Love is Patient: Our Little Princess!!!

Our sweet, precious Faith turned 3 years old on August 6th!!! This little chocolate bundle of love has taken such a hold on my heart. She is definitely a momma's girl and follows me around everywhere. She's my little running buddy, my swimming buddy, my Starbuck's buddy, and my snuggle buddy when Cody's gone to work! Even though she's a momma's girl...she is also very much a daddy's girl! When Cody is home, she snuggles with him and loves to get love from him. She sleeps with us at night and only gives him kisses before she snuggles in between us to go to sleep. On her birthday, we went for a run, then I took her and Trigger over to my parent's house for a swim. I bought special treats for her birthday, which she gladly shared with her brother and sister as well as her cousins! Can we say she's a little rotten?!? Most definitely!

The reason why she is so special to me is because she was a complete surprise from Cody and the first dog that we ever got together as a married couple. When we got married, Cody already had Sarge, our boxer. He is definitely the big brother and very protective of both Faith and Trigger. He's also very protective of us, but he's also a big teddy bear. All he wants in life is to snuggle up next to you and get his belly rubbed! Anyways, when we got married I begged Cody to get another dog. But, all I wanted was a Lab. I had informed him that I really wanted to get a chocolate Lab., it had to be a girl, and I wanted to name her Faith. Not at all specific, right?!?! But, we lived in a one bedroom, one bathroom, 650 sq. ft. townhouse for the first four months that we were married. Cody had bought it before we started dating, so he really didn't buy it to have another person living there! It was his little bachelor pad...but I loved it! But, there was no way that we could add another big dog with us two and Sarge in something so small. We started looking to buy a house in May, found one right away, and moved in in June. I had also just gotten my teaching job in Blackwell. So, we were busy and excited to start the next chapter in our newly married life. But, I still wanted to add another addition to our family!

Soon after I started teaching, Cody surprised me with making a visit to my school. I was surprised to see him and also wondered why he had driven 45 miles to see me. He told me had had a roof to look at in Bronte, which is a town 15 miles from Blackwell. It made complete sense to me, so I didn't think to ask any more questions. We visited for a little bit and a few minutes before he was going to leave, he told me that I had gotten postcard in the mail and he had brought it to me because he didn't recognize who it was from. This is what he handed me:

It was a postcard that Cody had made at the breeder's house when he picked her out! I was in complete shock! But as soon as I realized what was happening, I started screaming and jumping up and down! Mind you, I'm also wearing stilettos...I know you're shocked about that one! She was only 4 weeks old in this picture, so the torturous part was that we had to wait another 2-4 weeks to get her. But, in the meantime, I started buying food bowls, pink collars with crystals on them, a leash, etc. We knew we were going to kennel train her, and thankfully we already had a kennel from when Cody trained Sarge.

I'll never forget the day we went and picked her up in Bronte. It was Blackwell's homecoming, which is always held on a Saturday so all the alumni can come into town. Homecoming is a big deal. The school serves a meal, there is a huge homecoming pep rally, all the players are introduced before the game, and all the other normal homecoming stuff! All of us faculty and staff members have to sign up for a time to help out with the many events that take place on that day. I had signed up to help with picking up after lunch. When I was finished, there was still about 2 hours before the game started. My parents were with Cody and I that day and so I decided to call the breeder and see if we could just come by and see her. When I called, he told us that they had had their final shots that morning and the vet. cleared them to be picked up! He was getting ready to call everyone and let us know!!! When we got there and I saw her...it was instant love at first sight! She was so little and fluffy! She was so sweet and just slept in my arms the entire night. Cody said that when he picked her out, he knew she was made just for us because she just sat there patiently and looked up at him while he was looking at all the little puppies. When he went over to her and picked her up, she nestled into him and he was hooked! Needless to say, this has not changed for either of us!

Faith has such a fun little personality! She isn't as lively as Trigger, but she is sweet and sensitive. She now wears a camo. collar and loves to go swimming in the river at our ranch in Comfort. She is completely spoiled rotten...and I'm pretty sure she knows it! I take her every where with me. Cody and I are so very lucky to have these three loves in our life...and we had so much fun celebrating Faith's 3rd birthday!

Little Faith when she was just a tiny puppy!

Faith getting bigger and loving on her big brother!

These are some of the pictures of Faith and Cody when we took her down to the Guadalupe River...she loved it!!! She is also in the pool with her Uncle Michael and playing with her bone at our house!