Fur Babies When They Were Babies Themselves

In anticipation of Ann's arrival I've been giving our fur babies a lot of attention.  Everyone says that when you have a baby you put the pet on the back burner.  I can't imagine putting Bernie and Tara on the back burner but do realize we will have to adjust how our house works a bit.  For example, we are replacing the carpet that is on our stairs, loft area and in our bedrooms this summer before Ann gets here and will be rolling around on carpet that has been exposed to a gross sickly cat the previous owner had as well as our our puppy dogs who track in who knows what.  Once that is done John is insisting the dogs will not be allowed upstairs which makes me very sad because that is where they sleep at night!  I also have visions of Tara sleeping next to Ann's crib and alerting me when she needs something.... dogs can be trained to do that right??!  Like those dogs you hear who can sense when someone is going to have a seizure or some kind of attack before it happens and warn the proper person?  Did I make that up?  I'm not sure what Tara will tell me in advance of hearing Ann's cries or finding out for myself that something is wrong but it's a nice thought.  I also like the idea of Tara and Bernie bonding with Ann and being very protective of her and essentially being like Nana on Peter Pan... how are they going to do that if they can't be upstairs in her room with her?  For all of you people who are terribly afraid of dog hair... get over it.  Dog hair will not hurt anyone unless they are severly allergic to it and man, I hope Ann is not allergic because it will literally break my heart if Tara and Bernie cannot be a part of her life the way they are a part of ours now. 

So in honor of Ann arriving in a few months here are a couple of (bad pictures of me) but cute pictures of Tara and Bernie when they were little fur babies and what they have grown into:

Tara when she was a wee thing... we had no idea she would become the gangly extra large girl she is today!

Cutest thing in the world!!





The day we met.  A birthday surprise from John

She grew a bit into this:



Working with her Daddy retrieving frozen ducks (probably 5 months old in this picture)

Her first birthday!!

She loves posing for pics...

Now she is this beautiful black creature:

Bernie came into our lives after John's dog that he had when we started dating, Piney, died at the age of 2 from a rare fungus.  I don't have a lot of pictures of him because he is a stinker and will hardly sit still for pictures.  We hardly have ANY puppy pictures of this fur baby because he literally did not sit still except when he slept for the first year of his life. 

He is a Boykin Spaniel and has more personality and is smarter than a lot of people I encounter on a day to day basis... that's not too hard in some cases is it?

You can't see his sweet face but he was soooo tiny



Trying to get him to be still for a picture with his Momma!

Posing with his beloved Daddy on a walk

Sitting on Tara in the backseat of John's truck because she wouldn't give him any room to sit on his own...

Posing with me during a walk on campus

Being adorable

Hopefully the only adjustments we have to make when Ann gets here are puppies sleeping downstairs on their beds rather than in our room on their beds and probably staying outside a little more than they do now.  And maybe learning to not swat at things with their fur paws and learning not to wet nose Ann's face when she's petting them... I'll update you in September on how this all works out.