it wasn't long after losing abracadabra that we knew we needed a puppy/dog around the house. it just didn't feel right. the house was too quiet, too clean and we really missed the love and companionship that only a dog can bring to the family.
many years ago, when traveling one day, matt and i came across a beautiful dog. we were so intrigued as to what kind it was, that we got out of our van to ask the owners. it was a goldendoodle. a cross between a golden retriever (like our abba) and a standard poodle. many times since then, we have come across goldendoodles and we continued to be enamoured by them. we decided that when it came time to get our next dog, we would get a goldendoodle.
so we set out on an internet search and came across a breeder that was expecting a litter of goldendoodles any day. we immediately put our names on the list and waited for the call to come and meet our new puppy.
the litter was born on march 10 and we were able to visit the litter and pick out our pup on april 1st. we let the kids take the afternoon off of school and we set off for bancroft. anna pearl was especially excited as we were letting her pick out the puppy. she knew that ben got to pick out abby and adison got to have her own bunny, so she was adamant that it was definitely her turn to pick out the new puppy!
matt and i were kind of hoping for a boy puppy, just for a change. and ben was really excited about having another "boy" in the house too! when we arrived at the breeders, and saw the litter of 11 puppies it was cute overload. they were all so tiny and cute cuddly... we thought it was going to be very difficult to pick just one out.
but anna knew "her" puppy right away. she eyed up the litter and asked the breeder if she could hold one particular puppy! this puppy was amber coloured and she reminded us so much of abby! we then encouraged anna to hold a few more puppies, but she kept coming back to "her" puppy. within 10 minutes of arriving to see the litter we officially had a new member to our family... a girl!
we had 5 more weeks to wait for our "girl" to come home. it was a long 5 weeks. and it also meant that we had 5 weeks to pick out and agree on a name. there were lots of suggestions, lots of conversations and lots of debate.
ben liked crosby or oakley. adi liked daisy or hazel. anna liked pippa or millie. matt was quite indifferent and i just wanted something old fashioned. in the end we decided on matilda mae macdonald, aka: tilly!
on may 1st, nanny jen and i pulled the kids out of school early again and set out to bancroft to bring our sweet tilly home. the kids were almost bursting with excitement and nanny jen was pretty excited too! the kids were quick to retrieve matilda as soon as we arrived at the kennel. we couldn't believe how much she had grown in just 5 weeks. her brothers and sisters were all so adorable. tilly was the first pup of the litter to go to her new home and it was obvious that her litter mates were a bit nervous when we removed her from the pen. as we drove off i couldn't help but snap a couple of pics as they watched us drive away. it was heartbreaking actually... i wish we could have brought them all home with us! but i also knew that each and every one of them would soon be off to join their new human families.
when we arrived home, aunt mimi and gigi came over to meet matilda and the kids smothered her with lots of hugs and cuddles!
ben and matilda played on the floor for well over an hour, getting to know eachother, bonding. i had left the room for a few minutes to prepare lunches for the next day and when i returned i found them both sound asleep on the floor. at first i thought ben was just kidding around, but when matt came to check in, we realized that he really was fast asleep, with the new lady in his life! so cute!
welcome to the family matilda mae! we love you already. and we know that your big sister abracadabra would love you lots too!
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