Doggy Heaven

The only thing Wally likes better than being off a leash, is being off a leash in fresh snow.


Wally was our first child. He was found in a box on the side of the road with several siblings, who had all already been adopted when we stumbled upon him. When Mandy brought him home, I was skeptical. I thought he looked like a 'designer dog', one that we'd end up carrying around in a purse or something. He was small, too fluffy and looked nothing like the dog I was really picturing myself owning. Even the Humane Society, who we picked him up from, didn't know what he would turn out to be. You can see how excited I was when I first met him.


But he caught Mandy's heart, and so home he went.

It didn't take long before I had to admit he was pretty cute. Smart too - I remember horror stories of training my own puppies growing up, but Wally potty trained three days after coming home, never dug, never barked and never chewed up anything around the house.He had an uneasy truce with the cats - he could look interested in what they were up to, but that was all. One of the funniest things I remember was Wally and Sampson (one of our former cats) meeting on the stairs. Wally looked uneasy as he looked for a way around him as he was heading down. He took a wrong move in the direction of Sampson, who was coming up, and received approximately 128 punches to the face in the span of three seconds. He never looked so grateful to be down the stairs. Delilah was no better.
But he was a true friend, who loved his family and as big as he got, he never stopped being a big lap dog.



If you're his friend, he's still a big lapdog. The only thing you're in danger of is being squashed as he looks for affection by trying to lie down in your lap (at 70-ish lbs). If you're not his friend, he's not so affectionate, and can scare the bejeesus out of people. He's started being highly protective of the family when Mandy first got pregnant, and he's very protective of both our kids. He's generally a low-energy dog, with the exception of a few minutes each day, and with the exception of snow. It's hard to take pictures of him in the house without him looking like a wolf or a lion, but outdoors is a different story.








I'm really glad she saved him. He's become a great friend.

Big boy haircut

I've always kept Noah's hair longer. Meaning no clippers and buzz cuts. But, with no humidity in the air it's not been that cute staticky, in his face and flat. So I told Paul to get it cut shorter but still a scissor cut and not too short on the bangs. Oh my gosh, it was BAD! Short choppy bangs and kind of longer in the back and uneven. So I had to haul him back to have them fix it. The only way to fix it was with clippers cutting it all super short to even it out. And it is VERY short. He looks three and I don't like it. It'll grow though. Here's his super short do.

Pleasant Surprise

I put Elliot down for tummy time the other morning and he was so quiet. I was doing something in the other room and when I came back to check on him, the little angel put himself to sleep. This is a big deal in our house. After having Noah who would never do that! Of course, Noah can NOT leave this poor child alone. I have to really keep one of them in view at all times, because although Noah means no harm...... well harm can be done. This was innocent enough and sweet though. Noah thought he needed his toy.

Note to self:

Don't put the mac-n-cheese on to boil before going to change the diaper. You're not that fast at it.

Home is good!

Guess who is SO happy to be home he started doing some social smiles today? This guy (although they are still hard to coax for the camera and this is as good as I could get)

Last night Elliot had to wash the hospital ickies away and Noah helped. I have been too scared of Mr. Wild splashing him to let them bathe together before last night. Noah was suprisingly gentle and helpful. And we made sure Noah still got some time without Elliot for play too.

Elliot is home

He was discharged yesterday afternoon after 24 hours of not needing to be deep suctioned. He was off IV fluids for several hours and eating much better. He is still recovering and will be for a couple weeks, but it's nothing we can't manage at home. Thanks for all your prayers while we were in the hospital. It was no fun being in the hospital, but at the same time it was good to know that Elliot was very safe there.

Miss you! Sooooooon!

See you tomorrow.

Still fighting hard

Elliot hasn't turned the corner just yet, but he is still fighting hard to get better. Is this the most pitiful thing?

He's still not nursing well. But, he did just get weaned to room air. His cultures so far are all negative as we expected. He's been fever free all day. Please keep him in your prayers that he can start to breathe easier and eat again normally so we can GO HOME!

Down for the count

What we thought was a mild cold on Saturday turned into a struggle to breathe and eat, and after an overnight turn for the worse, Elliot was admitted to Children's Mercy Hospital this afternoon and diagnosed with RSV.

Although this is something all the cool kids get before they turn two, it is rough stuff when you're not even a month old and your immune system hasn't built up many antibodies. It earned Elliot a two-day stay in the hospital. At last report, the illness is peaking and he's still struggling.

This sickness has been rampaging through our house for what seems like the last two weeks. I thought I was in the clear until Noah coughed directly in my face on Saturday and gave it to me. We thought Elliot was going to pull through without much trouble, but he couldn't overcome it.


He had to get stuck seven times before they finally got an IV in, the poor dude. I will say he gets pretty relaxed pretty quickly after they quit messing with him. He's tough.

He is just too tired to even nurse.

In a bit of good luck, when we got out of the ER and into a room, it was on 4 Tower - the cardiac floor that Mandy worked on when she was at Children's Mercy. I finally got to see where she worked (way offlimits unless you're a patient/parent), and she got some nurses she knew.

Keep Elliot in your prayers.

Cool little dude

Cousin Charlie

Today was the first time Charlie actually held his little cousin.

STILL sick

What the heck? It's been almost a full week now. Not only is Noah sick, but so am I and Elliot. Elliot doesn't have it as bad, but I feel horrible for the poor thing. I kept Noah well for a whole year and couldn't keep Elliot well for even a month. I hope we ALL are over this soon! I think Noah is so cute with his rosy little cheeks though. So here are pictures of my sweet little guy today when he just had enough and had to rest.

Aunt Sam was showing him YouTube videos of animals "speaking". He was laughing along, until it got suddenly quiet.

Posing with the sleeping boys.

Having some fun with Noah. Probably a good thing we didn't have some markers and razors handy, like back in the college days...

Noah wishing we would just leave him alone to sleep.

Tough decision. Post-5:00 naps, no matter how short, can throw us into an unrecoverable tailspin for bedtime. And it is almost impossible to wake him when he crashes that hard, that late. So, Paul did the only logical thing to do - he picked him up and walked outside in the 35 degree weather. Noah woke up saying, "Coooldddd!!!" He paid Paul back by soaking him at bathtime.

Grandmas

Poor sick baby

My big baby that is. He's restlessly napping barely able to breathe. He had a rough night last night. We are hoping the powerful breastmilk antibodies keep Elliot well (worked for Noah for the 1st year, but then again he didn't have a big brother breathing/coughing on him either).

Cuteness

Elliot Henry at 2 weeks

Elliot had a great appointment with Dr. W. on his 2 week birthday. His birthweight was 8lbs 10 oz and he went home at 7lbs 14oz. The goal is to be back to birthweight by 2 weeks. My little piggy was 9lbs 6oz. Still an ounce smaller than Noah the day he was born. He's doing great. He has some pretty bad reflux which was JUST starting to bother him. We got a prescription for Prevacid (the miracle drug that helped Noah when he was having horrible pain from reflux). Elliot has a much different personality than his big brother at this age. He loves to sleep. Although our nights are not perfect because of his reflux, he's not a crier and we will NOT complain.

Hey, this is tummy time. You're supposed to lift your head, get mad, something. He is so chill...

And a little comparison. Here's big brother Noah at the same age