New Baby Girl

We have a new baby in the family, for those of you who haven't heard. Her name is Jolie Lenoir and she is a treasure. I actually brought her home on August 29. She got to know Bailey and he got to know her, which is a comfort to me. Here's how it happened: Mom called me at school (the third day of school) and said that a lady she knew through the vet was having to get rid of all of her dogs. Apparently she was a breeder and a collector. She was distraught because her husband had given her an ultimatum: get rid of the dogs by 1:00 that day, or he would take them to a "kill" shelter. She got in touch with Mom and asked if she or anyone she knew would be interested. She had 3 pekingeses (a boy and 2 girls). I learned from Presley and Desi that it wasn't a good idea to bring in another male and I figured I didn't need any more puppies anyway. I asked around at school and no one seemed interested. I kept thinking about the little girls. One of them had already been spayed. (You see it coming already, don't you?) Believe it or not, I didn't. I felt worried and wanted to be sure that the puppies got placed in a good home. My nanny was also calling friends to see if she could help. About an hour later, I called Mom back and said, "You know, I was thinking.....I could take the little spayed girl....." waiting for an immediate "Are you crazy???" but instead I got "Yes, I was thinking you should." So I called the lady, and told her about myself (and yes, she STILL gave her to me!). Her "birth" name was Shylee, which I wasn't crazy about and I worried that it might remind her of her old family. Mom said she would pick her up before 1 and just keep her at her house until I could get out of school for the day. That was one of the longest afternoons ever! Nanny went with Mom and picked her up at the vet's. The lady was too upset and so she had just dropped her off there. (We found out later that the lady had given away 25 dogs the day before and several more that day, too.) Mom and Nanny called me on the phone when they got back to Mom's house and were raving about how sweet and beautiful and SHY she was. I got to Mom's house and walked in quietly and softly and gently petted her. She let me pick her up and then she curled up on my chest and went to sleep. She knew she was home. Here's her first picture:

She has been a perfect angel and a balm to my loss of Bailey. Having a little one around and getting to know her is a great help to sorrow. She now thinks I am hers and hers alone. The other babies are doing well. In fact, Gracie took Bailey's loss the hardest (she adored him) and she was depressed, too. Gracie now thinks Jolie is her baby and I catch her licking all over Jolie's face and grooming her. Very sweet! She seems to be afraid of men and doesn't like loud voices either. She begins to shake and cling to me, even if the men's voices are coming from the TV. Makes you wonder why, doesn't it?

I went to Baton Rouge for my birthday a couple of weeks ago and left the babies in the care of our great friend Aunt Wanda. The next post will be all about what happened next!