We Are Radar Free!!

That’s right! Our pup is no longer running around with a satellite dish around her head! We got the ok to take the crazy hood off at her vet visit yesterday. She also had all of her stitches taken out, and the Doctor was very impressed with how well she was recovering. Every time we are there they tell us how impressed they are that she has recovered so well, and so quickly! Now it’s just a matter of getting her to her grooming appointment tomorrow morning. She was originally scheduled for her regular appointment the weekend after her original accident over a month ago, so you can only imagine how long and matted her hair is now! She is a downright mess! I will post pictures tomorrow of her makeover, it should be amusing since I am sure she will have to be shaved pretty short!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!

Don't let her fool you! Even though she looks slightly miserable, she is really just waiting for a treat! Normally she does very well with photo shoots, but it must be her satellite dish that makes her a little less interested in the camera these days.

But regardless, HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MUMMY!! I am feeling a little sad today, I think this is the first time I was not about to spend the day with her or at least see her around the time of her big day. But Mum, you are in our thoughts today and Bella can't wait to come see Gemma at her new house next month!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

In other news, I am enjoying a weekend off! We went and saw the new Batman movie, Dark Night, yesterday. Brian has been itching to go, even refusing to watch the previews when they came on tv since he wanted to be completely suprised. I have to admit though, I think I enjoyed it just as much as he did! We highly reccomend everyone go see it!! I also got lucky enough to have tomorrow off so I will get to go with Brian and Bella to have her stitches taken out. Then I am planning on going out to visit my friend Kristy and her new daughter Olivia at their new home, followed by my normal Monday night class. So it will be a busy day but I have had some time to relax already before starting my week back to work on Tuesday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week, I will update tomorrow after Bella's vet visit. We are hoping today will be the last day with Bella as a satellite dish!!

Pics from Brian!

So, I know katie has been the only person blogging on "our blog", and she will be the first to tell you it is all my fault! So I decided to upload some pictures as my first "official post." Enjoy!

Katie and I at Barry & Amber's wedding in NY


From left to right:
Me, Nick, Katie, Jon


This was when Bella was not doing so good. Very sad



Bella hates her radar dish, but she makes the most of it!


Katie having no-hood cuddle time


Katie's birthday present from her parents. A great gift indeed! I love these chairs




I apologize for poor picture quality as most of these were taken with the blackberry.

A Quick Congrats!!

It’s official! My parents are no longer homeless!! Yesterday was a huge day for them, all of their stuff finally came at the crack of dawn to their BEAUTIFUL new home! I am so happy for them and can’t wait to go visit!!
So CONGRATULATIONS Mum and Dad!! Hopefully we will be up in August to see the new house for ourselves!



Scituate, MA

Our gal is HOME!!

She’s HOME!!! We are so excited that Bella is finally home with us and her tail is back to wagging!! She does have to wear a big cone around her head that makes her look slightly like a satellite dish, causing Brian, Nick, and Jon to call her “Radar”, but I would much rather her be here being called names then still be at the vet!! The incision from the final surgery runs from about the middle of her belly halfway up her side towards her spine. Its pretty gross looking but the stitches will come out either this Thursday or next depending on how well it is healing. But like I said she is in pretty good spirits. I think it has been a small blessing that Nick and Jon have been here, their constant showering of attention on her has really helped get her back to acting normal.

Please excuse the short post that is lacking on details. I just wanted to update on the little one before I fall into bed! These boys keep me up way too late!! Goodnight everyone, have a wonderful week!!

An Overdue Update

I know it has been a while for an update but things have been crazy around here! When I last wrote we were expecting Bella to be home from the vet within a few days, but unfortunately that did not happen. Last Friday while I was at work, Brian received a pretty frantic call from the vet informing him that our gal needed to be picked up and taken to an emergency vet clinic. The place they wanted her to go specialize in surgery as well as being an emergency clinic, and they have a 24 hour intensive care unit with surgeons on the premises at all times. Bella was not improving the way anyone had hoped, so after they watched her overnight at the new clinic, they decided on surgery first thing Saturday morning. She had procedures on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday mornings. We got to visit with her every day for a bit, and even bring her home for a “sleep over” Monday and Tuesday nights. A nice treat for us, especially since Tuesday was my birthday and it just would not have been the same without her! She did go back in Wednesday, bright and early to have her final (FINGERS CROSSED!) surgery to have her wounds closed. They did not have to do full skin grafts like they originally thought, but they did have to take small pieces from her belly to close the larger areas. All went well and even though they expected her to be with them until Friday at the earliest, the surgeon said she was doing so well this afternoon they think we will be able to pick her up Thursday evening!

Through this whole ordeal we have really realized how truly blessed we are. Our family and friends have been so supportive. Brian’s friends (and future groomsmen), Nick and Jon are both staying with us for a few days, and even though they came in for a full on relaxed boys trip, they have both taken quite a bit of time to cuddle and love on our little girl while she was home. She continues to prove to us that she is a little fighter, and no matter what happens from here, she is doing everything she can to get back to normal. Even if that means lying on the couch when she really wants to play (and we all know what a feat that is for her)! I can’t thank everyone enough for the constant phone calls, text messages, and emails to check on her and see how we are doing!

On a lighter note, between trips back and forth to the new vet office, we did have the chance to celebrate my 24th birthday! Yes, I am 24 now, even if my dad didn’t believe it and had to do the math in his head to prove I was right! Nick and Jon are two of Brian’s good friends from New York, who both just got back from overseas on their second and third deployments with the Army, and Air Force. Since they both got in on my birthday we went out for a bit to celebrate their trip and my big day. Shannon even made a rare trip out to the west end and Luke joined us for a night at the bar that is a block away from our apartment. It worked out well, because Bella was home, so Brian was able to go check on her even though she was celebrating by passing out on the couch for the night. The whole couch to herself was definitely something to celebrate!

After a few days off work, I am back tomorrow, but get a short day for the fourth. I will update again when we get more news from the vet, hopefully the next post will be all about Baby Bella’s successful homecoming!!

a long day!

Just wanted to throw out a quick blog before I head to bed after an exhausting day!

First, we went to visit Bella at the vet for a bit today, and boy what a difference a day makes! She seems to be in much better spirits, I even got my toes licked, so the old Bella might just be in there after all! Although her personality might be better, her wounds are turning out to be much worse. When they went in for the surgery originally, they planned on going in on the left side only, on the worst wound. She literally has holes where the other dog’s teeth went in, and one was visibly worse than the others. It was constantly seeping and bleeding (a blast to clean let me tell you), so they were going to go in and literally scrape out anything that could be now, or could become later, infected. Turns out the “pocket”, as they call it, was much larger than they thought it would be, so the incision is probably about 3½ inches long. And on the hip of a little gal like her, that’s pretty big! They then realized a mark the other side, which we originally thought wouldn’t be too big of a problem, had developed a pocket of its own. So they went in, and she has another incision about half the size on that side as well. Both have draining tubes, so the vet thought it would be best for her to stay overnight again tonight to keep her comfortable and let them watch for any new issues. Fingers crossed that this will be the last surprise and the road to recovery can finally begin! The next step is to get her well enough to come home finally, it's just too quiet around here without her!

After our visit we had to run home and get ready for our engagement photo shoot! Even though with everything going on we had thought about postponing, it was nice to have something fun to look forward to. I managed to drive Brian crazy nuts stressing over what we were wearing, but the big issue turned out to be the weather! We spent the last few weeks hoping for no rain, but it just never occurred to me that we should have been worried about temperatures of 100+ degrees! We made it through, even though I seriously felt like I was going to pass out for the heat for a moment, all we can do now is hope they come out looking good, and we don’t look like big grease balls!

Thank you again for everyone’s love and support! And a HUGE thank you to Rachel’s mom and dad, Mr. & Mrs. Erwin, for the care package for Bella! I’m sure she will be super excited to play with the new toys as soon as she gets home and feeling better!