We have another baby!!!

I have been away for a few days, but all for good reason. We have been very busy preparing our home for a new addition-without the pain of childbirth :)

We have adopted a sister for Sadie, and she has proved to be a perfect fit. Her name is Bella, and she is a 2 year old Boxer-Pit Bull Terrier Mix. She has a gorgeous brindle coat, white markings, and even looks so much like Sadie. Not only do we now have another loyal companion, but Sadie has the ultimate friend...and sister!!

This all started about 2 weeks ago, when I got off of work early and was scouting my neighborhood for a nail salon. I came across Doggone Fun, which is a doggie daycare and boarding center. It is only 2 blocks from our condo, so super convenient! Anyway, I decided to stop and get a quick tour. Cassie, a D.F. employee, was so great and made me feel very comfortable about bringing Sadie there for daycare as well as boarding- a huge relief being new in the city. So, we are finishing up the tour, and suddenly, I see this face poke out from a door in the next room. It looked like Sadie! I asked Cassie if she saw it, and of course she didn't, so she went to the next room to see what it was. It was the room where the "boarders" stay, and they had just pulled them in for dinner, so it was full of pups in their kennels anxious to go back outside and play. I followed her, hearing her convincing a dog to get back in its kennel. That's when I saw her...

I assumed she was just another boarder, and immediately commented how much she looked like my dog Sadie. Cassie explains that Bella is a shelter dog, and has been staying with them at Doggone Fun for about 2 months, simply to get socialization and to hopefully find a home. OMG- here come the tears. I don't know when this started in me, but I have such a HUGE heart for shelter dogs, and especially pit bull mixes, as they are usually the bottom of the list. I played with her for a few minutes before I left, and knew right away that Brad had to meet her.

Fast forward 45 minutes to when Brad gets home. Being the good "parents" that we are, he agrees he should take a tour of the daycare as well, so we head on over. As we rounded the corner, I stop him and immediately begin crying like a baby. I pull Bella's flier out of my back pocket and hand it to him. Now, his initial reaction was...I set him up, since he knew I had been wanting a second dog for some time. But I think even he knew, just from my reaction and seeing her pictures on this paper that he had to meet her.

It was instant love...she impressed us with all of the tricks she has learned from the on-staff trainer, and she is so calm and sweet! We set up a playdate for that Saturday for her to meet Sadie, as that would be a huge determining factor on whether this would work or not. This also gave us a few days to pray about this decision and give Sadie some extra TLC. They hit it off, and after they sniffed each other out, began playing like they had known each other forever. We didn't even leave before placing a call to the shelter's office to present our intentions of completing the adoption. Needless to say, word had spread throughout Doggone Fun during the week about our playdate, and they were all SOOO excited we would be giving Bella a home. We got a call back, and scheduled the next step which was a home visit. What a great thing- it makes me feel good to know they care that much about the home thier dogs are going to! The founder of the shelter, Patricia, tells us again how thrilled she is to know that Bella will have a loving home, as she was only weeks away from being euthanized. I tear up just thinking about what could have happened.
So, it's now Sunday night, and we have begun to master walking 2 dogs at one time, as well as handling the whole toy issue. We took them for a field trip last night to PetSmart, and got some duplicates. Doesn't matter though- they still want the toy the other one has. Very humanistic, huh?

Brad and I could not be happier with this decision, and look forward to you all meeting her! We have our hands full with these two (I have promised Brad I would not mention getting any more...until we have a yard:) This chapter of children will last us for at least the next few years...