5:43 AM. I sit at the kitchen table and watch Pickle gobble down the mush of wet and dry food mix from her silver bowl, chasing it as she noses it across the floor. My eye lids barely stay open enough to focus on the clock, and all I want is to crawl back into bed under the warm comforter.

We’ve hit the two-week mark as puppy parents. Understandably, life around the house has changed in many ways, some expected and others not so much. We can’t look forward to those late mornings after a long night out with friends. Our Friday nights are more about reconnecting after a week of barely seeing each other, and not so much about bar hopping and late night movies.

I have essentially become a stay at home dad, responsible for Pickle’s overall well-being. Kira (my beautiful girlfriend and Pickle’s momma) has taken the responsibility as being the bread-winner, leaving every morning for her salaried job to provide for us. In the meantime, the juggling act at home is between doing laundry, letting Pickle go potty, doing dishes, feeding Pickle, playing with Pickle, folding laundry, letting Pickle go potty … you get the picture. Notice nowhere did I mention the moments I get time to cook lunch or address my lack of personal hygiene the last two weeks. Our worlds have shrunk to the tightly woven carpet in the living room and our 25 sq/ft porch where Pickle pees.

Somehow, between all the 2AM wake up calls, the separation anxiety when we step to the other side of her baby gate, and her incessant need to nibble us with her needle like baby teeth, somehow we find the little moments of joy. When she is napping, or discovering new parts of her ever-growing world.

And with it all, we refuse to complain. We chose to take this journey together, and our lives have changed in so many great ways. A month ago, I was shoveling dirt and hauling compost for a landscape designer, doing the grunt work to help create his visions. When Georgia Peaches informed us that we would be adopting Pickle, my girlfriend and I decided I would become a stay at home dad. I love Kira for having the faith in me to raise the new member of our home, and to take the risk of supporting our family while I try not only maintain the well-being of Pickle, but also build two businesses. Only now devoting my time to create and develop these projects, between all the blogging and posting pictures to Instagram like a proud dad. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better partner to help me through my journey to being a business owner, or to raise a baby.

For us, Pickle is our baby. She cries, she has accidents, she’s curious and constantly learning about the world. And we are the ones in charge of bringing sense to her mind and teaching her that the world is a great place.

The leaves are changing, and the warmth of summer is clinging to the air in Seattle. The past two weeks have brought changes to our lives that surpass the beauty and wonder of the autumn foliage. And every morning, as Kira and I wake to the whimpers and barking of our sweet little Pickle, we will hold a smile on our face, because we know it’s a new day of surprises.