Six months ago today, on a day MUCH nicer than this, two precious gifts came into my life...you and our little Bailey Glory! Alex and I are so grateful for you both!
The last two months have been CRAZY! Thanksgiving seemed too early to put up my decorations this year, so I waited for the following weekend...which actually turned into the entire following week. Even with only putting one tree and half my decorations out it still seemed to take forever when I was trying to do it after work and around making dinner and caring for the kids. I wish I'd put both trees up, though, because a) 285 ornaments is slightly overwhelming on one 7.5' tree and b) she could have cared less about the ornaments ON the tree. Her fascination was confined to the things under it. I have a collection of old (now dried-out) snowglobes that go under there along with my Willow Tree Nativity. She showed a particular fondness for the little white lamb, which gratefully emerged unscathed. She was also very helpful when it came to wrapping gifts.
Before I knew it, the 18th had arrived and Bailey and I were off to Albany. For the last six or seven years, I've been going to my Mom and Dad's the week before Christmas to help them get their house ready for the holidays. With a big Colonial, there's so much more space to decorate than my large apartment and I absolutely love it! My favorite things are the decorations she made when we were babies...an Advent calendar from Leewards, a garland for the mantle and some bells that used to hang above it, but have now been moved to the den to make room for her North Pole Village from Dept 56. I want to continue this tradition and while I've been cross-stitching for over 20 years now, I started a felt Advent calendar from Bucilla shortly before Thanksgiving that I'm having so much fun making I lost my ever-loving mind and ordered a ton of additional kits! I bought some ornament kits, thinking I'd attach one to each of my gifts this year, some tree skirts for me and various family members and some wall hangings. Bucilla and I are going to be BFFS in 2013! Anyway, since Bailey's so young yet and Alex's schedule at the restaurant is so unpredictable, she tagged along with me this year. I found a great daycare for her six minutes from their house that had web cams so I could check up on her whenever I wanted. She had a great time and Mom and I were able to get a ton of stuff done while she was gone. As an added bonus...I think...she came home so tired we were able to continue working long into the night. And she could not have been better behaved! She had Grandpa wrapped around her little paw in the first 24 hours and I found the two of them snoozing on the leather sofa together on more than one occasion. He's missed having a dog around the house and is so glad he has five beautiful Grand-dogs to love and spoil. It wasn't until he set up the Thomas the Train trainset under the tree for the grandkids that he fell out of favor. She eventually got over her fear, though, and all was forgiven. I love this week at home and look forward to it all year, but it is a mixed blessing because it's also the hardest one to say good-bye at the end of. When I breeze in and out of town in 36 hours and don't get the chance to settle in, it is so much easier to leave, but when I've actually unpacked and put clothes in a drawer, it's next to impossible. I'm sure your kids would say the same.
At nearly eight months old, she is maturing incredibly quickly and is so very smart! Alex says she's a little TOO smart some days. Her favorite game to play is fetch and her favorite "prize" is Alex's soap, for some very strange reason I can't figure out. She jumped in the shower with him once in an attempt to snatch it away. As none of my prior dogs have ever gone near water voluntarily, I didn't believe him until one morning I was rinsing the shampoo out of my hair and when I opened my eyes and looked down, there she was staring up at me. I didn't even hear her come in and I admit, I jumped when I saw her there. It was like that Post Office commercial they show after the holidays with the creepy toy they want to return that's across the room then right in front of the door...Now she waits until we're asleep and goes and grabs it. I always put it up, but Alex takes his showers at night and is so tired by that point he forgets. I'm going to have to remember to pick up one of those suction cup soap trays the next time I go shopping. She doesn't eat the soap-she shreds the box and then likes to lay with the bar next to her. It must be his scent.
I'm afraid our news isn't all good. We had Chica's teeth cleaned on the 11th and while she was under, I asked the vet to take a look at what I thought was a callous or sore on the side of one of her toes on her left front paw. The cell aspiration came back positive for a mast cell tumor. He's referred us to a surgeon in the hopes that he can remove it without having to amputate her toe. They like to take a large area around the tumor to make sure they get all the cells and there isn't much to take in that area of the body. We see Dr. Van Ee on the 30th. This particular tumor attacks the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, and bone marrow if it's metastasized. Unfortunately, there's no real way of knowing that until it's removed and biopsied. At almost 11, I wish there was a way to know as I wouldn't put her through such a traumatic surgery as this if it wouldn't do her any real good. However, Dr. DiMayo assured me that over 90% of the ones he sees are Grade 1 or 2 and if they get a clear line, they almost never come back. So, prayers for my little girl in the coming weeks would be much appreciated as we await her prognosis. If it is a Grade 1 or 2, we just have to watch her. As long as it doesn't come back and new ones don't form in the 30 weeks following surgery, she will be considered cancer-free.
I hope you, Mike and your family had a wonderful Christmas and that all is well with David. We found out over the holiday that my brother will be deploying in October with his National Guard unit. It will be difficult as his daughter will be 5 then and very aware of the fact that her Daddy's gone, while Keegan, who will be 2 1/2, will handle it much better once he's back into a routine, I think.
Love,
Sarah & Bailey Glory
