Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Babies and Beasts oh my





Don't think my lack of blogging as of late means my home life has been blissful. It's been anything but.

Let's see, Mr. Mack decided to eat something inedible yet again unbeknown to us. You'd think we'd be winning the war, but alas, he decided to eat some bed stuffing in a super secret way that left us clueless until it was too late, i.e. the puking had began. How can a bull in a china chop tear his bed so there is a little flap he can put back into place making the bed look 100% boggles my mind. That basically sums up my month of March. This obstruction was nothing like the one he had 6 months ago, so we racked up over $4k in bills shuttling him to and from the e vet to his regular vet before going in for exploratory surgery. Thankfully this time he was covered by pet insurance which helped us recoup about 80% of that back. I however, will not get back those sleepless nights, nor will I lose the wrinkles he gave me this go around.

Becks we have discovered has some special needs. Gosh that sounds so depressing when in reality it's not really a big thing. Ironically, I enrolled back in school to finish a degree so that I can become a special needs teacher, all prior to B's diagnosis. Becks has SPD which is Sensory Processing Disorder. Essentially he is a sensory seeker which explains why as an infant he *never* wanted to be still and or sleep. I accepted I had a high needs baby, but to be able to look back now I see how his lack of a properly functioning regulatory system probably was a factor. The best word to describe Becks is MORE. Yes, the all caps is necessary. B likes to run harder, climb higher, laugh louder, go to whatever extreme he can to fill up his sensory cup. Where for a time I thought I just had a toddler who was bolder than most it turns out he is going to need some help filling his sensory cup in other ways so that we (and his teachers) can avoid the dark side of SPD sensory seekers- the anger overload tantrum that comes when the cup isn't filled. Hour plus long tantrums filled with rage, violence, room thrashing, call CPS someone is killing a child in that house, a rage that no one can diffuse or soothe away, not even mom. We have sought professional help and will soon be on a journey filled with occupational therapy, private schools, psychologists etc... No one said motherhood was easy.

Well you know how some say God only gives you as much as you can handle? I might not be big on the whole concept of God, but I do know if anyone was going to be tossed some major hurdles to jump it might as well be me. What can I say? I've always been a fan of the underdog, I get more out of giving than I ever do receiving, I'm a champion of the abused, misunderstood, and neglected. So this is my new path which comes with it's own unique challenges. At the very least I feel validated that my struggles with Becks are not imaginary or not the result of me being an under qualified mom. Love the built in mom guilt!

Enjoy some pics of my loves.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

and she shall be called Jenny


This is actually part 2. I figured, why not start with the good news before hunkering down to rehash the difficult road it took to get here.

Momma has a foster home!!! I'll be picking her up tonight and transporting her to the foster home. As it has been determined, she is far enough along that she will be having her litter of puppies. It's been an awful roller coaster ride for me and I can't thank everyone enough for helping save her life and the life of her puppies. This would not have been possible without a whole network of amazingly dedicated and compassionate people. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I'll be pimping out my photography for donations to her care so stay tuned. If you would like to contribute to her care, here is the rescue information and the vet that will be caring for her so you can make a donation directly.

Friends of Everman
321 Johnson
Everman, TX 76140
sidemark checks for Jenny.
She is named after a beautiful rescuer who illuminated the earth and left it all too quickly.

Dr. Betty McDaniel
817.561.5090
We are located at 6619 Forest Hill Dr. Ste. 10 Forest Hill, Tx. 76140
http://www.ablek9.com/animalClinic.htm

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
- Margaret Mead

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Bake these


I love me some The Bark magazine. Thanks to them, I found this simple dog cookie recipe I have whipped up for gifting. They are Princess approved! Mack and Bella had 1 and scarfed them up as well, but I anticipate they will go bat sh!t crazy over the cheese twists I will be baking tonight as published in this months issue.

Really easy and pretty much stocked pantry ingredients:

Gingerbones

Makes 5 to 6 dozen cookies.
Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup molasses
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions
Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine.
Roll out dough on floured surface to about ¼ inch thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut into desired shapes. Combine dough scraps and continue to roll out and cut into shapes until all dough has been used.

Place cookies on ungreased foil-lined baking sheets and bake in preheated 325ยบ oven for 30 to 35 minutes.

From The Home Spa Book for Dogs by Jennifer Cermak, published by Quarry Books, 2005.

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Sometimes everything goes to sh!t


On Friday, I found out that the spunky and sassy Hero passed away from Parvo. His brother Piglet is still in the hospital, but his outlook looks good. I'm still in shock that a puppy full to the brim with piss and vinegar is gone. I can still imagine what his little wiggling warm body felt like in the palm of my hand. It upsets me greatly, and in turn, makes me think of all of the animals being put to sleep in the time it takes me to write this. For those that don't know, that's on average 15.2 animals per minute. Does it make you want to puke as much as it does me? Which begs me to ask myself why I like to torture myself so much. So for now, my transporting and emergency fosters all must have pretty clear vaccination schedules and have to have at least 3 distemper shots before riding in my car, stepping foot on my back lawn, or entering my house for a period of one year. Parvo is the most hateful virus on the planet.

On Saturday, Bella gave me a minor anxiety attack with some inexplicable drooling out of one side of her mouth. It really scared me and for all my poking and prodding I found nothing. By the next day it had stopped, but not after my house was covered in drool and we had amassed a large collection of soaked drool rags. We went to the vet yesterday and he theorizes she ate a bug that potentially stung her. Good thing I gave her some Benadryl when the drooling started thinking it would be a safe way to cover my bases. She is now all UTD on shots, HW negative, and a little bit leaner which is a good thing for those aging hips of hers.

I dropped off Mack this morning as his anal gland infection is not clearing up after 2 weeks of antibiotics. Why is his bum broken you ask? Because the frat brat has been eating toilet paper and tissues like a heroin junkie. Very hard to control when everyone in the house has spent countless weeks sick from the swine flu and the regular cold. Little sh!t even ate the entire roll off the powder bath wall a few weeks ago... while he ripped the hardware off the wall, at least he didn't eat that. So today he's being knocked out for the 2nd time this year to get his glands flushed and packed. Fun times. At least I had the chance to meet the vet's other famous goat patient. We have heard all about one another in the 9 years I've been taking Mack to the vet.

In between all of this I have been frantically trying to save some dogs by networking. I was even trying to pull a dog to get to a foster home about 1,600 miles away. At the last possible second, the dog was adopted by hopefully a forever home. Phew.

Fingers crossed that Mack's butt will smell funky no more, ok?

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Too many kisses!

1 toddler, 2 foster puppies, and too many kisses to count. Taken with our awesome and easy to use Flip Mino HD. If you don't have one, I highly suggest them as gifts!

Click here for the short video clip.

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/8fbfb16882400abceb884a1aa4702dc7/video/7789705