Something That We Do: Snuggle Pup

My second memento I would like to share with you is this picture. "The Princess" is our now year old dog, Belle. Princess Belle.

WARNING: THIS POST IS OVERLOADED HAS AN AWESOME NUMBER OF PICTURES.

This was the picture I stumbled upon when I was desperately searching for a puppy for our family. Hubby wasn’t really an animal person, but when all my friends got pregnant at once and we knew we were still a few years away from a baby, he gave in and became a dog person for me. Photo taken by Tiffany, our Princess' seller. As a side note, she has three of Belle's family members, and they are just too cute for words!

This one was taken when I went to meet Belle in person...er, in dog..no....you know what I mean. ;)

It was then that I fell in love. She was, without a doubt, the pup for me. As I visited with Tiffany, (Belle's parents' and brother's owner) (By the way, you can check out her blog, here.) my mom mentioned my previous dog, Peekaboo, and my flood gates opened. I was embarrassed to be sitting in this stranger's house sobbing over my dog that passed away over a year ago, but she understood how I felt since she loved her babies the same way. And what was even greater was that when the first tear fell, Belle jumped in my lap and started giving me kisses on my face. My heart.

A couple of weeks later, we brought Belle home. She cried on the way home so we pulled over and let her go to the bathroom and then she was happy again. A couple of interstate exits down the road, she started crying again. We pulled over, put her in some grass, and she didn't have to go. We thought maybe she was thirsty, so we got her a cup of water. That did the trick! Belle's thirst was quenched, she stopped crying, and back on the road we went.

My hubby met Belle soon as we got home. In all honesty, when I brought Belle home, Hubby fell in love with her. Sorry for the photo quality, this was taken with my cell phone.

Belle felt right at home when she joined us. I can't figure out why, but of all the carpet and hardwood in our home, she preferred to sleep on the tile. Whatever floats her boat, I guess.

That changed rather quickly when we started allowing Belle to be on the bed during the day. To this day, Belle beats me to bed and cuddles up with Hubby before I have the chance. Then, we tell her goodnight and she travels down her stairs without us even telling her it’s time for her crate. She’s one smart puppy, y’all.

And, she’s one snuggly puppy. Just the way we like ‘em!

Within our first couple of days together, I felt Belle was getting sandy feeling so I figured it was time for a bath.

I had puppy shampoo behind me, just so you don't think I used Joy on her!

Whenever we went places, like to Jacksonville to visit my cousin's family, Belle came along and was a great sport.

But she was always exhausted after big days!

Isn't she cute? Once, I tried to sell this bed on Craigslist, and I got more inquiries if the dog was real or fake than I had offers to sell the bed.

Well, as Belle got older, she got braver and braver. When hubby was warming up his shower water, Belle often stuck her head in to see what this water falling from the spout would feel like.

Winter rolled around, and it was time for Belle to have her very first jacket.

It was around this time that she tried her very first dental bone, too! Yum!

When Spring came around, Belle was hot with her long hair, so we ordered a haircut, pronto!

We recently went to a Pet Store (danger zone for me! I could spend as much money in there as I could at the mall...) and Belle and I decided to try out this bag.
She was a happy camper. Such a trooper. There was another bag that she liked even more, but I'll show you that one later....because I strongly hinted asked for it for my birthday.