Favorites on Friday -- puppy breath

I warned everyone on my personal Facebook earlier this week that I would soon become one of those people. The kind who inundate you with photos of their pets and updates on every naughty little thing they do and general big-eyed photographic adorableness, because we just got word early Wednesday morning that on a farm near Harrisburg, our puppy had been born. I have been waiting for this like a pregnancy, since the loss of our beloved Jonah in January. There has been no time in my life that I have been without a Newf for this long, and it has left such a hole in our family. It seemed serendipitous that we found a farm called Opening Heavens Doors, with lots of kids, fainting goats and in-house Newfs that are bred but are pets/members of the family first. That they were expecting puppies this spring, when our grief might not be so fresh, seemed perfect. And now he's here. 

So prepare, blog followers, Facebook friends, and Twitter fans to be inundated with puppy updates and photos as though we have just had a fourth, very hairy kid.

LOOK AT THIS. Two days old, the most beautiful little bruiser and already loaded with Newfy smoochiness. 

Sometime in early June, hopefully in time for J's birthday, he will come home to our family, for a lifetime of couch lounging, pond-mucking, nature walking, and ridiculous canine spoilage. 

The Name...

We're in the process of choosing a name. In order to narrow it down, we decided to stick with the Biblical. Not because we're so churchy, but because his predecessor was Jonah.

Feel free to vote by leaving a comment either here or on my Facebook author page for the best name:

1.) Sampson-- Hayden actually picked this out years ago, saying one day he would like to have a Newf puppy named Sampson, and how it would be so appropriate since he would be hairy and strong. Drawback--the natural nickname for this is also the name of one of Hayden's buddies/hockey teammates.

2.) Levi -- because that's what that hot, nude hummin' and drummin' Matthew McConaughey named his kid. 

And also, a great nickname would be The General Lee. If you know us, well, you know the Hoffmans love us some nicknames. I can't count how many variations on the woman's name Margaret our son Max answers to--Maggie, Marge, Marjene, Marjorie... Bring on your ridiculous gender-bender nail polish controversy J. Crew. 

3.) Noah -- we were all originally drawn to this because of its similar consonants and sounds to Jonah. And because as a water rescue dog, a Newf could save you in a flood. But there are obvious drawbacks, like the fact that the first syllable sounds exactly like a word I might scream if I saw one of my boys chasing the other with the pneumatic nail gun. (This never happens.)

So bring it on--I want to hear your vote! And prepare yourselves, do whatever you need to do, block me from your feed, unfriend me, or if you want more, SUBSCRIBE, because the level of puppy cuteness around here is about to get downright silly.