The Wyatt Family: Christmas 2014 (but most importantly... Oliver)

Here is a little bit about Christmas 2014. We made the decision to stay here in Frisco and not travel at all over the Christmas break. Thankfully, mom, dad, Craig, and Jacqueline were willing to make the trip down to spend Christmas with us. Mom and Dad got here on Christmas Eve and Craig and Jax got here on Christmas day. We had such a fun time eating, opening presents, and celebrating Christmas with each other. We absolutely love when Uncle Craig and Aunt Jax come and we get to spend time with them. It truly was a great Christmas.

But here is the real deal. This is what happened over Christmas that will go down in Wyatt history as one of the greatest days ever. Well... for Ava and Macy anyway. Here is the back story (sorry it's so long). They have been begging for a dog for years. Seriously. Years. I am not really a dog person. I don't hate dogs, but I don't love them either. I have been refusing to get my children a dog because I knew that it would be me, the non-lover of dogs, that would end up taking care of it. And the thought of being responsible for another living thing was daunting! Well.... I caved. I totally cracked. It took about 3 years but I gave in. It got to the point where the girls were becoming obsessed with wanting a puppy. It was all they would talk about. If we went to a pet store, Ava would leave in tears because she wanted to take one home so bad. Whenever they would go to a friends' house to play, I would have to talk to them about playing with the friend and not spending all of their time with the friends' dog. It was becoming a HUGE part of our life and discussions about dogs almost always ended with Ava in tears. On a couple of different occassions, we gave them the opportunity to "earn" a dog. We told them if they were good for so many days (no fighting with each other, disobeying, back talking, etc) then they could have a dog. Of course, they could never make it more than a day or so (which we totally knew and that is why we made the deal!) BUT... this past summer... one day I had totally had enough of the begging for a dog, so I sat them down and really talked with them about how I was SERIOUS about them earning a dog. If they could go 20 days without fighting with each other, they could get a dog. AND THEY DID IT! 20 days. I couldn't believe it. So then after 20 days the begging became intense. The fall was crazy for us with trips to Arkansas, soccer, etc. so I convinced them that Christmas would be the perfect time for a dog. And maybe they should just ask Santa because mom and dad are obviously taking their sweet time on finding them a dog.

Fast forward to a few weeks before Christmas. Ben and I are having the "are we really going to do this" conversation. They had fallen in love with a maltipoo at a local pet store. My #1 criteria for a dog was that it be a non-shedding dog. We also needed something small because our yard is really small and I didn't want to have to worry about a big dog with Aubrey since she is still little. So I began the search online for a maltipoo. I found a breeder in Oklahoma. After MANY emails back and forth with her, we found this little guy.

The breeder was not very accommodating as far as holding him until Christmas Eve so we made the decision to give him to the girls early. We gave it to them the Friday before Christmas which was their last day of school before the break. Ben drove to Oklahoma that day to pick him. Macy had karate that afternoon, so Ben took both of the girls to her karate while I stayed here and got everything ready. I put him in a box with a note from Santa that said he needed to bring this gift early. Needless to say, they were so excited and fell in love instantly. He is a really sweet dog. He rarely barks, doesn't shed, and LOVES being right in the mix of all 3 girls. We are still working on the potty training. I should probably just commit myself to the house for a few days and knock out potty training Aubrey and the dog all at once! Here are a few pics of little Oliver (aka Ollie).