A Very Sad Situation

I've hesitated in creating an entry as I have been terribly upset regarding the situation along the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina has wreaked havoc along the shores of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Although the water has receded from Biloxi, Pascagoula, and Mobile, New Orleans has been completely devastated. The unthinkable has occurred with the failure of two levees on Lake Ponchartrain. The city of New Orleans and it's surrounding areas are completely submerged. It's a disaster of epic proportions. Bedlam has broken out with looting, death, and destruction beyond our wildest imaginations.

I'm having a most difficult time with this...so many friends and classmates from UA lived in the affected areas. I'm praying for them. My heart aches and I have such feelings of sadness. I can't imagine their despair.

Maybe I'll have something more positive to say tomorrow. Talking about this is not helping right now.

Monday Morning Blues

I'm sitting in my office this morning quite distracted by the news of Hurrican Katrina bearing down on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana. The hurricane came in as a 4 and has since been downgraded to a 3. Either way, it's terribly destructive and I pray for the safety of the people in the area. New Orleans is one of my favorite cities, and I'm afraid it may be lost for a long time. It lies below sea-level and simply cannot sustain the water which is deluging the area. Since I am a grad of the University of Alabama, many of my classmates came from and still live in the New Orleans/Gulf Coast region. I have many happy memories of time spent on the Gulf and in the city, and now it may be washed away.

Well, in happier news, we had a cute little surprise party for my mom's birthday on Saturday. My dad convinced her that he was going to take her out to dinner and after Mom called me on Saturday morning to try to pry the truth out of me, she was hook,line, and sinker convinced that John and I were not going to see her on her birthday. Must say, Mom was a smidge displeased. : ) John and I stopped for some balloons and picked up and ice cream cake, them went over to M&D's to wait on the deck until Dad was able to get Mom to come out. She was onto something, but was still surprised to see us. We ended up having a very nice time, as always. I took some pics of mom and would like to post them here, with her permission of course. She's so darn cute.

Not much else to report today. Checked on Ted-he's fine. He's on the outskirts of the hurricane, so thankfully he and Catherine and the boys are safe.

I Can't Help It...It's Love

I know, yet another picture of my baby girls. This picture was taken just a couple of weeks ago. Barrett is her usual spaced out self and Campbell has that mischievious little look in her eyes.

The Sweeney Babies....

After the devastating loss of our baby boy, Tighe, John and I took a long vacation in St. Thomas to heal our broken hearts. We came back with renewed spirits and were ready to open our hearts and home to new babies.

After a rather short search, we found these two darlings through Petfinder.com. We contacted the adoption agency and were basically dismissed without a thought. Discouraged, we tried to reach out once again to the agency to prove our worth as parents. This time, we were at least granted a phone interview. After answering a number of different questions, and feeling like our chances were slipping away, I told John to tell the foster mom that we were willing to adopt two puppies.

Well, if that didn't move us to the top of the pile! We quickly made plans to see the puppies and waited for the day to arrive. After rushing home from work on Monday, March 7th, John and I drove to Plainfield to the foster mom's house to see the pups. Guided by the high pitched yipping of 8 puppies, we made our way to the upstairs bedroom. We were greeted by a swarm of little ears, little noses, wagging tails, and major puppy belly.

What I quickly noticed was that the one little brown puppy was being pounced on by the other 7 solid black pups. She had squeezed herself under John as he squatted down to get a better look at her, and based on the horror on her face, she wasn't coming out any time soon. My motherly instincts kicking in, I grabbed the little girl and swept her up into my arms. One look into her little brown eyes and I was a goner. It was love. The foster mom told me her name was Shea, but I quickly (but silently) renamed her Campbell.

No doubt my little one need a playmate. I looked around at the other puppies, but was not really taken by any of them. I decided to concentrate on getting to know Campbell and sat down on the floor to bond with her. Not to be left behind, one of the little black pups persistently licked my hands and nudged my arms for attention. I was informed that "Bertha" was not only the largest of the puppies, but the sweetest. It didn't take long for me to see that Bertha was a special girl. She never once used her little puppy teeth to get my attention. She only gave kisses. I secretly renamed her Barrett and made it my mission to convince John that these were the puppies for us.

It broke my heart to leave both girls that night. Reluctantly, we made our way to the car and promised to call the foster mom with our final decision by Wednesday. John was not sold on either puppy. I was over the moon about both of them. Tuesday and Wednesday proved to be brutal days at work for me. I desperately wanted the puppies. I finally called John and told him that my world would come to an end if we did not adopt both Shea and Bertha. With a sigh, John said, "I've got them both in my truck and we're on our way home." I joyously ran out of the office and sped home to greet my new babies.

It's been love ever since.

The little ones enjoy eating out of the same bowl as you can see in the picture. Now that they are 8 months, it's comical to see them trying to put both heads into the bowl.

*Sigh* It's crazy love.

Campbell & Barrett

My beautiful girls, Campbell & Barrett. This is a shot of them at 15 weeks old. They are now 8 months, but look very similar (just much larger!) They are incredibly sweet and good-natured. They love to give sweet gentle kisses.