Over the past 7 years, we've lived in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maryland, Daniel completed his Master's Program and has a wonderful job; in 2016 we moved to Maryland with our girls, Lemon and Dulcita, who love romping around the 2.5 acres and wading in the pond, I've taken a sabbatical from teaching and nanny for a wonderful family, and, lastly, have acquired a barn cat, Mr. Mew, and three chooks, Lucy, Mary Read & Anne Bonney. 
Phew... i did it! I actually summarized!
(Please don't check my punctuation... I've never been good at commas vs semi-colons, lol)
Yesterday was a super exciting day for us so we made a little video to share the good news!
View here or below!
So, we're now a family of 9 and couldn't be happier!
We started fostering Bjorn (originally Dagwood) 4.11.19 from Last Chance Animal Rescue. He was a part of a larger transport from a high kill shelter in Mississippi. We volunteered at their foster-to-adopt events, never intending to bring a foster pup home. At the end of the event, there were only 5 out of 29 pups left and this little guy didn't have a litter mate to keep him company while he was waiting for his forever home at the rescue. At first, he was just to stay overnight to give him a break from a crate but then that turned into a week, two weeks, and the longer he was here, the more joy he brought us and the girls.
Our hearts were getting closer and closer to making him permanent family but we knew we needed to make sure we were doing the right thing by him and the girls. Bjorn is a Plott Hound Mix, the official state dog of North Carolina. Since his lineage was bred in Appalachia to track and tree bears, wild boar, raccoons, and mountain lions (read more about them here), we knew we needed better skills to handle such a large, loyal, and powerful dog, plus make sure Lemon and Dulcita were up to a new addition too. We found a wonderful trainer, Autumn, and she came to the house to teach us how we can best meet all the pups' needs. This was truly empowering and gave us the confidence and skills we needed to make this a wonderful home for all three. We still have a lot to learn (humans are harder to train than pups!) but we're up for the challenge. The joy both Lemon and Dulcita get from their new baby brother is amazing... Lemon's anxiety has decreased and sweet Dulcita has a pond buddy. We're so thankful for all three.
Thanks for sharing in our joy with the addition to our little DnA pack! Now, who's coming over to meet him? :)
Happiest of Mother's Day to all of the inspirational, courageous, kind, and resilient women in our lives. You inspire me to be a better mama to our furred and feathered babies. Maybe next year we'll have an announcement of the human kind! ;)
Until then, all our love and admiration, Ashley-Anne, Daniel, Lemon,
Dulcita, Bjorn, Mr. Mew, Lucy, Anne Bonney, and Mary Read.
PS. Bjorn is Swedish for Bear ;)
