This is Sadie, our cute little puppy. We just got her on the 16th of December. She was only 9 weeks old. Isn't she the cutest little cocker spaniel EVER? Now, some of you may not know this, but, I am not a dog person. Well, frankly, I'm not an animal person, in general. But, I've always had a soft spot for baby animals, particularly, puppies.
Anyway, my family (kids and husband included) have been bugging me for years to get a dog. I keep telling them- no way, Jose. I feel like I clean up enough poop as it is, I didn't need more! Little did I know...
The first time we saw Sadie, she melted our hearts, especially mine. I was putty in her little paws. She is so incredibly cute. But even better, she is so smart, and such a great puppy. She is so mild mannered, she has such a sweet disposition. Anyways, we surprised the kids and brought her home as an early Christmas present. We were going to buy our family a Wii for Christmas, but we got Sadie instead. Now, let me clarify, if you've never had a puppy before, it is similar to having a baby around- not quite as much work, but more work, none the less. At times, I thought I was a little loco for bringing her into our home, but one look at her, and those thoughts would be gone. She fits sooooo well into our family.
Okay, you get the idea that we really, really love her. Anyway, the week of New Years, she started to get really sick. She had a cough for a few weeks, but dogs get colds, just like we do, so I didn't think anything of it. By New Years Day, she was losing control of her bodily functions and was really laboring to even breath. I had no idea what was going on. We took her in to the Vet on Friday, the 2nd, and found out she had pneumonia really, really bad. Both of her lungs were 50% full of fluid. The Vet said he wasn't sure she was going to make it through the night. Brian took her in to the Vet (thankfully, he had the day off of work!). He called to tell me the outcome-imagine our horror as we had to explain to our children that our puppy might not ever come back. I think it was one of the hardest things I've had to tell a child before.
B was so incredibly sad. She cried all afternoon- along with Brian and I. J, as most boys his age, decided that life would go on, and he could always play with the neighbors dog (he's such a funny guy!). He started missing her more as the day went on, but he never shed a tear, which is so funny to me, he has such a soft heart. As for our youngest, S, well, she's too young to know what was going on. She just knew that Sadie was sick. Anyways, as soon as I told B, she decided that she we should say a special prayer for Sadie, right then. So, we had a special family prayer. She has so much faith. I explained to her, that no matter what happened, Heavenly Father alwasys answer our prayers, but not always the way we think He should and that He needed to do what was best for little Sadie- even if that meant taking her home to live with Him. She totally understood that, she wanted what was best for Sadie too, but the thought just totally ripped her heart out. Its amazing, we didn't realize how much we grew to love Sadie in the few short weeks we had her, until she was gone!
Well, we heard from the Vet on Saturday, Sadie had made some improvement, having had antibiotics for 24 hours. She was eating again, and drinking, which is always encouraging! But he really thought she needed more care over the weekend. Their Vet office wasn't open on Sundays, so we didn't know what we were going to do. Their was no way we could have afforded to put her in a vet hospital(affording the Vet was going to be hard enough!) - we love her, but financial ruin for our family was not in the mix. Lucky for us (and Sadie), we had a few angels around who offered help, and we have an incredible vet -(I HIGHLY recommend him!!) he volunteered to come in on his day off to administer her treatments, and have another staff member come in the evening for an additional treatment (I think Sadie wormed her way into their hearts too!). Anyway, needless to say, he was confident, because of the progress that she had already made, if we kept her in the office over the weekend, that she would recover. So, of course, that is just what we did (with the help of some guardian angels who love Sadie as much as we do!)
When we told the kids, they were sooooooo excited!!! B just new she was going to come home, and that Heavenly Father had answered her prayers. So she insisted that we say another prayer thanking Heavenly Father for blessing us with Sadie again! She is sure that Heavenly Father knows how much Sadie needs us, and we need Sadie. I know that she's right. He does know our needs, and the desires of our hearts. He's a kind and loving Father, who wants us to have joy. I'm so grateful for this experience- the lessons our children have learned about having prayers answered, and having faith, no matter the outcome. I know we had a lot of family and friends praying for her to pull through. We really appreciate your prayers!!!
Anyways, it was an awful, yet unexpectantly great way to start off the New Year! BTW- Sadie is back home and doing sooooo well. She is definitely apart of our family.
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