Sure, I'd Love To

One of Judah's latest things is to say, "I don't have to" when I ask him to do something. They DO grow out of these phases don't they?! The other day, I asked him to do something and he said, "No, I don't have to" to me. I told him that it wasn't nice for him to say that and what I'd really love to hear him say instead was, "Sure, I'd love to." Of course I was half joking when I said that to him but, deep down, every mom wants to hear that kind of cooperative response from their child. So, on Sunday we were walking across the parking lot to church and I was fumbling with my Bible and trying to put something away in my purse while holding Judah's hand. When we got to the sidewalk, I asked Judah if he could please hold my Bible for me so I could zip my purse. He responded with a very sincere, "Sure, I'd love to." He has said it several times since then and it warms my heart every time. Not bad for a 2-year old little guy!

Baking "Kookies" With Grammy

Judah and Grammy baked some Halloween "kookies" (as Judah says) the other day to take to my parents' next door neighbors. He always wants to help his daddy cook breakfast so we may have a budding chef on our hands. :)

The Pumpkin Farm

Last Saturday Steve, Judah and I headed out to a farm/pumpkin patch about 20 minutes from my parents' house. It's located in Alpha, IL which is where my mom's parents used to live. I have some wonderful memories from my early childhood there. Anyway, we went out to search for some pumpkins to decorate and to let Judah experience some things from the farm. It was a beautiful crisp fall day and we all had a blast. We fed some animals in the petting zoo, found our way into and out of a corn maze, jumped in a bounce house, picked out some pumpkins and other "fall" things including some apple cider and pumpkin butter--YUM! We also rode on the Cow Train, which is this crazy contraption that looks like 10 cows all linked together and pulled by a Gator that is then driven through the pumpkin patch and woods by some lunatic with a crazy yellow wig. What a bumpy and fun trip that was! Judah wasn't really sure what to think of it at first but Mommy and Daddy were having so much fun that he eventually started to like it too. We rounded out the fun day with a stop at a local winery for some lunch. I love Fall in the midwest!

Biopsy Update on our Furry Girl

Praise the Lord, the biopsy on Cassidy's tumor was...not cancerous. She is recovering well but has been sportin' the cone once again due to some scratching. It's been quite sad (albeit humorous) watching her scrape her cone on the walls, catch it on everything, get stuck in small spaces, etc. but it will help her heal faster so it's for the best. We figure she MUST be feeling better because she's starting to "counter surf" again looking for food. Ahhhh, labs, they live and die by their stomachs! Gotta love 'em! :) Thanks for your prayers and concern.

Update on Cassidy

Well Cassidy is home and recovering nicely from her "tumor" removal surgery. We won't have the biopsy results for several more days to know whether it is malignant or not but she is feeling much better. She really hasn't been bothering with her sutures so we're not making her wear her elizabethan collar but we did put it on her for a few hours after she got home to be sure she wouldn't tear the stitches out. She cried and whined so much that we took it off and have just kept an eye on her. Steve did manage to snap a couple of pictures of her though...for the ol' scrapbook. :)

A Little Excitement With Our Furry "Child"

Friday evening, as we put Judah down for the night, we noticed that our yellow lab, Cassidy, was panting a lot and her stomach looked really bloated. Over the next couple of hours I kept a close eye on her and began to worry that it was something a bit more serious than a little "gas problem." I got online to read about bloating in dogs and quickly found out that bloat in dogs is pretty much lethal unless caught early enough. Basically, the stomach twists and blocks the entry and exit of food, water, gas, etc. So, after making a call to the emergency animal hospital, we loaded Cassidy into the Jeep and headed across the Mississippi to the vet. After a quick exam and some x-rays the vet came out to tell us that Cassidy had what they call "food bloat." Thankfully, food bloat is not lethal, just really uncomfortable. The x-rays showed us that Cassidy's stomach was 4-5 times its normal size due to an enormous amount of food! I guess she must have been feeling like most of us feel after Thanksgiving dinner! :) The vet gave Cassidy some medication that caused her to "expel" the contents of her stomach so that she would at least be more comfortable. We left the vet scratching our heads and wondering how in the world she could have ingested so much food since we give her controlled portions. After returning home to my parents house, Steve remembered that Cassidy had accidentally gotten left in the garage for a few minutes...where her tub of food is located. Suddenly, we had our answer. She had somehow managed to pop the lid of her food tub open and ate and ate and ate...
She probably would have kept eating if the tub had not been nearly empty when she began. Thank God for small miracles! Cassidy is doing fine but is scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning to remove a rapidly-growing growth on her face. I know she's "just a dog" but please pray that the growth would be benign and/or not have spread if it is malignant. Thanks for your prayers!

Giving God the Glory

As most of you know, we've been trying to get our Bloomington, IN house on the market for a couple of months now. However, as in most things in life, God's timing and plan was different than my own. Once our realtor got our house on the market (it is rented to IU students and we listed it as a residential investment property), it sold in less than a week! In this housing market, I truly believe that God's hand was involved in the quick sale of our house. The investor wanted a quick sale too so I'm sure we'll be closing on it in the next couple of weeks. God is so faithful!