The week after Brent and I got back from our honeymoon, our 9 week old Bernese Mountain dog puppy was scheduled to arrive at the airport. We bought Maple from a breeder in Oklahoma, and the little puppy flew to Virginia to come live with us. We were so excited! Maple was fluffy and sweet and super cute. We were newly married and this was our first pet together, so naturally, she was our baby. She got ALL the attention.
A few years later I got pregnant and was looking forward to Maple meeting her new little sister. For the first few days after we came home from the hospital with Cayden, Maple stayed at my Mother-in-laws house. We wanted to take a few days to get used to having a new baby and try to create some sort of routine. About a week after Cayden was born, Brent went to his mom’s house to pick Maple up and bring her home to meet Cayden. When Maple ran in the house she was bursting with excitement, probably wondering why she had to be gone for so long.
When Maple first encountered Cayden, just about a week old, in Mommy’s arms, she was making those little cooing baby noises. Maple walked up, sniffed her, and tilted her head to one side…probably thinking, “what is this thing??” Little did Maple or Cayden know at that time, they would soon become best friends.
Watching the 2 of them play together was the cutest thing. Maple loved Cayden and Cayden adored Maple. Maple is such a sweet and gentle giant. Some people may be concerned when a 130 pound dog plays with a 20 pound child….but not in this case. Cayden was in control…and anyone who knew Cayden knows that is 100% true. Cayden’s favorite chore of the day was to come home from school and feed her puppy. Maple would allow this small child to sit on her, put jewelry and hair bows all over her, put sunglasses on her face, you name it. I never once had a concern of Maple getting upset.
In the evenings when Brent would get home from work, I would hear the door unlock and I would shout out to Cayden and Maple, “Daddy’s home!!” Those girls would race to the front door to greet him. They always wanted to see who would be first to get to Daddy. Brent would pick Cayden up and give her a giant hug. Cayden was so petite, you only needed one hand to hold her, so he would always pet Maple too….so they both got to cuddle Daddy at the same time 🙂
I never knew how important Maple would really be until now. I love her more knowing she was so sweet and loving to my baby girl. It makes me feel good to know, that although Cayden was only 3 years old and she was an only child, she did have a sister….a furry one. Someone she could hang with and watch TV, someone to play in the backyard with when she kicked the soccer ball and someone to share her snacks with in the kitchen (no matter how many times I told Cayden not to share her food with Maple). ❤
Sometimes when I’m by myself and I feel sad, I will sit on the couch, scroll through pictures and cry. Maple will sit in front of me and rest her giant head in my lap. I know Maple misses Cayden too. Dogs HAVE to go to Heaven, because I know Cayden will squeal with excitement when she gets to hang out with her best gal pal again.
I couldn’t choose just a few pics, so here is a WIDE assortment of Maple and Cadybug pics, ranging from when she was 2 weeks old, to just 2 weeks before she passed.
#pinkforcadybug
pinkforcadybug 
So incredibly sweet…Sisters forever!
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Absolutely awesome, those pics are treasures.
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I love this..I know Maple misses her as much as we all do!!!
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As much as we all can’t comprehend what happened to Cadybug, poor Maple just knows that she’s gone and everyone is sad. Dogs are such sensitive animals.
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precious sweetness!
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Jessica I really love how you do the blogs of caydens life it is really refreshing for me so that I can have more to remember cayden by besides of me being her teacher I get to see how her life was outside of A.E.L. keep your head up and wipe your tears because us knowing cadybug she probally up there in heaven now having a ball with the angels dancing and laughing like she always was ttys. Mrs.Keke
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the pictures truly are amazing. It is quite obvious they were “best friends” the love between them shows. I am so sorry for your loss, I can’t even imagine what you are going through, but I love reading about your beautiful daughter.
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Sweet, genuine love…
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My favorite is the one where cayden has covered maple up with something that seems like a placemat… An adequate blankie for that giant dog? Sure was with that girl’s imagination!!! Love you guys and love following pinkforcadybug!
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What sweet memories and what a story your photos make 🙂
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