We’ve been out of town a lot this summer. It’s been totally fun and totally busy. The best part of our summer so far has been making memories with Bebe. She has been a part of our family now since April but it is hard to imagine that she wasn’t always here! We end up spending a lot of time in the backyard because that is where she is happiest (and where we do not have to deal with accidents in the house!).

Bebe is just filled with LOVE. So much gosh darn love. She has different relationships with each of us in the family: She cuddles with Sam at night while they watch TV and she drifts off to sleep, she treats Seb like he is also a dog and very much her equal playmate, she still isn’t completely sure about Sadie but it will come with time, she knows Simon will throw the ball far for her, she adores Sophie and without a doubt loves me as mom the most. Friends told me that she would love me the most and I didn’t believe them because when we first met her at the shelter she had zero interest in me. Once we got home, however, she immediately became a mama’s girl. I couldn’t be happier about that.

We are loving our summer nights and our dog and our family time regardless of how many of us are at home at any given time (we have had a lot of one kid gone at camp then another kid gone and then me traveling and then multiple kids traveling: you get the picture). Simon starts 10th grade in a few weeks with Sophie right behind him in 9th grade and then the younger two in 4th grade. That means in three short years Simon will head off on a mission and to college. The time is short where all of my chickens will be in the coop at the same time. I am both looking forward to that time but more than anything I am feeling a little emotional and uncertain about what that will feel like as a mom. I imagine it is weird? Unsettling? Liberating? A combination of all three and a bunch more thrown in for good measure? Anyway, I am glad we have added a pup to the mix because ultimately I think it will help me and Sam as we watch our kids gradually leaving home.

Happy Summer and Happy Pup! “Woof”!