Saying goodbye to our buddy

Well, this is it.  We got the saddest news today that our buddy's days are numbered.  Poor Shrek fought the good fight but the cancer won.  He has days left until we are going to have to say goodbye.  Please keep us in your prayers.  He was my first "baby" and certainly means a lot to us.  After his last stay at the vet, we can tell now he is tired.  I think he is ready too.

Sadder News about Shrek (but he is still here!)

We got the devastating news last week Shrek had a tumor that had to be removed immediately. Even worse, it was on his cheek. He had surgery last Wednesday and came home that night. He had continued to lose weight and along with his other ailments was of grave concern to the vet. He is recovering slowly but his face looks 100x better. The surgeon did a great job. The good news is, being a shar pei, he had lots of extra skin around the tumor for the surgeon to use when sewing him up. The bad news (well, a small piece of all of the bad news) is that the tumor was on his face so he could not remove enough skin around it for a clean and total removal. This means it is a waiting game as it will most likely return. Luckily, the type of tumor Shrek has is not that kind that spreads.

Shrek means a lot to us, me especially, and I am so happy he will be home for Christmas. Last Tuesday I thought they were going to tell me his cancer had spread but for now he is hanging in there. He is currently on 6 (six!) prescriptions and 3 supplements. But you know what? He still loves life and is a fighter. The surgeon said if it was his dog, he would do the surgery and bring him home too.

I wanted our Christmas card to be special for Skylar but since this is probably Shrek's last Christmas, he is in the picture too. Anyway, Skylar slept through every single photo shoot for the card anyway! Wake up, sleepyhead!

He is such a funny dog. He sneaks on the couch when we are not home. He eats any grocery left on the floor--including flour (yuck!) He loves bread and has stolen hot dog buns and taken the bag outside twice (we didn't learn the first time.) He is always in the way, who knows how many times we have stepped on him or accidentally kicked him. He is extremely gentle with children and let Leila pull on him and hug him and even sit on him. He is basically a really great dog, despite all of his quirks.

We have a lot of funny stories about him. When we first got him, we took him to the beach. We were on a walk at dusk with Shrek on his leash. A couple with 2 bigger dogs not on leashes were coming towards us when their dogs ran up to Shrek, growling. He had one pinned to the ground by the throat in about 2 seconds. The woman ran up and said something about a "mean little dog" but our dog was the one on a leash and her 2 dogs charged him! Patrick likes that story because it shows what Shrek could do with that huge mouth of his. They were bred for fighting originally.

I have 2 favorite stories. After Hurrican Ike, my parent's fence blew down. When I went to stay with them because we had no power, Shrek got out of their backyard. I drove around looking for him in their unfamiliar neighborhood. When I found him, I got out of the car and called his name. He started running as fast he could in the other direction. I followed him back to my parent's house and when I pulled up, he was sitting by the back gate like he had been there all along waiting for me. Except he was panting!!

My other favorite story is about when Leila was a baby. We did not know how Shrek would do with a baby. He was great. He used to sit between me and the door when I was rocking her, protecting us. One time we took her and Shrek to a friend's house. She was in her car seat. A huge great dane-lab mix puppy walked up to her car seat to investigate what was inside. He jumped up and knocked that dog to the ground!

He is an amazing dog, and as anyone who has dogs know they are part of the family. He always knew when I was sad and would let me cuddle with him or pay me extra attention. He was around me all of the time during my pregnancies, like how they say dogs know something is different. Also, I am the one who feeds him too though...

This picture was taken in the middle of the night during Skylar's 1st month. Shrek could not find his bed in the dark and I woke up to find he had crawled into the laundry basket!! And yes, it was clean laundry. He loves to be on something soft.

Last Big Trip before Baby

We took one last big family trip last weekend before the baby comes. Let me just say my family is wonderful at traveling and we are so grateful that Leila is easy to take along. She chilled in the car with her movies while we were driving and was excited to sleep in her special beds "just her size." Patrick is great at navigating and packing the car and mom packs lots of snacks and plans the trip so it is fun and not stressful. We hope the new baby will travel as well as Leila!!


First we went to Austin for 2 days to see my sister Lisa and hang out with my Aunt Carla & Uncle Roy & adorable cousin Madison (age 9.) They are the best hosts ever and put up with all of our demands (baby gate, air mattress, etc.) and fed us delicious food! We wish we could see them more. We got to see Patrick's friend from college & his girlfriend and the guys played golf.

We drove straight from Austin to Sea World and spent one entire day there, in the heat, 7 1/2 months pregnant!!! But it was great. Not too crowded, and we got to do everything we wanted. Sea World is a really fun place. The Sesame Street Bay of Play is awesome. The highlight of the trip for all of us was when Leila met the REAL Abby Cadaby. She was on Cloud 9. We fed the dolphins and saw the Shamu show and the waterski show. They have rides for little kids that Leila & Patrick rode and it was just a great day.

Next, we went to a resort in San Antonio and hung out that evening. The next morning Patrick played golf with another college friend and I hung out at the resort pool with our friend's wife & daughter and my college roommate Lisa & her adorable daughter Campbell. It was really fun and did not last long enough. We had to leave that afternoon to come home, but we all missed Shrek so we picked him up first thing and boy was he glad to see us.

Our next family vacation we will be a family of 4, I can't believe it! I did not get any pictures of the 3 of us from the whole trip, oops. Chasing after a 2 1/2 yr-old kept me busy. Now I think I need a vacation from my vacation!!

Hanging out with Aunt Lili at Chuy's... why is the Austin restaurant so much better than the Houston ones??

Singing with her 2nd cousin Madison... So cute! Leila definitely looked up to Maddie and told me, "she's so pretty." Madison was so patient with her, and even told me she would watch Leila while I talked to her mom.

The highlight of our trip... Abby Cadaby herself!!!


And she got her picture taken with Zoe, which was so cool. Cookie Monster was not so cool and actually scared her, and she is not scared of much.

Feeding the Dolphins

Leila and Baby Campbell, who is about to have her 1st Birthday!!

Update on Shrek

Our poor buddy! He had his checkup last week to see how the chemo was working after 1 month. Good news is the chemo IS working and his levels have improved 90%. Bad news is he has lost about 8.5% of his body weight and was diagnosed with arthritis. He has developed a limp in his front right leg which the vet attributed to arthritis. It is so sad seeing him basically fall apart.

I spent a small fortune this week on vitamins and new medicine the vet prescribed, as well as buying special food to "feed him as much as he will eat." Poor buddy, I can't stand the thought of him being in pain. He does respond well to walks still though and still wants to come upstairs to be with Leila, painful as it is to watch. (As a side note--he is still a contented guy and not in any condition that the vet has suggested we should put him down. The vet said he still has a long life in front of him so we are doing everything we can to make him feel better.)

He is my other "baby" so I felt he deserved some updates too. As headstrong and difficult as he can be, he has been with us through some tough times and captured my heart at first sight!

So Busted! Napping on the Couch when we were not home.

Is that not the guiltiest look you have ever seen??

Bluebonnets 2011

Texas drought or not, we still had a happy patch of Bluebonnets to take our annual pictures in. Luckily we had Patrick's dad to take our photos so we could work Shrek into the pictures. He is a funny dog because it is like he knows when a picture is being taken and he poses. Actually, the dog might be better at posing than the toddler!!! LOL

Sad News about Shrek

Just to be clear... he is not about to die. The title sounds rather dramatic. Still, we did receive some terrible news. Shrek was just diagnosed with Cushing's Disease, an illness that is sadly common in older dogs and not curable. He has a tumor pushing on his pituitary gland in his brain that is causing his body to release too much cortisol, or stress hormone. This means our poor doggie is super-stressed out ALL the time, as if a toddler messing with him and a move was not stressful enough on him. The vet described it as that feeling you have the next day after you pull an all-nighter, and poor Shrek always feels like that.

We have him on chemotherapy in pill form, which he will remain on the rest of his life. This type of doggie chemo does not have the same side effects human chemo has, but the vet said it might change his temperment once it starts working. As long as he is alive and happy I would do anything for him! Shrek is approximately 10 years old and still quite able to get around so we hope he still has many years left in him. Plus, he is Leila's doggie "best friend" and quite an important part of our family.

Bluebonnets

This post is late since I was hoping for retakes. Little Bit does not look at the camera anymore so it is impossible to get the kind of shot I wanted. I guess I can't blame her, we have probably taken 2,000 pictures of her since she was born.

The world is my playground!

Can't forget our boy Shrek! What are they looking at??

Last year's family portrait

19 months

Patrick, Leila and I are having a great time exploring our new city. We love her age of 1 1/2. She is sweet, adventurous, and still portable... Everything is a joy for her and she can't hide her excitement. Daddy coming home from work is the highlight of her day. She is at this point of absorbing everything and wants to know what everything is. She wants to know what color things are, what animal it is, what sound does it make.

Here is a typical conversation. Leila: "Purple bow." Me: "Yes, your bow is purple." Leila: (pointing at my shirt) "Blue. Blue Blue." Me: "Yes, my shirt is blue." Leila: (holding teacups) "Two! Two!" Me: "Yes, you have two cups. What color are they?" Leila: "Blue." (They are not blue, but that is her favorite color and therefore default response, lol.)

Leila is pretty hilarious. She has started becoming very opinionated about her clothes, and last Wed. when Sean came over for dinner she had on leopard pants and a purple polka-dot t-shirt. One of my brothers commented she is always wearing her monkey shirt in pictures--there is a reason for that. She also wants to pick out her bows or wear a ponytail.

She is very good at following directions, when she wants to. When I go pick her up from school, this is what I hear in the hallway before she sees me: "Leila, please sit down. Leila, please get away from the door. Leila, please sit against the wall." Ha! Leila is the absolute youngest person in the whole school (by far) so that explains her exuberance. She will catch up (others in her class are already well past 2.) I know her teachers think she is good and obedient during the day.

She has this preoccupation with her family and friends and asks every day (no really, every day, usually multiple times) what the following people are doing: Dada, Mimi, Dude, Nana, Pops, Jay, Josh, and her best friend Avery (and others, depending on the day, don't want to leave anyone out!) We look in her photo albums at pictures of all of her friends and family and she points everyone out to me.

Shopping with Nana at First Colony Mall

Cole and Carter came to play and swap drinks

Cute, huh? You like my hair?

Various items we have found in the refrigerator include plastic tea cups, a teapot, necklaces, watches, and a shoe horn


Peace out! Leila likes to take her stuffed animal friends for a ride, and if anyone falls out she says, "Uh-oh Bear," or "Uh-oh baby," or if it is her "Uh-oh Yay-ya."

Leila's newest talent: playing the piano. She really tries to mimick me in the 4 songs I can play, and banged out something that actually resembled music.

To Patrick's chagrin, I gave Leila her first pedicure after I had my toes done. She wanted her toes pink just like mommy, and she sat still and didn't touch them while they dried. Then she wanted to know why Shrek couldn't have a pedicure!

Cuteness Update

My Aunt Cailin has this brilliant list on her blog of things my super-adorable 3 yr-old twin cousins say. These girls are so cute, they got not 1, not 2, but 13 blog posts for their 3rd birthday!! Aunt Cailin shames me. Examples of hilarious quotes are "Please bless Barney, Baby Bop and the Wiggles," (Claire-During her nightly prayer) or "Tell that boy don't be cranky," (Carmel-Referring to her father when he denied candy.)

Little Leila has done some pretty hilarious stuff lately. Since now we live far, far away, I thought I'd share since we are the only ones that witness it.

"Neigh, Neigh" when she wants to 'ride' Shrek like a horse (which he tolerates for a little bit)
"Dog?" first thing she asks for in the morning, before Mama, Dada or baba (no offense taken, sweetie)
"Melmo?" every time we get in the car now that I have a portable DVD player - OR incessantly at toddler story time at the library, at which Elmo has not ever appeared
"Avewy?" asking for her best friend, strangely every time I put her on her changing table (I think this is because we practiced singing "Happy Birthday" for Avery's birthday party while I changed her diaper to distract her, sorry Avery for the association, lol) and also at her highchair
"Mimi?" "She's at home." "Belle?" (Mimi's dog) "She's sleeping at her house." "Du?" "He's at work" asking about her grandparents every day, multiple times.
"Nana?" "She's at home." "Po?" "He's at work. "Jay?" "He's at school." asking about her other grandparents and my brother every day, multiple times (She can't say "Josh," my other brother at home's name.)
"Big Boo?" Asking to watch 'Sesame Street' at home--apparently Elmo is reserved for the car now
"Amen?" While folding her hands to pray at the table. We pray before meals but now she wants to pray every time we get up and sit back down... "AMEN."
"Ewwwwie!" When asked how her diaper smells.

She knows where all of her favorite things are in each room and will make a distinct whine telling me exactly what she wants (the markers to color outside, her puzzle, her cup, etc.) I guess we need more sign language to fill in the gaps...

Leila's favorite things to do now (in no specific order) include: coloring with markers; watering the plants, playing tea party; watching Melmo; playing with Shrek; taking baths; eating, eating, and more eating; "helping" me cook; and reading books.

She does not like having her diaper changed, sitting in a grocery cart, going down the stairs, mice, or books without pictures.

She LOVES (in no particular order): her dada, her mama, her dog, her grandparents, her Elmo t-shirt, her "lovey," her stuffed animals, and her baby dolls. If she does not love something she will say "no" and push it away, lol.

Had her first toddler pre-terrible twos moment and refused to take off the cowboy boots..
Had her second toddler pre-terrible twos moment when she only wanted to wear this Elmo shirt

She loves to color and make a huge mess

Playing with her friend Luke, Luke & Leila haha

My friend Kelly brought her adorable son Luke over and they loved to play together! After he left, she kept asking for the baby.

We played princess for the first time and she loved it. I am so happy...

Once we finally got her Elmo slippers on and she wasn't scared of them anymore, she didn't want to take them off

17 months and so big

One thing about being a toddler... they have a mind of their own. Leila is certainly her own person. She is very determined and wants to do things on her own and figure things out. But she is very sweet and also likes to be held by mommy... "Up!" I cook a lot with her on my hip. The way I see it this won't last so I am taking advantage of it. I should note she is still very small so she is easy to carry around!

According to "What to Expect, the Toddler Years" her vocabulary at 18 mos should be 50+ words. I think she hit 50+ words by 16 mos (she is now 17 mos). Some are basic, "mama, dada, dog, cat, banana, apple," and some more complex, "please, thank-you, Big Bird, peekaboo." She is still signing and we are really thankful for these strides in communication since it makes all of our lives easier.

Some days her curiosity pushes me to the limit. One morning, after climbing into a kitchen chair and then climbing up her bookshelf, I asked her exasperatedly, "Are you a monkey?" And she looked at me in all seriousness and said, "No."

Reading the Sunday Comics (we like Peanuts & Family Circle)

Spinning on her new toy... she warmed up to her Christmas presents, eventually

#1 Toddler toy... the Cozy Coupe, Princess edition. No, seriously, the license plate reads "Princess." This was a gift from my parents, and she didn't even let Patrick finish putting it together before she climbed in.

Here is Leila with my parents and her Cousin Sara right before Christmas

Leila and her best friend Avery playing at our new house

Our friends Cannon and Kylie came over to play at the new house. Thank you Jill and Jennifer for driving out here! It was really fun but Kylie did not want her picture taken.

Ryan and his mom Sarah came to play too and both kids loved this singing Snoopy toy. We are open for playdates, and take note, Sarah said the drive is not too bad :)

Hey Santa

We took Leila to Baybrook mall to meet Santa. She was super-friendly in line but had no smiles for jolly Saint Nick.


She is enjoying the new house. She likes having a gameroom to make a disaster in. And we like that it is upstairs where no one can see it! I snapped a pic tonight of her drinking her "baba" on the floor, then found one almost identical from last month. And here is one from moving day of her eating her snacks on her back. She is so silly.

Here are a couple of house pics from moving day. Shrek and Leila are loving all of the windows. When we get home, Shrek is always watching for us at the front door.

Last Day of School

This was a sad week of goodbyes. We said bye to neighbors and friends and our church. We said bye to Leila's dear little school and her teachers and her Gymboree teacher. Shrek said bye, in his own way, to his favorite haunts on our walks. We move next Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. So much for football, Patrick. We are sad not to spend Thanksgiving at the McKinney's ranch, but we will probably go out there later this winter.

The chaos in our house from moving is bothersome to Patrick, Shrek, and I; but Leila thinks it is fun. We close on the house on Tuesday so I will post some pictures after that.

Playing around before school

Ringing "Gymbo" the clown's doorbell in class

Moving boxes are Leila's new toys and chairs

She likes the carpet in our new house. This is the gameroom.

The windows in the living room are the perfect height for curious toddlers (and dogs.)