Halloween in our New House and Lucy getting Spayed

Happy Halloween!!! This year may be a little different because of the pandemic but mark my words, I will still be at my door ready for any brave trick or treaters to safely come to our house! We will be there. I have been looking forward to this for almost 3 years!!

 

Here is our family's themed costumes this year! I'm excited for next year's theme too! Oh and Lucy HATED her costume.

  

Other family. We loved having 3 groups of people from our family come visit us!!

 

We wore Lucy out! It was a nice change of pace lol!

 

Thanks to my mom, she helped me decorate outside for Halloween!!! So happy!

 

Is it spooky!!!?

I'm waiting for more leaves to change color! Our area is so pretty!

 

(we got her area prepared for spaying surgery recovery so she can eat and drink with the cone and be comfortable. She fell asleep the night before the surgery all bathed and clean and 100% unsuspecting what was waiting for her tomorrow morning).

When we were planning to get sweet Lucy girl we knew we had to time it just right and find a good breeder and a dog that would be born to fit the timeline we needed. We knew we wanted to be in our house for 6-12 months (preferably 12 but that didn't work out >:(......) before getting a dog and we knew with our work schedules it would have to be the end of June when we picked up Lucy for Cody's first football bye week so he can be with her for 2 weeks transitioning her into half day's in her pen inside after that until school started 2 months later where we would leave her outside/in the garage full time while we were at work. 

If we had gotten Lucy any other time, we wouldn't have been able to do that. And our timeline perfectly matched up for when Lucy would have had to be conceived and born for this to all happen with the perfect breeder and when that would mean she would turn 6 months (to get spayed) right before and during Cody's Fall break so we could properly take care of her for those next 10-14 critical days. 

So the Friday before Cody's Fall break, we dropped sweet Lucy off at our (amazing) vet at 7:30am and she happily trotted in! She doesn't make many negative memories, she's tough and the alpha of the litter and loves adventure and people. 

We picked her up at 3:00pm to a very loopy looking dog. She stumbled into our backseat and Cody held her the whole drive home (20 mins) with her crying the whole way. She hates cars though. 

They told us she didn't need a cone because she wasn't messing with her stitches but when they brought her out with a cone they said, never mind, that was the other dog. Lucy tore her catheter out and wasn't having it. lol.

When we got in, we took her to get some water and to go to the bathroom and poor thing struggled to go #2 because she was in pain. 

 

When we first put her in her pen to calm her, she was NOT a happy girl. Her arm hurt from the IV, her shoulders hurt from the microchip, she couldn't poop, she was hungry and weak but the pain medicine curbed her appetite, and her nails were freshly clipped. Lol. She was NOT happy. On top of that, she was so tired and hated the cone. She was only given 3 pain pills for the next few days and was told to restrict her activity.

Later that day she was able to go #2 better and finally got comfortable after we caved and let her jump on the couch. That was the happiest we had seen her that day. She napped just like that for hours. 

I tired to lay with her to make her happy. She wasn't ha. 

 

She tried CONSTANTLY to get the cone off of her head and was so frustrated. She actually bit me a few times she was so mad.

We knew we had to do something because she couldn't take this the next 10-14 days. And the next 3-5 days were critical they said.

So we bought her an inflatable ring thanks to Jordan my co-workers recommendation!

The moment we took off her cone and put this on, she was a different dog. She says, I'll hold my doggie so he isn't scared, lol. 

 

We literally saw her transform right before our eyes!

Now for some real rest!

Her stitches if you are or will be in our shoes and want to know if what your dog looks like is normal. This is what Lucy looked like right when she came home from the vet and it only has gotten better from then on.

On the third day, Lucy had zoomies around the couch and we had to hold her down and get her in her crate so she didn't hurt herself. The second day after surgery on, they will be back to normal but have the same strict restrictions. It is so hard to keep her still and we had to crate her often. It's harder on you than them definitely! From day 2 on, we let her jump on the couch, jump on us (not on purpose) and play with her toys and she is just fine. The vet doesn't really touch on how much they can really do.

With love,

Kayla Raborn

10/12/20

No Annual Family Corn Maze :(

Every year we try to visit a new corn maze to celebrate Fall! This year we found this maze in Calhoun GA but the second we got there they just closed due to a storm rolling in. We were devastated. So we went back home instead to see the rest of the UT game, introduce Lucy to her first pumpkin and snap some backyard pics with the beautiful leaves. 

 

What is this mama?

 

This outfit below is what I was going to wear to the corn maze. Until next year. Let's just cancel 2020.

 

Oh Lucy.....

 

My beautiful Mama!

Which style do you like best? Scarf or jean jacket?

..............................

Also, get out there and vote! I took a half day off of work to go vote with Cody on the second day of early voting and the line was still a 45 minute wait. It was so worth it though for the honor to vote and the fact of how we live in such an amazing country that we can choose our president!

 

And lets not talk about how disappointing UT is right now. I am so sad that it has come to this. We lost to Kentucky badly in our own turf. That hasn't happened in over 36 years. What a shame. An absolute shame. At least Lucy enjoyed watching the game with us!

Why does she love to sit on top of the couch? LOL

With so much love,

Kayla

10/18/20

Fall Weekends!!!

 The first day of Fall has come and gone and now it's October, personally my favorite month of the year (November being second and December being third). Despite breaking my foot (reference last post) I am doing well. I've had family come in and help take care of me and just enjoy each other's company. Cody has been doing very well but is very busy during this time of year like always. He is handling the normal stresses like a champ and is kicking butt and taking names. Our dryer, fridge, and his truck went out all during this mess so he is working hard trying to fix these things for our little family while i'm here trying to will my foot to heal faster. I feel so useless right now. At least I can take beautiful pictures of Lucy haha:

First let's start with Lucy. Lucy girl loves to play frisbee especially since I can't take her on walks right now because of my foot. She is a gorgeous girl and is getting spayed this Friday. I'm a nervous wreck. 

 

Football has kicked off for UT and we have two strong wins already! This makes our family very happy lol. We had fun watching it on Nana's big TV at her house!

 

I'm so glad we have football to all love and have as 'our thing'.

.................

On Friday night I got to see Soddy play against Ooltewah and this past week Soddy won their second game!!!

Our Fall baby!!!

 

My how Lucy has grown! She still thinks she's a small lap dog. She "helped me" work from home those two weeks after I broke my foot lol!

 

My mom helped me walk Lucy on the Greenway!

Stay tuned for more Fall posts including our annual corn maze adventure!

With love,

Kayla Raborn

10/4/20

I Broke my Foot.

-SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM FOR BROKEN FOOT STORY- 

I recently visited Morgan and Edgar at their new home up in Kingsport Tennessee and it was gorgeous! Morgan and Edgar graciously cooked for us, took us to the local farmers market, got Kingsport's famous pretzels and donuts, looked at million dollar houses in the area and celebrated Nana's birthday!

We traveled to the top of the dirt mound to take pictures by these beautiful yellow flowers! The pictures just don't do it justice. 

Morgan's neighborhood! Look at the view!!

Unfortunately once I got home I broke my foot. I was so excited to see Lucy, I was running around with her playing chase and ran full speed stubbing my right foot toes on the corner of the couch HARD. It of course hurts as it does for anyone but once I tried to move my toes I knew something was wrong. One toe was pointing more right than it normally did, was numb, and it felt like something was blocking it from bending. I immediately iced it and went to bed to try not to think about it. The next morning I went to urgent care, got 3 x-rays and the doctor was like yep, it's broken in three places. I was like of course it is. 

It hurts but actually not that bad. I can't put weight on it for another 2 weeks and of course can't drive. I had to have it re-set by an orthopedic doctor and put in a boot. It stinks so much. Just when I thought things were looking up for me to be honest. But God continually is trying to get my attention and I obviously haven't found what He is wanting from me. 2020 has been rough....for everyone. For us it started out with Cody's foot surgery, then the surprise pregnancy, misdiagnosed blighted ovum, missed miscarriage, failed miscarriage, the d&c surgery, then this. THANK GOD I didn't need surgery for this. Seriously, thank God. 

But at the appointment when they reset my toe, I was a nervous wreck. I had never broken a bone and I was in pain. Because of Covid they said Cody can't come back with me which honestly was not ok with me. It brought a little PTSD from the miscarriage and really messed with me. How is this ok in humanity. This is a broken world.

Not only is this non weight bearing, painful, and limiting, the thing that bothers me most is how I can't take care of Lucy. I can't play with her, chase her, take her on walks, feed her, or help her. I can't even manuver enough to feed myself right now. And of course it's during football season and Cody is gone 15+ hours a day. It's just so so difficult. Oh, and Lucy has her spaying surgery in 3 weeks. PERFECT timing right. How will I manage. I can't take off more time at work. This is NOT my year. Plus covid on top of all of this is scary and having to go into doctors offices.   

All I know, is I will get through this. And I never wish this year away so so badly.

Love,

Kayla Raborn

9/14/20