Nala

Seven years ago today, eric and I got our first "baby." Well, she was our baby at the time, but then she kind of got pushed over to the side a bit when we had our real babies.

In 2003 I gave eric a boxer, Coy, for his birthday present. Those of you that can remember Coy will remember that he was very energetic, loved cool whip containers, and wasn't a very smart dog. :) But, eric loved him dearly and they went everywhere together. While eric was packing up and moving out of his rental place to our first (& tiny) home that we bought, a horrible accident occurred and Coy passed away. We both loved that dog (especially eric) and knew that we wanted another animal for our home.  So, on August 11th, 2004, I was beginning my first year of teaching and was working out at the school. It was a teacher workday and a parent of some students that go to the school I taught at brought in a box of puppies, and of course I was the sucker that ended up taking one of those dogs home. That puppy, Nala, went everywhere with us, became a member of our Christmas cards, slept in our bedroom, and was our "baby."

Little Bitty Nala

Nala and I getting ready for bed!

Sometimes daddy would come home from work to find us snuggled up like this!

After Nala there were quite a few more cats and dogs that came our way, and everytime we would bring a new animal around, she would bark, growl and smell them for a while, and would finally tolerate them. 

Nala and our 1st Cat, Ginger

One of my favorite pictures of Nala! On our way to Sparta, Christmas 2004





Nala and Lola



Nala made our move from our tiny house to our house that we live in now, and then one day she was not sure of what we were getting out of the car. I'm sure she thought, oh no, another animal, but she couldn't understand why we wouldn't let her smell, growl, and bark at this thing that we were carrying! Thankfully it didn't take Nala anytime to get use to the idea of having a baby around, even if it did mean that she got a lot less attention from us.

Nala & Jackson

She soon realized that this thing would now be the one sleeping in our bedroom, and she didn't seem to mind the move to the porch at all! I wonder if she was as excited as we were when Jackson had his first belly laugh because of her jumping around and playing. (Still to this day when she starts running wild in sprints it will make Jackson laugh and laugh!) Or if she loved that one of Ansley and Elsie's first words was "Nala." When it comes to Jackson, Ansley and Elsie she knows that it is her job to protect them, and she does a mighty fine job doing just that!

She is a great sport, and I know it's gotta be tough with three little ones picking on you daily. 

Even though she likes to bark.... a lot.... at the deer, rabbits, squirrels, anything that moves in our woods, she is a wonderful pet and a great guard dog! (I still wonder why she dislikes the UPS and FedEx guys the least, though!) :)

Happy 7 years, Nala! 

2004

July 2011