the puppy

the thrift stores in our town like to give the kids that come in free stuffed animals. dirty. smelly. nasty. animals. we HATE this and often times will leave the animals behind on a shelf somewhere because we don't need 5 new stuffed animals every weekend! (shhh....don't tell them) well, this past weekend one of those well-meaning ladies cornered the little dude with a box of nasty stuffies and told him to pick one for himself AND his baby brother. great. the little dude picked a very bright yellow puppy for himself and a panda bear for his brother. then we headed off to the next shop. 

at the next shop the little dude found the plastic dog carrier above. it's pretty small and the perfect size for his new, beloved puppy. the problem: it was NASTY. i'm not talking a little nasty, i'm talking pet hair and pet "fluids" inside. it was obvious some little kid was allowed to put some sort of real animal inside. of course, the little dude could not leave the store without it. it didn't have a price on it so we took it to the front and asked for a price. the lady said 75 cents. (i think she gave us a deal because he was so cute carrying it around) the little dude whipped out his little wallet and gave the lady the money for his glorious pet carrier. 

when we got home, we immediately threw the stuffed animals in the washing machine while the boys took their naps. then we put the pet carrier in the empty dishwasher on the hottest, heaviest cycle possible because neither of us were touching it with our bare hands. i must admit, that filthy carrier came out sparkling! a little goo gone for a few scuffs that didn't come off in the washer, and it was like a brand new toy! i couldn't wait for the little dude to wake up and see it. 

when he woke up, he was ecstatic to say the least. as we put the puppy into the carrier it was decided that the puppy needed a pillow. i took the little dude up to the baby's room where we pulled out the basket of his old receiving blankets. low and behold there was a set of 3 puppy themed blankets! the little dude picked the one with little paw prints and the words "puppy love". i measured the carrier and whipped up a mini pillow to fit. 

after it was sewn the little dude took his turn stuffing it. 

the final pillow in the carrier. 

and "puppy love" (what he named the puppy) trying out his new pillow. (i told you he was BRIGHT yellow) 

and puppy love peaking out through his carrier.

after these photos were taken it was also decided that he needed a blanket. we took the extra fabric from the receiving blanket and made a little blanket too. the carrier now sits at the side of the little dude's bed so that they can take naps together. i cannot even begin to tell you how much he LOVES this puppy and carrier. he carries it with him everywhere and takes care of the puppy as if it were his baby. sometimes it really is the little things that mean so much to children. 75 cents of pure joy.