Olive

Our sweet olive. 

Yup, I used to dress her... that was pre-kids!

She is so loving and loyal, always by my side.

We got Olive almost a year after we got married. She fit in the palm of my hand when we picked her up from the breeder. I used to carry her in my purse when I'd run errands because she was so little that no one even noticed, and I hated to leave her home alone :-) 

When I labored with Colin (I stayed home as long as I could), she sat right by me. For hours. Never left my side until I finally went to the hospital.

I remember nursing Colin when he was a baby and how she'd always curl up right next to us.

She has always been so gentle with each of our babies. Never once have I worried about her snapping or biting. She gives them unconditional love, just like she gives to all of us.

She sleeps with Chris and I, curled up at the bottom of the bed, under the covers. If I get to sleep in a bit, she'll sleep in a bit. That girl could sleep all day! But if I get up early, like this morning when I got up at 6 a.m., she'll get up with me too. 

My shadow. 

Yesterday was her yearly check-up and I brought Colin and Carter along, thinking that they'd enjoy seeing the goings on. They did.

And then just as the doctor was telling me how healthy she is, I happened to notice a bump on her inner thigh that for whatever reason I hadn't noticed before. 

"Wait doctor, this wasn't here before. What is it?"

She was sure it was probably nothing.

But it was something. It was cancer.

We'd waited while the doctor took Olive to the back to check the lump under a microscope and by the time she came back, Colin and Carter were both bored and entangled in Olive's leash, causing a scene. I gave the doctor about half my attention as I worked to untangle them, not thinking she was about to tell me our dog has cancer.

But I know from experience, that when cancer strikes, you are never ready to hear the news. You never expect it.

She had emergency surgery to remove two tumors this morning (one bigger than the other) and now she is curled up by my side (as always when I blog), with a ton of stitches. :-( She's also started taking chemotherapy medicine to start fighting the cancer.

Once they biopsy the tumor(s), we'll know more of what we're dealing with and how to proceed. I pray that we caught it early enough so that it hasn't already spread.

 I know she's a dog..... but to us she is so much more. She's our Olive and we love her so.

Road trip, sometime around 2007

Chris and I were looking through old pictures of her puppy years, before we had a whole bunch of kids and smiling and laughing. She was our baby back then.