My original plan was to have two females and one male. As you've read thus far, this was not at all how it was going but I was ok with it. I realized the souls that were meant to be with us were finding us, so I decided to trust the journey we were on.

Melissa was keeping me posted as new piglets arrived in an effort to find our girl. Several liters were born and there were two females we were deciding between. One was a half sibling of George's, which I loved and so, she was our girl. Melissa sent videos and pictures of her as she grew and during that time, we gave her the name Talulah. 

July 19th is a pivotal date in the timeline of our pigs. We had family visiting from PA and we arranged to visit baby Talulah on that date. We all arrived at the farm and shortly after, I held her in my arms. That was it, I couldn't wait to get her home. At this same time, Melissa's husband walked out of the house with a teeny tiny pig that they didn't expect to live. He was born a week after Talulah but was barely half her size. Failure to thrive was the term they used. Nonetheless, they were trying their best to support his survival.

"His name is Goldie, does anyone want to hold him?" he asked. I declined the offer, knowing how uncertain his future was but not my mother-in-law, Diane. "I'll take him," she said. We walked around the farm and she snuggled him close that whole time.

We left that day so happy to have met Talulah. There was  also a great deal of talk about Goldie. My mother in law asked if I would keep her posted on that little pig and wouldn't you know it, after that day he began to grow. She updated her Facebook profile picture to a picture of him and began to share the updates on his well-being.

Melissa was sending me those updates almost daily and little Goldie was starting to get stronger. Talulah was doing great, one of the biggest in the litter and one of the most active. We started to make the plan for pick up, while considering the addition of a fourth pig - Goldie. We made the final decision in August and told my mother in law. Tears flowed, she was so happy! Goldie was officially renamed to Stanley.

You see, Stanley is an important name in the Cates family. My beloved father-in-law was named Stanley and how sweet to bring that name back into our world. It seemed fitting that he have that name given the connection with Diane. This was a match made in heaven - again. Stanley was growing like crazy now, living off of goat's milk and roaming the farm. He was living a really great life.

My friend Hope has a magical goat farm (Sunflower Farm) and guess what, lots of goat milk. She was so kind and generous, offering as much milk as we needed to keep Stanley healthy and strong. We brought these two piglets home and you can bet Diane was not going to miss it. She spent the weekend helping us get the babies acclimated to their new surroundings and two big brothers. 

These four pigs have created the sweetest family. They argue just like any other siblings; however, the snuggles far outweigh the grumbles. We adore these pigs, and many others do too. We're lucky, they're lucky and if you get to meet them - you'll be lucky too.

P.S. Talulah’s favorite snack is everything, and Stanley’s favorite snack is bananas.