Dog Verses Children

The kids had been asking for a dog for a VERY long time.  I mean, they have only been alive for 6 1/2 and 3 1/2 years but ever since they could talk they have been asking for a dog.

I always had a dog when I was younger.  I was born into a family that owned a little cocker spaniel.  Dogs have always been a part of my life but honestly I never really took care of a dog.  Yep, my poor dad always did the dog work.

So, when we found the most perfect dog in the world at the local dog pound I jumped on the opportunity. however, Roger and I were so nervous about how getting a dog would affect our already hectic lives.

We couldn't be more pleased with the dog, well, actually we could, if the little feller could walk himself that would be FANTASTIC!  but he doesn't so we shall forgive him for that.

Jimmy Boy has such a wonderful temperament.   See for yourself.

He keeps Anna entertained for hours on end.  She plays baby with him and beauty shop and chases the poor thing through the house.

In my mind I was dreading the whole barking and running through the house that I thought this dog might be tempted to do. Because, yeah know,  the kids already do that and it kinda drives me a tad bit nuts .  

So far so good.  He is a pretty mellow little guy.  He runs the steam off in the back yard and comes inside to chill with his people. He thinks the kids are CRAZY and I totally agree with him on that.

My son, the genius

So there I was, taking a little cat nap on the couch, when all of a sudden I felt a small tap on my shoulder. "Hey mom. Look at this thing that I made with my legos."  I rolled over, half asleep, prepared to give my mommy pretend excited face, when all of a sudden I saw THIS.

She's going to HOLLYWOOD!

Oh my GOSH I am so EXCITED for Lauren Mink!

She is a Georgetown College Graduate from Winchester, Kentucky and she is going to HOLLYWOOD. 

I'm pretty sure the whole winchester/georgetown college community is as excited as I am to see Lauren on American Idol.  The girl has a VOICE.  I'm so glad America is finally able to hear it.

We both went through 3 horrid semesters of Latin Class together at Georgetown and I remember her working very hard on the weekends singing at local establishments, being the opening act for several musicians and traveling around to perform at certain talent shows.  

I don't know about you but I am totally watching the rest of this season of American Idol.
Even if that means having to bum cable off of someone (we don't have cable).  

YAY!!!   

We are all so incredibly happy for Lauren.

You go girl!   

Update on my cardiologist appointment

I apologize for the lateness of this post.  I have had several people, call, corner or text me to make sure things went well at the doctors office since I updated a post the day before heading to the doctor but haven't updated anyone with information after I got back.

Last Thursday my cardiologist appointment wasn't suppose to be until 2:30pm.  I had it all set up that Roger would come home to watch little Anna and pick Paul up from school so I could head to the doctor.  WEll, at about 9:30am I got a call from the nurse asking if I could come in as soon as possible because there was suppose to be some major snow heading to the area and my Doctor didn't want me traveling right smack dab in the middle of a snow storm. Have I mentioned how AWESOME my cardiologist is?

It just so happened that Roger had a very important meeting at 11am that he couldn't get out of so Anna ended up heading to the Cardiologist with me.  I was a tad bit nervous about taking her because I had some major tests and I knew that the appointment would take at least 3 hours, not to mention the fact that it was right in the middle of her lunch and nap time that all of this stuff would be taking place.

I took plenty of snacks, her favorite book and the nurse offered to let her watch Dora The Explorer (SCORE!!) while I was have my echocardiogram done (ultra sound on the heart).

While I was having the structure of my heart examined I started having all kinds of those crazy episodes that I have been telling you all about.  I looked at the screen that I was hooked up to and noticed how every time my heart felt REALLY funny it would either flat line or go all OVER the place, then jump right back into rhythm.  yes, it kinda creeped me out. I mentioned it to the nurse and she said they are palpitations.  Surprise!  Surprise!   That's the whole reason I have a pacemaker and I take 2 different types of heart meds.  My heart has arrhythmia problems.  I thought the meds and the pacer was suppose to help with that?  They have for over 12 years.  Why all of a sudden am I feeling all of these palpations again?

The Doctor didn't seem surprised at all by these episodes.  He said the structure of my heart looks GREAT!  They always check to make sure I don't have an aortic aneurism since I am at high risk for that and they always check to make sure I don't have any narrowing of the passageways since at 15 I had some major narrowing and had a stint placed.  Structurally all looked good but I still FEEL like crap off and on.

He said the dizzy spells that I have been feeling are more than likely my blood pressure dropping.  It is already REALLY low because of the medicine that I am taking for the arrhythmia and it is probably dipping pretty low throughout certain times of the day.  Hence the reason why I keep blacking out when I stand up.  If he increases the amount of meds to help the arrhythmia my blood pressure would reach a dangerous low so we can't really do that.  He has some other medicine that I will eventually go on to help relax my heart muscle so that more blood can flow through it but that is a LAST OPTION kind of medicine that I will be on for the rest of my life so he doesn't want to start that until I REALLY REALLY REALLY need it and I eventually will.

With all that said he has ordered me to take another Stress Test to see how my heart is doing during exercise. He wants me to be able to be as active as I want to be.  He actually gets REALLY excited about telling people that he has a patient born with Transposition Of the Great Vessel that is as active as I am and has given birth to two children !!   It makes me really HAPPY that my cardiologist is so excited about how well my heart is doing!

3 hours later Anna and I headed home completely EXHAUSTED.  By the time we made it to our car the snow was pouring from the sky but hadn't yet had a chance to stick to the ground, we had a 40 min drive ahead of us and we were both STARVING.  We decided to have a mommy/Anna Chick-Fil-a date since she was so stinking GOOD at the doctors office with me!    We both got a kids meal.

Now I just have the stress of having a Stress Test to take, I hate those things, hanging over me.  They make you run, with all of these machines hooked up to you, until you are nearing the passing out point. It is AWEFUL.  Then they put you on a table to cool off and catch your breath, at which point you want to cry, and often times do, because you feel like you are NEVER going to catch your breath.  Then you start feeling like you are going to vomit.  It is such a traumatizing experience.  I have had LOTS of them.

Jimmy Boy Comes Home

The Animal Shelter called us today (tuesday) around 2pm to inform us that our application for the dog had been approved and that we could come pick him up.   Check out THIS POST about how panicked I was.

I told them we wouldn't be able to get him until tomorrow since we needed to get all the supplies ready. Plus, I was still a tad bit nervous about whether or not we really needed to add a Dog to our already crazy lives.

When Anna and I picked Paul up from school we surprised him by going to the store to pick up the dog supplies (kennel, food, shampoo, dog dish and brush).  "I can't believe I am actually getting a dog!!  Is this for real?  Am I REALLY getting a dog?!?!  A real dog of my own!!!"  - Paul

The kids were jumping through the store with excitement!!  It was so much fun to watch.  Being on the other side, the parent side, when getting a new dog is so much better than being on the kid side.  I have gotten so much joy from watching the excitement of Paul and Anna over this dog.

Since we had all the stuff and the animal shelter didn't close for another 30 min I decided "hey, why not.  let's go get the dog now!"   The kids began to squeal with even more excitement.  "Paul, Paul, Paul, we get to go to that really stinky place to go get our own little puppy!!!" -Anna

 I was a little nervous about picking the dog up because I told Roger that we wouldn't get the dog until Wednesday.

As soon as we got home with the dog that we named Jimmy Boy, we gave him a bath.  The poor thing was soooooooo nastey from being at the shelter.  "you were homeless Jimmy, but now you have a home.  You can be a part of our family now!" -Paul

The kids laughed and laughed and laughed when the dog shook himself dry.

So far so good!!  This evening has been a blast with our new little four legged friend.  He is such a good dog!   He hasn't barked once, he hasn't whined, and best of all he hasn't went to the bathroom in our house!  When you want him to be playful he is playful and when you want him to jut chill out with you he chills out with you.

Tonight he walked with me to tuck Paul into bed.  He put his little paws on Paul's bed and licked his face while wagging his little nub of a tail.  He did the same thing for Anna.  The kids just LOVED that little Jimmy Boy tucked them in to bed and are so excited about getting up in the morning to have breakfast with him.

Roger is also warming up to the whole having a dog thing.  It is as if the two of them are long lost buddies that never knew the other existed.  This whole dog ownership thing has gotten off to a pretty good start.

Let me just tell ya, the dog is WAY EASIER to take care of than a child.  For some reason I had in my head that it was going to be this MASSIVE commitment but when you already have two children that you have changed around your WHOLE LIFE for, and have been committed to for over 6 years, and intend to be committed to until the day you die, having a dog seems like a piece of cake!!!

Here are a few pictures from this evening:

          

It was a very long day for the both of them

Come Pick up Your dog

I'm kind of panicking.  The Animal Shelter just called and said that we could come pick up our pet, that our application has been approved.  WHAT?  I thought we would have a little more time to think this whole "getting a dog" thing over. I mean, I was pretty sure I wanted to get a dog, this dog, but I honestly have been trying to process the whole thing. The whole "having something else to tend to besides two children and a house."

I have been back and forth about whether or not to get a dog.  The kids have been BEGGING us for over a year now to get a dog. Paul and Anna have separately broken down into tears about how they are "NEVER GOING TO EVER HAVE A PET."  Paul said that "he was a boy with out a pet" and just broke my heart, while Anna screamed at me "If I had a pet I would calm down. A pet would calm me down. He would walk in my room, lick my face and I would be ALL CALM."

I too have been pinning for a pet.  Growing up we ALWAYS had dogs.  My parents are pet lovers but not the CRAZY kind, they are the "we love dogs but they are dogs, not people" kind of pet lovers.

Recently while Anna and I were at the Animal Shelter we found the most adorable standard poodle puppy. He's 8 months old, apricot color.  I had a standard poodle growing up and absolutely LOVED her.  She was the BEST dog that we ever had, so smart, so loyal.  I immediately WANTED the little poodle.  I filled out an application knowing that we would have at least 7 days to think it through.  Over the 7 days I have been excited, nervous, super happy, super nervous and full of anxious tension.

At first Roger was ok with the idea but not thrilled.  He knows how much the kids want a pet and loves to see those two happy.  Over the past 7 days he has been researching the standard poodle breed and has taken an impressive liking to them.  He is confident that he will end up enjoying the dog but is still a bit nervous about the cleanliness issue.  A dog....in the house......yuck.   I too am a neat freak and can not stand yuck so I am a bit nervous about that. In fact that is one of my number one concerns. Plus the whole allergy issue.  I have such AWEFUL allergies.

After the animal shelter called I called my mom in a mad panic about whether or not we should get the dog, was it a good idea or a stupid one?  She encouraged it and even said that if we get him and need help that she would help train him or if we get him and decide not to keep him that her and dad would adopt him from us.  You see, she too is missing our standard poodle that ended up passing away of old age just a few years ago.  

As I type this I am getting less nervous...... sort of.   After I pick Paul up from school I am going to take the kids to the store to get some animal supplies.  We need a crate, dog food, a leash and collar, some dog wash (he is stinky), and a dog dish.  

For any one who knows us they know that we have thought more about this whole Dog thing than we did about getting pregnant.  I guess because the whole pregnancy thing is like, well, ummm, well, you know what I mean.  It just kind of happens at a very spontaneous, romantic moment.  Thinking about  getting a dog, let's just say I have a clearer mind to think with.  ;-)  

I just don't want the thing to tear my house up and make it all stinky.  But I'm pretty sure this standard poodle, the 2nd smartest dog breed, will be just fine, once I train him.  Who knows, maybe the little feller is already trained!!!   we shall see.

I'm excited to see the kids faces when I tell them we got our dog!

Cardiologist Appointment Tomorrow

I have a cardiologist appointment tomorrow.

I am a tad bit nervous about it.

Well, actually I am plum near terrified.

I haven't been feeling very well lately.

I am currently wearing a 30 day halter monitor to record these episodes that I have been having and for the past week the episodes have increased.

 I can still function during the episodes, they aren't bothersome enough to knock me down but it is a struggle to keep on working through them.  Last night as I was getting the kids ready for bed I had several of the episodes.  I just held on to the bathroom sink and kept on instructing Anna to brush her teeth. I refused to let Roger help be because I am a pain in the butt when I am bound and determined to be perfectly healthy. 

During the episodes my chest gets really tight, starts to burn a little bit (but only sometimes), I start feeling nauseous and short of breath. I also start feeling my heart doing really strange beats like it is skipping.

Tomorrow my appointment is with the main cardiologist, not the pacemaker doctor.  This doctor that I am going to go to tomorrow will be focusing on examining the structure of my heart.

I'm scared.

It has been a while since I, as I say, started going down hill in the heart health.

That is probably an over statement but that is what I feel like.

I feel like having to get a pacemaker and be put on 2 different kinds of medicine was a low point.

I just keep waiting for the next low point and I just have that feeling that it is close.

I know, I am a total Debbie Downer at the moment.

It's hard not to be when just a few months ago I had no problem at all taking my long walks and now it is such a fight to get up that darn hill on Mable St.