Hi, friends! I am excited to introduce you to our newest family member, Bruce Wayne. He is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and just turned 9.5 weeks old! He joined our family 1.5 weeks ago and we are quite smitten with him. In case you don’t follow me on Instagram, you may not know that our sweet Howie Boy passed away in March. He was in an accident in January, seemed to recover fully, yet then passed away suddenly in his sleep. We were all heartbroken, of course. When I told the breeder the news, she was equally as heartbroken given how young he was and offered to send us another puppy from her next litter. She is seriously the sweetest, most genuinely kind person. Nevertheless, we debated it for quite a while. I mean, a toddler, a baby, and a new puppy? Yikes. It seemed like an overwhelming amount of work, especially considering Howie was finally emerging from the puppy stage. We weren’t sure if we were up for that task again!

However, our dearest friends here in Anchorage had fallen in love with Howie so much so that they decided to get a puppy from our same breeder. The wheels were in motion and we decided to get siblings together! My sweet friend took a redeye to Boise to pick the puppies up. It is so fun to have puppies together for playdates and vet appointments! Last week we all joined for a veterinary appointment and it was mayhem: four children, two puppies, two frazzled mamas, one screaming baby. Such fun!

So far, his personality is a perfect match for our family. He is outgoing, independent, loves food, and super snuggly. We are still working on the puppy biting, which is hard with a baby. He doesn’t really seem to know exactly what Magnolia is; a puppy, a human, a humping toy? Hmmm. He is getting better though and loves to ride with her in her stroller! Be prepared to see lots of Bruce from now on:) He now has his own hashtag on Instagram, #BigBruceyBoy!

(Photography by Kristian Irey)