You heard it right, folks. A new addition to my family. And it’s a girl. Courtney’s parents have been busy painting the nursery. They couldn’t decide whether to do a princess theme, animal theme, underwater theme, or unicorn themed room. “How about we let the dog decide,” Courtney suggested, “good idea,” her dad said. He laid out 4 colors; pink for princess theme, yellow for animal theme, blue for underwater theme, and purple for unicorn theme. I looked at the colors. I ruled out animals. It just doesn’t seem right for a girls room. Princess theme was good, so I kept that in mind. I ruled out underwater theme as well.

I don’t know about you, but too much blue gives me an eyesore. That just leaves unicorn and princess. I think princess was the best, so I touched the pink color.

“Princess theme it is,” Courtney’s dad exclaimed. “No fair,” Liam pouted, “Dinosaur theme would’ve been better.” Liam stuck out his bottom lip. Like I said in the last book, we don’t always get what we want. Courtney’s parents ascended back to the nursery. (They didn’t actually ascend. I just used figurative language. 🐾) I followed Courtney back to her room and sat on her bed. I can’t believe it! A new human. If I had hands, I would make something to honor the new baby.

Dear diary, Courtney’s parents finally finished the nursery and it looks great! The baby is gonna love it. At least I hope so. I’m so excited to be her fluffy companion. I’ll be there with her every step of the way. Liam wasn’t too thrilled about his new baby sister, though. He said he wanted a brother and that girls were all Barbies and bows which was very wrong. My Courtney hasn’t touched a Barbie since she was…okay, she still plays with dolls, but that was very rude! Well, Cya tomorrow, diary. With love, Max

Girls are so boring!

Dear diary, just 6 more days until my new owner is born! At doggy daycare, Matt, one of the workers, took us on a field trip. We went to the dog park. It was so fun. But of course, Francis had to make it miserable. “That’s not how you’re supposed to run,” she said to me one million times. I wanted to say, Shut up, but I just ignored her. “ Hello, beagle boy, I’m talking to you,” she said. I didn’t really care. 6 days until my new owner is born. I didn’t have time to be angry or annoyed. I just kept smiling the whole day! We went back to the doggy daycare for pickup. That was all that happened today. (P.S, Liam was still annoyed 😒)

Dear, Diary, 5 more days until my new owner is born! Today at doggy daycare we went outside. Lots of the dogs were playing with the toys, but Francis wouldn’t leave me alone. She’s obsessed with me! “Beagle boy!?’ She asked. “He clearly doesn’t want to talk to you,” Cupcake chimed in, “Now go away.” Francis stuck up her nose and left. “Thanks Cupcake,” I said to her. “No problem,” she replied, “I’ll consider us being friends.” If you didn’t already know, Cupcake is my crush. She is just so magical. At home, Liam was sitting in the corner. Apparently, he messed up the nursery trying to get them to change it to astronaut theme. That boy is something else.

Dear Diary, Liam finally accepted the fact that the baby is a girl. Character development is real, I tell you. “At least Courtney won’t come to me asking to braid my hair,” he said. I’m very excited for the baby! In just four days, a new owner will be home! Courtney’s parents decided to put up pictures in the nursery. The room was finally complete. That night, I decided to sleep in there. I needed to get used to the room.

Dear Diary, three days until the baby is born! Lots of stress burned throughout the house. A package came and it took almost three hours to construct. When it was done, it resembled a playpen. I didn’t realize how late it was until I saw the clock, It was already 6:00. I had dry dog food for dinner, and then went to bed. Big day tomorrow!

 My girl dinner: 

Dear Diary, today me, Courtney, and Courtney’s dad took me to the pet store. They said I could pick anything that would keep me occupied while they managed the baby. I picked up the same toy Francis didn’t let me play with in doggy daycare. It wasn’t 323$, it was only 6! That liar! I also got a bone chew toy, a basketball squeaky toy, and a giant bone. “Alright, Max,” Courtney said to me, “give me your toys so we can check out.” The employee scanned our items, “Please come back to Petworld,” he said. He put the items in a plastic bag and gave them to us. I’m so excited for my new owner to come! “Just 2 days,” I told myself.

Dear Diary, today Courtney’s parents went to the hospital. Me, Courtney, and Liam went to the neighbors house. The neighbor’s names were Mr. And Mrs. DuKuster. They had 3 children, a steak in the oven, and a cat. I HATE cats! They ruin everything. Once I saw the cat, I started barking. “Easy there, Max,” Courtney said. “Leave Fluffytailgraysonhenry alone!,” the youngest child said. “Dude!,” the other kid said, “that’s not his name. It’s Judo!” I didn’t care what his name was, I just wanted him to get out! Although, to be fair, this was his house. I stopped barking after realizing that.

“You kiddos are in great hands,” Mr. DuKuster exclaimed. “But dad,” the youngest kid whined, “where are they gonna sleep?” Mr. DuKuster gave him a comforting smile. “Courtney can sleep in my room!,” the girl volunteered, “We can paint our nails, watch a scary movie, and drink boba!” Courtney seemed all peppy. “Good idea, Bonnie,” Courtney exclaimed. The two girls excitedly ran into the house. “You can sleep in my room, I guess,” the oldest said. “Don’t come in my room,” the youngest child said, “It has all my private things in there!” The oldest kid rolled his eyes, “Like what?” He asked, “dirty underwear and gummy

bear wrappers?” I walked inside and found Courtney painting her nails with Bonnie. “Hey, Max!” Bonnie exclamed

My tail started to wag. At least they didn’t waste all of their attention on the cat. I went to the corner of the room and took a nap. When I woke up, it was dinner time! “Who wants to come with me to get Max’s food?” Courtney exclaimed. “I‘ll go!,” Bonnie said. “You come as well, Liam,” Courtney said, “you need to get your stuff packed.” Courtney grabbed my leash and we headed out the door. It wasn’t that dark outside, luckily.

When we arrived, Courtney grabbed her key and swiftly unlocked the door. She grabbed a big bag of dry dog food and went back out. “Don’t leave me!” Liam called from upstairs. He came back down with his dinosaur backpack, a bag of fruit snacks, and a coloring book. “We’re only staying at their house for 3 days,” Courtney told him. “But I need my book!” Liam replied, clenching on to the small color by number. “Whatever” Courtney said. We walked back to Mr. and Mrs. DuKuster’s house. “I was about to eat your steak,” The oldest kid said. “Shut it up, Mushroom Man” Courtney filled up an empty bowl with my dog food. My first night away from home, I thought, It’s going great!

That night I didn’t sleep well. I kept thinking the cat was going to attack me. At least Courtney slept well. She was as graceful as a ballerina all morning. I stumbled down the steps to breakfast. Sadly, nothing was cooked. “Morning kids,” Mrs. DuKuster said happily, “what do you guys want for breakfast?” A wave of responses came one said waffles, another said grits, one jokingly said lasagna. “One at a time,” Mrs. DuKuster said, “Youngest first.” Everyone lined up in order from youngest to oldest. “Okay, James, what do you want?” James thought for a moment, “I want Eggs!” He exclaimed.

Mrs. DuKuster made all of the foods and wowed the heck out of everyone! She made eggs, pancakes, waffles, and grits, all in less than twenty minutes. “You should open your own restaurant, Ma!” The oldest child exclaimed. “I second that,” Courtney agreed. Even the cat was drooling. Mrs. DuKuster poured some dog food into my bowl and then put a fried egg on top. This lady could even make dog food gourmet! I ate it all quicker than you can blink. I carried my bowl up to her and she put two more eggs in my bowl. Yum! “No more after this,” she said as she rubbed my head. I almost forgot that my new owner was being born!

After breakfast, Mrs. DuKuster sent us outside. She said not to come in until lunch. “Let’s play hide and seek!” Liam exclaimed. “No!” Everyone shouted. It was clear that they all knew Liam was the biggest cheater in the world when it comes to hide and seek. “Let’s hunt for cats!” The oldest kid suggested. “Why?” Bonnie asked, “we already have Judo.” Everyone was silent. They were all thinking of games to play. “Let’s play freeze tag!” Courtney suggested. “Okay!” Everyone aggreed. “I’ll be the freezer,” The oldest kid suggested. “Okay, Theo” Liam said, “But give us a 30 second head start.” Theo started counting while I found a shady place to take a nap.

I found a cozy place inside of the tunnel of the play set. When I woke up, I was face to face with the cat! “Hello, doggy,” he said. He grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “H-hi?” I stuttered. “You think you can just come in my house and bark at me!” He growled, “The answer is no, and I’m gonna make sure you understand.” His claws came out, and I thought for sure those things would be were I didn’t want them. I ran out of the tunnel. He cursed and ran out after me. I ran to Courtney and she picked me up. “Bad kitty!” She scolded. He ran away. I was set back down and ran back to the tunnel.

After what seemed like 30 months, It was finally lunch time. Mr. DuKuster ordered McDonald’s and we all ate. Mrs. DuKuster poured dog food in my bowl and put two chicken nuggets on top. Yum! I ate it quickly and then played with my toy. I think my new owner has already been born. I’m very excited to go home. After lunch, everyone went to do their own thing. I went to James’ room to see what he was doing. He was just play with his cars. I went back to the living room to play.