Mr. Cuddles

In January 2014, shortly after moving into our new house, and Reagan was born, Daniel began pestering me to get a dog.  For what reason, I do not know.  But he was adamant.  I, however, could think of nothing I wanted less than a dog.  I had a potty training toddler, a newborn, and a three story house without a fenced yard.  The last, I repeat LAST thing I needed was something else to take care of.

And yet, Daniel persisted.  He even went as far as to take Logan to the animal shelter on the weekends to look at puppies and send me cute pictures of Logan cuddling stray animals with captions like, "Logan's in love" and "Logan wants to keep him."  In the battle of "Amanda VS. Daniel: Dog Edition," Daniel played pretty dirty.  

Finally, the day came when I caved and we adopted Mr. Cuddles, the least manly dog on Planet Earth.  It started off alright; the kids both loved him, we was adorable with fluff to boot, and definitely lived up to his namesake of being a cuddly dog.

But then came the next 6 months.

It was not a good 6 months for me and Mr. Cuddles.

This dog chewed.  And he barked.  And he ran away.  And he peed on everything.  EV.REE.THANG!  There were multiple times that I called Daniel crying and telling him to put the dog on Craig's List.  I just couldn't do it anymore.

2 kids= Not hard.  2 kids and Mr. Cuddles=Impossible.

Funny thing is....

Looking back, I'd do it all again.

Because now I love that stinky little mutt so much it hurts.  Somehow he's managed to bury his little fury face into the tunnels of my heart and I can't imagine life without him.

Sure, he still runs amuck all over our neighborhood, and he barks uncontrollably when someone walks past our house, and he took over 6 months to potty train.

But this dog is family now.  And he loves being part of our family.

I honestly cannot think of a single family moment we've had in the last year at home that doesn't involve the dog.

Let me prove it:

Our neighbor, Leilah.  She loves Cuddles too!

I find him in pictures I didn't even know I took.  King of the photobomb.  Bravo, Cuddles.

I love that he is woven into my children's childhood.  Looking back they will always remember their adventures with Mr. Cuddles.  They will have memories that they will only share with him.  They will remember his soft, cozy fur, and his warm embrace.  They will remember he was there.  And they will remember that he loves them.

And I will remember his company on lonely lawyer wife nights.  He has truly filled a hole in my heart that I didn't even know was there.

So, in the end I guess Daniel was right (just this once *wink*)--  we did need a dog after all.

But we DO NOT need another one!!!!!!!!