Meet Bailey

Meet our new puppy Bailey!

We adopted Bailey from Pup Squad http://www.pupsquad.org/

She is a 9 week old Beagle Mix. Her Mom was dropped off at the shelter when she was pregnant and so the puppies were born in foster care. Pup Squad specializes in pregnant dogs and puppies and fosters them in individual homes so that they don't become sick, since the puppies are too young to be immune to the diseases they can contract in shelters. We found Bailey on their website and fell in love with her precious little face. She and her 3 sisters were all being fostered together. They were named after the Golden Girls (see pictures of her sisters below) and Bailey was originally named "Blanche" but we decided to change her name when we brought her home.

After we adopted her we took her to Petsmart for the first time because we had to get a few supplies. Kaitlyn picked out a sweater for her, but she pronounces it "sweather" (like it rhymes with weather) it's hysterical. Bailey took a bath in when we got home and got all dressed up in her sweater.

Bailey and Kaitlyn her first night with us

Bailey in her sweater Kaitlyn picked out for her

Bailey's Sisters

Dorrie

Rose

Sophia

We are enjoying spending time with Bailey and getting to know her. She is quite fond of our Christmas tree and so we are frequently having to pull her out from underneath it. I don't know what she will do when there are actually presents underneath!

Collin is 9 months!

Collin is 9 months old!

9 month milestones and events: Makes several sounds-Ba, Ba, Ga, Ga, Da, Da and several others, claps his hands, scoots around his playmat on his butt, leans way over when in a sitting position to reach his toys, celebrated his 1st Thanksgiving, began eating 2nd foods with meat (Vegetable Chicken, Vegetable Beef, Apples and Chicken, Sweet Potatoes and Turkey, Turkey and Rice, etc)









He celebrated his first Thanksgiving this month. He enjoyed Turkey and Rice baby food for his Thanksgiving dinner and he ate the whole jar!

Kaitlyn and Collin during Thanksgiving Dinner

Collin loves playing on his playmat, here he is with his toys

Our little man is his PJ's

Collin is 5, 6, 7, actually 8 months old

I have been a little behind on my blog updates lately so here are pictures and updates from Collin's 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th month.

5 month milestones:

Started eating rice cereal, screeching noise, splashing in the tub, finding his feet, flailing both arms and kicking legs at the same time, holding himself up on his arms while laying on his tummy, sitting up in bumbo

6 month milestones and events:

Sitting with assistance, tried his first vegetables-carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, and peas (which he hates), sported his first mohawk, and he was the "Baby of 2 weeks" at school (see the picture of his poster below), and got baptized!

Eating his first veggies-Carrots

Collin's Baby of 2 Weeks poster

First mohawk

Kaitlyn's first time feeding him on her own

Collin and his Godparents

7 month milestones and events:
Sitting unsupported, eating 1st fruits, first haircut, first pictures at the St. Andrew's pumpkin patch for Halloween

Eating Prunes

8 month milestones: Eating 2nd foods, starting to form sounds Ba-Ba-Ba, first Halloween and Trick or Treating







Stay tuned for more updates! I will try to make them a little more timely :-).

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion

Okay so he is not cowardly but he sure is cute!

Dorothy and Toto

Our Sweet Emma

Emma Barry

March 9, 2004-October 26, 2010

Emma joined our family on Memorial Day weekend of 2004. It was two weeks after I found out I was pregnant with Kaitlyn. We picked Emma out the weekend before I found out I was pregnant.

The day we picked her out

Emma or "Emma Bean" as we nicknamed her, was our baby before we had Kaitlyn. She layed on the couch with me and/or Chris and tried to lick away our stresses of the day after we had a long day at work. Emma enjoyed playing with her toys, learning to fetch, rollover and speak and even got to play in the snow her first year with us.

Lounging with Dad

Snow Day

When Kaitlyn joined our family we nicknamed Emma "Sister Emma". Mom and Sarah brought home the blanket from the hospital used to wipe Kaitlyn off when she was born to let Emma know she was going to have some company. Emma took right to her new baby sister and loved to smother her with slobbery wet kisses, whenever she got the chance, so much so that one of Kaitlyn's first phrases when she learned to talk was "No, No Emma!" to keep Emma from licking her in the face.

Emma testing out the bassinet

Emma & Kaitlyn at Mee Mee's

Emma was diagnosed with a heart murmur approximately 2 years ago. One of the most common conditions associated with heart murmurs is mitral valve disease (MVD), sometimes referred to as mitral regurgitation. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are particularly prone to MVD, and it is often earlier in this breed than in others.

Emma was evaluated by a cardiologist and started on medications to help slow down the progression of her MVD. Emma had been taking medications for the past 2 years but when she was evaluated in February of this year the X-rays showed some enlargement of her heart. When Emma was evaluated again in August, her heart had grown substantially since February and we added even more medications to her regimen.

In recent months, Emma was having breathing attacks closer and closer together due to the size of her heart. We were consulting with the cardiologist every couple of weeks to adjust her medication and keep her comfortable, but she started to develop fluid build up making it more challenging for her to breath properly. Emma was still playful and was still happy to wake up every morning and do her barking routine while we were preparing her breakfast and her pill pocket with her medication, but she was starting to have nights where she really struggled to get comfortable.

On Monday night, Emma developed alot of fluid both in her lungs and main airway. I could tell she was not comfortable and I couldn't get her to come to bed. I gave her some more medicine hoping it would kick in and she would be comfortable. After an hour and a half, she still was not comfortable, so I told Chris that we had to do something for her. Since it was late at night, she had to be taken to the emergency vet; and Chris and I had to make a hard decision because the vet said she may or may not recover from this particular event.

It was a really hard decision to make, especially since she was only 6 years old, and we were not ready to lose her but we didn't want her to suffer.

We had to tell Kaitlyn the difficult news after school on Tuesday. She made cards for Emma and signed them from all of us and I bought balloons which we released with the cards tied to them to send them to Emma.

It has been a difficult week for all of us. We keep coming home expecting her to be waiting for us in the front entry hall like she always did. I keep looking for her in her usual spot outside our bedroom door when I walk into or out of my bedroom. In the morning, I keep thinking "I need to feed Emma". Kaitlyn got really upset when she saw that Emma's food and water bowls were no longer in their usual spot.

Even though Collin won't remember her, he will be able to see these pictures of Emma that were taken when his newborn pictures were taken by Laura. We will tell him how his face would light up when he saw her and how he laughed when she licked him on the hands.

We all miss Emma tremendously!

Kaitlyn's Cheerleading Camp

Kaitlyn attended cheerleading camp this month and begins practice next month for the fall season. She is going to be cheering for the Raiders this year! Her uniform is going to be white, silver, and black.

She looked so cute I just had to snap a few pictures before we left and during practice.

Our precious little cheerleader with her first "real" pom poms


By this point she was getting tired of my picture taking and I think was getting a little embarrassed that I was taking her picture. She was suprisingly shy since she didn't know anyone on her team.

Collin at cheerleading practice

He was there to cheer Kaitlyn on!

The first night of camp was cut short because there were dark clouds rolling in and it was threatening to rain the entire practice. The second night of practice was cancelled due to the weather because as her coach told her "Football players practice in the rain, but we're not crazy and cheerleaders don't practice in the rain."

Her third day of camp was on Saturday morning at 9:00 AM and it was hot! They practiced on the track at Pearland High School that morning and you could tell these little girls were not used to being outside in that kind of sun and heat. The coach's daughter was vomitting 5 minutes into the practice, but she was a trooper and ended up splashing some water on her face and was back out there in less than 30 minutes. At the beginning of practice, Kaitlyn spotted a little kitten that was hiding under some equipment at the end of the track, this became her distraction the entire practice. She couldn't focus because she was trying to keep an eye on the cat. Then as practice wore on and the heat became more unbearable, all of the little girls started whining. About every 30 seconds you would see one of them come running over to where the Moms were sitting with their latest complaint in their whiniest voice and Kaitlyn was no exception! I kept having to send her back out there because she kept coming over for a drink or to tell me she was hot even though the coach was giving them frequent breaks. Finally when she had enough, she walked over to the coach and proceeded to tell her "We all want to go home." I could have died!

Her first game is August 28th at 11:30 AM. Hopefully she will be able to tolerate the heat long enough to finish cheering at the game that day! Wish us luck :-).