Wordless Wednesday

Seven Months Old

Another month has come and gone!  My little guy brings me more joy with each passing day.  For example, I took him grocery shopping with me today and I can definitely say this was the most fun I've ever had at the grocery store.  He was in such a great mood as he rode along in the cart!  Every aisle we went down, I would lean in and shower him with kisses, or make a silly face, or smile at him, and he would respond with a high-pitched, happy yell, followed by a smile and chuckle.  I know I ended up going down the same aisle multiple times because his happiness distracted me and I paid more attention to him than my shopping list!  He's just such a happy boy.  Here are some recent pics of my 7 month old!

   

Jailbreak Run 2012

This year I signed up for the Jailbreak Run with my sister and a couple other friends.  It's similar to the Warrior Dash, with a few more obstacles.  It's basically just an excuse to get muddy and drink beer!  First, the before pictures:

 Can you tell we're sisters?

 So clean and proper

  Now we're serious!

Not so clean in the after pictures:

 A little muddy sisterly love

We did it!

Muddy crew

Jo, Rebecca, and me

I will always choose a sno-cone over a beer

In Loving Memory

When my uncle passed away, my aunt asked if people would make donations to Operation Kindness in lieu of sending her flowers.  When I went to their website to donate, I realized that they give you the option of creating a personalized pave stone to be placed in their garden. I thought this would be an awesome tribute to my uncle and something that my aunt could see any time she visited Operation Kindness.  My sisters and parents and I got together and ordered the pave stone, and were so thrilled when we got word that it was ready.

  
We brought my aunt out there last week so she could see the stone in person.  It was an emotional event, but she loved it, and we were so glad to be a part of it.

Poor Riley

As mentioned in prior posts, we've been on a weight loss mission with Riley for a couple of years now.  At his heaviest, he hit 60 pounds.  As of a couple of weeks ago, he weighed in at 36 pounds.  It's hard to believe he's lost this much, and it hasn't been an easy road, but we know we're adding years to his life by getting him back to a healthy weight.  Last month, I took him to the vet for his annual exam.  The vet noticed a growth on his back/side, which has probably been there for a while, but we wouldn't have noticed before when he was heavier.  She tested it and found out it wasn't cancerous, but recommended that we have it removed because she believed it would continue to grow, and possibly start to inhibit his movement.  He had his surgery this past Wednesday, and poor guy has been having a rough recovery ever since. 

When I first picked him up from the vet, he was moving super slowly, and would stop to take lots of breaks just on the initial trip out to the car.  His incision site looked pretty horrible, but they told me it was normal.  He had a drain installed, and they warned me that a decent amount of fluid would be coming out of it over the next few days.  Brace yourselves, the following picture isn't pretty:

 Day 1

The white thing hanging out is the drain and everything below that is fluid, not an open wound.  He was very lethargic the first night home.  I picked him up to take him outside for a couple of bathroom breaks, and I was so worried to touch anything or hurt him in any way.  I tried to clean the area, but I could tell it hurt him, so I just let him be.  When we woke up the next morning, the area below the drain was completely cleaned, so I guess he couldn't stand the fluid on him.  

  Day 2

He got a lot of his energy back on Day 2 and was moving around well.  The problem, however, was that he wouldn't leave the drain alone!  He kept messing with it and even got one of the staples out that was holding it to his body.  We yelled at him as much as we could to get him to stop each time he disturbed it, but we couldn't watch him every minute of the day.  Eventually we had to buy him the cone of shame.

  Not happy, guys

Now we can finally stop worrying that he's going to pull the whole darn drain out of his body, but we have to look at this sad panda instead.  I'm sorry, Bubba.  Just a few more days. 

Emma's First Birthday

We headed to Amarillo this past weekend to visit family and celebrate our niece's first birthday.  We decided it would be best to drive there and back at night because that coincides with when Dutch is normally asleep, so we wouldn't be messing up his schedule.  (Last time we drove there in the morning and he slept for most of the trip, so it really threw him off for the rest of the day).  That meant we didn't arrive in Amarillo until 1:30am on Saturday morning, and then didn't get back home to Dallas until 1:30am on Monday morning.  Normally that wouldn't be such a big deal, but when your kiddo wakes up at 6:30-ish, that makes for some tired parents the rest of those days!  We had a great time, though, and I'm always happy we make the trek.  For some of my in-laws, it was their first time to meet Dutch, so that was exciting.  I took a few pics, but not nearly as many as I should have! 

Dutch and his great grandfather. He spent a lot of time on his lap and loved playing with his watch and tried to steal the items in his shirt pocket!

 

Dutch and his great grandmother. He was a happy boy!

 

Dutch and his (Amarillo) Oma.  He always loves spending time with her and she has a knack for getting him to fall asleep on her shoulder!

Dutch and his Aunt Katie.  They spent a lot of time together and he especially loved her charm bracelet!

Some of my in-laws watching the balloons fly away after the birthday party.

My little cutie, playing on the blanket his Oma made him.

Looks like he's talking to his toy.

 

Birthday girl Emma covered in cake, yet still as cute as can be!