The Reddy Zoo - Part III

We finally figured out that we were adding more pets to the Zoo because we hadn't been able to add more children to our family. Miss M was almost four when we decided to apply to adopt a baby. She had been asking for a brother or sister for quite some time, and we had been praying for a baby. We finished the application process in June of 2001 and we received a call about a baby boy in October. After three and a half months of anxious excitement, Big D came home on Valentine's Day 2002.

But we didn't stop there. We just knew that we were meant to have more children. As soon as Big D's adoption was finalized, we put in the application for another baby - thinking it could take a while. We thought wrong. We actually got a call about C.B. the week after we sent in the application...also the same day we sold our house and bought a new one. C.B. was only two months old when we brought him home. We moved into our new house the next day. What a weekend!!!

Were we done now??? Not yet! We needed another girl to round out our gang, of course. So as soon as C.B.'s adoption was finalized, we put in another application. But this time it was different. This time we asked specifically for a girl. And this time we had to wait. More than a week. More than a few months. More like two years! But Banana was worth any amount of waiting.

A lot changed over those two years of waiting. Our frog and our guinea pigs (all of whom we got at around the same time) seemed to have roughly the same life expectancy. They all died within a few months of one another. Not only that, but our beloved dog, Kenobi, reached the end of her years at around the same time. That was the toughest loss of all. We will never have another dog like Kenobi. Sigh.

The humans finally outnumber the pets at our house, but it is still quite a Zoo here. Things certainly have changed quickly though. Ten years ago we had three dogs and a cat around our Christmas tree. We have two handsome little boys and two beautiful girls around our tree this year.

Updated December 2006