" Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." -Roger Caras

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to have a dog. To have her running to me as I walk through the door. To have her licking my face as her most sincere expression of love. To have her make even the gloomiest days more cheerful.

This Thanksgiving actually felt like Christmas. After years and years of begging, my life was made whole with the newest addition to the family. Bolinha, a three-month old Bichon Frise, came as the best surprise to my sister, my brother, and me. We were distractedly putting up the Christmas tree when my dad walked in the house, gleefully asking us to pose for a picture around the tree. Not thinking much of it, I started making my way to the front of the tree as he went back to the porch and brought in a small pink crate.

The next five minutes looked a lot like this:

With a side of this:

And a huge sprinkle of this:

After the cheering and the crying had subsided, the questions came. Is she really ours? Is this a joke? What are we going to name her? How did this happen? There was a state of confusion in the air as our dog-fearing mom opened her arms and welcomed her new furry child. I never thought I would see the day my mom would be won over by a puppy. Actually, that goes for both my parents. My dad, not the biggest fan of having an animal in the house, says that when he went to pick one out, she was the one who came running to him. "I didn't choose her, she chose me," he told us.

Her name came from her food bowl. It says "Princess" on it, so naturally, my mom suggested that to be her name. Not wanting something common, however, we decided against it. Her bowl is also decorated with polka dots. The lightbulb went off in my sister's head as she suggested the name "Bolinha," which means "polka dot" in Portuguese, our first language. It was an immediate success and the name naturally stuck.

I can easily say that the day Bolinha came into the picture was the best day of my life. She was by far the best present I've ever gotten as well. There is a long journey ahead of us as far as training goes. We want to make sure she is raised well, knowing where to potty and what not to chew on, but most importantly, we want to give her enough love to spare. My heart breaks every time I have to say goodbye to her before leaving the house or going to bed. It breaks even more when she has to stay in her crate and cries for me to get her out. But that's nothing compared to the amount of joy in my heart when she's bouncing (yes, bouncing, not running) around me playing with her toy monkey or chew toy.

I cannot wait to do life with my new furry companion. My family is officially a family of six, and I wouldn't have it any other way.