This much snow- First time since 1985!!

Wow--- what a suprise to have the weather men RIGHT this time with predicting snow and actually having it happen! It started around 2 ish in the afternoon- i ran some errands getting mini me's hair cut and then to Wally world for some pull ups for the muffin- News crews were at the store.. it was pure chaos!! By the time we got home, there was enough fluff to play in ( thank goodness daddy was home, because i'm SO not an outdoors, playin in the snow kind of gal!) Wanna know something special about lil muffin's snow pants? NO LIE- they were MINE as a little girl! LOL-

After hours of playing in the snow last night - while i sat next door at a neighbors to gossip, we all came home about 8 pm.. i went to throw some dinner together and all the lights went out..
So, we lit some candles and ate sugar wafers ( !!!!!) in bed for dinner and all slept in our bed- apparently the power came back on around 230 this am-

This was the view this AM from our back porch- i LOVE living out in the country!!

Poor little cocoa just didnt know what to do!!

RANDOMNESS UPDATE!!

Hey y'all!!!!!! As you can imagine, life has been busy- as posted in prior posts, this is my first term BACK in school in 11 years!! those of you that knew me in my prior highschool life know school was definately NOT my strength and would be SHOCKED to know that i am going into my mid-term with an A! yup, you read that right! so..excuse the fact that i've not been blogging, but i'm trying to be a responsible "big girl" and prove myself this time around ;) Midterm's tomorrow, PLEASE send lots of prayers out for my test taking. I've been known to have SERIOUS text anxiety and would love to CONQUER that issue

Is This NOT the cutest BATHING suit you have EVER seen? THIS is the reason i love having a little girl- perfect for your baby, or a baby in your life.. seriously!! they have it in canary yellow as well and since i'd look like a friggin LOONY toon wearing it, why not live vicariously thru my toddler ;) ps- they are @ old Navy right now, AND they are on sale for 10 smacker-oos.. IF you have an old navy, Gap or Banana card, not only can you get FREE shipping, BUT you can ALSO get 10% off on TUESDAYS!!! i know, i know.. i know WAY too much, and as my neighbor kelly would say :" you've got issues.. "why yes, i do ;)

And lastly, this sweet sweet ball of fur is going in to get fixed tomorrow, so lift her up in your prayers as well- If you've been following my blog, y'all know that my lil Jewel passed away and so now lil Cocoa has my heart.. I want everything to go smoothly cause Lord knows, i cant handle another health issue in my life right now.. i have enough issues of my own- im pretty sure the nut house would come a knockin ;)

There have been MANY requests for directions on how i made my "subway art" canvas for my girlfriend's wedding shower- THAT WILL be my next post!!! SUPER easy and SO SO reasonable.. we're talking UNDER 10 BUCKS, baby!

Picture worth a thousand words

Mini me took Cocoa potty and i looked out back.. what i saw made me speechless. She was standing over Jewel's grave and talking to her.

..... It not only choked me up, but broke my heart!

In LOVING memory...

It is with such a sad, heavy heart that i write this post.. So heavy that as i write this, i'm so choked up, I can no longer fight back tears. My little shadow has finally gone to be with her Jesus.

Many of you don't know how our journey with our little Jewel began. Its a sweet story- I never grew up with a pet. EVER. I didnt ever want one because i didnt understand the concept of owning a pet and loving them SO much.

My sweet husband started looking for a dog, and i must admit i was VERY skeptical. He did hours of research online about what dog would be good with kids and hypo- allergenic. My skepticism turned to eagerness for a dog. For Valentines day, 2003, i received my little Jewel. She came to me Via plane, where we picked her up in the cargo area at the airport. She was the size of a dollar bill, no lie.

All black with rust colored hair around her face. As we opened the hard plastic carrier for the first time, i fell IN LOVE! her little body was shaking she was so scared. So little, i just couldnt get enough of her.

IT WAS THAT DAY MY LOVE WITH HER GREW DEEPER. She was my first dog, my best friend who went thru surgeries with me, took naps with me, stood at my feet to "shark" for food, welcoming home a new baby, a move across the country and a move to a new house.

From the first week we had her, she suffered from TERRIBLE health problems-

*we took her to a neurologist her first week at our house

* She choked on apple and Chicken nugget, both times ending up at the vet

*She had heart disease

*Liver shunt

She took medicine every 12 hours- she would vomit and become disoriented from her shunt. We spent countless dollars and hours in the Vet and she would pop back to her spunky self, earning the name "lazzy" because she reminded us so much of Lazarus from the Bible, coming back from the dead.

My heart hurt for her and yet she always had the BEST attitude and would snuggle all day long. From the first week we had her, i knew Jewels time was all borrowed and that it wouldnt be long that she shared her life with us.

This summer we talked about getting another dog in knowing that Jewel not only needed a companion, but I needed another dog to bond with for when the inevitable would come. And that's when cocoa became part of our family. She and Jewel were best of buddies and yet, Jewel was always boss ;) If she wanted her own space in her crate, she would growl at cocoa to tell her to stay away.

This past week, her time came. She suffered from what i now found out was mild seizures for the last few months and then Wednesday night suffered from 2 MAJOR seizures. i would sit with her, and rub her gently while reassuring her she'd be ok.

Thanksgiving came and so did her third Major and final seizure. i took her to the vet and talked with the Vet. she assured me that her time had neared and her health was not only getting worse, but she was in pain and disoriented. It was then in my heart i knew, NOW is her time.

I made the toughest decision of my life, knowing it was the best for her. I said goodbye--- It hurt.. SO bad.. it still hurts and probably will forever hurt. I miss her touch, her shadow, i miss her snuggling on my bed with me all curled up. Gosh.. its painful.

Thanksgiving is a time for us all to give thanks- and it was that day i will NEVER forget and will always be thankful for the 5, almost 6 years she spent with us. Jewel will always be special to me, being my First dog.

It is with a heavy heart that i say, "Jewel, YOU WILL BE MISSED!"

Loves and Snuggles make Everything better!

I wanted to post recent pictures of our little Jewel ( the one on the previous post was months old) As i'd said before Friday she was very needy- crying all the time and just wanted to be held. With the husbands birthday, i HAD to get stuff done. We had a suprise get together for him on Saturday and i needed to make him a cake. So, make a cake i did WITH her in my baby carrier.. i SWEAR i'm not a crazy dog lady... ( crazy, yes.. ) Please excuse my face- i didnt do myself all up, after being on 4 hrs of sleep, i DIDNT care!!
She looks AWFUL, doesnt she?!

This was taken last night and i thought it was SO precious!

The poodle - who you read about in another post as - has been fantastic with

the Yorkie. She's been so gentle with her. Last night, the yorkie cuddled up with the husband and i thought it was so precious that she laid her head on the yorkie... She knows she's hurt, and she just wanted to love on her. And another Sweet shot

Keep praying for her!!!!!! She's a fighter!!

Feel Better, Lil Jewel

As i said in the previous post, we had a freak accident last week-
We had a nieghbor boy and his mom over for the first time and they were literally over for 5 minutes. The little boy is terrified of dogs ( i guess our 2 4 lb dogs are TERRIFYING, just sayin') If i would have known this, precautionary measures would have been taken. Mini me let the dogs out of their crate and as usual, they greeted all of us, including neighbor boy. He was perched like a frog on the side of the loveseat. The poodle jumped up on the couch to give nieghbor boy a kiss, and it freaked him out. He literally jumped backwards off the loveseat and ONTO Jewel.

The noise and the sight i saw i will NEVER forget. She layed there CRYING, white tongue and limp. I immediately picked her up and knew something was terribly wrong.

I put everything into place as to who needed to watch the girls, got in the car, and rushed her to the ER vet.

They met me at the door and rushed her back. They gave her pain meds immediately and ran x-rays after making me sign a contract that it would cost me roughly 700-1250 dollars. YES, you read that correctly. I tried like a psycho to get ahold of the husband and couldnt, so i made a split second decision and signed the contract. As ya'll know, jewel is my life and joy. She's been thru absolute hell and back in her 5 years of life. Liver shunts, heart murmer, choking on an apple and chicken nugget.... literally, this dog has 25 lives.

She stayed the night at the ER vet- she was in BAD shape. Coudlnt walk, and although she didnt have any broken bones, they thought she may have some neurological damage, but only time would tell.

We picked her up the next day and had hours of whining and crying- i felt absolutely helpless and terrible for her .the only way she was comfortable was to be in my peanut shell baby carrier. She would only sleep for 4 hrs at a time. I was exhausted.

Now, days later, she once again has pulled almost completely through it. She's still on 3 Medications for it, including a steroid. She sleeps with us at night- she's very very needy. She's drinking and eating on her own ( that's a plus, i was syringe feeding her) and she's not walking 100%. she will walk and then drag her legs, and they give out.. i think neighbor boy landed on back legs?! We're still not sure. She probably feels like she was hit by a mac truck!!!
Poor little princess!!