Birthday Girl

No, its not my birthday yet, you have 33 shopping days left until my birthday, but we have a four legged birthday today...our chocolate lab Bella! Actually, we call her Bella Jean since she's a southern gal. She's one year old today. Bella is the GREATEST dog and has brought us so much happiness. Two years ago our beloved lab Bailey died from cancer and it absolutely devastated me. She was with me for 11 years and everyone loved Bailey. The vet used to tell me that she was a "once in a lifetime dog" and that all our subsequent dogs would all be horrible after having such an incredible dog. I swore I'd never get another dog again after going through all that pain but God knew differently and along came Bella. She is a great dog and even our vet agrees that she's another "once in a lifetime" dog.

Bella is s-p-o-i-l-e-d rotten but she spoils us rotten too. She gets to "snuggle" with Randy on our recliner and she gets to sleep in the bed, she is convinced that she is still the little 8 lb dog we brought home from the breeder and can sit in our laps. She even gets gravy on her dinner as a treat. Funny story, a month or so ago we were talking with neighbors and were talking about putting gravy on Bella's dinner. One of the guys said, "You don't have kids do you. Because nobody with kids would actually take the time to put gravy on their dog's food." True, so true! But she's our baby! So until we get a two legged baby, you have to endure pictures of our four legged baby.

Bella's first day home:

Bella loving on the neighbor's daughter when I was baby sitting. She would be awesome with a little boy or girl running around here.

And here she is, one year old!