Sweet Marley

I didn't know whether to erase our "one heck of a day" post or leave it...It seems that I spoke a little too soon. As you know, Marley was apparently poisoned and we actually thought she had made it through. Saturday night she was doing great...back to ole Marley. She was doing commands, jumping around, eating & drinking. However, Sunday morning around 5 a.m. she took a drastic change for the worse. Marley went into a seizure and wasn't able to come out. Joey and Brent (my cousin) took her to the emergency vet and they injected valium five times to try to bring her out of the seizure. It would calm her for about 10-20 sec and they would start again. Her temperature was 110 and had been for probably a while. We had to make the decision to put her at peace. The absolute hardest thing...its terrible. She was Hayden's best friend, a second child to us and a family member to not only us but to our family and friends. Its so hard to imagine how such a healthy dog could go that fast. I just want to pinch myself to wake up from this bad dream. Its devistating. Our cat, Allie, is apparently grieving. She hasn't left Marley's bed since yesterday and has never to my knowledge even step foot on her bed beforehand.
Rest In Peace our sweet Marley girl.

One heck of a day!

Our Friday, December 12th began at about 3:30 a.m. with Marley (our first born-5 year old weimaraner) very, very sick. She couldn't walk, sit up, see and was non-responsive. We continued to watch her until the vet opened at 9 a.m. Joey gracefully carried Marley into the vet and put her on the table. The doctor came in and his first words were, I am really worried about your dog. We didn't know what was wrong. She is primarily an inside dog and we keep all hazardous stuff locked or up high because of Hayden. The vet kept her and began running test. He called and updated us all throughout the day. He talked to vets and internal medicinist all over the US and no one had any idea what was wrong. But he treated her as if she was poisoned. He called and one point and said he had done all he could do...it didn't look like she would make it. A neurologist at Miss State wanted her sent to him so he could study on her...they didn't know what was wrong because all the test were coming back healthy. He kept her over night and saw a gradual improvement. He re-ran all the test and finally concluded that she, at some point, ingested marijuana, xanax or valium. All we can figure is that someone threw a stash over the fence and she ate it. Who knows?? But she is pretty much back to her old self...still a little groggy. But will sleep it off. Thank you Jesus and Dr. May for saving our baby dog! We are so blessed.


So anyway, we came home around lunch to check the house again to try to figure out if she had eaten some poison. During this time, I check the mail. I said, "Oh my gosh, Joey, here is THE letter from MS Board of Licensure for Engineers & Surveyors. Do you want to open it?" This could lead to an extremely bad day or turn it around to at least one positive for the day. "He took it in and read it alone. He came running to me and Hayden jumping up and down, yelling I PASSED! I PASSED! We hugged and congratulated him! We (all of those that know what dedication he had for this test) are SO EXTREMELY PROUD! People that don't know the field of work may not understand the accomplishment...but I will say this, there is an 18% pass rate. Hence, there are so very few in MS these days in the field b/c the test in the recent years has gotten so ridiculously hard. Joey started preparing for this test in July. Every single night he went off to the guest room for his 3 hour study session! The test was in late October. A lot of time and dedication for this test. So he is now, Joseph R. Carpenter, S.I. and has a license number! How awesome! Just talking about "our Friday" gives me chills...I feel so thankful.
Thank you Lord for continuing to watch over us and guide us with your grace through each moment and blessing us with your presence & with such wonderful friends, family, love, and accomplishments.

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

So its beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Jackson, Miss! Mindy told me Monday that it was supposed to snow today...and honestly I thought she was looking at the wrong cities forecast. I should have known because she is an avid weather watcher. Its her hobby. Seriously! Ha, don't kill me Mindy! I love you! It started sleeting this morning and hasn't slowed up all day. Here are some pictures. Hayden is asleep (do you blame him?), so he hasn't played in it yet.

My Soul Sisters!

If any of you know me very well, you have heard me talk about my girls. We are a group of about 8 girls that started out friends in college. We have been so close throughout the years and have remained close depite the life happenings that have taken us apart...some moved away for jobs, more college, marriage, children, etc... Yesterday, one of our girls (Meah) was in town. She just finished her thesis at Belmont University in Nashville and has been in the occupational therapy program. She is about to head off to Phoenix, AZ to do her residency at the Mayo Clinic. What an exciting opportunity she has!!! Anyway, I was able to spend the day with her and Melanie (another one of our group). We had so much fun talking about all the great memories we made in college and then just talking about what we are doing now. It is so amazing to me how we can be apart for so long then just pick up right where we left off. And even more amazing how we can remain so close yet be so caught up in our today's life. Have you ever seen the movie "Sisterhood of the traveling pants"? That is us...except we don't mail a pair of jeans all over the world. Last night, we all got together for dinner...lawdy, if there was a fly on the wall...we talked about the craziest, most embarrassing, funniest things, just like we did way back when and at one point I just sat and took it all in and realized how blessed I was to have that and how thankful we must be for God giving us to eachother. I know, I know, it is strange to hear this sappy stuff coming out of my mouth! But I have learned that you better be thankful for what you have and not take advantage of one single person or thing that is given to you. Be thankful for those who love you... Anyway, I got a little sappy last night after leaving you girls. Thank you again for the memories...one more time. I love you ole fools!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Here is a typical morning at the Carpenter Krew house. We were getting ready for church and I admit when I am busy I really don't keep an eye on Hayden like I should...as long as he is quite and occupied which often leads to some sort of disaster...this morning I caught him pouring an entire bottle of bubbles in my boot! He, of course, thought it was so funny. He is so comical...he is all the time into something!

I decided to try to get some pictures of him since he was dressed oh so cute...minus the sore on his nose which is from where he pulled the stocking from the mantle and it the weight of which was holding the stocking on the mantle came crashing down on my baby boy's face! Anyway, here are some of the cute pics I was able to capture.

Now he is tired of pictures...he is hiding from me!

Christmas will be fun this year! He is kinda figured out the whole Santa Claus thing. Everytime he sees him he yells really loud...P Paus, Mommy, P Paus! He knows he brings "prizes" (that is what he calls them) but not sure about that strange jolly fellow coming into his house! When I ask if he want Santa Clause to come to his house, he says, No, No Mommy! We have the "Elf on the Shelf" and we named ours Mr. Jingles. In case your not familiar...the elf comes from the north pole day after thanksgiving and lands some where in the house. He watches you to see if your naughty or nice and then at night flys back to the north pole to report to Santa Claus. The next morning he is landed somewhere different in the house. He doesn't speak only listens and you can't touch him because then he would loose his Christmas magic. It is so cute!