So long my dear sweet boy

So sad and so hard to write about my little sweet boy, Theo. He was hit by a car on Friday night. He spent the night at the animal ER but on Saturday morning I made the hard decision to euthanize him. Brynn and I went together early in the morning and said our goodbyes to him and I held him as he took his last breaths. One of the hardest moments in my life. Nothing compared to rubbing my grandmother's feet as she took her last breaths almost 12 years ago but none the less a tough day. I am struggling with why I didn't put him on a leash but know it was an accident. Time will help me heal. He was buried next to his friend Anna. I must track a picture of the two of them down to post.

I spent Saturday struggling through tears and missing him being with me while I took my thousands of steps around the house. His cleaning up after the kids, his licking the shower walls, his laying at on my ottoman next to my feet, his pawing at my hand to be pet. The list goes on and on. I decided to start thinking about our next Papillon and looking at rescue sites. Most older Paps aren't as good with children, especially if they haven't been raised with kids. Well we are a house of kids and Theo was so good with them. So I started looking at breeders in Florida. I came across http://www.deannasragdolls.com/ and found a lady who breeds Ragdoll cats and Papillon dogs. One of her female Paps is named Cameo. Well, I have an old cat who is named Cameo. She looks to be at least part Ragdoll. And this lady has a male Ragdoll named Romeo, the name of my other cat. Her male Pap looks like my Theo. I decide this must be fate so I email Deanna. For those of you who don't know, I truly believe God gives us signs that we are making the right decisions. He was once again slapping me in the face. Deanna almost immediately emailed me back, Cameo is due in 6 weeks and her pups will be ready in about 14 weeks to go home. Perfect timing as that will be right after our summer vacations come to an end and we will be able to be home with a new puppy for sometime.

Now we have time to grieve our Theo and at the same time I have something to look forward to. It will not be a replacement of our beloved Teedoe (as Oliver calls him) but a new member of our family for us all to love and cherish. Thinking about a female this time around. Rest in peace Theo!!!

She is still here

Miss J is still with us. She is adjusting well and seems to be fitting in pretty nicely. Still lots of ups and downs but pretty darn good for a kid that has been through so much in three short years of life. Oliver likes her and they are learning how to get along. The play together endlessly and seem to be fighting less each day. I have been working hard today on getting her doctor, dentist and speech appointments. All things that should have been done in the 5 months she has been in foster care. Very sad that it didn't happen that way but I won't let grass grow under her feet any longer! Matson is a free man. He saw the craniofacial doctor on the 30th of March and looks wonderful. He has 8 more weeks of physical therapy and then hopefully we can move on to bigger and better stuff. He will be 10 months old tomorrow. So hard to believe!!! Oliver has his 4th birthday coming up. We were at my mom's last weekend so we did a little early celebrating with them. He got a Thomas cake and two floor puzzles. Oh how he loves puzzles. Not sure what I am doing for his birthday. Maybe I should work on it. Brynn is learning the not so wonderful realities of being an adult and living on your own. Work, work and school.....But, overall she seems happier. She has started stopping by more to see her brothers and I enjoy it too. Stephanie is counting down the days in the semester and really working hard on her grades this semester. Hard to believe she will be a senior in the fall.....She has also been working more than she would like but knows to take it and run. Michelle is working and working more. And, sadly it sounds like she may be leaving the sunshine state in August to follow her boyfriend to Brooklyn, NY where he is going to be doing his residency in orthopaedics. I hate to think about it but so want her to experience all this world has to offer. Love my kids more than I think they really know!