A Few Updates

So remember my last post where I introduced Griffin Theodore? 

Yeah. Scratch that.

I took him to his first vet visit last week and discovered that HE is actually a SHE. 

Ummmm....say whaaaat?? 

It was quite a shock. Both because he had been in our family for a month and the thought that he was not a "he" anymore was really hard to process, and also because he had been in our family for a month and nobody noticed he didn't have a penis and HELLO, someone totally should have noticed that! 

But in our defense, when I called about the litter, the breeder said that there were only two boys left. When we got there, they brought out two puppies for us to choose between. All of his (her) paperwork said male all over it. So we never even considered that he could be a she. We bathed her several times and rubbed her belly countless times and it never once registered that there were boy parts missing. 

It makes for a really funny story now but the day it happened was pretty rocky. Harper was excited and had no issue at all with the news. Harrison, however, is like his mama and doesn't handle change very well. He sobbed for over an hour because "nothing is the same anymore!!!!" I have to say that I could relate to his feelings a little bit. ha! I felt like I was the mom to a puppy switched at birth and while it didn't change my feelings toward him (her) it felt like life was a big fat lie and what about the name we picked out for him and the personalized tags and stocking and he's been wearing a bow tie for a month and why why WHYYYY??? But then we both slept on it and the next day the melodrama had calmed way down :)  

can we just pretend he's a boy????

It's been over a week now and we are still slipping up with the gender pronouns. We have also tossed around the idea of changing her name and have tried a few out. But none seem to stick. She knows her name reeeeally well, mostly due to constant phrases like no, Griffin!! and Stop it, Griffin!! and Griffin, don't chew on that!!! and GRIFFIN, NOOOOO!!!! So we tried to come up with names that were similar. We tried out Gretchen for a few days but none of us really loved it. So we finally decided to just stick with what we all know and love with an updated middle name. Because my children insist that their dog have a middle name. lol. 

So, re-introducing Griffin Eleanor:

She has a multitude of nicknames: Griffy, Griffy-Girl, Griffy-Griff, Griffy McGruff, Finn, Ellie, Ellie-Belle, and Rick sometimes calls her Jenner (har har)...try explaining that one to the kids. 

Her bow tie has been removed and she now sports a pink glittery collar. Harper couldn't wait to shop for it. Although she was kind about it and took me aside and told me even though she was really excited to get her a new collar, she wanted to wait until Harrison was less upset. Sweet sister. 

a boy and his dog

2 peas in a pod right here

waiting for her people in the car rider line

She is one very loved puppy. And also one very mischievous puppy. Sometimes borderline psychotic, so she fits right in with the rest of our crazy bunch. Just last night she conned Rick into letting her on the bed while he was watching tv. I heard something fall onto the hardwood and walked in to find Rick passed out and that Griffin had demolished his glasses. 😐 Nothing on the floor is safe and really nothing within her reach is safe. She is a digger, a chewer, and a destroyer of All Things. But boy is she cute! And I can't lie and say I haven't smiled inside when it's been discovered that she's chewed up something that I've asked the kids to put away countless times. That's what we call natural consequences, kids. Now pick your freaking crap up! 

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In other news, our new house is coming right along. 

It's been really fun and exciting seeing it progress. We met with our builder today for the pre-drywall walk-through. It's intriguing seeing just how much detail goes into the construction of a home. It's still on schedule to be finished in about 2 1/2 months. They broke ground on Harrison's birthday last month and we drive by pretty much every day since it's only a mile away. The kids get so excited when they notice the progress. They started laying the stone today and I thought Harper was going to cry tears of joy. lol. She's all about home design and will be the first to tell you her favorite tv show is "the Chip & Joanna show". 😊 

Here are a few of the finishes we finally decided on. 

We chose hardwood flooring for all of the first floor except for the master bedroom, bathrooms, and laundry room. I'm a little nervous about the extra maintenance of hardwood in the kitchen but it's going to be beautiful. Our walls will be SW repose gray. Our kitchen cabinets will be white with a gray subway tile backsplash. The granite has a lot of gray but also ties in some warmer colors as well. We decided on oil-rubbed bronze fixtures and basin sink. 

Our master bath is going to be pretty modern and I'm excited to see it come together. The flooring will be a gray porcelain tile laid in a herringbone pattern. The cabinets will be an antique gray finish with granite countertops. And our shower will be a large white subway tile with pewter grout. It was so fun (but also kind of stressful!!) picking everything out!

We met with our realtor last week to get all our ducks in a row as far as listing our house. He's pretty confident it will sell quickly and we are trying to time it so we won't have to find temporary living arrangements and move all our stuff twice. If everything stays on schedule, the new house will completed in April so we agreed to list our current house mid-February. Cool, I thought. That gives us plenty of time to get the house in shape,I thought. I made a check-list of about 500 things I wanted us to do to get it perfect for showing. And then our realtor called us Thursday to let us know he had a couple of interested clients that wanted to look at it THAT DAY. Yeah, no. We were not yet in our-house-is-on-the-market-so-it-must-stay-clean-all-the-time mode yet and there was no way I was about to let people come see it yet. So we agreed on the next day and then Stacie and I pulled an all-nighter getting it deep cleaned and repainted and decluttered and staged. She is the best, y'all. I thanked her for her offer but told her I didn't need any help and she showed up anyway and insisted. (And I totally did need her help!) (Why am I always so stubborn?)

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And I'm going to post a few random pictures because they were taken within a week of this post. That's a record lately. 

This girl. Y'all. She is a hot mess. 

She was supposed to be our easy-going kid #3 baby. She is the opposite of easy-going. She is feisty like a firecracker. She brings me smiles and laughter and joy but she also leaves me feeling bone-tired at the end of the day. It is a full time job just following her around and keeping her out of mischief. She can now open doors and child-locked cabinets. One of her favorite things to do is open the door to the laundry room and dump out the dog's water. She also enjoys unfolding laundry, dumping out drawers, pulling all the clothes off her hangers, and playing in the dog's crate. She is a mama's girl and cries as soon as our babysitter walks through the door. She is possibly even more strong-willed than her brother...and that is no small feat. Homegirl wants everyone to know who's boss, that's for sure. 

But isn't she just the cutest???

Until you threaten to take away her ice cream cone, and then she's all I WILL CUT YOU.

Last weekend Harper and I had a date at a local tea room. It had been way too long since she and I got to sneak away for some one-on-one time. That morning we gave each other manicures and pedicures and helped with each others' makeup. I think getting ready was just as special to me as our date -- uninterrupted conversations with her are so precious.

all dolled up and ready for some tea!

Rebecca joined us too, of course

and a little hello from my grandma in heaven...she had this same china

It was a fancy affair...and she informed me that fancy affairs call for fancy high heels. So I bought her her very first pair and she was just too cute prancing and twirling around in them. By the time we got home she had already learned an important life lesson: that being a lady ain't easy.

Harper: Mommy, are you SURE my shoes aren't on the wrong feet? My toes feel all scrunched up and smushed and it's not comfortable to me at all.

Me: Welcome to the world of pretty shoes, sweet girl...