Life Is __________________.: Our Adoption Stories

Jason and I have been very fortunate to adopt two beautifully amazing dogs together! What a joy they bring to our lives!

I'm not sure I have done the very best job at introducing them to the blog world, so today, I will!

On March 3, 2011, Jason and I went to the Greenville Humane Society to LOOK at the puppies. We both agreed, before entering the doors, that if by chance there was a puppy that we really liked, we would think about it over night before we adopted one.

There were so many cute pups in the building that day. And I'm sure we held every single one of them!

After 45 minutes in the shelter, I thought I found the one! She was a yellow lab mix, three months old, and very sweet. She nestled in my neck when I held her, too presh, and did the same when Jason had her. We were in love!

As we were holding her, Jason saw her brother, Bird, hiding in the back of the cage. He grabbed him out and it was love at first site. Jason said, "This is the one!"

I was a little hesitant. I just didn't see what Jason saw in him; there was no way he was cuter than the fuzzy ball I was holding. To me, it seemed as though Bird looked like an obese hamster. Cute? Not so much!

Shortly after receiving several warming kisses, we decided we HAD to get him. If we were to go home and think about it, we were positive this little guy would have been gone very quickly! We went through the whole adoption process, and an hour later Bird was ours!

First act of business? Changing that ridiculous name! Before we got in the car, Jason came up with the perfect name--CHARLIE!

(Charlie the day we got him!)

(Riding with Mommy!)

(Toys!)

(Knocked-Out!)

Charlie was an AMAZING puppy! He was a breeze; we got really lucky on him! Training was simple, as he picked up on everything very quick--even potty training!

A few months after getting Charlie, Jason and I decided to move closer to work. It was a plus for us, but not for Charlie. At the time, we lived in Greenville and frequently took Charlie to the dog park, not to mention he had numerous friends at the apartment complex we lived in.

Being the good parents we are, we decided it was time to add an addition to our family, if we found the right pup! To the Greenville Humane Society we went!

Once again, we were greeted by many adorable faces. Only one little guy stood out to me--Andy! He was in a crate with two of his siblings, one of which Jason really liked. Andy was only a month old and weighed a mere six pounds. He had the cutest, floppiest ears I had ever seen on such a small pup! I knew he was the one! Charlie was going to be a big brother.

Unlike our trip to find Charlie, we did go home and think about getting another puppy. I'm almost positive we actually wrote out a Pro's and Con's list. We listed normal things on the cons list--two dogs are harder than one, we work a lot, we'll have to train another dog, added expenses of feeding two. But, we soon realized that the weight of the cons didn't supersede the pros! Charlie would have a friend all of the time to play with and we could train the pup in a house with concrete floors were the best pros we had. Did we need more? Absolutely not! We were getting this puppy the next day we had off, and as long as he was still there!

Two days after meeting this brown-eyed beauty, Jason went to the pound and adopted little Andy! Charlie was then a big brother, and I a mother of two! And I couldn't have been happier, other than the fact that I was a work and Jason was at home with our boys!

The name came easy for us--we definitely weren't going to call him Andy forever. The little black dog we adopted had a small patch of gray hair on his chest, quite like an old man would, like Jason's grandpa Howard would. The only fitting named? HOWIE!