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.