Special Delivery!

Daisy, our faithful chocolate lab dog, had pups this past weekend and what an excited bunch of kids we have in our house! After a very long day on Friday, she had 11 very cute chocolate pups.

Thursday night, Ben let Daisy inside and was trying to feel her tummy too see how big the pups were and if he could feel any of them moving. All four kids were fascinated with this.

Friday morning, Daisy went into labor. Chloe discovered the first pup around 10:30 a.m. and came inside screaming with excitement to tell me the news.

We had her in the garage in her whelping box where she labored ALL DAY LONG (12+ hours). Leah loved to keep a close watch.

It was fascinating to see Leah's reaction to the pups. If anyone knows my twins well, they know that Leah is very sensitive, high strung and anxious, and Lexi is laid back and mellow and tolerates almost anything. Months ago, Leah would scream and start to cry when Daisy would come up to the back door and she'd see her through the sliding glass door. Within the last few weeks, she has done a complete 360 and loves looking for Daisy outside and will go to the back door and call for her. When Ben would bring her inside to check her tummy, Leah would be the first one to run over and pet her. I love the look of excitement on her face in the above picture.

Leah was absolutely fascinated with the pups and had no anxiety with them whatsoever. She even climbed in the box once when we weren't looking. She could not get enough of the brown balls of fur.

Daisy with 6 of the pups- halfway done with delivery.

I finally brought Lexi out and she was very hesitant and apprehensive about the pups, much to my surprise. While Leah was practically living in the box, Lexi always stayed behind her, tentatively peeking in the box at a distance.

All the pup watching wore her out, and she had to relax on a chair (she was still watching, though). Hard work to birth pups, isn't it Leah?

Leah's favorite thing was to go over to the front of the box, lean over and say in a sweet voice, "Hi!"

Her other favorite thing was to reach in and pet the pups. She was in heaven all day long.

As Leah tries to sneak into the box again, notice Lexi in the background, watching from the safe distance of her chair.

Brave enough to lean forward and take a closer peek.

If Leah thought it was great to look at the pups in the box, she was in for a real treat the first time she got to hold one.

She's only 17 months, but she knew just what to do. And LOVED it.

She picked the puppy up and kissed him, all on her own. It was so sweet.

Daisy with 9 of the pups.

Leah had to get another quick holding session in before bed.

Earlier in the day I tried to get Lexi to hold a pup and she starting panicking and crying immediately, but Ben slowly eased her into it later that evening and showed her there was nothing to be afraid of.

She quickly found out how fun it was.

Mitchell and Chloe begged about every hour, all weekend long, to hold a pup.

Chloe is our puppy pro- she has been alive for all 5 of Daisy's litters.

Here is Chloe at 2 1/2 with our first litter of pups. I love this picture of her. She adored those pups and named all of them "Choco" (short for Chocolate). She loved on those pups all summer long until the last one was sold.

She would sit outside for hours and hold them and play with them.

She especially loved when they were old enough to run and really play with.

Even with 4 kids now, 11 pups is more than enough to keep everyone in the family happy. These pups will get lots of love until they go to their new homes in a few months.