Chloe

We just finished making a really hard decision. Well, I left it up to J.R. and he made the decision. We gave Chloe away.

A few weeks ago we had Ben's follow up allergist appointment. He's still allergic to milk, and of course now cashews, and now he is allergic to dogs. It stinks not only because we have a dog, but because I don't want him to grow up having to take medicine in order to go somewhere where there is a dog, or not go somewhere at all. J.R. and are I are both dog lovers and we want the kids to be dog lovers too.

We figured out the allergy because it seems Ben always has a cough. Chloe was at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a month. When we went down to visit and to bring Chloe back home, we noticed Ben's cough. I thought he just had a cold (we were out on the boat and there was wind), but we noticed he hadn't been coughing during the past month. Chloe stayed at Gma and Gpa's while we came home. We had the doctor check it out and, in fact he has the allergy.

The doctor said it's not a severe allergy. We could get rid of Chloe, we could let Ben cough, or
we could put Ben on Zerteck (sp?). Since there are other options, I did not want to put Ben on medication. We struggled internally with what we wanted to do. Should we let Ben cough? He's not bothered by it and it doesn't always seem that bad. We are looking for a new apartment, so maybe we'll just get something without carpeting, and we'll swiffer everyday. Finally, J.R. and talked about it last weekend. I ended up telling him since Chloe is really his dog, he can make the decision. He said he knew what he should do, but it's not what he wanted. He took a few days, and the decided that Chloe needed to stay at her Grandparents'.

He is incredibly sad. He's had Chloe for 7 years. I think it helps that she's staying in the family and we can go and visit anytime we want. I'm sad not only because I loved her too, but because she lived with four other families before J.R. took her and I promised her we'd never give her up - that we'd give her her final home. Gma and Gpa treat her like royalty. She goes for walks everyday and gets regular baths. We weren't able to do that for her anymore. We are blessed that Gma and Gpa are generous people and are willing to give her so much love and a great home.

Chloe isn't gone for good. We'll get to visit. We are still going to miss her terribly though.

Let it Snow!

I was at work for an hour today when I got the phone call to pick up Ben. He was burning up and had vomited all over day care's carpet. So I picked him up about an hour later, took him home, and took his temp. 98.6. No fever. He did feel a little warm though and he is catching a cold again. In fact, later on this evening, his eye was crusted shut. He's got some kind of goop going on. I'll have to call the Dr. tomorrow.

I feel really bad that we don't take Chloe to the park that much anymore, so when it started to snow this afternoon, I promised her I'd take her around 6:00, thinking there would be other dogs there. There wasn't, but wanted to get outside before the snow turned to sleet, then rain. I also need to admit, I really wanted to bundle Ben in his little snowsuit and take him out. We haven't had any real snow for him to use it. So, out the three of us went. We didn't stay out too long, because of Ben being sick, plus, the snow was changing to sleet. I did take these pictures though.

On another note, J.R. has begun classes again. He took an English writing class last spring, then took some time off to spend with the baby. Now he's taking a Business Presentations class - basically public speaking for business majors. I'm very excited for him. I think he'll do well. I'm proud of him too - it takes a lot to go back to school after so much time off and having so many responsibilities at home. Since I've been at La Salle for a while now, J.R. can take classes for free.

Peace.

Chloe

I haven't seen the director at daycare, so I haven't been able to say anything. J.R. picked Ben up yesterday and he said everyone was nice. His first impression of the place is that it's old. Yeah. It is a large old house turned into a daycare. It's not a new building built just for this purpose, so yeah, it's kinda old. It's ok though. Ben did ok yesterday. He cried a little in the morning, but did well in the afternoon and even took a nap. Hopefully, things are getting better. Food may have something to do with it. I think he should be drinking more than what we have been packing, so we are starting to pack more. Hopefully this helps.

Ben loves Chloe. We took her to the park the other night. Ben and I sat on a bench and I threw a stick for Chloe. Everytime Chloe would run back to us, Ben cracked up laughing it was so funny. I'd throw the stick, Chloe would get it and come back, Ben would laugh. Throw, return, laugh. It was really cute. He's really been noticing her around the house too. If he's upset and Chloe walks into the room, he'll immediately quiet down and smile at Chloe. He reaches out for her face - will grab her cheek/eye/nose. She's so good, that she just takes it. She'll look at me for help sometimes, or will walk away if she gets loose, but I'll call her back so he can do it again! - HA.