confused !

Three months ago my sweet female cocker spaniel died tragically. For many reasons, which I will not go into now, I have had a harder time losing her than I ever had losing any of the many other dogs that I had since I was a child,( two of which I have had since I have been married)
Since the day of her death Mike has pretty much let it be known that he liked the idea of having two dogs( a male and a female, companions to each other and that he very much enjoyed having puppies when they breed) and that he ,in time ,was interested in getting another female. The kids have all come to feel just as he does and now that it has been three months and Christmas puppies are becoming available, I am starting to feel the pressure. Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing more heartwarming than a cocker spaniel puppy all snuggled in ones arms but that little ball of sweetness, would need shots and expensive vet visits.OK honestly the money isn't the problem(sigh) as yes it is a big initial investment but we paid two sets of vet bills before. Perhaps the problem is that the little bundle would need housebroken. Yes taken outside every couple of hours and watched to make sure that it doesn't eat electric cords( Clarissa was famous for this when she first came) and then there is the Clancy issue. Clancy got pretty protective of Clarissa at certain times and that was chaotic, especially when he growled and snapped at our kids. Oh is it all worth it ? I have been pondering this for a few days now. There is only one breeder in the area with pups available right now( I have no idea if there are any females even available, let alone what colors are available) and no one or two year olds, which is really what I would like. Perhaps Mike will call this breeder tonight and see what is available. If there are no females, I definitely don't need another male to fight with Clancy and I also insist on a predominantly solid color as if we do decide to breed, we want to avoid too many colors and markings from the gene pool. This is quite an order I guess ,so perhaps I should find out what is available and if it even matches what I am looking( or not looking) for and go from there.In the end ,I guess if it is meant to be, it will be ,if not it simply will not.