Happy Birthday Casey

May 1st is my sister's wedding anniversary - it's also Casey's birthday.  Casey is my now 8 year old dog. She's half black lab, half english pointer.  I got her when I was in College at A&M.  I saw an ad in the College Station paper and my friend Tyan drove out with me into the country to look at the puppies.  The directions I was given were kinda crazy, luckily Tyan was brave enough to go with me so I wouldn't be alone.  I specifically remember being told to turn at the "big row of mailboxes where there should also be a cow standing."

Amazingly, we found the place.  I specifically hadn't taken ANY money. . . I didn't want to buy on impulse.  Every puppy in that litter was absolutely adorable.  They were all solid black.  But the little runt stood out to Tyan and I.  I remember Tyan saying, "Shelby, you've GOT to have some money somewhere in this car?! We need to get that runt!!"  But we didn't, so we left and since it was already dark, I went back the next day and bought the runt.  

I can honestly say, that was the BEST money I've ever spent in my life. Casey got me through the rest of college, many boyfriend breakups, my first real job, and now all the way into marriage and a baby.  She is my best friend.  I realize this sounds totally crazy and weird to most people. Before James and I got married, Casey and I lived in a 3 bedroom duplex for 3 years, just the two of us.  If Casey needed a lung - and it were possible - I would give her one of mine.  I love her THAT much, and I guess I'm just THAT crazy.  She has been there in my darkest times as well as my happiest times.  So, since I'm big on birthdays, we always make hers special. 

And, following a tradition that my grandparents did for my sister and I, we always give the other dog an "unbirthday" present too :)  We are totally crazy for our dogs like that in this house!

Here's Casey - napping on our bed like a little old lady

Casey's present - a BIG scoop of ice cream from Sonic, canned food for dinner, and a stuffed Squirrel that squeaks - since she is ALWAYS watching squirrels from the living room windows

And here's Parker's "unbirthday" present - same things, except he has a big 'ole fat stuffed elephant that squeaks 

mmmm - EVERYONE likes a big blog of ice cream on their birthday! 

Casey 

Parker

Parker - enjoying BOTH stuffed animals.  Casey wasn't really interested in her squirrel until Parker tried to like it, THEN she was all over it

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Shopping Carts and High Chairs

These past couple of weeks have been some of the most exciting as far as Grayson Milestones go.  He has mastered sitting up, which means he can sit in a shopping cart! And he LOVES it - he can see so much more! 

Here is is all settled in. . . checking out his new ride

Here we are entering HEB - I think he likes it!

I found out this morning that probably the only down side of the shopping cart instead of his car seat is that if I have to use the restroom, I have to take him out, carry, and hold him while using the restroom. . . MUCH harder than just setting his car seat on the floor of the bathroom. (but that was a pretty nasty place to put a car seat)

Another milestone we have hit is being able to sit in a highchair at restaurants! This one is just plain fun. :) Here we are at Seoul Garden on Saturday after James finished his Week Two Crossfit workout at Bayou City Crossfit.  We only gave Grayson the chopsticks for this picture. . . then we replaced them with a much safer spoon.

Ready for some Bulgogi!!

Lastly, here's a little video of Grayson and Parker (our chocolate lab).  I can already tell they are going to be best buddies! Just in case you notice, Parker STILL has a bald spot on the top of his back from when he got shaved for his ACL surgery. .. we're having a tough time getting his soft curls back right there!

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Baby Buffalo

Parker has many nicknames in our house.  One of the most used is "baby buffalo."  That's because when he was younger we noticed that he just kinda barreled around like a buffalo.  If you called him over from across the room he would run at you full force - full of excitement - until he hit you.  If he were going after a frisbee, he would go right through bushes and shrubs like they weren't even there.  So the name just stuck.

Tomorrow will be a week since Parker's ACL surgery.  This was him before we took him in for surgery.

And this is my poor sweet baby after the surgery.  He HATES the cone - but he has to wear it until the incision heals so he doesn't cause an infection by licking it.  He also hates being in his cage ALL day, but that too is necessary otherwise he would absolutely re-injure his leg before it's all healed up.  He's like a little kid that doesn't realize they have a broken bone.  So for at least 7 more weeks we have to put up with the pathetic faces and the crying.

He only comes out of the cage to potty, eat / drink, and to get the leg iced.

with his leg shaved you can really see the bruising.  He was really wiggly - so this is the most clear picture I have.

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Another Torn ACL

Over the Christmas break we took Parker (our 2.5 year old chocolate lab) in to the vet and found out that his right back leg has a torn ACL with meniscal damage.  This sounds all too familiar. . . . 

Callie and Andrew (my sis and brother in law) have 2 dogs with 3 torn ACL's between them.  (that's 3 doggie ACL surgeries they have done).  The crazy thing is that NONE of these 3 labs are even close to being related - totally different bloodlines, purchased from totally different parts of Texas.  

Then James has 2 torn ACL's and an MCL - all of which have been repaired by surgery.  So I guess Parker will be the new member of the ACL Surgery Club of our family.  Poor thing.  You can tell by the way he hobbles on 3 legs and just lays around that he is in a lot of pain.  But this coming Friday (the 7th) is his surgery day! I hope Parker will be as excited to get surgery as James was on his last operation . . 

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