Kayelynn pics

These pictures were supposed to be attached to my last post, but something went amiss. Just wanted you to see my dear, mischievous Kayelynn.

My Little Kayelynn

I haven't had a post dedicated to only Kayelynn lately. I have had lots of thoughts that I wanted to share about her but have found myself doing other things besides blogging about them. (this is partly because Kayelynn keeps me VERY busy!)
When I was pregnant and found out that I was having a girl, my thoughts went to frills, tea parties and baby dolls. I was excited. A sweet, angelic little girl was joining our family. (ha ha ha...sorry, having thoughts you can't hear)
Kayelynn is a sweet girl but not dainty or quiet. Frills are not for her. I thought I had trained her up right by putting a big bow or flower in her hair since birth. I thought she liked them because she always left them in her hair. I used to joke that she liked to accessorize. WRONG! She pulls out even the tiniest of bows that I try to sneak in her hair. I've all but given up that she'll ever wear bows again. She does like to accessorize, but in her own way. She has lots of plastic play jewelry. She loves to drape long sets of beads over her head and plastic bangles all the way up her arm. This is cute and adorable. (except when I have her in a sweet little church dress on Sunday morning and she throws herself on the ground to have a drama fit because I won't let her wear her plastic jewels to church)
We do have tea parties but they only last about 5 minutes. Then the party generally ends by Kayelynn hurdling the teapot across the room. She has dolls too. She even calls them "bebe". My heart melts when I see her rocking them, feeding them or wrapping them up in receiving blankets that used to be hers. Moments later I sigh as she beats the "bebe" against the wall. Kayelynn did show a fierce love for the culinary arts yesterday. Her cousin Leah gave her a kitchen set (complete with stove, oven, microwave, sink and cutting board, not to mention various foods and dishes) Kayelynn was in heaven. She was "organizing" the produce when Trey came to check out the new toys. Out of no where, Kayelynn stands up and tackles Trey, claws his eyes out and shouts what sounds like "mine! mine!"
Usually, Kayelynn gets along well with her brother but more and more they are learning how to pick at and aggravate each other. Her favorite toys are the bulldozers and trains that belong to Trey. This can be a precious bonding moment for them or a very dangerous and hostile situation. One never knows how it will go...
Mostly though, Kayelynn just wants to keep up with big brother. Anything he can do, she can do (or do it better) Kayelynn is queen of the swing set, loves four wheeler rides, wrestles with our dogs, chases goats, will moo at cows, tries to dress herself, feed herself, and brushes her own teeth. (the toothbrushing she actually does better than Brother)
She has funny little quirks like trying to eat the powder or desitin cream at every diaper change. When I come to get her out of bed in the morning, she has thrown out every stuffed animal and blanket she had with her when I tucked her in the night before. She also loves to blow rasberries ( which has actually developed into just spitting on people)
She is smart too. She can name her eyes, ears, nose and mouth. But beware when she points them out. You are likely to get your eye poked out. (gentle is not in her vocabulary) She loves to go to "preschool" with Brother and has been caught dragging around younger little boys by their necks.
Kayelynn is rough and tumble and will most likely grow into a full blown tom boy. But I love every inch of her. My heart almost bursts every time she says "I wuv ewe". I love how she snuggles close to my chest when I get ready to put her to bed (even though the snuggles only last for five seconds) And, I love, love, love her kisses. (which can be scary as she rushes towards you with her mouth wide open and her sharp little teeth coming right for your face)
I love her. I love her. I love her.

My Dog Sadie (part 3)

About a week ago, after I had put the kids to bed, I took a blanket out and laid beside Sadie. I stared up at the stars and caressed her soft ears. It occurred to me that her ears felt as soft that night as the first time I touched them although the rest of her coat had become rough and coarse from age and outdoor life. I laid out side with her for a long time thinking about all of the things I have already written about in my last two posts.
I was sad though. Sadie was sick. I had noticed that she had been losing weight and she had also developed a limp in her front leg. I had attributed all of this to age. She was 11 now. (77 in dog years)
When Sadie was no longer using her front leg, I decided to take her to the vet. The doctor's first thought was that Sadie's leg was broken. They took her for x-rays and I sat in the exam room feeling like a terrible pet owner for letting this go on for almost two weeks before bringing her in.
When the vet came back to talk to me I began to wish that Sadie's leg was broken. But it wasn't. Sadie has what the doctor thought was a fungal infection - blastonycoses. The blasto (as the vet called it) had given Sadie a high fever, attacked her joints (especially that front leg) and infiltrated her lungs. The vet explained to me what a terrible disease this was. There weren't any drugs that worked well to treat it. In fact I'd have to go to a "people pharmacy" to get her medication. I have worked in the medical profession long enough to read between the lines. The vet was trying to tell me that my dog was probably going to die. I teared up as I looked down at Sadie but pulled myself together before looking up at the vet again.
I'm glad I spent that evening outside with Sadie. Because today I had to dig my first grave, a Sadie sized grave. It was the thing I had feared for 11 years, the death of my first, most beloved, dog.
It was therapeutic for me to prepare her resting place. I cried while I dug it. I dug that grave with determination and care. It was the last thing I was going to be able to do for my Sadie and I wanted to do it well.
I let my mind run through every moment I could remember with her, from catching snowballs in her mouth to hiking trips to visits to the dog park. Sadie had been a spectacular dog. I believe she cared for me as much as I cared for her. This dog had laid in bed with me while I suffered through the grief process with my first miscarriage. Sadie had been my closest companion while Rex was at war in Iraq. She had been my driving buddy on long trips from Florida or North Carolina to Home. More than once we had gone through Taco Bell's drive thru and shared a chicken quesadilla. She was always there for me. Had I been for her? She gave me much joy and loved me unconditionally. I doubt I will ever have a dog mean so much to me as Sadie did.
The eternal optimist in me never gave up. I bought the ungodly, over priced medicine she needed. I gave it to her faithfully day after day. After two days on the medicine, she stopped eating. So, I diligently forced her to eat bits of meat and cheese. Then she began refusing to swallow these foods that I would give her. I consulted the vet and got medicines to help her appetite. Still she didn't want to eat. She was getting so thin. But still her eyes were bright. I kept on with her medicines and spent a little extra time with her trying to make her feel loved. Her leg was getting better but she was very weak. Two days ago I noticed her eyes looking sad, tired.
So, I wasn't shocked when I found her on this bright, beautiful April 15th morning. I wasn't shocked but I knelt by her and cried as I rubbed her soft little ears. All I could manage to say was "Sadie, oh my Sadie girl".
I cry now, even as I type this. It doesn't matter that I am a grown woman with children of her own. I am sad. I loved Sadie like she was a little person. I will miss her and think of her often. She was only here a short time but she made a big difference in my life.
She sleeps now under the little poplar tree closest to my house. A newly planted peony is there beside her to remind me every spring of my first dog, (the best dog ever), Sadie.

My Dog Sadie (part 2)

Sadie was 4 months old when we adopted her. Rex and I both adored her but were a bit concerned about her size. We lived in an apartment and we wondered how much more she would grow. Luckily, she had already done most of her growing.
Sadie was a lab mix. Her first visit to the vet enlightened us to the fact that she was a lab/basset mix. (I know, I know, this seems strange. But, on Sadie it was adorable. She did look mostly like a yellow lab. She was darker in color than most that I have seen. Her coloring made me think of butterscotch. But Sadie had short stumpy legs, basset legs, as the vet had pointed out. I thought she was adorable, no matter what her strange parentage had been.
Sadie had beautiful brown eyes too. Not chocolate brown, more like topaz. Her eyes sparkled like jewels. (For real! I'm not making this up) And I could read her like a book just by looking at her eyes. She had the most human eyes I have ever seen on a dog.
I also loved her ears. They were a shade darker than the rest of her and so soft. I could spend hours running my fingers over her ears and Sadie was content to let me do so.
Not only was Sadie cute and original in her make up. She was smart too. I had discovered an animal talk show on tv that ran on Animal Planet. I would watch often. There was a segment on each show that would show pet owners how to teach their dogs tricks. I would do just as instructed and work with Sadie. She would pick up commands after 4 or 5 tries. Rex would return home from school each day and we would have a new trick to show him. I was completely impressed with her ability to learn. She spent a weekend with a friend of ours, John Barkenbus, and when we picked her up he showed us what he had taught her. John pointed his fingers at her like a gun. "Bang!" he said. Sadie dropped to the floor and rolled over to her side to play dead. Brilliant!
Speaking of our friend John, Sadie loved him. She would hear him coming down the hallway to our apartment and she would know it was him. She'd stand at the door with her ears perked and head cocked to the side. John would scratch or knock on the door or call her name and Sadie would get so excited. (And she wasn't normally that excitable) But when John came over she would get so excited that she would pee just alittle even though she was completely house broken. I don't know how many spots I cleaned up in front of the door before we wised up. Eventually we would pay closer attention and as soon as Sadie would perk her ears up we would fling open the door and let her run out to "greet" John outside.
Even though she was full grown in size, Sadie was still a puppy and had a few bad puppy habits, like chewing.....everything. She ate part of our couch(luckily it wasn't in a noticeable spot), she mutilated several pencils, she even chewed up a 2x2 in square of our carpet. (And I mean chewed it up to where we could see the concrete sub floor.) (Luckily I was able to acquire some sutures and my med school husband was able to sew a carpet patch in)
Over time, we saw that carpet was Sadie's choice of attack whenever her nerves got the best of her. In June of 2001 we moved to Florida where Sadie ate an entire door mat the first time Rex and I both had to go to work and she was left alone. She was sick for weeks.
In 2003, we were living in North Carolina. Rex had just returned home from Iraq. We went out one night and came home to find Sadie had eaten a narrow four or five foot strip of carpet. This time she was even sicker and I ended up taking her to the vet where she was diagnosed with a bowel obstruction. (No joke). The doctor said we could do a $500 operation to try to save her or we could opt to put her to sleep. Surgery, of course! That was my choice but I knew I needed to run a $500 decision past my husband who was currently working with a whole battalion of marines. I was so afraid he would say we would have to put her to sleep. But, he didn't. He did say Sadie was going to become an outdoor dog as soon as she recovered from surgery. Sadie's transition to outdoor doggy-ness was harder on me than her. She adapted well and possibly liked being outdoors more than indoors.
We moved again to Washington, IN and then finally back home. Each move brought Sadie a bigger yard. I think she loved moving to the farm. She had all the room she wanted to run, woods to explore, and so many new animal smells to smell!
In December 2005 we brought Trey into our family. I worried how Sadie would react to him. We let her sniff him the day we came home from the hospital. She was unimpressed. As Trey got older, Sadie was never rough with him. She was getting older by now and was content just to watch Trey play. Trey liked Sadie too. Besides ma-ma and da-da, his first word was Sadie. I'll never forget hearing him say it, clear as a bell!
I always swore that having children would not make me neglect Sadie. But, kids did change things. I didn't have the time to spend outside with her like I used to. But, when I would be with her, I'd always rub her head and her super soft ears and tell her that she was the best dog in the world. And she would give me the look that said I was the best person in her world. For anyone who is not a dog person, that look is priceless.

My Dog Sadie

I never wanted a dog. I had never had a dog. Dogs were stupid and smelly. Dogs barked a lot and were known to jump on people. I didn't want a dog.
Rex on the other hand thought dogs were the ideal pet. He filled my head with stories about "man's best friend". He assured me he could pick out a good dog. He assured me I would love having a dog.
I did want a pet. I wanted a pet badly. We had been married for a year and had just moved to Indianapolis. I was a little lonely with Rex being in med school. I wanted something to love. If Rex said it had to be a dog then I would give a dog a try.
We agreed that we wanted to get an animal from the pound. I liked the idea of "saving" an animal. So, we went to look. At first, no luck. I wanted a puppy but there were none to be found.
On our third visit, I found a beagle pup that I thought was precious. We took him to the play room to see how he was. He was adorable. I ooooed and ahhhed his cuteness. But the puppy didn't pay any attention to me. The puppy spent the entire time trying to eat Rex's shoes. As much as I liked that puppy, Rex convinced me that it was not the perfect one. "Let's check out this other one I saw" Rex had suggested. I knew the dog he meant. She was a yellow lab mix. I had looked at her too. She was cute but not puppy tiny adorable.
But we took this dog (I think her name was Sunny or Sunshine) to the play room. She seemed a bit timid but pleasant enough. Rex and I each sat down. The dog was between us. She looked at Rex. Then she looked over at me. The next thing I knew, the dog was lying on the floor with her belly up and her little feet up in the air. My heart melted right then. I reached down to pet her belly. The dog looked up at me. Her eyes were so expressive. It was almost as if she was talking to me. "Please pick me. Please pick me. I'll be a good dog."
"I like her" I said as I joined the dog on the floor. Rex bent down to pet her too. He liked her as well and was going on and on about her being submissive by showing us her belly, how that was a good thing and she wasn't chewing his shoe off. He went on and on about all of the good qualities this dog seemed to have. I was already sold. This was my dog. My first dog!
I filled out the paper work and we arranged to pick the dog back up in a few days. I think we had to wait a certain period of time to make sure we wouldn't change our minds or something. I was disappointed that we couldn't take her home that day. But, I did have doggy shopping to do. And we needed to pick a name too. Rex came up with the name Sadie. It wasn't my first choice but I liked it. I was pulling for the name Pooh because she reminded me of Pooh Bear. We compromised and she would become Sadie Pooh Stroud.
On June 30, 1999, I went to pick up our new dog while Rex was at school. I felt very excited and a little nervous too. (Remember, I knew nothing about dogs and was in charge of getting this four legged thing home.) I did manage to get Sadie in the car with me. She might have thought I was crazy at first but after a few tries she hopped in the car. I rolled the window down for her. Hadn't I seen on tv or somewhere that dogs love to hang their heads out of car windows?
We were off to PetSmart. I had noticed that people could bring their pets into this store. I thought that was a novel idea. And what better way for us to bond than a shopping trip? The shopping trip went fine. I bought her some snacks and chew toys and practiced walking her around on her leash. I was starting to think I could handle this dog thing after all.
The trip home was the first lesson Sadie and I had to learn. We were back in my little white, Dodge Shadow leaving the parking lot. Sadie had her head out smelling all the great smells of Indianapolis. I was waiting to pull out onto 86th street. It was a pretty busy intersection and I had to wait thru more than one stoplight. Finally, I was going to make it. I gunned it a little to ensure I made it through the yellow light. It happened so quickly I didn't know what to do. Half way through the intersection I noticed that my passenger was missing. I checked my rear view mirror and there was Sadie lying in the street.
"Oh no!" I thought, " I've only had her a few hours and I've killed her or at least injured her severely." I jumped out of my car leaving it in the middle of the intersection. (Completely blocking traffic and causing much honking to start). Sadie is lying in the road motionless. "Here Sadie" I call. I do this over and over. But....:hello.....I just got the dog, she doesn't know her name. When I get to her I grab her collar and pull but she's not moving. She seems okay just completely traumatized by all of the honking (not to mention the fact that she just fell out of a moving vehicle!). A nice man got out of his car and picked her up for me (she was a big puppy!) and carried her to my car. We drove away unharmed physically but mentally exhausted. I never rolled the window completely down for her again.
If I loved her the day I brought her home, I loved her even more the next day and the next. It became clear right away that she was MY dog. Oh, she liked Rex and would obey him but Sadie and I just clicked. She was my companion and I was hers. I couldn't believe that I hadn't wanted a dog. Who wouldn't want a dog? This dog thing was great!

Peter Cottontail

Bath time at our house was a riot tonight. I really wanted to include pictures with this post but figured it would be inappropriate. You will just have to use your imaginations.....
I left the kids in the bathroom for a quick second to grab pajamas. On my way back to the bathroom, I see Kayelynn heading down the hallway (dripping wet and naked, mind you) pushing her shopping cart at full speed. I had to laugh. She was having a blast and thought it was hilarious when I chased her down the hall and swooped her up in my arms.
I took Kayelynn back to the bathroom to dry her off. Trey was still playing in the tub. I instructed him to stay there and play while I put Sister in bed. He agreed. But before I could make it out of the bathroom, Trey was climbing out of the tub. "What are you doing?! I just told you to stay IN the tub!"
"I know" Trey said. "But, I gotta go poop!"
"Fine", I relented, "but stay ON the potty until I get back to help you."
Trey agreed and I hurried to get Kayelynn in bed before anyone could cause trouble.
When I entered the bathroom again, Trey was standing sideways in front of the mirror, posing and twitching around being silly. "What are you doing?! I told you to stay on the potty! You will get a mess everywhere!"
"No I won't". Trey replied. " I fixed my butt"
With that, Trey twirled around and stuck his behind out towards me.
Sure enough, he had "fixed" things. A big wad of toilet paper was stuffed between his cheeks. I tried to look perturbed but broke a grin when Trey exclaimed proudly,
"Now I look just like Peter Cottontail!"

Happy Easter

Yes, we're gearing up for Easter. Trey and I colored eggs tonight. He really enjoyed himself. (And I think they came out pretty cute too)
I hope everyone has a good Easter!