He left a paw print on our hearts...

 << Thank you so much to everyone who has followed Aspen's story and prayed for him.  >>

As most of you know, Aspen was diagnosed with congenital kidney failure on May 9th.  We were told his blood test numbers were grave and that he had a 1 in 10 chance on surviving past a few days/weeks.  

We wanted to try everything we could to give Aspen some more time for both him and us.  Along with antibiotics we changed his diet a little bit (he became very picky), we gave him at home IVs to keep him hydrated and to flush his kidney's, and we gave him a B12 vitamin shot once a week.

He started to do amazing.  He started barking again, going on walks again, he was eating and drinking again, and we even thought he looked like he was gaining weight!   We even planned to have him re-tested if he kept doing so well in August. 

On July 1st (Aspen's half birthday), he was starting to skip eating again and was sleeping/resting a lot.  We noticed an ammonia smell on his as well as a lot of discharge leaking from his eyes.  

July 3rd we headed out of town to see my family on the west side for the fourth.  My sister-in-law stayed at our house and watched Aspen for us.  He did ok until Sunday morning.

As we made the drive back to Spokane, we were given a heads up that Aspen wasn't doing so well.  We thought ok we will get home and see him and thought we have at least a couple more days or a week....  we got home at 7 pm and we went and saw Aspen.  People said you will just know when its time and Chris and I didn't really understand how you know... well once we saw him we knew.  You could hear deep slow breaths the moment you walked out the door and he just sunk into the grass.  He was thin and very tired.  He didn't look like the puppy he is, instead he looked like a 16 year old dog. We did not let Kaden see him or tell him what was going on, he went to Nana and Papa's house.  Chris and I knew he wouldn't make it through the night so we had a vet come to our house and at 9:10 pm Sunday, July 6th, Aspen watched his last sunset with us and fell asleep for the last time in his backyard next to Chris and I.  

He was not in pain as far as we know, he would still wag his tail when we were next to him.

It was very peaceful and quick.  We are SO thankful for having these last two months with him.  He was able to meet Wesley and got to grow up with Kaden for the whole 2.5 years of his life.  His life may not have been long but it was still very rich.  He had many family walks, lots of baths in the Rector's fountain, many days of running back and forth in the backyard saying "hi" to neighbors that walked by.  He was one of a kind.

Aspen 

January 1, 2012 - July 6, 2014

If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever...

Best friends

Aspen watching the sunset in his backyard

Wesley's Birth Story

Guess whose not pregnant anymore?! 

This girl!! 

      Before I get to the birth story...I just have to say that second babies do not come earlier!!! LOL I can't tell you how many times I was told I would have Wesley early because second babies don't go late.  LIES.  My advice, don't listen to anyone because every baby and every pregnancy is different.  Yes it was a total tease having my first be born on time on his due date and my second be late but that is just how it is!  I want to say kudos to all women who go past their "due dates".  That last week was so hard...mentally.  All you think about is labor and the baby and when is it going to happen....

:: Wesley's Birth Story ::

So my due date, May 31st came and went.  

Tuesday, June 3 I had my doctor appointment at 40 weeks 3 days.  I was still only 1 cm and 50% effaced, cervix soft but very posterior and high.  Zero signs of labor, no contractions, nothing.  

Thursday, June 5 I had a non-stress test (NST) and biophysical profile/ultrasound.  Again, no signs of labor and not even one contraction registered during the NST.  It was very cool to see Wesley on the ultrasound at 41 weeks old.  He was estimated to be 8 lbs 12 oz.   He passed both tests with flying colors, a perfect 10/10.  

Friday, June 6 another doctor appointment.  Still only 1 cm and 50% effaced, cervix very soft but still posterior and high.  No signs of labor or contractions.  However, I dropped 2.5 lbs since my apt. on the 3rd.  Losing weight can be an early labor sign (in my case it was).  My Dr. said that we were at a crossroads and that it was up to me on what I wanted to do.  He told me that I could go to the hospital  that night and get induced but chances of a c-section were 60% or since Wesley aced the NST and ultrasound that I could wait and give my body more time and be induced Monday, June 9 at night.  I picked being induced ASAP.  I was SO ready with being a week late and all.  My Dr. called L&D and I was scheduled to go in to be induced at 8pm that night.  

Friday, June 6th at 5pm all of a sudden I noticed that my belly was tightening every 7-8 minutes.  I had forgotten what contractions felt like in the very beginning.  I got really excited but didn't want to jinx it so I said nothing.  L&D called me at 7pm and said that all the beds were full and to come in at 6 am tomorrow morning.  I said perfect because I think I am in early labor anyway!  I went for a long hour walk and packed my hospital bags and enjoyed a yummy pasta dinner with my mom, Chris, and Kaden.  Contractions became more noticeable throughout the night and early morning and were getting to be about 5 min apart.  I was just so relieved that my body was doing this naturally and talk about timing. lol 

Saturday, June 7th we headed to L&D and got admitted at 6 am.  At 7:30 am, the nurse checked me and nothing.  No change, I was only 1.5 cm and 50% effaced, cervix soft but posterior....despite all those contractions over the past 12 hours.  UGH!  The nurse started induction at 8 am and gave me Cervidil.  Cervidil does not bring on labor or start contractions, it is used to simply soften the cervix and it can take 12 hours and sometimes a second dose to even do anything.   I sat on a birthing ball and played card games with Chris.

At 1pm the nurse checked me because my contractions were starting to get stronger and I was having to do breathing exercises and change positions to get through some of the contractions.  She checked me, it was painful.  I only progressed to 2 cm....60% effaced still very high and posterior.  I was so discouraged.  My labor with kaden was 24 hrs of early labor and 30 hours of active labor....so I was terrified this would be the same....a long painful tiring road.   

At 4:30 the nurse came in and asked if I wanted to be checked and I said no, I was planning on just waiting to be checked at 8pm when the Cervidil had to be removed.  My nurse left and all of a sudden  I was having the most painful contractions ever.  No positions relieved the pain and I had to breath really hard to get through them.  Something felt different, I knew these contractions had to be the real deal and that I had to be in active labor.  I paged my nurse and told her that I was in a lot of pain and my contractions were monitoring at 2 min apart.  

At 5 pm she checked me and BAM! 4 cm 70% effaced, cervix anterior and in active labor! FINALLY.  I cried because I was so happy I could get the epidural now.  She got me an IV ASAP and the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural.  Getting the epidural sucked because I was having painful contractions every 1-2 min and had to stay still while a huge needle was being stuck in my back.  But everything worked out no problem.  The epidural was AWESOME.  I was finally able to get in bed and just relax. Oh and watch the stanley cup playoff game lol.  

At 6pm, right after getting the epidural, my nurse checked me and I was 5 cm and 90% effaced.  She called my Dr. and he came down because he felt things were going to go fast.

At 8:30 pm I was 7 cm 90% effaced, my water broke, and baby was a 0 station.  My night nurse arrived, who is also a friend of ours, and she had me put one leg up on this peanut exercise ball thing and said it will help bring baby down.  

At 9:30 pm I was 9.5 cm 90% effaced, baby at +1 station

At 10:15 my dr. checked me because I was feeling a lot of pressure and the urge to push.  Sure enough it was time! 10 cm 100% effaced.  Time to push. I was terrified of the pushing part. With kaden I pushed for 3 hours, almost had to have a c-section, got an episiotomy and 3rd degree tear. Traumatic. 

I started pushing at 10:35 and at 11:07 pm, Wesley was born!!!  Wesley was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and I did have to have a midline episiotomy, ya know because my boys have big heads. lol Wesley was 8 lbs. 5 oz, 21.5 inches long, and his head was 13.5 cm.  Kaden was 8 lbs, 13 oz, 20 inches, & 13 cm head.  

This labor was so much easier and quicker compared to my first.  I was only in active labor for 7 hours and 35 min of pushing.  Hard to believe that was almost a week ago already.  This week has flown by.  Wesley had his circumsicion at 2 days old and its healed.  His umbilical cord fell of today already.  He weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz at his Dr. apt on Wednesday which wasn't suprising because he is nursing like a champ!! I didn't think my heart had any room to love someone else as much as I love Kaden but somehow it does.  I can't stop looking at Wesley, I am going to enjoy every minute because I know how fast it went by with Kaden.  Having TWO handsome boys is the best.  I am spoiled with love by them and my husband.  

Last bump pic. 41 weeks.

Let's do this!!

He's here! 

Love at first sight.

Family of three becomes four!

Big bro meets little bro for the first time. 

So happy but so tired.

Heartbroken

Info and update on Aspen.  

On Friday, May 9th we took Aspen into the vet because we had noticed that he was very tired, barely eating or drinking water, and he just looked very very sad.  He wasn't moving much or barking, very rare for him.  They weighed him and since November he had lost 20% of his body mass.  A 2 year old pyraneese should be about 100-120 lbs and he was all the way down to 72 lbs.  SCARY! They gave us some Clavamox (an antibiotic) to give him and we would know the lab results in the morning.  

His labs came back with very low and disturbing numbers with everything pertaining to his Kidneys and we were told that he has a very severe kidney infection, possible kidney damage.  So we gave him his antibiotics 3 times a day for 10 days and we was showing signs of improvement.  He was barking again, jumping up on the fence to say hi to walkers walking by.  He was eating and drinking again (not as much as we'd like) and he wasn't sleeping all day.  He was definately starting to look like himself...not 100% but getting better.  

This past Monday, May 19th Chris took Aspen in at 8 am just for a follow up appointment to restest his labs and to get more antibiotics (amoxicillin) and both Chris and I were sure that he was getting better and that his Kidney infection was going to be almost gone.  Chris called me about 1pm later that day and told me the heartbreaking news... 

Aspen's lab results did not improve they actually came back worse than 10 days before.   Aspen has renal displaysia, basically kidney disease.  It is something he was born with and most puppies with this don't survive past 1 year.  It is hereditary and common in Great Pyraneeses'.  The vet told us that he has a 1 in 10 chance and that there is really nothing we can do.  We can try a 3 day IV flush but she said it wont cure him, it will just buy him time.  She didn't give us a time frame either, it could be days, weeks, a month.... it just depends on how his body can handle it.  The bad thing is we know that Aspen has a high pain tolerance and that worries us that he will fight through it despite being in miserable pain.  

-The game plan-

We are in disbelief and in shock.  Its been an emotional week.  The timing of it all is awful.  Chris and I are expecting our second baby boy anyday and our dog could die anyday.   I am trying to stay as calm as I can but my hormones are going crazy and I find myself battling a mix of emotions right now both happy and sad.  This is our first dog together and it just sucks.  We bought Aspen to grow up with Kaden and we knew that someday (when Kaden was like 10-12 years old) we would have to deal with this sort of thing.  We never imagined only 2 years later.  Aspen is so young, he deserves SO MUCH more time.  Anyway, we will be giving Aspen his amoxicillin 3 times a day for as long as we can.  The vet said we just need to make sure that he keeps eating and most importantly drinking water.   Somedays he eats no problem and other days he wants nothing to do with it (I hate those days).  We will keep a close eye on Aspen as we do not want him to suffer.  We are taking advantage of the time that we do have with him and we hope Wesley is born sooner than later so that he can meet Aspen and we can all have time together and make memories.  

Aspen is a one of a kind dog.  I have had many dogs as has Chris and Aspen is just something special.  He is this huge friendly polar bear of a dog that everyone in the neighborhood knows and loves.  He is beautiful and truly a big part of this family.  He can never ever be replaced.  We don't know how much time, I don't know how he will be 2 weeks from now but we will keep you posted.  One thing I do know is that he is going to be a fighter. Till the end. 

12 weeks old

12 weeks old, Kaden 6 mo.

1 year 

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 1/2 years

1 1/2 years 

2 years and 4 months 

Kaden's Turns TWO!

Well this is about 6 months late but it has been busy being a mom of a toddler, enjoying newlywed life with Chris, and becoming pregnant with baby #2!!

On August 19 this last year Kaden turned TWO! Wow...when people say time flies when you have babies, they aren't joking at all.  I mean in two weeks Kaden will now be 2 1/2.  Crazy.  For Kaden's birthday I wanted to do something really fun for him but didn't want to plan a huge massive event considering we just had our big wedding 2 weeks prior on August 3 (Wedding planning is a lot of work!!).

First I picked a theme: Construction because he loves trucks
Second I chose colors:  Easy with this theme. Black, orange, yellow
Third I picked food and decorations!
Last.... get going!

We got back from our honeymoon and we were exhausted.  I said I was going to start with Kadens decorations but never got arround to it until the day of! Yikes. I was going to order from Etsy before the wedding but that never happened either lol.  Somehow it all worked out... and it worked out better than I pictured!!

I threw this party together in about 2 hours from start to finish! End result= awesome.  Kaden was so so happy.  Hope you enjoy.

What I had to work with lol

Caution Kaden is 2

Entering Terrible Twos 

I made that cake in 30 min lol

The birthday boy!

Our happy fam!

I wish I could take awesome professional quality pictures but these pictures from my iphone 4s will have to do :) Now 6 months to plan Kadens third birthday and add a little newborn baby in there too!

My Job

This past September I got my first real "big girl" job.  My job has nothing to do with my college degree but has everything to do with who I am.  This job allows me to plan, be creative, be organized, be busy, multi-task, think out of the box, meet a lot of new people, and help design and decorate huge events.  I enjoy doing all of those things.  If I could do college over, I think I would have majored in event planning and design.  I just love it.  I still love exercise science, don't get me wrong :) 

I work for the Rypien Foundation here in Spokane and this is a little bit more about:

"The Rypien Foundation was built with the heartfelt devotion of its founder, Super Bowl XXVI MVP Mark Rypien, who lost his three year old son, Andrew, to cancer. Mark and his family experienced firsthand what families go through when fighting this potentially deadly disease, and recognized the value that quality care can bring to both patient and family. In the wake of his difficult personal experience, the Rypien Foundation was created with a commitment to provide HOPE for local families battling childhood cancer."

My job is pretty cool and I love knowing that everything I do no matter how big or small is helping these local children and their families battle cancer.  The Rypien Foundation recently donated $3 million dollars to Providence Sacred Heart Children's Hospital here and the hospital was able to re-do the children's ER and make everything there a little bit easier and warmer for the kids there.  If you ever come to Spokane, I encourage you to check out what the Rypien Foundation has done for the hospital. We put up huge shadow box displays of sports memorabilia of past and present athletes who have battled life challenges of their own.  After personally walking through the new remodel, the Children's area of the hospital doesn't even feel or look like a hospital but more like a huge inviting playground and a fun place to be.

Currently we are getting ready for the 9th Annual Winemakers Dinner on March 16th! Work is getting really busy but it is great.  I got to write up and send out over 400 donation requests to local businesses as well as across the country.  It is exciting to see all the generous donations coming in to the office everyday. Lots of caring and supporting people out there!  At the Winemakers Dinner there will be both loud and silent auction items for guests to bid on and all the money goes to help these kids and families with childhood cancer.

I smile just thinking about my job.

Another great part of my job is that it allows me to still be a full time mom and not miss a beat of Kaden growing up.  Some days I can work from home and some days I go down to the office for a couple hours while Kaden goes to Grandmas.  I don't just sit behind a desk all day which is GREAT!!  Chris and I were both raised in households were the dads worked and the moms stayed home and took care of us.  My mom always tells me to have an education and try to work while being a mom because she wishes she did.  I am glad I took her advice and working part time has been amazing.  I am still with Kaden all the time but I also feel like I am contributing to my family and to a great cause.  I feel very blessed.

I am excited to see where this job takes me over the next year or so.

Well there ya go. I don't really talk about my job much on social media but now you know a little bit more of what I do!  :)

seriously..

who has time to blog!?!? Life is soooo busy.

Anywho, here is a little update...

1. Kaden is starting to talk and it is so cute!  He runs instead of walks. He has 8 teeth (4 up and 4 down).  He had his 4th haircut last week.  He hasn't thrown up ever.  He is getting really tall.  He is a really good little hockey player already.  He is obsessed with hockey sticks and tools.  He is really smart and learns new things evey day.  He is a mamas boy and can't be without his blanky.  He sleeps through the night from 10pm and sleeps in until 8am.  He takes 2-90 min naps during the day.  He is the most active baby I have ever seen, he doesnt stop moving.  He is a picky eater though but hey I am not surprised because I am the world's pickiest eater.

2.  Wedding plans are going really smooth.  We have everything booked and so now we are just relaxing until all the little details from the menu and diy crafts and table numbers, etc.... have to be done.  We are 8 months out from the wedding day and I am amazed at how organized I am at this.  Wedding planning is fun! :) I can't wait for all the other fun wedding festivities as well like the bachelorette party, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, and post-wedding brunch! yayy!  OH and I didn't mention this yet on here but I won the most amazing prize ever! I won not just a prize but thee GRAND PRIZE!  I won a free wedding dress, free engagment session, free sweet heart table, free centerpieces, free designer clutch, and some other little things.  Can you believe that?!?!  I went dress shopping 3 weeks ago and I found my dream dress!! I am in love with it and it makes me feel amazing and the best part is that it was free since I won!

3.  Our 11 month old puppy is HUGE!  He is a big furball and I love him.  He is bigger than a lot of 5 year old retrievers that we know and he isn't even full grown! He is 100 lbs, WOW.

4.  Home sweet home.  We have been living in our house for almost a year now and it is perfect.  We plan to live here for 3-4 years and then move into a house that we plan to live in for a long long time!  Our house is pretty big but we want 3 kids and our house will not be big enough for our growing family.  But it is perfect for our family now plus another baby in the near future! :)

5.  I work part time with the Rypien Foundation and it is a lot of fun.  The Rypien Foundation raises money here in Spokane for kids and families battling cancer.  Mark Rypien, a friend of the Rector's, is a   Super Bowl MVP whose son died of cancer at a very young age.  I am thankful to be working for a good cause.  The Winemakers dinner is going to be March 9 this year and I get to pretty much run the event with my boss!

6.  Chris is still working at the pharmacy.  He is going to be promoted to manager of the lab and that means more $$$. That is always a big plus.  I am so blessed that Chris works sooo hard and has a great job so that I can stay home most of the time and raise my son and not miss a thing! :)

That's just a little of what is going on in our lives!

KADEN IS....

WALKING!!! All over the place :) Took his first as well as many steps today!