Celebrating three, UNDER THE SEA!

I can't believe we are celebrating a third birthday for this little princess! Where does the time go? After her special pool party she asked if she "can turn back to two and a half now?" I desperately wanted to say "YES, forever!" I have so enjoyed this age of growing independence, excitement for learning, a nearly unfiltered window into her emotions and understanding her thoughts through the constant stream of words from our sweet little chatter box. Dusty and I are so thankful for her joyful spunk and delighted giggles brightening our life! We are feel incredibly blessed to have had many great friends and family come party Little Mermaid style with us. Thank you all for graciously spoiling our Jayney Joy! 

   

Snacks YUM 

 

 

 

Having "Mermaid races" with Uncle Chris... something we now have to do every time we go to the pool. So thanks for that ;) 

 Hanging out in the whirl pool with JJ's "big guys"... She sure is sweet on the Jones boys! But do you blame her? Just look how much fun they are!

 

Testing out all the new FUN! 

Our Snow LOVIN' Babe!

JJ loves snow almost as much as her daddy! We didn't have much of the white stuff this winter, which this wobbly pregnant lady was just fine with but when we did get a bit it was perfect! Jayney and Dusty had so much fun sledding, building snowmen, and snowmobiling all while I had fun trying to snap a picture as she zipped around!

 Isn't she a beauty!?!

And when there isn't anymore snow what did they like to do? Take JJ for her first time ice skating of course!

Christmas Recap!

We had a great Christmas, as always. Since we are blogging on catchup mode I will just recap some of our favorite moments. Here are some of the highlights of Christmas 2014

Picking out Christmas trees with Grandpa Tim and Liz (taking the group picture)

North Pole Cruise at Lake CDA

 

 Going Christmas shopping

Weekend away- JJ stayed with Grammi Kim and Captain Steve and we stayed at CDA resort

Making Christmas cakes... Yes, I said cake! Yum!

 Art projects!

Christmas Eve!

 Christmas Day!

We hope your Christmas season was wonderful too!

Projects in the New Year

It seems like this time a year, everyone has a list of resolutions. Normally I really love this time to refocus and look at areas we can grow or change. Goals are a great motivator for me! But this New Year feels a bit different as the list consists more of projects and "to dos" than our traditional goals.
 In 2015 we can foresee many drastic and exciting changes to our life. We know we will be welcoming a new baby and trying to help Jayney's emotional transition into that role, while also still wadding our way through the murky water of typical toddler development- respecting the word no, sharing on play dates, potty training, big girl beds, not being aggressive, binkies going bye-bye and picky eater issues just to name a few. Plus we will have some massive time committed to moving out of the tin box and finishing plans on our new house (more to come on that, we promise in future posts), construction of the site built front porch and a mud room framed up before we can be totally settled in, all hopefully before we are too close to little sisters due date. Wow, I am overwhelmed and equally thrilled just thinking about it all. Especially knowing that is only the list for the early part of the year, before Dusty's real work starts in the busy season of summer!
While I could write many of these in way that words them as a "goal" they are also things that are set in motion enough that they are kind of inevitable. For example, at this point we know we are having a baby. Sure there are still unknowns about how it will go but it isn't exactly something we plan to work toward or train for (like a half marathon last year)... it is pretty much just going to happen whether we are ready or not. While it is a point in our year to excitedly anticipate, it isn't really a goal to work towards the same way we normally think of with a resolution. I don't know if this is really better, or how exactly not having our set goals for 2015 will play out, but I do know that with my pregnant mama brain in full nesting mode without having a nest to organize, the "to do" list is where all my attention is focused. So, with a slight shift in our mindset, we have started working on many of our 2015 projects!
I have felt realllllly unprepared for baby #2. This could be a result of how different our timeline had gone with Jayney. At this time in my pregnancy with Jayney, I remember finishing up the last few cutesy decorative things, having completed all the major jobs of planing a nursery, painting furniture, purchases of baby gear, researching breast pumps, making freezer meals, and putting together a million little outfits for our firstborn. Seriously every item that could be listed and box that could be checked was done weeks before her arrival; we were so on top of things it would make most people annoyed. We were totally the kid in the front of the class that had all the answers and had their homework done well before it was due.

Well obviously we have been taking care of doctors appointments, planning names, and things like that for little sister, but honestly I can say at t-minus twelve weeks until her arrival we have done no physical work to prepare. Not one infant car seat washed or set out. No pack and play adorning our living room. And I haven't even thought of the hospital bag! Nope. None. Nothing! And given that this is our second kiddo, also a girl, and we will likely be moving before her arrival, I was pretty content in that. I know that all the things we need are around (somewhere) and could be retrieved by our family or friends if needed on short notice.
But there was one project that was looming a little larger than the rest, something I really wanted to tackle before we are so close to due date that it got put off: the sorting of baby clothes! This probably doesn't sound like the giant project that it became but it really was just that, giant! It was a combined problem that rooted in not having a big picture plan when we starting organizing clothes as JJ grew out of them. We would just pack items up randomly as we noticed the closets and drawer space being too full to use, as things got too small or were out of season, or if we found ourselves just skipping them for reasons of preference. This meant we had storage tubs full of all kinds of hodgepodge. Sure the first size run and season of stuff all got packed away pretty much together but then things would get forgotten and packed up with the next size, or sometimes favorite items would get stretched well past their intended size because we were too sentimental to see them get packed up. Plus the added complexity of when JJ stopped the monster growth trajectory she started on as an infant and was in 18 month size for almost a whole year, meaning she had clothes from every season in just that one size. It was not just the organization that made this project tricky, it was also the volume. If you know me, then you know I love to be a thrifty shopper! Plus finding great prices at consignment shops or on sales lets me pick a few favorites outfits to buy instead of just one at a regular store. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you how little I spend for a whole outfit... On top of that factor in that Jayney is the first grandchild, first niece, first great niece to much of our family, we have a super supportive church family and close friends, who are all incredibly generous with gifts. It all equals one tiny girl being blessed with oodles of outfits as gifts too. I hope I don't sound like this is more of a burden than a gift. We really love it all and don't want it to change. But sometimes even a blessing can be overwhelming if your are not organized enough to prepare for its outcome.

So you are probably wondering what this has to do with our 2015 to dos... Well, maybe this picture will help answer that question.

The piles all sorted, newborn through 3T

 Eeeeek! You see it like that and it is almost an embarrassing amount of clothing! But we are owning it as the reality we live in, being totally transparent about what we have been occupied with and
crossing our fingers that you will laugh along with us instead of stick your nose up to judge the situation. So, just how much time did this project occupy? 11 stinking hours! Yep, you read that correctly. That is how long it took to load them in the truck, unpack them into my parents front room (because it is the only space I could think of large enough for a project of this scale), sort them into their size, category (pants, shirts, dresses etc,) and by warm or cold season. Then go through and pullout things for the Goodwill bin that were well worn or developed a stain while in storage, a separate pile of decent items but not favorites to sell at consignment stores at some point, and last but not least pack the items we would like to have ready for sister back into vacuum storage bags so they take up less space, Ta da! ELEVEN hours of work by Dusty and I, plus a lot of that time with my moms help (either sorting or playing with Jayney) and my dad popping through to laugh or bring dinner. Then you add the sweet drone of listening to and affirming as JJ repeats the phrase "these were my clothes but now they are for sister" more times than you can count while she careens across your newly sorted piles, it made for a long and thought draining day for all of us! But it is a days worth of work that let's me mentally feel ready enough for baby again, for that I am so thankful.

There are many things left on our 2015 to do list for baby, but most will wait until we know what our move out date will be. We hope sister will her maintain due date schedule as expected to allow us time to prepare as well as we did for Jayney, but we know one thing about little sister's arrival now, no matter when it is, she certainly isn't going to go naked!

Merry Christmas from Dusty and Erin... the bad bloggers!

You may have just gotten our Christmas card, noticed the little insert reminding you about our blog, and thought to yourself "but I have checked their blog not long ago and there wasn't anything new to read!" Well that would be completely correct, but something we hope to be better about again. We have worked hard in December catching up several of the highs and lows from our year just like many people do on their annual Christmas card. But lets be honest, there is just no way Erin and her wordiness could fit the whole year in one letter. So we have the best of intentions when we say stick reading with us, for lots of fun as we embark on many new adventures we know are coming for us in the near future. In the coming year you will read about the progress on our new house plan, Jayney's 3rd  birthday, a road trip to California, life on the farm , Baby Sisters arrival and how that will likely change well, pretty much everything, just to name a few! 2015 is going to be quite the year!

We hope that your New Year is full of many blessings too! We truly cherish the friends and family we have in our life and are so glad to have the love of those around us. We hope that you will keep us updated (hopefully better than we did for you in the last year) on your new adventures so we can celebrate with and support you too!

 

Can you pray for a dog?

Dusty and I love our Moosey Girl dearly. She really is our first “baby” since we got her together as a puppy. After Dusty’s old dog, Coby, passed away this spring we were really longing for another puppy around the farm. We had the thought that some day we may want to breed Moosey since before she was born and now seemed like the right time, if there ever was going to be one. We were so excited at the prospect of little labs running around for the weeks we would care for them before sending them home to new loving families and we would get to pick our very favorite to keep as our new fur baby. Moosey was a nice age, size and we had a connection from high school that had a great male lab to match her with. Everything about breeding her and her pregnancy went really well.

With just over one week till the expected arrival of the pups we were so ready! We had taken her in for a scan to let us know how many pups to expect and were thrilled to hear she was going to be a mom to at least eight but possible even a few more. We had the whelping box built, heated pads with towels to get everyone warm and cozy, clamps and surgical scissors set aside with the other supplies all purchased for labor and delivery..  Now all that was left was to wait. Moosey seemed very content with waiting. Twelve days or so out from the scheduled puppy day we noticed a change from wanting to be active and play to just sleeping the days away in her bed. We were glad to see she was resting very often, knowing firsthand the challenge a newborn of any type can bring.

Preggie Moose in the whelping box Dusty built

We knew that it was typical for dogs to start looking for a spot to have their pups in shortly before they arrive. We had been watching for this so we could steer her in the direction of the whelping box which would then be safely enclosed by a large chain link pen, in our heated shop. We had it all set to be ready with a new cozy Sherpa pad and blankets for digging to just the right shape nest.  Moose had given us little indication that she wanted to be anywhere other than her pet kennel lined with a dog bed in the yard next to our house. So we decide not to upset the apple cart and keep her there until she started showing other signs. With seven days to go, Moosey must have changed her mind about lying around in bed.  While being free to roam the farm just like normal and follow Dusty around during his work in the shop she did something she has done so few times it is a rare memory in our minds, let alone a habit to fear. Moosey decided that particular Friday looked like a good day to cross the road and how wrong she was!

We don’t know why she was in the road or on the other side. We don’t know what caused her to be anywhere other than on the farm, in the shop or our yard where she is normally so content to explore or sleep. We can speculate that perhaps she was looking for a place to nest, or chasing the cat, maybe looking to visit a neighbor. We just don’t know.  All we do know is that Moose and her belly full of puppies were hit by a car.

I don't know exactly who hit her. But it is safe to say that Tom, the neighbor who lives across the road was the first to try and save her. He was coming home down the hill and saw the situation just after it happened. When he came up to the scene a lady was out of her car "screaming and doing jumping jacks" in the road. They moved Moosey to the ditch and Moose bit at the lady. Tom said she didn't really speak English well and was freaking out. The lady left to get attention on her hand, which likely needed stitches. Then Tom came and to our house told us what he knew and we rushed to get Moose in the car to go to the vet.

Quickly we knew she didn’t have broken bones that the vets could see from X-ray but they definitely wanted to keep her overnight (at least) to observe a hematoma on the inside of her hip. The rapid swelling indicated it possibly could be a hernia. At this point we were really optimistic because it just looked like a bad road rash and a swollen leg. We figured Moose would be just fine, we were hoping for still live puppies and no internal bleeding but assured us they would know more the next day when they planned to do an ultrasound. 

When we left her they wanted to just get her comfortable and stable over night. Moosey was alert and calm but not trying to move at all throughout the time we transported her to the vet and while they were checking her out. She did wag her tail when her favorite vet was talking to her. We were holding it together. Then Saturday sometime probably before noon they would do an ultrasound to check for heartbeats. Waiting for the vets update call, time felt like it was moving slowly. But it was actually good that they were not calling yet, we knew if they called overnight that was really bad. They said if there were any bad changes they would let us know.

The Saturday morning call was not as hopeful as when we had left the office. From the ultrasound they could tell that several of the puppies did not have heartbeats. This meant if there were any live pups left they would rapidly be compromised by the problems of sharing a uterus with dead decomposing pups, in addition to adding more risk to moose due to sepsis issues. Plus from the ultrasound they couldn’t tell exactly what the internal damage was, although it was clear there was a problem because the swelling on the inside of her hip was obvious. But they wouldn’t know more until they did exploratory surgery to take out the deceased pups and repair any damage they found once they were in there. Even if we agreed to go forward with the surgery it was made known to us that at this point we were likely on a rescue mission for Moose’s health and the litter of pups would probably be lost completely.

That was a really hard pill to swallow. You are probably thinking the puppies should be able to be saved; after all, we were just a six days from when they were to be born. But in a dog that is a lot longer than a human. In a dog the gestation is just about 9 weeks, so every week is like a full month in a person. We were disappointed and shocked at how fast things could change. Emotionally I just felt drained, and like I was waiting to wake up from a bad dream.  

We waited for the call that surgery was over. We waited a long time. The outcome of surgery was bleak at best. Moose’s uterus had been completely shredded. Of the three vets scrubbed in for the surgery, one with over 30 years of experience, none had ever seen such a mess. In the days following we learned that during the surgery they actually stopped for a moment and discussed calling us to say that there was too much damage to continue because they really felt she would not recover. However, they continued, wanting to at least give her the chance. The team of vets and staff had our Moosey on the table for over three hours, and they wanted to make sure she would come out of the anesthesia before they called us to say how things went.

I could hear how tough the surgery had been in the voice of our vet.  She told us the internal injuries were vast. Moosey’s uterus had plainly exploded from the impact of being hit meaning that the pups were just floating about freely in her abdomen along with a lot of contamination. On top of that there was indeed a massive hernia where the inside of the hip meets the belly that was really difficult to repair. When they first started taking the pups out there were two that had actually drifted way out in the swollen fluid filled hernia outside the abdominal wall. They had to spay Moosey to get the bleeding to stop. Despite injuries that would kill most dogs, she was still fighting to live. This was no surprise because we know Moose is as tough as they come. What did catch us off guard was how difficult it was to hear about the puppies. They found all the pups to be unviable, due to being too early to live on their own, combined with the injuries. There were TWELVE! As glad as we were to hear Moose had made it successfully through the surgery, it was devastating knowing we lost all those pups. I have no doubt we cried twelve lost puppies worth of tears that afternoon.

There were a lot of pent up emotions that came pouring out after that phone call. We had been looking forward to all those cute little puppies, we had been anticipating helping Moosey care for her little ones, we had lived with the tension of wondering if the puppies would be okay, we had clung to the hope that maybe one puppy would be okay, we spent hours wondering if Moosey would even okay; to have all of that resolved in a moment unleashed an emotional landslide. I don’t think we realized just how much we had been looking forward to the puppies. It had not been an encouraging year on the farm; low yields meant that we were going to be on a tight budget again for the year. Losing Coby early in the summer was still on our minds. Earlier in the week we had also learned that our latest efforts to find a loan to build/buy a house had fallen apart completely out of our hands. A busy fall had left us feeling behind on out farm and personal to do list which added stress.  Amid all the down news, the puppies coming were a bright spot in the future which seemed to have been suddenly ripped from us.

After surgery we were all hoping Moose would pull through the night but given everything she had undergone and the extent of the damage none of the vets were confident this would go well. Sunday we got a good report, considering. Moose was up and wagging her tail when they checked on her in the morning. She had peed the night before which is another good sign! They were worried about her bladder being compromised. The next big hurdle was watching to make sure she doesn't get infection or rupture the hernia. We went to see Moose and were so relieved to just sit and pet her as she just barely wagged her tail. We could tell that even lifting her head to look at us was a lot of work then combine that with the medication to keep her semi-sedated and as pain free. When she was laying with her "good side" up she looked perfectly healthy. Then she would flip to the other side and you could start to see the story in her wounds. Sometimes she would even roll on her back, belly up in full submission pose with the saddest face we have ever seen as if to say " look at me....what happen?"  She had stitches and seams everywhere plus drain lines to remove extra fluid. We left to go home praying that more rest would keep her healing as best she could.

Lots of road rash and stitches

It was nearly impossible to stay focused on the sermon Sunday morning. The subject was about things of eternal significance and how people and the way we influence others is what is truly important in life. I believe that people are most important, but it left us wondering, “If people are really the only thing that matters, why do we feel so deeply about this dog.” We were well aware that our Moosey is “just a dog,” that there are starving children in Africa, people battling cancer, and parents mourning the loss of children, but to us the emotions were as strong as losing a child. I don’t try to say I know how losing a child feels, but it is the only thing I can think of to relate how we felt. Especially considering we ourselves were expecting a baby, and internalized Moosey’s loss more than normal.

Best picture ever, sent to us by our wonderful vet!

Monday, my birthday, after what seemed like much longer than just a day went to visit Moose again and she was doing really good when we first got there regardless of fact some of her blood tests were showing signs of an infection She was much more aware of when we were talking to her and responsive to our voices instead of just being awake we actually saw her interacting with us although still wanted to lay down and was uncomfortable because she was about to have more meds. The meds made her do kind of a funny twitchy thing not at all like a full seizure but more than just a onetime itch. They said it could've been from the IV drip set into fast or kind of a funny reaction on an empty stomach. So they stopped one of the IV antibiotics and went back to sub queue injections just in case. This made us more than a little nervous seeing as her white counts were still high but ultimately we trusted our vets and their calls.

This was our life for the next few days, scheduling everything around our next visit to the veterinarians’ office. Every slight high met, eating her food one day, met with an equal low the next day, like not seeing quick improvements to the blood tests trends and not eating as much anymore. It was excruciating to not see which way things were going to go, and even though we didn’t want to think about it we knew that every day of continued care and tests was just adding to our growing bill. This was one of the hardest parts to deal with for us. We knew our vets would be fair with us (and they were more generous than we could have hoped) but we knew they couldn’t give away all their time, supplies and resources for free.  I could never put a dollar amount on our dog; anymore than I could a child, nevertheless we didn’t want to go into debt and possibly still lose Moose on top of that! Considering we were planning to sell all but one (or maybe two) puppies it certainly wasn’t the way we expected our “pet’s fund” to go this fall. Dusty said, “I would never spend this much on a dog, but she is our dog, and that changes everything.”

Starting to respond to us when we were there for visits

Wednesday afternoon we saw a change in Moose. It started with a banana. She had not been eating much so we thought one of her favorite foods, bananas, might cheer her up. So we took a couple to her to see if we could get her to eat them. She didn’t eat the first one but the second finally took! That night the vets switched her to a dry food and she would eat it when she was hand fed! Moosey’s blood work was also looking better. We started talking about taking her home! And Thursday midday, we got to do just that! Utter delight met yet again with the warning that we were not entirely out of the woods.  

SO happy to be going home!

But worn out quickly

Thursday, we just stared at her, like when Jayney was a newborn. Fearful we might break her if she moved wrong and just in awe of the fact she was there. We were walking her on a leash to go to the bathroom, dreading the fact that she might try and trot and rupture the hernia. Dusty got to be a professional at checking temps, the pinkness of gums and giving what could only be described as a handful of pills at least twice daily. Jayney did her best to be gentile, kept moose company and read stories to her. My job… I mostly just cried. With all my extra pregnancy hormones, every time I actually stopped to think I was a jumble of feelings and most often those feelings all chose to leak right out my eyes. All the while Moose acted like there was nearly nothing wrong. If you knew her, you might have noticed that she was a bit calmer than normal, less begging to play fetch but she was still alert and ready for attention at any given time. She was on a lot of pain meds at first but even right when she was due for another dose she never indicated she was in any pain. Honestly she seemed to be basking in the glow of all the pampering, new fluffy bed, shredded chicken with broth over rice for dinner and all the hugs she could handle!

When we first brought her home Moosey would only eat by being hand fed. JJ loved this job!

Coloring and watching tv with Moose

Just the evening dose

 Friday night we gave her some IV fluids they sent us home with. It was simple and we already had it. Her temps were staying within range so I don't know for sure if she needed but our vet said if we are questioning just to go for it and after all we won't "drown her!" Just better to give it as a precaution to make sure she is getting enough fluid. I never thought those random hooks on our ceiling would be for a lactated ringer but it works! She got her bed moved to a pen made using baby gates in our living room. It worked great because when we are hanging out in there she is right with us but I think she actually liked the pen best because she is safe from  most of Jayney's overly abundant affections.

It is hard to see but there is the iv bag hanging from our ceiling!

Doing a little reading together

Days turned to a week and soon enough Moose was getting out the drains. Her temps had slight rise and falls but over all she was still not feverish. Our toughest problem as the first full week at home came to an end was that Moosey wanted to play! She wanted to run and fetch and do all her favorite dog things. She had no idea that her internal stitches were far from healed but the belly full of surgical staples was not slowing her down.  So it was back to potty breaks on the leash and that left me figuratively biting my nails hoping that Moose wouldn’t see every time a bird flew by or a deer looked like it should be chased. Moose got the routine down and may have seemed a bit bored but overall healthy and content with her new lifestyle. Before long the stitches got to come out too followed by a bit of supervised unleashed time in the yard and most important the end of all her medications!

Everyone loving the cuddles

 Each day after coming off the meds with continued normal temps gave us a little more piece of mind that Moose was going to make it. We got to a month out of surgery and things still looked good. Moosey loved the freedom our piece of mind was buying her, allowing her to follow Dusty around the shop and short visits with people here getting hay.  It has been hard having people we mentioned the pups to, back when Moose was pregnant, stop by thinking they might be able to see them or perhaps even pick one out to buy. Really we wish we could be sharing these sweet dogs with the world but we are most appreciative to still have our Moosey. We know that we would be without any dog at all if it weren’t for the amazing care at Deer Park Veterinary Clinic, especially Dr. Dean for his knowledge in surgery and most of all Dr Amy for the thorough care, loving Moose like she was her own and keeping us updated all along the way. It isn’t very many vets that will send you picture texts from their own personal cell phone, just to let you see how your doggy is doing. We could not have been more impressed with the skills of all our vets or the personal care Dr. Amy showed Moosey and us!

Happy Halloween

 Now we are at two months and things maintain their upswing! Through everything Moose has been the best patient we could have asked for, taking every pill and exam with the sweetest submissive attitude. Yet she still fought, harder than we all thought a dog could, to get better each day. We have made slight changes  to the way we play with Moose, like not playing fetch any more than as far as JJ could throw the ball and just less time outside,  so that we don’t push her too much and reinjure the hernia site. We have been told that this will always be a weak point and could cause problems in the future if we are not careful, but it is hard to say if that will ever be an issue at all, it could be in the coming months or conceivably several years down the road. So we are doing our best to make sure that doesn’t happen and thankful that God gave us more time to have a GREAT dog, even if she is the only one.

Kissing Moosey's "no more owies"!