We abandoned our babies.

Yesterday we did one of the hardest things we've ever had to do.

We abandoned our babies.

These babies. How could we do such a thing? 

Our fur-babies, that is. We have two beautiful doggos names Gimli and Lilith. They were both rescues from Beijing and they are the best creatures on the face of the world. In case you thought your pups are better, don't worry - they're not. But no hard feelings.

Traveling is something we love to do. And we also love our babies. We've been saving up and planning on this trip for quite some time, and we knew that the girls wouldn't be able to come with us. So, we searched high and low and finally found a foster mommy that would take them both for the whole time. We also have a substantial list of backups just in case. But it didn't really hit us that we would be leaving them until yesterday morning.

At about 10:30am we packed them in the car for the last time, buckling their seat belts for the treacherous 2 mile journey. They didn't know that it was our last ride together, and I started tearing up.

Lilith was so happy to go for a ride. I didn't have the heart to break it to her. 

We arrived at the house and took them inside. We explained to the babysitter all of their food and medication needs, their personalities, everything. The girl promised us she would take good care of them and that they would be happy, healthy, and loved.

We cried. Like babies. Like giant babies. We hugged our pups close one last time and they knew something was up. They were calm, solemn. Lilith refused to kiss us when we asked for one.

We hope she doesn't lose her zing. 

We left the house, stopping in the middle of the street to hold each other and sob.

I had no idea it would be this hard. Neither of us did. It all made sense to us when our own moms cried when we left for college or China or wherever. The pain was real.

In short, we are terrified to be away from them. We are dreading an email or Skype call that says they got out and are lost, or they were hit by a car. How can we not worry?

Did we do the right thing? What would you have done if you were us?