Wyatt's Test Results ...

Dr. Scotti just called with Wyatt's final test results. His condition has not improved as we had hoped. We probably have about 4-5 weeks left with our sweet puppy.

This breaks my heart.



This is one of my all time favorite photos of Wyatt. I took this in September 2003 ... our first fall here in Virginia. He absolutely loved the cooler weather and so enjoyed running through the leaves.

I love Wyatt so much ... he's my 2nd son ... and my friend.

Wyatt has always been my constant companion. Before I had Griffin, he would go every where with me. If I had to run to the post office, Walmart, grocery store ... Wyatt was right there in the car with me. He still loooves to go "bye bye". I just have to say those two little words and he's at the door, ready to go.

He is such a good boy ... so loving ... so sweet ... and so protective.

Although at times, he doesn't seem to like Griffin very much ... he is VERY protective of him. Let a stranger (repairman, neigbor, etc) come into the house, if they go near Griffin, Wyatt exercises this very low, warning growl ... it's almost as if he's saying "Leave my little brother alone".

As Wyatt is growing older, it's getting harder for him to get around much. We've designated one end of the couch as Wyatt's "safety zone" from Griffin. We have a gate in front of him and he can lay there as long as he wants.

I will continue the IV Water Therapy to help his system ... anything I have to do ... I will do to make his last days with us as comfortable as possible.

Dr. Scotti said we would know when it's time.

I just pray that he goes peacefully in his sleep ...

Giggling In The Rain

We finally got some much needed rain this past weekend.

Griffin enjoyed playing in the rain ... he was so cute splashing and giggling.

My week so far ...

- I am continuing the water treatments for Wyatt until Wednesday

- Griffin has been into everything

- He napped 9:00 am - 11:00 noon Monday ... we then had to figure out what to do for the rest of the ENTIRE day

- My glasses broke

- I'm wearing my very old from the "80s" glasses until I can get new ones

- I'm behind on emails and orders

- I have a ton of orders finished, just have to find the time to pack them

- I'm PMSing pretty bad ... and I started late ... which scared the H*LL out of me!

- Mike is out of town for 3 days

- It can only get better ...

Another Wyatt Update

First I would like to thank everyone for your very KIND emails about our sweet Wyatt. It's so nice to know we have such good friends that care about him.

On Friday we took him back to the vet twice for the water therapy. At the morning session they also did a test to see if he had any improvement. We got the results from that test at the evening session. Unfortunately, there was no marked improvement. Some of his numbers read a little better, others read worse. Dr. Ellett said if it was his dog he would not give up on him yet.

So ... over the weekend we continued the water treatment at home. We will be doing this through Wednesday. At that time Dr. Scotti will run another test to check for improvement.

That's where we are right now ... pretty much a "wait and see" situation.

Before we went back to the vet on Friday I asked my dear sweet friend Melinda to come over and snap a family picture of us ... here we are ... in all our regular day-to-day glory. Take a look behind Mike ... you can see our tomato plants are doing really well ... I'm so proud!


Daddy, Mommy, Griffin & Wyatt


We all went for a walk too ...


Our two very sweet boys ...

The Treatment Continues ...

I had to take Wyatt back to see Dr. Scotti this morning for another all day treatment. When we got there to drop him off, the nurse said Dr. Scotti wanted to talk to me ... panic!

Everything was running through my mind ... I didn't know what to think. Well, she decided that it would be best to give Wyatt a quick IV Water Treatment and medication and let him come home with us instead of staying at the clinic all day. She asked me to bring him back again at 5:00 tonight for another treatment and more medication.

He was very stressed being there all day on Tuesday. He didn't eat, drink or go to the bathroom all day. I was so happy ... he was coming home!


(I just snapped this picture of Wyatt ... isn't he cute with his tongue sticking out?)

We will have to go back tomorrow morning for tests, bloodwork, another water treatment and more medication. We will then come home and wait impatiently by the phone for Dr. Ellett to call with the final test results.

Wyatt Update ...

Last night we received another call from our vet. After reviewing the results of the lab tests, he determined Wyatt is much sicker than he originally thought. He has kidney failure and a urinary tract infection.

He advised us to bring Wyatt to the clinic this morning for a three day hospital stay. They are going to try an IV water therapy along with two antibiotics to see if they can help him. When an animal has kidney failure, there is no "fixing" it. There is a possibility they can help manage it though.


(This is a picture I took of Wyatt before taking him to the clinic/hospital this morning)

We are very worried and very sad. We want to do the right thing for Wyatt. We of course want him to be with us as long as possible. But we do not want him to suffer. We want him to know the best quality of life.

The clinic that we take Wyatt to has several different vets on staff. The man that we saw on Monday is not Wyatt's regular doctor. I was pleased to know his regular doctor would be in this morning. I really like her alot and I know she cares about Wyatt and would lead us in the direction that is best for him.

I asked her point blank if we were extending the inevitable. She pretty much said she feels we may be able to extend Wyatt's life 6 months to a year.

I also voiced the concern that Wyatt is rarely left alone. We do leave him for several hours at a time, however we are always with him at night. I am so worried he will be upset at being left alone overnight. He is such a big baby, and he would be alone in a strange place ... we feel this would be very hard on him. They have no staff on hand overnight. She said we could pick him up tonight at 5:00 and bring him back in the morning to begin treatment again. I just feel this is the best thing for him.

My husband cried last night. It's the first time in all of our 21 years I have seen him cry. He loves Wyatt so much, as do I.

Mike and I married in April 1995 ... Wyatt became part of our family one month later ... he has been part of our family our entire marriage.

If you pray ... please say a little prayer for our dear sweet Wyatt.

Wyatt Is Sick ...

Our sweet puppy is sick. Yesterday he was panting pretty much all day and he was "crying" in pain. About 4:00 we were all upstairs and he came up the stairs crying all the way. He just didn't "look good". His mouth and tongue was all white, instead of the normal healthy pink it normally is.

We decided at the very moment we needed to take him to the vet. We got to the vet and he looked him over, asked a bunch of questions and did a bunch of tests. He did an X-Ray and has determined Wyatt has kidney stones. It's a huge mass.

There is a possibility that Wyatt will have to have surgery. We have to try to get a "sample" of the stones from his urine (yes we have to capture pee and then take it back to the vet) to find out exactly what kind of kidney stones they are. If it's the kind that can be desolved with medication he will not have to have surgery. Our boy is getting old, at 11 I really think surgery will be hard on him.

Last night he couldn't make it up the stairs so we let him sleep downstairs on his bed. I slept on the couch and Mike slept in his chair. We are very worried about him. Wyatt is a big part of our family ... he's not just a "dog". I'm praying our sweet boy will be okay and will not have to have surgery.

Unorganized Mess

I've always been a pretty organized person ... well for the past 5 years or so I have been. But for the past few months I feel so unorganized ... it's crazy. I have print outs and papers everywhere.

My goal this week is to:

- Get organized ... which will than allow me to ...
- Get caught up on orders
- Respond to emails daily
- Throw away uneccessary "stuff" on my desk & work area

Wish me luck!

Happy Father's Day

Although my Daddy passed away in 1998, I would like to remember him today on Father's Day.

This is a layout I created many, many years ago when he was still living. He loooved to eat.



I was very lucky to have such a wonderful father. My mother passed away in 1976 he became my sole parent. My dad was 45 when I was born, so I grew up with an older parent. He was from Alabama, a farm boy ... he was such a hard worker.

I was so lucky ... not only was he my parent, he was my best friend. I actually lived at home with him until the day I was married. I was 27 years old. Daddy, Mike and I used to do everything together. Every Saturday my Daddy and I would go yard saling together. Those are memories I will have forever.

I remember buying my first brand new car. I really wanted a Trans Am ... but when I took it for a test drive, I realized ... it only has 2 doors and it would be very hard for my Daddy to get in and out of the back seat. So ... I chose a 4 door Grand Am instead.

One of my fondest memories of him is from when I was younger. He used to cut other people's yards. Where I'm from we called it "mowing the grass". He had several yards on Eagle Lake that he would mow every Saturday. Sometimes he would let me go with him. While he was mowing, I would watch the peacocks, pick up rocks or talk with the people that he mowed for. He mowed grass for other people up until the day he died.

Daddy's pet name for me was "Doll". I can not even tell you how much I wish I could hear him say "Hey Doll" right this very minute.

You may think it strange that an almost 40 year old woman would call her father "Daddy". I'm a southern girl, he will forever and always be my Daddy.

Things That Amuse Our 16 Month Old

Things that amuse our 16-month old Griffin

- Playing Peek-A-Boo
- Pots & Pans
- Unrolling a new roll of toilet paper
- Blowing raspberries with a full mouth of food
- Getting his feet tickled
- Baths
- Melanie from the "Good Night Show"
- Our dog Wyatt
- Swinging
- Being chased by Mommy or Daddy


Caught in the act unrolling the "off limits" roll

Goals For This Week

10 things I would like to accomplish this week:

1. Get caught up on scrapbooking orders
2. Remain patient when Griffin is screaming
3. Change the shower curtain liner out with the new one
4. Remember to water our tomato garden
5. Take Griffin to playtime at the gym & Mother Goose at the library
6. Take a walk with my family every night
7. Vacuum the stairs
8. Clean all three bathrooms
9. Enjoy my family
10. Take just a little time for myself

Our New "Tomato Garden"

I have a confession to make ...

I do not have a green thumb. I am the person that will go to the garden supply store a day before people come to visit us to buy new hanging baskets. I never remember to water them. Honestly ... I just have no interest at all in gardening. I love flowers, I love the way my house looks with fresh, blooming hanging baskets around my porch. I love fresh vegetables too, as long as I can buy them from the store.

So I was a bit surprised when I agreed to buy some tomato plants while shopping with Mike and Griffin on Sunday.

I really want our new tomato garden to flourish and grow. I want to eat fresh tomatos that we have grown. I hereby promise to water, nuture and take care of our brand new tomato plants.

So ... let me introduce to you our brand new tomato garden.


Since it's easier to take care of things with a name ... I thought I would name our tomato plants. I would like to introduce Tommy & Tilly.


Mike laying the soil for Tommy & Tilly's new home


Tommy & Tilly moving into their new "home"


Tommy & Tilly love their new soil


Here they are folks Mr. Tommy & Mrs. Tilly Tomato Garden

I will keep you posted on Tommy & Tilly's growth.

Yes ... It's The Same Child

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know Griffin has been sick for a few weeks. Well, I was just going through my digital camera to load some pictures for Grandma and I could not believe what I saw.

I took some pictures of Griffin on Wednesday when he was not feeling well. This is before I decided to go back to the doctor (after being there on Sunday ... long story ... read my past blog posts for more information).


This is a picture of our dear sweet boy ... obviously NOT feeling well


His little face is swollen and the rash is showing pretty vividly ... although it was MUCH more red in real life


This is a picture of Griffin later Wednesday night ... obviously feeling better, but still red with the rash and swollen face

I can report that he is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better now



This is a picture I took of Griffin this morning while we were playing on the front porch ... yes it's the same child.

You know, now looking at these pictures I can not believe I was second guessing myself about taking him back to the doctor. In the future I will most definately listen to my mother's intuition.

I'm just glad our little G is on the way to recovery.

It's just a virus ... not!

Yesterday was pretty scary. Griffin woke up with a fever again, he had a rash and just wasn't acting like his normal happy, sweet self. A couple of friends saw him and confirmed he didn't look like himself.

I layed him down for his nap and then went to check on him after a few minutes. He was just laying there looking up in the air. I decided at that very moment I was taking him back to the doctor even though this would be our 3rd visit in less than a month.

Well ... the past two times the doctor said it's "just a virus".

This time ...

He has an ear infection in both ears and a viral infection.

Finally ... we know what's wrong.

When our doctor checked Griffin yesterday she had to remove wax from his ears before she could check his ears. She confirmed an ear infection in both ears. Then she said she wanted to check his white blood count to make sure he didn't have a bacterial infection. His white blood count came back really low, so she confirmed a viral infection. She prescribed a five day antibiotic that will continue to work for an additional five days after he finishes the medication.

I'm a little upset with the doctor from Sunday ... because I just know in my heart that our son has had this since then (or even before). I think she was so busy with so many patients waiting she didn't take the time necessary to find out what was wrong with him.

We didn't have such a great start this morning either. He woke up at 4:15 singing. Well, that was too early to get up and he finally went back to sleep. He woke up again at 6:15 hysterically crying. His fever was 101 degrees and he has a splotchy red rash all over his face and torso. It almost looks like he has a sunburn. Honestly, he's been crying since he woke up. Nothing pleases him. I've tried milk ... juice ... sitting in the chair with him watching cartoons. It's gonna be one of those days.

Surviving Motherhood

I would like to start this post to let you know that Griffin is feeling much better. His fever has gone down and he was much more active yesterday. Thanks to everyone that emailed me about our little guy.

Now on to today's post ...

There's this new show on TLC called "Surviving Motherhood". I love this show. It's a different group of women every week that discuss child related issues (picky eaters, potty training, seperation anxiety, etc.) They meet up in a coffee shop and discuss the issue among themselves. They then highlight one mother's story. The group of mothers offer advice, and they also have an expert that offers advice.

Although many of the issues we haven't experienced (and hopefully we don't) ... it's nice to see how others handle child related issues.

On a side note ... I have another TLC "guilty pleasure" as well. Tuckerville. Have you seen it? It's hilarious! It's a reality show based on Tanya Tucker and her three children. It's so funny to see this famous person living a "normal" life, not far from our own. Well, except we do not live in a mansion, have 20 cars, millions of dollars ... etc. But, it's nice to see they have some of the same experiences we do.

TLC has some great shows. I am still a little upset that they took "Martha" off their schedule. I did email them to find out why. They said although her show experienced good ratings, they removed it from the schedule to make room for their own original shows. Honestly ... I would much rather see "Martha" than pretty much anything.

Well ... gotta get the car inspected today. Time to get G up for a bath and breakfast. He's actually sleeping in this morning.

102 Fever

Griffin has been sick all weekend. He woke up from a nap on Saturday afternoon and he was burning up. I took his temperature and it was 102 degrees. Honestly, I really didn't know what to do as this was his first fever.

I called the doctor on call at his pediatrics office. Of course he had a ton of questions, I answered them ... and he recommended we start giving him Motrin and Tylenol in 3 hour intervals. He also said a tepid bath would help bring the fever down. And to keep lots of liquids in him. He then recommended we bring him into the office on Sunday.

He's been running a fever that hovers at 101 - 102. We took him to the doctor on Sunday (thank goodness our pediatrician has weekend hours). The doctor on call did a strep test ... thank goodness it tested negative. No ear infection either. She said it was a virus.

I feel so bad for him. He's fussy, and doesn't feel good. I can see in my son's eyes that he's not well. Yesterday I let him take a nap downstairs instead of his crib upstairs. I just wanted to be able to keep an eye on him.

He didn't have much of an appetite earlier yesterday, however I did get him to eat a banana for lunch and 3 bites of macoroni & cheese. Then another banana for snack after he woke up from his nap. He finally had an appetite last night. He ate pretty well.

This morning he woke up with a fever again. The doctor said not to be surprised if it lasts for 4 days. I just want him better.

Mike's Chicken Parmigian

Mike cooked dinner last night and it was delicious!



He made chicken parmigian ... isn't it pretty?

How come when he cooks it tastes better? This dish was literally better than anything I've ever had at an Italian restaurant ... even Magianno's.

He crushed the tomatos with his hands, chopped the onions, sauteed, breaded, did it all. It was absolutely wonderful.

G

Look at this sweet angel face ...



This is the face of a dear sweet child that has changed my life.

When Griffin entered my life, I feel as if I started living.

He's opened my eyes to a whole new world of whimsy and fun.

He amazes me everyday.

He is funny
He is sweet
He is smart
He is inquisitive
He is mischievious
He is a handfull

He is my son.

Pitter Patter

Before I had a child I would hear the phrase "pitter patter of little feet". I knew what people were talking about ... I just didn't understand. Now that Griffin is running around everywhere ... I totally get it.

I have to say, the pitter patter of his little feet is absolutely one of my favorite things in the world.

There's nothing like having your child run to you to give you a great big hug.

I will cherish this sound forever.