Abby

Introducing the newest member of the Commander family...our puppy, Abby!

We've always wanted to have two dogs, and we would have gotten a little sister for Molly much sooner if it weren't for our busy busy travel schedule over the past year. After a few months of searching, we finally found a puppy that met all of our criteria (and trust me, there were several!!). We sent in our deposit immediately, and started counting down the days until she was ours. In the meantime, Abby's breeder sent me weekly picture updates - these are a few of my favorites!

the day she was born - so tiny!

4 weeks old with a few siblings and her momma

6 weeks old

8 weeks old

Due to a few more scheduling issues, I finally got to pick Abby up when she was 10 weeks old. I know just how crazy this is... but I drove all the way to Pennsylvania to pick her up! Even crazier... my mom flew up to Atlanta make the drive with me, and we stopped in Charlotte along the way so that my brother Paul could also join us. Bonus - we spent both Friday and Saturday night with him and Sarah in Charlotte to help break up the trip. The three of us all love roadtrips and puppies, so it was actually a really fun family roadtrip. Bo and Molly both despise car rides, so I left them at home and was originally planning to go by myself -I actually prefer/enjoy driving- but it was (obviously) absolutely a million times better having Mom and Paul along for the ride - I cannot thank you both enough for joining me!!

My mom took pictures of all the official welcome signs as we drove through each state - North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Side note: When I was younger, I used to hate when she made us stop just so that she could take a picture of a sign. I thought it was ridiculous. How could you not remember where you took a picture? What would you ever need that picture for? Sure enough, I do the exact same thing on every trip I take. Otherwise I'd never remember where a majority of my pictures were taken. Thanks, Mom - this is my very belated apology, as I totally get it now :)

None of us had ever driven through this part of the country, so we very much enjoyed the gorgeous scenery. We drove over bridges, through tunnels, across mountains, and under bridges...and then turned around and did it all over again.

Seven hours later... we finally got to meet this sweet pup!

Abby is super sweet and *loves* to give kisses, as you can see above. Right when I walked in the door, she came straight to me with lots of licks, and it was love at first sight. I handed her off to Paul and Mom, and she loaded them up with kisses, too. She shows no bias whatsoever, as long as she can give you kisses and/or cuddles.

ahh those ears!!

It took a few hours before she was doing okay in the car, despite making several stops. It took about seven hours to drive there, and eight hours back. It was a long day. Again, I am so very thankful I had such great company and a back-up driver.

We got back to Paul & Sarah's place late that night, and even though we were all exhausted, Abby was well-rested and very excited to play with their pup, Jackson. Her first friend! He was so sweet to her and they played together so well. It got me super excited for Abby to meet Molly the next day - I just couldn't wait for it!!

Thankfully Abby did much better the next day on our drive from Charlotte to Atlanta, and she slept the entire time. Little princess puppy prefers to sleep on a pillow...

We drove straight to a new park near our house in Atlanta so that Abby and Molly could meet on neutral ground, especially since Molly has been extremely territorial of our house and yard lately.

I have to admit, we had pretty high expectations for the grand meeting of our puppies. Much to my dismay, it was entirely underwhelming. They sniffed each other very quickly as a formal greeting, and then paid almost no attention to each other. They were both more interested in the grass and plants and mulch and anything and everything else at the park aside from each other. We were there for all of five minutes before heading home.

Their whole first day together was pretty underwhelming. Molly was very unsure of this spunky new addition, and Abby just wanted to lick, play, cuddle, chew, repeat. She is extremely sweet and at the same time absolutely insane. Our two nicknames for her so far are "lovebug" and "the terror" which pretty much sums her up. She keeps us very busy and highly entertained.

We had several visitors throughout Abby's first day at home, who of course all stopped by to meet Abby...and I think Molly was disturbed that she was no longer the main attraction at our home. Later that evening they finally started playing together, and it took a few more days for them to really adjust to each other.

hmmm not so sure...

After playing for a few hours they both crashed and burned.

Molly was wiped out. Being a big sister is utterly exhausting sometimes.

I guess being a little sister is pretty tiring as well

Eventually I will (hopefully) do a separate post on life with two pups so far. But I will leave you with a spoiler alert, this is how I prefer to spend most of my evenings now... :)

I love these pups so much!

Welcome to the family, Abby! We absolutely adore you :)