The Loyds: January 2013

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Our Little Patient

For about a week Jeff and I had started to notice that Chloe would squat a lot on her walks. Typically nothing would come out the 2nd and 3rd times but she would still do it. We mentioned on Sunday night that we should try to take her to the vet this week since we thought she might have a bladder infection.

However, Monday morning I took Chloe for her normal walk where she “peed” 3 times and then we went back in. I ate breakfast and realized that I was running late so decided to take my 8:00 am conference call at home. Good thing I did.

While I was sitting on the couch and turning on my work laptop, Chloe jumped up and started to mess with the pillows on the couch. I looked over and realized while she was getting comfortable, she peed on one of the pillows!

This was especially weird since I had JUST taken her out. After my call, I called her vet and they squeezed her in for a mid morning appointment. As soon as the nurse tried to weigh Chloe, Chloe peed and out comes a little crystal rock. The nurse goes “uh-oh, I think that is a stone” and left it for the doctor. Sure enough, after a short exam and some x-rays it was determined that Chloe had a lot of bladder stones.

Unfortunately, the one she passed was a crumb compared to what was still in her tummy. The x-ray just confirmed that she would need surgery.

We picked her up from the vet Tuesday afternoon and brought her home. She was still a bit groggy which the vet said to expect. However, we did have a minor scare. Later in the evening she started to shake uncontrollably whenever she inhaled. Her eyes dazed over and although Jeff and I didn’t say anything that night we both thought she was going into shock and we might lose her. We called the emergency vet who said she may be cold (the anesthesia can do that) or in pain. We covered her with a blanket and gave her some pain meds and thankfully yesterday, she was back to her normal self.

The stones are still being tested to see what caused them and she is on restricted activity which includes no running, jumping, or long walks for 14 days. Hopefully she is back to normal and there are no future stones!

Monday, January 28, 2013

Hey Mom & Dad…

Jeff and I made an early decision to wait until I was closer to the end of the first trimester before we said anything to our families. Because of that, we had a lot of time to plan something out. We had some pretty good ideas, but at the last minute thought it would be cute to include Chloe.

We always jokingly (maybenotreally) say that Chloe is our first born. Why not include her in telling everyone she was going to be a big sister. And that’s exactly what we did!

I went onto Etsy and found a seller that made personalized dog shirts. We had one made announcing that Chloe was going to be a big sister.

When we were ready to tell our parents, we slipped on the top and had Chloe make a grand entrance. In some cases we actually had to prompt them to read her shirt (um, Mom). But of course it was always greeted with hugs and congrats so it eventually worked out.

(I took the above picture today…poor Chloe has to have surgery tomorrow so I didn’t want to wrestle her into the shirt. More on her surgery tomorrow.)

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Happy Birthday Trent!

Today we headed over to J&R’s to celebrate a special boy…

Trent’s 1st birthday! Rebecca had a whole farm animals theme for the party. Lots of cute details that really made the decorations. When you first walked in, there were homemade farm animal hats, kid cowboy hats and handkerchiefs.

All of the food had cute labels like Old McNeal Mac n Cheese and Tractor Wheels (Oreos).

After lunch and a mid party nap for Trent, it was time to dig into the cake. Rebecca’s mom made the cake and all the cupcakes. She is so talented!

Trent was pretty hesitant about getting his hands dirty. Once he was given a spoon did he start getting into and feeding James. Happy Birthday little man!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Snow in Diamond Bar

This last weekend we all headed out to Diamond Bar for their annual snow event. Danny, Shannon, Dad, myself and the older nieces arrived first and decided to hit the sleds to kill time. First ones down, Danny and Kalea.

Unfortunately the snow ramp was not so smooth and with Danny’s weight, they crashed! Poor Kalea refused to go on it again. And Brooklyn whizzed down so quickly her hair was all I caught. #photofail

We decided to hit the snow pens next.

Shortly after C & C and the little nieces arrived.

We moved on to the bouncers next.

And then games.

All day Kalea wanted her face painted, so finally we waited in line.

One more final go down the sleds for the little nieces.

I thought the above picture warranted a close up of the girls faces…so funny!!

Can’t wait for next year!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Telling Jeff

I remember the day I took THE test pretty clearly. The day before, I attended a co-worker’s baby shower and remembered getting super teary eyed while she was opening her presents. She seemed so happy and everyone loves a baby shower! I quickly tried to regain my composure and thought to myself…what the heck Dione? That onesie was cute, but not something to CRY about.

The next morning I decided on a whim to take a pregnancy test. (Without going into too much info, I was the latest I’d been and yes – I had one extra test lying around the house.)

I remember placing the test down and while I was brushing my teeth, glancing over and seeing those two pink lines. I was literally SHOCKED. I had no “women’s intuition” telling me something was up.

I instantly thought, crap what am I going to say to Jeff. Should I hide it until it was unhideable (just kidding), should I tell him while he was at work (dumb idea)? No, it was best to hear this in person so I made the decision to go to work and wait until we were safely at home before saying anything.

When he came home, we ran out to grab some dinner and while he was grabbing some utensils, I ran upstairs to grab the test. I came out of the bedroom with the test behind my back at the exact same moment he had made it to the top of the stairs.

He froze and asked me what was behind my back. I was so nervous, I smiled and quickly showed him. With his hands full of bags of Mexican food, he chuckled and said “You have got to be fucking kidding me”. HA! By now I was crying and he sort of awkwardly hugged me (still holding that food!) and asked “what about the half marathon”. I yelled at him asking if that was all he could say and he hugged me again and said something like “congratulations!”

It still feels a little bit surreal but ready or not, we are going to be a family of four in 2013!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Mallorie’s Winter ONEderland

On Saturday we had a very special birthday to celebrate!

Mallorie’s 1st birthday! Vanessa and Doug had a whole Winter ONEderland theme going on. Shannon made the sign below, I didn’t know she was so talented!

As soon as you walk in, there was a hot chocolate bar with peppermint candies and marshmallows.

Soon after everyone arrived we ate lunch. V&D had Flame Broiler cater since it’s one of Mallorie’s favorite meals. Thanks for the good taste Mallorie! After lunch there were a few games for the little ones. Pin the nose on the penguin…

Brooky ended up winning…there may have been some strategic placing to win (some call it cheating but we don’t in this family). The second game the kiddos played was musical penguins. Totally by chance, Brooklyn won again! But she was kind enough to share her prize with the second place winner. What a good sport!