. 

How at how cuddly she was already! 

I let Evie hold her on the way home. 

The first thing we did when we arrived home was take her outside to potty. I think she even went!

So little and so cute! 

We put chairs down on the floor to block off the carpeted living room and keep her in the kitchen/dining room since that was the only non-carpeted area in the house. We all sat down and got to know her. She fetched ball for us right away and we were ecstatic (Snap had never been interested in fetch). Then she bounded around giving each of us puppy kisses!

So cute! 

Then we gave her a bath. I don't think she had ever had one. She was 13 weeks old. So skinny compared to Snap! 

The kids went to play their games and Terry and I snuggled her. 

She was so fluffy after that bath!

Puppy selfie! I think she looks like a stuffed animal here.

She is a dog-cat. She loves to be snuggled up on my lap. 

Then there was more fetch. Daw!

And more pottying. Go puppy go!