Thankful for my dogs

I know it sounds silly, and that there are more important things to be thankful for, but hey, I still have 24 more days!

Kobe is our sweet black lab we got in April 2000, before we had kids. So she's coming up on 12 years...and it's showing. She's losing weight, her spine is sticking out, her legs aren't sturdy, she has sores and bumps on her body. We've started calling her "old lady." Yesterday she slipped on the hard wood floor and couldn't get her footing. She sleeps a lot. But I'm very thankful for her...she was the first dog I ever had. I taught her all sorts of tricks when she was a puppy, and she will still (begrudgingly) do them. When I was put on bed rest with Macy (for a MONTH) I laid in bed and read, and she would lay next to me. I talked to her, and she kept sane while I was slowly going crazy from laying on my left side for a MONTH. She's a sweet, sweet dog and I'm thankful for her company.

Gabe is our hyper American Eskimo we got a few years ago. It was just after Bobby had started at the fire station, and him being gone at night was causing me stress. I couldn't sleep. Enter Gabe: the barking dog. I knew if anyone tried to get in our house, that dog would bark his head and let me know. He brought me piece of mind, and I'm thankful for that. He follows me around, and is never far from me. One of my favorite things to do is leave a room and go downstairs with Gabe following, then go right back in that room, just to make him follow me. I'm thankful for the piece of mind he has given me.

I'm also thankful for the joy these two dogs have brought the girls. Watching the girls interact with my two other babies is a joy. 

You non-dog people won't understand the above post, and that's okay. You dog-people will. And I have 24 more thankful days to talk about the deep stuff.