Sampson

June 1997-April 26, 2008

We had to put Sam down on Saturday.  We knew this day was coming because he was diagnosed with lymphoma earlier this month.  Due to his age (he was 11 years old)  we decided not to do aggressive  treatments.  We had elected to treat  him with steroids to buy some more time with him.  

"We" got Sampson right before we graduated from college.  We had gone to Petsmart where they were adopting dogs.  We both agreed we wanted a large dog.  I remember when we got Sam out of the cage to walk around the store he would just lay on his side, because he was terrified.  We found out he had been severely abused before adoption and it took years to see the effects of that wear off.  Sam lived with me and roommates the first year Matthew was in law school.  That first year we found out Sam liked to ingest huge portions of fabric, note I didn't say chew up-I mean injest.  He battled heart worms and many, many  trips to Waco.

Once we were in Waco he was our saving grace-lets just say we didn't live in the best neighborhood.  Sam was a huge softie but he was extremely protective and VERY intimidating.  There was a time in Waco when he kept getting out of our yard and instead of running away he just wanted to  lay in the driveway until we got home.  We also discovered in that house his insane fear of fireworks.  We had left him out in the yard one Fourth of July and when we got home we found him in the garage.  It took us a while to figure out how he had gotten in the garage, then Matthew discovered he had literally ripped the door in half to get in himself.    

Sampson was our baby before we had babies.  He adjusted very well to his 3 siblings.  He was very patient with the kids and very protective.  

I am so sad he is gone; Matthew and I are just heart broken.  My big old strong husband whose emotions are buried WAY below the surface ( no complaints  here  I prefer it that way) is so torn up.  I had decided when we found out about Sam's diagnosis I wanted to be the one to take him to the vet when the time came.  It was so sad watching Matthew say goodbye to him.  

It's not the same without him here, and unfortunately there are so many reminders of him.  I know some people will think he was just a dog, but he wasn't just a dog.  He was a huge part of our family.  He even had chores-clean Emmy's booster seat and the kitchen floor, and watch the kids in the backyard while playing.     

Selfishly, I had to blog about Sampson.  I needed to sit here at midnight and remember my extraordinary dog.  

Grocery shopping

Okay I have to blog about this.  On Monday night I asked Matthew if he could go to the store for me because I just didn't have time.  Now let me tell you Matthew isn't real keen on the grocery store, it's like a vortex to him.  He loses all sense when he goes in and he can't find ANYTHING.  

I emailed him a list, and I specifically wrote next to fruit (make sure to get enough for the whole week).  In our house fresh fruit is a hot commodity and we go through a lot of it.  I was sure this was a successful trip because he only called me two times while he was there.  No kidding, I normally received about 6 phone calls and I end up unpacking the most random stuff.  

So Matthew gets home with the groceries and I start helping him unload and I pull out 1 little rinky dinky plastic thing of blueberries.  I was like "what?  Emmy will eat one of these by herself for a snack.  Then I pull out the bag of oranges and I start laughing because there are only 4 oranges in it.  I had to point out to my husband that our family has grown and there are 4 people in this house who consume food on a daily basis.  I don't know why this cracks me up so much, but I know I will hear from friends who completely know what I'm talking about.

Complications

Okay, I spoke too soon about Emmy being fine after surgery.  Her temp spiked last night and she is complaining of pain in her head and it's very hard for her to lay down.  The on call physician called in some antibiotics, so hopefully they will start working and knock out the infection.  Say a little prayer for my sweet girl; specifically for pain relief.  

Update on Emmy

She did great today.  When she came out of surgery she was a little weepy and remained so until about an hour ago.  Her big brother did a great job of playing with her and cheering her up.  Of course now she is enjoying a huge bowl of popcorn.  Thanks for all the prayers, we appreciate it.

Emmy needs you now

Emmy is having her adenoids taken out on Thursday, so we need prayers for her surgery.  She had tubes put in when she was 9 months old, but they didn't want to do her adenoids because of her age at the time.  Well, her recurring sinus infections have warranted another surgery.  

Answered Prayers

Thank you prayer warriors; we received some awesome news tonight.  Peyton's allergy doctor called and said according to his blood test he does not have an allergy to tree nuts and as far as peanuts go, he is in the gray area.  So we are going to do a challenge in the doctors office in May.  That means I will go buy lots of nuts and they will make him eat them in the doctors office to see if he has a reaction.  

That is huge news!!!!  Thank you for all the prayers and emails, it meant a lot to me.  When we get close to the challenge I will let you know.

If you are wondering about the bandage on his head...he gave himself a HUGE rug burn while in time out.  He literally sat there for 5 minutes rubbing his head back and forth on the carpet.  It was actually funny, because while talking me to me afterwards it started registering that his head was hurting.  

Allergy Testing-prayers needed more than ever

I'm an awful blogger-I ask y'all for prayer and then I don't report back?  That has to break some kind of blogging rules.  Okay, several people have asked about Peyton's allergy testing, so I figured I needed to post about it.

We went and had the skin test done and he is positive to every nut, not just peanuts but every nut.  However, skin tests can have false positives so we had to do a blood test to confirm those results.  Well I finally took him in on Tuesday morning to have it done and can I say I just dreaded it?  Matthew usually takes him for his blood tests because he freaks out when I am there.  But this time Matthew couldn't bring him.  So after putting it off for 2 days I finally took him.  peyton did a great job, of course he cried and yelled from the pain BUT he kept his arm straight and they only had to stick him once so that is success.  Afterwards, he asked me "am i still brave even though I cried?"  Wasn't that sweet?  

So I really need y'all praying now-specifically that his blood results are lower than .35 for each nut.  I am so burdened by this right now and I pray that he is not allergic any longer.  I should hear on Monday and I promise to blog it immediately.  

Darn it

Yesterday as another teacher was escorting Peyton to my car I see his teacher inform the other that she needed to bring him to my car.  I immediately thought "this isn't good."  So she opens the door to let him in and she says she needs to come around to my side of the car because she has something to tell me.  Before I can censor myself I ask "is it bad?" and she smiles and says "well..."

So she makes her way around and she proceeds to tell me today that Peyton had to pay a coin for something (that's their punishment/reward system) and she heard him say "darn it" except it wasn't darn it-replace the rn with mn.  

Of course I couldn't get mad at him.  When I looked at him in the rear view mirror his eyes were as big as saucers and when I asked him if he knew that was a bad word he just shook his head.  It was quite funny.

Bridal Portraits

I know this is our "family" blog, but I had to post my recent bridal portraits. I had so much fun taking these, I could do bridal portraits all day. The bride just beams in these photos.

Happy Easter

Here are the Easter pictures I have available thus far. I have about 60 more to edit, so once I pick my faves out of those I will share with y'all.

Isn't this the most beautiful picture of Alli? Her eyes look amazing!

I'm buying a big one of this. She looks so angelic huh? Don't let this runt fool you. She was screaming 75% of the time while taking pics at the Arboretum. She helped confirm Mrs. April's decision to quit having babies.

This isn't a great picture but it captures Emmy's quirky side that rarely comes out.
Look at my little man. He is getting so big and handsome. I'm going to have to fight the girls off with a stick.
Look at her crinkled nose. This is a rare moment as well. It takes a lot to amuse Miss Alli.
This is the look of "get me out of here, my brother and sister are nuts" This was her expression while Peyton and Emmy went wild over their Easter baskets.
We had about 5 seconds before we left for church so why not try to get a family shot with Daddy. Emmy insisted on carrying her chips and rice crispie treat-thanks Mia.