Boda Finally Gives the Kid a Shot!

A quick update

Today was the first day in forever that none of us were sick and we all went to work or school. Paige was the last to get well and she had a fever up until yesterday. Since she was feeling better last night I made her pose for some pictures along with Emma and Sophia. Mo and I bought some frames to hang in out kitchen the other day with the plan that we would get the girls into their Chef outfits for some pics to hang up. So today after work I got a chance to edit and print the pictures. There were only 2 of these frames left at Target so I need to find one more to get the picture of Emma on the wall as well. We took a bunch of pictures but these were the 3 I liked the most... The girls were great sports, which is good because I ordered some better lighting to take portraits with and I'll probably be making them do stuff like this a lot.

Emma ready to roll out

Paige serving the wine

Sophia frying it up

The framed pics (I didn't white balance this because I'm lazy, so pretend the colors look right)

So the other event from tonight was that Jen wanted Melissa to ride up to Blockbuster. Mo didn't want to leave the puppy so she decided to put him in the kid carrier. Her bike had a flat so I ordered a new tube and put it in a couple of weeks ago... Then it went flat twice on the new tube. I found the leak yesterday and patched it, so Mo was all ready to go since her bike was so finely tuned. Uh huh... after about 50 yards her back tube exploded and she had to walk it back to the house and take my bike! Nice one! Time to try tube #2.

Can't Get Enough??? Here's More Finley....

Sophi plays ball with with the dogs.


That's a good boy!


Not sure why that little runt is touching my ball...


MY ball! One of the very rare moments when Bo makes eye contact.


Hold it in your mouth like this! Jeesh!

Another sick day for Em. She ended up missing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday! Paige took this pic of us laying on the couch together in the afternoon.


Baby in Brown!


Boda looks like a crazy stalker dog in this pic! Finley is not big enought to get onto the couch yet, here he is begging for me to pick him up.


And two seconds later he is out! ....and somehow ended up on the couch....


Still sleeping....

Working his charm on the ladies, Finley convinced them he was a good guy and he will try to stop chasing them...if only they will stop running from him. We've only had him 6 days but today I caught him giving Black Cat's (aka Rip) butt a good cleaning and then finished up with her ears. Now she is his friend forever. She is usually the one who licks the dogs clean every night so I'm sure she enjoyed the attention.


Betcha can't find me under here!


The dogs keep getting closer and play for longer periods each day. For some reason they really like to play in the morning.


Boda is playing very gently with him. I was so happy.

Before and After

Mike posted below, but Mom and I completed a 5k today, in the POURING rain. Mom had just woken up it looks like, but I had been up for at least an hour, playing with Finley inside since it was raining. This morning I taught him how to fetch. He will be a star before we even get to puppy class!


Nice short shorts over my shoulder! GROSS! I was happy to see several of my acquaintances there, but not that happy that they all finished before me! Next time! I ran the last two miles and walked the first one. And by run, I mean a very loose version of running. I was pretty awesome looking though, I mean I felt pretty awesome looking. I'm not sure I've EVER run two miles in a row. It's about midnight now and my legs are pretty sore, I wonder what I'll feel like in the morning. Check me out below! Damn I look good for being 29!

Marathon Mom

Melissa participated in a 5k run today with Bobbie. She had to go do her registration yesterday in the evening and she was out of the house before I was out of bed this morning. The race was the YMCA Healthy Heart 5k and was held in Port Orange. So congrats to Mo for getting out there for the race. Nice job!!! I think she wants to do some more of these and this race had a 1-9 age group so the girls might start doings these too. When you look at those results, keep in mind that since she did this with Bobbie, Mo walked about a third of the race so they could stay together!

After that, she took Finley to the vet to get his first shots, flea treatment and heartworm meds. Boda got hooked up on the heartworm meds as well.

Since the weather isn't too nice today, Em didn't have her horse riding lessons this morning. She's been in the house all week since she's been sick, so I know she wanted to get out and do something but it's all rainy out today. She does have a sleepover tonight at a friends house for a birthday party, so I'm sure she'll have fun...

Home Sick

Em stayed home sick today, after leaving school yesterday around 1030. She slept all day yesterday, woke up for a few minutes to refuse most of dinner and then went back to sleep. Then she slept until 930 this morning. She was going to go to school but she sounds awful and looks worse. No fever today though, just cough and congestion.

Boda, trying her best to ignore the cutest little ball of fur!


Em, looking bad and getting some love from Finley. Yes, the puppy is in our bed, against our pillows and blankets!


This is a beautiful new picture Mike had printed out for me. It is on canvas and stretched over a frame. I think we are going to hang it in the TV room, but it is resting here for now until I decided on a final place. That picture is from Thanksgiving when he had the best time camping with us.

Meet Finley (again)

The fair-haired one! Alas, we finally agreed on a name that sounds right. What a great day. I took Em to the orthodontist this morning. Then took Boda on a fast rollerblade while Katie rode a bike next to us. After that we walked the dogs down to Grandma's to meet Kiki. She really loved him. She couldn't keep her slobbery mouth off him. Boda even kept a close eye on both of them while they were wrestling. Boda has been very good with Finley today. I think she has yelped at him maybe twice but is letting him get close to her. Hopefully they will be best friends by the end of the week. We had just absolutely beautiful weather today. Very breezy and around 80 degrees. I got a chance to break in my new lawn mower this evening. I am once again starting to enjoy the backyard. It made me so sad before because all I could see was Loki walking around or remember how he used to roll onto his back and scratch it on the grass. Now the backyard is all spiffed up and the kids and dogs can run all around.

Close up.


Another side view. How cute is his butt?

Nice and cool on Mike's office floor.


A great side shot of his coloring. I was saying how funny this pic is because if he didn't have that 6 inch tall step next to him you might think he was a full grown dog!

Panting after a long walk.


Em has been very sick today and yesterday.

My New Little Ray of Sunlight

Below are numerous pics of "new dog." We welcome any suggestions for names. Loki and Boda are both named after Norse Gods that were friends. In sticking with that theme we want to name him Fenny, after Fenrir, a child of Loki and Boad. Whew! Got all that? We also like Diggy, after Sergeant Dignam from The Departed.

We had several visitors after we got home around 8 Sunday night with new pup. Katie and Matt snuggled up to him. He is tiny at only 8 weeks old he is the smallest in the litter of 10 pups.


We snuggled and watched Dexter on CBS. He is so tired and missing his huge family. He had a lot of action tonight so hopefully we can get a few hours of sleep. He already peed outside 3 times!!


He has a lot of white in the front but his back is all creamy with lots of little spots.


Boda and the cats are not so happy with me. Boda will slowly come around, although it will take some time. She really wanted to lay with me but didn't want to get near the wiggling ball of fur.


Side shot.

New Underwear, V-Day and Alien Birth

Karen and Greg sent the girls a few sets each of awesome bra and panties. Here they are enjoying the underwear and some cookies at bedtime.


Happy V-Day. Aunt Stephanie hooked the girls up with some cute matching ensembles from Target. We were on our way out the door....


Bauer is so cuddly and has a constant need to be with me. LOVE IT. She helped me lots during this last week by hardly leaving my side while I was at home. Here I had to carry her around in my jacket cause she was meowing so loud when I wouldn't pick her up that I was afraid animal control would show up.

Another New Pet

This is another new addition to the Eagney house. When I met Mike (at a pet store) I was so happy because I met someone who loved pets as much as I did and I knew that the man I married would have to let me and my children bring in pretty much any stray we found. While a lot of you don't get to see this side of Mike, it is there, it stays hidden, but it's there. I have brought home so many animals you can't even imagine. Anyway, I digress. I am happy to report that I am somewhat happy today or tonight rather. I have not blogged since Loki died because blogging is something that I do when I'm happy and I have not been happy. In fact I have been downright blue. I am starting to come out of my funk so you will be getting a lot more updates this week. Starting with Clark. This is a tiny little yellow belly slider that Jen found on the side of the road during our bike ride. I brought him home because I could not see putting him into that big pond to get eaten by a heron. The boys helped me name him Clark. (aka superman)Sorry my first pic is blurry.


Here he is!


Mike set him up with a cute little 10 gallon tank, here he's swimming behind the filter.

What a weekend...

Although Melissa has already called and filled in a few of you, here's the news... While Melissa has been looking at all of these dogs on the internet, Jen found an ad in the Orlando paper and sent it to Mo. Melissa celled them today and this breeded had 19 puppies from 2 litters that were born 8 weeks ago. All but 4 of the dogs had already been purchased. They had one merle left so we decided to drive out and take a look. Of course, you can't ever just go look at puppies, so here is our new dog. Another Aussie and he's a red merle male. They had been calling him Peanut, but we'll be anouncing a new name tomorrow.

The Good 'Ol Dayz

Update

The vet called yesterday afternoon with the results of Loki's biopsy. It seems he had a form of Lymphoma that was apparently very aggressive. If left untreated a dog can only live 4-6 weeks with this cancer. If given treatment the dog will not make it more than a couple of months. So it seems Loki got sick shortly after Christmas and died one month later. So not fair that it had to take my Loki.

Loki

I don't even know how to start typing this. Most of you already know but I will start from the beginning. When I came home from work on Friday, about 230, I found Loki dead. Loki had been very sick since the middle of January. His symptoms started with throwing up and decreased appetite. He was still very active and not lethargic, going on 2 mile walks or runs almost everyday. After a week or so of throwing up I called the vet and made an appointment for a few days in the future. I was not that worried cause he was not very mopey, just throwing up about once a day and not eating very much. We finally made it to the vet about two weeks ago and the substitute vet(mine was out of town) put him on some antibiotics, some pepcid and a painkiller for his leg which he had also been limping on. She was hoping he was just having an ulcer and/or the flu. He stopped throwing up on those meds but his appetite didn't improve and his desire for activity went straight downhill. About 5 days after that appointment, my vet came back into town and decided since he hadn't thrown up we could discontinue the pain pill and one of the antibiotics. The next day Loki threw up and I called the vet and we agreed to come in on Tuesday, February 5th. That Monday, before the appointment, Loki had a seizure. Luckily Mike was here to help him through it. The vet checked Loki out Tuesday and found a lesion growing on his lip, which I had thought was a scab that was not getting better. He also found that the inside of his mouth was covered with sores. He then asked me to bring Loki back first thing Wednesday for a biopsy of that lesion and one of the sores. By this time Loki had lost about 12 pounds and was not eating and I had to force the pills down his throat. Wednesday he had the biopsy and I picked him up around 5 pm that day. He came home very shaky and barely able to walk. Thursday, Mike was able to stay home to watch him since I had to work. At this point we were having to lift Loki to a standing position to get him to go out to pee. He was only eating a few bites a day and drinking some water. I was really worried about Friday because everyone I knew was working so I called Jenna to come check on him in the morning and Mom checked on him during her lunch break at 115pm. She called me at school at that time to say his eyes were dilated and he did not look good. My guess is he had already had a seizure at some point because the way she was describing his face makes me remember how it looked when he had the seizures when he was young. When I got home an hour later Loki was laying by the chalkboard, by Mike's office opening. His eyes were wide open and I called to him but he didn't even blink. Sophi and Paige were with me and it is the worst moment of my life. I have never been able to walk thru that door without his eyes and ears perking up at me. I started screaming for him. I hadn't even taken another step into the kitchen because I was so afraid to get closer to him and find that he was in fact dead. I picked up the phone and called Jen. I screamed at her that I thought Loki was dead and could she come help me figure out what to do. The girls ran to their room and I ran to Loki. He was so warm it was like he had just died. His back legs were all twisted under his body so I picked up his rear to fix them and noticed he had peed. At this point I figured he had had another seizure. He had some foam in his mouth too which he would get when he seized. I started pounding on his check and tried to blow some air into his mouth trying anything to get him to come back to me. Nothing worked. My best friend, constant sidekick and first baby was leaving me and I couldn't catch him. I called the vet to see if they could send someone to revive him but they couldn't. I called Mike and told him Loki was dead. By this time Jen had shown up and Stef had come in with Emma. I layed with Loki for a little until Chris showed up to help me take him to the vet. In just those few minutes, Loki had grown stiff and I knew for sure he was dead. The girls went with Jen and Stef and Chris followed me to the vet to take Loki in. We took him in the back door and after Chris left I stayed with Loki for some time. I didnt want this to be over. He had so many years left. I rubbed his fur forever. I sobbed over him in front of strangers. Everytime I tried to leave I just couldn't. He wasn't getting up to follow me and it was the most hollow feeling I have ever had. I finally left him, step by step, I edged closer to the back door. Did the nurses think I was weird? Maybe if I hoped hard enough he would just get up and follow me. I got closer and closer to the door and Loki got further and further away. I finally went thru the door and a minute later Mike pulled into the parking lot at the vets. What do I do now? For those of you who knew Loki and our relationship you might be feeling some of what I'm feeling. We were so close and could read each other so well. I never thought this day would come like this. I pictured us growing old together and going on long slow walks. He was the most loyal dog anyone could have asked for and I'm not sure why he had to go so soon. This house is just not the same when you walk thru the door. For those of you who knew Loki, if you could leave a comment on the webpage telling me your favorite thing about him I would really appreciate it. I know what I liked about him and I know the things he did that drove me crazy, but what did you think? Thanks in advance for any comments.

Poor Lipless Loki

OK, he's not totally lipless, but he did have a chunk cut out so that they could run a couple of tests on it. He has some lesions around his mouth and red splotches inside his mouth...Amongst other things like the puking, lethargy and no eating. He came home today after having his lip cut out and was pretty out of it. We made him a nice little bed in front of the TV and took turns laying with him. He was sent home with a steroid to try and stimulate his appetite. Yeah, real stimulating! I boiled him a chicken breast and rice and he ate about 6 bites of chicken and wouldn't touch the rice (not to mention I had to hand feed him because he is too lethargic to pull it out of his dish). Right now I am just hoping this is something treatable. He is only 8.5 years old and I am in no way prepared to lose him right now so I am pretty upset. I'm going to have a hard time getting thru the next two days of work without tearing up. Ok, I'll keep you updated....

Sunday = Funday

Don't you love it when Sunday calls for low tide at 11am. Don't you love it even more when you can go to the beach in nothing but your swim suit on FEBRUARY THIRD and not even get cold (or sweaty for that matter)!!! I know! I do too! What a great way to celebrate SIX more weeks of winter.

Sophi is just gellin' like Magellan....


Em is practicing her jump rope. DUH.


Sitting in a bathtub built for two?


Em building a drip castle for nannie.

Last Week.....

Welll last week flew by and before I knew it I had not blogged! From now until June I'm going to be pretty busy working so don't expect too much! I worked all last week and this week I am subbing for the same first grade class every day. I love being busy and the paycheck comes in handy! Last week was spent worrying about Loki. He has been very sick and acting weird and we don't know why. He was put on 4 different meds but then 2 of those got cut back and then he started throwing up again. Now he is scheduled to see the vet again on Tuesday. He does not have an appetite and is VERY mopey. I am quite worried, but at least his blood panel came back all good....meaning nothing serious like cancer or liver/kidney probs.

Sorry dad! I'm sooooo thirsty I can't stand up and drink! I had to put a little bowl of water there for fat black cat but I guess Loki is sooooo mopey that he just started using it instead of his fancy water dish! BTW, Loki has also lost 10 pounds since the last time we were at the vet. So stop calling him fat!


Aunt Stephanie came to visit and brought back some chopsticks for the girls. I want to say she bought them in Japan but can't quite remember. She is such a world traveler these days that I can't keep track of where she goes. I think Uncle Dave needs to come down and teach the girls how to properly use them! Paige gave up and used the old kabob method...


Soph made hers into an ice cream cone style.,...


Em was trying the two hand method.


The Schraders came over Saturday for some frito pie. It was sooo delicious! The boys fell asleep here during the movie. That's Noah snuggled between Paige and Soph. Ethan played it safe in Em's bed (she was out at a friend's house). And I don't know where Will fell asleep...