marley.

I've never had a dog.

I've never wanted a dog.

I've never considered myself a dog person.

But this guy is a dog person...

and I love this guy a lot.

Even my dad said, "Corey is a pretty good guy."

Last summer when we went to look at these little guys, I said no.

So imagine Corey's surprise when I came home Wednesday and told him we were going to Brian and Shana's house that evening, and I thought he should pick out a dog.

This never would have happened if you hadn't brought Bella to school with you on Wednesday, GB. I should have just stayed away from your office. You should have made "puppy training" sound way harder. I blame you. We should have let Lawson name her Greenie Bean, and called her GB.

But look how cute Bella is...

She's Marley's sister.

There were many thoughts in my head as I made this spontaneous decision to get a dog.

(We laughed that Heather and Brian did research and shopping around for a year before they got Max and Ozzy. We made this big decision in 24 hours. That's kind of how we operate.)

1. Corey has always wanted us to have a dog.

2. Corey wanted one of Callie's golden retriever pups last summer.

3. Mama Callie is the nicest dog ever.

4. This is Callie's last litter of pups.

5. Golden Retrievers are nice, kid friendly, family dogs.

6. Poodles don't shed.

7. Marley is a Goldendoodle... she will look like a golden retriever (except for the golden part), but her hair is super soft and wavy, and she doesn't shed! (That's pretty much what sold me right there)

8. Goldendoodle is fun to say.

9. Sophie and Lawson get easily freaked out by other people's dogs. Especially big dogs.

10. I want my kids to stop being freaked out by dogs. (The 1st grader last year who was screaming hysterically because of the friendly old lab at the pumpkin patch was the thought in my head at this point.)

Thursday night as I was having doubts I remembered... I never thought I wanted a little boy... and look how great that has turned out! Surely a few months from now I'll be thinking "I can't believe I thought I never wanted a dog."

Corey adores her.

The kids are having so much fun with her.

It's totally worth it, just for them.

(But I am questioning how I'm going to work "take Marley outside" into my already crazy morning routine...)