Jay unpacking Baby Shower Gifts

So....Jay had dog care duty and didn't get to accompany me to NC for the baby shower. So when I got home with our two 50 lb suticases full of awesome baby goodies, we spent the afternoon letting Jay open them all and try to figure out what they were for!! Scout came to join in on the fun and found a nice observation point on his baby sister's bedroom floor :-)
Her first track/soccer shorts....
Reaching the bottom of the first suitcase!Scout said enough with all the little girl stuff already, let's play ball!!!
This onesie definitely got it right!!

Scouters Big Day....

So, I am just blogging because I don't know what else to do with all this nervous energy. My first baby (Scout) is going in for surgery today to remove his spleen. I am staring at the cell phone as if willing it to ring with good news. I have said so many prayers in the past 4 weeks that I expect God is thinking I sound like a broken record. But I think even God has a special place in his heart for my Scouters, who wouldn't, he has such a gentle soul. I often wonder how much better of a person I would be if I gave and accepted love as unconditionally as he does...maybe a lesson for me to try to hold onto in the future.

So here it is God, another prayer for my pup...Please guide the surgeons hands today and make the procedure as swift, successful and painless as possible. And whatever is your will, just please make sure that Scout knows how much his mommy and daddy love him...and spare him any unneccessary pain and suffering.

I will of couse keep you all posted on how things go today....

MY AMAZING BABY SHOWER!!!!

I don't even know where to begin with the baby shower! It was so amazing. My amazing Aunts Lynn and Sherri went completely overboard as always, and everything was perfect!! What a special day. And to see so many beautiful faces...friends past and present. I only wish I would have had more time to spend with everyone that was there. So to all of you that were a part of my special day...thank you...I will cherish it always! And to my amazing Aunts...there are no words, I can only hope you know how much I love and appreciate you both. My little girl is blessed to already be so loved. So enough with my ramblings...here are some photos of the big event....

First time grandparents! How exciting!!
Lovely Lady cousins...there will soon be a new little girl's face in the crowd!

Baby Girl's sweet little hat. Somehow I think she will have daddy wrapped around those cute little fingers :-)

Sayge was our awesome little helper for the day!! She carried gift bags she probably could have fit in herself!

Sissy and Keewa never miss an opportunity to pose with a good looking man!

But I wonder how they feel about being great-great Aunts!!

The men were enraptured, it was clear! And look at all the sweet table decorations!

Now we are talking! The essential baby items! Any little girl without her own wolfpack gear would be deprived. But don't worry, Jay's cousins evened the odds with some Hokie gear...remind me to thank them :-) I will probably have to wash it daily if he dresses her!

What lovely ladies!!

My oldest and dearest friends....Misty and Laura, spoiling little Canton!

Herb and Diane made the trip all the way from PA to celebrate with us and we were so very happy they were there. It made the day complete!

Great grandparents for the 7th time! And they don't look a day over 60 :-)

So for all of you who have been dying to see how big the bump is, Mom and Kristen wanted to leave no doubts in your mind...it is getting out there!!

My sisters and Aunts to be!

The amazing Grandma's to be!

Lovely Ladies of WV invade NC!!

I am such a lucky girl!! For my shower weekend, Rachel, Heather, Laura J. and Mary all made the trip down from WV to help me celebrate. We had a wonderful ladies night on Friday. A nice dinner out, A Mommy's Blessing for me out by the pool and then a trip to Cook Out for milk shakes! I am sure the sight of 7 women in a mini-van pulling up to order milkshakes at 9pm was rather comical...but they sure were yummy. You laides are awesome and so very dear to me. Thanks for always being there are for being the kind of role models I am so thankful my little girl will have in her life. Love you all!!

And of course, what ladies night would be complete without my awesome Mom and Sista' there to join in on the festivities!!

My relaxation massage following the Mommy's blessing. It was quite relaxing until a group of guys walked by and told us not to go anywhere, they would be right back!! Of course, I couldn't keep it together after that!!
My ladies with me at the shower!
My walk/run buddies and my forever partners in crime and sisters of the heart!

Our First Born...

Those of you that know us well have undoubtedly already heard that Scout has had a rough go of it lately. All of a sudden he got very sick over Memorial day and spent a night at the doggie hospital. His WBC were elevated, so even though we were concerned when we brought him home, we all assumed it was a really bad infection of some sort and the antibiotics would do the trick. Well, they seemed to for a while. He was back up and around and his bloodwork recheck looked A-OK. But then about a week ago he was down for the count again. He didn't want to move or eat and just looked pitiful. So back to the vet we went. He was stumped of course given the bloodwork looked good, so he referred us to a specialist up in Houston.

My wonderful husband and Scout's amazing dad stayed behind while I went to NC for my baby shower to take Scout to the specialist and to give him lots of TLC. Unfortunately the news at the specialist wasn't good. Scout has a ~6cm mass in his spleen. The prognosis isn't good, I think >70% of the time they turn out to be cancerous masses that have already begun to spread. But we wanted to be sure, since there was a chance it could be benign. So Friday he had a chest x-ray to look for more spots...and it was clean! So they then aspirated a small portion of cells from the mass in his spleen. They drugged him up a bit and then went in with a needle. The cells were sent off to a pathologist to be checked for cancer. If there is no cancer, Scout will have his spleen out and hopefully feel much better. If there is cancer, then there is nothing else to be done, other than to love and spoil him for as long as we can. So continue to keep our first born in your prayers. He has been a light in my life for 10 years and I am definitely no where near ready to let him go. Here are some photos of him after his first round at the vet....

When he first started to come around and dad convinced him to pick up his ball!!


Notice the shadow in the window! That is Scout's adopted sister Ollie, she was staying with us while her mom and dad were out of town. While Scout was sick they laid on opposite sides of the window and she kept a close eye on him!

Once he was feeling better Ollie upgraded her digs and took up residence under the kitchen table!

Jay's Garden

So, this year we decided to extend our usable yard. Jay and our wonderful friend John cleared a lot of the wilderness between our back fence and the creek. Then we had 600 sqft of Sod put in, to extend our yard and to keep the posion ivy from taking over. It looks great. With all the nice new space, Jay also planted a great garden. We have had tomatoes, spinach, cilantro and cucumbers. We are still waiting for the bell peppers and watermelon...to hopefully come in. Now we just need to get more creative with how to use it all! Here are some photos of Jay showing off what he has grown!