It Was His Idea!

Like I have said before, these two like to hang out together and you have to keep an eye on what they are up to. The pantry is always a good place to check out.

Windows & Fawcetts

Last week we found this awsome sale on the fawcett you see in the picture. It was regular $138 and we got it for $27!! You just can't beat a deal like that. In fact, we bought 2. This one is in our half bathroom and Dan put the other one in the boys' bathroom. We have decided to keep the windows simple and picked out valances. If you like what you see, everything was purchased at Lowe's. I like it over Home Depot by far.

Max Is Home!

I got to pick up Max yesterday afternoon along with some lovely butt cream and pills that he gets stuffed into weiners. He is back to taking an active role in the family as you can see. A few minutes before this pic was taken, Elton was trying to take Caleb's train track apart. Caleb was upset and Max seemed to know that the right thing to do would be to go over and sit on the track, thus preventing the pieces from going anywhere until Elton was distracted. Caleb told Max thank you and then started showing Max his trains (that is why there are trains sitting in front of Max). Max seemed quite pleased with himself.

Max Is In The "Doggie" Hospital

On Friday night I noticed Max scooting his butt on the floor. He doesn't do this often (thank goodness), but does occasionally so I wasn't too worried about it. I just figured he had an itchy butt. On Saturday night, he didn't go to bed with me which is unusual, but I figured he just wanted his space. On Sunday morning I took Bingo out to the bathroom and wondered where Max was at. While walking around with Bingo, I turned around to see Max in the dogloo. Had he spent the night outside? I wasn't sure, but if he had, that was definitely weird. I did coax him into the house. His butt hair was wet and a bit messy, so I figured he must have had diarrhea and was being considerate and keeping it outside. We gave the dogs a treat and left for church. We went to lunch and had some errands to do, so we didn't get home until 4. When I walked in, Max wasn't around. I went outside and sure enough he had re-secluded himself in the dogloo, wasn't coming out and wasn't acting himself. Dan agreed and we thought we should call the vet.

I grew up on a farm and was taught that anytime an animal secludes himself off on his own, they are usually so sick they are getting ready to die. I got a message with our vet that he is not available on weekends and to take him in to an emergency vet you have to be able to put $350 down up front. I freaked! Then the nurse in me decided I should just watch him, offer him water and food and make sure he remained alert. He drank a little, ate a little and stayed in the dogloo. I checked on him every hour and prayed.

First thing Monday morning I took him in and they told me they needed to watch him for a while and would call me. Around noon they called me to tell me he had a "fecal ball" blocking his rectum. Thus they can't have a normal BM and from the stress, develop diarrhea which has a hard time exiting. Max is on the mend and I am hoping we will be able to pick him up this afternoon. Bingo is out of sorts without his buddy and Caleb keeps asking about Max, but we want him healthy to come home.

What A Week!!

As you can see, a lot has been accomplished in the house. Dan has been busy busy! The front living room is now painted and the dark wall is gone! Yeah! I have always wanted a bench/coat unit (I can't think of the right word right now), but because of the light switch on the wall that was not going to be possible. Instead, I discovered this bench with separate shelf and hooks and thought it was the perfect solution. Dan assembled the bench and hung the shelf today and I am very happy with it. He also installed three new lights in the stairway going up to our bedrooms. Everything looks great!

Tomorrow we are giving daddy the day off. I think him and Caleb are going to go to the movies and see Doogal.

Home Projects Continued

We took a break from our home projects for about 4 weeks while my parents were here and for a week after. That is however, with the exception of Dan and my dad installing a new toilet in the boys' bathroom upstairs.

Dan got the garage completely cleaned up and organized last week. He then installed lights along our front walk-way up to the house and replaced the lights in front of our garage and at our front door as the old ones were in pretty rough shape. The gnomes you see along the walk-way were made by the senior residents at the care home my grandfather resided at in Canada before he passed away.

The painting inside the house has also resumed. Once we get a little further along I will post some more pictures.

See What I Mean!

As I was finishing my last post, I looked down at my feet and this is what I saw. I just couldn't resist. A doggie is a boy's best friend!

Household Chores

I guess now that Elton is 1 he is ready to take on some household chores as he proved today. He has been assigned supervising the vacuum while I am cleaning and rearranging the pot cuboard. He seems to be enjoying these tasks as the vacuum repeatedly turned off and on. He says he is just getting warmed up with the pots and will do better next time. Him and Bingo have gotten to be quite good friends and are almost inseparable during waking hours as you can see.

To Being One!

Elton loves playing with the cuboard doors. It was me who couldn't resist sticking him in the laundry basket when I was getting the clothes out of the dryer. He was all for it and thought it was pretty fun. He has 2 more teeth on their way through which will make a total of 10! No wonder he is doing so well with food. He is also getting better about taking the sippy cup and we are on our way to getting rid of the bottles.

We booked our plane tickets today and will be in Manitoba from April 24 - May 4 to visit family and friends. Caleb is very excited and can't wait to leave. It will be 2 years since he and I were last up there. It was just the two of us on that trip as Dan didn't have vacation time from work yet. My grandma hasn't gotten to see Elton yet and so is eagerly awaiting our visit.

The Stats Are In

Today was Elton's one-year check up and immunizations. He 21lbs 2oz and 30 inches long. He got 5 shots! He was not happy about this. At least they had 2 nurses come in and tag team him. He definitely earned the McDonald cookies Dr. Trotter gave him. Elton is walking around holding onto things, but hasn't quite mustered up the courage to go solo yet. He crawls really fast and I think at this point it just seems easier to him. He is taking whole milk really well. We started working on getting rid of the bottles yesterday. I just keep offering him milk out of his sippy cup throughout the day. He is still getting used to drinking something of a colder temperature. No bottles at all today, but I am thinking we will still do one before bed tonight. He is also pretty much just table food now. He is clapping his hands and is just so darn cute!

Caleb was excited to share with Dr. Trotter that he was wearing underwear. Dr. Trotter told him he was very proud and he also got a package of cookies.

After naps this afternoon, we made our first trip of the year to the park. It was 51 degrees out when we left the house. Caleb, as you can see from the picture, is a good climber. I can definitely see a difference from our last visit in the fall. Elton had a blast just crawling around all over through the wood chips. Of course some went into his mouth and he thought it was rather funny when I would tell him "bakki!" (a dutch term that I'm not sure if I spelled right). I think I was able to get all out of his mouth in time.