Babs helping around the house ;)

Since we found out about Abbey's condition, she's become the little princess around here! It's impossible to discipline her when she looks at you with those sweet brown eyes! We don't make her sleep in the crate every night so she sneaks up on the couch, and I even pretend not to see her sneak a few bites of cat food! Today when I was doing laundry I came out of the room to see she had made a bed out of the piles of clothes I had sorted. Did I kick her off? Of course not, I just did the laundry around her! SPOILED!

Abbey Girl

Our little girl is not feeling well. She's been limping off and on since September. When we first noticed it we took her to the vet and had an x-ray taken. No breaks, so we were told to quarantine her for a possible ligament tear. It was supposed to heal on it's own.

Well, months have passed and she has had the limp off and on the entire time. One day she is fine, the next day she can't put weight on it. So I took her to another vet for a second opinion. This time the diagnosis was completely different.

She has hip dysplasia in both hips, worse on the side she favors. She also has a mass in her right knee that is most likely a tumor or cancer. Hearing that was the most devastating news. We were not ready to hear what the vet told us. She is just a baby, barely three years old!

Our choices to the doc were clear; put her to sleep now, or wait and do it later. We chose to take her home and make her as comfortable as possible. She is taking some pretty strong pain medication that makes her as playful as ever. I hate knowing that our time with her is ticking away. I try not to think about not seeing her sweet, pouty little face every day. I am however very grateful to have more time with her and to be able to spoil her for as long as I can. She is the best pup I have ever had!

Rubber Duckie

This picture was taken in early December. He doesn't fit in this little tub very well anymore so he's graduated to the big boy tub.

Weekend Fun!

We had so much fun today playing and making Michael laugh! He's at the age where he's starting to belly laugh at anything you do, play on his own with toys you give him, and best of all he's starting to cuddle back when you hold him! I can't get enough of that mohawk he has going on! Too cute!

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy!!!

We took the dogs to the dog park for the first time since Michael's arrival. A long overdue trip. It was also the first time they had been in the Tahoe. They knew exactly where we were when we entered the park. They started whining with excitement! There were a ton of dogs there today. Rudy and Abbey both love the park, but for different reasons. Abbey likes to chase the little dogs around and whenever there is a fight, between large dogs especially, she likes to run over to them and put her little head in the fight. Literally. It can be unnerving when you hear dogs growling and barking and you see your little baby girl running to the fight like the nosy girl she is.

Rudy on the other hand loves the park for the people. He has made huge strides as far as his behavior since we last went. He used to run full speed at people and nail them in the gut if they gave him a smile or "he's so cute!" Today he showed more interest in the dogs although he did make a few human friends that gave him some love. He did, however, manage to knock a cellphone out a teenagers hand and cover his sleeve in slobber!

The highlight of the trip, for Anthony at least, was when Rudy proved to be a real man of a dog. Anthony has always given Rudy a hard time for being so mellow, passive, and oh so non-aggressive toward other 'bully' dogs. He always makes comments about how he'd get his butt kicked in a dog fight because he's too sweet.

So there was a boxer-mix that was territorial whenever anyone came near him or his toy. He already had a run at Abbey when she tried to chase down the same ball he was retrieving. Rudy happened to walk past this dog and the dog nipped his neck and charged him as he walked by. Ant and I both watched waiting for Rudy to run away but instead he let out a loud growl, chased the dog down and pinned him. It took the dog's owner and Anthony to break it up. Luckily no one was hurt.

Needless to say, both Rudy and Anthony left the park today with their heads a little higher and chests puffed up a little more than they were when we entered the park. ;)

Go Bears!!!

Michael was all dressed up for the big game today between Da Bears and the Packers.

Play time with Mommy!

Michael is learning to play with his toys. He loves to watch when I drop his toys and they 'disappear' . My favorite is reading to him even though he has no idea what I'm saying.