Baxter vs. The Foxtail

My poor, sweet baby boy had to have surgery last week for a foxtail in his paw that caused a nasty infection!  And while he was under anesthesia they found four bad teeth that had to be extracted!  Yikes!
This guy just can't catch a break.....in the last 5 weeks, he's had a slipped disc in his lower back, a foxtail stuck in his ear, a foxtail stuck in his back paw, surgery for the latest horrible foxtail attack and four dental extractions.  But somehow....through it all.....he's maintained his sweet, loving, happy, playful, snuggly Cavalier spirit!  He's my hero! 
The first night after surgery was rough......he had no idea who I was and he was actually scared of me for a few hours!  But since then, my little man has made an amazing recovery and he doesn't understand why I won't let him run and play or take him for walkies!
As Baxter continues to recover, I'm continuing to work as hard as I can on a new, exciting project that I've kept secret until now!  I'm going to be opening a planner sticker shop on June 3!  I'm designing all of my own artwork for the stickers and I can't wait to start sharing sneak peeks with all of you.  This is going to be so much fun!

Hugs,
Jenny



P.S.  If you're wondering what a foxtail is......they're bristly plant awns that are common in the west, especially California.  They can easily work their way through intact skin and are covered in nasty bacteria and teeny, tiny barbs that help them quickly migrate throughout the body once they get under the skin.  They are the arch-nemesis of any dog living in California.  I meticulously check Baxter's feet and his whole body EVERY DAY for foxtails and they have still slipped by me! 

Live Like Emma

One year ago today we said goodbye to Emma after she bravely battled cancer for ten months. We're feeling a lot better now but life will never be as sweet as it was when Emma was here and we'll forever be a bit lost without her. 

Even though we always cherished every second with her, the longer she's gone the more I realize how amazing she was. She enjoyed the simple things in life. She was wise, mellow, loving, brave, confident, forgiving, sweet, funny, lazy and happy. She was my zen master, my hero and my role model. She never worried and she unapologetically went after whatever she wanted. If something bothered her she didn't pick a fight, she just walked away. She gave the best hugs EVER! She was the embodiment of everything we should all strive to be and I was so incredibly lucky to have her in my life for nine wonderful years. 

I will forever be grateful to all of you who showered me with love and support during her cancer battle and the months that followed. And I will forever be grateful to Emma for teaching me everything I need to know about life: live in the moment, love with all your heart, be grateful for everything good in your life, enjoy the simple things, greet everyone and everything with a joyful, positive attitude and spread sunshine wherever you go! 

The world would be a better place if everyone remembered to Live Like Emma!

Hugs,
Jenny

Heat Wave

A major heat wave was in the forecast a few weeks ago……so, instead of suffering through 110 degree temps, we packed up the dogs and headed to cool and cloudy Carmel, California for a few days.

Betsy got to see the beach for the first time EVER and she loved it!  So much to see and smell and so many places to dig, dig, DIG!

 

We enjoyed slow, lazy, cool mornings in front of the fireplace on the outdoor patio at The Cypress Inn…..

We went sweater shopping so these two cuties would stay toasty warm during the cold, foggy evenings…..

We had some amazing dinners at incredible restaurants and Betsy learned how to be a proper, little lady!!!  All she needs now is a strand of pearls to complete her classy look!

And these two realized it’s exhausting to play on the beach, shop at doggy boutiques and be ooohed and aaahed over by a zillion strangers.

It’s a ruff life!

Hugs,
Jenny

The 50th Birthday

A few weeks ago we took a vacation to celebrate John’s 50th birthday.  We packed up Baxter and Betsy and flew off in his little red plane without much of a plan.

The first night we stopped in Bend, OR.  We had wanted to make it to Washington but after I started crying over a little turbulence we decided to call it a day.  Being in a giant tin can zooming through space while being held up by air molecules is scary! Anyway…….Bend, OR – you were great and I hope to see you again soon!

The next day we flew up to Bellingham, WA and stayed with some friends who have a house on the lake.  It was absolutely beautiful. The dogs got to run and play and frolic in the water and we got to totally relax for a few days.

And finally, we flew off to Sonoma for a few days of wine tasting, eating and exploring vineyards.  I kept telling John that it was the best “Not My 50th Birthday Trip” EVER!

And if you’re wondering, the dogs do GREAT in the plane!  Baxter excitedly looks out the windows and Betsy curls up in a little ball and says “wake me up when we get there!”

Hugs,
Jenny

My New Favorite Quilt

It seems like every quilt I make becomes my new favorite and this one is no exception.

But this one seems extra, super, duper special because I started it back in January when Emma was still here and she was napping and snoring at my feet as I cut and pieced every single block.  I can just feel her soul in it whenever I look at it.

And she was there as I started quilting it……and then decided I had to start over.  I was 1/4 of the way done with the quilting when I realized that there were way too many puckers and uneven stitches and the imperfections were driving me nuts.  Soooo…..I spent EIGHT hours carefully ripping out all of those less than perfect stitches.  It’s a good thing I don’t mind picking with the seam ripper and that I love NetFlix marathons.

And before I had even finished sewing the binding on, Betsy claimed it as her own.

It kind of reminds me of the amazing days I spent with Emma at the beach in Florida with all it’s beautiful colors of the sand, the sea, the sky and the sea oats.  Emma LOVED the beach and I think she would have loved snoozing the day away on this quilt.

Maybe Baxter and Betsy will also be able to feel Emma’s sweet soul in this quilt as they spend many lazy afternoons napping on top of it.

Hugs,
Jenny

The Last Four Months

So, I obviously disappeared for a little while after Emma earned her angel wings.  As you can imagine, I needed some time to grieve and adjust and regroup after her ten month cancer battle.  It’s been so incredibly hard to get used to life without Emma but I just keep reminding myself to “Live Like Emma” – be brave, be happy, be confident, be grateful, go after what you want, greet every day and every new situation with enthusiasm and live in the moment because this very moment is all that we have!  Emma was my hero and the perfect example of how to live a happy life!

After a few weeks, I was finally ready to start trying to live my life again and I had a few good days…..but then…….exactly one month after Emma died, Baxter became very seriously ill and was in the hospital for several days with a severe case of pancreatitis.  And I was CRUSHED yet again.  On his 3rd night in the hospital, they called in the middle of the night and I almost had a heart attack!  Don’t middle of the night phone calls always bring bad news???!!!  But no……..they were calling to tell me that Baxter started having a “prison riot” in his cage and ripped out his IV catheter and was bouncing all around and he wouldn’t stop barking and was feeling much better.  So, I rushed out in the middle of the night to bring my brave, sweet, strong, adorable baby boy HOME!

Then, I learned of a sweet, little 4 month old Blenheim Cavalier who had been rescued from a horrible situation and needed a home.  An awful backyard breeder kept her in a tiny cage, outside, in Salt Lake City, Utah, all winter!!!  They decided they needed some quick money so they “ransomed” her off to a rescue group.  And even though it was way too soon after losing Emma, I couldn’t say no.  Especially after I heard that she would be available for adoption on March 13……the day that would have been Emma’s 9th birthday.  Wouldn’t it be just like my amazing Emma to give ME a gift on HER birthday???!!!  How could I say no to the puppy that Emma clearly wanted me to have in my life???!!!  So, say hello to Betsy……also known as Lady Elisabeth Paisley Puddingstone.  Also known as Betsy Wetsy, Queen Bess, The Tiny Queen, Punkin’ Chunkin’ Betsy Biscuit, Chunky, and Biscuit.

And then, Baxter decided to get sick AGAIN……but this time it was a foreign object that he ate that was very slow to pass.  It was stuck in his system and making his belly hurt for TEN days.  It ended up being an olive pit and ironically his body finally “let go” of the olive pit the day after I fed him bread soaked in olive oil in an attempt to get his system moving!

And then, Betsy developed a massive swelling under her ear and when it didn’t respond to medical treatment, we had to do surgery to find out what was going on.  We found out that she has a rare and aggressive infection called Actinomyces which is caused by a foxtail burrowing into her skin.  She’ll be on high dose antibiotics for at least 3-4 months and there may be more surgeries in her future.  But for now, she’s doing great.

And then, I tried to catch my breath and start living a normal life again……but you guessed it!  Something else happened…..my sweet, old cat, Cassi who would have been 21 years old next month became critically ill very suddenly last week…..she was acting completely normal one day and we were letting her go the next day.   And while I’m comforted by the fact she had such a long and happy life, it’s really hard to get used to living without someone who has been with you for so very long.

Sooooo……I’m really, really, REALLY hoping that the second half of this year is COMPLETELY boring and uneventful!  Wish me luck!  I definitely need it!

Hugs,
Jenny

Emma

Emma peacefully earned her angel wings surrounded by her loving family on Friday, February 6, 2015.

Hugs,
Jenny

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I know I’m a little bit late…..well…..I guess I’m a lot late but better late than never, right?!  What was supposed to be a quiet, lazy, stay at home kind of Christmas month turned into multiple emergency trips to Davis Vet Hospital (3.5 hours away!) because Emma developed severe eye problems due to her cancer spreading.  After many visits to specialists and a zillion eye drops and lots of extra snuggles and kisses, we were able to save her eye only to find out that the cancer is spreading rapidly and there’s nothing else we can do for her.

But in the midst of all that chaos we were still able to have a few quiet days at home and even take a magical Christmas Eve day trip to some mountains about two hours away from home where the dogs got to see snow for the FIRST TIME!  They LOVED it and Emma ran and played and explored and was full of energy and joy!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that your new year is full of health and happiness!

Hugs,
Jenny

The Color Map

We’ve been having such a great week around here!  Emma bounced back after hitting a wicked rough patch in her cancer battle, Baxter kept me company as I watched a zillion lessons about how to do surface pattern design in Illustrator, I made my very first repeating pattern EVER…..it was incredibly ugly…..but I DID IT!  And I am soooo very proud of my ugly pattern!  And the cherry on top of an already great week…..this beautifulllll Color Map arrived from Spoonflower.  It’s a yard of fabric with 1500 different color swatches printed on it that you use as a guide when designing fabric on your computer.  How fun is that???!!!  Now I’m ready to attempt to design some non-ugly fabrics!  Eeeeeek!  Wish me luck and I’ll definitely keep you updated on my progress!

Hugs,
Jenny

Being A Dog

Emma had a big check-up at Davis a few days ago and as always, she exhibited her signature blend of sweetness, bravery, wisdom and mellow enthusiasm.  We learned that the chemo isn’t working but that’s not surprising…..we already knew that it usually isn’t effective for her type of cancer.  But we had to at least give it a try.  On the bright side, the cancer has only gotten slightly worse since her last big check-up two months ago.  The oncologists think that she could have a few more good months with us but we’re still hoping for a miracle and that she’ll defy the odds!  We will probably try some acupuncture and holistic supplements too…….but for now, Emma is going to spend her days being a dog, NOT a cancer patient.  And that’s just fine with her!

Go Team Emma!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S.  Emma used her fuzzy, baby brother, Baxter as a pillow on the long car ride home from Davis and I’m not biased at all but I’m pretty sure that this is the cutest picture in the history of EVER!

Glamping

I had planned on spending last week working on my dollhouse…..and sewing…..and designing things in Illustrator…..and telling you all about my plans for an entire dollhouse neighborhood…..and spending the week doing girly, crafty things while John was on a guy-ish, camping type surf trip…..but somehow he managed to convince me to come along after he said he’d rent a Glamper for me and the dogs!  I had two days to get ready and I’m not really a spur of the moment kind of girl but sometimes it’s fun to live outside your comfort zone!

 

Emma and Baxter LOVED Glamping at the beach!  They played in the water, frolicked in the sand and intently watched the world go by from their perch on top of the picnic table.  John LOVED Glamping too!  He surfed every day and made campfires and grilled dinner for us every night.  And I LOVED seeing everyone have so much fun.  But I also really, really, REALLY LOVE high speed internet, Netflix, being really clean and all of the other luxuries of modern life that are harder to come by while Glamping.  We had so much fun but I’m so happy to be back home…..and so happy that my feet are no longer covered in dirt!  I’m an “Indoor Girl” at heart and proud of it!

Hugs,
Jenny

Roller Coaster

A lot can happen in a few short weeks in the world of a cancer patient……we’ve had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and our minds are still spinning from all of it.  I can’t even remember how many times we went up, down and all around on this crazy cancer roller coaster since I shared my last Pupdate on Emma.  We went from being certain that she just had radiation side effects……to being certain that the cancer was back…..to being pretty sure that it wasn’t a cancer recurrence and thinking we had a miracle…..to finding out that the surgery unfortunately failed and now we’re very concerned but not 100% certain that the cancer has returned…..it’s all completely exhausting and confusing and overwhelming.

Emma started chemotherapy last week and she’ll get one injection every three weeks.  But don’t worry…..dogs don’t get the same horrible side effects that people do from chemo.  Emma is as happy as can be and she has no idea that she’s sick.  She doesn’t have a care in the world!

Right now we’re in “wait and see” mode.  The oncologists aren’t quite sure what’s going on…..they all have pow wows and talk about how unique Emma’s case is.  Soooo, we just have to wait and see how she responds to treatment over the next few weeks and then reassess the situation.

It’s hard to stay calm, cool and collected but I’m trying to Live Like Emma and just enjoy every second of life and every second that we’re together!

Hugs,
Jenny

Happy SeptEMMA!

Happy SeptEMMA everybody!  You know how I love to rename months and since Emma’s half birthday is on the 13th and this month is all about her recovery, the month has been renamed in her honor!

The trip to Davis was exhausting and stressful but we just keep reminding ourselves how lucky we are to live a few short hours from one of the best veterinary hospitals in the world.  I won’t go into all of the gory details but let’s just say Emma’s mouth and throat were a disastrous mess…..much worse than we originally thought.  The surgeon did a great job but Emma is still at high risk for lots of complications over the next few weeks.

But the great news is that Emma has no idea how sick she is!  She’s happier than she’s been in weeks and wants to get back to her day job of being a spoiled puppers instead of playing the role of cancer patient recovering from surgery.

And now we wait for the biopsy results to come back……the oncologist thought it looked like radiation side effects when she saw Emma two weeks ago…..but the surgeon who just saw her thought it looked like cancer.  Sooooo…..I’m on pins and needles for the next week waiting for results to come back……but I’ll just keep trying to move forward, enjoy life and remain hopeful!

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…..It’s learning to dance in the rain.”

Hugs,
Jenny

Here We Go Again!

We’re off on another “adventure” to Davis Vet Hospital in just a couple hours!  Emma started drooling heavily from the “cancer side” of her face a few weeks ago and after lots of appointments and tests and anxious waiting we finally found out what the problem is…..she has a hole in the roof of her mouth where the tumor used to be…….but it doesn’t look like the cancer is back!  I never thought I’d be happy to say my baby girl has a painful hole in her mouth and she’s getting surgery to fix it in two days…..but it’s way better than hearing the words “cancer recurrence!”

We’ve packed all of our road trip essentials for our little three day trip…..yoga pants, cross stitch supplies, NetFlix, Illustrator classes, doodling supplies, red wine, Emma and Baxter’s favorite toys and lots of homemade food that I made during a “cooking-palooza” yesterday.

Sooooo……here we go again fighting another battle that cancer has thrown at us but we’re ready to fight with everything we’ve got.

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog!”

Go Team Emma!
Jenny

Recharging Our Batteries

My Mom finally came to visit me in California last week!  It was the first time she’s visited since I moved here a year ago and Emma and Baxter were thrilled to see their Grandma!  And they were even more thrilled when they found out we were going on a little vacation with Grandma to Carmel, California! Yayyyyy – ROAD TRIP!!!!

Dogs need a chance to re-charge their batteries too and I don’t think anyone would disagree that Emma DESERVES to be spoiled after everything she’s been through this year!

Carmel is such a magical place – adorable little cottages that look like dollhouses out of a fairytale…..beautiful beaches with happy dogs running everywhere…..and the people…..oh my gosh…..I’ve never encountered so many incredibly joyful and warm and friendly people in my life!  And it’s sooooo incredibly dog friendly!  It was one of those rare places where I felt more alive and energized and inspired just by being there!

We pranced around town and ate at wonderful little outdoor restaurants with twinkling lights and went to an amazing dog boutique and in the evenings we hung out in the hotel lounge which was full of dogs and people who were laughing and dancing and singing…..

But my absolute favorite part of the trip was taking Emma and Baxter to the beach.  Emma grew up at the beach…..she lived at the beach for seven years before we moved to central Cali last summer…..Emma is a beach girl at heart…..but she hasn’t been to the beach since we moved to Cali.  She was so beyond excited to be at the beach again and I couldn’t wipe the ridiculously huge smile off my face as she ran around like a puppy and rolled in the sand and played in the water.  Pure bliss!

And precious little Baxter was cautious and slightly confused by his first trip to the beach but bravely tackled this new adventure because he had his big sister at his side.  And then he collapsed because the beach is exhausting business for a sweet, little puppers!

And I’m already planning a few return visits to my new favorite place on earth……maybe a weekend in October to see how they decorate for Halloween…..and definitely a weekend in December because I HAVE to see how the decorate for Christmas…..and maybe we’ll need to go back for my birthday in JENuary……and I think you get the point.  I’d move there in a heartbeat if I could!  It’s paradise!

Hugs,
Jenny