Wordless Wednesday (okay, not at all wordless)

I ran across these pictures the other day and I had to share. This happened the last weekend in June of 2007. (I was about as far along then with Nathan as I am now with this little one).

7/1/2007 "Saturday morning I was on the phone with my dad and happened to see Bailey (our golden retriever) pick up something in her mouth (she got it from a hole in the yard), bring it across our yard, up the deck steps, and lie down by the back door with something small and mobile... she was licking it. I ran to investigate and found that she had ever so gently plucked two newborn bunnies from a horribly built nest and she was licking them. I immediately took them fearing she would try to play with them like her other toys. Thankfully, they were by no means hurt or injured in any way - amazing. I couldn't put them back in the nest, Bailey would just retrieve them again. So, I brought them inside and called a wildlife care center. They were closed until Monday, but gave me instructions for care over the weekend... so needless to say, we've been feeding these tiny bunnies through an itty bitty syringe for the last two days. They have even grown a little bit. Their umbilical cord stumps were red and raw (I told you they were newborn- barely hours old) on Saturday but today they are now brown and have dried up some. They even started to grow a little white fur on their tummies. Other than that, they are essentially hairless. They are about 3.5 inches long and their eyes and ears are still closed. So tiny. Tonight, Bailey was whining pitifully at the bathroom door when I was feeding the bunnies... and I decided that we should give her maternal instinct a try. Chad came to help intervene if necessary. I put one of the bunnies down near her and it immediately crawled toward her soft fur. She licked it and laid so still allowing it to bury itself into her thick neck fur. Occasionally, she would nuzzle it and lick it. I brought the other one down to her and she let it nuzzle as well. Within seconds, we heard this sucking sound. They were trying to nurse in her hair! Oh my word... to see a 80 pound dog nuzzle and mother these TINY bunnies that are no more than a few days old and weighing no more than 2 oz was precious. Can you imagine what a good big sister she will be? We ended up feeding the bunnies through the syringe stuck through her fur for the remainder of their stay with us. Our dog rocks! By the way, the little boy in my tummy is about 1.5-2 inches longer than these bunnies and doesn't weigh much more. :) It's been a great weekend!"

That story warms my heart and I just had to share!!!!