Goodbye, Pebbles

Pebbles joined our family a little over 9 years ago. Jen suckered me into visiting the pound at my lunch hour (she had stopped by the night before). Even though Pebbles had been moved to a different area when I got there, I knew the exact dog I was supposed to be looking at.

We took her home that night. :)

At best guess, she was 3 years old. Being an adult dog at the pound, she wasn't what most people were looking for. Any other dog would have been put down by that point, but the staff at the pound were so enamored with her that they kept pushing off the inevitable. There were a few in tears when we took her home.

It's rough raising an adult dog; Pebbles was never completely housetrained; we wound up pulling every stitch of carpeting out of our house because she seemed less likely to pee on the hardwood than any carpet or rugs. We're thankful that we don't really know anything about her before we found her; having been found on the street with a collar so tight it had to be cut off, and a back leg that appeared to have been broken at some point, we focused on her new life, not her old.

She started really, really skitish, but got more comfortable over time. She even adjusted pretty well to Kaylee. But two years ago, arthritis started to kick in with that back leg. As it got worse, we started her on glucosamine and had pretty good results with it last year. This year, though, as the weather got warmer, the glucosamine wasn't helping much. Pebbles spent the past two months or so basically pulling her back end along with her; both legs seemed to be in quite a bit of pain.

We had her on a pain killer for a couple of weeks, but didn't really notice a difference. We even doubled the dosage last week. Last weekend, Jen and I both agreed that it wasn't right to keep Pebbles in that kind of pain. We took Pebbles to the vet on Tuesday, and the vet told us that it appeared that the cruciate ligaments in both back legs were torn--most likely, Pebbles tore the left one compensating for the arthritis in the right leg, and then tore the right compensating for loss of use of her left leg. The only real solution was surgery, and we weren't going to put her through that.

We did our best to explain to Kaylee what was going to happen, and I had Kaylee say goodbye to Pebbles on Wednesday morning. Jen and I both took the afternoon off and sat with Peb in the back yard. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day. We took Pebbles to the vet later in the afternoon and stayed with her while the vet gave her an injection and Pebbles left us.

We miss her greatly, and keep running into things in the house that get us crying a little. But we did the right thing, and we know that Pebbles isn't in pain any longer.

Get out the broom...

So, this post has two purposes. The first is to tell a new Kaylee story, for those of you who need a Kaylee fix. The second is to let those who have been following the Facebook saga, know the final decision of Jen's Hockey moral dilemma. I'll start with the Kaylee story.

Ok, about a year ago Nana got Kaylee a little cleaning set. It actually looks like a janitor's set up. It's got a broom, mop, cart, bucket, vacuum, tiny trash bag, etc. Well, it has been stowed away in the garage since then, because of the overwhelming toy situation in the house. About two weeks ago, we got the chance to purge some of Kay's toys while she wasn't home, pulled it out and stuck it in the house. She was thrilled.

Since then, it's been all about cleaning. She's been sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, picking up... you name it, she's been doing it. This means that we've been doing cleaning too. She even mops the cat, much to Dru's chagrin. Tink won't even go near her for fear of being vacuumed, like the big fluffy hairball that she is!

The other thing she likes to do is try to stand on the little broom and say, "I play on my pogo stick!" I don't really know where she has even seen a pogo stick, or where she learned what a pogo stick does, but she actually holds onto it like a pogo stick and jumps with it. It's quite funny! She even falls over like a little kid on a pogo stick would.

I don't mind the cleaning and I certainly don't mind her cleaning up her messes, but if I have to tell her to stop mopping/sweeping the cat one more time, I'm going to scream! Also, if I have to take her to the hospital for a broken leg, because of this impromptu pogo stick/broom, I'm going to be one unhappy mama and it is so going to be a broken pogo stick, in several pieces.

So that's the new Kaylee/Broom story I have.

Now to the Hockey decision....
As most of my friends and family know, I am a hockey nut. This has been going on for years. I grew up watching hockey with my Dad and I grew up ice skating, but over the years, hockey has become a big part of my life. I've watched the games on TV, my Dad has taken us to Griffin's games and we even went to see the Red and White game for the Red Wings at the Van Andel Arena. At Ferris State, I would go to the hockey games when I could and would cheer and get rowdy with the rest of the students. It went on and on.

The only thing that hasn't changed through the years is that we (the family) has always rooted for the Detroit Red Wings. It's a sin to go against the Red Wings. We hated the Blackhawks in the '80s. We despised the Avalanche in the '90s. We always root for the boys in Red and White and we always cheer the throwing of the Octopus!

Last year as I watched the Stanley Cup playoffs in the little sin bin I call a sitting room upstairs, (I always watch hockey upstairs so I don't wake up Kaylee and I don't bother Tim while he works... he doesn't like hockey, go figure.) I realized that I have always rooted for the same team. I have always had specific players that I have liked on the team. Something changed though, as I watched the series last year, I began to look at the skaters in a different way, all the skaters, including the other team. That's when trouble started.

I noticed the opposing team's goalie. Wow! Fleury was good. Not as good as Osgood, but he was good. Crosby was great, and so was Malkin, and Hossa. They were as good and sometimes better than Lidstrom, Hudler, and Zetterberg. Some of my favorites on the Wing's team that year. Perhaps next season I would try to catch some Penguin's games, too.

Well, as it turned out, my dear husband and daughter got me an early Christmas present this season. NHL Center Ice for the Dish! I could watch hockey games to my hearts content. I could catch games from all over the league. This meant I could watch all of the Red Wing's games AND all of the other games I wanted too, including the Penguin's games. Well, it turned out that I started watching the Penguins more than the Red Wings.

I found the players more interesting and, let's face it, more attractive. (Hey I'm a girl here, I notice these things!) I also found the Penguin's games more interesting. Maybe because it was something "forbidden." I was watching a team other than the Red Wings and I was cheering for them... Anyway, I found myself looking at skill in the players more than anything, even in other teams. There were players like Eric Stal, Khabbulin, Backstrom, Ovechkin (whom I despise, but he's great to watch!), and so many others.

Well, as we got closer and closer to the final prize, Lord Stanley's Cup, I started thinking, "What am I going to do if it gets down to the Penguins and the Wings again this year? I'm going to have to choose. Who am I going to root for?" I could just do what I do for the regular season and root for both, well at least until the final round, but what would I do then? So as it got closer and closer people who are close to me started asking. Now would be go time.

I started weighing my options. Rooting for the Red Wings would be the way to go, because it makes everyone happy... but what about my entire season worth of happiness for the Penguins... It would be like watching a documentary.

You watch the little penguin hatch. It grows up and it's ready to waddle away as it's ready to leave on it's own. You don't cheer it on and then you watch it get eaten by a shark or whale! But what if you cheered it on and it could live. It might be able to swim fast enough to get away. It might actually win this time!

Yeah, I know it sounds stupid, but that's the way my mind thinks sometimes. Plus, I've been following the Penguins closer than the Red Wings. Sure I've watching the Wing's games when I can, but I definitely watch all of the Penguin games!

So I guess you can see where my decision is headed. I'm not actually rooting against the Red Wings, because I'll be happy with whatever the outcome of the Finals. Either team is deserving and either team is great, but deep down I have to say I want the Penguins to win, I want Malkin or Crosby to get MVP, and I want Crosby to be hoisting the Cup when all is said and done. So you can see I've decided.

I'm hopeful that there will not be any lasting affect from this short term "turn-coating", as my sister terms it. I am hoping that there won't be shunning by family at gatherings, Godmother status being taken away, or excommunication by either the Church or "the Joe" (where all Michiganders go to "worship" during hockey season...).

Our house, however, is a house divided. Kaylee will be cheering for the Red Wings. She likes the little Red and White cheering flag I made for them. I think because it's red. She loves watching Hockey. When she knows there's a hockey game on she says, "Watch hockey with Mama!" Daddy just shakes his head and goes into the other room. She'll have her little red and white flag and I'll have my black and yellow one. So I guess it's GO WINGS and GO PENGUINS!

Perhaps there will also be another broom involved for the Cup, you never know!

Where are we?

In case anyone is wondering why the number of posts dropped off, Jen and I are on Facebook more than here. Feel free to friend us there, and I'll try to do better at posting (at least) pictures every once in a while here.

Daddy/Daughter day at the park...or the swimming pool?

Kaylee and I got out yesterday...I had read that the high was going to be 60, so I figured we'd head to the play area at Centerpointe mall. But when I got outside, and it was already 59 around 10:30, I figured we could play outside. We went down to the park, only to find most of it underwater:


Thankfully, there was one play "complex" (what do they call those things, anyway) with all of the slides that was above water, and Kaylee was more than content to play there for about 45 minutes. We got to meet Christian and his dad, and played together quite well.

Here's some shots I grabbed with my phone.

Kaylee Update

Just a brief update. Kaylee is 100% better now...OK, they say that you have to keep taking the antibiotic even when the symptoms go away, so maybe she's 98% better. :)

Fever's gone, appetite is back, energy level is way up. All in all, we've got our Kaylee back.

Our Night at the ER...or, "Can't you stick the needle in me instead?"

Kaylee has been running a fever (103 or so) since Friday. We took her into the doctor yesterday. They couldn't find anything, so they ordered some lab work.

Now, for those of you lucky enough to have never had to gotten "lab work" for a 2 year old, let me explain what that means. They needed blood, urine, and x-rays. Bloodwork is hell for anybody. It's absolutely terrifying for a 2 year old.

We barely got enough blood to run the two major tests that were ordered. We walked over to radiology for the XRays and got those. Never did get her to give us a urine sample--we just started having really good luck on the potty two weeks ago, and the fever has sapped her desire to try. We waited at the hospital for the XRay results; finally, one of the doctors from Kaylee's Ped office called us and said that they didn't see any signs of bacterial infection in the chest xrays, and that it must be viral and we'd just need to wait it out. Well, we can handle that, let's go home.

When we got home, there was a message on our machine--Kaylee's pediatrician telling us that her white cell counts were way high and that we should probably take her to the emergency room. At this point Kaylee is finally relaxing, and we wind up packing back up into the truck and heading back to the hospital.

We checked in at the emergency room and waited. Kaylee was in pretty good spirits. Part of me wanted to just pack up and head home; it couldn't be that bad. The triage nurse checked us in and got O2 levels and blood pressure, both a hassle. Then we had to get temp. Kaylee didn't want to put the thermometer in her mouth...so we had to go the other way. Poor kid was just getting things stuck in her everywhere.

When we got back into the ER (our hospital has a dedicated pediatrics ER, and they are currently building a dedicated children's hospital), we initially got stuck on a bed in the hall; I don't know if they took pity on us or just had enough of Kaylee's crying, but we got into a room in about 10 minutes. They took a temp again (same back end way), and then the news that terrified me.

Everything pointed to either bladder or kidney infection, and they were going to catheterize her to get a sample. I asked the doctor that, if I could get a sample from her, if we had to do that. That would work, but I think everybody had doubts. Kaylee really didn't want to use the toilet. But I took her into the bathroom, cleaned her up with the wipes the nurse provided, and basically started to beg.

She got up a few times. I was nearly in tears; I just couldn't handle any more being done to her tonight, and I knew if she would pee we could avoid any more. Kaylee wanted a sucker--the lab techs had given her one but we left it at home in between hospital visits. I promised Kaylee that I'd get her a sucker if she peed. It took a few times, but I finally heard her start to go in the little toilet insert. I did start crying a little bit at that point.

Got Kaylee wiped up, washed her hands--all the while she's saying "I did it!" (like she always does after she uses the toilet now)...and Jen and I are both fervently agreeing with her. We ask the nurse if she went enough, and she said it was more than enough. And then I found out that, nowhere in the Pediatrics emergency room, does anyone have a sucker. And that lab that gave Kaylee one earlier--I didn't mention that it was at a *different* hospital.

The nurse took me over to the hospital cafeteria because they have a bulk candy area. No suckers. But they did have soft round candies and coffee stirring sticks. I grabbed both and the nurse congratulated me on my idea...I felt like the emergency room MacGuyver. Kaylee got her sucker...didn't really like it, but she was satisfied that I got her one and she "settled" for the M&M's I picked up at the same time. :)

The urine test came back showing kidney infection. Unfortunately, had we gotten the urine sample at the doctor's office we could have avoided everything...but I'm satisfied that they didn't have to stick a catheter into my baby.

Kaylee got a shot of antibiotic at the hospital (yeah, another poke, but everybody survived), and a prescription for an oral. Maybe it's my imagination, but I think she seemed to be feeling better by the time we got home than she has all week.

We got a pee-er!

Something seems to have clicked with Kaylee this week. Since Monday every time we've put her on the toilet she's peed. She's going multiple times each day at daycare. She's still not keeping her pullup totally dry during the day, but she's making some serious progress.

Not a ton more to share right now, but I figured that was post worthy...