Dusty

Things are pretty crazy around here leading up to the big wedding on Saturday.  But I wanted to check in and say that I am still here with lots to blog about but no time to do it!  Hopefully after this weekend I will have some time to sit down and write about a few of the things we have been doing.  

But right now, I have a heavy heart.  My sweet little dog, Dusty, passed away Friday.  Boo.  

He was my first baby and he was almost 12 years old.  About two weeks ago he started this weird coughing thing (almost like asthma or something but would only last a few minutes) and I took him to the vet after about a week of it.  They diagnosed him with congestive heart failure and put him on medicine.  Now, I worked in the medical field for many years.  I know that doesn't just go away.  I knew eventually he would succumb to his heart troubles.  

After being on the medicine for a few days he got much better.  He was running up the stairs and playing with Blakely like usual.  I thought once he got better that we were going to get a few more years out of him.  He was 12 but shih-tzu's live forever.  My mom's lived until he was like 18!

I took him to the groomer on Friday because he was in bad need of a cut.  Helga is our groomer and she is like the dog whisperer.  It has always been a nightmare to get Dusty groomed until she came along.  He loves her and would sit there and let her do whatever (except for the toenails..he always HATED that!).  

Anyway, she called me and said that he was breathing weird and she thought he may need to go back to the vet.  I said I would come get him.  I was at the grocery store and started that way.  A few minutes later, my phone rang and it was my aunt.  She works right next door and Helga came to get her when Dusty started acting funny.  My aunt told me she thought that Dusty had died.  I was like....no.  WHAT?  Are you sure?  She was sure.  

I was in the car with Blakely and basically lost it.  But I quickly realized I could not do that.  I had to get it together because Blakely was frantically saying "MOMMY!  MOMMY SAD!  OH NO!  MOMMY?"  Not fun.  Hard.  

I'll save all the details but, yeah, he died at the groomer.  Sweet Helga is just the best.  She even performed doggy CPR with mouth to mouth.  I mean....  She tried but it just wasn't happening.  I called and thanked her and told her that if Dusty couldn't be with me when that happened that I was glad he could be with her because I know she loved him too.  

So that is pretty sad.  I came home and put B down for a nap and had a good cry about it.  And now writing this I am getting sad again.  Sigh...

Duster was a good dog.  Not the smartest (as Lonnie would say!) but super sweet and always cuddly.  I got him right before I started x-ray school because it was my first time to live alone and I was lonely.  He slept on my pillow every night until we moved here.  

A good dog.  Our little family will definitely miss him.  We already do.  

TVT

I feel like I haven't done a Thought Vomit Thursday in a while so HERE YOU ARE :)

• I miss my good sleeper.  Like in a serious way.  This month has been harder than any other month.  At least when she was a newborn I KNEW I would be getting up every 2-3 hours.  Not to mention I was still high from just having had a baby.  Now?  I am desperate for some sleep.  I am a zombie during the day and feel totally worthless...

• Lonnie's brother, his wife, and their two kids are coming to stay for the weekend.  I am super excited to see them but I can't quite get the motivation to clean my house.  Normally when they come I have everything all perfect for them and this time there is dog pee in their closet.  I don't care.  Also, I have no food whatsoever.  But mother in law to the rescue.  She is going to the store tomorrow for me.  Love her like whoa.  We will probably spend the whole weekend in the lake or on the boat.  That sounds amazing.  The last time they were here was when Blakely had salmonella...yuck.  So hopefully this time I will actually get to enjoy their company.  

• My sister in law thinks cloth diapers are completely disgusting and can't believe I am doing it.  She also made comments last time about me still breastfeeding and making Blakely's baby food.  I was totally caught off guard and couldn't believe it.  I am hoping this time to stand up for myself more and explain our choices a little better.  Oh, and I'll totally be doing diaper laundry while she is here :)

• I am so excited for the Olympi.cs.  Like a 12 year old at a Jus.tin Beib.er concert excited.  Four years ago Lonnie and I bought our awesome flat screen tv just because the Olymp.ics were coming on.  He loves them just as much as me.  I got a text just the other day from him that said this.   I AM OFF THE FIRST WEEK OF THE OLYMPI.CS!!!!!!!!!!  Now, if you knew my husband you would understand the excitement.  First of all he never uses all caps and wants to punch people who do.  Secondly, he never duplicates an exclamation mark.  Total excitement up in here.

• Do you watch Big Br.other?  Well, if you do, it starts tonight.  I highly recommend this as the very best in mindless tv entertainment.  Four previous house guests are returning.  PUMPED.  My vote is for Janelle...please oh please be Janelle.  She was awesome.  Or Dr. Wil.l.  I loved him too.  Lonnie always says he won't watch this show with me but he always ends up watching.  He will for sure watch if Dr. Wil.l is on it, he is a little gay for him.    

• I swear I am working on a post about the shaved ice stand that we bought.  I know you're on pins a needles.

• Ok, I gotta go clean up dog pee out of the closet.  Totally unacceptable to leave it there right?  Have I mentioned that I despise my dogs?  Free to a good home....

Pics of the week 5 and Blog Award

First of all I want to apologize for being a bit absent from the blog world this week.  My internet has been in and out because of the storms.  It has taken me three days to get this post up!  I have been reading all your blogs from my phone but it wouldn't let me comment from my phone...very frustrating!  

I did not take the first two pictures.  If I would have seen this I am pretty sure I would have had a small heart attack or passed out.  This was the first tornado that hit us Monday afternoon.  This one was about 5 miles from my house.

This was the second and larger, more devastating tornado that hit us.  This one hit just a mile or two away from me.  Ummmm.....scary????  I just can't believe all of the devastation that has occurred across the southern states because of these tornadoes.  It just blows my mind.  I am so thankful that we were unharmed because there were so many people that were not as lucky.  It just breaks my heart.  

The only damage we had at our house from the storms was that our dock broke away and floated off just a few feet.  It would have sailed off down the lake but we had it tied up to a tree.  Our neighbors had their dock tied to a tree as well and the current was so strong that it pulled the tree down.  And, no, we would have never thought to tie up our dock but we learned the hard way.  Two years, ago on Christmas Eve we woke up and our dock was no where to be found.  It had floated off down the lake and cost us a frickin' fortune to get them to bring it back!  So here is our dock with our first baby in it which we can't get to...  

This is the walkway that had detached and was on the bottom of the lake now.  It could have been much worse for sure!

During the night the water came up all the way over our seawall and into our yard.  This is a picture of all the fish that got trapped behind the seawall when the water went back down.  There were probably 50 fish like this just lining our seawall.  It did not smell good....

A couple of days after the storm it was finally a pretty day.  We decided to try to take the jeep for a ride.  We had to charge the battery and that is why the hood is up.  Lonnie is putting on our new antique license plate that you may remember me talking about here.  Jeepin' is what we call it here in the south :)

This is sweet Darwin hiding during the storms.  All you can see is his nose!  

This picture probably won't mean much to anyone that doesn't know this little dog.  She is my Grand's dog and her name is Katie.  She weighs 5 pounds and is mean as hell.  Oh not to Grand....just everyone else.  She will snap at you if you try to pet her and it will scare the crap out of you even though she is tiny.  Lonnie was determined for her to like him.  On Easter this is what I found.....they were snuggling...although he does look a little nervous, doesn't he?

I couldn't resist adding this picture.  Lonnie needed to fix the sprinkler intake pump and it is in the lake.  It is shallow but he was still going to have to get wet above his ankles.  So, I had the bright idea that he should wear my rain boots!  Doesn't he look cute?  His feet were so smashed in there...it looked very uncomfortable....

Ok and now on to the award!  Bridget from Our Lost Stork gave me this wonderful award.  

I am so happy that I found her blog because we are very close to each other in our pregnancies (along with a few others!).  No one in my real life is pregnant so it is nice to be able to share things and see what everyone else feels like!  Thanks again, Bridget!

So, here's how it works:

1. Winners grab the image and put it in your blog.
2. Link back to the person who gave you it.
3. Tell 10 things about yourself
4. Award 15 recently discovered bloggers.
5. Contact the bloggers you have awarded to let them know they have won.

Ok so here are 10 random things about myself.

1. I really love flowers and plants but I always end up killing them....
2. When I was a senior in high school my fast pitch softball team won state...we were badass...
3. I love candles....Bath and Body Works has some awesome ones but I only buy them when they are on sale because they are so expensive!
4. I wear contacts and can't see crap if I don't have them in.  
5. I love roller coasters and I can't wait to ride them with my kids.  (my husband hates them!)
6. On my first date with my husband I got locked in the bathroom and couldn't get out.  I about had a panic attack wondering what the heck he was thinking about me being in the bathroom so long.  Turns out you just had to turn the handle upward instead of downward.....I have been terrified of getting locked in a public bathroom since then.
7. I enjoy reading about history and wish I did it more.  I wanted to be a history major but all I could really do with that is teach and that was not for me.
8. I watched the Royal Wedding and cried....whole post about that coming up :)
9. I love mindless reality TV....Teen mom, Rock of Love, 16 and Pregnant, Jersey Shore, etc.  It is awful and I am not proud of it.
10. I have a younger brother!

OK and these are the blogs I am giving this award.  I know I am not going to make it to 15 because I am going to try to not double up.  Here goes...

1. Write, Baby, Repeat
2. The Johnson's Journey
3. Crossing My Fingers But Not My Legs
4. The Journey to Baby Belgard
5. B and R plus 1
6. Still a Guest Room...
7. The Hardest Quest

That is all I have today people!  Happy MAY!!!!

Pics of the week 3

First picture is obviously not one that I took but I feel it is important!

I am sure all of you have heard about their campaign and I am not going to waste much time weighing in.  I 100% agree with what all the bloggers have been saying.  I think they are assholes but I thought this before their newest stunt.  They do things like this to get attention.  I feel like this was summed up best here.  They have taken down all references to NIAW and I feel that is a victory for the infertiles!  You can read the response Christa got here.  

Oh and I am an animal lover whose dogs are neutered....just so ya know....

OK!  Enough about that crap!  Here are my pics of the week....

The first one is a picture I tried to take of Darwin while my husband was out of town.  These are the steps leading to the downstairs part of our house.  Our bedroom, kitchen and living room is all upstairs so we don't go down there much (that will all change in October).  He stayed sprawled out on the top step the entire time my husband was gone.  It was like he was trying to protect me from anything that tried to come up.  It was pretty cute.  Of course I couldn't get a picture of him lying there because the second I even look at him he wants to play....so this is kind of an action shot.

These are the automatic toilet seat covers at the Chicago airport.  I mean.....I'm just not sure I can trust this thing.  It could very well just be rotating the same two covers ALL DAY.  I'm suspicious.....

Like I said in this post, we stayed at Trump Tower in Chicago and it was AHHHHH-mazing!  The mini bar was huge and there was a selection of about 6 different types of water you can try.  This water was called Tasmanian Rain.  It says that is it made of pure rainwater collected before it even hits the ground.  We had to try it right?  You don't wanna know the price....  We tried it and it was ok....it had a little bit of a honeysuckle aftertaste...kinda bitter.  

This was what I got for room service one night and I just had to take a picture.  If you know me in real life then you  know that my comfort food when I am sick, sad, angry, or whatever is macaroni & cheese mixed with peas.  Everyone thinks that this is disgusting, especially my husband.  But he knows when to come home with the stuff to make it!  Apparently Trump agrees that it is a match made in heaven.  Of course, his is a little more on the gourmet side than mine.  

I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw that the shaved ice place on my side of town had opened this week.  I love these things.  They remind me of when I was growing up.  Me and my friends have shared many laughs and tears while chowing down on these.  This was my first one of the year and I have had to force myself not to get one everyday on the way home.  This one is pina colada with cream.....

 And we are going to end with the best picture yet!  This is my sweet little baby at 12 weeks 1 day.  Look how big!  We took my mom up to the hospital so she could see the baby in real time instead of just pictures.  He/she was just moving all over the place....amazing!

Happy Friday! 

Dusty

Dusty is my sweet little baby dog.  He is a Shih-Tzu and I got him when I lived by myself in 2002.  I had this type of dog when I was growing up and I loved him so much.  His name was Willie and he lived to be almost 15 years old.  We had to put him to sleep about a year ago and it was seriously hard.  I cried for days.  I still get upset thinking about it.  Anyway, when I decided to get a puppy I knew this was the kind I wanted.  They are soft and snuggly, and they don’t shed!  

Dusty and I were BFF’s.  He slept on my pillow every night and went everywhere with me (except to class!).  Yes, he is a boy but I spoiled him rotten. 

After Lonnie and I had been dating for a while, we decided that our pups needed to meet.  This was a huge step!  So, Lonnie brought Darwin over to my apartment and we were going to take a walk.  The second Darwin was let loose in my apartment he peed on my carpet...sweet!  But I sort of expected this....he gets a lil' crazy.  Then he spotted sweet innocent Dusty.  He took off like lightening after Dusty and my poor baby didn’t even have a chance.  Darwin had him cornered and was barking his head off and trying to gnaw off his legs.  Dusty was looking at me like “Momma....HELP!!!!”  I proceeded to freak out and save Dusty.

This was not going well....

Lonnie thought it would be better if we went on the walk so Darwin would be distracted.  We tried but didn’t even make it out of the parking lot. Darwin got so tangled up in Dusty’s leash that Dusty got loose.  I spent the next 30 minutes trying to catch Dusty who was running for his life to get as far away from Darwin as possible.  

This was bad....

We went strait back to the apartment and Lonnie took Darwin home.

I wasn’t sure what to do.

I super loved Lonnie.

I super loved Dusty.

What was a girl to do?

We tried to do this multiple more times and it went the same way.  Finally, one time when Dusty was cornered and Darwin was going at him, Dusty just flipped out.  He barked back and tried to bite Darwin and started chasing him.  Apparently this was all that it took.  Dusty just needed to stand up for himself.  They have been BFF ever since!  What a relief!

snuggle buddies...

this was before we kicked them off the furniture...I was obviously sick ;)

A few fun facts about Dusty...

He HATES being groomed.  I’ve literally had to pick him up mid-appt because the groomer thought he was going to have a heart attack.  Mid-groom....not good.  Then I got him some doggy Xanax for when he got groomed.  This did not go well either.  It did not kick in until AFTER he got groomed and then it lasted for like 3 days.  Then mommy needed Xanax.  I have finally (after 8 years) found a groomer that is totally awesome.  She is a flippin’ dog whisperer and Dusty loves her.  I just say “wanna go see Helga?” and he starts turning circles.  

He gets no attention.  Darwin will not allow it.  Anytime you pet Dusty, Darwin comes rushing in pushing him out of the way.  I feel bad about this because Dusty was used to sleeping with me and cuddling on the couch all the time.  His life was forever changed when Darwin entered the picture and I think he secretly despises Darweenie for this.  Don’t worry though...I got Dusty groomed right before my transfer so he has been secretly snuggling with me in the recliner...don’t tell hubby....

I have to feed him in secret because Darwin eats all of his food.  I took them both to the vet a couple of months ago and Darwin had gained 3 pounds and Dusty had lost 3 pounds.  Not cool.  So Darwin is on a diet and Dusty gets all the peanut butter he wants.  :)

Here are a few pics of Dusty...also known as Duster, Dustmop, Dusteroo, Dustdog, and Loverdust.......

He always has crazy eyes....

umm...think he needs groomed?

 He had been playing in the mud...which was super fun for momma when she got home...

He's just so cute....

Thanks for listening about my fur babies....

I sure hope these real babies are sticking...

Darwin and 3dp3dt

First of all, I am 3dp3dt and I am still feeling hopeful.  I was getting down the past two days (bedrest will do that to ya!) but I got a very uplifting phone call this morning.  They were able to freeze our other two embryos!!!!  HOLLA!!!  This girl is excited.  I burst into tears when she said that on the phone.  I was NOT expecting her to say that at all.  I really needed some good news.  Other than that I am trying not to think about what is possibly going on in my pelvic region...which is super hard!  I have found that reading a book is the best way to stop thinking about it.  I have read about 3.  So moving on!


I thought I would do a post about my furry little babies.  The dogs and I have a love/hate relationship...it is mostly love though.  You will understand more of this later.  

When Hubs and I met, he had a dog and I had a dog.  It just so happened that they were the same age and about the same size (they will both be nine in May but they were almost four at the time).  Their similarities end right there.  They are complete opposites.  His (our) dog is a Jack Russell named Darwin.  If you know anything about Jack Russells then you know they are spastic/crazy/psycho dogs.  This is totally true...take it from me.  I swear someone slips this dog crack on a daily basis just to drive me bonkers.  A few fun facts about Darwin...

-He absolutely despises other dogs.  He loses his shit anytime a person walks by our house with their dog.  He tries to chew through the metal fence that he is in to get to them.  My husband keeps telling me he is smart...but his actions make me think otherwise.  Some of our neighbors (they are Russian) have two huge dogs (Hubs says they are Rhodesian Ridgebacks which means nothing to me....all I know is they are huge and mean and not on a leash) and Darwin would love nothing more than to be let out to have a go at them.  I actually do love him most of the time so I do not open the gate.  Oh, and those dogs only respond to Russian commands...I need a lesson...

-He LOVES peanut butter.  I mean most dogs do but not the way Darwin does.  He, like, has a sixth sense and he knows when the PB has been taken out of the pantry.  He comes barreling in from wherever he was and will pretty much knock you over to get at it....He’s like 20 pounds...OK?  I am convinced that if you put him in an endless container of PB he would eat it until he died....like, exploded!  You see why I question his intelligence?  Also, if you have gotten the PB out and eaten it yourself and not given him any, he will find your favorite shoe and chew it to pieces.  Even though your favorite shoes are not kept on the floor.  I think he has special powers.  This would be the hate part of our relationship.  

-He LOVES my husband.  Maybe because my Lonnie was the one to raise him for the first three years of his life...who knows?  All I know is that Darwin only listens to him.  I can say something....it gets ignored.  Lonnie tells him something and he does it IMMEDIATELY.  Is this how our kids are going to be??  I hope not because it is quite irritating.  He would NEVER chew his shoes...although he did chew his house shoes ONCE but I am convinced it was because I wore them to get the newspaper and he was confused.  He never refuses to go to his doggy room if Lonnie asks him.  And he doesn’t bark maniacally at the birds or geese or the wind or whatever when hubs is home.  ARGHHH!!!

I really do love Darwin, although it may not seem like it.  He is such a lover!  Sure for the first 20 minutes that you walk in the door he acts like crazy man, running in circles all over the house and jumping on you relentlessly, BUT after that he wants nothing more than to be snuggled and petted.  I often find him curled up on top of one of my decorative pillows from the bed (that is on the floor because I am not one to make the bed).  He knows he is not supposed to do that so he holds really really still and thinks that if he doesn’t move or look at me that I won’t notice him.  It is really cute.

Our dogs are not allowed on the bed (long story for another day).  Sometimes, if he has been recently groomed and Lonnie is not home, I will let him up there to cuddle.  He loves this.  He curls up next to my legs and just snores away.  We bond....

He is also very protective of me which I find very cute as well.  I mean, of course he would protect Lonnie first, but I’m ok with that :)  

Anyway.....here are a few pictures of crazy Darwin also know as D, crazy D, D-dog, Dar-Dar, and Darweenie.  

Staring out the window to make sure he's not missing anything he can bark at....

I caught him on the couch.....

really hoping for some PB.....

This has turned into an extremely long post so I will do Dusty another time!  But here's just a little preview....

That's right....biggest Shih-Tzu ever...