Princess Faith!!!

Our little princess, Faith, is 4 years old!!!  Wow...I can't believe that she is already 4.  I feel like we just got her yesterday.  Or rather...I feel like Cody was just surprising me with her yesterday.  She is the first dog that we got as a couple...and she is definitely the queen of the castle.  I spoiled her completely rotten...and still do!  Over the past 4 years, she has been more than a dog to me.  She has been my little companion, traveling buddy, Starbuck's buddy, snuggle buddy, running buddy...she just makes me happy!  All of our dogs are so special to me...and they all make me so happy.  There's nothing like walking in the door from being gone all day and having three very excited and very wiggly dogs come up to you.  I don't even bring my stuff in with me when I come home.  I just leave it in the car until I've loved on them for a bit, then let them outside and go get my stuff.  As soon as we both come in the door, they are right there ready to greet you, jump on you, give you kisses, and just love on you.  I know that I talk about our dogs like they're people, and to some people, that's just beyond weird.  But, to us, they are very much our babies.  We, me especially, treat them like they are people 90% of the time.  We know all of their favorite things, what they like to play with, how they like to play, what they love, how they like to spend time...pretty much just like we would about a person.  Dogs have unconditional love for us.  I truly believe it goes deeper than we will ever imagine.  You can really see the love in their eyes when they look at you....it makes me melt.

When it comes to Faith, she will always hold a place in my heart.  Cody knew how bad I wanted a female chocolate lab and he went to all measures to find just the perfect one for me...and for our family.  I remember the day he came to school and surprised me with her.  How he told me that he knew she was the one by how she reacted to him.  She patiently waited for him to come to her while all the other precious pups were jumping around and going to him.  He said when he picked her up, she just nuzzled into him and snuggled.  From that moment, he knew she was perfect for us.  And she has been just that for the past four years.  Perfect!  Don't get me wrong...she can be a pill.  She's pretty stubborn and does what she wants a lot of the time.  But, she is so sweet and loving.  She is a true companion and knows when you need some space but also knows when you need to be comforted and loved on.  My favorite time is when she wants to come and crawl up in your lap and lay with you.  Cody's favorite time is when she snuggles with him in the morning.  When I leave, I let her in our room and she lays right next to him all snuggled up.  When his alarm goes off, she crawls on his chest and lays her head on his shoulder while he's waking up.  I really can't put it into words how much she means to both of us and how much we really do love her.  And I really don't think that we will ever be able to express it enough to her...or any of our dogs for that matter.  They so much to us and we try to do everything in our power to show them how much we love them and how much they mean to us each and everyday...they are just our precious babies!!!  We love you, Faith, so, so much!!!  You're our little princess!