Expanding the Family

As you've seen over the last few weeks our little family is growing.  After having Star for a few months we decided to get a puppy as well.  Last week we announced that it would either be Almond Joy or String Bean.  Well... We made the official decision tonight and the newest member of the Hamilton family is... STRING BEAN!!!  (His name will now be Dakota, but I thought String Bean was pretty sweet.)

We fell in love with the way that he sleeps on his back when we were visiting with the puppies tonight and loved that he has a ticklish spot on his tummy.  He's also a total snuggle bug and we are hoping that he and Star learn to snuggle each other quickly.  He'll be coming home with us on the 15th of 16th of May and we could not be more excited.

And since a post isn't very enjoyable without pictures, here are some shots of the whole brood of pups.

The five of them all cuddled.  Dakota/String Bean is in the middle with the green ribbon.

See how he's cuddled up by the runt's head?  So cute right!  The one at the top is Almond Joy, the other boy.

They were in a puppy circle.  So, so, so precious!!

Just so Star doesn't feel left out

Wow, two posts in one week!

I was worried that Star would be jealous of the new puppy, so here is a post of my favorite Star spots in the house.

She loves to hug Jon.

Hiding under the entertainment center

Coming in and out at her leisure

I call this the roast pig

Jon is her favorite.  She loves to lay on his legs.

See, another Jon's lap shot.

Avoiding the snow

This is how she sits ALL night.  On either one of us.

Curled up behind Jon's booty.  So funny.

I guess the sun was too bright for her.

All stretched out

Meet Dakota!

I thought about writing a few posts in the last month, but they were all about Star... and I was worried everyone would think I was a crazy cat lady. So... instead of writing about Star all of the time, this is a post about our puppy Dakota.

Jon grew up with a cute dog named Kodi. That is short for Kodiak Marshmallow Bear Hamilton. Well, since Kodi got "hammered, I mean tooled"(see story below) a few years ago, Jon has been wanting a puppy of his own. He wanted one just like Kodi though. A yellow lab that is almost white who loves life and being with people. Well, lucky for us, one of my co-workers has a yellow lab who just had a litter of the cutest yellow lab puppies. Jon wanted to have a dog just like Kodi, so he specifically asked if we could get a boy dog. Lucky for us there are two boy dogs in the litter. Here are some pictures of the cute boys. We have to wait for the sire's owner to choose the pick of the litter before we know which boy we can bring home. They are equally adorable so we would be happy with either.

Jon with the boys

This is the blue puppy, Almond Joy

This is the green puppy, String Bean

Me with both of the boys

Are they not just the cutest?

This is String Bean's favorite sleeping position. He will probably be the boy we bring home and rename Dakota in about a month. Either he or Almond Joy would be a wonderful addition to our family.

Here is the hammered story according to Erin, Jon's older sister.

"Growing up we had a yellow lab named Kodi. He was a member-of-the-family pet. He died about three years ago, and Sam only saw him a few times before he died. So, a couple of days ago I took the kids to San Diego to help my mom put up the Christmas decorations, and while we were decorating the tree, Sam found an ornament in the shape of a doghouse with a picture of our beloved pet inside. I asked him if he remembered Kodi. He said yes, and then asked what had happened to him. I explained that he had gotten too old. "Oh no" Sam exclaimed with genuine concern and sadness. That was all he said about it, but he seemed thoughtful after my explanation. Later that night, Sam was saying the prayer at dinner. He prayed for the food, and every member of the family, and then he said: "And please bless Kodi, who got hammered - I mean tooled." I just about fell off my chair I was laughing so hard!!!! Ah, I needed a laugh, thanks Sam."