Meet Sammy

(EDIT: I added 4 more pictures at the bottom. Video coming soon)

Okay, I know this will probably come as a big surprise; but, we did what we have peace about and decided to jump into. So, I would like to introduce Sammy, the newest member of our family!

Sammy (Samantha) is an 11 week old dachsund mix (mixed with hound?) we fell for this weekend. She has the sweetest personality--I'm serious! :) She is so friendly to all people and other dogs. She follows us around everywhere and was sooooo excited when we got home and put her down in the kitchen. She ran back and forth between us licking and licking and wagging her tail for several minutes. She LOVES our backyard, and right now she's already zonked! Of course, I know she won't stay zonked, but she does nap for good, long rest periods.

Matt and I were out running errands yesterday, and Matt will take the "blame" for insisting that he wasn't looking for a dog but just wanted to drop by PetSmart. Well, we took one look at this sweet little girl and knew we had a big decision to make. They were going to close down for the day, so we had the night and this morning to keep praying about it and thinking about it. Every other time we've gone, I've felt a strong "NO" in my spirit, even when I LOVED the dog. This time, it was like God opened the door and said it was just up to us whether or not to walk through. It was a matter of weighing the issues and deciding if this was something we wanted to do right now. We weighed the monetary costs and the time costs (including getting up on weekends), as well as my prior concern about not having a dog when we have a baby. I realized that if we waited until our youngest child was in elementary school to have a dog, my dear husband would be waiting a very long time for a dog. So, maybe it's justifying it, but I did want to take that into account. He reallllllllly wanted a dog. I wanted to be realistic about what I was asking of him if I stuck with my "kids before dogs" stance. Now, I don't mean to make it sound like it was all Matt. I wanted a dog too, but we both had concerns and "best case scenarios" in our minds. This is what we chose!

Matt said he didn't think she looked much like a "Sadie" (the name we had picked out for whatever dog we picked whenever we picked one). I asked him about Samantha, Sammy for short. He really liked that, so, Sammy it is. Between her name and her blue color and leash, I'm sure people will think she's a boy, but oh well. :)

Her ears and eyes are very dachsund-like, but her snout is much thicker and more like a hound (it doesn't taper like a dachsund's). Her torso is a little extra long :), but it's not shaped like a dachsie's, and her legs are longer than a dachsie's. Her brother and sister who were still at PetSmart (one of them was also going home by the time we finished up) looked more like dachsies as far as their color (the reddish color) and snouts. But the adoption lady said with mixes, they can end up looking nothing alike, and Sammy definitely looks different than her siblings. They said she shouldn't get bigger than 30 lbs.

So, there you have it so far. I'll be sure to let you know how the first night goes. ;) If I'm extra tired, you'll know why. :) We can't wait for Sammy to meet everyone!

Love,
Becca, Matt, & Sammy