Adventures with Nora

Our Nora pup is almost 10 weeks (or if you rather, a bit over 2 months) old. She is a good dog. She goes potty outside about 85% of the time (#1&2) and she is fairly good at chewing on her own toys (not the kids'). She still gets rambunctious at inopportune times, i.e. bedtime, but for the most part keeps a steady line of "energetic", which we can manage.

She does still nip a bit too much, especially at the kids, but she never means it in an aggressive way, just too playful. She is growing fast and is sometimes unaware of her bigger, stronger size; she has knocked over the kids a few times.

Last night she threw up apart of her new chew toy she apparently ingested. That was fun at 2am. She has also taken to pooping inside the outdoor play area for the kids. They then step in it and go down the slide. That is definitely something we need to figure how to correct.

She insists on eating out of Phoebe food bowl, which is only fair, Phoebe insists eating out of Nora's. The only thing is Nora needs the puppy food, and Phoebe absolutely does not.

Nora thoroughly loves walks/runs outside, though doesn't yet grasp the idea that to road is not just a giant sidewalk. She loves to pounce on leaves, and even munches on a few of them.

She dislikes the vacuum greatly, but loves to attack the broom.

The biggest issue we have at the moment is what to do with her when we leave. She hates her crate, which I understand. Phoebe hated hers too, and I simply feel like it is unfair to crate up animal for hours in a small cage if you can avoid it.
I did fashion a small dog run with our toddler gate, and that worked great for few weeks. It was big enough for her to walk around in, it had her bed and a couple toys, but there was no top to the "pin" she she didn't feel too caged in.
That ended officially on Christmas eve when were greeted by her and Phoebe at the garage door. Nora figured out how to climb out. The damage wasn't too bad, just bathroom messes to clean up.
I then reconfigured the gate into a circular shape, eliminating the 90° angles I watched her use to climb up and out of the pin the next morning. This only worked for a short trip out, today she had escaped again and somehow knocked down the hall tension gate, granting her access to rooms I was not prepared for her to go in.
Thankfully, once again, she had just used my carpet as a toilet and nothing was chew up or destroyed. While I hate cleaning the carpet over stuff like this, I can, in fact, clean it and no long-term damage is done.
When she did this, I was out at PETSMART, buying a metal cable leash so I could tether her to the kitchen table when we need to leave. (I knew the circular pin would not work for long.) This leash grants her access to her food and water bowls, her bed, her toys, and under the kitchen table...which is one of her favorite nap places. It will also keep her from having too much freedom in the house without supervision. She can reach a bit of carpet, so she might do something gross, but it's not much, and I can't avoid it. It is a leash she cannot chew through, and it's rooted to the base of our table which she cannot move. I hope this is a good alternative to the dog pin.
(Also, I don't mind having the dog pin down...my kitchen feels a lot bigger with it gone.)

I will probably take down my tree earlier this year though. She does like to occasionally chew on the branches, and the leash tether still allows her to reach it. I don't put anything past a bored, annoyed Nora pup.

I also might buy a storage bin or bench to put the kids' toys in. We barely had enough space before Christmas, now I will need something else to help keep the new over-flow safe from puppy teeth.

All in all, she is a sweet, energetic puppy...and she is everything you would expect from that. Nothing too surprising, she just makes life a bit more interesting. ;)



M.LEWIS

Our Christmas Miracle

21/2 weeks ago, our family was in shock. Opa was barely hanging on, and we all felt (though rarely said) we would lose him, just weeks before Christmas.

It's been a long journey full of highs and lows, but I am happy to say that Opa is our Christmas miracle.

He is now awake all day, breathing on his own, eating on his own, walking the halls (with a walker), and of complete lucidity. He reads the paper, and his books; he discusses his medications, and makes Christmas lists for people. He is back!
Just days ago we were still uncertain of his recovery; (he has been battling ICU psychosis) now he has blown everyone away with his progress.

Even one of his doctors admitted to him that they didn't feel he would make it...and he only tells him this now because he is certain he will now make a full recovery.

We are overjoyed and humbled.

He will still have to have another surgery in the weeks to come, and we all pray still that the next procedure will have zero complications; but for now, 1 week before Christmas, our greatest gift is Opa.

...Now let's see if he can get discharged and go home for Christmas Eve! (crosses fingers)


M.LEWIS

Prayers for Opa [cont'd]

I saw my Opa today. He is looking so much better than the last time I saw him...though he is still very weak, sore, and tired, he is sitting up, he is breathing on his own, and he is talking - even sounding more like himself.

I won't bore you with all the medical terminology, but we hope he will be out of ICU soon, and into his rehab center. He will need extra attention and special treatment to get his strength up before he can go home.

We keep praying for his recovery, and we have been amazed at his strength and determination.

Oh, his birthday was yesterday too. 79 years and still fighting!

Keep up the prayers for Opa! 0:)


M.LEWIS

Prayers for Opa

If you follow me on facebook, you know I have been speaking a lot about prayers, family, health, and hope lately. I want to take a minute and explain a bit more. I haven't said too much online because a) it was quite complicated and long-winded; and b) I was afraid of the outcome, and didn't want to face it completely.

My grandfather is in the hospital. He went in the first time a week or so before Thanksgiving. He was having a lot of pain in his abdomen and he was diagnosed with pancreatitis caused by gallstones. Due to his previous medical conditions, his organs are not in the normal place or position, some are even missing. Due to this, his gallbladder was very difficult to get to. The surgeons and other doctors decided to remove his gallstones but wait on removing his gallbladder.
He was released a few days later and was still in pain days after that. He saw a doctor again and was assured everything was "normal" due to his body healthing (though no tests run), and they would wait until after the new year to remove his gallbladder.
Early Sunday (11/30) morning my grandfather (whom we all call Opa) was in terrible pain, worse than ever before. My grandmother (Oma) rushed him to the ER and they quickly decided he needed emergency surgery to remove his gallbladder.
Now since his organs are not that of an average person, the surgery was invasive and difficult. During the surgery he has massive aspiration of fluid into his lungs. They knew this might happen due to his altered anatomy, but it was far worse than what they prepared for.
He was put on a ventilator, and numerous IV's for fluid, antibiotics, sedatives, pain medication, etc. He was running a fever still on strong pain killers; he had stubborn infections due to his gallbladder that was forming gangrene; and then got double pneumonia due to all the fluid on his lungs. He was so sedated he would only flutter his eyes open for a few minutes to some-what acknowledge who was in the room...only to forget minutes later. He has his hand restrained to the bed so he would not continue to try to pull out his breathing tube. They tried to get him to breathe on his own by turning off the ventilator, but he couldn't. At one point they couldn't wake him up, he wouldn't respond to any commands.

I visited him Monday and felt in my gut I would never see him as the Opa I grew up with. I was certain this time, he couldn't beat it. I felt a heavy heart, fearing we would lose him right before Christmas. I prayed, and cried, and prayed more. I prayed for his health, his strength, his comfort. I prayed for my Oma who was by his side all the way, along with my mother (Opa is her father). I prayed for our family as a whole. (In the past few weeks I have had 2 different aunts lose one of their parents...one of which was the morning of Opa's emergency surgery.) In a time of joy and festivities, my family was struggling to crawl out of this hole of sadness, grief, and exhaustion.

Just in the past 2 days, I have heard some wonderful, surprising news. My Opa has not run a fever in 24hrs, he has stayed awake for not minutes, but hours, he even had his breathing tube removed today.

I prayed for a miracle, and I truly believe we have one.

I am not saying he is out of the woods yet, but he is miles closer than he was just a couple of days ago. I continue to pray. If you are the praying type, I urge you to pray for him as well. This man, my Opa, is the strongest, most stubborn man when it comes to illness, cancer, and complications. He fights and he fights hard. I pray for him to be stronger, healthier, and more comfortable by Friday (his birthday) and hopefully home by Christmas. All I want this year is my family, my whole family, together at Christmas.
I know his day will come, like all of ours, but somehow through the dark terminal fog I felt he was in, God has shown him the light to fight through it. My heart is, for the first time in almost a week, hopeful.

This song was on the radio, and I will never hear it the same way again. Sure, the original meaning is completely different, but this lyric stuck out to me, and no matter what else happens, it will mean something special to me from now on.

"The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life."

Prayers still, please. Prayers for Opa!



M.LEWIS

Introducing Nora

Meet Nora.

She is, as Lorelai keeps calling her, "our new pup." She is half Siberian Husky and half Yellow Labrador Retriever.

She belonged to my friend, but she was unable to keep her due to breed restrictions in her apartment complex. I volunteered to take her after hearing she had only a few days to find her a home of her choosing. My friend picked our family, and then I made our lives turn upside down. ;)

We are actually finding a decent rhythm between Nora, Phoebe, Lorelai, and Adalaide. Night time seems to be the trickiest, though we have only done one of those with Nora. Basically, I feel rather confident we will find a good pattern and she will be a great addition to our family.

In the mean time, we just have to keep toys, paci's, cords, wires, and anything else we don't want chewed, off the floor; and we need to get this house-training down rather fast. ;)

First puppy appt for her: next week for shots and to schedule her spay. I will also schedule Phoebe's teeth cleaning as well. Get that terrible dog breath under control!









M.LEWIS

Ornament 2014

Lorelai and Adalaide made ornaments this year. Yes, I combined their prints onto one ornament. They are too fidgety and messy to double the work by making doubles. (ignore the superman ornament)

Lorelai's feet and Adalaide fingers. I added the star, the light strings, and the trunk. Finishes it off more I think.

Hooray for the Christmas season has officially begun!


M.LEWIS