Baby Shower Central - Baby Girl

Here we go again! This time around it was for a baby girl(due on my birthday September 18!). We also got the chance to visit with Liz who was in town to help host the shower for Ranae. It turned out very lovely and Ranae got TONS of stuff.

Thanks to my friends Jennifer and Jill for contributing their craftiness for both showers. You can check out their work in the slideshows below. Jennifer does a variety of crafty projects including monogramming and did fabric covered buckets for me. I had flower arrangements made out of them and gave to the mommies so they can use the bucket in their nursery later. You can check out her etsy shop of handmade items at halffullmartini.etsy.com. Jill is amazing baker and cake decorator and did the cakes for both parties. Everyone loved the strawberry cake and colorful cupcakes. Now, I've just got to get baby presents for two other girlfriends who just had their babies. Then it's adios to baby stuff...for a while anyway!

Baby Shower Central - Baby Boy

The baby shower bonanza is well underway! Everyone I know is pregnant or just had a kid. This past weekend I co-hosted a shower for my friend Toni at my house. It was fun getting everything together, but boy I was tired when it was over! One down and one more to go this weekend! It would have been too easy for this shower to be for a boy too. Yep, this one is for a girl so all new decor! Congrats Sean and Toni on your beautiful baby boy!

A visit from Zanesville

So...it was that time of year again. JT's parents came for their annual summertime visit. I guess the summertime tradition started last 4th of July. And so it came around again for their 2 week marathon visit. Yes...2 weeks! That too began last year after JT's mom retired. Don't know exactly why they pick this month as it is very, very hot in Memphis. Prior to last year it seems like they had been visiting over Thanksgiving.

At any rate, we had a good visit. My parents even came one Sunday to eat lunch and spend time with the Schneiders. We went to the 4th of July redbirds game and saw their fireworks show followed by the Germantown 4th of July festivities the next day. We shopped, ate, shopped and ate some more. JT and his dad built a ramp off the deck so poor little Jake can get off the deck by himself (he's back to his old self by the way!). I was VERY impressed with the ramp. Thank goodness John was here and actually made it look professional rather than white trash gehtto mess we would have likely had if JT would have done it himself (love you honey, but you know it's true!).

They came, they saw, they went! We had our own Independence day Sunday, July 13th!
John and Mako you know we love you :) We hope you enjoyed your visit!

Jake Drama...yes, more.

So the last several weeks have been quite hectic for a variety of reasons. The number one reason is our Boykin Spaniel, Jake. He's our nutty, crazy, dog but I have come to love this little dog now more than ever. A few weeks ago Jake had some mysterious accident. It was a Sunday night after his nightly outing. Jake came back inside the house and appeared dazed and confused (more than usual). His eyes were dilated and he began walking funny. We soon realized he was going down hill and off to the animal hospital we went. This was our second visit to this hospital so we knew the drill. At the hospital he could no longer walk. They did x-rays and blood work and could not find a problem. The doctor figured he had sustained an injury to his neck or possibly a slipped disc. We had to leave Jake overnight and I just feared for the worst. The next morning we picked Jake up and took him to our regular vet. It was so sad, he had been given some pain meds and had to be carried in to the vet on a small stretcher. Of course tears are streaming down my face once again. I thought we would be saying our goodbyes shortly.

Jake remained at the vet all week. Long story short it was a waiting game and we didn't know if Jake was ever going to walk again. The vet concluded he likely did fall and just hit his neck just right causing swelling around his nerves. The crazy dog leaps off the deck all the time and rather than taking steps one at a time, he leaps up all 3 in one jump. I'm sure it was a fall.

We picked him up the following Friday and didn't know what to expect. We brought him home and soon found out. Jake couldn't walk or hold himself up. Amazingly, within a matter of days Jake was walking around on his own and seems to be about 90% recovered, which may be as good as he gets. He can't walk too good on the hardwood floors and often falls down, but maybe he'll learn to slow down! He is still wearing his vest so we can lift him up/down the deck steps, but otherwise he's back to his old self! JT and his dad have a project this weekend to build a ramp. Jake is going to have to learn to use the handicap ramp! He'll likely never be steady enough to take those steps. Ahh...I have a better appreciation for what it must be like having kids! I have to think this is the last major problem Jake can have...it just HAS to be! He's a nut, but he's my little nut!