Meet Frank

Well, y'all.  We did it. 

Mason has been in LOVE with dachshunds for what feels like EVER (i.e. his weenie dog birthday dinner last year) and we decided to take the plunge and get him a little buddy for his 13th birthday. 

Meet Frankfurter McAnally - Frank for short ;)

He's a 3-lb dapple mini dachshund who couldn't be cuter if he tried!

Dave and I started tossing around the idea of a new puppy back in the Fall.  I've been reading up on the breed, figuring out what gender would be best to add to our little pack, refreshing on puppy training, etc.  We had been going back on forth on when would be the right time.... Did we wait until summer, go for it during Spring break, etc.  

While I would have loved to surprise Mason on his actual birthday (4/16) timing that was problematic based on when a puppy would be ready to go home, our schedules, etc. but we figured that early was better than giving him an "I.O.U" on his birthday for a future friend ;) 

Ultimately we had a little guy fall right into our lap and couldn't say no so NOW it was.  

I picked Frank up on Thursday afternoon and was immediately like OH MY WORD this puppy is TEENY!!  He's a miniature dachshund and we knew he was 3 lbs but that's hard to put into perspective until you're holding them.  He was a little nervous and he snuggled right up into my neck and I smelled his puppy breath and it was HEAVEN.

I brought him to my parents house for the afternoon and he settled in pretty quickly ;)   I headed back to school and the after school hustle and all of that and then home to get dinner started...

We told my kids that my parents were going to come over for dinner that night (not unusual) and when they got there Dave and I headed outside and as we went out front we told the kids to come out and say hi as well.  

Mason came out and his reaction was everything you may be thinking it would have been.  The kids said they "knew" what was happening since they saw me with my camera outside and I was acting "weird" - hahaha. What can I say - I'm NOT a good secret keeper ;)

Look at those tears!

We spent the rest of the evening getting to know Frank and introducing him to everyone...

... including Rosie and Jack Bauer.

Rosie was VERY excited to have someone to play with and Frank was pretty intimidated (he weighs 3 lbs and she's 198 so it's not surprising) and so we kept it pretty contained and low key.

The whole evening was pretty darn exhausting...

But none of us were ready to go to bed ;)

The first night we had Frank's crate in our bedroom next to our bed but covered with a towel.  He was pretty sad for about 25 minutes, but then settled right down and slept until 6 am.  Since then we've moved his crate out into his "playpen" type area and he cried for about 5 minutes the second night and none since then.  We operate on a cycle of nap, potty, active play and then "rest time".  If we're home we let him be in this whole enclosed area...

 

... and if we're out he goes in the crate.  He's been SUPER compliant and easy - he doesn't mind being in the little playpen area and will take his own naps in the bed surrounded by toys ;)

We're all pretty enamored with Frank the Tank...

... and are looking forward to lots of adventures with our little motley crew.

I'm sure there will be lots more Frank updates in the future, but if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments ;). 

HAPPY Monday, friends!!!