Childress Family

June 27, 2011 10:57 am

2012-02-16T22:00:00.004-08:00

I loved being pregnant. I had no morning sickness... in fact, I was praying to throw up or at least feel nauseous throughout the entire first trimester. I spent the night before each doctor's appointment in tears- walking into the exam room, shaking all over, and keeping my eyes closed and fists clenched around Taylor's hand until the doctor promised he could see that little flicker of a heartbeat. I calmed down a bit once we hit the second trimester and began to embrace the idea that there was a healthy baby in my tummy....and I realized how completely in love I was with him already! I found myself daydreaming all the time, just completely amazed that I was going to have a baby!

I felt him kick for the first time at 17 weeks, in the security line at the Las Vegas airport. I froze, shoes and laptop in hand, with a not-so-thrilled group of hurried travelers behind me, and rushed to tell Taylor-- who gently reminded me that we were about to be stampeded if we didn't hurry forward-ha! So began the most fun part of pregnancy. I felt great, had a cute little tummy, and could feel my overly active little guy jumping, hiccuping, and wiggling all day long. Fast forward nine months... my cute little tummy had quickly grown so large that a sweet hostess actually expressed concern that I wouldn't fit into the booth at our favorite Mexican restaurant (which sent this overly sensitive pregnant girl into tears! haha). Taylor and I were in the midst of moving, and our house wasn't completed yet, so I was completely happy to keep Carter right where he was., and he was just as happy to stay put. He showed absolutely NO signs of entering the world on or around his due date (June 20th), so the doctor scheduled an induction on June 27th at 41 weeks. I really wanted him to come on his own time but deferred to the doctors, and started planning for our little man's now-scheduled arrival!

On Friday June 24th, Taylor and I went on one last mini vacation by spending the night at a downtown Nashville hotel, eating great food, watching in-room movies while snuggled in bed, recalling old memories, and saying goodbye to the only "us" we'd ever known. And we continued to enjoy a relaxing weekend, loving on the dogs and trying to wrap our heads around the idea that we would be meeting our baby that Monday morning!

Taylor woke up early on Sunday morning to go fishing (like 4:30-5:00 am early!), but it was raining. He then woke me up to see if I wanted to go out to Pancake Pantry. Being a total morning person and completely pancake-obsessed, I hopped out of bed as quickly as my hugely pregnant body would allow and off we went.
Taylor spent the next few hours watching movies on that rainy Sunday, but I couldn't sit still. I showered and took advantage of my planned induction by making my hair look pretty (total waste of time), but I just didn't feel right. Taylor kept asking me to sit down and watch a movie with him (since the two of us could literally spend an entire weekend watching movies!) but I had these very slight weird pains in my stomach and couldn't stop walking around and fidgeting. While I'd like to think I'm an intelligent person, it did not hit me that I may be going into labor... until I found myself curled up on the bed, unable to breathe through the pain, telling Taylor this definitely wasn't "it.". He called the hospital who said to time the contractions and to come in once they were less than 5 min apart- which we knew but were far too panicked to remember. We started timing them and couldn't get more than 1-3 minutes between them... I was convinced we were timing them incorrectly, but my sweet husband grabbed the overnight bag and told me it was time to go. I started listing off things that needed to be done before we could go, but he somehow convinced me to just go in to the hospital to be checked out. On the way to the hospital, he started calling our "labor list"... and I kept chiming in in the background that there was no need to panic...that it was clearly not happening yet. All this while I was literally doubled over in the worst pain ever! I actually remember saying to Taylor that it wasn't supposed to hurt this bad... and he made the very astute point that yes, child birth has been known to cause a bit of pain in most women! By the time we made it to the hospital, Taylor's anxiety was starting to show through the calm mask he had been fighting to hold onto...and he almost jumped out of the car after this guy who stole a parking spot from us in the Vandy garage! We then proceeded to get lost walking into the hospital and couldn't find the labor and delivery department. When we finally found it, they rushed us back to a room where they confirmed that I was definitely in labor (I had been convinced that they were going to tell me those weren't real contractions and that my very low pain tolerance had me fooled).

I'd like to say I handled the pain with complete composure, but to be honest, I was crying by the time I was 1 cm, and they were about to send me home had my water not broken right there in the triage room! They asked if I wanted an epidural, and I just told them that I was absolutely ready and willing to accept any pain meds that wouldn't hurt the baby... So yes, I happily submitted and took the epidural at 1 cm (in my defense, the contractions were super intense and coming every 2 minutes or so...ha ;)) I am not ashamed to admit that I have no pain tolerance and had no desire to feel any part of labor... which is probably what jinxed me! Over the next 22 hours, I flip-flopped between my normal happy, laid back self to a complete mess- throwing up, crying and apologizing profusely to anyone who would listen. Apparently I was suffering from "hot spots" where the pain meds failed to work... And Taylor has told me that I described this unpleasant experience by telling him that it felt like my insides were being torn apart or something along those lines. But then the doctors would fix the epidural, and I would start smiling again within seconds--those meds are amazing...

The good news is that my anesthesiologist resident figured out the problem right as the doctors were telling me that I needed to get ready to deliver the baby without meds... Oh that sweet resident (the next day, he tracked us down to write his patient evaluation before he graduated...and I literally hugged him while Taylor gushed about how grateful we were to him...and I remember him backing out of the room pretty awkwardly, so I am pretty sure we were a bit too enthusiastic... haha).

This whole time, my mom and Taylor were in the room with me, and my aunt and grandma were either in the room with us or in the waiting room... for some reason the doctors all kept thinking Carter's arrival was "imminent" so no one wanted to go home! Every once in a while a doctor would float the idea of increasing some pitocin or performing some other measure to kick things off, but I didn't want to rush my little guy, and his heart rate never showed distress, so they just laughed and said he was on his own schedule! So finally it was time to push, and while Taylor says I was a total overacheiver, pushing longer and more often than they even asked me too, I will admit that I was just afraid the meds were going to wear off again! So 3 hours of pushing later, we heard the midwife say, "I need help! This baby is huge!" or something along those lines... and a nurse ran over to help her hold him and then he was whisked away to the pediatricians... and on his way over there, I heard the sweetest sound in the world, that first little cry (which, of course, sent me into tears)! The doctor's were all shocked at the unexpected size of this giant 9lb 5oz, 22 inch baby, and my mom rushed over to watch, never taking her eyes of her new grandbaby. Meanwhile, Taylor held onto my hand and wouldn't let go, and then we met him... They set him in my arms, and after a minute of trying to figure out how to hold this giant newborn, I looked into those beautiful little eyes and nothing else mattered. I had never in my life seen a more precious face....His little eyes were wide open, and in typical Carter fashion, he was already searching for food, mouth wide open!

The next couple of days in the hospital were a blissful blur... the doctors and nurses at Vandy were amazing and our family and friends were wonderful. I convinced Taylor to spend the night at home with the dogs so he could rest up and be ready to help out when we got home. And that first time the nurses rolled my little man into the room, and it was just the two of us, I finally got it... why people had kids. And I can't explain it, but I got it, and I couldn't believe we had waited so long to have one! He was perfect, and I literally couldn't stop staring...and as soon as he fell asleep, I would start wishing he'd wake back up so I could watch him take the world in. My first solo diaper change at 3 am was an absolute catastrophe that ended with me calling the nurses with my left hand and using a diaper to block him from peeing all over me with my right while he spat up continuously and I thought he was choking... But somehow we got the hang of it and 2 days later, for some reason, the hospital decided we were capable of caring for this itty bitty human and sent us out on our own... :)

Meeting my little man!

SO awake from the beginning

My sweet husband, didn't leave my side or sleep for 30 hours...he's a keeper :) And yes, Carter is already searching for food- he had absolutely no issues in that department.

My amazing 87 year old Grandma refused to leave the waiting room for over 20 hours...no naps or anything.

My cheerleaders...grandma, aunt Megan, and mom

At this point we had no idea of how long of a night we were in for... it's times like these that I am especially grateful for marrying my best friend!

January 2012

2012-02-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

7 MONTHS!

Ready to play with anything and everything!

Moving all around in an army crawl... getting so so close to actually crawling! Yikes!

Fun with breakfast- we're learning to love the messiness and appreciate our 4 furry vacuum cleaners that surround his high chair at all meal times!

Big guy

His buddy Nemo

Really not thrilled with the hat or the freezing weather...or the fact that his mom decided to take a picture of him. So cute, even when he's grumpy :)

Hanging with his friend, Evelyn

On the move...

Interested in EVERYTHING..and not sure why his mom would want to spend time starting at this contraption when he's right next to her. He likes to have an audience at all times.

Oh Nemo... yet another one of Carter's toys meets its demise...

A common dinnertime battle... the food is so much more fun when splattered all over his face, hands, and of course. his mom!

Teeth!

Emerging independence... and yet another dinnertime battle!

Fun with dad!

Big enough to ride in the grocery cart!

Hanging in his high chair

Separation Anxiety

2012-01-30T17:36:00.001-08:00

Ok, so let me clarify... I said in my description of Carter that he doesn't cry much. And based on the amount of fussing I dealt with yesterday, I'm thinking I may have jinxed myself- that or as his grandma would say, he must be teething or sick ;)

He's a really happy guy overall when he's with me or Taylor, and 90% of the time he's happy to meet and be held by any stranger...but that other 10% of the time, his fiery side comes out and he is absolutely inconsolable.

Our doctor said he had early separation anxiety at around 3-4 months... Of all the things to start early!
He is totally happy with Taylor when I'm not around, but he has had some pretty intense crying fits with both our parents, leading to calls that cut our date nights short, so I am pretty shaky leaving him still (although mostly out of concern for the babysitter's sanity!). Our last couple date nights away from him have started out a little rocky, and once with tears (from me!). But it gets easier each time...he loves my parents, and we have found a super patient babysitter who he loves, and she keeps coming back, so I am trying to convince myself that he must be getting better...

However, this past Sunday we decided to try leaving him in the church nursery ... Big step for me since I hadn't done a background or reference check on the sweet older women volunteering there :)

About half way through the service, I saw one of the women scanning the pews and I instantly knew she was there for me. Sure enough, when we made eye contact, she gave me a little wave... And as I walked out of the sanctuary, smiling and already apologizing to this nice lady, I could hear the screaming...and was soon met with a shaking, choking, red faced little man. On the bright side, it was cool that the minute they handed him to me, he stopped crying, but at the same time, I don't want him to be overly attached... I don't know- hopefully with time and lots more time spent around strangers, it will resolve itself (?)! But I just had to clarify that statement about him not crying much- it was an unintentional misrepresentation ... He's an angel with me and Taylor- but babysitters beware- when this little guy gets mad, he is as stubborn as they come and does not wear himself out without a fight!

Hoping for better luck next Sunday... If they let him back in the nursery!

Carter's first 6 months!

2012-01-26T14:45:00.001-08:00

June 2011

FIRST PICTURE!

First Family Pic

The very first person to hold him, Grandma Linda!

Meeting Grandpa Mike

with his aunt Megan

Car Ride Home...and ready to fight!

Meeting Gamer for the first time

JULY 2011

Funny faces

First Bath- exhausting!

Meeting grandparents

AUGUST 2011

Holding his own bottle for the first time

First Smiles!

First Laughs

SEPTEMBER 2011

Meeting Aunt Anne and Uncle Bobby

First toy snuggles... this poor monkey is no longer with us, thanks to Nemo!

First plane ride, all the way to Seattle!

First Husky game

Meeting great grandparents- 5 Childress men :)

And his great grandmother

OCTOBER 2011

First Halloween!

First trip to Mt Pleasant to see his Naynie

Second Halloween costume

Getting ready for his first Vandy tailgate

All bundled up for his first cold weather day!

Ready for the Titans game!

NOVEMBER 2011

First rice cereal

Dressed by dad

First real food! We gave up on bibs ....

Meeting cousins

First time being sick- hand foot and mouth disease-yuck!

And mom got it too! it was the worst!

First piano lesson with Grandpa

First Thanksgiving

DECEMBER 2011

First Professional Pics!

First Christmas

Meeting Santa!

Catching up

2012-01-26T14:45:00.000-08:00

I've started quite a few posts over the past 7 months... But I can't ever seem to finish them. I keep trying to fill in all the events that have transpired since my last post, but clearly, that is just not working! So, my hope now is to just post a couple thoughts at a time- which for a much-too-wordy writer like me, is quite a challenge!

Since my last post, we've traveled to Italy, France, England, Seattle, Louisville, Vegas,Key West, Kansas City, and L.A.; we've moved from Florida to NASHVILLE; I got pregnant and lost the baby 6 weeks later; Taylor decided to stop coaching and move into the business world; my sister found out she is pregnant with TWIN (!) boys;and most importantly, we've added a new member to our family! Finally...a two-legged little one!

Here's a quick snapshot of this new little Childress ...

Carter ...

LOVES to eat and will eat anything. I'm still nursing, but he doesn't mind formula, warm or cold, peas, carrots, bananas, squash, avocados...ANYTHING... If he sees us eating, he'll start smacking his hand against his month asking for (or really, demanding) some too, so restaurant trips are becoming quite a production for his parents...and staying home is becoming the norm!

He's huge... He's already into 18-24 mos clothes sizes. And he officially jumped off of the chart at his 6 mos appointment, measuring in at almost 20 lbs, and 29 1/4 inches! His weight is actually in the 75th percentile, which the doctor said was totally normal for a highly active (!!) boy like him... I was told by every ultrasound technician throughout my pregnancy that I had quite an active little guy in my tummy, and he has proven them all right. If he isn't rolling around or grabbing anything he can, he's kicking his legs or wiggling! And when he's "standing," he's always trying to jump up and down! I'm going to have my hands full when he can take off on his own! haha :)

He laughs at pretty much anything Taylor and I do, which is really a great ego boost for both of us...and the absolute BEST sound in the world! And he handles the constant barking and toy-stealing of his canine siblings like a pro-- although, we'll see how long that lasts ;)

He can only sit through about one short book at a time, unless it's "Five Little Monkeys"- he can hear that one over and over and over, and it never gets old!

He is anything but quiet... he takes after his dad! He really doesn't cry much unless his mom misses his signals or doesn't have a bottle on hand at every moment... BUT he is always making noise- happy sounds, frustrated sounds, word-like sounds, and his new favorite...a squeal/screech that sends the dogs running for cover- and he'll do that one over and over, laughing at himself every time... At least he has a good sense of humor, and his mom has a lot of patience! :)

I'll stop now... here I go trying to capture every little detail, and there is just no way to put Carter in writing. He is the most wonderful, exhausting, precious little bundle, and I am completely overwhelmed by how much I love him!

Catie and Baby Brandon :)

2010-02-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

How cute are these two little ones! :)

(Sorry I talk through the whole thing....) I just love how Catie says Doggie -"doh-doh"- and Baby! She is absolutely adorable!!!!!!! And Brandon is the sweetest, quietest little guy. Luckily I get to see them again in 2 weeks or I would be going CRAZY! :)

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks...

2010-02-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

So my sister and I have both embarked on a seemingly impossible task...training our adult dogs! As we were discussing the challenges of a multi-dog household (especially with her soon-to-be multi-baby household), we decided to make some changes! She has had a trainer come to her house and is working with her 3 girls ... and Taylor and I have enrolled our little troublemaker (NEMO!) in a beginner "puppy" class for adult dogs. It is a really amusing experience, to be honest, with a group of 6 adult dogs who have no clue how to do anything remotely resembling good manners...amusing, but exhausting!

Taylor and I were spoiled by our first little one, Gamer, who was the star of her puppy class, learning almost too quickly, to the point that we didn't even feel a need to finish the class! Maggie and Pumpkin have kind of followed in Gamer's footsteps, and sweet old Tubbie had a free pass at his age! Nemo, on the other hand is a Marley (from the movie)... he knocks things over, chews things up, stirs the other dogs up into barking frenzies, etc... But he has the sweetest, most innocent personality that makes it impossible not to love him! We've just come to the realization that he isn't the brightest dog in the world, and that's ok :) He has very little recall ability, and even the dog trainer commented on is inability to catch on to tricks (making his mom so proud ;)). He also has this inconvenient, yet somewhat uncontrollable habit of peeing whenever any new person acknowledges him...but with his crooked pelvis and hind leg and the way we sit with our dogs on the floor at puppy class, I am somehow always in just the perfect position to get peed on. It's awesome ;) haha-- I'm not complaining at all...He has me and Taylor both laughing all the time... he's just goofy and always getting into trouble! I now carry a spray bottle around with me to stop him when he starts chasing Pumpkin or howling at the invisible mailman that must come on Sundays in his mind, and it's working! We're still working on the long term fixes, which is a challenge given his lack of retention :) So, here's a video... proof that even a 4 yr old boy like Nemo can learn new tricks!! I am so proud :) And yes, we know, Gamer is a genius...

Nemo Childress

2009-10-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

How cute is Taylor--- he told me it was ok to post this... :) My hubby, the poet!

Here is my birthday present from Gamer, Maggie, and Pumpkin!

Maggie’s Gift

His eyes were much too big; his back was weird and curvy

Tape worm, heart worms and mange, maybe even scurvy

We didn’t want him in the house, this crooked rescue mutt

That was it, he had to go, he was a huge pain in the butt

As time went on, we got to see, he wasn’t all that bad

When we talked about him leaving, it made us somewhat sad

Flaunting that husky jersey, we knew it was a sign

Pumpkin was the first to say it; the rest all fell in line

We got together, talked it out, and put it to a vote

We weren’t sure how to tell you, so we put it in this note

He needs a lot of work, for one he should tamer

But he can stay; we’re all on board, yup, even Gamer

Now we have a fourth, to welcome to our group

It’s nice to have partner that’s not quite in the loop

We can worry ourselves gray, hide from storms and such

Happy Birthday Courtney, we love you very mu…oh no the light fixture is moving…

-Maggie

So, he's here to stay! Welcome to the family, Nemo! :)

The end of a BUSY summer!

2009-10-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

So here's what we've been up to this summer... :)

LIFE....

Ok this post is divided into Life pics and DOG Rescue pics... they obviously overlap, more than they should, but it's too confusing to post all the pics together. :)

Taylor finally mastered Chicken Teryaki (he's been trying for a while)... it is soooo good, and he serves it with sticky rice too! mmmmmm....

Taylor turned 29...and stumbled upon my secret present stash, so he ended up getting double the presents because I couldn't stand not being able to give him SOMETHING he wasn't expecting (which worked out well for him)

Gamer contributed too. Although, this is now outside of our front door, and I keep forgetting it's there! It is soooo mean-- Taylor loves it, but I just keep hoping the neighbors see the humor in it....;)

We visited Anne and Bobby in Louisville

We bonded with their puppy, Gus--and fell in love with him! He's a rescue puppy that Anne and Bobby picked up in St Louis (an absolutely adorable Pekingnese/Bichon mix)

And we learned how to interact with a cat! Taylor was so proud that she snuggled on his tummy at night. But when she hid outside our room and tried to sneak in during the night, we weren't as brave and ended up closing the door. Cats are so quiet and sneaky-- without making a sound, she could wiggle her way onto the guest bed! haha... We loooove Shadow :)

Taylor went to Milwaukee for a work trip, and his hosts took him to a Brewers game, where he dove unto the field to catch a ball!!!

He left a handprint on the field too.. very cool :)

He was gone for 5 days-- a long time for us! So I taped his homecoming....pretty obvious who our Daddy's girl is...;)

I went to Cincinnati for a friend's wedding, where we learned traditional Indian dances and got our very own henna tattoos! It was so much fun!

Megan brought my precious niece to visit again, and this time we took her in the water--which she LOVED! She has turned into the HAPPIEST baby, and she is so good at restaurants--we take her everywher with us, and she just hangs out like one of the girls! AND she's almost walking...she's already taken a couple of steps on her own, so I need to see her more before she starts running away from us--she's still so tiny and snuggly :) She loves new people and is learning to like other little people--which is a good thing, since she'll be a big sister in the spring! She is tooooo cute! I'm going to Dallas in a couple of days to see her. I can't get enough of her and miss her sooo much when she's not here!

Nemo is still with us and is doing great. He will be officially finished with his 60 day heartworm treatment on October 14th, and then we can start scheduling his leg surgeries... Realistically, he's now our 4th dog.

Even Pumpkin loves him!

And he encouraged us to get some new blinds for our front door--this wasn't on our list of to-do's, but the new ones look nicer anyway.

Dog Rescue:

I started going up to a very high kill shelter in Putnam County with another rescue friend of mine, and it has been a real challenge for me. I KNOW I can't save them all, but I am having trouble learning my limits. Looking into all those desperate, innocent eyes is haunting, and if I don't leave quickly, I start to hyperventilate or cry, and it all goes downhill from there. I have never broken down at the shelter, I'm proud to say...and I hope with time, I'll get stronger and be able to drive away feeling as though I made some sort of difference (even though I know in the grand scheme of things, there are so many left to save). I never forget the ones I can't take, and I say prayers for them--that they go peacefully and that they aren't scared when the people come around with the shots to put them to sleep. I keep challenging myself to be stronger, to look at all of this dog rescue stuff rationally, choosing the dogs that make logical and financial sense (the easy placements), but it's all so up in the air when we get to the shelter. I have always gone for only one dog, and have never come back with fewer than 4. And for some reason, I am so drawn to the sickly ones, the "Nemos" of the group. The only thing I look for is a wagging tail, and an inexplicable look in their eyes-- a look that says they want to live. All of the other shelters I work with only call me with their urgent ones, and I have a 100% success rate with those... I have taken every one they have called me about and placed them all. Putnam County is the only place that I leave knowing that I have literally left dogs to die because I couldn't take them with me. But again, that is my challenge. And I'm still breathing, so it hasn't killed me yet. I wish I could say I get stronger every time I go, but to be honest, every time I go, I leave with more awful images that I wish I could forget :( This last time, I left with my 4 rescues, knowing that the next day was set to be a "cleaning day" due to all the death and disease they were having...so they were euthanizing every animal left behind and bleaching the facilities. That was the longest drive home yet.

Sorry for the depressing post, but it helps to write it down. I have officially committed to Taylor that I'm taking a break from picking dogs up at these shelters for a little while (I think he's seen a few too many crying episodes and overly stressful days trying to take care of way too many dogs and obsessing over the ones I left behind), so I promised him (but more importantly ME) that I need to take a moment to breathe and focus on finding homes for the ones who are left! My rescue friends have all already decided we needed a break, but I drove up this last time all by myself, and it was the worst trip up there ever! I am so blessed to have my husband--he is so supportive of what I do, and has sat with me through euthanizing sick dogs, met with owner's surrendering their pets so I wouldn't have to do it alone, and he has welcomed Tubbs, Nemo, and countless sick (and untrained) foster dogs into our home without too much complaining ;) (I always get the obligatory head shake and "really? another one?")...but I don't know what I would have done without a hubby with a heart like his! :)

This is one of the many breaks I have talked about taking, so I am really hesitant to put it in writing... Every time I say I'm taking a break, the shelter calls me, and I give in ... I have 7 dogs in rescue here with me now (across the street in boarding), and I'm up to 49 in the past year and half, and I am overwhelmed....so I really need a break. I have 2 voicemails waiting on my phone from dog rescue people as I write this --so wish me luck. Saying no isn't one of my strong points... :)

On a much happier note, here are my summer rescues! All but 7 are with their new families :) And my goal is to place the last 7 by Thanksgiving..and then take a break over the holidays!

Roscoe- 4 mos old Terrier who was left on the side of the road with a torn up, handwritten note saying "This is Roscoe, I can't afford to feed him. I'm sorry." Animal control picked him up, and I grabbed him on my way out of the shelter when I saw his little face sticking through the chain link gate. He was lying in a puddle of dirty water and shivering...so I took him too--what's one more ;)

Zena- My friend was going to pick her up when she picked up Addie and Stephanie (in a previous post), but we went with Addie instead since she was emaciated and scheduled to be euthanized the following day. The shelter called us the next week asking if we still wanted Zena..they had accidentally left a "hold" card on her kennel that had been overlooked...so after giving her the tranquilizer shot (the first step in euthanizing a dog), they saw the card and panicked. They called us saying there was a 90% chance she would never wake up from the tranquilizer, but we told them to stop and give her the chance to wake up! With all the odds against her, she did wake up, and we headed out the next day to pick her up. She is in CT now, but she was one of my hardest girls--sooo sweet and healthy, but the strongest, most stubborn dog I have ever worked with--my legs are still scratched and bruised to prove it! I guess that's what brought her back to life though, and a girl with her will to live deserves a second chance :)

SAGE- Sage is a 2-3 yr old Black Lab/Golden Retriever mix. She was sharing a kennel with Zena, and when I saw the shelter worker shoving her back into the cage with his foot while he took Zena out of the cage for me, I walked over and grabbed her collar and brought her with us! She is awesome--so sweet, totally trained, but only one eye..so no one wants her! She's my toughest placement so far, but luckily there's no time limit on rescue, so we'll find her a home :)

Fynn-- This was an easy guy...a 4 year old Golden mix who was totally healthy and had been at the local humane shelter. They heard about me and contacted me to help them (luckily they don't remember how annoying I was when they tried to keep me from rescuing Pumpkin ;))...so I told them I would help! Fynn was only with me for a week before he was adopted by a wonderful family near Boston.

AVA- Another rescuer headed up to Putnam while I was on one of my attempted breaks, and they called a friend of mine about a 3 month old purebred Lab puppy who had been hit by a car and left to die at the shelter... I happened to be at the vet when my friend (a vet tech) got the call. She ran out to tell me...and I mean, come on, how could I say no!? Throughout the conversation, the 3 mos old purebred Lab puppy became a possible mix to a 6 mos old, to a 1 yr old, and finally, I stopped the girl and just told her to bring me the dog! She had the exact same leg injury as Nemo, but was totally healthy besides that! I took her on as a long termer, but a family met her 2 weeks after her surgery and chose her over all the other healthy, purebred dogs they had met! She is now in a reallllly nice home with two little kids who spoil her :)

Kingston- The humane society called me to intercept an owner surrender because they didn't want to have another large black dog at the facility. I said yes, and picked up this cutie the next week! He literally cried when his mom and dad drove away and has been kind of scared with new people, but he's coming around every day...and he is so precious! He's a purebred Lab that has lots of MARLEY traits, but he's as sweet as they come, so we'll find him a home. I love this guy--although, I can't wait to let someone else take over my training sessions with him;)

Too soon after my last trip up to Putnam County, the shelter manager called me BEGGING me to rescue this gorgeous yellow lab there. So, I drove up with another one of my rescue buddies, to get ONLY 1 dog this time. We named her Catie (after a certain special girl in my life!), and I was SO happy they had called me to get her! She was a dream---perfectly trained, no bad habits, very friendly...and she was adopted within a few weeks, and is now the princess of her new home in Pennsylvania! :) - no clue why this is underlined, and it won't let me undo it, so I'm just leaving it :)

These 3 puppies are Knox, Paris, and Nikki (can you tell I'm running out of names and have been reading gossip mags? haha)... I asked the shelter worker about them as I was leaving with Catie (half-heartedly, knowing that most of the other rescues take all the puppies before anything else...). He told me they were scheduled for euthanasia the next day because all the puppy rescues decided they were too old to take--they were about 14-16 weeks instead of the usual 8-12 weeks... I asked him if any other rescues were coming after I left, he said no, so we loaded 3 more puppies into our crates! They were just babies! How could I leave them there to die! They were all super scared at first, and I had to carry each one (one by one) out of the shelter kennel, into the bath at the vet, out for a walk, etc., etc...They were a lot of work! But they came out of their shells after a couple of days, and became normal puppies! The 2 hound girls were sick, and needed time at the vet to recover, but I wanted to get Knox out of the tiny kennel at the vet (on a whim one day), so as I was walking out with him, a nice woman stopped to pet him, and one thing led to another, and suddenly I was meeting up with her best friend that night, and Knox was in his new home the next day! (This never happens to me and was the easiest rescue yet!) Paris is in her new home in CT now, and Nikki is in a wonderful foster home up in CT, waiting on her forever home in style ;). These guys were the CUTEST rescues yet! I never get to take puppies--everyone takes them, so I focus on the older guys...so this was really fun for me :)

On my next unplanned trip to Palatka (Putnam Co.), after agreeing to go as support for a rescue friend (and nothing else--NO dogs this time), I picked up Marley. Marley was a perfectly trained, 100% healthy boy who was surrendered by his owner with shot records and everything after his family was forced to move in to an apartment that didn't allow 2 dogs. Marley , being the younger of the 2 dogs, was dropped off at the shelter. I literally picked him up on a Tuesday and sent him home to his forever family on that Thursday!! After getting him out on the day the shelter euthanizes, a rescue woman contacted me about a man who had really wanted to go get Marley after seeing his picture on the Putnam Co. website....Long story short, Marley went home to a wonderful couple who were unable to have children and really wanted another dog to add to their family!

After getting Marley, I was heading in to find my friend who was picking up a litter of kittens, I saw this girl out of the corner of my eye! The shelter was calling her Precious, for reasons we soon discovered....she was toooo sweet for words and I couldn't leave her there. I grabbed her and put her in an empty kennel that my friend had conveniently brought with her ;)....and we headed home. Precious is still looking for a home, and she is the sweetest dog ever!

Close to the breaking point with dogs, as usual, I said I was done taking in any new ones. BUT this other volunteer of a different Lab Rescue in FL called me in a panic one day after someone told her about me (the trainer who helped us when we first rescued Pumpkin!). He had told her that I was the Lab Rescue "rogue" rescuer who would take the mixes and the ones no one else wanted. So she called me about Louie, saying she couldn't find anyone to take him, etc,etc... It didn't take much to convince me to help her. So I went to the New Smyrna Beach shelter that day and picked him up. He was so sweet, no issues, totally healthy, and he went to his new home in New Hampshire a couple weeks after leaving the shelter!

While Taylor was on a weekend trip to Seattle, I got a call about a purebred Yellow Lab at the Putnam Co. shelter, and after having no luck finding another person to go get him for me, I decided I was brave enough to go by myself... It took me 2.5 hours to get there (I got lost a few times ;)), and when I got there, I was really nervous. I'm proud to say I got my composure and walked in to get my Yellow boy, Cody. Cody was as sweet as you could ever imagine, and I agreed to take him in a second. After getting Cody to the vet, his health quickly deteriorated and it became evident that he was sick with Parvo, or something similar. My house, car, shoes, and the other dogs I rescued that day (below) had all been infected with the highly contagious, deadly disease! I was a mess! I told the vet to do whatever it took to save Cody, and the other dogs boarded at the vet until they were in the clear. I bleached every last piece of my clothing, shoes, car seats, floorboard, you name it, I doused it with bleach! After a few days of thinking this sweet little guy was going to die, he woke up one morning with a non-stop tail wag and started eating and running around like a puppy! So, he made it. And he is the BEST dog! He loves kids, babies especially, and adores other dogs, ignores cats, and will make the best family bet..now all he needs is a family. So I'm working on that :)

When I went to get Cody, the shelter manager asked me to take a look at these 2 Black Labs that had been surrendered by their owners to the shelter due to financial issues. One look and I had them out of that kennel and on their way to my car! Cleo (short for Cleopatra) and Caesar--they came with these names--are such good dogs. They are totally healthy and are awaiting their homes at the boarding facility across the street from my house!
Finally, on my way out of the shelter, I passed by this chubby hound mix, and I fell in love! The shelter worker with me said this dog was his favorite, and whether that was true or not, it worked, and I threw a leash around her neck, and she was on her way to the car with me too! She is an older girl and she has the cutest face. So sweet :)

AND that's it. And hopefully my next post will focus more on life than on dogs!!! :)

Our new houseguest...

2009-08-11T20:35:00.001-07:00

Here's the newest little man staying at our house for a little while. He was from that rural shelter I went to a while back, and he had been hit by a car. The shelter has no vet on the premises, so he was kept in his kennel (with the quarantine dogs) for a week--the legal amount of time a dog needs to stay at the shelter before being put to sleep. In that time, he was not seen by a vet once and was just left in a kennel without any human interaction. As luck would have it, my friend and I showed up on the day he was scheduled to be euthanized, and I literally ran back into the shelter to grab him before leaving (he wouldn't walk so I had to pick him up :))... I already had 3 dogs, WAY over my limit, but something about this guy got to me! I just couldn't see a dog with a tail wag like his having his life cut short with such a depressing end. I was convinced I would have to euthanize him, but I told myself it was worth the sadness to give him a couple days knowing what being loved was like :)

But he's ok-or he will be! He has a broken pelvis, and his back left leg is completely out of its socket--and on top of it all, he's heartworm positive. He was coughing/sneezing a little and way too thin to go through the surgery right from the shelter, so we brought him home with lots of meds, and he's been eating super high calorie puppy food every day. I dropped him off yesterday, and he's having surgery on his leg in the morning (and getting neutered). And then in a couple of weeks, he'll have his heartworm treatment. He has a looooong road ahead of him, and I couldn't justify keeping him in boarding through all that, and my sweet hubby agreed! Taylor agreed to have him as a foster before meeting him--so I think he was expecting to go through what we went through with Tubbs (where I had to sleep on the floor or on the couch with him while he coughed and hacked up all kinds of stuff from his pneumonia, and woke us up every thirty minutes with his barking for months... NO complaints...he was worth every second!) BUT then Taylor met this sweet, quiet little guy and he was in love with him by the first night! We tried calling him Griffey--but it just didn't fit... that's a tougher dog's name. So then we decided Nemo--you know how Nemo has the tiny fin on one side but doesn't let him stop him? It seemed like a good fit....but the girls at my vet said it was "not cool enough" for him. So we'll see.

We've only had him a week, and we both missed him last night... which doesn't usually happen with the other wild and crazy Labs that come through here ;) We're not committing to anything, but this sweet guy is welcome in our house as long as he needs to be here :) He's tiny too--he weighs less than all the girls, but as you can see in the video, he's really underweight.. so he's just about 30 lbs right now, and Maggie's height. SO cute!

Back to Blogging

2009-07-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

This summer has been super busy with Taylor taking a new job as "Director of Institutional Relations as DSC" (and leaving coaching!), traveling to the Northwest, introducing Megan and Catie to Daytona Beach, and of course... rescuing too many dogs!

Here are some pics of our summer so far :)

Taylor in his new office (the windows go all the way to the other side of the wall--so nice!!)... with his new wardrobe :)

Long story--and kind of sad to talk about. We adopted a 4th dog again when a rescue of mine, Max, had spent too much time in boarding with no interest and didn't seem to be a healthy dog. He spent almost every day at our house and only slept at the kennel, but his health continued to decline... so we brought him into our home for good. His health didn't improve, and after a couple of weeks of IV fluids and everything we could possibly do, his blood work showed that his kidney and liver functions had completely shut down and he was dying (and suffering). :( Taylor and I were with him when the vet put him to sleep, and it was so heartbreaking. I just held him, sobbing the whole time--and my sweet hubby stayed with us the whole time and kept telling me to picture happy thoughts so Max wouldn't worry (I couldn't have done it without Taylor)...and then he fell asleep peacefully, and we let him go. His ashes are in a box next to Tubbs on my desk, and we will never forget him. He wasn't a Childress for long, but we loved him as one of our own. :(

A few days after losing Max, we headed up to Seattle for our Northwest vacation... here we all are at a Mariners game after watching Ken Griffey Jr play...and watching the Mariners win!

Taylor and I then headed to Canon Beach, OR to our favorite hotel...The Stephanie Inn... where we relaxed and didn't do much other than eat and sleep for 4 days! It was wonderful :)

We finished up our trip with a visit to Portland to see Grammy and Poppy. They took us out to a delicious steak dinner at their favorite restaurant, The Country Kitchen... and I have never eaten so much in one sitting. It was so much fun :)

One day after returning from our vacation, we got to see Megan and CATIE! They came to visit for a few days, and I fell in love with my little niece even MORE, if that's even possible! She is just too cute... she "talks" all the time and smiles the sweetest smile I've ever seen! She is beyond precious! The sun index was really high when they visited, so we didn't spend too much time on the real beach (next time we'll schedule their trip when it's a little cooler here...and we'll have one of those giant tents so she can be there without being in the sun), but that didn't stop my mom from bringing out the beach toys and bathing suit for a photo op!

And finally-- here are the Daytona dogs who have been keeping my days filled with lots of activity and drama...(and keeping me just on the brink of being completley stressed out... ;))

Momo- The 15 year old girlfriend of the high school boy that surrendered Millie (the black Lab) to me called because her 5 year Lab kept trying to kill her small dog. I met her and picked up this little man, "Momo." He's a Yorkie/Chihuahua/ Poodle mix :) He found a home right away and he is now living with a family with 2 little boys in New York, and they adore him!

Annie- Annie was listed on a free ad posted by a breeder who no longer needed her. I called the breeder, and she explained that Annie's puppies had been born with speckled noses, and that was unexceptable--so she really had no use for her, now that the puppies were 7 weeks old.

She assured me that Annie was healthy--but after picking her up, we found that she was very overweight, heartworm positive and could barely see due to a severe eye infection. BUT, she is all better now and can see just fine--and is at the vet as we speak getting spayed. She's still looking for a home... it's not as easy for a slightly chubby 5 yr old lady like her--but we'll find her one :)

MacKenzie- When we called to arrange Annie's pick up, the breeder asked if I had room for one more...A man had sold her a 2 year old purebred Lab to be a breeding dog, but he hadn't sent in her AKC papers yet, and she was just taking up space. So, of course, I said yes. MacKenzie had a bad case of demodectic mange, but luckily that isn't contagious and it's very treatable. We also had her spayed--and found out during her surgery that she had already been spayed. Not to be too judgemental, but this breeder was a disaster! Ugh...On a happy note, MacKenzie went to her new home in CT last week, and is now named Abbey :)

Wrigley- Wrigley's family posted him on a free ad on Craigslist because they were moving to an apartment and could only take 2 of their 3 dogs, and since Wrigley was the biggest, he was the one who had to go. Besides being 20 lbs overweight, Wrigley was in good health and after waiting close to 2 months, he went to his forever home last weekend. He's living in Northern Massachusetts with a really nice family and has become best buddies with their 2 year old little girl.
Chip- Chip is a 9 year old Chihuahua/Daschund mix who had lived with his mom since he was 8 weeks old, but due to her health issues, she didn't have time for him anymore. No one in her family would take this little guy, so I told her I would help. He is adorable, and I am hoping his foster mom will keep him ;) He has to wear baby socks at night to keep from chewing at his feet... but other than that, he's doing great and goes to the beach every night for a run with his foster mom and canine foster brother.

OK, I adore all my rescue dogs, but there is something about this guy that has me completely in love with him! I named him Dallas because we rescued him the week my sister moved to Dallas, and I was running out of name ideas! Dallas has the coolest story of any rescue I've taken in... he was rescued from an awful rural shelter between Daytona and Jacksonville (I'll spare you all the details, but it is very high kill -- and it has adoption hours for only 2 hrs/day in the middle of the work day....dogs at this shelter have literally no chance of getting out without a rescue intervening). One of the few volunteers at the shelter watched one day as the shelter workers made their way down the row of kennels, sticking a pole with a needle attached to it through the cage doors to euthanize the dogs who were out of time. When they arrived at Dallas' kennel, he kept waving the pole out of the way with his paw, over and over again, until the shelter workers got impatient...and instead of opening the door to touch the dog, they skipped him and said they'd get him the next day, so they woudn't have to stay late that afternoon. The shelter volunteer called a rescue friend of mine immediately, and we decided that a dog with that much will to live deserved a second chance!!! So, I took him into our rescue, and he is currently going through heartworm treatment--and sitting at my feet as I write this. He's a tougher one to place, being 100% mixed breed and having some fear issues (if I throw a toy, he hits the ground and runs in the other direction!), but we're not giving up on him. He is the SWEETEST guy and soooo gentle. He'll find a home soon :)

Brody- A shelter in New Smyrna Beach that I work with called me one night (2 nights before we were leaving on vacation!) about a dog they didn't think they would have much luck placing- a 9 year old Yellow Lab who had been left in their overnight drop box with a note on his collar telling his name and age, and that's it. That's all I had to hear, and I was up early the next morning at the shelter to get him OUT of there! I have to admit, I was convinced that Brody was an angel sent to me from my Tubbie... it was Tubbs' exact same story, and he was the same color, etc... and deep down, I just knew he would inevitably become a Childress. BUT, unlike our sweet Tubbs, Brody was in perfect health. He had no temperment issues and he ran and played like a 2 year old Lab. I posted him on our website and within a couple of days, I had 3 different people interested... serves me right for thinking I have such a handle on God's plan ;) So, this would-be Childress went to his new home in New Jersey last week, and his new family loves him and can't keep him out of their pool!

Matthew- Matthew was rescued from the Putnam County shelter (the one where Dallas came from), and he is 100% Lab--so sweet, loves people, and no issues whatsoever. He is being treated for heartworms, and he already
has a home with two little girls waiting for him up in Massachusetts!

Cash- Cash was rescued with Matthew from Putnam County, and he was the quickest placement I've ever had! We got him out of the shelter--he was totally healthy, so we got him neutered, and he went on his way to a foster home in Rhode Island last weekend... and a new family met him the day after he arrived with his foster parents, and he has already been adopted! I love this picture of him... I was at the vet for a long time with the 2 rescues below.. and he was so good and just hung out in the examination room for a couple of hours. At one point, the vet was laughing and called me over to look, and he had climbed up to the top shelf of a cabinet (at least 5 feet off the ground) without knocking one bottle out of place so he could nap and watch what was going on through the window on the upper part of the door! Luckily, all of us Lab lovers find these types of antics endearing! :)

Addie- Addie was rescued by accident when my rescue friend drove up to Putnam County to pick up the Spaniel in the pics below. She called me and said there was a Lab/Bassett mix who was being used as a nursing mom to all the orphans at the shelter...and they had used her for so many months that she was now emaciated and barely had any milk left. Without milk, she was of no use to the shelter, so she was slated for euthanasia that afternoon...How could I say no??? :)
She is heartworm postive TOO, so she's being treated for that, and then we'll get her ready to find a forever home of her own :)

Finally, here's Stephanie (named after our hotel in Oregon :)). She is the toughest case I've dealt with yet. She came from the Putnam County shelter, and when I came to meet her, I was shocked by her condition (those pics aren't worth posting, too sad-- we'll focus on how pretty she is now!). She had so many matts all over her body that she could barely walk, and she wouldn't look anyone in the eye. The girl who picked her up that day for me had tried to cut through some matts, but had hardly made a dent... I was rushed, as usual, and got ready to leave, and then I turned around and walked back into the vet and couldn't leave until the last matt was gone. I couldn't deal with the idea of her having to spend one more night in that condition. The vet techs let me have a room to myself and let me borrow the sharpest clippers they had (I had never shaved a dog before, so I had to pretend I knew what I was doing --haha), and I went to work on this poor girl. It took about 2 hours, but I got the matts off, and she never tried to bite me, even though I know it really hurt--which is a huge plus ;). After we could finally see her skin, we found all types of cuts and infected wounds, etc... it was pretty awful. I went in the next morning and gave her a really long medicated bath, and she actually fell asleep in the tub when I was rubbng her ears. She is being treated for heartworms now, as most of mine seem to be heartworm positive these days, and then she'll come to the doggie resort across the street from me. After only 5 days, she has started wagging her little stub of a tail, and wiggling when I come to visit! She'll find a home really fast, being such a beautiful girl--and what we discovered to be a purebred Springer Spaniel under all that fur!

SOOO-- that's what's been going on here... and as sad as some of these rescue stories sound, it really is completely worth it to see a dog who comes to us in such rough shape go off to a home where they will be loved for the rest of their lives. I am learning that I need to get a bit stronger about saying "NO," but it's just so hard looking into their desperate, trusting eyes, and knowing that without my help, they don't stand a chance. I'm trying to figure out a balance...so hopefully one day I'll have it all figured out-- that or I'll just live on a huge farm with hundreds of dogs... haha--just kidding, I'm not THAT crazy yet. And we still just have 3 living in our home, so that gives us some sense of normality. I just keep repeating that famous quote to myself-"Saving one dog won't change the world, but it will absolutely change the world for that one dog." That seems to help me... sometimes. Ok-- enough writing for the day-- time to get back to work!

Only Child for a Day

2009-06-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

Maggie and Pumpkin went to the spa today to get their summer hair cuts (my camera is charging so I don't have new pics of them yet--they are adorable as usual!)... which left Gamer alone with me all day. I would like to say she missed her sisters, but let's be honest, Gamer is and always will be an only child (in her mind at least)... I don't think she's really accepted the fact that the other two are here to stay ;).

So, before work, I took her to a huge dog park, where she got to run ALL by herself for almost 20 minutes! The other dogs were hanging out, playing as only well-socialized dogs can, in the small dog area separated by a fence (even though they were all huge dogs), which was just fine with me. But the people incorrectly assumed that I brought my dog to the dog park to socialize, so they all came walking over to join Gamer and me... apologizing for being in the "wrong" side of the park and leaving my dog all alone. I could hear Gamer's sigh of disappointment from the other end of the park...we didn't stay long after that. As nice as the people were to come and join us, 6 large dogs intruding on Gamer's intense squirrel hunting does not make her a happy camper. Although, I have to say, she didn't embarrass me with her growling or snapping at all with the other dogs! I was so proud of her--only a couple sly teeth-baring moves that only I caught (not the other owners!).

This is Gamer's signature hunting move that started 6 years ago on Peabody campus (which is overrun by Vanderbilt's unnaturally brave--and gigantic-- squirrels)... She stalks the squirrel while standing completely still, then charges it as fast as she can. She inevitably misses the target...and then continues to jog past the spot where the squirrel was to save her pride and act like she was heading that way for a totally different reason.

So we came home, and to be fair, I gave her a bath...I just can't quite justify sending her to the dog spa when she is pretty much balding with light fuzzy fur here and there ;) Plus we have all kinds of special medicated shampoo to use with her.

Here are her thoughts on bath time and her day full of quality time with Mom.

While we're giving Gamer her day in the spotlight--here's one of my favorite videos of her with our foster dog, Olivia. Olivia wanted to be her friend SOOO badly, and Gamer is trying so hard not to growl at her here (but completely not understanding that in dog language, Olivia just wants to get past her)

Haha--that's our girl! :)

And again, as a disclaimer, she really is the sweetest thing... and truly the love of our lives---I just don't think she knows she's a dog, and therefore sees no reason to act like one or associate with them ;)

My afternoon...

2009-06-04T12:36:00.000-07:00

I have had three rescues at the doggie daycare across the street for the past couple of weeks, so they have all taken turns hanging out at Camp Childress to get away from the kennel for a little while during the day...

My precious Beagle rescue left this morning to go to her new home in CT, and I cried--she was so sweet...a little crazy with a very persistent howl--but I adored her. Taylor told me she'd be the hardest dog I have ever had to place (this was after he saw her climbing on the back of his recliner and knocking over/shattering a ceramic dish, all within about 2 minutes), but he doesn't know Beagles like I do! There are lots of Beagle people out there that find these little troublemakers endearing, and as predicted, she had no trouble finding a home :)

Here's Olivia...

Next, there is Millie...a 5-6 month old Black Labbie girl who is just as CUTE as she can be! She has lots of puppy energy and was given up by her family because she kept chewing things and trying to get into their pool while the kids were swimming (imagine a LAB wanting to chew and swim!!? haha). Anyway, she's a total doll, and will find a home in a second once I post her on Petfinder-she's just waiting for one more round of puppy shots.

And finally, I have Max. I found Max listed on a "Free to Good Home" ad (due to a divorce)--which is SO dangerous. People search "Free" ads all the time for scientific research, dog fighting bait, and even just to re-sell the dog for a profit. Max is a 6-7 year old Black Labbie boy who has been posted on Petfinder for over 2 weeks without one single inquiry--he has three strikes against him already, being an older large black dog. Black dogs are 4 times more likely to be euthanized because they are so often overlooked at shelters--and they are just as hard to place through rescue. On top of this, Max has been so traumatized by his family giving him up, that he is somewhat fear aggressive and wants to fight other dogs if they come too close (this makes his visits to our house lots of fun ;)). He's coming along, and I'm not giving up on him. He's a total sweetheart, but just very insecure right now. I had to bring him here the first few days just to get him to eat, but now he's eating fine and even wagging his tail at everyone he meets!

So this brings me to my afternoon.... after a somewhat busy morning with work and a nice lunch out with Taylor, I decided to pick Max up and bring him over to my house for the afternoon. He has been wonderful today--not ONE growl at my dogs--even when Gamer gave him her signature snarl and snap. As I was marveling at how well the afternoon was going and settling in at my computer to do some work, I noticed Max wandering on the other side of my desk...and then in slow motion, I saw him turn around and realize the modem cable was wrapped around his foot. He then went into a complete panic and took off running backwards, taking the modem/laptop/docking station/stack of post-its/pen holder with him (while I was in the process of typing a work email, of course). This catastrophe caused a massive crashing sound that scared the poor guy even more, so he took off out of the office, and my three socially awkward girls took off in terror after him--and a train of four dogs proceeded to bolt into my bedroom and hide! Now, it may have made sense to be angry at this point, but I just laughed ...and got my camera. If dog rescue weren't chaotic, then everyone would be doing it, right? I can't complain--I bring this on myself..haha. AND I'm now typing this post, so there was clearly no permanent computer damage (although I did have to shove the wire back into the modem harder than usual, and I heard a slight cracking noise...:)).

And now I'm off to take Max back to his hotel and rush back to shower and put myself together for one of Taylor's work dinners...

Taylor and the Chi...

2009-05-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed Taylor has been growing out his hair this spring...and as it turns out, it is really curly and wavy! He, of course, came to the expert in managing curly hair ;), and asked what he's supposed to do with it (he has been fighting the fluffiness with this humidity too..hehe). We were laughing and I was joking that he just needed to Chi it (to those of you who are blessed with straight hair, a Chi is an awesome hair straightener that can handle hair like mine!).

Long story short, he let me play with his hair last night! I used my product on it, and blew it dry..and then used the Chi on it (although Taylor was CONVINCED I was going to burn his head--and I was secretly a little nervous too on such short hair!--so we really just dealt with the ends. (Note: When I walked in with all the appliances and hair product, he asked for a beer, just to feel somewhat manly--haha... so he sat on a chair with a beer while I played with his hair;)). I told him he would be the best dad to little girls ever--such a good sport! :)

We thought this was the funniest thing... look at his hair!? No worries, he went into work with the natural curls today. The Chi in our house is back to being for girls only... (I still think he's pretty adorable-feathered 80's bangs, and all ;))

And just a couple pics of Gamer and Taylor...I love these two together... they are SO cute... she's definitely his girl :)

April and May!

2009-05-04T20:41:00.000-07:00

So we lost our boy at the very end of March...and life is moving forward. We have come to the realization that we'll miss him forever--and it's kind of comorting knowing he will not be forgotten. I'm missing him tonight (it comes and goes still :( )...but I'm not going to go into another SAD post! That's never been my personality (nor was it Tubbie's!)--so I hate that all my posts have been so sad since we lost him! To be honest, we've been really busy and smiling and laughing a lot over the past couple of months. Life is good-- and we were so blessed to have had that big happy yellow lab in our lives for as long as we did! :)

Here are some pics from what we've been up to....

Loving on Gamer....

Courtney: Taylor! Take a picture quick! She's actually snuggling with me! (Notice Gamer's eyes ...)

Me, looking sooo happy to be with my girl-- she jumped off of me a minute later. Haha...

Babysitting Scooter for a week:

Maggie is such a good sport :) -- This is on the pillow under my desk-- not much leg room for me ;)Maggie and Scooter-- they both moved the pillows like this on their own :)

This pretty much sums up how the 4 dogs interact-- notice who chooses to be the outcast... ;)

This is the turtle that my neighbor and I rescued-- after I almost ran the poor thing over! We ended up using a net and a box to get him back into the lake.... who knew turtles could be so aggressive?? He hissed and tried to bite us a couple of times--and we both jumped back like 5 feet each time-haha- he looks so harmless here!

Finally enjoying the screened in porch with our new patio furniture... see how sweet Gamer is when she thinks no one's watching!? We sat like this for a really long time while I drank my coffee one morning- such a sweet girl :)

Typical Sunday at our house:

(Ok, maybe not TYPICAL...but sooo awesome I had to take a picture!) We had center-cut bacon, fruit, warm maple syrup, Mimosas, and of course, Poppy's blueberry pancakes! We then moved ourselves over to the couch and watched LOST DVD's until we felt like we could move again ;)

Local Rescue Dogs:

JEWEL-

This is Jewel, a rescue dog that a friend of mine had been fostering here in Daytona since October...I got her from a local shelter when they called and said they couldn't place her up for adoption with her severe skin issues. NO ONE wanted this girl, even though she is by far THE sweetest dog I have ever rescued! I took her to a Daytona State baseball game one Saturday, as a last resort, before having to beg my parents or Taylor to let her move in ;).... AND we ended up sitting next to a wonderful family who had just lost their lab! Long story short, they adopted her, and she is being treated as an absolute princess--she even gets to fly on her very own private jet ;) Lucky girl!

CHANCE-

(No, we're not Jewish, but this dredel toy has been with us for over 2 years now, and it is ALWAYS the favorite of every dog that comes to visit! It's the only toy that has ever lasted that long in our house...haha)Pumpkin, looking so thrilled to have ANOTHER dog around....she is still learning to adjust to new situations ;)

Kathy and Charlie let us borrow Scooter when we need a "normal" dog to come play with our new rescues...since our 3 girls go hide in another room when any new dog comes to visit. Maggie is getting better...but we're still working with Gamer and Pumpkin.

So...Chance's story...I found an ad for a Yellow Lab on Craigslist one day, and I offered to help the person find a good home that would be screened carefully (instead of her just sending him to the highest bidder!)...she said she didn't care who I was as long as I took him off her hands that day. SO, I met her (not at her home--at a very safe, public spot, Mom, Dad, and Taylor!) and took him on the spot. He was a 3 yr old rescue from a Maryland shelter that she couldn't keep any longer due to finances and an illness in her family. He was PERFECT in every way-- loved other dogs, loved kids, loved all strangers, was housetrained, knew how to sit, shake and lie down on command...he was amazing. I wasn't prepared to be so close to another yellow lab so soon after losing Tubbs and fell in LOVE with him! I told Taylor that if no one wanted him, we had to keep him--but Taylor reminded me that we were really a home for the socially awkward and the virtually un-adoptable ;) (And I have to admit, I found myself hoping that Chance would fail some temperment or health test so we could keep him :(-- I'm not proud of that).... BUT, every person that met him wanted him. And when the perfect family asked to adopt him, I couldn't say no. So, he is now "Cooper," :) and they adore him!

I was quickly reminded that God knows what he's doing-- and that Chance wasn't meant to be ours. And that this family needed some labbie love more than we did--Tubbs gave us enough of that to last a lifetime! ;)

Friends Visiting:

Chris and Erik came to visit and we had SO much fun with them! They loved the dogs (which is always a plus ;)), helped Taylor drink his Scotch, and even watched Twilight one night! ;)

They spent the whole weekend hanging out around the house... I was in and out running errands and rescuing dogs (they all met Chance, aka Cooper, ;)), and every time I walked in the door, they were just sitting around and laughing. They even chose to cook dinner at home too. It was so much fun!

Weekend in Nashville:

My parents were traveling when I went to Nashville a couple week's ago, so my week went something like this...

Wednesday- Arrived in Nashville, spent the day at the office, had dinner and spent the night with Grandma Mary and Aunt Megan.

Thursday- Spent the day at the office, met up with Jessica, Hi V, and 6 week old Madelyn at Margaret's house, went to the best dinner at PM with Margaret (I had pot stickers and pad thai...mmm), spent the rest of the warm Nashville evening on Margaret's porch (I sat on the porch swing :)) with her Black Lab, Camden, and a bottle of red wine.

Friday- Tried to run in the rain (got to 4 miles before realizing Nashville is MUCH more hilly than Florida and that slipping on the wet pavement was bound to be a disaster), spent the morning at Kinko's doing work b/c the office had a massive power outage that took out the server, had an early lunch with Ann and COOPER :) at CPK, spent the rest of the day at the office, met up with Becca and a bunch of college friends to get pedicures, had dinner (one of Bec's awesome casseroles) with Becca and the girls, out to Tayste for sparkling red wine (it was so good!), and then spent the night at Bec's condo.

Saturday- Brunch at the Germantown Cafe with pitchers of mimosas, shopping at the new, trendy Hill Center in Nashville (which felt SO unlike Nashville, in a really good way!), met up with Ann to go to dinner at J. Alexander's...We then drove to our 10 year high school reunion party, where we realized about 10 minutes into our drive that we had NO idea what the address of our destination was...haha... only me and Ann ;), we did eventually find the party and had lots of fun :)...I finally met up with Becca and the girls at The Stage, and then had a sleepover at Bec's condo with Sarah and Emily -- I got to be an honorary Goodyear with all 3 Goodyear sisters :)

Sunday- Church and brunch with Grandma Mary, ran a couple errands, and finally spent the rest of the day with Grandma, and shared some pizza and wine with her before heading back to the airport for my flight! Taylor had been in Mt. Pleasant with Naynie for the weekend, so we met up in the Orlando airport at around 11 pm, and I talked his ear off the whole 1 hour drive home ;) haha....

And then I kept wondering why I was SO exhausted all last week....haha-- I love Nashville!

At Tayste with Bec and the girls :)

The Stage on Saturday night

MUDDY BUDDY:

As if visiting Nashville wasn't tiring enough, I had promised Brooke that I would be her partner in the Muddy Buddy race this year... We got a hotel room at a really nice hotel/spa in DisneyWorld, and went out to a nice dinner Friday night before going to bed super early in the world's most comfortable beds...ONLY to wake up at 5:45 for the Muddy Buddy race! It was a 6.2 mile bike/run where we switched off between biking and running--and had to complete an obstacle at every transition. It was unlike anything I have ever done, and I had so much fun! I thought I was going to die while I was doing it, especially on the balance beam (I know that's pathetic, but I've never had good balance!!!)....but it was totally worth it :)

Unloading the car....

We were the "Girls in Training" but there wasn't room to write that on our shirts :)

Brooke made the shirts
Meeting up with our neighbors--Charlie, Kathy, and Stu!

I love this picture of us coming out of the mud pit! Brooke just hops on out...and I am fumbling to get over that last "hill"... haha....I'm in the blue on the left if you couldn't recognize me!
We did it! I was the dirtiest one of our whole group-- not sure how that happened! I took the LONGEST shower I have ever taken right after this!!! And then came home to relax for the rest of the weekend. Taylor and I saw the new Star Trek movie on Saturday, which was really good (much to my surprise!), and spent Sunday at the beach. :)

And FINALLY, here are our three girls! We are back to being a family of 4, which somehow feels so small...but the girls are getting lots of extra love. :) They are so precious!

God Whispered...

2009-04-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

Two of my close friends lost their dogs this past week-- and both girls passed away at only 6-7 yrs old.
My friends are heartbroken :( It is so hard to watch people I love go through something so painful. We will miss you, Riley and Zuzu.

Riley Paneri

Zuzu Raines

I found this poem and wanted to post it in honor of Tubbs, Riley, and Zuzu ...

God Whispered

God saw that you were
getting tired
and a cure was not to be...
So He put His arms around you
and whispered, "Come with Me."

With aching hearts,
we watched you suffer
and saw you fade away.
Although we loved you dearly,
we could not help you stay.

A Loving Heart stopped beating,
A special friend put to rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the best.

- Author Unknown

Our Week...

2009-04-16T23:24:00.000-07:00

Our week has been pretty exciting....from dogs to day trips to dog-sitting to Scotch! :) Here are some pics from our busy week...

Last week ended with our first trip as a family of 5 to the baseball field! Pumpkin used to stay home with Tubbie while we took Maggie and Gamer to go run on the field... so this was Pumpkin's first time there. We were kind of worried since she was rescued from this area (the cemetary directly across from the field!)...but she did great! We kept her on the leash to be safe (even though it's 100% fenced) but eventually let go of the leash, letting it drag behind her--and she had so much fun :)

Then the next day (Saturday), we woke up really early to catch the first flight from Orlando to Nashville on Saturday morning! We landed in Nashville, where my parents picked us up and drove us to get my FAVORITE lunch in the world (California Pizza Kitchen :)), and then we met Anne and Bobby and their new puppy, GUS (a rescue peke-a-chon from St. Louis). We then transferred ownership of Anne's old car that we bought from her (4Runner) and headed back to Daytona.... And 10 hours later, at a little passed midnight, we returned to Daytona Beach! We LOVE the new car! Not only do we save the car payment on the Seqouia each month, but we also get an awesome car that doesn't mind getting a little dirty driving on the beach, fishing with Taylor, and driving all kinds of rescue dogs with me! It's perfect :)
Then we spent Easter Sunday relaxing...and went out that night so Taylor could have his first beer in 40 days! He gave up beer, and I gave up sweets for Lent..... My breakfast consisted of ice cream, Oreos, and a bunch of other sweet things I won't list, so I don't sound crazy...but he waited until dinner to have buffalo wings and beer at one of our favorite restaurants (Daytona Ale House).

Then on Tuesday, I received my very own lemon tree in honor of Tubbs from American Lab Rescue :) It was SUCH a sweet gesture---and my neighbors- Pam, Stu, Kathy, and Charlie- came over to help me plant it (after I texted them frantically--not knowing WHAT to do with my adorable new baby lemon tree :)) How cute is it!?!

Then... I got the CUTEST pics of Catie in the mail from my mom... and here's my favorite... how adorable is my niece!?!

Taylor's been working really long hours this week, so I found an easy way to make my hubby smile after his super long week :)

Ok-- so the hair is getting super long...so, I asked him to get it as wild as he could... and then he started posing for "mug shots" (turning from side to side)! Since I always have my camera at arms length, I had to get a few pictures. Look how long and curly it is!!

And finally-- for the next week, we are babysitting this little munchkin :) SCOOTER! He is so sweet--and such a trouble-maker. I love it :) I accidentally called him "Tubbs" like 5 times today--all 5 times, he was getting into trouble...so that kept me laughing all day ;) Our girls never do anything to get into trouble--but the boy dogs are always up to something--so it's been fun having a boy around again :)

Showing Off

2009-04-16T08:59:00.001-07:00

Gamer is our little princess--she is so smart, it's actually kind of scary. She has these human eyes that take in far more than any dog should be able to. She can sit, lie down, shake, "take a bow," etc... so here's a clip of her showing off all these fantastic tricks for her mom's blog friends... ;)

Serves me right for trying to show off my little girl's superior intelligence...haha ;)

Old Dogs :)

2009-04-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

One of the many times my mom was listening to my cry into the phone over how much I missed my Tubbie bear, she suggested I think of all the good things he did for me and Taylor--and how he inspired me to always look out for older dogs in shelters.... And the next day, out of the blue, I got an email from a family who had adopted an older dog from me almost 2 years ago! And I have to credit Tubbie with this rescue :) I know he's up there, running around, loving life, and whispering in God's ear when he thinks I need a little reminder that everything's going to be ok. Sometimes timing is just too perfect to be coincidental...

Our rescue gets hundreds of emails a week with dogs to rescue, and as awful as it it to admit, we can't take them all. I have had to stop looking at pictures and deleting emails before reading them if I know we can't help. BUT, my rescue buddy Courtney P and I have a thing for the seniors-- and we always do what we can to pull the older guys from shelters... A couple years ago, someone called us about an 11 year old purebred black lab named Boomer who was a retired police dog that was no longer needed :( ! The shelter said he was virtually unadoptable at his age...We got him out of the shelter, and long story short.... he won the hearts of a wonderful family up in the Northeast. They took him as a foster the same way I took in Tubbs---just until he found his new home--and decided they could never let him go :) I got an email a couple days ago from his mom, and she was saying he was slowing down a bit but was still the love of their lives. How cool is this too-- in addition to letting the little girls dress him up with bows, he uses his police training to open doors AND unzip the kids' backpacks with his teeth to get what he wants out of them. :) In honor of all the senior dogs bringing love and all kinds of trouble into homes out there, here's Boomer! I love this boy!

As I was writing this, I realized my mom may have been referring to herself too--haha...my parents have had to take in soooo many dogs because of Megan and me ;) ... Last spring, we rescued two purebred 10 year old labs from TN who were dropped at a shelter after their owner (a lab breeder) could no longer use them as breeding dogs... Their names were Tucker and Chesney, and both were heartworm positive and severely underweight... Tucker became very sick with a fungal infection, and the vet called me, saying that he had done everything possible and needed permission to euthanize. I had to fax a signed letter saying I would allow this to happen (UGH- not the fun part of dog rescue). It was recommended that I euthanize Chesney too becuase he didn't have much of a chance with heartworms at 10 years old and in his condition. I called the vet back before sending the fax, and his technician answered. I told her I understood both dogs were sick... and I knew Tucker was suffering--but I asked her to walk over to Chesney and tell me what his eyes looked like and if his tail wagged... She laughed and said, "Typical lab... wagging his tail and wiggling for attention." That was it... I called my parents (in tears, of course), and told them what was going on.... And he became a Curb on the spot :) They treated him for heartworms, and against all odds, he made it! He now lives in Nashville on 20 acres of fenced in grassy hills-- and he is actually considerably overweight...and LOVING life! I wish I had a picture of him... he is in doggy heaven! Old dogs are the BEST-- even if they do break our hearts when they leave...After writing all this, I'm smiling... so I guess my mom knew what she was talking about ;)

Yikes-- this blog is becoming more of a journal...sorry for all the rambling! ;)

"Family" Therapy

2009-04-05T14:00:00.001-07:00

Taylor and I are feeling as though the dark cloud is lifting... we still miss our Tubbie every minute of every day, but focusing on the happy times is so helpful--anything to put that last day out of our minds. I know it was a peaceful way for him to go, but I can't stand the image of a lifeless Tubbs...it was so not his temperment...and it hurts to think of him that way :(

SO... moving forward with life... Suzanne came into town on Wednesday, and it was the BEST thing that could have happened. We really needed family around, and who better than Suzanne :) It was the best therapy we could have asked for. Suzanne and I spent our mornings (from 9am to NOON!) sitting with our coffee and talking about life in general. Work was somewhat slow on Thursday, and I worked off my laptop most of Friday, so we could still hang out. We went to one of Taylor's baseball games, went to all the beachside restaurants we could find, and walked up and down the beach (dipping our toes in the water a couple of times). I miss her already :( She was so much fun, and she kept us smiling the whole time. And she even let me set her up on Facebook!

I feel so blessed to have my 3 healthy little ones right now, and although we are still sick with grief over the hole Tubbie has left in our home and our hearts, we have to focus on how lucky we are to have our girls! To be honest, I think they are a bit tired of being hugged and loved on--but seriously, what else am I supposed to do with all this extra love?? ;)

Here are some pics from Suzanne's visit:

Trying to convince Pumpkin to snuggle...

Loving Pumpkin :)
It is impossible to be this close to Pumpkin and not want to hug her--she is just too cute!

Pumpkin- TOTALLY stiff...

Starting to realize that her grandma isn't so scary after all :)

Maggie with her new "baby" (around her neck)

Typical Gamer :)

Our 3 girls

Ugh, MOM, not another picture!

Ok seriously, let go of me...

Suzanne and Taylor

Best friends :) If only she loved us as much as she loves Maggie...

Me with 2 of my girls-- and yes, I KNOW my hair is absolutely out of control ;)

Notice how thrilled Gamer looks to be part of this picture...

Family of 5 ... again, Gamer's face is priceless....just so happy to be part of this photo shoot :)

Lunch at The Shores (Daytona Beach)

Our view at lunch :)

And finally...here is my boy's final resting place (unless I get to a point where I can spread his ashes, but I'm nowhere near letting him go that way yet). For now, he's here at my computer desk, in his favorite room (my office :)). His ashes are in the wooden dog house, and that's his paw print in the frame. The pics of Tubbie haven't been put in yet-- I'm having trouble sorting through all my pictures and choosing the perfect ones. So many memories of my big guy--how could I possibly just choose 2... I'll get there. For now, I feel at peace, knowing he is home with us again.

THANK YOU for all the kind notes about our boy from the last post--you have no idea how much our friends' support has meant to us this last week. Lots of love to all the four-legged family members of people reading this blog :)

Goodbye Tubbs :(

2009-03-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know what to write--there is so much to say, but I miss my Tubbie-bear so much, it's actually a little hard to breathe right now. I just need a way to tell people that he's gone--so here it is. I was still so tired after my weekend in Houston that I decided not to go for a run and to sleep in a little later, so Taylor left quietly for work....and I woke up to Gamer barking as usual :) But then I noticed Tubbie's ever-present panting/breathing was slower than normal. I got out of bed and lay down next to him, just talking to him and petting him. Something wasn't right... and within a few minutes, he started to have a seizure, so I held him in my arms, telling him over and over that I loved him, and that God couldn't ask for a better buddy to sit next to him in Heaven... and then he took one last breath and never took another...

We prayed he would go in his sleep so we wouldn't have to make the decision for him...and we are so grateful that he went peacefully. Taylor came home from work--I still don't know how he got home so fast, but he did. And our boy is now at the vet--he's being cremated today, and I'll get his ashes on Wednesday, so he can be with me all the time, where he belongs.

We are heartbroken and trying to distract ourselves--but I can't think straight and feel like I can't cry anymore... Taylor made me a list of things to do to distract myself, and then we're going out to a steak dinner to celebrate Tubbie's life. At this point, I've crossed one thing off and am actually dreading having to walk across the house to go take a shower-- Tubbie would always bark to come with me and camp out on the bathroom floor until my shower was over. It's kind of comforting just sitting here at the computer becuase he would have been happiest here at my feet, sleeping quietly...the second I get up, the silence will become so obvious and I'll be reminded that he's really gone. Life goes on, I know-- but to be honest, this just sucks right now. I want him back :(

He was the greatest dog--the best friend and my constant shadow. I know it will get better with time, but for now, I am lost without him. Sorry for this rambling post- I just don't know how to announce this kind of thing, and I know if I tried to do it in person or over the phone, I would fall apart again.

Please pray for our Tubbie--and if you have lost a loved one, maybe say a prayer that when they see a big yellow labbie boy come up to Heaven, they make some room for him by their feet, and give him extra hugs for his Mom and Dad. I can already picture him up there with my grandpa and Taylor's grandpa--He said his "Boss" would have loved Tubbs, so they are hopefully hanging out together now :)

We love you so much, Tubbie--rest in peace, sweet boy.

He's Back!

2009-03-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

We are so happy to have our big guy back, I think we'd let him get away with anything ;)

Dogs, dogs, dogs!

2009-03-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

My old man has had a rough month, and this week was the worst... He couldn't walk on Monday, and I thought it was the end (Taylor has gotten a few of these calls at work in the past month--me in tears, thinking Tubbie is dying...and he would talk me out of it and bring a smile back to my face), but he has once again rallied and is back to being his sweet old self! His kidney/liver numbers are out of the normal range due to an infection we are now treating--which has caused him to become severely anemic--and THAT'S why he couldn't walk--because he was really weak, not because his legs had given out. I LOVE big dogs--but when they can't walk--getting them from the house to the vet is a BIT of a challenge. Looking back, it is actually kind of funny (NOT at the time though!)-- I had him on a blanket, sliding him to the door, while he did everything he could to make this impossible (i.e. gripping his nails into the floor as I dragged him)... Then I tied a sweatshirt around his tummy to help him walk-- which would have worked, but my brave boy decided he didn't want go out the front door that day. He turned his head away from the door and immediately became 90 lbs of dead weight. But somehow, in the end, I heaved him into the back of my car with superhuman strength ;) and have scratches and bruises to prove it! (Next time, I'll ask my neighbors for help...) Anyway, my big guy is doing ok now. We are treating the kidney issues and the anemia, and he is already doing better and eating everything in site again. I don't like to talk about him aging...it's a little bit easier to do in writing...but honestly, I haven't really come to terms with it. I have only had him for 3 years, and I love him too much for that to be enough time. Last month, I cried a lot about this, and one night, after watching TV, I just lay on the carpet holding him and crying...Then Taylor came in and said "Court, you can't do this. You can't mourn him before he's gone. That's not fair to him. We have to enjoy every day we have with him and leave the mourning until he's no longer with us." This simple idea has made each day bearable for me, and I have completely changed my perspective. I truly believe my dogs can sense when I am worried, scared, sad, etc... and I only want my Tubbie to sense happy thoughts from me! I'm so happy to have him lying at my feet right now, and I am just taking this one day at a time. :) And as of now, it looks like we have more time with him! Nothing in his bloodwork is un-treatable, and there is no limit to what we would do for this guy. So we'll get him back to feeling 100%! I feel so lucky to still be able to find yellow and white hair on every piece of clothing I own or to slip on the water trail he has left from his bowl! I still have my Tubbie bear, and I am so HAPPY!

What happens when you have a senior lab and an overly anxious Mom?

A very full doggy medicine cabinet!

Here are our daily meds and vitamins for Tubbs and Gamer. So far, Mags and Pumpkin are ok with just food and water ;). Our new vet is very into holistic meds, in addition to classic medication, and even though it's ridiculous how many there are, all these vitamins seriously work miracles!

I sent Maggie and Pumpkin to the spa this week for a haircut.... living in Florida is just too hot for long coats! I took them to the doggy daycare that helps me with my rescue dogs, so they treated my girls like princesses! They got to stay in a "Luxury Apartment" with a view of the horse pastures while they waited, and the girls let me walk to the back and hang out for a while -- it was a very low stress grooming experience :) They are now naked and loving it! To be honest, Maggie kind of looks the same....but Pumpkin is so tiny!!!

While these girls were getting a spa treatment, poor Gamer had to have her teeth cleaned for the 4th time in her short life! She was born with less-than-perfect teeth... :) As much as she hated me leaving her at the vet (she yelped and cried as a walked away- it was awful), she did just fine! This is the first of all of her dental cleanings that didn't result in a follow up trip to the vet or emergency clinic, so we feel really lucky! :)

Here she is when I picked her up, looking a bit worn out, but all on one piece (and smiling)!

I can hardly stand how precious this girl is---sooo cute! Right? (On another note, a man at the vet said she was a "very cute little man"...so I corrected the nice man, who THEN said, wow, she's an old one though, huh? To which I replied, NO..she is only 5 years old...And he then went on to say how she LOOKS old and so much like a boy!!! Whatever...Taylor and I think she is the most beatiful creature in the world-- we just stare at her sometimes, discussing what it is that makes her just so gorgeous...that man didn't know what he was talking about. haha)
Soooo, we are looking forward to a much calmer week ahead...and I get to go to Houston for a wedding (and a girls weekend!) on Friday. The weather if gorgeous here, the dogs and I got to sleep in (Taylor had a game this morning)...and we are enjoying a nice, quiet day for the first time in a while! At least until I look at my list of errands to run and start painting! haha. No complaints....life is good :)

What We've Been Up To...

2009-03-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

A couple pictures from my visit with Catie! (They are now really outdated, but soooo precious)

Maggie has developed a new fear of steam coming from pots in our kitchen (a while ago we burned something and the fire alarm went off...so she now associates anything that resembles smoke with that high pitched beeping! Poor thing :))...So one night while I was cooking, Taylor called me into the closet, where Maggie had buried herself into our pile of dry cleaning clothes!

We babysat Scooter, my neighbor's little guy, for about a week while they were in Costa Rica... Here he is helping me re-paint the yellow guest room (this yellow was a bit too bright ;)). I thought I had locked the dogs out of the room, but Scooter found a way in!

(EM! Do you recognize the mirror? I still love it :))

I hated leaving Scooter in his crate for too long, so he came with me and Gamer to one of Taylor's baseball games! He loved watching everything... Gamer had one of her panic attacks after a man started whistling really loudly, so we had to leave early. Scooter is very normal compared to our 4 little ones...it's nice to have him around! haha ;)

One night while we were watching TV, Tubbs decided he wanted to snuggle (he is NOT usually a snuggler)...so he wiggled (as much as a 100 lb lab can wiggle...) between the couch and ottoman and fell asleep like this-- with his head on our legs. It was so sweet :)

And here's what happens when we give our dogs chewy bones...Gamer does not share toys well. I re-distributed them after this picture though :)

Last week was completely crazy with our floor being tiled (we got rid of the carpet! :))... so we had to camp out in the guest room and office until we were allowed to walk on it! It was really fun, and so cozy :) We had our big TV in there, so we watched the whole first season of LOST, and we are now totally hooked on it. The dogs could have spread out into the office, but they decided to stay in there with us :)

And here's a typical morning in our bed...

1. Taylor sleeping peacefully with 2 of his girls...
2. Gamer hears me wake up so she tries to wake Taylor up with kisses...

3. And then she gets LOUD...and really mad if he is paying attention to another dog... and she continues to growl/talk until we are both out of bed!

Finally--here's a glimpse into an afternoon at our house. Each afternoon after work, I stand in the yard while the dogs play (it's the only way to keep them outside for an extended period of time :))...

First, Maggie and Pumpkin start playing really well together...they are best friends :)

Then, Gamer inevitably walks right into the middle of the 2 girls rolling on the ground...which leads to an awkward stand-off between Maggie and Gamer (we call this Gamer's "rattlesnake tail.") Although Gamer is serious here, Maggie is totally over it...

So, Pumpkin jumps in to break up the tension...

Maggie tries to play with Gamer for a second, then Gamer awkwardly tries to play back...and then gets mad when Maggie gets too close...

Meanwhile, Tubbs looks on, unphased by all the activity.

Next, the gate opens and Kathy lets Scooter in (if he hears our dogs playing, he starts to cry, so he has an open invitation into our yard anytime!) Notice how thrilled Gamer is to have the new visitor...

Maggie lets the two young dogs beat her up--she is so patient :)

Tubbs moves into the screened-in porch to cool off and then starts barking for his dinner... Maggie and Pumpkin play with Scooter for a few more minutes...
And Gamer is annoyed by it all... She really is a sweetheart--we just seem to capture all her little quirks on camera! ;)

P.S. COOPER HOWELL, I added lots of dog pictures just for you!!! :)

Catie!

2009-02-07T12:28:00.001-08:00

I don't have too much time to update my blog at the moment... too busy painting my house and dealing with way too many dogs (I have a new rescue too--a 3 yr old Golden Retriever ) :). Just needed a quick break...But I think I have finally figured out my new camera! Here's a video clip of my ADORABLE niece!!!!

Going to Texas!

2009-01-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

Rocco (formerly Cujo) is heading to TEXAS! Tim and Chessy Taylor (Taylor's aunt and uncle) are picking him up tonight in Dallas :) He is a going to live in doggie paradise in Mount Pleasant, Texas....and we are so happy for him!

Here he is at the airport this morning!

New Project

2009-01-19T09:47:00.000-08:00

We have a new project we're working on...

Last week, a friend of mine called me about a desperate situation-- a man had to give up his 95 lb, 8 month old Rottweiler and was determined to do it THAT day because the dog was too much for his 79 year old roommate (wife, mother, I have no clue-- he wouldn't say?). He said he was devastated, but it had to be done. I have learned through through dog rescue, that most Rotties have NO chance in a shelter--they are viewed as much too dangerous to re-home...AND if he didn't end up in a shelter, there are all kinds of people looking for a free Rottie for the wrong reasons--guard dogs, fighting dogs, etc... I know they can be dangerous if they aren't raised correctly, but the unfair stereotypes that plague the breed are not an issue for me. I grew up reading (and LOVING) the "Good Dog, Carl" books, and anyone reading this who knew Ginger Taylor would have to be a Rottweiler lover! Taylor and I had hoped to get one after we

adopted Gamer, but I didn't want to go to a breeder, and then Maggie found us...and then Tubbs, and then Pumpkin! :)

I called the man and told him I'd meet him that day to take the dog. Yes, I know, this may not have been the safest decision, but if this dog was seriously a threat to society, I figured he should at least have a chance before that decision was made. And he met me at the doggie daycare that helps me with all my rescues, so I was in a safe place :)

LONG story short, the Rottweiler is safe at the daycare now, and I have spent the last 5 days working with him. He's awesome :) He is a purebred with bloodlines all the way back to his great-great-grandparents, and his AKC registered name is Cujo von Hercules-- but we can't call him CUJO! So we're thinking of names for him until he finds his new home-- any ideas?

That's the latest with us... rescuing dogs as always, and loving every minute of it. :)

Good morning :)

2009-01-06T13:56:00.001-08:00

Look what I woke up to this morning! It was 4:30 am and she wasn't quite ready to wake up :)

Christmas 2008

2008-12-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

Taylor and I had our first Christmas at home with our 4 four-legged kids, and it was wonderful! We both come from families that really know how to celebrate Christmas, so it has been so much fun combining our family traditions and adding new ones! It was a perfect Christmas :)

My mom and dad suprised Taylor with a canoe! This way I can go with him and make sure he's safe-- no more kayaking all by himself until sundown! If a gator wants him, they'll have to go through me first!! haha ;)

Since my dad's birthday is December 24th, we have always had birthday cake on Christmas Eve! Suzanne started making cake for me on Christmas Eve the first Christmas that I spent on Bainbridge (the first Christmas away from my family), and we decided that it's a pretty good tradition to keep!

Taylor found a recipe from one of Bobby Flay's Throwdowns on FoodChannel.com for me, so I could made a red velvet cake this year--it seemed kind of Christmas-y :)

Grammy's fudge! We learned to make it this summer when we went to Oregon... I accidentally used the wrong kind of chips, but my hubby has still been eating it-- so it wasn't a total loss :)

Our first Christmas without family-- and no one to take pictures of us together ;)

Mexican Fiesta-- one of Taylor's family traditions...we only made half of the recipe and STILL have sooo much leftover!

One of the MANY clean-ups we had to deal with :)
Time to watch a movie (Love Actually)...so Pumpkin always starts hiding in case we try to catch her ;)

But then she jumped up on the couch all by herself to snuggle with her daddy :)

Way too much activity for Tubbie with all the baking and cooking... Gamer had left the room to go have some quiet time by this point. She doesn't like it when we don't sit still :)

Sweet Maggie, resting on her daddy's feet :)

Christmas morning!
Our ornaments from Suzanne and Les :)

Taylor and I did each other's stocking this year-- so the gifts all had to be small enough to fit in the stocking (Taylor kind of cheated and only followed the size idea of stocking gifts and not the price...he spent way too much money on me, as usual --his heart is a little bit too big for his own good sometimes!!)

Christmas stockings for the dogs! They all have very specific toy preferences...

Lots of stuffed animals for Maggie

Lots of edible toys and treats for Tubbs- he was allowed off his diet for the day, of course!

Chewy toys for Gamer (more for her to "guard" than chew....but it makes her happy :))

Squeaky toys and a hand puppet for Pumpkin (I need to make her a stocking too, I know!)

Mine! Mine and MINE!! (Maggie sometimes needs a reminder when it comes to sharing stuffed animals)
Getting so brave...

She loves the hand puppet!

DON'T TOUCH MY TOYS! And no one ever listens to her-- they know she's all talk.

Tubbs--just making sure he's not missing out on any treats.

4 happy, spoiled dogs

Thanks Anne and Bobby for our Mario Kart!! :)

Taylor's new fishing vest

My new slippers

Our dog snowglobe from our Bainbridge Island Santa :)

Suzanne's hash brown quiche for Christmas morning breakfast --with Mimosas in honor of Poppy, of course!!

So many toys to choose from!
Taylor making his first prime rib (Suzanne's recipe :))
It was perfect!!!

Mmmmm :)

Having a father/son moment...

Time to clean up!!

Taylor took this without me knowing... and I am clearly loving the Wii (just a bit serious though...)

And I am stuck in the grass while playing Mario Kart (and still being super serious)--I would have looked like an awesome player if he hadn't have included the TV in this shot! haha ;) I'm learning!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!! :)

Dogs and Snooks

2008-12-16T09:59:00.001-08:00

One of Taylor's snooks... The fish survived and swam away after the pic was taken :) He is so cute!!

Snuggling with their Daddy after a traumatic Christmas card photo shoot with Mom.

Taylor with 2 of his girls-too many girls fighting over one boy in this house! It's a good thing I have my Tubbie :)

The Best Dog Daddy!

2008-12-12T09:37:00.000-08:00

A couple of nights ago while we were watchintg TV, I glanced around at our four resting dogs and said that I was going to give them all a special chewy treat because they were just being SO good!! As soon as they heard the crinkling of the dental chew bag opening (ok, maybe they weren't so much "treats" as healthy chewies, but still... :)), all four sets of eyes were on me and all four tails were wagging with excitement. To all of our dismay, I proceeded to pull out the last 2 chewies in the bag...

Taylor jumped up and said not to worry, that he would just break them in half (since I was having no luck at all). After realizing that this was physically impossible to do, he then marched out to the garage, with four dogs on his heels, and pulled out his saw! How sweet is he?!? It took a little while, but our heroic dog daddy came back into the house with 4 evenly constructed chewies!!

Not the most exciting story, but sometimes my hubby deserves a little credit for all that he does! And while we're on that note, he cooked the most delicious chicken parmesean last night (even with the wheat pasta, healthy Panko bread crumbs, etc..) and cleaned the kitchen entirely. He's pretty special :)

He doesn't know it yet, but his wife is going to insist that he watch It's A Wonderful Life with her this weekend because it's her favorite movie, and he has somehow avoided watching it for the 8 years they've been together... hehe. It's either that or TWILIGHT (which I am dying to see!!!) I have a feeling we'll be heading out to the movies this weekend.... Vampires will definitely appeal more to Taylor than anything in black and white (just don't tell him it's a love story!!) ;)

Here he is sawing... Tubbie was giving him some encouragement (Notice his kayak in the background-- he has worked SO hard on that kayak to make it fully functional for fishing, and he now fishes in it all the time. He caught almost 15 fish a couple of days ago! He puts all the fish back, of course, but still, that's pretty impressive!)

And here he is giving them their treats :)

(Also-- Check out the new pictures of my precious little niece, Catie Cox, on Megan's blog!
http://megan-wwwpeanutbutterandredwine.blogspot.com/ )

Cell Phone Pictures

2008-12-06T10:31:00.001-08:00

I just got around to uploading my cell phone pics onto the computer, so here are some random pictures from the past couple of months :)

Taylor fishing on the beach while I napped and read a book- a common weekend afternoon for us :)

I love living at the beach!

When I go to Nashville by myself, I get to stay in my old bedroom (with my FAVORITE fluffy white comforter!), and now Charley shares the bed with me every time I visit --although she is still learning to share-- when she sprawls out on the bed, there's hardly enough room for me!

Getting to know my Grandma's cat, Blue... she rescued her after she was found by a dumpster, sick and alone at 6 weeks old. She is so precious.
I am a total dog person and don't know a thing about cats... so what does it mean when they bite like this?? She kept doing that to my fingers...it didn't hurt, but I wasn't sure how to respond :)

My beautiful Grandma Mary... I had to take a picture of her when I was sleeping over at her house last month...she is always so glamorous :)

After a long day wedding planning with Anne and Suzanne! Anne dove into the Snickerdoodle Blue Bell ice cream with one of the 2 plastic spoons we have in the Nashville house and the whole handle broke off- haha. I love being a Childress girl... Blue Bell ice cream, margaritas, and champagne, and we're good to go--maybe some cheese enchiladas too :)
Those giant birds again-- they were doing some weird mating dance here, I think. I really don't know what to think of them-- and to be honest, I think they are a bit aggressive. They don't seem afraid of me at all...

Just a typical night getting ready for bed :)

Mom and Dad in the waiting room at the hospital on Dec 1

Megan holding Catie for the first time!

Catie with her eyes open-- I love this baby girl!

Family picture :)
Abby is still learning her boundaries... and thought she'd try breaking the rules while Mommy and Daddy were feeding Catie in the nursery.

Sleepy Catie

So precious!!!

Lily, Sadie, and Abby joining their Mom in the nursery...they all fell asleep in their while she fed Catie. (She isn't nursing here in this pic, by the way)
Striking a pose
The peaceful, quiet 2nd night home with Catie. We all took turns snuggling Catie while watching TV and reading. The dogs love their new sister, ESPECIALLY Lily. They get a little concerned when she cries, but they are super gentle around her and try to lick her toes :)
Brian and his 2 girls :)

OH... and my sister had read Lockie's blog about Twilight a little while ago, and she is now almost finished with the 3rd book, so I started reading the first one while I was there since there was some down time in the hospital... and I am HOOKED! I LOVE this book-- and I'm not even a fan of vampire stories usually! Thank you Lockie!! :)

It is a sunny 75 degree day here in Port Orange, FL...all the windows are open, I'm in a t-shirt, skirt and flip-flops, I just talked to Megan, and she and Catie are doing great, Taylor is fishing in his kayak, I'm decorating for Christmas, listening to Christmas music and making cookies, and the dogs are snoozing around the house... Life is good :) It doesn't get any better than this!

Catie's first night at home

2008-12-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

Brian went into work this morning while Megan and Catie were still in the hospital, so I went over to the hospital to hang out with Megan on her first day alone with her little one. We are honestly like the blind leading the blind when the two of us are alone with the baby, and we are very anxious people to begin with (it is a family trait ;))...We actually called the nurse in one time to make sure Catie's face wasn't turning blue. And it turned out just to be the lighting! Without Brian around, we are a mess ;) BUT, we got MUCH better today without our Mom (Grandma) or Brian around. Megan changed her first diaper and I figured out how to get Catie to take a bottle when she would rather sleep (we tickle her cheek...and if she is really resistant we take off her hat, which wakes her up in a second and makes her a bit mad :)). We have to be super careful with her eating until she makes it over 6 lbs, so we keep having to wake her up to eat. She's now down to 5 lbs 9 oz so we have a little way to go...

They invited me to come spend the night with them tonight so I could babysit my 3 four-legged nieces, Lily, Sadie, and Abby. And I was SO excited and honored to be included in such a special day--Catie's first night home! I got to hold my darling little Catie for a long time while her parents got her room all situated, and I have decided that boppys are absolutely awesome--but I was clearly the aunt, as my left hand cradled the baby and my right hand held a glass of red wine! I guess I always thought bringing a baby home was so stressful and crazy, but it is so peaceful right now. I know in 2.5 hours, a commotion will start upstairs as the new Mommy and Daddy awake to feed little Catie... and I am 99% sure that Megan is not sleeping right now as it is. She is the HEAVIEST sleeper I have ever met, hands down, and I know this from living with her for close to 18 years! But, she has not been able to sleep for more than an hour at a time because of her hyper-awareness to Catie and Catie's erratic newborn breathing! I know I would be the same way... in fact, I am up right now wondering if there could be any risk of Catie having covered her nose with her shirt sleeve or somehow rolled into the blanket she is swaddled in--and she's not even mine!

Megan and Brian are actually asleep on two giant Papysan pillows on the floor next to Catie's crib right now because they couldn't get the monitor set up in time, the crib needs to be taken apart before it can be moved into the bedroom, AND they don't trust the sturdiness of the bassinet to hold their baby! We're all going to move the crib tomorrow unless the monitors will suffice. I know they are not getting a very good night's sleep, but I hope Megan is getting some rest-- she is beyond exhausted.

I am looking at three passed out dogs right now- Lily on the floor by my feet, Sadie on the big comfy chair and little Abby on the couch. It is so nice being around these guys because I am missing my hubby and my 4 babies like crazy. Taylor has been getting hourly updates on his niece, and he's been telling me all about my little ones at home. Apparantly he though that since Tubbs met his weight goal of 85 lbs, he was now allowed to eat the girls' food-and not his diet food, WITH the soft food we put in their food to entice them to eat. AS IF Tubbs needs anything to entice him to eat. Anyway, that explains why Tubbie has been following his daddy around the house so much! :). While I've been gone, Maggie has developed a new irrational fear of eating in the kitchen (this in addition to her fear of hanging lamps, ceiling fans, thunder, lightening, rain, the word "No", smoke, steam, beeping noses (I blame this on Taylor setting the fire alarm off with his fancy cooking creations-- like the huge flames from brandy catching on fire for his steak au poivre: )), suitcases, and Mom's camera--more to come, I'm sure ;)), Gamer has branched out from only growling at Tubbs during mealtime to growling at him anytime he comes within two inches of her (it's ok, she's all talk and even our sweet old man knows it), and she has claimed my spot in the bed... AND Pumpkin has started jumping in the bed each morning to greet Taylor and even snuck into the bed tonight while Taylor was brushing his teeth! I am a total homebody, so as much as I adore my new niece, I miss my little family every minute of every day. So it will be bittersweet when it comes time to leave her in a couple of days...so hard to leave my Catie but so exciting to see my family! I'll be back right after Christmas though, so that will make it bearable!

I'm hearing Megan's footsteps again upstairs...and there are now 3 sets of brown eyes looking at me, completely aware of the footsteps above them and wondering why they aren't sleeping in Mom and Dad's bed tonight! I'm going to go snuggle on the guest bed with them until we all fall asleep :) I love being an aunt!

CATIE ROSE COX

2008-12-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

Spa Day on Saturday

Sunday night- before the big day!

SHE'S HERE!

And she's perfect!

Love at first sight :)

The Curbs descend on the new family :)

Daddy multi-tasking (cell phone/diaper change)... he has been AMAZING! Such a good daddy :)

I am in love!

Mommy and Catie- look at those little toes!

So sweet :)

Catherine Rose Cox was born on Monday December 1, 2008. 11:29 am, 5lbs 14 oz, 18.75 inches long, and 100% precious. I have only seen babies born on TV, amidst drama and screaming, and I had no idea what I was getting into when Megan invited me to stay in the room for Catie’s birth this morning. Mom and I stood against the wall so we weren’t in the way, but watching all the action from inside the room was absolutely amazing. My sister is the type of person who can make anyone laugh at the most inappropriate times-it’s part of her charm ;) And she has been joking about the birthing experience since the beginning of the third trimester…up until the night before the birth. Catie’s entrance into the world proved to be a bit more painful than humorous, but I can’t even describe the strength I saw in my sister today. I know it sounds cliché, but watching my big sister give birth to this beautiful baby girl was the most inspiring event I have ever seen. She was obviously tired and in intense pain, yet she did what she had to do to bring life to this little bundle of absolute joy that we call Catie Rose! As soon as the baby was carried over to the table in the corner of the room, Mom and I ran over to see her. Soon, Brian was sharing in our awe of this little girl… as my sister lay by herself watching our backs and, I would think, wondering where her support group went! She was really brave… and I’m not just saying that. I was with her for over 12 hours today, and I swear I didn’t hear her complain one time—even through the tears, as her epidural “hesitated” to do it’s job, she never complained. And that is why Miss Catie Rose Cox has the best mommy in the world. I am in awe. And as far as Catie, I am in love .

I sat at the nursery window for almost 2 hours, noting ever twitch and every sneeze, and making sure those nurses knew that Baby Cox in Room 2 was not just any baby—she was my niece! The nurses even pointed me out during their shift change, and I just smiled, letting them know that I wasn’t going anywhere—so they better not make any mistakes on my watch. After the nurses brought Catie upstairs to see her Mommy and Daddy, I had the opportunity to hold her for a long time while the nurses helped Megan attempt to walk on her somewhat numb lower half. I even got to feed her part of a bottle. Her tiny lungs are still not completely under control and she has a little trouble crying, so I literally squealed with excitement when she started crying in my arms-this coming from someone who has always cowered away from newborn babies, or any crying baby for that matter (crying is a GOOD sign in newborns I have learned!). Her breathing is now perfect and she has been checked out by her pediatrician and did just fine. Megan is going home tonight when Brian gets off of work, so Mom and I are going to hang out with her tomorrow for her first day at home alone with Catie. Even after knowing her for 2 days, I cannot stop staring at her perfect little lips and nose, and all that dark brown hair! It was curly when she first entered the world, so the one curly-haired girl in this family is hoping for someone else to share hair stories (and woes) with! I would have thought she was beautiful no matter what she looked like, but this little girl is an angel, a princess, and a beauty queen all rolled into one—she is stunning and so very loved. I can’t stop thinking about her, and I still find myself catching my breath when I think of how truly blessed we are to have this little one in our family. After what we all went through in May 2007, the gift of a healthy little girl is without question a gift from God. And we will never forget it. Welcome to the world, Catie Rose Cox!!!!!

For Megan...

2008-11-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

Stressed is an understatement for me today... I am trying to tie up loose ends with house things, I have a full day of work (and 3 payrolls to run today!), I have a stack of applications to call for American Lab Rescue, Tubbs has a vet appointment this afternoon, and I haven't given up yet on my goal of making it to a Yoga class tonight... Not to mention, I leave town tomorrow for about 2 weeks! BUT.... my sweet pregnant sister has pointed out that my blog is not entertaining enough these days-- and being on bed rest, she has more time to read blogs-- so this is just not acceptable. Whatever my preggo sister wants, she can have (Please refer to her "Fat Feet" post to the right)...

So, Megan, there is an update of my day for you :) You see... it's not the BLOG that is unexciting... it might just be your little sister's daily life! ;)

Neighbors

2008-11-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

Taylor and I have lived in a number of different cities, and we have only ever had neighbors that we would smile and wave at, with an occasional conversation about the weather or sports. But we have moved into the most wonderful neighborhood down here in Port Orange, FL. Our neighbors host Friday happy hours and holiday parties-- they even loaned us furniture when they noticed Taylor and I were living in a furniture-less house for our first 2 mos in Florida (bad movers-- it's a long story!)! They have gotten me into running recently--after a few glasses of wine of Labor Day, I agreed to run with them the following morning... and now we are training for the Disney 1/2 Marathon in January! Here's a picture of us after a 5K in Daytona... Kathy and I both won 3rd place in our age groups (Charlie is on the left). Also... soon after we moved in, Taylor met our next-door neighbors' (Charlie and Kathy) dog, Emma... She had a whippet/Italian Greyhound look to her with Gamer-esque mannerisms-- so you can imagine how hard and fast Taylor fell in love with her! And I was right there with him! We were her babysitters for about a year, and then a couple months ago, her 14 years caught up with her, and she left us :( I am tearing up as I write this-- she was one of those special dogs that captures your heart with the most sincere eyes and a personality that was just so human! Needless to say, everyone who knew sweet Emma was heartbroken when she passed away-- and her parents were absolutely devastated. They just started warming up to the idea of another dog a few weeks ago (Kathy was ready... Charlie was not quite there yet)...and luckily they are living next to someone who is just a little involved in dog rescue ;) They have met close to 10 dogs over the past couple of months-- I always bring my Florida rescues over to my house for walks and to introduce them to my socially awkward crew to get them out of the kennel-- but they have all been big labs or lab mixes, so they weren't the right fit. Last weekend, on the day I was leaving for Nashville for a whirlwind weekend of wedding planning with Anne and Suzanne, I mentioned that we (American Lab Rescue) had rescued a Lhasa Apso mix named Scotland.... Kathy asked me to send pictures, so I did and then left for my trip. While I was at the airport, I got an email that they wanted him!!! It then hit me that I had to find a way to get this little guy from Maynardville, TN to Port Orange, FL ... but that was just a minor detail. I was SO happy that they had decided to bring a dog back into their lives, this dog was going to get to them no matter what! Long story short, the shelter director agreed to help me out and drove Scotland to the Knoxville airport on Sunday morning, and I picked him up in Orlando on Sunday night when my flight landed and brought him back home with me!!! As we drove up the street, Charlie, Kathy, Pam, and Stu were waiting outside, huddled around an outdoor heater in a rare 45 degree Florida night... Pam took these pictures right after I handed Scotland to his new mom!!

Scotland is now Scooter, and he is doing great! He has gotten super attached to his mom, so they are working through some separation anxiety... but it is already improving, and he is the happiest little guy! His tail is always wagging, and he is coming out of his shell every day-- he has even started stealing shoes from Kathy's closet ;) It's amazing how much happiness one little dog can bring to so many people! We're so happy to have him in our neighborhood (and no, I am not speaking for my 4 when I say that-- they of course see him as yet another intruder... we're working on that ;)).

My co-workers

2008-11-04T03:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a typical day at our house with our precious little ones (and I guess...one not-so-little one ;)). Who could ask for better co-workers than these 4!!! Except, of course, when you're on a conference call while the lawn is being mowed or a package is delivered... ;)

Gamer still guarding a bone she doesn't even like to chew. She and Tubbs were battling it out to the end until Mom took the bone away. I love how she is falling asleep over the bone :) If Tubbie only knew how much bigger he is...

Tubbs' favorite spot in the kitchen
Pumpkin-- she's getting used having this strange person follow her around with the camera

And our sweet Maggie :) Ok, the tutu is not typical, but I had it on her to take a picture for Halloween, and she gets SO excited when we dress her up that I couldn't stand to scare her with the camera. She was having too much fun dancing around in her ballerina costume! So I waited until she quickly tired out and went to take yet another nap (Mags sleeps 99% of the time if we let her ;)). Such a precious girl.

AND... The countdown has officially begun... 28 days until my little niece, Catherine Rose Cox, enters the world!!!! :)

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T21:37:00.001-07:00

Our set-up for Halloween. I didn't want to stress out the girls, so we sat outside in the gorgeous Florida fall weather with Tubbs (AWAY from the door and the DOORBELL, so the girls could rest inside, and Tubbs could welcome the trick-or treaters!).

Me and Gamer. She did NOT like being left inside with the other "dogs"...she doesn't see herself as a dog (she was first, of course)... so, she got to sit with her mom :) This football costume fit her much better as a puppy--and we took it off of her after about 5 minutes.

Tubbs perks up when he sees trick-or-treaters coming, and he has to run toward them when they get close--it is so cute! They love him too (usually)---but on Halloween, he is really more interested in what's in their bags of candy... :)

Tubbie in his ghost costume from Petsmart, in an XXL! (It's still a bit tight--haha). He definitely earned this chewy bone! He is such a good sport :)

I couldn't capture her raised lip/bared teeth look with my camera, but the red eyes send the message too... Gamer is missing a few teeth, so chewing bones isn't one of her strong points...BUT she still likes to guard them from the other dogs. Tubbs always gives in and runs away in the end, even though he outweighs her by at least 70 lbs.

And how cute is this girl :)

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Megan's Baby Shower

2008-10-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

The most beautiful baby shower I have ever seen-- my mom did all the decorations (even the flower arrangements!)

Dad giving us some background music while we set everything up :)

Charley keeping an eye out for the guests...

Allison, Reagan, Megan, and Hontas

Jeri (close family friend), my dad, and me...My dad decided that he couldn't stand missing the shower, even if he was the only guy there.

Opening presents...

We made her stand against a white wall-- the dress helps make her look pregnant ;)

One of the silver linings of Megan having a high risk pregnancy is how often she gets to her baby girl on screen. She brought a bunch of pictures for us to see, and the most recent one was a 4-D picture of the little one. She is absolutely gorgeous with chubby cheeks and my sister's chin... she looks just like Megan's baby pictures-- although I'm sure we'll see some Brian in her too once she's born :) One thing's for sure-- she will be spoiled by her grandparents and her aunt! Her wardrobe is already cuter than mine and Megan's put together! ;) I can't wait to meet her!

Weekend in Nashville!

2008-10-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

Megan and I went to Nashville this weekend (without our hubbies) for her baby shower! We stayed in our old rooms at my parent's house (which have not been touched since we moved out ;)), and my dad even had a bunch of our baby home videos set out for us to watch. It was so much fun!

Picking Megan up at the airport! Mom and I were too excited to wait in the car. We were waiting outside of security when she walked out! I hadn't seen her in person since she was 3 months pregnant!!

Falling right into our old routines--sitting on the kitchen island. :)

Showing off pics of her new puppy, Abby.

Look at her little tummy at 8.5 months pregnant! Her little one was kicking all the time... I am in love with this baby girl already!!

Charley reminding her dad to pay attention to her too :)
Mom and I went a little overboard with the baby gifts, so we gave her a mini-shower over breakfast on Saturday. The Cookie Monster toy was hand picked by my dad... he wanted to be included too!Megan and I with our tiny Grandma Mary :) We kept having to re-take pics with Megan standing side-ways so she would look pregnant ;)
Amidst the family weekend, I snuck away to the Vandy homecoming game to meet up with my college roomie, Whitney! Whit just had a little boy, TJ, and he is just the cutest! I hadn't seen her since my wedding, so we had a lot of catching up to do :)

On my way back to my strategically (and somewhat illegally) parked car at the rec center, I found Margaret! She had actually found me at the Vandy stadium in the midst of the thousands of fans (she said I was the only one sitting when the whole stadium stood up (apparantly, I need Taylor to help me react appropriately to football plays)! I'm sure I would have jumped up had I not been holding little TJ ...haha :)

Finally, on my way home to a family dinner, I stopped to see Becca...and I had a chance to meet her in-laws to be and her new nephew, Parker (who is adorable!!).

It was a wonderful weekend... Nashville definitely feels like home the minute my plane lands, and no city is prettier in the fall (to me at least). Megan and I scheduled our planes at the same time on Sunday night, so we were able to hang out a bit before the planes left. Me, being me, started to cry when we had to leave... but I'll see her again soon....and in about 5 weeks, I'll be an AUNT! If only Nashville, Texas, and Florida were a bit closer together... :)

My Birthday!

2008-10-22T06:19:00.000-07:00

So I am officially in my LATE twenties, as of Tuesday!

My eyes are closed here, but I had to include this picture from my neighbor's party for me! Kathy (in the middle) made me her homemade lasagna and a white cake with white frosting and rainbow sprinkles (my favorite!!)! And among many other gifts from everyone, Pam (on the right) made me my own workout bag so I have a place to put all my workout gear (I have lost my Y card twice already and walk through the door dropping things everywhere usually, so this will come in handy! :))

Me with my running buddy, Brooke-- and my own "Birthday" wine glass from her! :)

He's blinking here too-- but how handsome is this guy! He came to pick me up for dinner on Tuesday night in a suit and rang the front doorbell (which of course sent the dogs into a tailspin, but they adjusted)- it felt like we were actually going on a date! :)

He took me to a surprise restaurant -- it was an awesome steak house called Hyde Park...

OK-- any one who knows Taylor knows he is one of the most manners-conscious people you will ever meet (no elbows on the table, uses the right flatware-in the right order, etc, etc). And I snapped this shot w/ my phone of him PICKING UP the rest of his bone-in filet mignon at the fanciest restaurant in Daytona! Very cute :) I have never seen him react to a piece of steak like this-- he was truly in love.

Opening presents!! :)Taylor (and the dogs) got me a pedicure at a gorgeous spa in New Smyrna Beach on Wednesday morning... here are my new pink toes in my new pink flip flops from Suzanne and Les! Life at the beach isn't so bad ;)

Walking through New Smyrna Beach after my pedicure...My birthday was perfect :) Now off to Nashville for my sister's baby shower!!!

Having a baseball coach for a dad...

2008-10-20T08:37:00.001-07:00

It was such a beautiful day yesterday that we just had to spend some of it outside! Believe it or not, after we got ready to go to the beach, we realized it would be too cold! Yes, a high of 77 degrees can be a bit too cold for us Floridians!! ;) So, instead, we spent the day with four-legged little ones. Maggie and Gamer like going on their walks, but they LOVE being able to run free...so we took them to the baseball field! Gamer's been able to get her paws dirty in the orange clay of a baseball diamond for years, but Maggie is new to this and she loves it :)

And no, we don't play favorites, we just have to adjust our activities to our dogs' special needs ;) (We would never catch Pumpkin if we let her off leash--even in a fenced in area like the field, and Tubbs would prefer a nice long nap) So... Tubbs babysat Pumpkin for us... yet she still tore up some papers (he was sleeping on the job, I'm sure)....and then they both got their own private walks around the neighborhood when we got home :)

"Do you wanna go for a run??" (She's so smart :))

And they're off...
It doesn't take much to tire Mags out ;)

Checking out the view from the dugout

The ride home....
And they're out.

Pumpkin is now realizing that she's next--walking is not something she enjoys yet.. (No pics f/ her walk, I needed both hands on the leash!)

Making new friends? Not today... after this picture, Tubbie turned around and took off in the other direction. That cat (Harley) was way too scary for him.

He prefers not to get his feet wet in the grass, and the sidewalk was a bit wet too... And he calls himself a Lab! ;)

Our lake :)

And then the Seahawks came on TV, and it was all down hill from there... ;) (Not really, we've learned not to let Seattle sports affect our moods this year, right Taylor??) Plus, there was a pretty good baseball game on for us to watch instead. :)

Megan

2008-10-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

As everyone around me knows, I am going to be an aunt in December!!!!!!! My sister's baby girl is due December 1! I cannot wait, and it is killing me that Megan is in San Antonio while I'm here in Florida. I'm trying to convince her to start a blog, but until then, I'll be using mine to post pics of her :) I have these pictures from her first shower at 7 mos pregnant. She barely looks pregnant! I know she doesn't feel pretty right now, but I think she is gorgeous in these pictures!

What happens when Mom and Dad go out to dinner, and Pumpkin hasn't had her daily walk??

2008-10-16T04:17:00.000-07:00

At least she's proud of her work. :)

Rainbow Bridge

2008-10-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I am an animal lover-- so much so that I still cannot kill a spider without feeling like some kind of murderer (it's a problem, I know!). As I was going through pics trying to organize them this weekend, I noticed how probably 99% of my pictures are animals (mainly dogs)... Luckily I married someone just as crazy about animals as I am...someone who will always stop to pick up a lost dog and even bring it home if need be! And the best part is, we met while we were still young enough to introduce each other to our family pets. I knew Taylor was "the one" was when he told me about how much he missed Sugar on one our first dates-- and pulled out a picture of her to show me! Of course there were many reasons, but that was a big one!!

Our family has always had animals surrounding us in one way or another. Growing up in California, we had goats, chickens, ducks, horses, pigs, dogs, and a cockatiel. We would even raise the baby ducks and goats in our kitchen :) After moving to Nashville, we kept some of the animals at the ranch, and of course brought some of these furry (or feathered) family members with us across the country. Growing up with so many pets is bittersweet because they age so much faster, and as a child, I just never grasped the concept of how brief their time with us is. I remember losing our first family dog, Misty, when I was about 6 years old-- and once I realized that she wasn't at "the vet" waiting for us to come get her, my heart broke for the first time in my life. I still remember telling my mom I couldn't go to school the next day, and she had to walk me into the school all the way up to my classroom door before I would go in.

Leaving for a college was a turning point in the lives of our family dogs. We grew up with 7: Cinder,Newton, Oreo, Savannah (Savvy), Holly, Anthony, and Chant. They had all been young together, which meant that they all grew old at the same time--around the time that we left for college :( Cinder left us first, my freshman year of college, and Savvy followed 4 years later. I found out about Savvy when I was at work (my first year at St Thomas Hospital), and I had to go home "sick" for the rest of the day. Then we lost Oreo and Newton within a couple of years. They were my walking partners throughout high school, and I still remember walking into my 4th grade classroom, bragging about the scratches and bite marks on my arms from my new puppies (I was so proud!). Our house is so empty now without having them there to greet us.

Anthony is still at my parent's house-- he is going on 16 years old, with pins in his knees and a tail that never stops wagging. He has 2 new friends, Muffy, who Megan rescued while she was teaching at the Napier Projects, and Chesney, a 10 year old Lab who I rescued from a shelter in Rutherford County. But losing Anthony will mark the end of an era in our family. It makes me feel like a grown up-- and I don't like it :(

Here's Anthony last fall ... And Muffy (who is still just a baby compared to the others :))

Amidst all the highlights of 2008, we had a few losses that are just too important not to mention.

We lost Holly, Tootsie, and of course, my parent's boy, Chant. Here are some pictures of them that I came across on my computer (I don't have scanned pics of the others on the computer).

This is Tootsie, the pony my sister rode when we were younger. She was the most gentle creature I have ever been around, and had the most soulful brown eyes. She saved my sister's life one day at a horse show, and our family has never forgotten that. She was an angel. This is Holly! This precious little beagle was my sister's Christmas present when we first moved to Nashville. She was so tiny at 3 lbs that she fit in the palm of our hands. We were never quite sure what she was mixed with-- the people she came from insisted she was a purebred, but she looked mike a Daschund than a beagle :)-- either way we all adored her. And we miss that beagle smile (and howl!) ....

And then there's Chant. He became my parents' only child after Megan and I moved out of the house for college, and he made it all the way to 2008 with our family...long enough to walk through my house in Florida and Megan's house in Texas. He passed away in January of 2008, and our Nashville home will never be the same without the sound of his toenails clammoring across the floor to get to the front door! He would always grab our keys to carry them in, and I still expect to see him everytime I go back home. My parents had a beautiful memorial service for him, and he is buried outside of their bedroom window. My mom sent me the poem below after his funeral. I love the idea that our four-legged loved ones will be waiting for us in Heaven--it's the only thing that makes losing them bearable. It is a popular one that most people have read, I'm sure. Sorry for the sad post-- but it was on my mind, and I just love these pictures.

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance.

His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again.

The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... Author unknown...

2008 So far...

2008-10-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

2008 Highlights:

So far we have ONLY been in Daytona Beach for 2008, and it's been wonderful! Daytona sunset /moon from our backyard
Daytona beach
Our beach :)

At the neighborhood Superbowl Party --and I have no idea why I have a cookie on my leg-- must have been saving it for later? :) Me with one of our neighbors at the Superbowl Party!
At dinner with one of our neighbors-- this is the cutest neighborhood!

Our 12th foster-Riley (with Tubbs)- from a neighbor down the street who couldn't keep her. She's in California with her new family now!

Pumpkin's surgery - she has totally recovered and is running and playing like a puppy again!

Les' visit to Daytona

Margaret's visit to Daytona
Taylor is now the pitching coach at Daytona State College :)

Anne and Bobby's visit to Daytona

Anne and Bobby with Tubbie

At one of our favorite restaurants in Daytona Beach. Taylor loves his banana daquiris! :)

At the speedway for a race
Visiting Grammy and Poppy in Portland, OR
Cannon Beach, OR
Cannon Beach, OR
Anne and Suzanne at Anne's bridal shower! Taylor's 28th Birthday in Seattle

Jerseys for the Huskies and Seahawks!!

Our FOURTH--Pumpkin

2008-10-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

We brought Pumpkin home from the Halifax Humane Society in Daytona Beach on November 13, 2007. Most people reading this know her whole story, so I won't go into detail! Taylor noticed her running loose around Daytona State College, and then saw animal control catch her with a net. We were lucky enough to rescue her in time from the shelter and bring her home. She is very shy and still not crazy about us petting her, but we love her! She has grown from 12 lbs to around 26 lbs now, and she has had one of 2 leg surgeries that she needs--and she MAY not even need the second (fingers crossed!). We made her an official member of the Childress family on December 24, 2007... after realizing that with her shyness, fear issues, and health issues, most people didn't find her as adoptable as us. So we were happy to keep her in our family :)

2007- Back to Cape Cod/Moved to Daytona Beach!

2008-10-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

Highlights from 2007:

Spring 2007- San Antonio, TX

Summer 2007-Cape Cod!

Fall 2007- Moved to Daytona Beach, FL!

J.W. and Lindsey came to visit us in San Antonio

Babysitting Megan's dogs-- This is Sadie (it is so hard to get a picture of her!)

And of course, LILY !

10th Foster-Shay from Louisiana

11th Foster- Sunni from Williamson County Animal Control

Spending the summer in Cape Cod

Taylor's suprise birthday "muffin" at breakfast in Cape Cod for his 27th birthday.

Daytona Beach sunset :)

Our 3rd Anniversary!

Our new house in Florida--with NO furniture for the first two months!

Thanksgiving in Nashville with all 4 dogs.

Taylor with Pumpkin--just before we realized she was going to be a Childress forever :)

Christmas in Seattle!
Mom and Dad's new Christmas puppy- Charley (she's a girl) :)

Our third four-legged "little" one-- TUBBS!

2008-10-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

We brought Tubbie into our home as a foster in early September 2006, about 2 weeks after moving back to San Antonio from Nashville. He came from Texas City, TX (near Galveston), and he was overweight and very sick with pneumonia. The vet's first evaluation was not good, and they said due to his age (11-13 yrs), his health, and how depressed he was, he was a "candidate for euthanasia." We decided to try everything before going that route, and after a couple months of meds, X-rays, etc..., we started to see an improvement! Tubbie was eating well, losing weight, and coughing less! We were still just "fostering" him, but I was totally in love with him... and poor Taylor was slowly realizing that this guy may not be a temporary houseguest after all. Then, on October 31, 2006, I took Tubbs to the vet because he hadn't been walking on his left leg since our walk earlier that day. The vet took one look at it and said it was a torn ACL. He scheduled X-rays for the next day and warned me that if both ACL's were badly torn (which is what he expected), he would need surgery-- and at his age, this was not a good prognosis. I called Taylor on the way home, sobbing, and he was so sweet. He just said, "Don't worry, if the X-rays come back with bad news, then Tubbs will officially be a Childress, and we'll do the surgeries." The next day, we found out that both ACL's were badly torn-- and so we had 3 dogs!

After 2 surgeries and lots of rehab (and carrying 100lbs of Tubbie up and down the stairs all day long), he is doing great! And still going strong over 2 years later!

2006-Back in Nashville

2008-10-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

Highlights from 2006:

Fall and Spring 2006 in Nashville, TN
Summer in Cape Cod
Fall 2006 in San Antonio, TX

Taylor was the pitching coach at Trevecca Nazerene University, and we got to go to San Diego for their opening game!

The Seahawks were heading toward the Superbowl!

Our first foster dog-- Taylor found her at the Trevecca baseball field.
Our second foster dog- Cody (terrorizing Maggie :))--Schnauzer from West Virginia
Our first car-- Toyota Seqouia!
Our 3rd foster-Shortstop/Rocky--from Nashville Metro Animal Control
Our 4th foster-- SAMMY! From Memphis, TN

With the board of directors of American Lab Rescue in Connecticut... Starting to get really involved with dog rescue....

Our 5th foster--Buddy (also terrorizing Maggie--she's such a good sport :)) from Maury County Animal Control (TN)

Anne's rainy Vanderbilt graduation festivities :)

Our 6th/7th fosters-- just for 1 night--Blondie and Ellen from Memphis, TN

Our 8th foster- Julia- Maury County Animal Control (TN)

Suzanne and Les visiting us in Cape Cod!

FENWAY PARK!

Back in San Antonio... Next foster--Lucky Number "9" ... TUBBS!

My 25th Birthday in San Antonio--with the stuffed dog Taylor won for me at Seaworld! It was a baseball/pitching related game, and Taylor was amazing-- he drew a crowd when he won. I was the only person in the park carrying one of the giant toys. It was so fun!

Taylor as a Sumo Wrestler..haha

Thanksgiving in San Antonio

Christmas 2006 in Seattle-- Suzanne made me my own stocking! It is beautiful :)

2005-Move to San Antonio, TX

2008-10-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

Highlights from 2005--
Moved to San Antonio, TX in January 2005.
Moved back to Nashville in September 2005
Our house in San Antonio, TX!

One of the many San Antonio restaurants that we miss! San Antonio has the best food of anywhere we've lived...by far! (this is Suzanne with Taylor after dinner )
Checking out the view from their new house...

Taylor's 25th Birthday- August 9, 2005

1st Anniversary-August 21, 2005- The top of our wedding cake was accidentally thrown away, which made me really sad because I wanted to eat it on our first anniversary! Taylor suprised me by having an exact replica of the cake topper overnighted from the Seattle baker who made our wedding cake. :)
Taylor grilling for our 1st Anniversary dinner.
Getting stuck in the Denver airport (n the way from Seattle to Nashville) and having to find a hotel to stay in at midnight... The only one we could find had no power due to the snow storm! It was quite an adventure. We haven't flown Frontier Airlines since....and I have never been as cold as we were that night!
Putting our first Christmas tree together!
Our first Christmas tree!

Maggie- Our Second Girl

2008-10-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

Maggie became a Childress on July 3, 2004. Taylor and I were at "Maggie's Bark Park" in Franklin with Gamer. A storm was coming, so all the people at the park starting packing up to leave. Taylor noticed that there was one dog who had been pacing back and forth the whole time we were there, and she didn't seem to belong to anyone! The park is behind the Williamson County Shelter, and when I went to ask them about her, they said she had been abandoned there by a man in a truck earlier that day. She was really hard to catch, but we caught her finally, and the shelter workers started to evaluate her. Luckily, I stayed... because she didn't pass the temperment test. She was too fearful and growled one time--which is one time too many in an overcrowded Southern shelter! They said she was not an adoptable dog, so Taylor and I scooped her up and put her in the backseat of the car, and after a month or so of trying to find her a home, we decided she was officially part of our family!

Gamer- Our first little one!

2008-10-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

We brought Gamer home on June 21, 2003. She entered the family as a Curb, since we weren't married yet, and Taylor wasn't quite on board with getting a dog yet. I had been volunteering at the Nashville Humane Association, and there was one little one without much hair in the back isolation area... it was love at first sight! They wouldn't let me have her for about a month because she was sick, but I kept calling and coming by every day... When she was available for adoption, they took her to a Petsmart adoption day, and I carried her around the store for 2 hours until I could reach Taylor and get him to come see her (I couldn't just bring a dog into our family without him having some sort of buy-in :)). He wasn't sure about it until he knelt down to get a better look at her, and she bounded over to him and started licking his Dr.Pepper. After that moment, he was sold. And she is now the love of his life-- or "Numero Uno," as he calls her!

Honeymoon

2008-10-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

We spent a week in Kauai at The Princeville Resort for our honeymoon, and it was gorgeous. We didn't do much other than sip drinks by the pool and watch movies with room service... and it was so relaxing! We did take a helicopter ride, but that was the only time we ventured out of our hotel/beach area :)

The Wedding!

2008-10-12T09:00:00.001-07:00

A few more pictures from the wedding

Between the ceremony and the reception :)

Notice the bare feet! ;)
First dance-- I think we laughed the whole time--we had no idea what we were doing, and everyone was just staring at us!

Father-daughter dance
Andy giving THE BEST best man speech ever!

Cate, Sarah, and Susan

Emily and Josh got ENGAGED at our wedding!! :)

My mom and dad :)

Becca, Julie, and Kristen

Taylor with my mom

Anne and Les are the best dancers in the family by far :) ... No worries, Taylor, you're a close third.

Naynie and Tim

This beautiful girl in the middle-Whitney- was my college roommate Freshman and Sophomore year of college... In the fall of our freshman year, we were sitting in our room studying and she said something like, "You have to meet this guy... You are going to marry him one day. He would be perfect for you!" She then started a quest to set me up with this adorable baseball player who I was TOTALLY intimidated by...and who was so much more outgoing than I was, and I fought her all Freshman year because I knew there was no way we would get together. That guy was TAYLOR!!! And by the fall of our sophomore year, we got together, and my roomie helped EVERY step of the way (right down to helping plan dates and even helping decorate our room for a special birthday present!). She is 100% responsible for me and Taylor getting together, and I am FOREVER grateful to her for introducing us!!!!

Tim and Chessie--ADORABLE! :)

Taylor and Suzanne!

Bouquet toss...

Garter toss ...

My sister is too cute--this looks totally emotional, but we were laughing at something here , I'm sure ;)
Heading off into the rainy Seattle night!
The last picture of the night...after we had driven off. I love it! Mom and Dad are looking so relieved to have their successfully completed their second daughter's wedding :)

Our Wedding- August 21, 2004

2008-10-12T08:51:00.001-07:00

I'll start with our wedding, the day the Childress family officially began... ;)

Our wedding was probably the best of my life so far-- it was perfect. When I say perfect, that of course includes the tux mix-ups, missing buttons, torn dress hems, and a full on panic attack for the bride... but all those little mishaps have made the wedding that much more memorable! Once my dad got me to the top of the stairs and I could see Taylor, all my anxiety just disappeared, and the most wonderful day of my life began! We were in Seattle, WA for the wedding and it was beautiful (rainy, but beautiful!).

Anne and Taylor before the ceremony--this is one of my favorite pictures of them :)
Em and Ann waiting patiently while the bride is MIA (Meanwhile I was upstairs with my family trying to convince them to bring Taylor and the minister upstairs so I could skip that whole "walking down the aisle" part of the ceremony!)

Grandma Stella in a serious conversation with Caroline and Anne...

Becca--looking so pretty :)

Naynie and Grandma Stella with Becca and Anne

Em with her flowers

My beautiful Grandma Mary :)

Megan and me right before walking downstairs for the wedding
One last pep talk before walking down the stairs!

Into the Blog World!

2008-10-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm starting a blog! I check everyone else's all the time and feel like a bit of a stalker...so it only seems fair for me to contribute something to the blog world too :) With Taylor and I moving all the time, at least this will be a way to keep up with everyone-- and it will give me a place to put all my pictures (of dogs of course :))!