Binky Bear

A couple Weekends ago, we took Garett to the Mall to Build A Bear with one of his binkies for him to put it in his bear. We have taken Gavin and Greyson to Build A Bear in the past and let them pick out their own stuffed animal from us, and it was Garett's turn. So it was a double hit getting him his bear from us and getting rid of the binkys. He picked the Camo bear and we put the binky in it, and now he loves his bear, and doesn't want to go anywhere without it.

New Big Changes

Our lives are about to change as we know it. I have been wanting to write this post for a while, but also dreading it at the same time. We had the appraisal done on the house yesterday, so now it just needs to be sent to the bank for funding & then we will get our closing date! (as long as the bank is willing to fund the loan) We have been looking for places to live, but since we don't know when we can move & are still paying our mortgage just in case, we can't put $ down for a deposit yet. We are batting around the idea of maybe not staying in Utah. Mike would love nothing more then to move back to AZ & we could end up in a coastal state or HI if Navy Full Time is an option for us. Mike is putting in for a different rate this weekend at Drill! He is a Construction Mechanic right now & wants to change to an MA (Military Authority) which is Military Police. So if he gets that, then we might consider putting in for full time, then he will have to get his training, so another 13+ weeks of A school for him. But we both have stable jobs in Utah! There are just so many options for us. Mike is also in the Managment program at Home Depot now & is training to become a Department Head. As soon as we get things stabilized, we will solidify plans & let everyone know!

Another big change. We also sold our doggie yesterday! We get to keep him until we move out or go on Vacation in September, which ever comes first. It hasn't really hit me yet, but it will! It is for the best though, it will be so much easier to move without a dog to have to worry about. I didn't have a dog growing up & I always wanted one, so when Mike & I got married we said that we wanted at least a little dog around for our kids to play with & learn a little bit of responsibility. It will be different, but it is what needs to happen for our little family right now. That is the update as of today...Will continue to keep you posted!

Little Ditty Update

Here is an update on Gavin & some updated pictures to wet my momma's whistle before she gets to see Gavin Sunday or Monday.

We took Gavin to the Doctor Tuesday for the 1 month ear infection check up. He only weighed 19 lbs. Maybe one day he will get to the 20 pound mark!

He is still not walking or standing by himself yet. The Dr. is not worried about it, I am a little stressed, but he will get there.

He still hates bath time. He screamed his whole bath Monday & would stand up using the side of the tub trying to get me to pick him up.

He especially hates is after his baths when I wrap his hands in the towel. Since he was about 3 days old or so he HATED to be swaddled. He always had to have his hands out!

And a picture of Bear for good measure!

PS - I am a blondie now!

Gavin Feeding Bear

Here is some cute pictures of Gavin learning that he can feed Bear!

Last Week

It was a week, busy & eventful & now it is time (since I am ready for church, Gavin is asleep & Mike is at drill weekend, so I have some free time) to blog about it.

Sunday was Mother's Day! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO MY MOMMA, MY MIL & ALL THE OTHER MOMS OUT THERE! I hope you all had a great day. It was a busy day for me. Trying to make more burp cloths for Gavin, getting ready for church, getting Gavin ready for church, all that fun stuff. I feed Gavin at 11:30 with every intention of making it to church before he would want to eat again...not so much, he wanted to eat at 12:45, right as we were about out the door for Church, so needless to say, I didn't make it. I am finding it hard to get to church when it is just me with Gavin, but last week I even had Mike & still didn't make it. After Sacrament, Mike came home & we drove up to Mike's sister's house for some Mother's day family time. We reflected on those mothers in our lives that have gone before us...Mike's grandma, Kurt's mum! How we miss them deeply! We finally made it home about 11 (good thing I didn't have to work Monday...I would have been gone)

Monday was Gavin's 2 month appointment. Wow how 2 months has flown by. He weight in at 10 lbs 10 1/2 oz which puts him in the 24th%tile & was 22 3/8 long which puts him in the 27th%tile, & his head was 15.5 inches which puts him in the 34th%tile. Wow how he has grown. He did great until it was time for shots...Here is a picture of him before, all happy.

Let just say after the shots, he wasn't so happy. After Gavin's 2 month appt., we then had a Vet appt. for Bear. He has been doing these weird things in his sleep, where he looks like he is having a seizure. So we wanted to get him checked out & it was also his time for his annual well pet checkup. He also got shots! My poor boys, it was not a good Monday! Gavin had a rough night Monday night, but I think we now know what to do next time. What a cute boy.

Tuesday - Friday were pretty much the same as everyweek. Tired as usual, I work days, Mike works nights, trying to be a family.

Saturday I got to hang out with Jessi & Madi. It is the first time I have seen Jessi since about Gavin was a little over a week old. Since then, she had her baby, Madi & I got to meet her, well she was asleep, so I meet her from a distance. What a cute little girl. Compared to Gavin, she looks small. She is 3 weeks younger, but she is all her daddy & is such a cute girl! Thanks Jessi for hangin out & for Lunch again! Can't wait until next month.

Bear!

We haven't blogged in a while...but I've got a minute, so I thought I would! Lets start with Bear...because we haven't blogged about him in a minute & he is still part of the family. He has been such a great dog since Gavin has been here. He is just curious about him! We try to play with him as much as we can every day & I cuddle with him at night! He has really made a great transition with Gavin here! We love him & wouldn't trade him for anything!

Happy Birthday Bear!

Yes...I am one of those crazy pet owners who celebrates there pet's birthday! He was born too! Today is Bear's 3rd birthday! I can't believe he has been in our lives for 3 years. We have had some ups & downs with this dog...but he seems to be doing so much better. For a while back in July before Mike got ready to leave for the Navy, I didn't think Bear would be with us that much longer...he had some major set backs health wise in July just before Mike left. I was scared Mike would leave & I wouldn't have Bear to keep me company or to take care of while I was pregnant. I would have been so bored! But he has been a trooper & survived & gotten better these last 6 months! I love this dog so much & hope we get several more good years with him & that he can be around to play with our kids! Happy Birthday bubba! I love you!

Picked on

Okay. I am feeling a little picked on. This has not been the best year for Mike & I & lets just say that the last 24 hours have been HELL for us. We have had several members of our family & some friends pass away this year as well as the loss of a baby. For the last month, we have been trying to put it all together, it had been 2 deaths & a miscarriage. Then we had another death at the end of May. What a year!

Mike & I haven't really been on the same page since the miscarriage & we have slowly been "crumbling" I guess you can say. Don't get me wrong, we are still really close & still love each other more then the day we got married, or met, but we have been going down our own "paths" & dealing with things by ourselves & not together when the time deems worthy. Lets just say that we had a break down of Communication yesterday about some "choices" he has made recently that I have either asked him to wait on or not to do at all. We finally talked about everything that we have been dealing with the last month or so & worked on it together. By the time we were "over ourselves" & communicating finally.

In the middle of all this Bear has been getting worse. If you remember, or haven't read that far back in the blog, Bear has Kidney failure since March, but had been dealing with it EXTREMELY well. He held his bladder all day & all night, until this weekend. He has been having to go outside about every hour & he had 3 accidents on the bed yesterday & last night. I didn't get to sleep until about midnight & Bear woke me up at 4:30am because he peed in the bed. I couldn't get back to sleep last night. I just don't know if Bear will make it very much further.

Anyway, I just needed to vent about my life this last year, it has not really turned out how we planned, but does it ever?

What a Weekend!

So...as you know, we went to Arizona this past weekend. We packed up our car & doggie & headed out @ 6am Friday morning. Now let me back up, to complete this story, you need to know what happened on Wednesday night. We went bed as if it was just another night & was awoken by a wet feeling in the bed @ about 4am Thursday morning. Bear had let his bladder go again in the bed. So, we are figuring that something is still not right with him. We called the vet again & let him know what had happened. He said he wanted to get a blood sample from him to run more tests. So after Mike got off work Thursday, he went & picked up Bear for the vet & took him to get his blood test done. The vet said that he wouldn't have the test results until Monday morning, so we decided to have a nice Arizona vacation, but Thursday night it happened again, Bear couldn't hold his bladder!

So Friday morning, we were off. Bear did really good on the drive down there & we made it to my Father-in-law's girlfriends house, and by the way, Mike got pulled over before Lake Powell by a Utah Highway Patrol, but he kindly gave us a warning & let us go on our way! We went to dinner @ Barrows Pizza (it was amazing, my husband didn't lie) & after that had a nice relaxing evening shopping for St. Patricks day attire for the next nights parties! Friday night it happened again, Bear had an accident. So by Saturday morning & 3 nights in a row of this, I knew something was not right.

Saturday was spent @ the Renaissance Festival. We all got dressed up (which is not really me) & went. It was a fun day. We did a lot, eat big ole turkey legs & drank a ton of pop (it was extremely hot this day) We were done with that about 4pm so we went back to Lorina (Father-in-law's girlfriend) house to get ready for the St. Patricks day parties. We went to a party & ate some food & then Mike & I decided that we wanted to go visit others while we were in AZ! As soon as we got out to the car from the party, Bear had emptied his bladder on the drivers seat! We were really frusterated & upset @ this point. We were figuring that he was already starting Kidney Failure (the vet said after the last tests that he would have this later on in life) We went & visited my Aunt Shawna & Uncle Walt in Glendale & then on to Mike's friend from High School's house - Ryan! It was a late yet fun & entertaining night. Saturday night Bear had another accident.

Sunday we spent the day at the SwapMeet & a Mall in Arizona, that was a nice & relaxing day. It was kinda rainy & stormy out, so it was nice to spend the day in. We left Bear in the Laundry room Sunday & he had 2 accidents in there. This is not normal for him. His schedule before all of this started happening was we would take him out in the morning, leave for work & he would be out for about 8-10 hours & not pee anywhere. Take him out when we get home, take him out again before bed & then we go to bed. About 8 hours of bed time & no peeing. He did good. So we know something is not right with him. We are figuring that he is going about every 2-3 hours.

Monday was the dreadful day of the test results. The vet called & he let us know the blood work came back & said he is in Kidney Failure. Bear needs to be on a special diet that will be easy on is kidneys & give him all the vitamins & nutrients that he needs. The vet is optimistic that this Food can help him to survive for about another year, but it came on fast, so he might not have very much longer. Monday was no a good day after that. It was a very emotional & stressful day. We went & visited Mike's Grandparents because I have never meet them before. His Grandma is not doing to well, so it was good for me to meet her & for him to see them again. After that we just drove, we decided to stop on Page & get a Hotel room for the night seeing as how it was 9pm & we were both physically & emotionally drained.

Tuesday we sleeped in, which was much needed. We finally got out of Page @ about 11:45am & drove home. We got home about 6pm! This was a much needed Vacation to visit family & friends that we haven't seen in a while & it was good to get away, but I am so glad to be home & the next step is to figure out what we are going to do for Bear! If you have any comments or suggesting, please let me know. Hope your St. Patricks day was great & Hope you have a great Easter if I don't blog before then! I will try to get Ren Festival pix up & just Vacation pix in general when I get home!

Bear Updated

Hey...We finally got Bear home on Wednesday. The Vet said that his kidney is not working as normal as it should, but it is working...that is a good sign. He also said that Bear might have more kidney problems when he gets older, so we will be looking out for that...will keep you updated!

All Night Long

So I called the vet at about 3pm to check on Bear & see how everything was going with him & they said he was doing really good & he would be ready by 5pm, which is perfect because I get out of work @ 4:30pm & would be there by 5pm. So I left work to go pick him up & I get there & the vet said he isn't ready to go home yet because in order for him to be dehydraded, he has to lose @ least .5 pounds (I think) before they can run the test & verify it would be correct. He started out the day @ 6.6 pounds & when I got there he was @ 6.4, so he hadn't even lost half the wait he needed to. The Vet wanted to keep him overnight, so I said okay, got to see him (& he looked okay) & made my way home to an empty house. I am sad & lonely right now. Well, hopefully we will get him back tomorrow & find out what is wrong with him. Keep checking back!

More Tests

We took Bear to the Vet today for his update & for them to hold him for tests. I pick him up from the vet on the way home, so I will find out what is up with him then (hopefully, unless they had to send out tests) I will keep you updated!

Bear

So...the Vet couldn't determine what is up with Bear. They did a urinalises & it didn't show that his kidney's were doing what they needed to, or that they have completely shut down. So, sometime this week we need to take him back to the vet & leave him there for the day. They will then with hold water from him for the day & run other tests to determine that his kidneys are responding & doing what they need to do. He is on a medication to help his bladder "expand" in a manner of speaking so that when he feels the urge to have to pee, he will be able to hold it until we take him outside. I hope they find out what is wrong with him...if there is anything wrong with him. Will keep you updated!

Vet

Today we are talking Bear to the Vet because he has been really weird about things lately. I think he may be congested because he has been coughing lately & having a really hard time breathing. He also...for the last 2 weeks, will be laying on the couch, asleep, & randomly pee on the couch. We called the vet because of this & he said it is not normal. He will need to run tests on him to make sure his kidneys are working properly, & to make sure his bladder is okay. I can only hope & pray that everything is okay with my puppy doggie. I hope that nothing too big or scary is wrong with him. He has gone through alot in his short little life. I will keep you updated, let me know if you have ever heard about anything like this.