Oh Rosie....sigh

It all began on August 8th when Robby & the girls headed to get the Expedition washed & swing by Petsmart for some dog food. They had not been gone for long when I received a picture of the cutest little American Pitbull Terrier just staring back at them. Our texting went something like this...

Me- Where are you? For sale?

Rob- Petsmart, she is for adoption & will be put down if no one adopts her

Me- Please don't tell me things like that! Do you know anything else about her? 

Rob- Let me check- She is 3 years old & fully grown at 38 pounds.

Me- She looks exactly like Bennett!

Rob- I know! I thought the same thing.

Me- 3 years old, that sounds amazing to avoid house training (mind you I had just thrown in the towel after 2 months of "attempting" to potty train the boys) & to have a smaller dog! Should we get her?

Rob- Are you seriously considering this?

Me- Maybe, get her if you want her followed by the "wink" emoji"

Rob- We are going to pet her for a minute. Next text had a video of the girls petting her asking if they could bring her home....heart melted!

They showed up about an hour later (dogless) so Daddy could make sure I had taken my brain medication that day ; ) After a few minutes I said I wanted to go see her. Robby replied "You should be aware that if you go see her, we are coming home with a dog. You won't be able to say no." I said, let's hop in the car! The girls were in shock when I called Petsmart & asked them to "put her on hold" if you can do that with dogs.  The girls & I got to play with & give plenty of scratches to a precious calm little doggy. We walked out & I said "we'll take her!" In no time at all the paper work was done & we looked like this...

We got her in the car & she was just as nervous as she could be but calmed down when she hopped in this cozy lap. 

We were headed out for the evening so we paid her some attention then crated her before we left. The first day was mostly bliss & then she really opened up & we found that she was more like a puppy than a 3 year old dog. This was confirmed a couple weeks later by the vet who said her teeth had recently come in (within the last 6 months) meaning she could not be more than a year old. Liars...they were just trying to get her adopted! FABULOUS we thought....she's going to be a maniac! Our guess was fairly adequate & she started with the idiot runs around the yard, being jumpy & taking nips at everyone. She was (and is) clumsy on the slippery tile & could not be still for more than 3 seconds. We laughed thinking we were definitely in for it. We also laughed about how only weeks before I was yelling about how obnoxious it was to have a dog in the first place & after Bella died we would be a NO DOG FAMILY (exclaimed loudly) for years. Thinking back, maybe I did forget a dose of my medicine or two leading up to that fateful day in August ; ) 

We are total nickname people at this house & so far Rosie has been called: Rosie Posie, Rosie girl, Rose, my little rosebud, crazy Rosie & Rosie Posie Puddin' Pie, 

The last one comes from the old nursery rhyme that goes like this:  "Georgie Porgie Puddin' Pie, kissed the girls & made them cry. When the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away." We switch the words around to "Rosie Posie Puddin' Pie, eat my couch & then you'll die" or change the word couch with anything else you hold dear. She has actually done well & has not destroyed anything other than a mini delectable toy such as a tea cup or pretend silverware. We do pull a fair amount of things out of her jaws. Char & Lolo have actually come up with a tag team method where they can remove just about anything in a matter of seconds. 

I don't get too many pictures of this dog that aren't blurry since she runs like a deer all over our yard. Here she is on the left with Bennett on the right.  Benny's ears were often perked up just like Rosie's & we often think they look so similar. She has even chased her tail a bit....our favorite of bad habits back in the day.

Here are some of the kids reactions & comments over the past couple months:

Owen: For awhile this kid would correct us when we called her "Rosie Posie." He would get this grumpy look on his face & say "is not Rosie Posie, it just Rosie" with a little growl. He has warmed up to her but has not asked her for a ride...probably a good call. He is happy to sit near her now as long as Bella Bella guard dog is close & saddled up. 

Charlotte: She was & is most excited to welcome Rosie into the family. She has been diligent to walk her daily with Robby & helping her practice how to sit or lay down. She still angrily says (sometimes)  "I just want to take her back to Petsmart! 

One thing about this whole experience that makes us laugh hard has to do with Char. The day we got Rosie we bought a cute new flowered collar & a pink leash. When we got home Charlotte was adamant that we kept the flimsy little leash from the shelter because Rosie would miss her life there. Robby told her that we were going to throw it away because it was from her old life & now that she was adopted into our family she has been given a new name, a new collar & new leash. Charlotte was frustrated & Robby told her "Honey, a shelter is a scary place." She asked why & Rob looked at me like "should we tell her?" I said we should. We explained it simply. A shelter is a place that takes dogs in that their owners did not care about or could not care for. If they are not adopted they have to be killed. She looked horrified. 

We hopped in the car & I could tell she was processing. She finally asked "do they hit the dogs on the head with a pot or something?" Holding back laughter we explained a bit more about the dogs receiving a medication that makes them really sleepy & then they die.  She processed some more & then said "Do they have shelters for humans?" Oh my goodness, more laughter withheld while we explained the difference between a shelter for people & a shelter for animals. 

The best part of all of this was when we picked her up from her class on Sunday morning & she excitedly said "At the end of class it was me with five girls. I told them all about our new dog Rosie & how she came from a shelter & how a shelter is a scary place & when the dogs are not adopted they have to give them medicine & then kill them." Rob's head dropped & he said "oh man, I'm going to have to wait outside the door next week & apologize to those parents!" She has asked in front of people many a time "Can I tell them about how the shelter is a scary place?" Oh my, thankfully that has stopped!

She also wrote about Rosie in her journal for school...hahaha! "Fart" should actually be "favorite" but is an accurate word to describe a dog that has let loose on occasion leaving us to ask if she has been fed skunk stew for her last meal. Just for the record "grot din" is a great dane. She usually refers to Rosie as a Pet-bull which I guess is accurate too. 

Anson: He took a liking to Rosie fairly early but hates her when she chases him excitedly through the yard. She lays down to chew a toy or bone & he pays her some affection saying "Rosie you nice!" He also says "Crazy Rosie out" when she comes out of her crate. 

Eloise- She is not too comfortable around Rosie unless she has on a leash that is held by an adult. She likes to bring Rosie a stick or a toy but panics when Rosie gets excited & jumps to get whatever is being held.  She decided to participate in the the true test to show if Bennett had been reincarnated as Rosie. Bennett could eat a slice of watermelon down to the rind in one pass. Eloise decided to hold the watermelon because that was an item between them & also because her Daddy was right there. Rosie got the hang of it after a few slices. 

She's a bit of a wild one but is really just a puppy so what should we expect. Some things are annoying, some are hilarious, some are both. 

• when she drinks water she basically snorkels in the bowl submerging her entire snout in the water & lapping it up sounding like an animal that weighs at least 500 pounds- Hilarious but annoying because she drips water about 12 feet past the bowl all over the tile then puts her snout on our clothes & soaks us too
• when you try to wipe her paws off with a towel she attacks the towel & rips it out of our hands
• she runs circles around Bella while Bella reminds her who is in charge-Hilarious for us but annoying for Bella. That ol' girl makes us laugh with the way she stares at Rosie. It's the same way she stared at Bennett....her eyes say "what a waste of energy you stupid dog!" I stare thinking I wish I had that much energy!
• she grabs one thing after another, stuffed animals, toys, shoes that are left out dropping one for another that looks better - super annoying!
• she hides all her toys in the ivy that is in the back of our yard above the stone wall where she runs full speed & can leap a good four feet in the air & clear the top row. Once she is there & searching we can no longer see her. All the kids start screaming "Everybody run! She's gonna jump!" She literally bursts out of the bushes & you can't see her until she is flying through the air- Hilarious.
• Last one. Not long ago I filled her bone with peanut butter to have 5 free minutes at the kitchen table one afternoon. She cleaned that out & I heard her nibbling on the chair leg & then she moved to the curtain. I squeezed through an extremely narrow area for a pregnant woman between the table & the kitchen counter & leaned down to get the bone she had pushed away. While I was down there she nipped me on my tush which made me yelp & stand up quickly slamming my lower back so stinkin' hard on the counter. I kept my lips sealed but banged my hand on the counter top hard enough that it stung for awhile. ANNOYING- I was ready to return her too ; )
• She is mostly chilled out in the evening once the kids are in bed. She will lay on her back & let you rub her belly & paws forEVER. Sweet girl. -not hilarious or annoying  : ) 

These two pictures make me laugh....crazy Rosie & play dead Rosie....

We have laughed a lot since she joined us saying "why on earth did we complain about Bella?" She is the perfect dog minus having a bladder the size of a pea in her old age. She tolerates SO much attention around here & spends most of her day just relaxing wherever the sunlight pours through the window. 

Family walk fun has been kicked up a notch. Glad Rob has some muscles because he often ends up looking like the picture on the left while I waddle behind all by my lonesome self yet I am not lonely at all ; )

In closing, Rosie has added even more rambunctiousness to our little Nest but in many ways it has been just a blip on the radar with the way life is around here. She is darling & responding well to basic commands. Today I had her out in the kitchen with me while I did dishes & she got the hang of licking them clean just like Bennett used to do. I would tap the counter next to me & she would pop her paws up & peek over to see all the bubbles in the sink. She was giving me some sweet puppy kisses too. Made me feel like we are turning the corner. So much for being 3 & full grown, Rosie Posie gained about 10 pounds in the first month she was with us & has quite the stretchy blue coat to grow into. 

Blue pits have been our favorite & we love that all their markings are different. This girl looks like she ran through fresh white paint. At night when she races through the yard all we can see are those white paws flying above the grass at lightning speed. Everything that's white turns really rosy when she is hot. We say "Rosie, you're turning Rosy Rosie." Any guesses on what movie that is from? Hint "Violet, your turning Violet, Violet!"- Willy Wonka. 

Our favorite marking by far is this on her neck...

An upside down (or right side up depending on where you are standing) little heart. Charlotte says "she was always meant to be a Valentine." We think she is right!