getting ahead of myself?

I was kind of joking earlier this evening when I told my husband that I want to give Baby C (thanks, Ashley love!) a puppy for its second Christmas. Then the more I talked about it, the more I've become convinced it would be too much fun and such a great time to make another addition to our family.

By baby's second Christmas, it will be 18 months old. Baby C will be walking and talking, as much as possible... and if Baby C takes after mama, it'll be doing both of those things by the time its 12 months old. Also, by that time we'll be in our own home, we'll be used to the routine with Baby C and we will be capable of a full night's sleep. Yes, I'm thinking it'd be perfect.

And what puppy do I think would be perfect to add to our perfect family during the most perfect time of the year?

Say hello to the Newfoundland. This is, in fact, (according to my husband and to "Dogs 101" on Animal Planet) the best dog to have with small children. They are the nursemaid of the dog world, and *Nana* from "Peter Pan" is a Newfoundland. Mr. Barrie knew his dog breeds, apparently. I am also anxious to add another 4-legged member to our family, and to be perfectly honest, would have been doing it much sooner than 2 Christmases from now, had we not gotten pregnant. This way, Baby C and Baby Newfie can grow up together and the child will have its dog to be young and spry with. By the time our child is 2, Shiner will be (*gasp!!*) 10 years old and Jethro will be 6, which is getting up there for a large breed dog. Therefore, we will have two old dogs and a 2 year old would do much better with something young.

At least, that is how I am trying to justify it to myself at this point. And yes, I have already asked Zach if I get a boy if I can name it Mr. Smee. I haven't really thought about a girl. Maybe Moira, since that's Wendy's middle name, and Wendy is just horrible and Nana is going to be too generic and Zach's not gonna go for that, because the other day he was talking about the next dog we get and he plans on doing puppy classes (WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL DO!!) at the clinic with it, and he plans on taking it up to the clinic with him during the day so that we have a dog that is well socialized with both people and other animals (WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL DO! SOCIALIZE!!).

I learn so much from "Dogs 101" and I'm totally sold on the Newfoundland as being the next great pet for our family. It's going to be much bigger than Jethro, and as Zach says, for 99% of people, it's just too much dog (he said today that a Newfie male at 6 months he would expect to weigh around 100 lbs). For our family, though, we're not interested in small dogs. They have their place, and their owners, but we just are not small dog people. And by small dog, we're talking under 50 lbs. I understand that's not small, but we're really drawn to the giant breeds. You don't get the 15 year old dogs, like you do with the small breeds, but Zach and I agree that what you lose in years, you gain in so many other areas. There's nothing in the world like laying on the floor with your dog and having him stretch out as long as you, or get excited and jump up and put his paws on your shoulders, or sit on the couch with you and serve as a pillow that you don't have to worry about crushing. We're big dog people, through and through.

Also, my sweetheart of a husband is very particular about breeds. There's no way we will ever have a Boxer or a Golden because of their being so disposed to cancer. We'll never have a Neapolitan Mastiff (*sob*) until they fix the breed and their hips are stronger. You get what I'm driving at. My husband knows each breeds strengths and weaknesses, and luckily, I listen to him. Most people don't. He's had so many people describe the kind of dog they want, the kinds they're looking at, and he'll steer them towards the healthiest dog with the best temper and they'll ignore him and get whatever they want, which is usually a disaster. He seems, though, to like the Newfoundland well enough.

Now my only issue will be talking him into either buying a house with a pool for Baby C and Baby Newfie, or putting one in. I'm thinking the former is more likely than the latter. And can you imagine the ADORABLE pictures that I would be able to get out of the two babies?




By the way, I'm at 16 weeks. That's 4 weeks away from being 1/2 through and 4 weeks away from finding out the GENDER. I can't wait. It's so weird to talk about the baby as "it," I'd much prefer "she/he."