“Dogs come into our lives to teach us about love, they depart to teach us about loss. A new dog never replaces an old dog, it merely expands the heart. If you have loved many dogs your heart is very big.” Erica Jong

After losing our beloved dog, Zoe, we lived without a dog in our home for 4 months. Naturally, our kids had asked about getting another dog. We told them that we would one day when the time was right. That day came exactly one year ago, on Valentine’s Day. A day we will never forget.

That morning began ordinarily, as our older two kids went off to school, and I took our youngest child to preschool. Grandpa and Grandpa took care of our little guy for the remainder of the day. Meanwhile, my husband and I drove two hours through the snow to pick up our new pup.

We were thrilled it was finally time to go get her!! It was hard to keep such a secret from the kids and we could hardly contain our excitement! We had been planning to surprise our kids with our new puppy since the day she was born. We had all the necessary supplies, food, toys, a vet visit lined up….and so much love to give.

Welcome Home, Tootsie!

sweet puppy dreaming

We took our new baby home wrapped in a blanket. She was so sweet, tiny, and adorable. After we got home from the long drive, we set her down on our living room floor where she fell fast asleep. I have to admit, it was so nice to have some peace and quiet while we got acquainted and introduced our puppy to her new home.

Just before the kids were due to arrive back home from school, I put our pup in her warm and comfy kennel in our bedroom to hideout. After all the kids got home, we sat them down on the couch and told them we would get their Valentines’ gifts. My husband, Will, asked them to close their eyes and he began recording while I brought down our puppy surprise. As you will see in the video, the kids were completely overcome with emotion.