Birthday Celebrations

We celebrated September birthdays with the Buhler family yesterday. Mine is September 4 and then April and Autumn share the same birthday: today. (Happy Birthday, ladies!) I thought this mother-daughter picture was adorable!

Abby had fun watching her sister and her cousins!

Sandy worn out from playing with her cousins!

Me and my cake -- and Abby, too, because Bill is taking pictures.

Autumn with her cake.

April with her cake.

Just Like Dad

When Bill was younger (he says 3, his dad says about Sandy's age), his dad was up on the roof working on the swamp cooler and dropped a wrench that he didn't need any more. A little while later, he heard, "Here's your wrench, dad" and turned around to find Bill on the roof with him.

Bill has been working on the garage roof and Sandy and I have been picking up the shingles. Sandy was playing on the first rung of the ladder, but she didn't seem inclined to go any farther. So I ran and got my camera to take a picture of her playing on the bottom rung of the ladder. I didn't expect to find her at the very top. But I took pictures anyways while Bill very calmly asked Sandy to climb back down.

Then I decided it was time to go to the store with the girls and get Sandy away from the ladder! I tried to watch her really closely the rest of the day, but she just wants to be climbing the ladder (and bringing her dad used bits of shingle she is sure he needs). I hope this roof project is finished soon!

Sage walked into a tomato cage.

It didn't puncture the skin and we were able to get it off, but I am continually amazed at Sage's ability to get into things. She seems to be doing better on the steroids, but she is still throwing up once a day. We are trying to meter out her food and water so she's not eating/drinking so much at one time because we think that's what is causing her to throw up.

Abby's Stats

We took Abby to her 4-month doctor appointment today. We are a little behind schedule on the appointments because I scheduled Sandy's 2-year appointment with one of Abby's and it's thrown Abby's schedule off ever since.

She is 15 pounds 11 ounces, which is 82nd percentile for weight! She is also 92nd percentile for height. Dr. Baar said everything looks good, including her head which at her 2-month appointment was developing a slight flat spot on one side. Dr. Baar encouraged me to cut out the night feedings so we'll start working on that. Abby isn't rolling yet, but the doctor wasn't concerned and said it is normal for rolling to take a little longer, especially when they are a little chubbier.

She is such a happy baby. If someone bigger than me woke me up in the morning by sitting on me, I would wake up screaming. But Abby wakes up happy every morning even though most mornings this is what wakes her up:


I love that Abby and Sandy are such good friends. Although, Sandy's latest thing is coming in and complaining that "Abby hit/pinched/kicked/pushed me." Now, Abby doesn't go anywhere. So in order for her to do anything to Sandy, Sandy has to be practically on top of her.

But this has led to my latest parenting breakthrough! I've found that if I give Sandy a hug or a kiss she will go back to play and I don't need to say or do anything more. So I've been trying that out in other situations and finding that it works. I mean, obviously, something needs to be done if there is biting or someone is seriously hurt. But if the little complaints at playdates, Primary, etc. can be solved with a hug or a kiss -- and no need to try to go mediate --this makes my job much easier!

Abby loves her dad:

Here's a picture of Sandy with some roll dough. We made homemade rolls the other day while Abby napped. It kept Sandy entertained for like 45 minutes, which is a long time for a 2-year-old!!

It's Finished

2 1/2 years ago we planned a nursery for our coming baby. Two babies later it's finally (well, mostly) finished. We added wainscoting and put up all new trim (in green). The walls and ceiling are blue with clouds, dragonflies, and bees. We have butterflies and dragonflies hanging from the ceiling. We also replaced the light fixture and blinds.

We do still have to putty/paint the finish nail holes and hang curtains that my mom made for the room when she came for Sandy's birth. It won't take long to finish, but we started another project....

And have to get the garage roof finished before the weather turns.

Wonder what our kids have been doing during all of these projects? Well, the other night while Bill was on the roof and I was cleaning up shingles, Sandy painted in the driveway...


And then tried to move indoors before being quickly whisked into the bathtub...


She did create a masterpiece that we mailed to Grandma & Grandpa Bair and is now on their fridge. But she actually spent most of the night arranging her painting space. She would line up her paint pots all in a row on the back porch while I filled the wheelbarrow with shingles. Then I would take the wheelbarrow to the front of the house and Sandy would follow, line up all her painting pots and start painting just as I headed back to the backyard and the process would start all over.


Abby just slept.

Lymphoma

Not me.


Sage.







Tuesday morning I took Sage to the vet. She had thrown up a rock and we'd been watching her for the past day or so because she didn't seem to be eating much. I felt a lump in her throat and thought she had something caught here. The vet examined her and said the lump was a swollen lymph node and that there were swollen lymph nodes throughout her body.

He said the most common cause was lymphoma. He x-rayed to make sure there were no more rocks (there weren't) and ran labs on her blood and urine to rule out other possibilities (such as a rare infection caused by ticks) and then she went in for a biopsy on Wednesday.

This morning we got the call confirming it is lymphoma. Sage hasn't kept food down all week. So the treatment plan is to take her in today for anti-nasea injections and start steroids. The doctor explained the rule of thirds with the steroids: one-third of dogs will go into a complete remission (lasting 30 to 90 days), one-third will go into a partial remission, and one-third will not respond to steroid treatment at all.

Chemotherapy was an option, but we've ruled it out. It would be 6 months of chemotherapy and the doctor thinks she would get one good year out of it. It is expensive: $3,000 to $5,000 just for the chemotherapy. Not that any of this is cheap -- we've spent $1,000 so far this week on the exam, x-rays, labs, biopsy, etc. (We have a 6-month moratorium on getting any more pets after Sage. But if we start talking about it, will someone please remind me that we can't afford another pet!)







Remember my post about Sandy adding water to Sage's food and how we couldn't seem to stop her?

Now we think Sage has been having trouble swallowing for a month or more and the only food she was eating was the food Sandy added water to. But Sandy did it so often, we didn't realize....

So, now the biggest question on my mind is how do I prepare Sandy to lose her best friend?

New Posts

I posted family pictures and baby blessing pictures, but you'll have to scroll down to see them. I backdated them so my blog will be in chronological order.

4 Months

Abby is 4 months old today! She is such a happy baby and we love having her as part of our family! She loves to play with toys, sit in her bumbo chair, and she just discovered her toes.

We celebrated her 4 month mark by pulling out the exersaucer and she loves it!

Now I just need to remember what I did with the toys that go in the holes of the exersaucer. There are several more toys that snap in.

I love both of my girls -- and I love to dress them in matching outfits! I think my mom likes matching outfits, too, because she brought them these outfits:


Here's a shot of Abby:

Sandy fights naptime some days, but this is proof that she still needs a nap! She refused to take one and then about 3:00 she crashed...for almost 2 hours!

Baby Blessing & Good-bye

Bill blessed Abby today and it was a beautiful day and a beautiful blessing!


My mom made Abby's dress, a matching blanket, and a matching doll dress. Sandy was very excited to carry around her own "blessing baby."


Me holding Abby.


Sandy and Abby. Sandy is often grumpy after church, it is her naptime. Just one more reason we were excited about having the baby blessing party the night before.


A few cute shots of Sandy...


She's 2 going on 16!


Crashed on the floor, I love this picture of her sleeping with Sage.


It was so much fun to see my parents and sad to see them go!


I love all the pictures my dad took, but I realized as I looked back at them we don't have a single shot of my dad from this weekend!

Family Pictures & Party

What I wanted most for my birthday was family pictures! Luckily, my parents came into town and my dad was able to take them for us!


I'd love to hear your comments about which family photo you like best. I haven't decided which ones to print yet.


I am thinking about using this one on our Christmas card. I love the vintage color effect.


We went to Memory Grove Park here in Salt Lake City and I was happy with all the little areas we found to take pictures.


The girls got bored of taking photos pretty quickly!


Thanks for taking the pictures, Dad! I love them!


We also got shots of Bill with Sandy...


...and with Abby!


And me with Sandy


And Abby!


Loved this shot of Sandy checking out the water fountain. Doesn't she look like a budding ballerina?


Also loved this shot of Abby -- you can see her pink toes. I painted Sandy's toes the other day and she insisted that Abby needed pink toes, too!



That evening we had a party for Abby's baby blessing. We were really happy with how the party-the-night-before turned out. It was fun to see everyone and easy because we had all day Saturday to get ready and I could order pizza! It made Sunday a pleasant, reverent day.


Here is a shot of me and Abby at the party.


It was also my 30th birthday. My parents brought a cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me. It was a nice birthday. I should probably have some philosophical thoughts on turning 30, but I really don't. I didn't dread the birthday -- I have two beautiful children and feel like 30 is about the right age for me. My mom and I talked about her 30th birthday - which, of course, I remember because I was 9 years old!

It was a wonderful day! Thanks to everyone that came!