adios little bailey

it's taken me a while to get this post up but on 5 april, we had to say goodbye to our little girl. she put up quite the fight, but in the end, we had to make the decision to let her go. she had pretty much stopped eating and had lost so much weight. she could hardly stand without falling down. 

we had a really long talk with our vet and he thought her pancreatitis had returned. she had pancreatitis last year (and beat it!) but the treatments took a lot out of her. it had returned last month and she had a week of treatments. we had thought that was enough but i guess not. doc didn't think she was strong enough to withstand any more treatments (she was down to 2.8 pounds!) so our only option, for her sake, was to let her go.

my heart is in pieces and i feel so lost. she was by my side 24/7. she even slept on my chest when we went to bed. our home is like an empty shell without her. she was tiny but she has left a huge hole in my heart.

our last picture together

medicine time was her least favorite time of day and had to be "persuaded" to take them. 

looking through my camera roll of her pictures, i see how she had declined in health over the last few months.  she put on a brave front but she couldn't go on pretending everything was ok and we couldn't let her. 

our little princess

reunited in doggie heaven with her best pal, aoife

she loved her daddy more than anything

bailey attended the weddings of both of our daughters

little bailey loved to play on her giant lamb chop

my "drinking" buddy

oh, that face!

spoiled rotten little doggie

proud of her chihuahua heritage

goldilocks? BOL

she was such a sport and didn't mind at all when i would dress her up. if she didn't like it, i wouldn't have done it. really, she was ok with it.

she loved to be wrapped up in a blanket and she always needed a pillow under her little apple head. ok, yes, we spoiled her but she deserved it.

she also loved to travel and was great on road trips. she's travelled california from san francisco down to san diego. we even took her on our anniversary trip to tucson, arizona!

but i think her most favorite thing was when the three of us sat on the sofa together. mommy on one side and daddy on the other. pure bliss.

   

i love you little bailey. i will miss you forever.

rescued 2010 - lost 2021

be safe my friends-

new year's eve #tbt

remembering new year's eve 2015 with angel aoife. she was such a good sport and was always up for whatever situation i would put her into. i sure do miss you, eefy.

until we meet again my friends, stay safe-

remembering aoife

i can hardly believe an entire year has passed since eefy crossed the rainbow bridge. i’m so glad y’all got to know her and her giant personality. our lives have been so quiet without her. she always made her presence known, that’s for sure. she was so lovable, and smart, and playful, and cuddly, and bailey’s best gal pal, and we miss her terribly.

baby aoife with kibbles

aoife and bailey

rip sweet eef

until we meet again my friends-

bye bye birdie #WildlifeWednesday

a few days ago i found this beautiful little house finch in my backyard, sitting just as you see her here. she didn’t fly away when i approached her and when i took a closer look at her, she didn’t look well to me.

i offered my hand and i had a snow white moment when she jumped up on me.

i could tell by her demeanor that she wouldn’t be with us much longer and my heart broke for her. an hour later i found her laying on her side laboring to breathe and the next time i checked on her, she was gone.

she had really tugged at my heartstrings so i wasn’t about to just throw her in the garbage bin like trash. i wrapped her in a hankie and we laid her to rest under our rose tree.

rest in peace little one.

until we meet again my friends-

road trippin'

aoife loved roadtrips and has been to the mountains, the desert & several beaches. i went through daughter #1's social media accounts to pull some pictures to share with y'all.

2006-2018

thanks for bearing with me this week as i said adios to our sweet aoife. it's been a really tough week for us. our dogs are not just "dogs" to us. they are a part of our family. casa chihuahua will never be the same without her. ever. i'm glad y'all got to know her.

it's still can't believe she's gone. just like that. life is so precious. hold your fur babies close and never take them for granted. they are with us for such a short time. we have to love them, just as they love us, unconditionally.

aoife, you have left our lives, but you will never leave our hearts.

until we meet again my friends-

turn back time tuesday

aoife and bailey loved to play together. this series of pictures is from 2014 (1 month before bailey's accident). they would play like this all the time. aoife was twice her size but bailey wasn't intimidated. she could hold her own pretty well.

until we meet again my friends-

angel aoife

along with the joy and happiness that comes with having a dog, also comes the pain and heartache when they have to leave us. this is what we went through early saturday morning. eef had been dealing with some health issues lately but nothing that would lead us to expect this outcome. preliminary diagnosis was a ruptured heart valve. they resuscitated her a couple of times but the only humane thing to do for her was to let her go. it was sudden and unexpected and we are all devastated.

2006-2018

daughter #1 brought aoife into our family in april of 2006, when she was just 2 months old. she was so tiny, she fit in hubby's hands! it's hard to believe she was ever smaller than bailey.

a month later, her ears stood up and they were huge!

she was such a cutie.

kibbles, my heart dog, was still with us, and let's just say, she tolerated little aoife's puppy antics. poor kibbles was so patient with baby aoife. they shared 4 years together.

aoife was the coolest and she totally rocked her shades.

2010

she was just as comfortable with mud on her face...

2013

as she was all glammed up.

2013

she loved going out on new adventures. as long as she didn't encounter any people ... or dogs. she wasn't very social. BOL

2013

she loved to hunt lizards. no matter where they were, she'd always find them.

2014

she was a beautiful ring bearer when her mommy (daughter #1) got married.

2015

but most importantly, she knew how to have fun and not take herself too seriously.

2017

when kibbles crossed the bridge in january of 2010, aoife was here for me. then bailey came into our family in november 2010, and she and aoife became fast friends. she was bailey's best gurl. they went rock climbing...

2013

they'd go shopping...

2013

they had pajama parties...

2014

they were the best gal pals.

2015

we are all going to miss aoife something fierce. she was a part of our family for almost 12 years. she was woven into the fabric of our lives. and now there's just a hole. a big, ugly hole.

nobody is ever prepared to lose a fur baby but when it is just hurled at you, out of the blue, it's just so unfair.

run free sweet girl ... i love you.

until we meet again my friends-