Allergies :(

Ever since we've had Marcie she's suffered from allergies.  It used to be just a rash she would get occasionally on her tummy.  Some benedryl would usually do the trick and occasionally a cortisone shot from the vet would make it all better...for a few months.  Then it was back and worse than before.

Since we've moved into our house her allergies have been getting worse and worse.  It culminated recently in her scratching herself constantly and chewing on her feet.  The scratching resulted in a yeast infection on her head and a bunch of her hair falling out and a bacterial infection in some sores she created on her tummy.  So antifungal and antibiotics were on prescribed, along with baths every other day with a special shampoo.  Needless to say, Marcie was not a happy dog.  She hates baths and the medicine was not her favorite.  The antifungal she took fine in peanut butter, but the antibiotic was twice a day and she hated it!!  She wouldn't take it in anything more than once and sometimes she even spit it out or threw it up.  It was terrible!!

The scratching continued though, since we weren't actually treating the allergies.  The solution:

She really hated this, but it had to be done so her wounds could heal!  We still needed a solution to her allergies though.  I had discussed some options with her vet and one of those was a medication called Atopica.  My mom works with vet who was able to get it for me at cost (it is not cheap and it is weight based so my 60# dog needs a bit) so we got a few months worth to try to see if it would help.  It does seem to be helping, but she just really hates taking pills and I have to basically force it down her throat most days.  Not fun for me or her!

Next option was allergy testing and then allergy shots specially made for her specific allergies.  It was going to be expensive but the shots would be cheaper and less trouble than Atopica long term.  So we had the testing done.  The results:

Marcie is allergic to:

4 kinds of grasses (bluegrass/fescue/bermuda/vernal)

4 kinds of weeds (ragweed/pigweed/lamb's quarters/waterhemp)

4 kinds of trees (juniper/cedar/elm/walnut/mulberry)

5 kinds of fungi

feathers

dust mites

wool

and the kicker...her food allergies:

beef

chicken/turkey

peanuts

kelp

catfish/cod/herring/mackerel/white fish

Seriously...those are my dog's allergies.  I can't believe it!  I totally realize now why she's been so miserable! Our backyard was completely overrun with weeds and the cedar allergy alone is enough to make someone crazy in Austin!  Then throw in the food allergies!  Peanuts!  She love peanut butter and I know her food and treats just about all contain beef or chicken.  Poor baby!  So now I am on a quest to get her food allergens out of her diet and he indoor allergens away as much as possible.  The outdoor allergies are harder to tackle, but we're going to do our best to get rid of the weeds and then see if some benedryl is enough to help her.  If not then we'll start the allergy shots for the outdoor allergies.  I know this is a lot to do for the dog, but she's worth it!  I just want my happy Marcie back :)

BarkBox

Marcie's world has been totally changed with the addition of Nora to our family.  She has taken to it beautifully, but I still feel bad that I can't give her the attention that I did before.  It is too hard to take her to the park with Nora now, so Marcie is full of pent up energy and she's bored.

I saw an ad for something called a BarkBox and it sounded perfect for her!  Really it's like a bribe to make sure she still loves me...but she doesn't know that :)  Basically you get a box of stuff every month for your dog.  Marcie got her first box yesterday.  She loves it!!  

She will get at least 6 months of boxes (that is what I paid for up front).  This first box came with a pack of disposable grooming mitts, a pack of duck jerky, 2 packets of vitamins that your put in her water, a real cow shin bone full of yumminess, and a rope toy!  There was a large piece of duck jerky too, but I gave it to her when I opened the box last night.

What a good girl...waiting so patiently for me to let her investigate the box!

"Let me at it mom!!"

She likes it!  I think my bribe has worked :)

I love my MarcieMoo!

The Many Adventures of Home Ownership: Fence Edition

A couple of months ago we had a very intense "wind storm" here in Austin.  Now, I know what all you guys living in the midwest or on the east coast are thinking...how can anyone in Austin complain about the weather?  And you're right...except that the crazy wind knocked down a portion of our fence and broke a piece of our storm door!

Luckily, adjacent to our back fence is a wire belonging to that property, so we were in no hurry to fix it.  Especially since Marcie likes the new view! 

Jump forward to 2 days ago when another insane wind storm came through town.  More fence down and this time it is the fence adjacent to our eastern neighbor.  Boo! 

As you can probably see, she has a very nice yard with no weeds and it is well kept...whereas we have a dog and a new baby and little experience with landscaping.  So we really don't want Marcie pooping in the neighbors yard.  Time to call in the fence repair experts.  Hope it won't be too expensive! Any suggestions from those of you that live in Austin??

We brought in all of Marcie's toys from outside (for some reason she always takes them out there and leaves  them.)  She was watching me the whole time.  I think she was trying to figure out what we were doing!

Once everything was inside it didn't take her long to make a mess!  She doesn't seem to like when her toys are in the "toy box."

Logan & Marcie...best friends :)

I just had a few minutes of time (Nora is sleeping!!!) and I decided to get pictures from the camera memory card onto the internet.  I was thinking of pictures of Nora, but I discovered some adorable pictures of Logan and Marcie that Shawn took last week sometime.  They are precious!  Logan just adores Marcie and she loves him...even when he is being a pest ;)

Marcie was just minding her own business.  Enjoying her moment relaxing in the one sunny spot.  But oh no...here comes Logan!

Here's a cute picture of Logan sitting in his special chair with a juice box in his jammies.  Perfect!

Best Dog Ever!

My sweet Marcie has been so patient these last few months as I prepared for the arrival of little Nora.  She totally knew something was coming, but I don't know if she was exactly prepared for another little person to arrive.  Especially since I would have to start dividing my attention...although she did know that I was distracted already.  The last 6 weeks of the pregnancy she decided she would start acting out around the house.  Getting into the trash was her favorite thing, but she also started getting into stuff she never had gone near before.  She got my sunglasses out of my purse and destroyed them.  She got a box of cookies off the high counter in the kitchen and ate them all.  Girl Scout cookies.  Bad dog.  I am sure it was all related to the imminent arrival of Nora, so I was hoping all would be better when she came.  Luckily she won't have to be alone much for the next few months since I'll be home on maternity leave.

So Nora's here now and Marcie has been great with her so far!  She likes to give her kisses but is not really sure about Nora's tummy time yet.  During tummy time when Nora's little legs get kicking Marcie gets kind of weirded out :)  She stays right there though and watches her.  She has been using the bed I made for the nursery and lays in there with me during the night when Nora and I are awake.  I think Marcie has adjusted great to our new bundle of joy and they are gonna be great friends!!

Since I had Shawn take Marcie to get her nails cut today, I decided we would go for a walk and Marcie, of course, was totally pooped out when we got home (but she totally loved it!).  She decided to take her nap in Logan's tent, which she hasn't done it awhile.  I got a couple of cute pictures I wanted to share.

My beautiful Marcie Moo!

Here are some random pictures of the other loves in my life too.  Nora hasn't taken over everything yet :)

Look at that face...he's getting ready to start some trouble making!

My baby brother snuggling with Marcie.  I can't believe he's gonna be in college soon...

Logan decided that laying on Abuelita's back would be the most comfortable spot?

Had a Holly, Jolly Christmas!

Another Christmas has come and gone.  This year I had to take my turn at work, so I spent today at work with wonderful coworkers and beautiful tiny babies and their families.  It was a nice, quiet day in the NICU and we had an amazing pot luck meal...that was DELICIOUS!  I work with some fantastic cooks!

We didn't have any extra family around for Christmas this year...mostly because everyone wants to come visit after Nora and Amelia arrive.  So we'll have lots of visitors in Feb, March and April, but we had a quiet Christmas.  We did our family Christmas on Christmas Eve.  It was great!

We opened all the gifts from each other and from our out of town family that sent them to us.  Logan opened his gifts from his Mom and Dad....and Santa....this morning.

Merry Christmas!  The 34 week baby bump is getting big!!

The McLachingson Family (Shawn coined this name but we like it!).  Logan did not want to cooperate, and neither did Marcie!

 

Marcie looked so festive in her pretty scarf :)

She certainly loved her Christmas bone!!  She barely got through one of the knots on Christmas Eve, but we'll let her munch it for a little while each day til she's done!  The gift that keeps on giving!

The babies even managed to get some loot!  Gifts for Amelia and Nora (mostly from Abuelita...of course!)

Logan's favorite gift of the day...this cool wooden train with farm animals.  Uncle Shawn picked it out and Logan loved it!!

As soon as it was time for us to open our presents the little man decided he wanted some attention.  So he emptied this red "toy chest" and decided to wander around the center of the room posing for the camera.  Could he be any cuter???

We basically had a great day and ate yummy food.  I made the annual cookie tree with Eric, but I'll post that another day.  Now it's time for sleeping for me!

I hope everyone had a very Happy Christmas!!

Thanksgiving...and moving on to Christmas!

Thanksgiving has come and gone again.  We ate a ton of food and spent quality time with our families.  We once again took time to think about the things in our lives that we are truly thankful for.

I am thankful for my family more than anything in the world!  Not all families enjoy being together and I can honestly say that there is never a dull moment when you're with any part of my family :)  We laugh and cry together...but there is certainly more laughing than anything else!  The laughing is almost constant when you're  around Logan.  He's such a hoot! I am so thankful that my wonderful husband has fit into my family so well and meshes just like he's always been a part of it.  He is the best husband anyone could ask for and I love him so much!!  I am thankful that we have been given the great opportunity of becoming parents together.  I know that baby Nora is going to have a great father and a great life, as will any future children we have.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Gotta love that sweet (and mischievous face!)

My sweet Marcie Moo always want to sitting right next to me!

Thanksgiving dinner!  Wish more of our family could have spent this day with us for our first Thanksgiving in our new home!

Now that we're through Thanksgiving it is time to get excited about Christmas!!  I love Christmas time.  The music.  The lights everywhere.  Normally the snow, but not here :)  I did get a bit of a head start on Christmas this year, busting out my Christmas tunes almost a month ago.  I was told it was ok because I'm pregnant!  I'm sticking with that story!  Everyone probably knows that family debate that has existed for the past few years about my blue tree vs. a mismash "family" tree.  I was overruled last year and it seems that will be the case forever now.  So my blue tree became the the little upstairs 4' tree.  But I love it anyway!  I've been playing with our camera and found some stuff on pinterest about how to take "glowing" pictures of Christmas trees, so I tried it out on my little blue tree.  Beautiful!

On Thanksgiving day we put up our family tree.  Turned out pretty nice!

Now time to decorate the rest of the house! Yay!!!  I love Christmas time!

Musings...

We've been so busy with baby things and the house, we just haven't had a chance to keep everyone else in the loop!  On our days off we just try to spend as much time as possible with Logan...and Marcie too of course!

 

I promise I will try to get some pictures of the house now that we have things on the walls and such.  Our camera has been acting stupid, but I will sure try!

Mouse Trap

Earlier this year, Eric brought home two mice from school.  They had used these mice in psychology class for a training experiment.  He named one mouse (Franklin) and I named the other (Taco Grande).  They have been living happily in a cage in his room.

Mom has never been overly happy about the mice in the house.  She is not a huge fan of rodents, but Eric really wanted to keep them so they stayed.  They have lived with us for a few months now.  We have discovered that they are incredibly stinky.  Like really stinky.  I don't know how Eric sleeps in the same room as those mice!

Now for the story.

Yesterday morning I was trying to leave for work.  It was about 5 til 6am and Marcie was desperately trying to get at something under the couch.  She does this fairly often...usually it is some toy or a ball or something.  I got down there and tried to see what was there so I could get it out for her before I left.  I was afraid she would starting crying and wake up the family if she couldn't get to it.  I didn't see anything and so I just left for work with her still trying to wiggle under the couch.

When I got home from work last night I was informed that Taco Grande was missing from his cage.  Ah.  So that is what Marcie was trying to get under the couch!  The mystery was solved.

Now Mom was totally freaking out!  There is a mouse roaming somewhere in our apartment!  Oh no!   Mom thought maybe it had gotten out of the house during the day when we had the door to the porch open.  Maybe.

Maybe not.  This morning I was woken up suddenly by Marcie banging against the stove.  Loudly.   She was trying to pull open the drawer under stove.  Then I heard it.  The mouse!  Taco Grande was hiding under the stove!  I woke up Mom and Eric and we pulled out the drawer just in time to see Taco Grander run back behind the cabinet toward the fridge!  He's still alive and well!  Now...how do we catch him?? 

I know Marcie won't give up!

Animal Lover

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am an animal lover.  Cats I can do without...but any other animal I love!  I even like rodents (that was for you Theresa), reptiles, and insects. 

I'm kidding about the cats by the way.  I have never had a cat I loved or been around one that I felt any strong attachment to, but there's still time for me to love a cat.  Shawn would probably say I love my dogs too much...he's crazy though!  You can't love a dog too much!  They are able to add so much to your life if you let them!  No other creature on Earth will love you as much as your dog does.  It just seems like giving even a portion of that love back to them is worth it.

Mostly, my love of animals come from the dogs I have had through my life.  One of my earliest memories is of my dad calling me (when I was in kindergarten) to tell me that he had to put our dog to sleep.  His name was Mac.  He was an Irish Setter.  He was my first best friend.

My dad has many, many stories to tell about me and Mac.  I don't really remember him, but I know my love of dogs stems from my relationship with him from the day I was born.

When I was in elementary school we had a dalmation.  His name was Spot.  Clever, right?  I would like to point out that Mom and Dave named him, not me or Mimi.  He was a bit crazy but we loved him anyway!  I remember many times I would get my roller skates on and tie his leash around my waist and we were off!  Mom didn't like when I did that.  He was never really trained very well though and when Sara came along he just didn't fit with our family anymore.  Mom was worried that he would unintentionally hurt her, so he went to a new home.

When we moved to Indiana and got our house, Dave brought home a dog at Christmas from the animal shelter.  Unfortunately, Mom and Dave decided to let Sara (that 5 year old) name her.  She chose "Christmas Tree."  Mim and I were obviously dead set against that name though!  So we all agreed on Angel instead.  This was a pretty good compromise I think.  Angel had a litter of puppies when she was only about a year old (I think) and the one we kept was named Fergie.  He was named by Mimi but we all loved him.  His daily care was largely my responsibility so that go pawned off on Mom when I went away to the Academy.  I still remember the day she called me at school to tell me that he had been hit by a car.  He is buried beside the barn at our old house.  I still remember the heartache I felt.  He was Eric's first dog, although he was too small to ever remember him.

Now we get to the real doggie love...my Chandler.  He was the first dog I had that was truly mine.  He was  gift from Leif and I LOVED this dog.  I had him during college, when I was a full-time student and working almost full-time as well, so needless to say he was not trained properly.  I did take him to personal doggie training sessions with a man that had previously trained dolphins, but I didn't have enough time to devote to him.  When I moved back home after college he did not fit with my family dynamic and since I was not financially in a place to move out on my own, he had to find another family.  I put an ad in the paper and interviewed people.  I visited their homes to make sure that he would have the best home possible and would be loved.  I remember the day I dropped him off at his new home and left.  I cried for several hours that day, and for several days afterward.  He was such a beautiful and smart dog.  I still miss him.  I checked up on him for the next year then I decided I needed to let it go.  I will always love my Chandler boy.

Now on to my sweet Marcie!  Considering that I blog about her all the time, you all know why and how much I love my girl!   She's such a good girl and she's so good with Logan!  They really are best friends...no matter what Ian says!  He loves Marcie best :)  Anyway, Marcie was a shelter dog and I am pretty much convinced that I will never get a dog from a breeder ever again.  Shelter dogs need homes.   When we got Marcie she was on death row at the shelter!  She'd been there for 6 weeks...they only reason she hadn't been euthanized yet was because she was so cute, they felt sure she'd get adopted any day.  Thank goodness we went to find her when we did.  It makes me sad the number of animals that live in animal shelters.  They need loving homes!  Everytime I think of the 6 weeks Marcie spent there before we found her it makes me sad and makes me want to spoil her a little bit more!  So I do :)

All of the dogs I have had through the years hold a special place in my heart.  Dogs are only with us for a short period of time but the happiness and joy they bring to our lives during that time far outlives them.  I have many, many happy memories of my dogs and although there is pain that goes along with it, I think the pain of losing them is dulled by the happy memories.