Merry Christmas

We had a nice Christmas here in Phoenix. We started the weekend with Max’s Christmas school party. Max was pretty excited that daddy could make it this year.

Max’s friends were in the Charlie Brown’s Christmas play on Sunday, so we all went.it was a fun play and Briggs and Stella did a great job. Following the play we all went to dinner. 

On Christmas Eve we went to see Bumblebee in the movie theater before our steak and crab dinner at home. It was a nice and quiet evening.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun with Max. He was so excited to see what Santa brought him and he was happy that he got what he asked for: a remote control helicopter and airplane. Santa also brought him a bean bag chair.

Following our Christmas breakfast we headed to the airport to continue our holiday in WI.

Cookie

It was the month that Cookie the elf hung around. He made his appearance after Thanksgiving and came every night after a visit back to the North Pole. Max woke up every morning excited to find Cookie in the house and get a glimpse of what he was up to all night. It was so fun to see his excitement every morning. Here are some of Cookies shenanigans this holiday season.

RIP Izzy

This post is hard to write. Izzy was a really good dog. She was always there...literally always at your feet or sitting on your lap. She was MY dog...even though Max would argue that Izzy was his dog. I still remember the day I picked her out at the breeder and brought her home. There are so many good stories of Izzy. I seriously could go on and on about how sweet and awesome she was. That's why it's so hard to write my goodbye to her. It was definitely a hard decision to make, but it was also the right decision and an unselfish one. We made the decision to put Izzy down on Tuesday because she has been in a lot of pain for the past 6 months. We had plenty of vet visits and different medications to try. We tried all of them and even went the route of CBD oil. The CDB oil actually helped and gave her 2 months of being pain free until that couldn't help her anymore. The vet believes she had a tumor in her spine. This caused her much pain in her back and any sudden movements made her cry out loud. It got to the point of anytime she would get up she would cry really loud and she even had tears. That's when we knew it was time to let her go and be free of pain in doggie heaven.



This was definitely a hard decision. Were we making it at the right time? Did we do everything we could? These questions, and more, is what went through my head. We spent a lot of time this past weekend giving Izzy lots of hugs and love. Andy even slept with her on the floor a couple nights. Tuesday came quick and we had someone come to the house to do it since it would be the most comfortable for Izzy. By the way, I would highly recommend this approach because it was the most comfortable for everyone. Plus, Madison was home and was able to see that Izzy has passed away. That way she's not looking for her and wondering where she is.


The lady that came to the house is a saint. I don't know how she does this for a living. I can't imagine that being my job. She's good at her job though. The whole process took 30 minutes and I will never forget that 30 minutes. It's kind of burned in my brain now.


After all was said and done we cried and then Andy went to pick Max up at school. Max said his goodbye in the morning and we didn't think it would be appropriate for him to be home during the process. We have read a couple books to Max that grandma L has sent us. It helped explain cat/dog heaven to Max and he asked questions. He's pretty sad about it though; however, he's already talking about the next puppy. I think that's his way of dealing with his grief. We will get another dog eventually, just not for a while. Andy and I are pretty sad over the loss of Izzy and we are not ready to get another dog. Izzy is just a dog that you can't replace.


Now that Izzy is gone it's pretty empty in our house. We don't have Captain or Izzy. You don't realize the impact an animal has on your life until they are gone. I am definitely guilty of taking Izzy for granted. I was just always used to having her around. I never thought about her not being there. Now that she is gone there is just a huge void in the house. It's pretty quiet...way too quiet. Madison is still hanging in there. She's 11 years old, so she's pretty old for a big dog, but the vet said she's healthy and we will have her for another year or so unless something unforeseen happens.

Rest in Peace Izzy! You truly are a one-of-a-kind dog!

Weekend Update

Max asked to make Christmas cookies this weekend so I picked up the ingredients to make the Dove cookies and the peanut butter balls. He was completely all in for the Dove cookies, but he was done making cookies once that was over. That left me to make the peanut butter balls all by myself.






We played catch down the hallway. Max was using Uncle Ryan's baseball glove from when he was a little boy. Max thought that was pretty cool. I asked if he wanted to send a video to Uncle Ryan and he was too shy. Maybe next time.


On Sunday we went to watch the Packer/Bear game at our friend's house. We were all having a good time until someone got hurt. That someone was Max. He fell off the trampoline and smacked his head on the cement. Andy went outside to get him and he was just laying there. Once he was brought in and noticed that Max was out of it we left and took him to the closest hospital. He was completely out of it. His eyes were rolling back, he was mumbling and didn't really know what was going on. It was scary and heartbreaking. Due to his behavior the hospital rushed him back and straight to a CT Scan. Everything came out normal, but they wanted to keep him there for a few hours for observation.


It took about an hour for Max to come back to normal and the doctor gave him a popsicle. Here is one happy boy and his $200 (probably is what the popsicle will cost us) popsicle.




























Max got his first concussion. We kept him home from school the next day and we took him to see his pediatrician. He was looking good, but we were warned to still keep an eye on him for 3 days to make sure there are no other danger signs that could pop up. I guess that happens with concussions. You aren't out of the clear for a few days.

Weekend Update

This past weekend kicked off with some good times at my company holiday party. What a fun night with friends. Plus, I won an Xbox and a $500 gift card to Southwest. The gift card will definitely come in handy next year.

Max and I were still dealing with our colds so it was kind of a low key weekend, but we did do one project together. We made a Rudolf ornament for the tree.


Unfortunately we ended the weekend by putting Captain down. He's been with us for more than 14 years and he was an awesome cat. He was like no other cat. When he was younger we used to play fetch with him. We would throw his ball and he would go get it and bring it back and we would do this for hours. He would also beg for food at the dinner table even though we never gave him any...unless it was salmon. He was quite the cat, but it was his time to go. He had severe kidney failure and started to pee in the house. We tried prescription food for two weeks and that seemed to help for about a week, but then he went back down hill. The vet said there was nothing she could do. Andy took Captain to the vet late on Sunday because it was not something I could do. I stayed home with Max and comforted him. I held him as he cried and tried to explain cat heaven to him. He said Captain is up in heaven playing with Shadow (grandma V's dog that recently passed away). Max actually woke up this morning and said "I wonder what Captain's doing in heaven?" It was hard to put the cat down, but it was even harder seeing Max upset about it since he doesn't completely understand. I feel like we did the best we could to explain it to him. Rest in Peace Captain! You were a pretty awesome cat and will be missed by the whole family.

Christmas Program

Max had his Christmas program earlier this week and he was so excited for it. He had been singing his songs around the house for at least the past week. Max said "I am excited for my performance". We were excited too. It was super cute just like last year to see all the little kids up on stage singing their Christmas songs that they have been working so hard on. Max said his favorite was Jingle Bells because he got to actually shake the bells throughout the song.












I did get video, but I am not able to post here.

The school also had hot chocolate, cookies and Santa after the program. Max has voiced to us that he does not want to see Santa this year. He says it makes him too nervous. I am very proud of him for letting us know instead of keeping it in and have his anxiety take over. So, we are not seeing Santa this year and I definitely did not make his see Santa after the program. Instead, Max wrote Santa a letter letting him know what he wants for Christmas and we mailed it to him. His school has a Santa mail drop where all the letters will be sent straight to the north pole, so Max opted for this instead of telling Santa in person what he wants. I almost forgot to put a stamp on the envelope, but good thing Max reminded me.