Introducing...!

the newest little addition to our family...

...Ghetti! Yup, we got a puppy.

And why get one, when you can get two?! Also introducing...Roni!

on our ride home from getting the pups...Labor Day

Tornado, holding Roni for the first time

Yes, it is great fun, apparently, to get in the crate with the pups. The kids have really enjoyed having pets. We knew they would. It's not like we actually needed to add another responsibility to our lives. It could be argued that this was the LAST thing we needed. But we've had them for two weeks now, and so far, so good. We made ourselves consider the prospect of getting a puppy for at least 6 months before we went forth.

It has really been a group effort, taking care of them. All five of us chip in pretty equally, I'd say. It was really important to us, for our children to grow up with a dog(s). They're doing really well on the housetraining front. The only stressful moments I've had were during the two days it rained last week, and Ryan happened to be away on business. It was not fun for me, constantly taking them out in the rain, then bringing in wet dogs.

They are such good little buddies. We love how they play together. We could have just gotten one, and she would have basked in the sole attention of her human family, as dogs are happy to do. I just couldn't bear leaving without her sister, though. Truth be told, we almost left with her brother, too. :0 We were sort of like...maybe if he hasn't found a home in a week or two, we'll get him, too...he found a home, though. Good thing; it was too tempting. We feel great about them snuggling up together at night or when we have to leave the house for a few hours.

the day we brought them home...they're already a little bigger than this.

We thought long and hard about names for a good week and a half after we knew we were getting them. I was really impressed - and amused - with the kids' name choices. When I would ask Dash if he had any new name ideas, he'd immediately announce some new idea, right off the top of his head. Here are a few of his picks: Shikkon, Sheefy Poo, Charlo, Hershico, Hanger Pen, Carly (we almost went with this one). He also was big on "Assa" and didn't understand why we wouldn't go for that one. I suggested "Asa" instead, and he asked, "What's wrong with Assa?"

Tornado didn't have as many strong opinions for names. His ideas were "Hersha," which I liked and "Danger Ranger" (after the cartoon; I said we would have considered this if we had been getting a boy).

I got great enjoyment when Dash very dramatically suggested, "I know! Fluffy!" or "I have a great idea! Blacky!" like these were the most perfect, original names ever.

Ryan thought of the name "Getty," which he and I automatically loved and had pretty much decided upon. Then one day, the kids got stuck on wanting to name the pups after food items. I just couldn't get into the idea of naming the dogs after objects, although I really wanted the names to be their ideas, not mine. I couldn't get past my love of girl names that end in the "ee" sound (like Sissy's real name). They were thinking of objects that are black and white. There was, of course, the suggestion for "Salt" and "Pepper." Then Dash suggested, "White Cheese" for the white one. Because, he pointed out, "Cheese is sometimes white." My sister helped them figure out "Olive" and "Roni (which would be short for Macaroni)." And Tornado wanted to go with "Olive" and "Sand." (We were at the beach, at the time.)

Ryan and I were talking about how we did like the name Roni (I felt like I had to name them something I'd actually name one of my kids) and that would make the kids happy because we could tell them it was short for Macaroni. But we really still loved "Getty." Then, it dawned on us...not Getty but Ghetti because that could be short for Spaghetti. And that is the story of their names, and how we all ended up happy.