Our family is growing... Mommy thoughts and remodel projects under way!

Well there will be another "baby" joining our family.....of the 4-legged variety! :) Although the 2-legged type might not be far behind...since I finally have a cycle now and we are officially "not trying to prevent anything", if you know what I mean ;) I'm really ready to be pregnant again and we are definitely ready to expand our family. I can't wait to see who the next one will be! I just can't get over how much I LOVE having children. Maybe it's because I'm an only child but the whole big family thing just fascinates and thrills me. I love nothing more than seeing all the little faces I love SO much and watching them grow into unique individuals. Created from me and the man I love so much, all so similar but different at the same time. Seeing ourselves and bits of each of them in each other... It's the most amazing, wonderful thing in the world. I don't think there is a better sound on earth than the sound of your children laughing and playing. The horrible silence that fell over us after Kyle died made me treasure and appreciate and miss that wonderful sound above all others. I now want my house to be FULL of noise, laughter and children! Anyway, I'll post more about that later, this was supposed to be about our new furry family member!

We are getting an Anatolian Shepard puppy!!! He is 5 months old, I decided to go with an older pup because he will be able to actually work as a guard dog much sooner. He's still young enough to really bond with us though. I am so excited and relieved because I will feel SO much safer being outside with a protective guard dog with us. Lily is great for letting us know if someone or something is around but let's be honest, there's not much she can do about it! It will be nice for her to have a brother too. :) Anatolians are from Turkey and they are bred to guard and protect sheep. They bond VERY strongly with their flock (whether their "flock" is sheep or human) and are very maternal, gentle and great with children and babies. They care for the newborn lambs out in the field. They are fiercely loyal and will defend their "flock" to the death. They are incredibly intelligent and not at all aggressive unless protecting their family. They don't attack unprovoked, they will do everything they can to chase off a predator and only attack as an absolute last line of defense. From what I have read, they are very effective at chasing predators away and rarely do they have to actually fight. I will feel so much safer going on runs and hikes with him next to us. Especially now that we know we have a family of bears living in our neighborhood! Now we just need to think of a name.... He is being shipped to us next week, I'll update with pictures when we pick him up. :) The picture I have posted is one the breeder sent us. Doesn't he have the sweetest face? The breeder said he is incredibly sweet and gentle and great with her two children. We can't wait to bring him home!

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So our living room looks now like a construction site. Kevin ripped out the hideous wood stove and tile surround and our living room is now a complete wreck. Now we have exposed subfloor and sheetrock in one corner of the room. It has to look worse before it looks better, right? Pulling it all out opened the room up SO much though, it's going to look so much better once we get the corner fireplace in and put in another big window. I can't believe how much space that ugly stove took up. We also bought wood floors to put in the living room and hallway - we got an amazing deal on wood someone had returned because it was the wrong color (but perfect for us) at home depot!. We'll probably start laying it this weekend. We decided to put tile in the kitchen and dining room. Next weekend's project? I have a guy coming out today to give us a bid to clear out the brush and dead trees on our lot. I can't wait to get that all cleared out and put a playground up for the kids. The weather here is so beautiful, I want to spend as much time outside as possible. I'm dying to have a swingset and a hammock up so I can relax and read books while the kids play!