Monte's Surgery

Today was one heck of an emotional day. Mostly due to me being prego. I made sure we played extensively with Monte last night and let him lay in bed with us extra long this morning too. 

I was an emotional wreck. Good thing Nick is so calm, cool and collected. Nick let me drive Monte to the vet and I kept telling Monte what a good little boy he was, all the while trying not to cry so he couldn't pick up that I was upset. I lost it once we got to the animal hospital and he did not want to get into the kennel. Nick had to coax him in there. I had to leave and stand outside while Nick filled out the paper work. What a baby I am.

Great news though! Monte's surgery was a success. Nick picked him up at six. He is a little lethargic and loony. He keeps falling asleep standing up and won't let Gracie get near him. I feel so bad, but the vet said he took out so much tissue, Monte will live a longer more comfortable life. They tried putting a catheter in his right arm, that failed. But they were able to get it in the left arm. Nick drew a heart with the word MOM inside his poor little battle wound.

Wish us luck on the road to recovery. We love you little man!!

Week 30! Holy Moly!

I tried to take it by myself.  :-)

I went to my 30 week appointment on Friday morning. I was anticipating them telling me I had gained 25 pounds. For some reason, these past two weeks, I feel like I have ballooned. My pants are more snug, my shirts are tighter, I have a REALLY hard time shaving and even putting my shoes on. I am not complaining, but seriously it snuck up on me. They said I had gained three pounds in two weeks, I was measuring just right, and Avery's heart beat sounded wonderful. Music to my ears!

Nick had a managers meeting in Salt Lake on Friday while I was working the late shift that night in Logan. After work, I wanted to drive down to Salt Lake, but man.....that fog was outrageous! I stayed in Logan and headed out the next morning. The drive on Saturday morning was a bit scary in Sardine and Brigham City. It was still fogged over, but not too bad. When I got to Salty, we had major errand running to do.

 

We went to Fetal Fotos to see little Avery again. (We have missed seeing her since our 20 week appointment!) She was being really, really, REALLY stubborn. (And yes Nick, she probably gets the stubborness from me. This will be the only time I may admit it.) She was sound asleep and wouldn't wake up, so the tech told us to go get a juice and some sugar. I went to Ms. Fields, ate a cookie and downed an entire apple juice. We went back and she was beginning to wake up. Her poor face was smooshed  by the placenta and she had her left arm resting on her head. So, we didn't get a clear 3D or 4D shot of her. Dang! BUT.....on the 2D screen, we could see her yawning, stretching, and drinking fluid. We also saw her entire rib cage, spine, and her little heart. It was beautiful! I'm going back in two weeks to see if we can get a better shot. By that time, she should drop a little and my placenta should rise. She did measure two weeks ahead of schedule and weighed approximately 4 pounds. (1 pound more than average.) I am hoping I do not have a sumo wrestler pop out of me!

The Yankees Items Nick (and Grandpa Dale) have purchased Ave.

We finally registered at Babies R Us!! It was fun, exciting, but oh so overwhelming. I think we were there for over two hours. We followed the list of stuff they suggested registering for. It made me feel so unprepared. We registered for so much, but at least we have things picked out now and can look at the registry in the future to help us figure out what we need. Nick was so excited and kept shooting the dang laser at everything he thought was cool.

 

We then went to dinner with our friends Erika and Sean at Happy Sumo. I have been craving sushi like you wouldn't believe. We went and devoured tempura rolls. (All the raw fish is cooked. So it is safe.) Yummy!! We then got caramel apples and headed to our house. We wanted to show them the nursery. We have another friend, Jules from the Wing Company, who has been painting a story book tree in the nursery. Since we are not in Salty as much, we knew it would be smart to hire out. It looks wonderful! So Erika and Sean, thank you for a fabulous night. And thank you for being such wonderful friends. We can't wait to do it again. :)

Not done, but looking awesome so far!

Then today, Nick pampered me by buying some much needed maternity clothing at A Pea in The Pod. Love the store, not the prices. Thank you babe!! We also got our hair did at Landis. Aaahhhh! I love getting my hair done. Nick was camera happy and was taking my pictures as Cassie was washing my hair. I never think to break out the camera to embarrass him, but I sure will now! ;)

After, we packed up the car and I headed back to Logan with the kids as he stayed in Salty for some doctor appointments for tomorrow.  I left Salt Lake with 5 inches of snow on our driveway and came back to Logan with only rain. Sardine was icky, but when is it not?

Sardine = Anxiety!

It was such a fast, sometimes scary (due to weather), and busy trip.....but we accomplished alot.

Good Luck at your doctor appointment tomorrow morning babe! I love you! 

Our Kids....

So, we know we ALWAYS talk about our puppies, show pictures of them to EVERYONE, and blog about them every chance we get... but, we absolutely love our kids. They are our life.

This past Thursday I came home as usual on my lunch break. We had been leaving the kids out of their kennel while we were at work. We just felt so bad having them caged all day. Sunday through Wednesday, they did awesome. Complete bliss! (Well, except for some nice sheetrock work they did. Thank Goodness for Lowe's!) But this very day, it all came crashing down. I came home to find a baseboard completely chewed and wood chips and shards all over. I was on the phone with Nick complaining how I couldn't put up with it any longer. Monte started to dry heave, so I told Nick I had to get Monte outside.

I took him out, all the while screaming how naughty he was. He threw up liquid, then was dry heaving again. He couldn't get anything out and became weak. I started to pat his back and then he completely collapsed onto his side. No movement.

I carried him inside crying and screaming for him to breathe. His tongue was now dark purple, almost black. His eyes had rolled up and were locked looking straight into my eyes. I laid him down and was patting his chest not knowing how to get him to breathe. By this time, no air was going in or out. I opened his locked jaw and was trying to clear out his throat to see if something was lodged in there. Nothing! So, I started CPR on him. I could hear little breaths trying to escape so I kept doing it. He finally acted like he was choking and was getting air. His tongue started getting color again.

I called Nick hysterical. He called the vet and I rushed over there. The entire staff at the animal hospital was ready and waiting. They immediately put him on oxygen and gave him a anti inflammatory steroid to help the swelling in his throat. They kept him for a few hours observing him to make sure this episode wouldn't happen again. I went home to check on Gracie. She stayed by the door, whining. I am sure she was scared and confused. 

The veterinarian thinks the second time Monte was trying to vomit, something became lodged behind his soft pallet and restricted his airway completely. So, this coming Thursday, Monte is going in for surgery to remove his soft pallet. I am absolutely terrified about this surgery. Nick is scared also, but wants to improve the quality of life for our little man. (As do I.) Please keep Monte in your thoughts and prayers. It may sound silly, because he is a dog. But him and Gracie are our lives. This was one of the most terrifying experiences and I would never wish it upon anyone.

So, we are sorry if we always and sometimes only talk about our dogs. But they are simply more than that to us. 

We love you Monte and Grace!

More "Monte"ness

We just thought you would like to see how fun Monte boy is! We cry everytime we watch this!

Love you Monte boy!!

(Gracie is usually too busy stealing his toys or cuddling with momma.)

Love you too Gracie Poo!

Week 29

A nice, relaxing and uneventful week...............

Week 29. Only 11 more to go!

Whoa! Where did this last week go? Not much happened this week. Just work, work, work. I am feeling little Avery do somersaults and stretch alot. My tummy now moves when she is doing her little excersises in me. It is the strangest feeling, but still oh so cool! Nick gets really excited when she moves for him. She goes wild when he is talking to the pupper dogs. It is so funny.

I cant believe I only have 11 more weeks to go. It feels so far away, yet so close. We have SO much to do! Avery is now as big as a butternut squash (about 14.2 inches and 2.9 pounds) and continues to build fat underneath her skin. Her head should now be proportioned with the rest of her body.

It really was an uneventful week. On Thursday I drove to Salt Lake for IRA training. I know you all are SO jealous! I ran a few errands while there, went to lunch at Little America with my old boss, and caught up with my mom. We went to the Quilted Bear and bought some decorations for Aver's room.

On Friday, Nick and I went on a date night. He told me we were headed somewhere at 6 pm, but wouldn't tell me where. On our way to the surprise location, I kept guessing and guessing what we were about to do. We pulled into the Sports Academy and I guessed we were getting massages. I was half right. Nick bought me an hour prenatal massage while he worked out. He is so good to me. The massage therapist had a table with a hole for my tummy to fit in. It had been atleast six months since I had slept on my belly. Oh.....have I missed it. It was so so so nice!!

Today, Nick's mom and sister Lindsay came up for breakfast. It was fun to catch up with them. After, we headed to Ogden so Nick could get some time in the wind tunnel at IFly. Here are some pictures and video. If you have never tried IFly (indoor skydiving), you must!!

Nick (in the blue) and Davey (in the black) doing a back fly two-way

Davey looking like Spider Man.

Finally, we started testing the dogs by leaving them out of their kennel. We have felt so bad leaving them locked up all day. So yesterday, we left them out half of a day while we were at work and today we left them out while we were in Ogden. We came home to complete bliss. Gracie was asleep on the sofa and Monte was staring at us. The house was untouched! Our kids are so good. We couldn't be luckier!

Such a Handsom Little Fella!

What a Cute Mug!

Monte's New Favorite Game.

As I said, a pretty uneventful week. We hope you all have a safe and fun rest of the weekend!

Week 28 and The Logan Nursery!

What a week....................

Week 28 started off a little weary. I had been having episodes of shortness of breath, a racing heart, dizzy spells......basically I felt like I had ran a marathon every morning three days in a row. I went to the doctor and they said my nervous system was kicking into overdrive and it was very common in pregnancies. I felt like a nerd and went home with my tail between my legs. Three days later, I had my regular 28 week appointment with my regular doctor. This was the day that I got to do the glucose diabetes test and get my shot for being Rh-. (My blood type is B- and most likely Avery's blood type is in the +, so I get a shot to help her and me.) I hate needles and my butt cheek felt like I got punched, but it is all so worth it to bring this little miracle into the world. My weight was right on track (thank you Special K!!) and my blood pressure was the best it had been since starting my doctor appointments. I have been having problems sleeping and was getting a good three to four hours a night. The doctor finally gave me a prescription for Ambien to help me! Woo Hoo!



And so begins the daring task of painting the Logan nursery! This is what the wall's looked like prior to our journey. On Friday night, Nick and I started measuring stripes and taping them off. We had always wanted to try painting the stripes our selves. (We hired someone to paint our Salt Lake nursery, so that post will be at a later time.) We stayed up until midnight taping and decided to paint one wall to see how it would look in the morning.

The next morning we woke up and were excited with our progress so we started taping again. We took a small break to go see the movie Marley & Me with my sister Ashley & grabbed some pizza from The Factory. After our little date, we painted and painted and painted......



After painting, I came down with flu like symptoms, was vomiting, and my tummy felt like it was on fire. We're not sure if it was from the paint fumes, but I was MISERABLE!! We of course called my mom for advise and decided to call it a night. We were so close to going to the hospital. Thank goodness we didn't. I fell asleep ok, but was up at three wide awake. Aaahhh!! Nick is such a sweetheart and took such good care of me.





Gracie looking the part of The Godfather.

Monte watching poppa play the Wii.

Our poor puppers probably felt so left out and neglected. They are such great kids. We lucked out!!

We pulled the tape off today and were pleasantly surprised with the outcome. We have alot to do still, but it finally feels like we are making progress!! It is so exciting. Nick ordered me to take the day off, so he painted the second coat all by himself today. He is so wonderful.



Avery has been super hyper-active today. I pulled my shirt up over my tummy and you can see my skin move when she kicks. It's amazing...yet so weird! When Nick talks to Gracie and Monte, she starts to move. I hope she loves those doggies as much we do!



So, it has been a wild and crazy week. We wouldn't change it for the world though.

Look how spoiled she already is!

I know we just posted yesterday, but we started going through a great checklist we found at Baby Depot and wanted to show you how carried away we can get. Boy, little Avery is one spoiled baby who isn't even born yet!

Looks like a lot, but according to our checklist....we aren't even close!

This is Nick's daddy diaper bag that I got him for Christmas. He LOVES it!

I told Nick to act like he was pushing the stroller, this is what I got. :)

And finally....I said I would never take a picture of my "bump", but I thought I might as well document my last 13 weeks. This is me at 27 weeks and counting. (Ps..for you who know me, I can't make a straight face for the life of me to the camera.)

The year 2008. Where did it go?

2008 in a nutshell. (A Long one.) It was a WHIRLWIND of a year!

January: Nick opened a branch of Codale Electric Supply in Logan, thus leaving Brittany alone in Salty. Brittany was adjusting to her new job and co-workers.

February: Lots and lots of commuting back and forth between Logan and Salt Lake. Yuck!! Sardine in the winter = NO FUN! Nick traveled to Ixtapa, Mexico on a Sky Diving trip for a week with some close and crazy friends!!

March: Finally some well deserved fun. Britt threw Nick a surprise 30th birthday party (thank you everyone for coming!!) and celebrated his actual birthday in San Diego. We spent alot of time at the beach, the condo, The Padre's game, and ate at lot's of awesome restaurants. We LOVE San Diego!

April: Nick decided to spice things up and throw Britt out of an airplane 13,000 feet in the air. It was one of the funnest things Britt has ever experienced. Later that same night, Britt decided to spice things up in her own way by slicing off the top of her thumb. Hence, many hours spent in the ER. Many hours in the ER = Nick and his ER antics playing a doctor (no, not in that way) and taking notes and preparing for something that happens in July..........

May: A milestone moment for Brittany! And the infamous Sean Lee and Nicholas escapade of 2008! Let me have Nick type in his own words what happened one fateful night: The only thing you need to know to envision the epic moment is two guys, a Yukon with a flat tire, a Poodle named Tucker, and a door left wide open on 4500 South and State Street. Needless to say it was a living frogger game.

June: Lots and lots of commuting back anf forth between Logan and Salty. We do agree that Sardine is MUCH prettier in the summer than winter. Brittany flew out to Tulsa, OK and picked up their little princess....Gracie.

Gracie at the Tulsa Airport

July: Our trip to New York City!!! One of the best trips ever. We flew out on a red eye on the 3rd and arrived the morning of the 4th at 5:45 AM. The city was still asleep so we took advantage and explored. We stayed right on Time Square at the Marriott. Awesome! We headed to the Today show, went to the Yankee's vs. Red Sox game and met up with Katie Coon, then after Nick told Brittany to get all fancied up for a surprise. I had NO idea what he was up to, but complied. After getting dressed up, we headed downstairs where a town car was waiting for us. We drove around for awhile and pulled up right in front of The Empire State Building. I thought this was the surprise. We headed to the top and watched the fireworks go off in all four directions. (Breathtaking!) It was raining and after the fireworks were over, I asked if we could go inside. I was drenched in a black strapless dress with no poncho. Although I did use napkins as an umbrella. Nick told me to come look at the other side of the building and see if there were anymore fireworks going off. Instead, he got on one knee and put a rubber band one my right hand ring finger. He said he had taken my ring measurement in the ER (refer to the story from April) while I was all drugged up from the docs. (I don't remember this at all!) I was a little confused and was like...ok cool. Let's go in, it's freezing. Then he took out something from his pocket and officially proposed with one of the most gorgeous rings I have ever seen. I could go on and on...but in a nutshell, it was the most amazing moment ever.

The view from the top of The Empire State Building

The next day, we went to Jersey Boys on Broadway, ate at yummy restauraunts and visited awesome bars. It felt like an episode of Sex in the City. After our trip, I went home to Salt Lake and Nick flew to Ireland for a three week golf trip with his dad and company! Lucky Boy!

August: Britt and Nick decided commuting was no longer fun. And being engaged, Britt packed up and moved to her old stomping grounds...L Town. Things were pretty crazy and us two crazy kids found out we brought home more than just souvenirs and an engagement ring from New York City. We found out we were having a BABY! Us...a baby! Needless to say, we were pretty darn excited. (And scared. Nick won't admit it!)

September: Not too much happened. Although Brittany's sister Ashley lives in Logan and we established a sister night on Thursday's. It consists of shopping, dinner, Grey's Anatomy and E.R. Brittany started working at her old bank. We also bought our nursery furniture for both houses. Yes, two nurseries. But no, we are not having twins.

The Furniture for the Logan Nursery

October: Our kids, Monte and Gracie's first Halloween. We found the perfect Toddler costumes at Albertson's of all places. Britt started practicing to be a mom and altered the costumes accordingly. Let's just say, they were a hit! All the kids in our neighborhood loved them. Nick paraded them down Main Street and got all sorts of honks from passing cars. We also went to dinner with our dear friends Pete and Jenny from Park City. They are such wonderful parents and we look up to them so much! Nick also spent a guys weekend out in the Uintah's with Sean Lee and Brian while Brittany went to the annual Save a Stray Soiree at La Caille with Emily and Leigh Roy. Monte was her date for the night! Gracie spent the weekend with Nick and the boys.

Monte as a Spider

Gracie as a Lion

November: The BIG moment. We found out we are having a little GIRL!!! Now picture this, Nick loves to joke. Sometime too much. This is one thing I love about him. When the technician showed us what we were having, he asked "So, how much longer does it need to cook to get a kick stand?" Britt celebrated her 27th birthday surrounded by the ones she love. Nick spoils Brittany!

December: What a busy month. We spent 9 weeks in a row commuting to Salt Lake. Wowser. Talk about us being crazy. We had Brittany's work party at Little America, Nick's dad's annual Christmas party (so fun!), and lots of family parties. We LOVE the holidays and spending time with our family and friends. We had one of the best Christmases ever and look forward to next Christmas with our baby girl. PS: Our little one, not even being born, got SO SO spoiled!

We know this post was a long one, but now you know how fast our time flies and the fun things we love doing together. We look forward to many many more adventures and will keep you up to speed.

2009 New Years Resolution

So Nick and I decided one of our 2009 New Years Resolutions was to create a blog. With us living in Logan and most of our friends (with the exception of Matt and Em) and family living elsewhere, we wanted to create a page to keep everyone in the loop of our awesome adventures together. Cheesy? Maybe. But we love looking at other friends and families pages and hope you will enjoy looking at ours too.