It's Official! Abby Fenn

AJ- Waffle Chef

Charlie...

Well Charlie really grew on us. He was very animated and affectionate.  On Saturday morning, the nice, retired couple that was fostering him called and said they really missed him and asked if we would let them formally adopt him themselves.  It was apparent to us that the truly loved the dog and after a unanimous family vote, we felt that the right thing would be to let them have Charlie.  

We returned Charlie to them that day.  The lady was so grateful and tears welled up when she saw him again.  We're glad that they'll all have each other.  

Charlie (maybe soon to be Charlie Fenn)

So this is Charlie.  He is a rescue dog that was in a kill shelter and was severely neglected.  He was found in kennel that was filthy and entirely too small.  When he was found, he was covered in poop and malnourished to the point of skin and bones.  He spent the last 2 months in foster care and we brought him home yesterday for a one week trial.  

Yesterday he was very stand-offish. He would bark and growl at us and cower when we tried to touch him. Last night we let him sleep wherever he wanted -which turned out to be with everyone at different stages of the night- and he woke up this morning a totally different dog.  He's playful and loving.  He and Chloe are posturing a bit, but nothing I think they won't get over in a couple days.  

Fingers are crossed that he will stay with us.  :)

storm damage

http://www.kcci.com/news/central-iowa/Storm-damage-cleanup-across-Iowa/-/9357080/22047008/-/xxkhq6z/-/index.html

Another Milestone

Check one more thing off the list...

Donor Ear

Zombie Grandma

Hey boys, feel free to steal this look for Halloween

First Day of 5, 4, 1

Cuddle Babies

Nate and Chloe

Lunch Nerds

Furry Chloe.

Here's how Chloe looked when we got her. Her hair was terribly matted and we had to shave her practically bald to fix the problem. Once she gets a little fluff grown back, she'll look great!

Meet Chloe!

So I came home from work on Wednesday, and this little guy was hiding under the kitchen table.

Actually, it wasn't after I examined her and couldn't find the dog's guy business that we realized she was a girl...

Her name is Chloe.  Nina and the boys picked her up from a kill shelter in St. Pete.  It's really hard to imagine this dog getting put down.  She's a full-bred, AKC-registered Shih Tzu, and her previous owners apparently cared for her, because she's micro-chipped, although she hasn't been fixed yet.  Nevertheless, animal control found her wandering around with another dog, and no one claimed her.

The shelter gave us until Tuesday to decide if we want to keep her, at which point we could return her and get her money back.  It didn't take us very long to realize she's a keeper.  She's already house-trained and very well-behaved, showing no signs of any trauma she's endured.  She doesn't bark.  Her favorite activity is perching herself on laps and getting scritched.  If you stop scritching her, she'll dig her snout under your hand to remind you that she requires additional scritching.  She loves taking walks around the neighborhood, and from the first time we took her out, she knew which house was hers.

Seems like we've gotten very lucky...

Mount Carmel

If all goes according to plan, today was the last day mom would be visiting Mount Carmel for rehab.  It's hard to believe that it has been only since the middle of May that we even heard of this place.  Also, sitting downstairs in the physical therapy area, it is strange to think that mom used to actually live in this place.

Mom expressed her gratitude to her therapists, but we booked it out of there very quickly.  There isn't much more to tell, but I thought you might be interested in the last few pics and videos I shot.

This first one was just a grassy excursion - one more time - to give Kelly, her therapist, some piece of mind that mom will once again be able to scamper away into the woods.

Then, in this next one, you can see her making mom trudge up the biggest hill in the place.  Sisyphus would be proud.

This last video is just a bit more proof that mom is on her way back to climbing down long flights of stairs like she never, ever has to do.

A few parting pictures:

The window on the second level next to the balcony was mom's room.  Now it is someone else's room and let's pray they did not see me taking pictures of it.  I am not a stalker of the elderly.

The steamy back patio.

The stairway from heaven.  Or to hell.  Or just from some storage room down to the occupational therapy area.  Either way, it's a lot of steps.

Speaking of OT, here's a final panoramic shot of the OT room.  It's janky and crowded, but mom made a lot of progress in here.

 Coming soon...Rehab Part II: The Day Institute!

root beer floats

I just read that root beer floats can cause your blood to thicken..

Ragbrai in Dallas Center

Mom's Birthday Shenanigans

A few pictures and a video from the birthday extravavavavavaganza.

Baking Grandma's Cookies

T.F. = Tooth Fairy

Nate's First Wiggly Tooth

Underwater Camera!!

Some summer fun caught on the boys' underwater cameras!

So this is the best pic of Dave and me together.  

Messing Around With The Green Screen

Here's a video we did with the new green screen and lighting!  Not sure why there's a shadow at the top of the frame - the screen may not have been pulled tight enough.

Cool Bday Gift!!

more

More pics and news from Tampa please,   

Listen For Yourself

Here she is!

Lots of News

Monday started out pretty good.  When I got here at a little after 9:00 am this morning, Mom had already begun her physical therapy.  She had used the "roll-ator", the little blue walker, to walk all over the bottom floor.  It was probably close to 300 feet.  No sweat.

Then Dawn had her do a balance walk like she did the other day, but this time, instead of using uneven parallel bars, she was using a rail going up and down a ramp.  It went very well, and she traversed the 10-15 foot ramp several times, both ascending and descending.

She went to do some steps again, which were difficult today, mostly because she had already had quite a workout.  After the steps, Mom was "graduated" to using a cane!  It felt good to her to actually be "walking" and she did very well for her first effort.

Also, some big time news here!  She has been officially cleared to get up out of bed and use the bathroom on her own.  She's been able to do this for a while, but now PT has signed off on it.  Also, they are going to encourage her to walk to the dining room for meals.  She has to use the walker and needs to be aided by a staff member, but she - in the opinion of her PT - is strong enough to do this on her own.

We went to OT next, after a stop in the room to finish some scratch-offs, and Mom got to do some new things.  First, she did the arm bicycle for 15 minutes, which is no big deal by now.  Then, she got to make some oatmeal!  She had to measure stuff out, get up and get the water, take it to the microwave, get it out, stir it up, and bring it back to her wheelchair.  It's obviously a small activity and no huge deal, but for her, it was another step and something new.  She did it without any problem.

After we got back from OT, Ray, the physician assistant, came by.  Things seem to be just fine.  Mom has had some swelling in her ankles, and he said it was no big deal.  Another good milestone too - she's officially back off the oxygen.  The term at this point is "as needed".  She doesn't need to wear it in the room, and we're even going to take the tank off the back of the wheelchair again.

And all this before lunch!  She has an appointment with Dr. Fonseca tomorrow as a follow-up to the surgery.  We'll let you know how it goes.