Stacey Solomon has admitted feeling 'dread' in the lead-up to Christmas as this year also marks a heartbreaking first. The Sort Your Life Out presenter took to Instagram to share a video of her and her youngest son, Rex, headed out into the garden of their sprawling family home, named Pickle Cottage.
The pair were heading off, with the family's two adorable pet pooches Peanut and Teddy in tow, to lay flowers for their beloved dog Theo who died in 2021. Stacey was left heartbroken when she told fans after Christmas that 11-year-old Theo passed away in her arms surrounded by the young family on Boxing Day.
Paying tribute at the time, Stacey spoke lovingly about her pet, sharing pictures, videos, and memories of Theo with herself and her children, Rose and Rex, who she shares with her husband Joe Swash, and her elder son Zachary, and Leighton, from previous relationships.
"Sweet Dreams Theo," she wrote at the time. "The best friend we could have ever wished for. Our hearts are broken. Yesterday at home in our arms we had to say goodnight to our Theo. 11 wonderful years. We were so lucky to love you Fifi and we will never stop. My lap has never felt so empty. I miss you so much already. My little girl. But oh my goodness the memories and the love you brought into our lives.
"Thank you for everything Theo. For protecting me and the boys when we needed it most. For loving us no matter what and for holding on for so long and waiting to meet your little sister Rose. Rex has had the best friend in you that he could ever have wished for and the boys have had the best protector in the whole wide world. Even though Rex is only little I know him, Zachary and Leighton will never ever forget you."
And Stacey wasn't wrong as her now-three-year-old Rex helped her clean up Theo's memorial in their garden. Sharing a video to her Instagram Story with her millions of followers, Rex could be heard saying: "Theo, we're coming!" before telling his mum he could see Theo's memorial bench.
She then showed Rex cleaning up Theo's own plaque before putting down some flowers as he said: "Merry Christmas, Theo!" before he continued to make sure everything looked perfect for their late pet. Writing alongside the clip, Stacey, 33, said: "Me and Rexy spent the morning visiting Theo.
"Cleaning her plaque & bringing her some fresh flowers: sounds silly but as it gets closer to Christmas and I remember that last boxing day we lost her. I'm missing her more than ever and feeling a bit of dread towards boxing day for some reason [teary eye emoji] we love you fifi happy heavenly Christmas darling."
Earlier this year, Stacey made Theo part of her wedding day by including his image on her wedding invites. Weeks before the big day, which took place in front of a small number of family and friend's in the garden of Stacey and Joe's Essex home, Stacey showed a pile of the invites as she got her pen ready to start addressing them. "Sitting here doing something so special and I'm crying," she wrote alongside the video.
"We've emailed all our friends and families save the dates but we still wanted to send some special invites for them to have forever so I'm writing them now and my whole heart is fluttering." She then shared another post that gave a closer look at the invites which featured a floral border around a painted picture of their home with their two pet pooches - Teddy and Peanut - on one side and their late dog Theo sat at the front door.
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