May has been such a whirlwind!
We had a huge month with school fundraisers, Mother’s Day, wrapping up the end of school, Gray “graduating” from preschool, Justin coming home from another international business trip, our sixth wedding anniversary and, of course, welcoming a new member into our family.
So many of you have reached out on Instagram to ask the back story on our new golden doodle pup, Murphy, and how he came to live with us so I thought I’d share the details! Murphy’s previous family realized with two teens at home that they weren’t able to give Murph the time and attention they thought he deserved – he’s a people kind of dog and really loves to have his family home with him. They posted on my in-law’s neighborhood Next Door app that they were considering a re-homing for him and if anyone would be interested in starting an interview process, they would love to talk. My mother in law screen shot and it sent it me and Justin (who happened to be in China at the time!) and I replied “get me that dog”!
As it turns out, we’ve been looking for a doodle breed that was not a puppy (Murphy was 7 months old when we came home to us) for about a year. My husband has crazy allergies and so we were hoping to cut down on as much shedding as possible and I honestly had no desire to take on a puppy that needed to be housebroken and had the sleep schedule of a newborn, so we were thrilled to hear about Murphy who was fully housebroken, neutered and crate trained when his previous family shared that he might be looking for a new family.
I spent the next week interviewing and chatting with Murphy’s mom and, as luck would have it, my own Mom was flying in that weekend to keep the kids so I could have a little break in the middle of Justin’s work trip. The timing lined up perfectly and I drove down to Georgia to meet Murphy and a few hours later, I was back on the road with Murphy riding shotgun.
We completely surprised the kids with Murphy, the first they knew of him was the moment they met and the video of Gray and Murphy meeting is one of my favorites ever. Gray and Murphy are truly bonded. On Murphy’s first night in our home I heard Gray say to him, “I’ve never had a brother before and now you’re my brother!”.
(the night they met)
Georgia was a little slower to warm up but now that she has, she is the absolute worst influence on Murphy, always feeding him from her high chair and letting him lick her hands when no one is watching. Justin was bummed he wasn’t home when Murphy came home but they met at 2am a week later when Justin finally made it back to the US.
Of course, we’re all adjusting to each other and our new puppy routines and household rules but we really couldn’t have asked for a better transition for our family. I am insanely grateful for how it all turned out and I will take every excited puppy jump just to see Gray as happy as he is with his new best friend.
And I’m thrilled to finally share that Murphy won’t be the only new member of our family for long. My brother and sister in law are expecting their first baby over the holidays and I could not be more thrilled for them! Our newest little niece or nephew is looking perfectly healthy and strong and I can’t wait to find out the gender so I can start shopping!
Gray finished his 4k year and is headed to a new school for TK (transitional kindergarten) in the Fall. He has a Summer birthday, just like the rest of the family, and we’re excited to see how he flourishes next year. Georgie ended her reign of terror on the Toddler Class at our preschool and is headed back for more next year. I’m sure the 2’s teachers are thrilled to read that!
We celebrated our sixth anniversary with our own version of a food tour in a neighborhood in Charlotte that we don’t explore often with the kids and I can’t wait to recap that in a post. We found the absolute best chicharrones and I’ve been dreaming of them since.
We are excited to see the month of June because it means the month of our big Summer trip is finally upon us! We are headed on a cruise to Alaska with Justin’s entire family. This trip has been in the works for years and will be the first time all of us will be together in what I think is two and half years. Justin is the third son of four (yes, four boys) so our group will be 10 adults and 4 children.
(all the brothers)
By chance, I’ve actually been on a cruise to Alaska before so I knew fairly early on that this would not a trip that was ideal for Georgia. Georgie will have just turned two and she won’t old enough to do almost all of the excursion on the trip. It will be very chilly in the Pass and on the boat (something I learned the hard way the first time!) so there isn’t really an opportunity for her to chill out in the pool with one of us while the rest of the fam hits the shore. Luckily, each of my kids spends a week solo with my parents in Virginia, so Georgia is embarking on her inaugural solo trip with them while we’re on the cruise. We know she’ll have the very best time being spoiled by all of that one on one grandparent attention and Justin and I are so excited to take Gray on the amazing adventures we have planned.
Next Up: full on Summer!