Hi, everyone! It's Kat - - a.k.a. Maggie's Mom ;-) This is my first blog, so here goes . . .

First, I want to thank Steve for creating this blog. I re-read it every day and have to wipe away the tears each time. In just over a week Maggie has brought tons of love and happiness to our home and hearts. I hope she knows how much we love her.

It's official, Steve and I are "Yuppy Puppy Parents". We scrutinize every food label, inspect every toy, watch every episode of the "Dog Whisperer", and have spent countless hours researching everything from potty training to natural pet shampoo. We eat take-out, but Maggie only eats organic!

Speaking of dog food, I want to thank our friends Pam and Heather for introducing us to Kriser's Pet Supplies (http://www.kriserspetsupplies.com/). I went there the day we got Maggie and was so overwhelmed I felt like crying. The staff quickly came to my aid and I left that day with a bag full of samples so we could read the labels, and Maggie could decide what she liked. They have wonderful pet products, and a helpful and a dedicated staff. The folks at Petco were also very kind. Because Maggie is a rescue dog they gave me a special coupon book full of savings off the necessities.

I also want to thank everyone for all the gifts for Maggie. We are lucky to have so many friends and family members who love Maggie (and us!).

Some of you are probably wondering why we don't buy our sweet Maggie a real bed to sleep on instead of the towels you see in every photo. Well, we did. We bought her a big, overstuffed bed for her to enjoy. I wanted to curl up and take a nap on that bed. However, Maggie hated the bed, so it was returned. We're still searching for the perfect bed for our couch potato.

Maybe when we find the perfect bed it will help Maggie get a good night of sleep. Maggie doesn't sleep well. At night she sleeps on the floor next to me and every time I wake up to take a peek at her (easy to do now that I've had Lasik) she's awake. When she does finally fall asleep she wakes me up crying out due to bad dreams and I have to get up to comfort her. It breaks my heart.

Today after work I took Maggie for a long walk around the neighborhood. She did great and looked so cute as the snow flurries accumulated on her (especially on her Andy Rooney eyebrows)! She walked right next to me and when passing other dogs Maggie looked straight ahead and kept on walking. She's such a good girl!

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading about Maggie!