22 July 2010

Eddie Update!!!

Great news!!!  Eddie came home last night.  Yipee!!! 

I can't tell you how nervous Kyle and I have been all week that we would have to put down our 3rd Vizsla in one year.  It just isn't right. 

But, Eddie bounced back from Death that was knocking on his door.  As of Tues, he started making a speedy recovery and proved that he's a trooper. 

I was able to pick him up on my way home from work last night.  He's still a bit in 'recovery' mode, but all seems to be working fine.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that none of the issues are long term and it's a great outlook from here on out. 

And....we're quickly picking up some doggie insurance for him!!  We so should have learned our lesson with our last 3 dogs, but what were the chances, huh???  Especially in the first 7 months.  Lesson learned! 

19 July 2010

This Doesn't Happen To Anyone Else......

Here's how our week and weekend went down...

- Mom in town, me at work dinner.  Come home Tues night after dinner to find Mom and Kyle in panic that Eddie has just started getting really sick. 
- Kyle and I then spend all night being prepped for a newborn by tending to Eddie who proceeded to get sick about every hour.
- Kyle spends the next 3 days in and out of the vet with Eddie trying to figure out why he won't get better (first diagnosis - bacterial infection). 
- Friday afternoon, get call from vet that they want us to bring Eddie in for overnight observation. 
- Saturday - get call from vet that we need to come pick Eddie up and take him to a specialist.
- Still Saturday....Kyle, Olivia and I go pick Eddie up.  He's so lethargic Kyle has to carry him to and from the car each time.  Olivia is a trooper trying to perk him up the whole time!  We get to the 'specialist' which thankfully is not too far away, but of course, we are immediately talking about 'after hours care' as it's Saturday. 

Long story short, they did some x-rays and believe that he has a toy or something lodged in his stomach and need to remove it.  We see the x-rays and sure enough you can see something in there.  The vet Dr is really nice and turns out he lives a few blocks from us.  We agree to go ahead with the surgery.  Eddie is so dehydrated they have to wait a few hours to even get him to a place where they can open him up. 

We get a call later that night that he made it through surgery.  However, what looked like a 'sock' was actually an ulcer filled stomach.  So, back to square one.  The test would be whether or not he made it through the night. 

Sunday - get a call at 8am that he made it, but was in bad shape and we needed to come up and see him on the hopes it cheered him up.  Olivia again was a trooper.  The poor thing has dealt with more animal death ( 3 dogs and 3 fish) than any 4yr old should deal with.  She was not thrilled with the massive amount of IV's and wires going into the little guy.  Lots and lots of questions followed! 

Eddie was not in really good shape.  He wouldn't really move and had trouble keeping his eyes open.  But, he'd also just had MAJOR surgery for a 7 month old puppy!  He maintained his position through the day, although the Dr's were hoping for improvement.  We went back that evening and tried to cheer him up again. 

Monday - the 'normal' internal specialist was coming back on duty Monday morning, so I met him up there on my way to work.  Very nice man who seemed optimistic.  Eddie had 'turned a small corner' in that he was now standing up and walking around a little bit. 

I know I said I was trying to make a long story short....I'm not doing a very good job so far!  End result, they still don't really know what's wrong with him and we might not ever figure it out.  It's either the results of an infection, viral or bacteria, or he's the rare dog that didn't 'take' to the Parvo vaccine and he somehow got the virus.  They believe he's on the upswing, but will require another 2-3 days at the hospital.  He still has some residual issues ( I will spare you the details) that need to stop before they feel completely comfortable with the situation. 

The good news - he seemed much more like 'Eddie' today than over the past week.  He perked up when he saw me and even wagged his tail!!  The bad news - the cost of this thing is beyond ridiculous!  For anyone that has a pet......go.get.insurance.  Right now.  Don't even hesitate.  We thought we had time since he's a pup, but boy were we wrong!! 

However, as with the subject line, Kyle and I are convinced that we are the only ones that deal with this on an ongoing basis.  With every single dog we own!!  One would think we would've gotten smart by now and moved on to hamsters or gerbils.  Nope, we're suckers for these furry things. 

07 July 2010

Picture Perfect


Is this not the greatest picture you've ever seen?? 

This is Olivia with two of her friends, Isabelle and Julie, from school.  At the beginning of the summer Olivia went to Isabelle's house for a play date and they got into a finger painting activity. 

I just love this!!  It illustrates everything perfect about being little, carefree, the summertime, and good memories.  I'm framing this immediately. 

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DeeDee and the kiddos got on a plane this morning.  It will be very weird not to have Olivia in the house for 5 days.  I'm fine when I travel....but to not have her at our house is just an odd feeling.  I know she will have a fabulous time, but I cannot wait for her to get back!! 

Although, she just might sleep the next 5 days at my parent's house!  The kids (and adults!) had such a great time this week.  It was non-stop fun!  Sleep was just something that had to be done at the end of the night.  Whatever time we might stumble upon.  Pictures coming soon. 

And, our new guests, Kenneth and Lili, come tomorrow!  We get two nights with them.  Yeah!  The best part is Lili called saying she wants to get a massage on Friday, so guess who decided she needed company!?  It just so happens that Miami has this wonderful thing each year called Miami Spa Month.  It's actually two months long.  But, for the months of July/Aug, most all spa's offer $99 specials.  They have all kinds of fun treatments at that special price.  So....we're going to the Ritz in Coconut Grove on Friday for our 80 min massages!!  I cannot wait!!  These muscles need some kneading!! 

02 July 2010

A Plea....

To all past, present and future Texas quarterbacks.....

Do not take drugs, do not get in a fight at a strip bar at 3am, and do not ruin all previous and future successes by being stupid. 

Most importantly - DO NOT make our school look bad.  You are making us look like UT is from some poe-dunk (sp??) hoodlum town....not the state capitol.  Not one of the more prestigious universities in the US. 

I'm sure it started before this, but Ricky Williams was one of the more recent disappointments with his....'to smoke pot or to not smoke pot dilema's'.  And his pondering of 'do I want to be in the NFL or do I want to go to some remote island and insert-word-here my life away?'  Then, Vince Young recently got in trouble with the law for getting into an 'altercation' of some sort while at a 'gentleman's club' in Dallas at 3am.  Don't you know - you're in the NFL and making lots of money and all eyes are on you.  Don't screw it up. 

And now....I just saw a headline that Chris Simms.....of all people.....backup quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, got arrested for 'driving while stoned'.  Maybe this is his way of making headlines again.  Best part - he had his pregnant wife in the car with him.  In NYC driving.  Don't you know that if you have a pregnant wife, you have a non-negotiable, built-in designated driver!!!  Idiot. 

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On to better topics.  It's the Friday of a holiday weekend!!  And, we have guests in town.  I'm afraid I might get very, very far behind now with all of our excitement over the next few weeks.  I have great pics from our trip home I need to get to.  And, the day after we got back, my sister and her kids came in town.  We're all having a blast and Olivia is absolutely beside herself.  She and Josh are always inseparable, but this time, she won't leave Kaitlyn or 'sissy' alone.  She wants to mimic and copy everything Sissy does.  It's very cute.  They all went to the beach yesterday and I've never seen kids so tired in my life.  It's brilliant.  Everyone should have a sunny beach miles from your house to have peace and quiet by 8pm.  Try it - works beautifully!! 

Tomorrow morning we get up and drive down to Key Largo.  We're staying down there through Sunday afternoon and then driving back in time for our neighborhood party.  We live on a great street and everyone BBQ's, swims and after dark, the fireman that lives on our street parks a firetruck in the middle and handles all the firework displays.  Should be a lot of fun!!  Then, two more days of fun before Olivia heads to San Antonio with DeeDee and Kenneth and Lili make their way to Miami on the way home from their honeymoon!! 

We also got the baby's room painted today, so up next for us....getting all the 5yr old dust-gathered baby things out of storage and set up!!! 

Happy 4th of July to everyone!!! 

30 June 2010

Thought of the Day....

I need about 4 or 5 more inches on this body.

In height. 

That way, this baby would have a bit more space to go 'Up!' instead of out.  Or, just might not sit on my rib cage all day long, push on my bladder every hour of the evening or make me feel like I'm going to explode every afternoon as I feel my ligaments stretching out further. 

I'm quite jealous of tall people right now.  To all of you who have a few inches to spare (you know who you are!) I'm clearly not saying you did not have your own share of pregnancy pains.  I know darn well issues can come in many forms.  And, I sympathize.  Truly. 

Just doing the math and I have 9 weeks left.  9.5 to be exact.  And, I have absolutely NO idea how I'm going to make it that long.  I think I'm just about the size I was when I delivered Olivia.  I felt good.  Labor was doable (is that really a word?).  Recovery - no complaints.  But, 9 weeks!  That's not exactly right around the corner.  Holy cow. 

75% of the time, I fall in the 'Happy' pregnancy camp.  With Olivia, it was probably closer to 100%.  So, what I'm contemplating is this.....Is the 25% reduction (probably more like 50% if I'm being honest) due to A: I'm 37.  Not old by (my) standards, but not quite the young, chipper 32 I was when I had Olivia.  B: this is my 2nd full term pregnancy and this just happens or C: every pregnancy is different and you just never know what you're going to get? 

My whole life I wanted 4 kids.  I always wanted a big family.  Not only is that not possible now for a number of reasons, but I can't imagine doing this 2 more times!!  So, instead, I'm trying to cherish my last 9 weeks.  Enjoy the moments possible and not lose sight of the fact that this is the last time I'll experience it. 

But, let's lay down the over/under.  I keep telling Kyle I'm going into labor 3 weeks early.  That would put it around Aug 13th....Stay tuned! 

29 June 2010

If This Doesn't Get a Comment, I Don't Know What Will....


I hate to tell you this....but our week in Dallas was a little to liberating.  Our dear Olivia put on a few pounds.  Any ideas on how to get a 4yr old to drop a few pounds???  We need some advice. 

This is her just a few short weeks ago. 

Reporting Live From....

Well, that was going to be my original header.  And, I was going to put something along the lines of 'Big D', 'The Eyes of Texas' or some other cheesy answer down below.  But, I never got around to posting while I was actually back in Texas.  We had too much fun. 

I will post more about it soon and get up some wonderful pics from the week back home.  Kyle, Olivia and I had a great time.  It was so much more relaxing than at Christmas.  I guess that goes without saying.  Of course, we did not get to see everyone.  I think the only way that would happen is to sneak into Texas.  Or, stay there for a month.  Maybe we'll try that next time. 

It was wonderful to see everyone that we did get to see!!  Olivia got a playdate in at the waterpark, we got to see Kenneth and Lili's beautiful wedding, we got a night out with Julie and Gabe and Olivia got some much needed one on one time with her cousin Nick!!  I actually think his heart melted a little bit when she curled up with her head on his lap.  It was very sweet. 

Baby countdown.....9.5 weeks to go!!!  Holy Moly