Dogs are great for many things, they love you unconditionally and always have time to spare,They will sit and rest beside you, play the day away, or lick you to show you how much they care.
Dogs know that with a little affection, they can make your troubles disappear.
They stand guard to protect the ones they love, without hesitation or fear.
Dogs offer their paw in friendship and bark to show you their emotion.
They truly are a great pet filled with loyalty, friendship, love, and devotion.
Maximus lived up to that poem to the entirity which is why we chose that one today!
Today is a difficult post, but I wanted to do something...it is the year anniversary of the passing of Maximus. A year ago today we had a very difficult day...not only did I have a meeting that Friday morning that I certainly didn't want to be at just because I knew what the afternoon entailed, but also it was the Friday before Mother's Day...Mother's Day is one of my favorite days...most know because why...but were celebrating having a new addition just 2 months before with Hayley arriving but the loss of our Maximus during that special weekend was hard for us too.
So if you are not in the mood for a rather lengthy post you made click the "back" button and go to another blog! (I mean that in the best of ways :) ).
Our first picture together with Maximus! How young we all look. In case you are wondering I took pictures of pictures in scrapbook pages I did awhile back...which adds a little character. Back then we didn't have digital!
What do we love about Maximus? To be honest...so many things that we couldn't possibly explain them all but we will try to say some.
1. Maximus is one of a kind. In college Bobby surprised me
with Maximus as a gift and boy was he! We came up with his name from the movie Gladiator - Bobby and I LOVE that movie! It has always been one of our all-time favorites (yes...I love those kind of movies!!!) So he was never Max but "Maximus;" however, Madison eventually came to call him that which was fine by us. His middle name...Morrison, my maiden name. I don't know why we chose that but maybe because we would eventually come to have girls? (I know those kind of thoughts come in our head). I guess I just knew...His last name obviously ours.
2. He was a vegetarian...not by choice AT ALL.
He was allergic to meat protein so he had to have special vegetarian food and had to have all natural and/or organic treats - nothing with meat protein. It really got us looking at labels for our own dog. People would always laugh when we said he was a vegetarian - they would look at us like we were cruel until we said no, he's allergic! So his main form of treats were carrots. AND one of his favorite toys to play with was his stuffed carrots! Go figure that one! So every time I would cut up vegetables for dinner Maximus was by my side - he always thought I was cutting carrots. As many know they can't have all vegetables, but the ones he could we would give him. This was ESPECIALLY challenging when we went to visit our family because both sides have dogs and of course they are not vegetarians either so we would constantly have to watch him. He would do ANY
THING to get to their food (probably can't blame him either!) So when he ate it...it was VERY upset stomach, bumps around his eyes, and getting sick in store for him.
3. I used to take him running with me...he loved it. For those that ever saw him run - it was BEAUTIFUL. "Deer" is the nickname for Min Pins because of their graceful running - he would leap and bound. At my in-laws home - he escaped and if you knew Maximus - if he escaped it was a free for all...good luck catching him and drop everything for the next 1/2 hour to hour and a 1/2. However, when he did he was running with other dogs. It just stopped Bobby and I in our tracks even though we were FRANTIC. It was so beautiful because my in-laws live in the country where there is a lot of room so he was literally bounding in and out of the land. We literally never thought we would catch him but it was so beautiful at the same time. However, not all of his escapes were always so fun. Literally 5 days after I had Madison he escaped - Bobby was traveling so what in the world did I do? I had to call my neighbor and have her come watch Madison (now that made me cry just leaving her already) and I was chasing him in the creek with trees we have in front of us with hills! Now that WAS FUN! (just kidding but trying to make light of it somehow!) Maximus was the master of escaping as you can tell!
What more can we say. He is born in 2001 - January 22nd. So he was ready to leave his mother right around my birthday - Maximus was the most handsome Miniature Pinscher we have ever seen. Not kidding...yes we were his parents (owners) but we heard that from so many. "He should be a show dog..." is what we always heard. He would have been perfect but just on the "little taller side" we heard for the regulations. He always stood so proud.
We won't focus on what happened because that is still too hard to this day. But Maximus was a special dog. He went through our most difficult times Bobby and I have gone through-to-date...a loss...and our fertility failures for several years...but he went through so many good times...Madison...Hayley...and lots of fun times with both Bobby and I...the lake, he went everywhere with us in college as our friends had dogs too so they had "playdates."
We are so thankful for Maximus because always greated us at the door with so much love and happiness...which was the best feeling when we were going through those times. He was the one who would cuddle us and love us.
But from the day we got Maximus he was different. Loveable, kind, sweet, protective, and loyal! Maximus was definitely a Mommy's Boy - he LOVED his Daddy but he was always by my side and snuggled right in my stomach at night or behind my legs when I slept. When I was pregnant with both girls he had to sit in my lap by my stomach which posed as a challenge as I had a growing belly! What joy he brought to us! Some of our favorite memories of him... (maybe this isn't good to go into so much detail but we still to-date miss him more than ever).
It is funny because sometimes I still think I hear his collar jingle or hear his bark outside. That is the hardest part. Madison has a special, special bond with Maximus - I mean close! She misses him and when she sees a picture of him somewhere she says "Max is with Jesus - in heav
en." It is really sweet. My Aunt Mary did something so special for us -got a book to read to Madison since she had a difficult time understanding so I would highly recommend that book to anyone in this situation in the future.
All Dogs go to Heaven. It still makes me cry sometimes to see it and read it.
I cannot forget to talk about Cadence and Maximus' relationship. Maximus was
always the caretaker of Cadence. From the day we got her he accepted her, loved her, and he let her do
anything to him. Cadence was so attached to Maximus...she had to be sitting by him and literally on him. To do this she would back her hiney on his back and just sit there- he never minded. Whe we got Cadence one of her ears was clipped wrong (according to AKC standards...they had to be clipped and obviously it wasn't done to AKC standards). However, we LOVED that about Cadence...it fit her personality paw-fect (ha, ha), but Maximus was always concerned about her because the ear will get extra dirty. He would clean it for her by licking and often times when she wanted him to do it she
would nuzzle her head by him which I guess was the "signal."
Enjoy some of their pictures together...
Here is Maximus and Madison. Madison is climbing in his bed with him - you cannot even see him because one of her favorite things was to cover him up. As you can tell - Maximus was a very tolerant dog with the girls. We never really had an opportunity to get pictures of him with Hayley but he was already starting to love her too.
Of course, they snuggled together too!
And hugs....
When Madison first got her toddler bed, Maximus found a new sleeping mate.
And we will leave it at this picture.
Madison loved to dress Maximus up with her toys and especially necklaces. He would always let her do that...however, you can tell here he is thinking...."Help Me!"
We love you Maximus and thank you for your gifts you brought to us!
Blessings from us!
As always Miss Hayley enjoying herself and smiling and laughing! She was having a great time...you see below her enjoying a snack while we shopped...always a must, and we usually time shopping at snack time as it helps keep them happy and entertained.
We just liked this picture of Madison in her little world pushing the cart...how sweet we thought. She was on a mission to fill her cart!
Madison's last day of school was Wednesday! Bobby had a work golf tournament that day so he was able to go in late. I was asking him if he could go late just one day because I knew Madison would LOVE Daddy to help take her to school one day. So needless to say - Madison was SUPER excited so I had to get a picture of it! Their last day of school was so much fun for them so that was neat - Madison always gets so excited to show us what she did that day. When we dropped Madison off...Hayley was the one who had a difficult time so we decided to send her one day next year - one of the same days as Madison. Hayley was ready to play and learn when we dropped Madison off and thought she was staying too - so next year she will get her opportunity too!
Last week of Madison's school was Red, White, and Blue Day...I noted we got her an outfit - we went ahead and got her a red, white, and blue shirt with a Navy zip hoodie that was on sale! She looked super cute and was so excited about her new outfit so I thought I would share the pictures! ...And BIG NEWS...she picked a red shirt instead of pink - can you believe it?...we are moving into a whole new world! My mom and I were excited about that one.
is is my way of doing it back...posting this picture of her being silly (can you tell I am used to talking to my girls)- BUT the funny thing is she doesn't care...which you know...is so much fun about her!
