The Weekend in Pictures

Dutch didn't do so great with our travel this past weekend.  I think the days of him just sleeping anytime we drive anywhere are over.  He also wasn't a fan of sleeping in the pack 'n play, so that kept us up at night.  We'll have to try some different strategies next time we travel! 

It was pretty cold in Amarillo, so that gave me the chance to put Dutch in his cute furry monkey hat and gloves.  His cousin Emma was also in a furry hoodie, and they were cute as can be!

Here's a picture of Dutch with his uncle Seth.  You can't see it in the picture, but they share the same hairline!  Lol.
 

This last picture is from after we got home.  I wanted everyone to see how much Dutch chews on his crib rail!  Kiddo has become a biter.

Couldn't Ask for Anything More

If you ever see me without a smile on my face, remind me about these two awesome guys that I have in my life.  I really couldn't ask for anything more. 

Thanks to Rachel DeBell for these wonderful pictures.

The Loop

This past Saturday was supposed to be cold and rainy, which didn't bode well for running a 5K with my sister.  But, the rain held off, and we just did battle with the crisp low 50s temperatures.  We ran the Loop 5K, put on by the Dallas Running Club (which we recently joined).  Our goal, as always, was just to finish without walking.  I thought the cold might get in the way of that, but apparently it inspired us!  We felt really good at the halfway point, and actually increased our pace for the remainder of the race.  We ended up finishing in about 31 minutes and 33 seconds.  That's certainly nothing to brag about, but considering I had to stop numerous times in the 5K I ran in April, and finished in about 33 minutes in the 5K I ran in August, it just goes to show that I'm continually improving.  I look forward to these races getting easier and easier in the coming months!

Other fun activities from over the weekend included watching the Tech game at a friend's house:

Love that they have a chalkboard on their pantry door

Looking so spiffy in his button-up! 

And checking out a food truck-a-palooza/carnival being held near my sister's house:

Loved the fact that Dutch got to wear some of his cute winter clothes

  How will I ever say no to this sweet face?

Wordless Wednesday

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.