A fun little surprise outside our window

Earlier this week we noticed a lady cardinal spending extra time in the butterfly bush outside our living room window.
Right outside...as in, so close it rubs against the house when the wind blows.

It became obvious that she was building a nest. Which is just plain crazy to me on a couple levels:

1. she now has to deal with us gawking at her (just through the window of course, we are not upsetting the nest)
2. she now has to deal with us walking by her nest several times a day and at all hours (I leave very early and hubs walks the dog in the evening)
3. that bush is not sturdy! This is the worst. We had a couple of crazy windy days, with a little rain thrown in and I wanted to bring her inside. That thing was blowing around so much I am amazed the nest stayed on the branch. When it was all over, the branch had lowered and shifted a little. But momma bird was still there and this morning I could see at least one egg still in there (we thought maybe there were 2-3 to start, but without getting up close, we couldn't be sure).
   
   So I read that cardinal eggs take 11-13 days to hatch. By my math and when we realized what was happening, we're thinking some baby birdies will come out sometime this coming week.
   I don't know how she and a couple littles are all gonna fit in her tiny nest but nature does its thing over and over.
   

In other news, I've just passed on a pug puppy.
It was an agonizing decision. The first time I could've gotten one was too close to Moxie's passing. Financially we were paying off a large debt we racked up at the vet. Emotionally it was just too soon. I asked the breeder to keep me on the list for a female with her next litter. In the meantime, we got our little Orbit.
I've been thinking about getting another pug and was just wondering if another litter might be coming up soon. And just yesterday I got an email from the breeder. A litter is expected to be born in a couple weeks. I am still top of the list for a female.
She'd be ready to come home in August, by my math...the same month we let Moxie go.
I was taking that all as signs. But inside I was struggling with how much we've struggled with Orbit these past 7 months.
If we had had Orbit for his first full year (he is one year old now), I'd be totally ready, no hesitation.
But he's just settling in.

That shark toy is his favorite friend right now...

We are finally to the point where I can sit here and type this post, after being outside all morning and he is content to sleep on his bed next to me.
Even so, he still has a few moments of craziness where he needs to be in a 'time out' to compose himself.
I don't think he'd hurt a new puppy and I do think he would be over the moon to have a companion, but I think we would all benefit from a few more months of training and settling in.
We are also going on vacation (finally!!) in October, and I am not into bringing in a new puppy so close to that. It wouldn't be fair to the puppy, Orbit OR the dog sitter!
I kind of feel sad about it...like I might be missing out. But I know it's the right decision. The frustrations with training Orbit are still fresh enough that I think I also still need time to settle in.
And getting that new puppy will be even sweeter when it does happen.
I am back at the top of the list for the NEXT litter. Hoping it won't be a full year, but am willing to wait.