The Tail of Barry

To continue the saga of Barry and his tail, we were heading in a great direction until we had to reboard the dogs at Oz Ranch for the move. Until we took them back there his tail was almost healed. However, while there, Barry wagged his tail so hard from excitement that his bandage was lost. As a result, his tail opened up again and we never could get it to heal up. We kept bandaging it at home but he kept chewing or flinging off the bandage. Finally, one day, I had left the dogs outside for a good amount of time. I was walking the boys around the side of the house to feed the ducks for the first time when I noticed Barry licking his tail heavily. He was by the fence and I could see a substantial amount of blood coming from the end. I immediately brought the boys back inside, changed my clothes, grabbed some rags and bandages to go out and inspect. Below is what I found:

In case you're wondering, the tip of his tail is completely missing. It was as if a finger had been cut off. I had to immediately apply pressure. Grant was my huge help. I couldn't leave Barry outside unattended so Grant had to get my phone for me, get me scissors and get me some other things I needed. I called Chad and told him what was going on. I told him he had to come home immediately to get this taken care of. With Chad on his way I turned to Siri to find a veterinarian. We drove Barry to a vet where they determined about 2-3 inches of his tail was infected and that at least some portion needed to be amputated. I told them I wanted a substantial amount gone so that it wouldn't happen again. After stitching him, however, they told us they couldn't do the surgery until the following week and wanted to just send him home with us until then. There was no way that was going to happen. They tried to tell us that the stitches would hold and it would be fine. Yeah right. Clearly, they don't get Barry. I had to immediately find another vet hospital that could take Barry right then and do the surgery as soon as possible. Luckily, I found a great place. We picked up Barry from the one vet and took him straight to the other. I had to pay the first vet $224 for stitches that didn't even hold long enough for me to get him out their door. Within the hour of waiting at the second vet the tail was wide open and the exam room walls were covered in Barry's blood because he was so worked up and wouldn't sit still and stop wagging. The vet was so nice though. She couldn't do the surgery until the next day but said we could leave Barry with them overnight at no charge because she knew we wouldn't want his blood all over everything. We agreed that almost all of the tail needed to come off. You can't take it all off or he'll lose control of his rectal muscles but I told her to take off as much as she could.
The surgery was just the beginning though. Barry came home with a cone of shame on that he wore for three solid weeks. He would just ram right into your legs and chairs and walls with the thing on without regard for the damage he was causing. We had to keep him sedated and on pain meds and antibiotics so that he wouldn't wag his tail too much and open the fresh wound. I had to take him for several bandage changes. At one point the vet tech told me that normally the vet would unbandage the tail but because it was Barry she felt it should stay bandaged and protected longer. Yes, that's the kind of dog he is and now he has a reputation. Finally, after several weeks the bandage was removed but the cone was not. They left the cone on so he couldn't lick the fresh wound. At that visit, I put Barry in the car before I checked out. When I got back into the car I discovered Barry had figured out a way to lick his tail with the cone on. I really just wanted to scream at that point.
Now, the tail is mostly healed, the hair is growing back and we are almost back to normal. He still doesn't stop wagging the stump though and just the other day he made the stump bleed by wacking it on the wall while we were trying to leash him. I swear he just wants to torture himself and us or he's so dumb he can't help it. Either way I feel like this nightmare of a tail will never truly end.
Here is the end result (and yes we know what it resembles):

Tyler turns 10 months

I feel like I don't even need to say anything about our little Tyler. The pictures above say it all. He is just so adorable. He is becoming so explorative and his personality is so sweet. He will be in the worst mood but the second I put that camera up he gives me the cutest smile you've ever seen. He will get his Band off soon. He still refuses to try to scoot, walk or crawl. He prefers to be held but will tolerate being put on the floor with his toys for brief periods. You just can't help but love that adorable face up there.

Hiking Red Mountain Trail

On March 3, 2012, we had good weather so we took a hike. David and Melissa were up visiting. We left Melissa at home to sleep for a few hours and David and Andrew came along. It was a great hike. The trail was very easy. It took us into the heart of an old volcano and then back out again. The total distance was only about three miles. We packed a lunch and ate when we got to the end of the trail. Most of the snow was melted but at the back end of the trail there was still quite a bit because of the amount of shade. Grant is really becoming a great hiker. Cole is still young and does a lot of whining. We are working on seasoning him. Chad bought a couple of packs of gum and kept giving the boys pieces when they wouldn't complain. Grant had a blast climbing up the slippery, rocky slopes of volcano rock. Cole kept trying but it was a bit hard for him. I tried to help him but with Tyler on my back it was hard for me to get us all up and down without injury. David and Andrew had a good time on the outing as well. Andrew was a happy baby in the Bjorn and as long as we kept moving. Tyler also didn't complain at all and even found a way to get a nap in. However, when we were packing up after lunch to head back out, Tyler may or may not have face planted in the ground while in the backpack because it wasn't on even ground. We knew that the hike was a success when the boys were filthy at the end of the hike.

We love Flagstaff!!!!

Flagstaff is amazing and wonderful and fun and a breath of fresh air. Grant really likes his school. Cole is in preschool and loves all "my friends" and "teacher." The boys are still Netflix addicts but we're working on that. We joined the Aquaplex, which has an indoor pool with waterslides, a fitness area and childcare, a climbing wall and a Sporties for Shorties class for Cole. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G
We have a lake in our backyard with ducks we can feed when it's not freezing cold, tornado windy or blizzarding outside. We have also seen some amazing wildlife just in our neighborhood. There were seven deer, including a fawn, grazing in the yard of the house on our corner one morning on our way to school. One evening at dinner time we had a bald eagle sitting still as a statue in the tree in our backyard. Just yesterday, a herd of 20-25 elk pranced into the meadow by our house, paused for a few seconds then pranced off into the woods.

We have also had amazing snow since moving here. Grant's already had one snow day. The kids love playing in the snow. I have learned how to dress Cole so that he can stay outside playing for more than two minutes before bursting into tears. He has to wear long underwear two additional shirts, a jacket and a coat. He has to wear soccer socks and regular socks over his long underwear and under his pants. On top of it all are his snow pants. Grant's new favorite snow activity is shoveling the driveway. You'll get no complaints from me on that activity.

When it's not freezing or too windy or snowing we get ourselves outside. Grant's school is just over a mile from our house so I have walked him to school and I've walked to pick him up from school. It's great exercise. The boys love playing outside.

Grant discovered the fun of sitting on the scooter and riding down the driveway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXyS8LLwLTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql

February 4, 2012 - Moving day

Moving day finally arrived. It was actually more of a moving weekend. The entire week leading up to moving day was spent madly packing and cleaning. The kids were shipped off more than once so I could get some work done. On Friday, Barry and Sooner were delivered to Oz Ranch, where they would stay until Sunday morning. On Saturday morning an unknown number of people from our ward came to help us load our 24 foot truck from Budget. We rented the biggest truck available and it was pretty much filled to the brim. Luckily, between the quantity of people and organization efforts the truck was packed in just under an hour. Shelli also came up from Phoenix that morning to take the boys to Phoenix until Tuesday. That was a blessing. It simplified so much having them gone. Once our truck was loaded, Chad and I spent a few more hours cleaning and packing up the last dregs of our junk. Melissa and Ava hung around to help us out. Finally, at 3 PM the time had come for us to begin the trek to Flagstaff, as people from our new ward were meeting us to unload the truck. The drive was relatively painless. Chad drove the moving truck and I followed behind in the Tahoe, containing the ever precious television and other random items. The truck went significantly faster than we anticipated and we actually made it to Flagstaff in just over 1-1/2 hours. We arrived ahead of our unloading help to find the cleaning lady and an intact bed frame that should have been disassembled prior to our arrival. She didn't have the necessary tool she said. After a quick trip to Home Depot and $6 later I did and Chad and I did exactly what we had made every effort not to have to do...we took some of our time to take apart the furniture that should have already been removed from the house. Why couldn't she have gone to Home Depot and purchased the tool, you ask? We asked the same thing to each other. Luckily, the hiccup was resolved before our help arrived. As on the Prescott end, the truck was emptied and then actually reloaded with the owner's house contents in less than an hour. Our help left and Chad and I were on to step 3 of the move...move owner belongings to property manager's grandmother's carriage house for storage. It was very dark by this time and we had no idea where we were going so we were at the mercy of the cleaning lady in our 24 foot moving truck. She led us straight down one of the most narrow pine tree lined "driveways" I have ever seen. Due to the exact perfect placement of the house, carriage house and surrouding pine trees our gigantic truck got stuck. We managed to position it sufficiently to unload the contents but then we were left not knowing what to do to get our truck out. It took us over an hour to get it maneuvered. It was a nightmare. Chad couldn't see or feel the placement of the wheels. He couldn't see much of anything given how dark it was so I was left to shout commands over the loud, Diesel engine and the obnoxious "beep, beep, beep" when it was in reverse, including how much to turn his wheels. Chad was driving blind and I was his navigator. Not a fun situation. Add to that an idiot cleaning lady who was trying to help but only kept giving wrong directions. It was hard for Chad to trust my instructions and I was so nervous that one of my instructions was lead him crashing straight into a tree. We did take out some rather larger branches. Finally, we got the truck aligned properly on the path so that he could back straight out into a large open area and turn around. Until this event, our move had gone off without a hitch. Silly us for thinking a hitch wouldn't happen. By the time we got back to our new place we were beyond exhausted. Sadly, before we could go to bed we had to put our bed together. Of course, we could find all but one piece of the bed frame. To find the missing piece we had to go diving through everything stacked up in the garage and after probably 30 minutes we found it. Despite how tired we both were, neither of us slept hardly at all. In the morning though we did wake up to this view:

Sunday morning we hopped right back in our car to drive to Chino to get the dogs then to Prescott to finish cleaning, repairing and cleaning out the house. When I thought Saturday was exhausting it was only because I didn't know what Sunday had in store for us. We managed to finish up our work in enough time to catch the last half of the Super Bowl at the Henries. They fed us dinner to, which was so nice of them. Sunday night we drove back to Flagstaff to drop into bed and begin unpacking Monday. All of Monday I spent unpacking as much as I could. I wanted the kitchen and the boys' room set up before I brought them back.
Tuesday morning I headed to Phoenix to pick up the kids from Shelli, take Tyler to a Band adjustment appointment then drive to Tucson to work on our house down there. While all of our moving events were taking place, we were also in the process of getting new tenants in Tucson. They moved in early so the house wasn't really ready yet. We got to Tucson Tuesday night and stayed with Papa. Wednesday I spent a couple of hours with Papa at the house doing work while the boys were at Amy's house. Thursday or Friday we finally headed back to Flagstaff. This week had to have been one of the most exhausting weeks of my life.

Tyler turns nine months

Tyler turned 9 months on February 4, 2012. This was also moving day. Tyler went from being a little baby to more of a kid during this month. He became adept at sitting on his own. He cut some teeth. His funny personality with his belly laugh and his now toothy smile developed even more. He developed an interest in his toys. We spent a lot of time in the car in this month driving to appointments for his Band. His greatest entertainment and source of joy are still his brothers. He loves to just sit and watch them play and wrestle with each other. He doesn't get anymore excited than when Grant plays with him and spends time with him. He gets so excited he nearly jumps out of my arms.

  

 

The blur that was January 2012

January 2012 passed in a blur of cardboard, roadtrips, vet bills, cleaning and goodbyes. January was the month we prepared for our move to Flagstaff, tried to keep Barry's tail from being amputated, made multiple trips to Phoenix and said goodbye to all of our wonderful friends in Prescott. It was a busy and exhausting month with fuzzy details.

Tyler started his DocBand January 4 so I had to take him to Phoenix the next week for his first adjustment and every two weeks thereafter for his adjustment. We took a trip to Flagstaff to look for a house. We took an additional trip to Phoenix for Andrew's baby blessing.

While Barry was being boarded over Christmas he opened up the end of his tail. We tried and tried to get the tip to heal on our own but were not having any luck. We did not want to pay a vet to deal with this dumb tail problem he has. However, when Barry also developed a large bloody spot on his face from unknown causes the time had come to bite the bullet and take him in. The bloody spot is known as a hot spot. Apparently, our intelligent dog started scratching at something on his face that was no longer there but he couldn't bring himself to stop scratching so he scratched it raw. Barry had to be sedated so that his face could be shaved and cleaned. They also bandaged up his tail in what the vet was sure would be sufficient protection to keep it from opening again. Wrong. He wags his tail so hard he pulverized a hard plastic syringe casing three times. Barry had to wear a cone of shame for a couple of weeks to let his face heal and take antibiotics for infection. The tail was turning into a lost cause. I took him probably three times for checks and rebandaging because he kept destroying his bandages and bleeding all over the house we were trying to clean to move out of. It was a nightmare in case you hadn't figured that out with this description. We finally stopped taking him and took over bandaging ourselves. It was almost healed but then we had to take him back to the boarding place so that we could move. (To be continued...)

I don't know why Barry is in the car but he hopped over the backseat into Tyler's seat to clean out crumbs for us. I can guess that I was probaby taking him to the vet for another bandage change.

 In Grant's second to last week of school at Skyview, I decided that he should have one last giant play date at our house and invite his entire class to our home. He didn't know I made this plan but I showed up at the end of school and put a flyer in each child's folder. Luckily, only about seven or eight kids showed up that Friday but it was a great time. Grant and Cole both had so much fun playing with Grant's friends. It was a great way for him to say goodbye. Grant's last day of school at Skyview was sad for all of us. I loved that school for him. He was so close to all of his classmates. His teachers were phenomonal and he was learning so much. Miss Sonja brought cookies for the class to commemorate his last day. At the end of the day, all of his friends stayed around to say goodbye to Grant and take some pictures. It was a wonderful farewell for him.

It was hard to say goodbye to our friends, schools, church and activities but Flagstaff awaited. We had so much help getting us out of Prescott. Many of my friends came to help me clean and pack. Many more came to help us load our truck. Friends watched kids while I packed and cleaned. We were truly blessed with a wonderful network of people to love, support and help us in Prescott. We made amazing memories and our little family even grew by one in our fast paced 2-1/2 years in Prescott.

Second Annual Christmas Tree Burning

We have as much fun burning our tree when Christmas is over as we do picking it out and decorating it after Thanksgiving. It is evident when we do this what a fire hazard trees really are. They torch and flame up so fast. The boys do their best to throw the small branches into the fire but they are so afraid of the flame that more often than not the branches up just next to the fire, leaving it to mom or dad to move in and get it in the fire. The best part of burning the Christmas tree is roasting marshmallows and making S'mores once the tree is burned and the flame is down to a smolder.