Black Friday

Black Friday. It's an interesting name. It sounds so melancholy but shoppers know it's a day filled with excitement. Our Black Friday was just that-- Black.

Garth had been slowing down for some time but the last few weeks had gotten a bit harder for him. First it started with him not having energy for walks and that slowly turned into him not wanting to eat his food. We had resorted to making chicken and rice which we would have to warm and drizzle with chicken stock to entice him to eat. He was losing energy and weight.

                                      

But the past several days Garth started to have extra problems. He began having accidents, became winded when he was eating, would wake up in the middle of the night needing to go to the bathroom. He wasn't just aging but was starting to have kidney failure (something we had been trying to treat for the past year). He was dehydrated, sad and just not himself.

                                               

On Thanksgiving Day we had decided that Garth would make his last trip to the vet the next day. We told Elise how happy we were that his doctor was able to send him to heaven with Brutus. Afterall, they were always best friends and brothers. 

We like to believe that dog heaven is like the book we gave to Elise: a place where dogs can run and run and run and no longer are old and sick. That heaven is a place filled with dog biscuits and fluffy clouds act as dog beds. And most importantly, dogs come down to check on us. Once they are satisfied that we are well, they go back up to heaven. One day they will waiting for us. 

                              

We knew that Brutus would be there waiting for his faithful best friend... we knew there would be a lot of butt sniffing, tail wagging and racing around when they reunited this morning. Now they would have each other for Christmas.

While we are sad and heavy hearted, we gave another great dog the best gift we could-- peace. It is with that gift that we are able to rest and know we did the right thing....                                    

                                             

December 2008

Pregnant with Elise (about 32 weeks)

This is shortly after the infamous Santa beard eating disaster-- when Jeff and I came home

only to find that Garth and Brutus had decapitated all of my Santa collection to eat the beards.

We guessed they anticipated Elise's imminent delivery and were stressed with her upcoming arrival.

The evidence was in the poop.

Garth and Brutus always by each other's side

Gentle giant Garth-- always so sweet and calm around Elise

Garth sporting a purple bow that Elise placed on his back to make him look pretty. 

I think he kind of liked it.

May 2010

Garth enduring another loving gesture from Elise

July 2011

Happy 13th Birthday Garth

Summer 2011

The pack going for a walk

Summer 2011

Never the swimmer but enjoyed watching the water

December 2011

Last year's Christmas picture with Brutus

Ironically Garth was just diagnosed with kidney disease and Brutus still

looked handsome and healthy.

February 2012

First encounter with Demi

Hard to believe that when Garth retired as a seeing-eye-dog, he'd have 8 wonderful years with our family. He was 14.5 years old! We are blessed to have had the privilege and honor to have enjoyed his golden years with him. They sure don't make dogs like this all the time. He touched so many lives as a service dog and later an assistance dog with us (he loved when kids read to him in the library). He truly was our best friend. Sleep tight G. You are once again healthy and strong. Go and run with Brutus...

Garth Kaiser

July 13, 1998- November 23, 2012

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. This year we stayed close to home and had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house with Aunt Amy and Uncle Chris.

We were extra thankful for Grandpa's good health---

Of course Grandma's brined turkey was hit and so was Aunt Amy's Parmesan green beans. Elise especially enjoyed the appetizers ahead of time and didn't have much room for dinner. Amazingly she found room for dessert.

Almost 30 weeks- the little peanuts wished we weren't counting our carbs! Ok, maybe I wish we weren't counting carbs!

Grandpa is happy with a full belly

We ended the evening with a debut of our Christmas lights that Elise and I had hung the day before at our hosue. I hadn't intended to hang lights this year in case I didn't have the opportunity to take them down before September, but Elise had so much excitement that I couldn't disappoint her. She was happy with our job and exclaimed how beautiful they were. 

Pre-Thanksgiving Festivities

 The days leading up to Thanksgiving have been busy and fun. Parents were invited to Elise's classroom on Monday for a Pumpkin Party. Unfortunately Daddy had to work but I was able to attend. Everyone was asked to bring in a 'pumpkin' treat to share and we decided to make Pumpkin Parfaits. I would have rather made something filled with sugary goodness but had to stick to a sugar-free recipe as I am once again diagnosed with gestational diabetes (Boo!). So the day before, Elise and baked our hearts out-- the result was actually quite yummy!

 Probably her classmates had no idea that Elise likes to bake in her underwear! I, on the other hand, was wearing pants.

 The party was held in the school's cafeteria. The party was kicked off with well rehearsed play called the Stubborn Pumpkin. Elise played the part of the dog named Pup. She and her friends did a fabulous job!

 Then, after a buffet of tasty treats, we were divided into three rotating stations. We decorated spongy pumpkins with stickers and markers. We played a number game with pumpkin seeds. And we bounced blow up pumpkins with our paddles.

The party concluded with Elise and her classmates playing with a parachute. Man, I remember those days! What fun that used to be and I think Elise would agree...

Then the party was over. Elise could have walked with me to the car but she instead chose to ride the bus across the street instead. I guess I see where I rank! Haha!

It is cute to note that everyone in the class wore their Indian shirts that they made the week before when Nana came to visit.

The day before Thanksgiving, Elise was off from school. I had saved our shopping trip to Giant Eagle for that day because she LOVES to go grocery shopping! Granted she probably likes it because she eats a free cookie while we roam around the store. I love it when she joins me because she likes to ring up our groceries-- minus any heavy, fragile or yucky items that I handle. She even scans the coupons. Mommy is in heaven!

We will have a lot to be THANKFUL this holiday season-- especially since Grandpa got fabulous news from his CAT scan. He is clean and healthy from cancer. Looks like 2012 may be ending on a good note!

Babies and Buses

28 weeks

Jeff and I surprised our parents with an early Christmas present... a 3D/4D ultrasound of the twins. They didn't know where we were going until we showed up to My Little Me.

It came to no surprise that only Baby A cooperated... afterall, Baby B (the one on top and living in my ribcage) has always been difficult to capture during every ultrasound. But Baby A gave us some Vogue-like pictures and let us listen to her tiny heartbeat. Our parents didn't have the luxury of having ultrasounds when they were pregnant with us so it was extra special to share this moment with them.

Baby A foot

Baby A with her hand on her chin-- looking quite thoughtful

We were given a free return visit to come back to capture Baby B on film. This time we took Elise. As we were walking in, Elise said 'Thank you for taking me!'. It was nice to have a moment with her. Just the three of us holding hands in the parking lot.

Finally Baby B cooperated. We found both girls hugging each other... head to head. Elise was excited to hear their heartbeats. She had a sweet little grin on her face when the tech played it over the speakers.

Baby B with her hand on her head

Baby B with Baby A's head in the background

It's funny but both babies look like Elise when she was a little peanut head. Wonder what they will look like in 2 more months. Before we left, Elise wanted to try out the bed. 

It was such a tiring appointment that Elise even fell asleep. Just kidding....

Another new thing this past week is that Elise is riding the bus to school- well kind of. I drive Elise to school and park in a church parking lot across the street. Due to multiple accidents at the crosswalk and  parents finding it difficult to transport their preschooler across the street with other little ones in tow, the bus that drops off bused kids stop in the parking lot to shuttle Elise and friends across the street. I'm not complaining, nor is she!

Unfortunately, I had another ultrasound the first day of busing so Grandma and Grandpa had to step in.  All I know is that there were only smiles and she was as happy as a clam when I arrived to pick her up.