The 5th Wheel

It arrived yesterday.  It's huge.  I haven't been in it yet.  Waiting for Mom to give me a tour.  Eric is all over it.  Furnace on, fireplace on plus a heater.  Dehumidifier in there today. Water system flushed this morning.  She'll be up and running in no time.  

Coco was a doll all night.  Good sleep and cuddles all night for everyone.  Phew.  Hoping normal chaotic life can resume.  

Now, big event today, Lili has to see a dental surgeon in Nanaimo today.  She's asked me to go with her.  I'm leaving our town today!!  Up early, showered, favorite shirt on, filled the car with gas.  Honestly you'd think this was a road trip.  She hooked me in with the lure of my salad at Montanas.  I've made it at home with Kai but it's not the same.  The pecans need to be spiced and their dressing is better.  I could never have imagined the day coming where a doctors appointment could elicit such excitement.  Just happy to get out at all.  Hoping we can sneak a stop at Lee's market for some Chinese New Year supplies.  

Update from today.

Gorgeous day.  Love Nanaimo.  Lili is set for wisdom teeth extraction.  All four are starting to erupt and will mess with her pretty new smile. 

We did some shopping then an early dinner out.  Montanas did not disappoint:)

In the mail today.  How cute are these moon cakes?!  So fun.

Lots of goodies, too fun getting ready for Chinese New Year.  

Rough Night

Little Miss is just not quite right.  Frantic. Fighting over the bed and couch.  The triggers aren't me or food.  Just the resting spots.  Combined with a sudden change in behavior it would seem she is still in pain or uncomfortable.  The vet declares her just fine. What a diva.  There wasn't much sleeping going on last night.  Eric finally took her in the living room at 2 am.  Today at work she is agreeable and doing great with Sasha but still wants to be held and doesn't sleep more than a couple minutes at a time. 

Thank gawd the kids are all in decent shape these days.  Haha.  Oh how I wish there was more interesting things to post about!  

Can sure see Coco's tattoo in this picture!! She got more ear drops this morning so her hair/fur is slicked down.  

Sasha is 2.

Happy Birthday Dearheart.  We simply adore you. She's loving getting cuddles from her FeiFei.

Coco updates.  It's been long haul here.  She was already a pretty big personality.  She has not done well behaviorally and after the pain drugs stopped she got way worse.  Her belly felt hot and she was looking swollen.  I made a vet appointment and took her today.  She is ok.  Everything looking good.  She did finally start eating last night and we've all seen her drinking water.  She is down to 3.8lbs from 4.4 in one week.  Poor muffin.  She has in desperation to get to me figured out how to get up into bed and is getting closer to figuring out getting down.  She is afraid of the puppy stairs.  All to say it's been a week and we're finally able to say it's getting better.  She is a LOT of dog in a little package.  

In other news Mom bought a trailer today.  It's being delivered here tomorrow at 3.  So that's exciting.  This has been talked about for years so it's not a sudden decision.  

Lili has started term 2.  She's enjoying the new classes.  She seems to have settled back into the homestead alright.  

Realizing that Chinese New Year will look massively different this year.  Sigh.  Kids were listing off the things we won't be doing this year.  

It's been a weird school week. So many kids pulled re: the recent covid scare. 

He moves fast.

I thought I heard him painting super late last night ;)  He just texted me these pictures. This will be life altering for us.  So exciting.  

The weekend.

This was pretty much the weekend for me.  Coco has been pretty severely traumatized.  She is mad at everything and everyone.  Lots of growling and attacking.  There is no possible way for her to get as close to me as she wants.  Right now she is frantic to get to my face or neck.  She has begun taking her shirt off and then bringing it to us.  Also at bed time she is getting her diaper and bringing it to us.  Weirdest thing ever.  She is getting great at taking meds.  Practically opens her mouth for Eric while I hold her.  I came to work without her today.  We're sort of thinking some separation from me might jar her back to normal.  Cuddling got way better with her but in all other areas she's a little disaster.  First day with no pain meds today.  Her wound looks great and I'm a tad hopeful the pain meds have been part of her behavioral problems.  

On sentry duty.  Ready to attack any dog or cat that gets near me.  Apparently I am hers now. Thankfully she hasn't shown any aggression towards people.  

Oh my.  Was fun for the few minutes it took Jia and I to find Eric's tickets and see if we were the winners.  Nope.  Sigh.  

Eric's newest project is almost done.  He is almost done painting.  Can't wait to load those shelves up.  We've needed a pantry since forever!  

Room for the extra fridge and freezer as well.  Eric helped a friend with his truck repairs on Sat.  When he was done we made a trip to Walmart.  My first in public outing in weeks.  Oddly exciting.  Covid is suddenly in our little town so we'll be out even less than our weird new normal.  So we wanted to stock up some more.  Shelves are empty. We filled a cart, paid, loaded it in the car and headed back in for round two.  We've never done that before.  Had to phone home and tell the kids to be ready with shoes on.   Takes all hands on deck to load and put away a double order.  

Eric spotted two giant owls in our side yard so Sasha and Coco aren't allowed out right now.  

Fei ordered a smart bulb for her room.  Now Jia insists she needs one too.  She wasn't so impressed with mine but Fei's changes colors.  

Lots of TV watching.  

That was pretty much our weekend ;)  We've reached the point of it being all good when there were no crisis moments or mental health issues.  Gave us lots of time to just nurse Coco.  Who thankfully can do stairs again.  

Miss Coco

After much debate Miss Coco went in today for a spay.  Lots of controversy over whys and whens.  I choose not to spay Katie or Lacie.  Lacie died of utarian cancer at 16 so we spayed Sasha. Sasha didn't do well under anesthesia, it took her two days to wake up.  Coco didn't do well bleeding for three weeks.  So she went in.  It felt abusive taking her today.  Knowing how brutal it would be for her.  The biggest reason to spay is to avoid puppies which isn't a concern or possibility  here. Then the vet  called because she thinks Coco might have a liver shunt.  Then she called because she had baby teeth that need to come out.  Then she called with concerns about how tiny she is.  After some debate and assurances that her sister is a pound smaller and her Dad is only 4 lbs it was decided she could have the surgery.  So now I'm fighting for her to be spayed when I kind of wanted to run back to town and just take her home.  I was also left feeling extremely uncomfortable about the vet's confidence. The next call was about her microchip which meant she'd survived the anesthesia.  Phew.  Massive relief.  It wasn't a productive day at work.  Turns out Coco had pyometra!!  Life threatening infection in her uterus.  Thank God we spayed her before it became more serious for her.  She was also microchiped, tattooed, had baby teeth pulled and had a yeast infection in both ears.  So she's home with antibiotics, pain meds and ear cream. 

She can't walk or stand yet.  Very drugged. First chance she got she rolled over to show me her owie.  

This is how she is sleeping.  Creepy eyes.  She is agitated and moaning.  Occasional cries.  Heavy breathing.  

Biggest concerns right now are making sure she doesn't get hypothermic.  So we're hanging on the couch attempting to stay super warm.  Poor wee muffin.

Eric made her a shirt out of a sleeve from one of his painting shirts.  It's got paint splatter on it but has been washed and gives her street cred.  We're hoping the diaper holds it over her wound.  She would really like to lick, or rip it open forcing us back to the emergency vet late at night. 

She ate a little. Peed a lot.  She's walking but a bit unsteady and not able to do stairs.  Fei is watching her for a few minutes before bed so I can play on my phone.  

She's super tired and wired at the same time so the naps are super dramatic and about 3 minutes ;)

Go Kart

It came!  He built it with a bit of Dad muscle help.  Eric had him figure out what went where by looking at it.  No directions in this house ;)  

He couldn't get far in the house.  It looks like it scoots pretty good.  When the rain stops he can try it outside.  

Our New Years was pretty slow.  Nice dinner but we got caught up in watching old family videos and couldn't even be bothered to sit together at the table.  Sigh.  After the boys went to bed we tried Rumoli.  Jia left almost immediately.  I put 20.00 aside for the winner.  We played three rounds and Fei, Eric and I were completely cleaned out of chips.  So Lili won.  She liked the game.  Haha.  Rest of us weren't quite as impressed.  I was in bed by 11. 

Today Eric and I worked in Jia's room.  Got a fair amount done in two hours.  Mainly her desk is in.  Lots of stuff left her room for donation and dump.  I have two more shelves to delve into and her nightstand is a mess.  Her keepsakes are boxed.  The clothing is all done.  The stuffed animals are sorted.  Half left.  The ones she kept went up on shelves.  It feels better in there.  She however isn't as thrilled with the process.  She has grown another whole inch since Dec 4.  She is sleeping so much through this growing stage.  We look eye to eye now.  Need to go wake her up for dinner.