Fourth (and Final?) Surgery

Back in early January, our mobile dog groomer (you know that sketch van that drives around town that pulls up to your house, "grooms" your dog, and return him/her shaking 20 minutes later) asked me if I knew there was a fatty tumor on Parker's chest.  Do I ever pet my dog anymore to even notice that he had a tennis ball sized growth between his neck and chest?  Nope.  Shame on me and us for not noticing.  But thank you dog groomer for pointing this out to us!  She said she has seen a lot of dogs through her years as a groomer and this kind of thing is common in older dogs and cockers.  She thought it was worth mentioning to his vet on his next visit.

Conveniently, Parker had a follow-up appointment at the vet for a bacterial skin infection the following week, so Jason brought up the tumor.  The vet was 99% sure it was a fatty tumor and typically they do not remove them, but since this one was so big and near vital organs, he felt it should be taken out before it caused major issues.  He could do it, but if he got in there and it was too difficult for him to remove based on proximity to major blood vessels and organs, he would sew him back up and recommend a specialist (more expensive).

Decisions, decisions.

Jason and I have joked about not paying for a major surgery if Parker needed one.  Terrible, I know.  Would we choose to say "nah, you don't need to live much longer" and forgo a surgery to prolong life for our children?  Absolutely not.  So we decided to skip the cheaper option, using the regular vet, and go right to the expensive dog surgeon to take care of the tumor in one surgery.  And there goes the much needed tax return needed to buy food and cover our Verizon bill...

I was complaining about Parker's needed surgery at a mom's group event shortly after this appointment.  Another mom quickly chimed in that she had a great dog surgeon who wasn't board certified so it made her cheaper.   Done.  We would go through with the surgery and I had a surgeon.  Check!

A few weeks later, I took Parker in for his consult.  Dr. Walesby is great.  The way she calmed down my panting-like-he-is-ready-to-have-a-heart-attack dog put me at ease.  In fact, my 30 minute consult was the most relaxing part of my day; the kids were at home with a babysitter.   Wow, what a difference it makes to take your dog for a check up instead of your kids.  I didn't mind one bit if Parker licked the floor, picked up random specks of dust from the floor, or sprawled out on the floor.  Typically I am breaking a sweat keeping all of my children's body parts for touching any surface that might have icky germs on it.

Parker went in the next morning for his surgery.  Thank you Jason for doing that difficult job for us.  He said Parker watched him walk out of the building with sad eyes.  And that my friends, it how we ended up with a dog in the first place!  Those sad, make-my-heart-melt eyes with the slight head tilt that makes give the cocker spaniel its name.

Dr. Walesby informed us after surgery that it was best that we had the mass removed.  She had to scrap it off his veins and muscle.  She had to do a little bit of reconstruction once she was finished cleaning it off.  She felt she got all of it.  Parker was sown up with 11 staples :(  He spent the night at the vet (THANK GOODNESS!) and came home the next afternoon.

Parker was so happy to be home.  The kids were excited to see him too.  His incision looked pretty nasty and as expected, Parker was scratching at it with his hind legs.  We needed a t-shirt or something to deter him from opening the wound.  The best idea was to use Jason's undershirt and a hairband...

Parker rocks the 80s look

Parker was put on a 3 week exercise restriction (no walks, no stairs, no jumping, no running...), which is actually fairly easy since we have to leash him to go out to the bathroom, he is a lazy dog anyways, and he likes his crate.  The more difficult tasks were to ice the wound three times a day for 15 minutes, for 4 days, then do the same thing for another 3 days, but use heat.  Are you kidding me?  I think he let us put a bag of frozen peas on him for 15 minutes TOTAL over 4 days.   Worst dog parents ever.

His shirt got upgraded multiple times over the three weeks

A practically free dog Halloween costume
from Petsmart.  He's Peter Pan in case
you couldn't tell

It's a little tight... it lasted about 4 days

The Richard's gave us a small boy
t-shirt which was perfect!

As you see, the jumping restriction only lasted about a week before we gave up and let him on the couch.  That's his favorite spot to sleep.  He liked watching Lady and The Tramp with Evie on lazy afternoons

Now that I have a cocker, Lady is spot on to how
Parker acts.  Good job Disney.

Three weeks to do the day, Parker returned to Dr. Walesby and received a good bill of health.  The mass was just a fatty one and surgery was the solution.  He had his stitches removed and was cleared to be a "normal" dog again!

You can't even tell where he was opened!

The only reminder of his surgery is his goofy haircut.  They shaved half of his body and some of his legs.

The t-shirt nicely covered his bad hair-do

You can see where he had his IV 

Even though he looks a little funny, he still
has amazingly soft and beautiful fur!

Parker lives to see another day... and another 7 years.  Our pup is about halfway through his expected life.  As much as we hope this is the last surgery (after two eye surgeries and being neutered), I have a feeling there will be a few more things down the road.   We are glad to have our faithful friend back to his normal self.

Cousin Cuteness

My car was the first to arrive at G and Poppop's house this Saturday for the Pronzato/Stefany January/February birthdays party.  As I was taking Braylen out of my car, two other vehicles with Maryland license plates whipped around the corner and pulled up out front.  Jason unloaded Cole and Parker from his car.  Evie and Hannah showed their happy faces as Auntie Laura's van doors rolled open.  Auntie Laura had a great idea to switch up the kids on the ride to Lancaster.  Evie and Hannah had a blast together laughing over shared snacks, Cole and Uncle J looked at trucks and sang, and I enjoyed silence as Braylen slept :)

Once we were all in G and Poppop's hosue, Hannah announced, "Let the CIRCUS begin!"

And it did.

Triple trouble when they are together.
Can my daughter look any tinier?

Cole immediately pulled the kitchen stool over to the counter that holds the pretzel container.  This is one of my favorite memories of trips to my Nana and Poppop's house in Oreland, PA.  Nana had a cookie jar that looks like broccoli, which sat at the edge of the kitchen counter.  If I stood on the step going into the back room, I could reach the lid to snatch a pretzel or two or fifteen.  I am proud to see Cole has taken over my role as the pretzel snatcher.  Actually, I haven't given it up yet.  I still snatch pretzels from the cookie jars ;)

The three big cousins "do the loop" on the first floor.  Throughout the day I saw the three of them jogging the loop pushing strollers, vacuum cleaners, and holding ribbons, which trailed behind them.  Laughter and screams of delight were the soundtrack to their parade.  Braylen was too slow for the mix this time.  He got bulldozed once and decided to hang out in the living room and watch them run through.  Parker was in his crate (exercise restriction due to surgery- another post, another time).

In addition to "doing the loop", the kids like to ride on Uncle Jason's back.  We seem to get the best pictures of the kids while they are on an uncle's back, so we piled them on and shot away.

Those are definitely "CHEESE!" smiles from Cole and Bray

I love how Evie is holding onto Cole's belly

We tried the couch too

We made Evie sit on her hands to keep the thumb
out of her mouth.  Does Cole ever have socks or shoes
on in the cousin pictures?

See Exhibits A and B below

Exhibit A: Thanksgiving 2013

Exhibit B: December 2013

We love our Cole Bug!  

Each visit to G and Poppop's house is more fun as the kids grow up and really start to play together.  Many years of fun time ahead, especially when the grandkids stay overnight sans parents :)

Evie adores her cousins, one can see it by that
genuine smile as she looks at them

Reptile Morning

The ranger at Cromwell Valley Park prepared a toddler/mom program for my mom's group this morning.  The longer-than-my-normal driving distance, foggy morning, and threat of severe thunderstorms all made me want to stay put for the morning, but I put on my rain boots and made the trek north on the beltway.  I am so glad I changed my mind!

We, five moms and eight kids, had the nature center to ourselves.  The ranger planned a great presentation for our toddler aged children.  I appreciate when the presenter knows his/her audience and keeps it simple yet entertaining for squirmy two-year-olds.

First, she introduced us to all the reptiles & amphibians in the room.  There were two toads, two turtles, and a snake, all indigenous to Maryland.  Braylen joined the outgoing boys and touched a few of the creatures.  Evie, although curious, didn't want those things anywhere near her.  In fact, she started screaming bloody murder when the turtle sprinted (in her mind) towards her.  Luckily the turtle incident did not ruin the rest of our morning.  The other highlight of this session was the ranger nonchalantly talking about the snake as its head wiggled rather close to my friend, Laura's face.  The expression on her face was priceless.  I tried my best to not impress my fear of snakes onto my children.  I'm pretty sure Evie could still feel my nervous vibe when that snake was out of his sealed cage.

Braylen took a liking to "Picasso", the swimming turtle.
You can see the fear and anxiety Evie felt as Braylen touched
the turtle's tank

Next, the ranger had a simple turtle craft for the toddlers.

Evie painted the turtle's shell

Then she put glue on the turtle's arms
and legs.  Mommy attached them

Lastly, we had free time to explore the discovery room.

A fragile birds nest?  Braylen decided to put his fingers
right into that mess.

Making friends with the opossum stuffed animal.
Notice the stuffed dead beaver in the background.  That
was his first friend upon arrival.  "I ain't deef sonny!"

I know my sister is laughing and my mother.  In case you don't understand the reference-

Lady and The Tramp
Evie (and Parker) like to watch this movie together.

Back to the Cromwell Valley-

Braylen thought the moose head on a stick could
be doubled as a mop...

... and a puppet

While Braylen mopped the floor played with the animals, Evie made her way back into the front room to look at all the turtles and toads again.

She quietly watched the animals

Braylen needed to see his turtle friends one more time before we left

The mom's group has already been invited back for another free program in May.  The grounds were a muddy, snowy mess on this visit.  Hopefully by May we will be outside tromping through the children's garden.  

All Aboard!

Back in October, we took our first trip to the B & O Railroad Museum.  I immediately asked G and Poppop to consider giving our family a membership for Christmas.  They hooked us up!  We share our "friends and family" membership with Auntie Laura, which is awesome.  I have taken the kids a handful of times already: with Daddy, with my moms group, and now with Auntie L & Cole.  

On the first and third Wednesday of every month, there is "Toddler Time" at the B & O RR Museum.  Today was our first time.  The museum opens at 10 AM, so we got there promptly at opening and played for 20 minutes in the kid area, letting the kids play with trains and dress up.

Cole was the only one interested in dressing up

At 10:30 AM, "Toddler Time" begins.  Now let me tell you, those elderly men that volunteer there are SERIOUS about their jobs.  They must have asked us 10 times if we knew how to get to the multipurpose room.  They also do not hesitate to tell you if you are breaking the rules

Auntie Laura walked away to take this picture and got
reprimanded for not being inside the train car WITH the kids.

Anyhoo, we had clear directions about how to go 20 yards out the back of the building into another building.  We made it safely.  I should ask Jimmy Fallon to write a thank you note to those workers for me ;)

It was hoppin' in Toddler Time!  There was a finger play and story.  I liked how they projected the book on the big screen, but the storyteller wasn't loud enough.  Snacks kept the wiggle worm seated.

Yep, this picture is perfect.

The craft that followed (not related to the train story at all) was super neat

The plate was already colored with a few features, Auntie L
Evie added ears, nostrils, and teeth to her hippo

Cole and I worked on his giraffe 

And to make our morning even better, we got FREE rides on the carousal 

This boy loves the carousal

And this one loves horses

And we're smiles all around!

Another chaotic trip, chasing my two kids around great time at the B & O Railroad Museum!  We cherish our adventures with Auntie Laura and Cole.

FYI- I can get in up to 4 adults and 4 children with my pass, so let me know if you want to come with us sometime between now and May 2015!  Thanks G and Poppop for keeping us busy and for helping us make friends ;)

February Snow

Just as it does every few years, Mother Nature dumped a big snow on us around President's Day Weekend.   We went to bed on Wednesday night to this

10 PM, just a dusting when we took
Parker out before bed

The next morning...

We had to bust out our front door to take
Parker out... again 

That's 10.5 inches at 7 AM and still snowing!

Just as we unpack every bag as soon as we return from a trip, Jason we need to shovel our sidewalks and parking spots, and clear off the cars as soon as possible.  You know, just in case we need to get out through the 11 inches of unplowed street.

Working hard at first light.  The rest of the
neighbors followed suit... about 2 days later

The kids and I loved watching Daddy shovel

"Our Daddy is the best!"

And in case you were wondering...

This is how our post-surgery
dog went to the bathroom.  His own
shoveled out commode in the front yard

Braylen decided he would shovel inside

He just melts away the snow with his cuteness

Siblings fighting over who will shovel inside.  It has begun.

The snow was beautiful, but by morning is mixed with rain and sleet so it wasn't ideal sledding weather for two small toddlers.  We not-so-quickly geared up the kids once the sleet let up for some real shoveling on the bottom deck.

15 minutes of prepping for these sour-puss looks.

They pretty much stood there while Daddy shoveled the deck

Some "cheese" faces

In his defense, I took him outside right as his nap time should start

And their mittens make it pretty impossible to hold a shovel

I took Braylen back inside for a nap while Daddy and Evie tracked through the snow to clean off the cars.

That's a lot of snow... and a lot of work!

Good thing Daddy had his sidekick with him

We didn't do any sledding during this round of snow.  It was too icy and wet.  I was a bit of jealous of all the Facebook posts of kids sledding.  Our kids are just a tad too small at 31-33 inches for 12+ inches snow.  I don't think we have seen the end of snow this winter... there might be another opportunity. 

And for the blog record... the plow did not come through until Friday morning around 10 AM.  Somehow Daddy drove to work safely on Friday morning as we trudged up the street to Emily and Lisa's.  Another snow day with our best buds!

Evie has been asking about the snow plow
since the last storm.  It went around the 'hood
at least 10 times.  The girls were SO excited

Kiddies, Don't Start the Engines

We took a family outing to the car show at the Baltimore Convention Center today.  The kids had a grand time sitting in the cars, pressing buttons, and "driving".  I don't encourage this kind of exploring in my car since it usually leads to loud horn honking and an explosion of heat, music, turn signals, wipers at full blast, and four-ways flashing when I turn on my car after said exploration.

It was somewhat relaxing to let them push and turn without causing any damage to the car or them.  

That's my girl, two hands on the wheel.

Looks like Daddy in his manual car days- one hand on the
wheel, the other on the gear shift.  Daddy will be the
one and only one to teach him stick shift.

My finest moment as a parent (at the car show) was watching Evie attempt to put on the seat belt as soon as you got in the car.  Model, model, model parents of little ones.  They. Are. Watching.

We always buckle up in the car.  

Our bank account thanks our kids for causing enough distraction for Daddy that he couldn't seriously look at any cars.  Note- we are NOT looking for a new car.  We both LOVE our cars.  However... there was one car that caught our attention... besides the minivan with the vacuum in the back.  Brilliant Honda.

Braylen thought this golden rod colored car was pretty cool

We got a little glimpse at our future drivers

I can just see Emily and Evie driving away in a jeep
14 years from now.

You totally know Evie will be the driver, telling
Braylen to stop changing the song.

Or worse, make him sit in the back.  

Today was "family day" at the car show.  I'm not quite sure what they had today over other days that made it family-like.  Maybe the person dressed up as the Geico gecko?  Evie was terrified of that thing.  She insisted I hold her as we walked past it and once I put her down, she checked behind her shoulder numerous times to make sure it wasn't coming after her.  Noted.  Too young for any shows or events that have "real life" characters.

To top off our fun morning as a family, the kids gave us the afternoon "off" by sleeping close to 3 hours, a true sign of a successful outing.