Twist Back Pink Sweater + Big Life Update

OUTFIT DETAILS

Pink Sweater – $44 + 10% off with code sabbystyle – c/o K. Ellis Boutique // White Denim // Heart Necklace c/o I Love Jewelry // Reusable Coffee Cup c/o Lauren Mackenzie Decals

Hi dear friends – I hope this post finds you all well.  It’s been a minute since I’ve published a post because life sure threw us a curve ball last week and I’m just now coming up for air.

It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to let you girls know that we sent our sweet baby Franklin over the rainbow bridge on Friday.

If you’re new here, Franklin was our oldest dog (almost 13 years old) out of the three and was my whole world.  Franklin was an early 21st birthday present and we truly grew up together!  About a year ago, we found out that he had Congestive Heart Failure, which broke our hearts because other than that, he was SO healthy and spry!

For the last year we’ve done everything we could do to give him a quality life and to help him age gracefully.  I know we did every.single.thing in our power to help him live a beautiful life and I’m so thankful he didn’t suffer long.  He was perfectly fine on Thursday evening, but Friday morning he was a completely different boy and I knew he was telling me it was time.  It was the toughest decision, but those are usually the right ones and we swore that we would do what was necessary to give him dignity and grace!

It happened all very fast, which sucks for us selfishly, but was the best for our sweet boy.  It was swift and peaceful and we were right there hugging, kissing, and telling him how much we loved him and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.  It was horrible to watch him decline and witness him passing, but we owed it to him to be there until the very end and I’m so glad he heard our voices as he took his last breath.  Tony and I prayed to God to keep our boy safe and to welcome him into heaven and to love on him hard until we see him again!  We also made a promise to Franklin to keep his memory alive by sharing stories, watching his silly videos, and to also pour all of our love that we had for him into our other two dogs, Roger and Martha!

We adopted Martha (as seen here in these photos!) in July of 2018 and we were not looking for another dog!  Between Franklin’s CHF medications and Roger’s diabetes, we were feeling pretty tapped out.  But it was meant to be and I’m so thankful, now more than ever, that we have our sweet girl.  So how did we meet miss Martha Mae???  One Saturday in July, we were at a bar meeting friends and while sitting on the beer garden, I noticed there was a dog!  As most of you know, we’re huge dog people, so naturally I went over to the table where she was and started petting her.  Little did I know that she was actually there with her foster mom and was up for adoption!  She was shy and skittish (she was a puppy mill breeding dog and had a rough first 4 years of life) but she calmed down immediately once I held her.  Tony saw my face and he knew he never stood a chance of trying to tell me no haha.

People thought we were crazy – and we were – for adding a third dog to the mix but I knew she was meant to be ours.  And now with the passing of Franklin, I’m so happy that Roger has a companion.  He’s missing his brother just as much as we are (Roger has never known life without Franklin), but seeing Roger and Marthy snuggling and playing together in the yard gives me peace and comfort!  Just how Roger kept Franklin young and spry, now Martha will do that for Roger, who will be 10 in August!

If you follow me on Instagram, then you’ve probably seen on my Stories that Martha is my little shadow, so of course she snuck into these photos and stole the show!  I kept trying to move her out of the way, but she wasn’t having it, so I finally gave in haha.  We actually took these photos a couple days before Franklin died.  I loved how they turned out – because Martha and this sweater are just so cute! – but now after saying goodbye to Franklin, I struggled with how I was going to share these pictures and what I would say.  Like, how do I talk about Martha and how much I love her when I’m devastated and mourning Franklin?  I was weeping and talking about it with Tony and telling him how horrible I felt that I would be sharing pictures of her and not of Franklin or Roger.

But Tony reminded me of how much she loves me in just a short amount of time, so imagine how much Franklin loved me (and felt loved) after almost 13 years together!  That gave my heart peace and comfort.

In honor of our angel baby Frank, we will be the best puppy parents to Roger and Martha!

Oh, and Martha wanted me to tell you that this adorable reusable coffee cup and this pink sweater would be perfect for Valentine’s Day!

The coffee cup is just $11 + 10% off with code SARA10 and my pink sweater is only $44 + 10% off with code sabbystyle!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading and spending a few minutes with me today.  We’re trying to find our new normal as a family of four, but Franklin will always be in our hearts and home!