The Happiest Place on Earth

Wednesday night I flew into Orlando to meet my parents, my sister and the kids for a vacation.  (My brother actually flew in today.)  It will be a quick trip, no doubt, but it will be so good.  It has been almost a year since I have been able to hug and kiss those kidos...way too long.  Plus it is good to have my sister's company.  She has always been a stability in my life and not having her around these past few years has been an adjustment.  Thank God for Levi.  While he can't replace my sister he is my best friend and takes care of me just as my sister always has. 

It is so amazing how fast the time goes.  Arianna has grown into such a little girl, with a fun personality and a little bit of diva attitude.  I just love her so much.  Antonio has gotten so big and in fact is almost as tall as Arianna even though he is two years younger.  He is such a little love bug and loves to play.  Here are a couple pics from the past few days.  I miss my husband like crazy, but having this time with my family truly does make this the happiest place on earth. ;)

The Price of Victory

Last night was the second night of a two-night tournament for my women's volleyball league.  (We won on the first night and advanced to the second round last night.)  Last night we won the first of our matches (VB is played in matches with the best 2 out 3 games) which advanced us to the championship match.  All the ladies on my team were awesome - diving, falling and just plain hustling around the court so that in the end we won!

This morning I woke up to an injury.  Somehow during one or both of the matches I did something to my knee.  It was a crazy pain I have never felt before...what a nice reminder that I am no longer 18 and invincible.  I can walk with a slight limp but bending my knee is not something that is getting done today.  What a bummer.  I am hoping that it is just a strained tendon :| Levi and I are both a little nervous that I could have torn something.  If that's the case this will put my VB days away, for a little while at least.  It was worth it! :D Those games were so much fun and the team we played in the championship match was a group of younglings.  They were easily 18-20 year olds that did not give up or quite.  It was a great win and my injury is simply the price of victory!  I'd do it again in a heartbeat. ;)


A quick update...
I know some of you have been wondering about our Champers and I am so sorry that I have neglected to update you.  He is doing so much better and in fact is back to his old self.  He jumps like crazy when he thinks that we are forgetting him, his tail goes a million miles a minute when he sees Levi and he is very quick to let us know when he is hungry - which is always.  The whole ordeal with him being sick was so hard because he is our "kid" and we could not imagine our family as complete without him.  Thank you all for your loving words and your prayers. 

Let's Get Physical

Oh My Goodness!  This is the best thing to start your week and it will tickle your funny bone. 

While Levi and I were at his parents' house this past weekend, Ron gave him an old Iron Man magazine that talks about fitness and the body building competitions of the time.  This is easily from the 1960's, maybe even earlier.  (I can't find a date.)  Anyway, the advertisements and articles are so funny because the information is outdated and we know now that this information is no longer relevant or better things/ideas have come along.  Thank God, could you imagine everyone walking around with these shoes?  "I'm just getting my workout in for the day."  LOL!  I thought I would post a picture of one of the ads...too funny!

1. These are weighted shoes.                                                  

2. These are exercises for those shoes. Check out the bottom two where he is actually holding the shoes and doing upper body with them as weights.  They're versatile shoes! 

I hope you are getting as big a kick out of this as I did. :D

1.

2.

Poor Champ...Again

What a rough couple of weeks. Champ really is a fitting name for our boy because he has been such a trooper. Monday night I came home from my volleyball game to find our Champers lethargic, unresponsive (compared to his normal giddiness), and down right sad. It was late, he was not interested in eating - which anyone who knows Champ knows that is highly suspicious - and to say the least I broke down. I have never seen our pup act this way. It scared me. To top it off, Levi went to workout - unbeknownst to me - and I was freaking out: something was terribly wrong with our dog and at 9:30 at night Levi could not be found.

Champ's behavior improved Tuesday only to take a dramatic and horrible turn for the worse yesterday. He wouldn't eat, was throwing up blood and let's just say that wasn't the only end blood was coming out of. Levi and I did not sleep last night. Every two hours we were up with Champ taking him outside so he could vacate what ever was left in him. We got up this morning and took him in to the vet right away...

Here's the current theory.
After checking a stool sample they said it is a bacterial infection. Champ was on antibiotics after his surgery earlier this month. The vet said that sometimes when you put them on these meds their natural bacteria - the good bacteria - is wiped out and thus allows the bad bacterial to set up shop. Needless to say Champ is back on medications. He is on a special food diet that should settle his tummy to allow him to eat.

Man, I cannot imagine the worry, the angst, the helplessness those of you out there that are parents feel when your little ones are sick. I know Champy is a dog and will not have the lifespan that humans do, but I cannot imagine our life without him. He is our little buddy, he is Aspen's foe (really they love to play with/tease one another) and Butch's best friend.

We are praying that these meds work for Champ and he can be back to his goofy, fun loving self soon.

Poor Champ

Last week we took Champ into the vet for surgery. He had a fatty tumor that was nothing serious but did continue to grow. The vet told us that we didn't have to get it removed but it was a good idea since it kept getting bigger...so we had it removed. The tumor was in his belly and if dogs had belly buttons they made an incision from his navel to pelvis with an incision that was a good five-inches long. :( Poor buddy. When we got him home he was still groggy from the meds and could barely move from what we could only assume was the pain. On top of that they had to pull two of his small incisors from the top of his mouth. (Champ grinds his teeth and had ground down those two teeth until they were cracked in the root with the chance of further cracking and infection.)

Ugh! What a stressful week. We have to continue to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't pull out the stitches and when we can't be with him to actually monitor this, yes he does have his lamp shade. Poor Champ has had to wear the lamp shade twice within a matter of a year and a half.

He has gotten pretty good about letting us put this on him. Although, Levi is the one who always has to put it on and I am the one always taking it off. I think it is fair to say I am Champs favorite right now. ;) Just kidding my love.

Good Practice

Two out of the last three nights, our Champers has been sick. He is fine all day but then at night he starts getting dry heaves before he ultimately throws up. He is such a trooper, though. Both of the nights he has been sick, he comes to get me up and then rushes to our back door to be let out knowing what is about to happen. The first night I thought he was antsy or someone was lurking around the house. Levi was out of town and it made me nervous that Champ was nervous. Finally, I realized he was sick and just needed out. Then last night, the same thing happened; he woke me up and made a run for the door. (Thankfully, we know that it is his treats that is causing this reaction and a quick fix at that - he doesn't get his treats anymore.)

It's funny. My sister and friends tell me that I should enjoy sleeping now because when Levi and I have kids there is no sleeping from the moment you get pregnant until the kids turn roughly 3 -5 years old. I would say with our kiddos we are getting good practice. Butch wakes me early every morning because he wants to go outside. Champ sleeps in later and if I acknowledge him before he is ready to get up he pretends he is still sleeping. (Seriously, he closes his eyes and won't turn his head toward me.) When I finally fall back to sleep, Champ decides he is ready to get up and wakes me to go outside. Aspen wakes me up if she is too cold, if she doesn't like the water in her bowl, if she needs the food in her bowl stirred, if her food level is below the appropriate level, and if she is feisty, there is no hope for sleep. On top of all that, with Champ being sick, as when any of the three are under the weather, I have been sleeping lighter. I think it is my maternal instinct kicking in listening in case he starts getting sick again. With all this activity I would say we will be in good shape once we start a family...or we will be worn out from these three, so much so, that we will need sleep instead of kids. :) Just kidding Marilyn. For now, there is no rest for us...although Levi always seems to wake up very well rested and chipper???

More to talk about

As if you couldn't get enough of me....

I have started a second blog called The Writer's Page. This blog will be dedicated to the evolution and refinement of my writing as a craft. Some of the entries that I have posted on this blog will be moved or copied to the new site, but you will also get a chance to read other pieces of my work. Those of you who have known me a long time will recognize some of these pieces as I will publish them publicly for the first time. Other pieces no one has ever seen and so they will be new to all of you. As I continue to hone my writing skills and create new stories or poems I will share those on my Writer's Page blog. Join me on my new blog and keep up to date with my career as an amature writer. ;)

The David Family Adventure blog will still be updated with the adventures of our family and the silly to serious events that make up the David's.