Happy Birthday, Abby!

Once upon a time, we were a family of 2 – Derrick and Kara – that was it!
And then, less than a year after we were married, we added our first additional family member: Abby.

It was a snowy, cold, dark night in January (coincidentally, my Dad’s birthday) when we met this spunky, excited, hyper puppy named Abby.

Here’s how the story goes: we knew we wanted to get a dog. Derrick grew up with a dog, I grew up with multiple dogs – we were dog people. Our thought pattern was to adopt a puppy, with no particular breed in mind. However, our puppy plans were on hold until spring, because we both knew that house-training a puppy in the middle of winter was simply no fun. So, we weren’t really looking.

Then, Derrick saw an “ad” at work by a nurse who was giving away her dog and something about it sparked his interest. He followed up with it and found out that the dog was about 6 months old – so more a puppy than a dog! The nurse was moving and her new apartment wouldn’t allow a sweet pup. Derrick called me & explained that he thought he might have found us a dog. I was so excited, because as much as I knew that it really wasn’t practical to get a dog at the moment, I really wanted one!

We went out to dinner that night to Olive Garden and while we were waiting for a table, she texted us a picture. That’s when we first saw the happy black lab with a white patch on her chest and we instantly fell in love. We were so excited and could not stop talking about her! The kicker was that the nurse also mentioned that the pup’s name was Abby (our last name).

The next night, we made plans to ride over and meet her to see if we really wanted to take her home. Let’s be honest, we already had our hearts set on it. We walked in and were instantly greeted by extreme enthusiasm. Abby was crazy! Tail wagging, tongue licking, jumping-jumping-jumping, she’d run & get a toy, just to jump back up in your lap, it was a little intense! We were so in love though, we couldn’t say no.

And the rest is history! Thankfully, she’s calmed down a bit in the last 5 1/2 years and now she’s much more mellow. She is literally the best dog ever. She simply adores Braelynn and puts up with everything so well, from having her bone stolen straight out of her mouth, to sitting on her, to chasing her around, to practicing finding her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth! Braelynn loves Abby and it’s so much fun to see their little relationship growing and maturing.

Of course, Derrick & I love Abby too. She was our first “child” and we couldn’t imagine life without her. She snuggles with us when we sit on the couch and yes, still sleeps with us.

Today, she turns 6 years old, so of course, a little puppy party was in order!
Happy Birthday, Abby!

Doesn’t she look so absolutely thrilled to be wearing this hat!

There’s my happy pup!

I promise, no fingers or hands were chomped in the making of this shot – Abby is beyond gentle with Braelynn!

So, I’m taking all of these lovely photos of Abby and I turn around to my child eating dirt. Real life, folks! If you look close, you can see it on her tooth in the photo on the left! Ugh, my child, apparently she needed lunch & I wasn’t getting it for her fast enough!