Puppy Toys

Tess loves her toys. She lives for her toys. From time to time, I get a trash bag and I throw away the toys that have worn their welcome. This is her time to freak the F out! She wigs! She gets all panic and starts grabbing toys and running under the bed. I buy her so many new toys that the girl has no reason to worry about a toy shortage. She just gets so darn attached.

I flipped out when I was at Muttropolis the other week and saw this cute little Mickey Mouse dog toy. I'm a Disney fan, but I didn't initially think of how morbid it is, the idea of seeing a limp Mickey hanging from my dog's mouth or seeing her shake Mickey violently. Now that we have him, he is her favorite at the moment. She drags him everywhere. One day I came home to see Mickey floating face down in her water bowl. It's just wrong.

Hot Spot Info

Well, after our little encounter with Hot spots, I decided to post some gathered information for people. Seriously, you never know when you are going to need it.

Hot spots develop over a few hours. They are unpredictable at first but once you get to know the causes, it can help predict their occurrences.

They are just areas where your dog continuely itches until they've created an open sore. The spot is inflammed and they itch it like crazy.




If you dog has a history of ear infections, allergies, heavy coats, or flea infestations, it is likely you will at one point deal with this problem although all dogs are susceptible to hot spots.




As any skin disorder, you are going to want to treat the sore and prevent another occurrence.




When you first notice a hot spot developing, trim all hair around the sore and wash it with warm water mixed with a very mild soap. Then make an appointment with the doctor in case you need some antibiotics.




The itching can be severe. It is hard to watch. Use whatever means necessary to keep the dog from itching that particular spot. From an E-collar, to socks, or even an ace bandage. We tried almost all of those.




To ease the itching until you can see a vet, use cold compresses, witch hazel, a children's benadryl, anti itch sprays (didn't work for us), sometimes an oatmeal bath is necessary.




For us with Tessa, the cold compresses and children's allergy medicine did the trick.






It looked 60% better the next day. 3 full days later and you couldn't even tell she had it.

It was horrible to watch her agonize over the itching though, I hate watching her suffer.

But she's on allergy meds now and doing great...hope you never need this information, but if you do I hope you find it helpful.

Hand Soap Rec.

I'm so picky when it comes to any skin care products. My skin is uber sensitive and the smallest change can sometimes lead into weeks of itchy hell. I can not do any fragrances usually so sadly that leaves Bath and Body Works as a dream never to be a reality for me...or does it?

This past Christmas I got a gift card to B&BW. I figured I'd be buying a lot of candles with it. When I went into the store I found C.O. Bigelow's line on the wall. I read their product and decided to give it a try. There are no additional fragrances and no artificial colorants. It's also important on me that it was not tested on animals and it wasn't! We tried out the Lemon scent and that night we went back and bought three more bottles of the stuff. My skin doesn't react to it at all and it smells so good. I love shopping there too instead of using plain old Dove everywhere else.

The hand soap retails for 12 bucks at B&BW which isn't bad for some amazing stuff. Try it out!

Memorial Day Weekend

Well, finals are over. I lived through them and suprisingly well I might add.

For the weekend, we were pretty mello. We have a lot going on in the next few months and so we wanted a break. We did head down to San Diego to visit some friends that we haven't seen in a while. It was really nice to chat and visit with them.

As soon as we got back I started to feel sick. I woke up Monday with a full blown cold. Yuck.

On Saturday we did go shopping a little bit. I needed an apron, not just because I'm Suzie-homemaker, but because I kept spilling and staining my clothes.

So Mr. Bumblebee found me this cute little number:

It is cute and works well. I decided to try it out by making one of Mr. Bumblebee's favorites, Snickerdoodles. I didn't have a recipe for them so I just used Martha Stewart's recipe. They are good but not great. Still looking for an amazing recipe. Mr. Bumblebee likes them chewy and these weren't chewy enough for him.

This is how the men like to celebrate a four day weekend....kills me how cute they are!

Mother's Day

For the most part, Mother's want brunch, flowers, facials, and pampering on Mother's day. Not my mom. My mom decided she wanted to go on a 5.2 mile hike to see a waterfall. My mom rarely asks for specific things so we all decided to do what she wanted. However, I won't lie, we weren't excited for it. My dad and I mostly hung out in the back and complained about it. He cracks me up sometimes. Once we got about 3/4 of the way though it, I said "I can't do this, I'm pregnant." My mom stopped and looked back at me, "Really?!" and I replied "If I was could we stop and go back?" At that point, she turned around and kept hiking. My dad just about died laughing.
Once we reached the waterfall, we were a little....disappointed. It was a waterfall by definition, however the same effect could be given by a broken sprinkler head in on a slope in a backyard. I did take a picture in front of it though.
After our lovely hike, we had a picnic and my mom loved it. She was so happy all day long so I'm glad we did it for her. We had only about an hour to shower and change and head off to Mr. Bumblebee's family celebration for Mother's Day. His family meets at his grandmother's house for Mother's Day. We were having dinner there.
This is my favorite picture. That's Mr. Bumblebee's mom and his aunt....can you tell they are sisters? It gets worse, sometimes they accidentally show up in the same outfit. Great minds think alike...Mr. Bumblebee was really sweet and surprised me with a Mother's Day gift from the kids. Tess had chewed up a favorite pair of underwear of mine one day when she got into a laundry basket. I was upset because that's not like her. Well, inside of a cute "from the dog" card, there was a gift card to Victoria Secrets...awwwwwww!


P.S. Yes, I did wear my 7's on a hike, I really didn't believe we were actually going to go through with it till we got there...

Update on Tess

So my little girl is now one year old!

So sad. This is yet another reason why I am just not parent material. I hate growing up.

From this little thing....

To this cute thing:

The reason she looks so focused is because there is a puppy Sprinkles cupcake in front of her. Oh my gosh, dogs LOVE those things.

Obviously she is feeling a lot better. Her hotspot is gone but it turns out baby has food and seasonal allergies. Luckily, with medication, it's all clearing up.

We take the kids to fashion island a lot for walks since Tess' allergies act up when we walk her in our neighborhood. So the other night we happened to stumble into Muttropolis during a party they were having. We put our names in for a 50 dollar gift card and wouldn't you know it...WE WON!

Well, Tess has just been crazy about the water every time we take her onto Balboa Island and we usually let her swim from the shore into the bay but recently she's been making mad dashes to jump off the dock. I don't see a problem with it but I'm worried about her swimming capabilities. So we decided to use the gift card for a life-vest for her. Here it is...(p.s. she loves it and it works great!)

The girl loves to swim!! We just can't keep her out of the water.

Tomorrow, to change things up a bit, she's going to Doggie Daycare. It's actually more for Tucker than her, she hates it. She'd much prefer to sit on the couch and sleep all day long but we want them to get out and be social. The local dogpark has been closed for a while and so they haven't gotten that as often as they are used to.

::sigh:: I love my girl!

Sorry for not blogging...

one word.
two syllables.
one huge ball of stress.

FINALS!


I'll be back soon.

Wish me luck.

Hot Spots

Tess' first birthday is on Sunday. I've been so excited that I get to give her a new basket of toys and all. Well tonight she has gotten a hotspot. She is so itchy. I can't stand to watch her. She's miserable. I called my vet and he said to bring her in tomorrow and not to worry about taking her to e-vet. It will just cost an arm and a leg anyways. So I'll wait till tomorrow. We have socks on all her feet and we are applying cold compresses to her chest. It's on her chest below where her collar sits. She has such bad allergies, she's already getting two allergy pills a day so I don't know what else they are going to have us do. Ugh...I hate seeing my girl in pain.

I'll spare you the pictures, it looks horrible and painful. Just keep her in your thoughts.

Also...

Just so everyone knows, the dogs tore up some home flyers we got for a home we were interested in buying...nothing serious. Just that it was in the middle of the dining room table and I still can't figure out how they got to it.

It's a Good Thing He's Cute part Duex

No, I'm not talking about Tucker again. I'm talking about Mr. Bumblebee. We always have the most interesting adventures.

Mr. Bumblebee is a hobbyist. He has a ton of hobbies that he indulges. From RC car/plane/boat to golf to painting and drawing. They are virtually endless. Well, Mr. Bumblebee recently got a new RC car that is an exact replica of his new Mini. He was very excited. So last night, he was busy getting it put together.

The Story:

Apparently, he was too lazy to go downstairs to get the appropriate tools and was using the wrong screwdriver. He was pushing very hard which caused the screwdriver to slip and go straight through his left middle finger. Yes, you heard me correctly, straight through. Actually it was more diagonal. It went through the center of his finger pad and popped out the side of his nail bed.

It was past midnight so I was downstairs getting ready for bed when I hear the F-bomb. I ask him if he is okay and he replies that he cut himself. He comes flying down the stairs and all I see is blood all over the place. I assume he was using an exacto knife and start moving to help him.

God bless this man but he has no stomach for blood. Lord help me if we ever have kids, because in the delivery room...he won't make it. As soon as he gets his finger under the sink he goes pale white and practically passes out. I pick him up and pour him in a chair. I'm more pissed than anything because I just want to go to bed. As he comes too I start to clean of his cut asking him what happened. I see two wounds. I ask him "You cut yourself twice?" He responds in a quiet voice "It went through." WHAT?!? What went through? He explains how it happened and I can't help but crack up. Are you kidding? Only my husband!

Here I have a husband, pale white sitting in a chair, covered in blood, my carpet covered in blood, with an apparent impalement. I start to look to see if it is bad enough to go to the hospital . Really it was just two small wounds and it looked like it missed all vital organs in a fingertip. I call the 24/7 nurse and they assure me that he'll be fine through the night but that he needs to get a tetanus shot as soon as possible and get on antibiotics.

It's a good thing he's cute!

BUSTED!

I love it when the kids are in this state:
Sleeping in the back seat on the way home.
But tonight we came home to this:

BUSTED!!!!

Tess looked very guilty but Tucker was kind of like "Ya, whatcha gonna do about it....?"

...brat.

Mello Weekend

I started to feel sick Friday night so we decided to take a mello weekend. On Sunday we visited my parents and saw Iron Man. It was actually a decent film...predictable but entertaining. But I love Robert Downey Jr.'s work.

We brought the "kids" with us so they could run in my parents backyard. They had a blast.

Tess looking mighty cute. She isn't brushed out because she just went swimming in the spa. Ya, on purpose. It's nice to have dogs love water but sometimes I can't keep her out of it and I don't feel like brushing her out every hour.
This is Gidget, my parents rat...I mean dog. She's cute. She's a whoppin' 8 pounds now. She loves playing with Tess and Tucker though.

This is my little man. He was mortified of my parents but loved the backyard. But by the end of the night he would take a treat from my dad. He's slowly getting there....lots of work. He's the opposite with just Mr. Bumblebee and me though, he's CRAZY! He gathered a pile of sticks and chewed on them in the shade for the later part of the afternoon. He went swimming once, but it was by accident.

It's a Good Thing He's Cute!

Another night at the dog park. Tess smelled every inch of grass cautiously watching her back end (she hates it when other dogs smell her butt). Tucker ran like crazy and greeted every dog and steered away from every human.

I just found out that Sprinkles makes dog cupcakes now. I wasn't a HUGE fan of Sprinkles to begin with but being dog friendly makes me like them more!

Tess' 1st birthday is May 11th. We were going to do a little something for her with my parents, so I think I'll order some dog cupcakes for her...peanut butter flavor definitely.

When we brought them back home, Tucker fell asleep immediately. Now...my husband does not snore. THANK GOODNESS! He talks on a frequent basis, but he does not snore. Tucker...little man...he snores! Badly. I mean, it's to the point that if I don't fall asleep before him, I often can't get to sleep. I have to keep waking him up and positioning him differently. The vet said it was fine and that he just snores. Ugh. Good thing he's cute

Bathing Suit Season

There are so many reasons people avoid shopping for bathing suits. Sometimes it is weight, sometimes it is breast size, sometimes it is lack of confidence. For me, it's my skin color. I'm white. Out of my dad's side of the family, I am the whitest person. I wish I was darker, but it isn't going to happen. I want that exotic look so bad, but I just look white. All the bathing suits that I love don't look good with my skin tone. So when I do find a bathing suit that I like, I jump on it. With beach season around the corner, if not already here...I've been stressing about finding a new bathing suit. Finally, I think I found one.....

The top is reversible to have the same pattern as the bottom. I haven't bought it yet. I'm waiting to hear some opinions. So let 'em rip friends!

P.S. I have small boobs something is needed with padding for enhancement.

P.P.S. I chose brown because I already own one brown suit and I get a lot of compliments on it which gives me confidence. So ya...