Doctors, Needles, & Shots! Oh my!

First of all, why didn't anyone warn me?!?!  I feel betrayed by my mom friends.  Emmeline had her 2 month check-up and she had to get 4 shots (2 in each leg).  She screamed and cried like I have never heard her cry before.  And while the nurse was giving her all these shots- her mom and dad were holding her down.  Poor thing! 

I did not feel adequately prepared for the trauma and excessive crying.  The doctor warned us that she might be a "little" fussy and clingy.  What?!?!  You mean screaming her head off, so that nothing could make it better?!?! 

I'll give you one guess as to whether these pics were taken before or after the doctor visit!  Ha!

Overall, Miss Emmeline is doing great.  The doctor was pleased with all of her progress.  She's a little concerned that she seems to mainly turn her head to the right.  But we are just going to work on making sure she also looks to the left during the next 2 months.  If it doesn't get better, we can take action at the 4 month  check-up.  As a side note, guess what's also in store for us at the 4 month check-up?!?!  A repeat of the exact same shots!!!!  Dread.

Height: 21 inches (8th percentile)

Weight: 10 pounds 10 ounces (40th percentile)

Head Size: 14 3/4 inches (14th percentile)

Hmm, we are a little off on the percentile.  It doesn't look like Em got any of the tall genes from either side of the family.  But you never know, she still has lots of time to grow!

She is smiling more and more every day.  She kind of has a shy smile- she looks away and puts her hands up.  It's adorable, but very hard to capture on camera.

We got home from the doctor's office around 4:00.  She had fallen asleep in the car (finally) and stayed asleep until I fed her around 5:00.  She pretty much screamed from then until about 9:00.  It was apparent that she was in pain and it was soo sad.  Nothing could calm her down!  A few things would work for a couple of minutes, but she would be right back to crying. 

Luckily, she did just fine after we put her to bed at 11:00 and she woke up this morning with a smile on her face!

Dublin Dr. Pepper Weekend

Well, we took our first road trip plus hotel stay this weekend.  Emmeline did exceptionally well!  She's a rock star with traveling and getting slightly off of her routine.

On Friday, MaeMae, Aunt Lisa, Emme and I headed to our hotel in Stephenville (Jeremy met up with us a little later).  We got things all set up in our room and then, we headed to a family dinner.  It was so great to see everyone and Emme got to spend lots of time with family- MaeMae, Doc, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Tina, Uncle Randy, Cousin James, PaPa, and Earlene.  We enjoyed a delicious steak dinner and took lots of pics!

Emme with Aunt Lisa

 

MaeMae and Emme

 

4 generations

PaPa & Emme

After dinner, we all headed to bed early, so we could get up early for the big race.  As a side note, Miss Em slept until 6:00am!  Yay!  I can take more of those nights!  

Early Saturday, we headed to Dublin for the race.  Uncle Ethan, Aunt Tina, and I (with Emme) ran/ walked the 4K.  Jeremy, MaeMae, Aunt Lisa, and James ran the 10K.  We were super proud of all those runners.

Ready to run!

 

The runners

 

The main selling point for running this race was the FREE Dublin Dr. Pepper.  While there was some available, it wasn't quite what we expected.  There was ONE really long line for the DP.  But all in all, we had a great time!

Em loves Dublin DP, too!  Hopefully, there will be more DP and more races in our near future!

Popsicles for Brinley!

A very special little girl turned 2 this week and we celebrated with popsicles and outdoor fun!  Happy Birthday, Brinley!

As you can see, Brinley's mom has an eye for the details and thought of everything when it came to making this a perfect popsicle party!  I made one very small contribution . . . popsicle (and "b") cookies!

Don't you love this cake?!?!

The birthday girl had a blast in her popsicle swimsuit.

Rocky, Amy and B

Emme couldn't pass up a chance for a pic with the b-day girl

Pictures don't lie . . . Emme was the life of the party!  It just wouldn't have been the same birthday without her pizazz and enthusiasm!  ha!

Even when we got home, she was still out!  This little miss had such a busy weekend and I think it all caught up with her.  I mean, she did run/ walk a 4K earlier that morning.  Her mom and dad were pretty tired, too!

Two Months

Miss Emmeline is 2 months old today!  Once again, time flies.  It's been a busy month for us and Emme has changed so much.

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She is doing fantastic at night- I usually feed her around 10:00 or 10:30 and she wakes up somewhere between 4:00 and 5:00.  This is so helpful for this momma that needs sleep!  She gets a little cranky in the evenings, but overall, she's so good. 

Watching her change this month has been so exciting.  She's much more alert and aware of her surroundings.  If you watch closely, you can catch a big grin or a million dollar smile.  It melts our hearts! 

I weighed her on our scales this morning and she tipped the scales at 10 pounds 3 ounces.  We will get the official measurements next week at the 2 month doctor visit.  She also moved up to size 1 diapers during this month!  She's still wearing newborn clothes, but just barely.  She's been in a few 0-3 month outfits, depending on the brand.

She loves playing on her activity mat- she gets so excited and kicks her legs and moves her arms.  This is the best chance for catching that allusive smile.  We couldn't be happier with this little girl. 

I don't want to jinx it, but I'm pretty sure by my 3 month post, she just might have her real deal crib!!!!  Stay tuned for updates!

Sweet Emmeline-

You are the light of our life!  Watching you grow and change this month has been so very exciting.  You are getting so big! 

Your smiles absolutely melt our hearts and we can't wait to see more of them!  You still love taking a bath and you also got to take your first road trip to Abilene.  You did amazing! 

Your Gram, MaeMae, Doc and Pop spent lots of time with you during this month and they can't get enough.  Everyone loves you!

We also took you to church for the first time and you didn't make a peep.  We hope you will always love going to church.

Sweet, little girl- you are so precious to us.  During this month, we also lost our beloved Ivy.  We are so sad about this news and we regret that we won't get to watch the two of you play together as you get older.  But losing Ivy has reminded us how precious life is and we are so thankful for you.  Lately, we've been holding you a little bit tighter and telling you a few more times how very much we love you.  Please know that you are so important to us and we are blessed to be your parents.

Emmeline Clare Walker- your mommy and daddy love you!  God gave us you!

Love,

Your mommy

Meeting PaPa

While we were in Abilene over the weekend, Emmeline got to meet my PaPa, her Great PaPa, for the first time.  I think it's safe to say- he was smitten.  He held her for such a long time and it was so sweet.

He told us lots of stories about my dad when he was little and my dad, Papa and I remarked on how much my MaMa would have loved meeting Emme and getting to know her.  They would have adored one another! 

We laughed about how different things are with kids now and how much technology has advanced.  He talked about my dad riding in the cab of their pickup truck- standing up!  No car seat, not even a seat belt.  He had to stand up so he could see out the window.  PaPa said he would hold his arm across him if he had to stop short.  Ha!  I don't think I would make it down my block with Emme standing on the front seat before someone would be reporting me.

I love that these two finally got to meet!  PaPa has been such an important person in my life and I know Emmeline will feel the same way!

UPDATE ON IVY:

We are making it.  Coming back home has been really hard, because there are SO many reminders that she's not here.  Every time I see a dog on tv, I look over for Ivy to start barking.  At night when we go to bed, I still wait for Ivy to put her legs up and whine, so we can pull her into bed with us.  In some ways, our house seems so empty and quiet. 

Winnie is so sad- she walks around looking for her and just sighs, and lays down.  She's getting better each day, but she lost her best friend and it's just going to take time to move forward.  We are trying to keep her routine as close to normal as possible.

I want to tell you that I'm fine and that I'm over it, but that's not quite accurate.  I'm not sure why this adjustment has been so hard.  Probably the combination- emotional, little sleep, the suddenness, the shock, and so so much change in the past few months.  My mind keeps replaying the images of me trying to help her while Jeremy was on his way to pick her up, seeing her so small and scared at the vet clinic and picturing her all alone when she passed.  I wanted better for her.  And it's hard not to focus on what could or should have been different about the whole ordeal. 

I listened to a sermon by Matt Chandler (Leaving) and it was a really great perspective.  I encourage you to check it out.  Of course, he was talking about people dying and I don't want to act like Ivy is the same as losing a spouse, child, parent or sibling, etc.  But Matt said- "No one [or dog] dies early."  It's God's plan and our human perspective might think we got robbed of a few years or cheated out of life, but God knows what he's doing and when our work is done, it's time.  It was Ivy's time- her business was finished here.   

That doesn't mean we won't be sad or grieve, but we can't keep clinging to the what if it had been different.  Each day is better and we will get through this.  Thank you so much for all of our sweet comments and for helping us to remember all that was good about sweet Ivy.

Heartbroken.

We are simply heartbroken.  In the hours that have followed the bad news, we keep repeating that this all seems like a very bad dream.  Ivy was happy and playful all day Friday.  It came without warning.


How did it all go wrong so fast?

I fully realize that there are many tragedies facing families in our country right now- devastating tragedies that I probably don't even comprehend.  I want to move forward, but it's really hard.  Ivy was literally like a member of our family.  Jeremy and I picked her up about 3 months after we were married and she's been with us ever since. To hotels, on vacations, visiting family, moving to Nashville, OKC, and Fort Worth- we took her everywhere.  And she loved traveling and seeing people.  In many ways, Ivy was like our first kid.  We absolutely adored her!

We brought her to Abilene and buried her at the ranch.  She loved it there.

She had so much personality and life and love.  We also keep saying- we wish that we would have known, we wish that we would have known it was our last time to see her, take her on a walk, her last road trip, get a big wet kiss from her.  But isn't that true of life?

If we had only known . . . there are a number of things we would do differently.  That's just not that way it works. 

It's a reminder to hold tight to what is precious and say all those important things because you never know when you might not get that chance.  Life is short. 

I know that in a few days (maybe weeks for me), we will move on.  We will know a new normal without her. Of course, we will never forget Ivy, but the pain will fade.   But we can't forget that none of us is guaranteed tomorrow.  It's up to each of us to make the most of today and live life to the fullest. 

Putting our faith in God and knowing that He is in control is what gets us through.  Over the past few months, I feel like I've had a lifetime's worth of lessons in control.  It's a true struggle for me.  I try to plan and prepare for every possible scenario.  We took Ivy to the vet regularly, gave her special food for her allergies-- we even had her microchipped in case she got lost.  There are some things in life that we can't prepare for and you can't plan around some things.  It's hard admitting that.  Admitting that it's in God's hands and He knows what is best for us.

If we knew how it would all end, would we have done it any way?  Yes.

We never could have resisted that 3 pound white puff ball, even if we would have known the tragedy of today.

All dogs go to heaven.

And if there was ever any doubt, I'm one hundred percent sure now.  Our precious Ivy went to Heaven today.  Words can't express how saddened we are by this loss.  Ivy was an integral part of our family and we absolutely adored her. 

Yesterday was a normal day.  Like most days, I was mostly preoccupied with taking care of Emmeline.  This afternoon Ivy and Winnie were playing in our backyard.  I planned to feed Emme at 4:00, so I wanted them to come inside before I fed her.  I called them both inside with a treat- Ivy was waiting at the door and Winnie was playing in the yard.  Ivy bypassed the treat and headed straight for our bedroom.  Winnie ran inside and got her treat.  Ivy is not one to pass up a treat, so I went to find her.  She was under our bed and looked hot.  I went to the kitchen to get her some water.  She wouldn't drink any water or eat the treat.  She had diahrea and I immediately suspected heat stroke.  I got her into our bathroom and started putting cold paper towels on her and getting her wet.  She was lethargic and started throwning up.  I called Jeremy to come home and take her to the vet.  He rushed home and our vet said she needed to go to the emergency vet clinic.

She did not have heat stroke.  She was diabetic, had a severe bladder infection, and acidosis.  They wanted to keep her in ICU and give her fluids.  I went to see her around 7:45 and she looked awful.  She had been throwing up blood by that point.  They were doing everything they could do for her, but she was very, very sick. 

They called us a midnight and said she was improving slightly.  We were so hopeful.  By 3:30am, they called to say she wasn't going to make it.  Jeremy rushed to the vet clinic, but he was too late. 

Our sweet Ivy has been such an important part of our life.  Her 4th birthday is a week from today.  She was irreplacable and we are devestated by this loss.

I can remember so clearly the day we brought her home.  She was a spitfire from the beginning and she stole our hearts from the first time we saw her.

We were so worried about how she would react to Emmeline, but we shouldn't have worried for a second.  She loved her and hated it when she cried.  I'm so going to miss watching Emme grow up and play with Ivy.

We are not sure how sweet Winnie is going to react to all of this.  As of now, she's just really confused.  She's sticking by my side- like she knows something isn't quite right. 

All in all, we just can't believe it.  The vet has assured us that we are not to blame.  But that's so hard.  As a parent (of a baby or a dog), you feel like it's your job to protect them and love them.  Somehow we let Ivy down.  I wish we would have noticed the signs, but we just didn't and there were too few. 

Our lives have been forever changed by our Ivy and we are going to miss her terribly.  I have to believe that she is in heaven and that one day, we will be together again.