Our Bailey Girl

This is Bailey. I know you have all seen her before but I thought I would share the story of how she came to be.

Bailey was born on March 17th 2008 to Chocolate Lab, Drea and Hounddog Mix, Trooper. She wasnt necessarily a PLANNED pregnancy but I would never tell her that. Drea is the daughter of some friends of ours. Hubby has been friends with Heath since high school and they reconnected a few years ago and that is how I was introduced to Sissy. We all hung out together a few times, but Bailey is what really brought Sissy and I together, and for that I am so incredibly grateful. She is an amazingly awesome person, who is honest and blunt (which is what I love about her) and she is an incredibly loyal friend.

The night Drea had her puppies, Heath let Hubby know and you know we were there in a matter of minutes. We were NOT in the market for a dog whatsoever, and even when we went for a visit, they were cute but we were never planning on "adopting" one of them. I have never seen puppies fresh out of the belly before...it was amazing. They were so tiny and whimpering for their mama, and Drea took nothing but the best care of them. It was really a miracle.

Of course Hubby and I visited multiple times as the SIX puppies began to grow and take over our friend's house. Throughout this time, Sissy and I began talking more and our love for dogs really brought us even closer. As the puppies got bigger, she started coming to the devastating realization that they couldn't keep them all because lets face it...EIGHT DOGS is just not feasible for two people that work full time. She started advertising and interviewing people for the right to have her grand-dogs and after only a few visits, I realized that there was no way we couldnt take one of these puppies. Hubby and I discussed and eventually decided that we would adopt one...but WHICH one?! They were all so cute, as their little personalities had already started to develop. We ultimately decided on the solid black lab, that was absolutely precious and even at a young age apprecaited and loved a good belly rub. They continued to try and find homes, which proved to be less than easy but in the end, all six puppies had found homes that they felt comfortable with.

Before she was old enough to be weaned, we were already trying to think of the perfect name for our new family member. Because she was born on St Patrick's Day, I thought something Irish would be fitting. She was all black with just a few spots of white, so I immediately thought of a Guiness beer. How perfect! Hubby hated it.... We debated back and forth and finally decided on the ultimate Irish name, Bailey. It fits her perfectly.

She will be two this March and has grown to be such a wonderful addition to our family. She has her chaotic moments (like when she jumped on my MIL the other night and then proceed to chase her around the kitchen table because my MIL was running from her and Bailey thought it was time to play...my MIL is MAYBE 5 feet tall...Bailey is 75 pounds) but she is such a great dog with an awesome temperment. She is a sweet, sweet girl and I can not wait to introduce her (and the rest of the gang) to "Punkin".

To those of you who are lucky enough to have a dog in your life, squeeze and love them for a dog's love is truly unconditional.

Happy Pups!