and two become three.

Ian and I are thrilled to announce that our family is GROWING. 

it happened by [happy accident]

as all the best stories do in our relationship do. 

we anticipate the arrival of our fur baby this weekend!!

how it all happened:

this was a monumental decision for us. we are both organized and like to plan for our future. we had discussed getting a pet in the future, following the upcoming wedding. but like the old saying goes if you wait until you're "ready," you'll be waiting on forever. so with our type A personalities in full force we quickly analyzed all the characteristics of a dog, and weighed those that were most important to us. to pin point the best suited dog for our family. for future reference of course.

here is our mostly complete list:

-non shedding [or VERY minimal]

-non aggressive & great with families

-minimal to moderate exercise commitment

-protector [we were fairly flexible with this as well... clearly]

and with that in mind we found the perfect breed for us: a bull mastiff. they shed very little, are bred to be guard dogs, require limited physical exercise. but they are HUGE, drool a lot, and are particularly pricey. needless to say we didn't get one of these puppies this time around. but we are still considering getting one the VERY distant future!!

other dogs also fit these characteristics include poodle mixes, yorkies, pomeranians, and chihuahuas. i had my heart set on a small dog.  but ian was beginning to convince me that maybe we were better suited to get a cat.  so that this point i pulled out the whole "budget" aspect of pet buying, when ian relentless started gunning for a cat. i like cats too but having a small dog is actually more economical than a cat. so how did i convince ian to love a little doggie? insert - bella. our friends phil and steph's adorable chihuahua. ian fell in love with her instantly. 

so of course on monday night i just wanted to begin the research process to see how many chihuahua breeders there are in the midwest and what pricing is like for these cuties. i was a little bit blown away. most dogs are priced between $1,000 and $1,500 quite a hefty initial investment. and not within our budget at all. pets are expensive as is. for vet checks, food, supplies, possible boarding/travel if needed. so i was beginning to get disheartened. thinking maybe this wasn't the best option for us. 

until i came across a website for a breeder from MN. and right on the front page was this picture

and my heart literally melted. 

not only is she the sweetest dog i have ever seen. but she is on sale. major sale. because she has a slight overbite. [hardly noticeable]. which demotes her from being "show quality." 

ian was hesitant. so i took it upon myself to e-mail them for more information. [which included more pictures of her.] and also to talk to phil and steph about the cost of bella. apparently that strategy worked because he was hooked. seriously i think the additional pictures played a big roll. that night he went to play with bella while i went to dinner with an old friend. and by the time i came to get him, we were ready to e-mail our commitment.  and since last night we have official confirmation that we are getting her. we get to bring her home on saturday. 

we are both giddy. nervous and excited for this next phase of our life! we know that we are in for a change. we discussed most the major details. where will she sleep, how will we discipline her, how we plan to potty train, what behaviors we will not tolerate, how we plan to socialize her with other dogs, etc. etc. and although we are nervous we could not be more excited. a majority of our friends and family already own a pet. but this is a first for us. and we think it couldn't have happened at a better time. right now i have a day off during the week and ian has summer hours so he is only 1/2 days on friday. in addition most days he gets to come home for lunch which will help with the potty training process. 

we are contemplating a few names. and right now we have 3 top favorites. we think we might wait until we meet her to see if one fits her better. but of course we have to save some element of surprise. 

here is another picture of her in case you weren't in love already. 

she is quite the poser. 

and i should apologize in advance that i will probably post about a million pictures of my dog on instagram and the blog. 

spoiler alert. we made our first trip to pick up a few supplies tonight. and i plan to write a post tomorrow. so check back in :)