Paisley Ann Turns One!

My sweet Paisley Ann turned a year old on May 8th, but since I was stressed to the max with commencement prep at the time, we celebrated her birthday yesterday!

I had originally planned on having a big party with all of Paisley's human friends, but with so much going on at church, work, and in our family, we thought it was best with just the five of us. It worked out perfectly!

Earlier in the week, I picked up some princess hats, noisemakers and birthday gifts and had them all ready to go around noon. After church, my Dad whipped up some pimento cheese sandwiches and potato chips, while Paisley got some special doggie birthday cookies!

At first, she wasn't quite sure what to think of them, but quickly decided they were just her style!

We even made her a spot at the table for this special occasion!

My Mom was so sweet and picked up Gigi's cupcakes for the four of us to eat! 

We enjoyed a chocolate chip cheesecake, birthday cake, Cola Chocolate, and Italian Cream cupcake, all piled high with icing. They were SO good!

How cute is this one!?

After enjoying her doggie treats, Paisley spent the afternoon modeling her new pink collar and playing with a new toy. 

She might be just a little bit spoiled....

Happy Birthday Paisley Ann! We love you!

As always, Have a Sweet Day!

A Paisley Birthday Party!

I can hardly believe that in a few short weeks my Goldendoodle Paisley is going to be one year old!

It seems like just yesterday we were making the 10-hour trip to pick her up and bring her home...

and now she's all grown up!

As a huge lover of birthdays, cake and ice cream, and my Doodle's biggest fan, I can't imagine not celebrating this exciting day!

After chatting with Paisley about it, and asking my parents what they thought, we've decided we're going to have a small birthday party at our house, with all of Paisley's favorite human friends!

This puppy party wouldn't be complete without a fun outfit for Pais, cute cupcakes, snacks and invitations! Just make sure you RSVP! 

Her actual birthday is on May 8th, but since that falls on a Wednesday, and I'll be prepping for commencement, we're looking at either May 4th or May 19th! 

A few items of inspiration:

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Saying that I'm excited would be an understatement!

It's going to be the puppy party of the year!

As always, Have a Sweet Day!

A Paisley Update!

While I'm off in Atlanta "Making Things Happen," I thought I'd give you an update on my favorite little ray of sunshine, Paisley!

I cannot believe that Paisley is 5 months old already! It seems like just yesterday we were driving all those hours to go and pick up this little ball of fur!

Wasn't she the sweetest thing?!

Paisley has been doing great at our house, enjoying her new bed...

 Meeting new doggie friends at Music for Mutts at the park...

And getting her first hair cut yesterday!

Before

 After

She's even getting excited for Halloween, when she'll be dressing up as a Rufferee!

As always, Have a Sweet Day!

Puppies: The Good, The Bad, & The Hilarious

As any dog-owner knows, there are many things that come along with getting a new puppy. You gain a wonderful companion, some very sharp teeth and a whole lot of patience. These are just a few of the things that Paisley has taught me over the past month.

I've divided some of my new experiences into three different categories: The Good, The Bad and The Hilarious (you know those times you can't help but laugh)!

The Good:

-I love that Paisley knows I'm her owner. I can call her name once from the other end of the house and she will come running to me! Even though I hate leaving her to go to work, it's worth her excited reaction as soon as I get home! 

-I love that when she's not quite sure about something, (like loud noises) she hides behind my legs. It's like she knows I'm there to protect her.

-I love how she looks when she's sleeping! How could you resist this little face?!

-I love that she loves to lay in my bed with me and she wants to be right up against me!

-I love knowing that someone is depending on me and needs me.

The Not-So-Good:

-My normal sleep schedule is now non-existent. To tell you the truth, sleep in general is non-existent.

-She doesn't like to listen to me when we're outside.

-When she tears a huge hole in the living room carpet.

-When she uses the bathroom in the house when you're trying to tend to said hole.

-When she bites your legs, arms, hair, etc...basically anything she can get her mouth on. I know this is a puppy thing, but it's painful!

-When she tries to get into the cat's litter box

The Hilarious:

-When she wrestled my Mom's topiary tree to the ground. I found her in the living room with fake leaves all over her mouth.

-When she runs up to our cat and licks his face

-When she wants to watch TV with my Dad

Paisley has only been with us for a month, but has already made a huge impact on our lives, especially mine. She's my little princess! Happy 3 month birthday to my sweet girl today!

Presenting Paisley!

Happy Fourth of July everyone! 
In honor of today's post about Paisley, I wanted to show off her Fourth of July bow that my sweet friend Kim made for her!

Tomorrow I'll be talking about what my family did for the Fourth, as well as Kim's how-to for making these cute bows!

For all of you that have been waiting to see pictures of Paisley and read how everything went last Saturday, the post is finally here!

On Friday around 6pm, my Mom, Dad and I started on our 275-mile trip to Murphy, North Carolina. This is where we would be staying for the night, before picking up Paisley the next day! Much of our LONG drive looked like this!

We didn't get to our hotel room until around 10:30 that night, needless to say I was exhausted, nervous and so excited. I tried my hardest to sleep, but ended up waking up multiple times during the night.

The next morning we left the Holiday Inn in Murphy, had lunch and then drove 20 minutes to a little town called Blairsville. We were finally in Georgia! I don't know why, but the closer we got, the more nervous I was! I was just praying that everything would go perfectly. 

We arrived at the local Walmart (where we were picking up Paisley) and I finally got to see my sweet girl. I have never been so happy in my life. All my worries disappeared and tears of joy ran down my face as soon as I saw her. I just couldn't believe she was really mine! My Mom held her for a little while while the breeder and I got all the paper work completed.

I packed Paisley's bag the night before with everything that I could think of that we might need! Fresh water, bowls, bed, toys, leash, etc. She fell in love with her bed immediately and did a lot of this on the way home...

and this...

and this...

We could not have asked for a better driving experience! Seeing this precious dog made all the research, the happiness, the tears, the ups the down, and the money completely worth it. She is like my little shadow, and I'm absolutely loving watching her learn and grow!

A Puppy Shopping Trip!

On Wednesday of this week, I had the entire day off & saw this as the perfect opportunity to make a puppy supply run! I've been making all types of lists lately, one of them consisting of must-have items for when the puppy arrives at our house. All I needed to do was find a good time to go, and Wednesday happened to be it!

I left around lunch ready to take PetSmart by storm, little did I know my plan would change a little bit. I walked in and took a lap around the store looking for someone that worked there to help me. That someone was nowhere to be found! I was about to make some big purchases and I needed someone to answer all my questions. I was overwhelmed and just didn't feel right. About that time, my Mom's best friend Tammy walked in the store's door. I told her my situation, and she suggested that I try another pet store nearby called Pet Supplies Plus. Thank goodness for Tammy!

Yall, this place was the answer to my prayers!

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I scooted on over to PSP and was greeted by a nice man who worked there. I told him my situation, that I was getting a new puppy and that I needed a lot of help. This sweet man, Michael (we're on a first-name basis now haha) walked with me up and down every aisle in the store. He was amazing! He gave me advice, answered every question, and tried his best to tell me about products that would be great for Paisley, as well as sticking to my budget. Ah-maz-ing!

I almost asked him to take a picture with me, but I know I'll be shopping there from now on, so I'll get it next time! Thanks Michael!

Paisley's Loot:

Her very own crate:

iCrate Large Dog Crate

Her new bed!

Our cat Booey even had fun trying it out!

Her toys and food accessories:

Paisley's food:

Innova Large Breed Puppy Food

All I've got to say is, Miss Paisley is a lucky dog! 

She even has a personalized box for her things at our house!

Also, I'm guest posting for Lauren at The Merry Mrs. Mobley while she's vacationing to the beach! Stop by her fabulous blog today & find out my five favorite activities to do while I'm at the beach!

I'm On Puppy Alert!

Since early yesterday morning, I have been so excited to tell you all about a BIG change in my doggie situation! We just might have a Goldendoodle puppy headed our way very soon, like a few weeks soon, like I need to save up A LOT of money in a short amount of time soon!

Are you getting my drift?!

I questioned publishing this because I don't know absolutely, 100% yet if this dog is going to be mine, but I figured if this blog was going to document my life, I wanted to have this exciting/anxious experience recorded!

I'll start from the beginning:

The Situation:

I have been looking into getting a Goldendoodle puppy for months now. Since this past February, to be more specific. Many of you have read and listened to me month after month, and have been so supportive of all the high and low moments of this dog-searching experience. I thank you for that. The way the situation stood, I had found a breeder that I liked. She didn't have puppies now, but we were hoping for some in December.

The Present:

On Monday around noon, I got on Facebook and saw that a girl that I know from school had Goldendoodle puppies for sale, along with pictures of 5 male puppies! I didn't even know she had a Goldendoodle?! Insert Melody jumping around and freaking out! I immediately commented on the post saying I was interested and asking the price and what was available. She then sent me a message with general information about the dogs and how to get in touch with her mom, if I was interested. Even though they didn't have any females in the photos, I thought that I would still pursue it just to see. It turns out my friend's dog Boomer is the father of the litter!

Meet Boomer! 

I contacted the girl's mother to inquire about the puppies and heard from her first thing yesterday morning. If you've read my tweets lately, you've been following along with all this! She informed me that the litter started with 9 puppies, 5 boys and 4 girls. They are the standard size F2b Doodles, by Goldendoodle standards. Boomer (English Goldendoodle) mated with a female (F1b Goldendoodle) named Mame!

Meet the parents!

 I was ecstatic to find out that they actually had two females left, along with two males. 

Meet a few of the boys!

There was another family that contacted her before me (that also wanted a female), so they will get to pick which one they want of the two, then if everything works out, the other female will be mine! 

Meet the girls!

I think they are both beautiful! I can't wait to hear which one the other family picks!

As you can see from the picture, one of the girls is a little smaller than the other. We love this one! Since this is a standard Goldendoodle (which grow to be fairly large dogs), we are hoping for the smaller one, though we love them both!

I mailed my deposit for the dog this morning. They will be ready in a little less than a month. 

This is real. 

Thanks so much for being a part of this journey with me! If you don't like hearing about puppies, being a dog-mom and the like, I would turn back now. Haha.

Follow me on Twitter for updates & cross your fingers for me!