Why I love Josie

The other night I was curled up on the couch watching TV. I saw a show that hit a nerve and had me thinking about Eve and I started to cry. Well, sob. Josie (who had been asleep on the floor) picked her head right up and looked at me. In about 2 seconds she jumped up on the couch and snuggled into my chest and tried to lick away my tears. She certainly broke the spell and made me feel better. I'm so glad we have her now.

We went on another walk around Athens this weekend. I took pictures that I will post later. But, I do want to mention something. Well, I don't want to, but for the sake of documentation, I will. This morning we were looking at family pictures and I realized that Eve can no longer say "Papa." We tried to get her to do it all day. So then, we started quizzing her on other names and we found out she can no longer say "Mama" either. She still can say "Da" for Daddy. I am truly saddened by this. This disease sucks.

Josie had to go to the hospital

So, Saturday night I spent a few hours in the doggie ER. Poor Josie. She must have eaten something that was bad for her. She had diarrhea all day Saturday, had an accident in her crate while we were out, and then from 8-8:35pm threw up 11 times. That's when we called the vet. I lost count at 15 pukes. At the end she was just puking foam and mucus. Yuck. Anyhow, they looked at her poo sample and didn't find any bugs. They Xrayed her and didn't find any blockages or foreign bodies. They gave her an anti-vomiting shot and some sub-cutaneous fluids and sent us home with a can of bland dog food and instructions to start her on water the next morning and then slowly increase to food. She's doing much much better now. Poor dumb dog. Probably ate some crazy weed or mushroom when no one was looking. But, she was a hit at the vet's cause she's so darn cute.

Oh, and Eve loves her wheelchair. LOVES it. We took a nice family walk downtown on Sunday. Josie did great and Eve really liked holding the leash every time we stopped (e.g., while Jim was in Starbucks).

Wheelchair!

So, Eve did end up having a sinus infection. The ped put her on antibiotics, and she is doing much much better. Her appetite is back and she is *less* cranky. She also slept through the past 2 nights. I told him we were giving her a decongestant and he said it doesn't work. Instead he suggested a local decongestant - nose drops. Either the medicated or saline. I got the medicated ones and it really helped her breathe the last 2 nights. Tonight she didn't need it.

But the real news is that the wheelchair came!!! It's totally cute and totally tiny. It has her name on the back of the seat and also on the backpack that come with it. The front wheels (which remind me of Rollerblade wheels) light up when it rolls. Totally cute. Here are some pictures.

Her wheelchair came with a clear plastic tray (you can see it on the glider). It's great because she can use it to play or color.


She really likes the chair and even asked to get back in it after dinner. :) We'll take it around town this weekend.

Eve has a cold

This post is almost more for me than you - I want to keep track of Eve's cold. On Tuesday, August 5th, Eve started coughing. She had a cough and some congestion for over a week (but not a runny nose). On Thursday, 8/14, Dr. S had her start Albuterol inhaler and sent us for the chest Xray. He also started her on Miralax for constipation and Prevacid because the Zantac wasn't totally effective. We heard nothing about the xray, so I suppose it was clear. Friday (8/15) morning her nose started running. Ever since then it has been full blown cold. Total snot factory. Waking up in the middle of the night/early morning. Coughing. Loss of appetite (but still wants liquids). No fever. Fussy fussy fussy. I am taking her to the Dr. again this afternoon. I've been giving her a decongestant, but it really hasn't helped. I'm not sure what he can do - maybe she needs an antibiotic? Ug.

Eve's well visit

Eve had her 3 year well-visit on Thursday. I updated Dr. S on the latest with Eve (seeing Dr. K, etc.) and mentioned that the Zantac wasn't totally effective at controlling the reflux - she still has wet sounding burps. He prescribed prevacid and gave us some samples while the insurance companies argue about paying for it. He listened to her chest and she was wheezing pretty good. She's had a cough for over a week now. He ordered a chest xray and thinks she either aspirated food or reflux. He told us to give her albutural (her inhaler) 4x a day. Oh, she weighs 27lbs 5 oz and is 34 1/2 inches tall with a head circum of 19 inches. He asked me what Dr. Krawiecki told us we could expect of the disease progression in the next year. I explained that dr. K said we don't know what to expect. So Dr. S wants to see her in 6 months (rather than 12) and he wants her to have a flu shot. He gave us a prednisone Rx in case the cough gets worse. We did the chest Xray on Friday morning, but I am assuming all is well since I didn't hear anything from the Dr.'s office. She's been in a wicked bad mood all weekend. Very very fussy. Her nose has started running. I'm not sure how much of her crying/whining is due to feeling sick and how much is due to brattiness. As I told Dave, perhaps the sickness is exacerbating the brattiness. Which I guess makes her a sick, exasperating, brat. :) Ug. It's been a stressfull weekend. Can't wait for school tomorrow. Oh, btw, classes start at UGA tomorrow. Can't believe the fall semester is here already.

More OCNJ pictures...now and then

Here's a great picture of Eve and I that I stole from my friend's blog. Eve looks so snuggly cute.

Here are some good old days pictures. This is from either 1982 or 1983. Dave has the green shirt on, I'm next to him in white. My mom is standing up and my dad is rocking the mustache and tube socks.

Here's Tina and I in 82. There's a picture of Tina in the previous OC post.

Here's Dave and I on a ride in 86. You can compare to the previously posted picture of Dave and me (and kids) on a ride in 2008.

Fun times.

Oh! Eve's wheelchair is in. We have an appointment a week from tomorrow for it to be fitted and delivered. Yay!

First day of school

Monday was Eve's first day of school! She started pre-K at the county primary school and is in a special ed class. Here are some pictures of the bus picking her up Monday morning:

She laughed at first when she saw the bus.

After she caught on, there was no more laughing.

The bus driver said she cried until the end of the street and then was laughing. No more tears since that morning. She's laughed and been happy to get on the bus ever since. She also really seems to like school - and I think they're falling in love with her, too. One of the teachers told me that Eve got upset when she held another kid on her lap. Apparently little miss bossy is already laying claim to teachers. Hah. I can't express how happy we are. Her teacher is wonderful and I think this will be so good for her. It's great for me, too. I drag my butt out of bed to dress her, brush her teeth, and put her on the bus at 7am. She's at school from about 8-11 and gets breakfast and snack there. Then the bus takes her to daycare where she gets lunch and nap. I pick her up in the afternoon. It's given me tons of time in the morning. I can actually shower in the morning for the first time in literally over a year!!! No more night showers!! Oh, and in preparation for Eve's wheelchair, look what "Grandma Jan" had built at the daycare:

It made me misty when I saw it. This woman has the biggest heart ever. We are lucky to have her in our lives.

Other good news: Eve had her VCUG and renal ultrasound on Monday and we met with the urologist today. The kidney reflux is resolved!!! So she can stop the antibiotics. If she gets a bladder infection, she'll just take antibiotics. We also don't have to go back to him unless we have any problems. This is awesome.

And the last piece of good news has to do with the mtDNA sequencing. Some of you know that we had MAJOR doctor drama recently. Basically one doc has a DNA sample that he won't send to another doc to do the sequencing. I don't care who does the sequencing, but the second doc is in-network and takes medicaid. So we were talking of a difference of about 4 grand. After many tears and much frustration (and another doc intervening), the first doc has agreed to do the testing, but try to get insurance to pay the in-network rate and he will adjust any balance. I am sooooo pleased. So, we should have results in about 4 months (12 weeks after insurance gives pre-authorization). So cross your fingers that this all works out. :)

Vacation

Last week we went on a much needed vacation. We drove to Myrtle Beach to see Jim's parents for a few days. While there we took Eve swimming at the pool each day (which she loved!) and had fun visiting with Grammie and Papa. Then on Monday we flew to Atlantic City and spent the next 4 days in Ocean City, NJ. This is the place that my family has been spending a week in August since 1982. The nostalgic factor was so high, I can't explain. We were able to stay with my brother's family (thanks, guys!) and my parents were with friends in a house 2 1/2 blocks away. We were across the street from the beach. I don't think I could have asked for a better vacation. I took a bunch of pictures, but there's no way I can post them all, so I'll just post the highlights. Let's start with the boardwalk. One night, Dave, Trina, Alex, Giovanni, Jim, Eve and I went to "the rides" on the boardwalk. Oh, boy. What a different experience as a parent. Anyhow, Alex had a blast!! Eve...not so much. Well, that's not true. When she and Giovanni were not being traumatized by the loud hydraulics and screaming kids, she did manage to enjoy the train ride with Dave, Alex, and me.

We went on the merry-go-round as well. Alex loved it.

Eve....not so much.

She did manage to calm down after a few revolutions.

Alex was lots of fun to be around. He's so bright it's scary. Jim and I had so much fun being Uncle and Aunt to him this week.

Here's Giovanni (5 months!!! Can you believe it?). Just a few more weeks in his helmet to keep his little (big) head perfectly shaped. I think it makes him look like a little toughie. He's such a good baby. A true pleasure to be around.

Here's Oma and Eve.

Tina and Eve. Tina and her family have been vacationing with our family since 1982. I have some old pictures I'll post soon. Some real gems.

Much of the gang.

I believe this was a self-portrait. I like it.

Eve couldn't get enough of the beach. She LOVED it. The first day or so she stood at the water's edge. After that, no way. She wanted to go past the breakers and swim. Luckily the surf was pretty calm. We were able to carry her out with out getting pounded. She was able to do her little butt bobbing thing in the water. Totally cute. Oh, and our friends Eve, Tom and Lucius came for a day. I am bummed that I forgot to take a single picture. Duh!!

Eve liked having her feet buried in the sand.

Believe it or not, that's actually a tankini. The top piece only looks like a bikini because it kept riding up. I do think her belly is cute, though.

Josie had lots of fun in Myrtle beach with Grammie, Papa and Kirby while we were in OCNJ. She was a little terror (typical puppy), but enjoyed herself. She especially loved looking out the storm door!