Zoe...our oldest one...

6 months after Mark and I got married we got Zoe, a wonderful golden retriever. She is the best dog, wonderful with the girls and so much fun to have around. For as long as we can remember she has had problem with allergies. She is constantly licking her paws, scratching her ears, licking her legs until they are bleeding (hot spots.) She has been on an antihistamine for 4-5 years now and a steroid every other day for 4-5 years now. She also gets allergy shots here and there. So we decided to have her allergy tested to see what she was allergic to and then give her monthly allergy shots. No big deal right??

She had to be sedated for the allergy testing. This is what we found out: She is allergic to grass, trees, mold, house dust mites, tobacco, cockroach, black ant, mosquito, and human dander. Poor dog, no wonder she has been itching and scratching her whole life!

This is how we have to keep her legs covered once she licks so much she starts bleeding. Under the bandage is a hot spot. The vet said to wrap it a little more loosely and place gauze under the dressing. Well the vet does not know our dog at all. She had that dressing off last night after we all went to bed. Spread out all over the living room.

Theses are the meds that Zoe has to take. We found out she has a yeast infection in her feet and around her bottom (so she takes an anti fungal med), she has a bacterial infection around her bottom and in her ears (so she takes an antibiotic, we have to clean her ears twice a day, put ear drops in twice a day, and put some kind of antibiotic cream around her bottom (lovely huh?) She is still on the antihistamine and the steroid until the allergy shots get up to the maintenance dose that will hopefully hold her over for a month.

This is her calendar of all her meds. Mark asked me why I made a calendar...uh she has like 9 different meds and I have no idea how to keep track of everything. Some meds she takes once a day, some twice a day, some every other day. Hopefully in the next few months we will get her allergies and itching under control and she will be so much more comfortable. We have to go back to the vet in a month to see if all her infections are clear (her feet, ears, bottom.)

Seems like a lot for a dog, but we decided it was time to go forth with it. Hopefully we will get to giving her a shot a month and she will be itch free!

Oh and the other thing we found accidentally was a tennis ball size growth on the inside of one of her hind legs. How long has that been there? The vet tested the fluid and said it was some kind of fatty tissue deposit. It was not cancerous...thank God...it was just something that happens to dogs. He told us to watch it and if it gets bigger it will need to be removed. Wow this dog is really starting to cost us a fortune, but we just love her to pieces...So hopefully everything will be fine with the tumor on her leg....Poor Zoe...

Oh and this is our little Addison with her new piggy tails....SO CUTE!!!!

Her Winter Coat

The past few days when we are at home Addison has wanted to wear her winter coat. After dinner she points to her coat, grunts, stomps her feet and screams until we put it on. So I put it on her, why not? Mark says "I am not going to let her wear her winter coat around. She falls over all the time in her coat." I figure what the heck? What harm is it doing? She does fall down a lot, she is a little top heavy in the fluffy coat, but she is getting better walking around in it since she has had it on for 2 days now! When we pick her up from daycare she walks straight over to her coat, points, and says please in sign language until we get her coat on! What a hoot....She also has to have her hat on or the hood up on the coat. If not she is crying and screaming and upset. This one is going to give us trouble. I know she is not going to be the quiet, shy, laid back one like her sister. Mark and I just shake our heads with little Addison. She is going to be the tough one! But we love her to pieces...how couldn't you with that little face. So sweet!!!

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Pre-K

So today is the first day of Pre-K for Lauren and she is so excited. I am not really sure why Pre-K is so exciting but she has been talking about it since last week when she found out she would be moving to Pre-K on Monday. Our daycare center is so awesome that they are moving Lauren and her buddy Killian together today so the transition will be easier. Killian turned 4 back in December and Lauren will be 4 in just a few weeks, but I was surprised that she was ready to move because usually it is after her birthday. Needless to say, she is so excited and all weekend I tried to figure out what was so cool about Pre-K. All I got out of her was that there was a Dora kitchen in Pre-K. Well there must be more than that because she was up and ready for school this morning. Ready for Pre-K. Makes me wonder where the time goes...

Little Addison is keeping us on our toes these days. She is into everything. We joke that she can destroy a room in seconds if you are not watching her. She is talking a lot with a few words that she knows, but there is so much more going on in that little head that she usually just points, grunts, and cries if she does not get her way. She really wanted to go outside several times this weekend so we finally bundled her up and took her out. She loves the swing and loves to be outside.

Lauren and I stayed inside and made brownies in her new Easy Bake Oven that she got for Christmas. We usually make something every weekend for her and Addison to snack on. Lauren and I have a lot of fun together in the kitchen. She loves to help me make dinner each night. It usually takes a little longer, but it is well worth it when she looks up at me and says "this is fun Mommy." It just melts my heart.

We are getting for Lauren's big 4th birthday here in a few weeks. She is very excited for it. I am just taking it easy recovering from a little surgery I had done. I have the whole week off! I think it is going to be a long week, but I need to just take it easy and enjoy the time. Enjoy the pictures...

Happy New Year

Sorry it has been a few weeks since I have posted. Nothing too exciting happening in the Harding household since it is so cold. We had a great New Years Eve party with 2 other couples over and their kids. The kids enjoyed eating, playing, and watching movies, while the adults enjoyed eating, drinking and playing games.

This is Lauren's best friend (and soon to be husband) Killian. Apparently they play well together at school, get along great, follow directions, and the teachers just love them. Well on New Years Eve they fought (like a married couple!) all night. It was hard to believe that at school they get along so well because New Years Eve was a different story.

Killian, Lauren and Sydney with their noise makers.

Addison enjoyed the party too. She was in bed by 7 so she missed out on a lot of the fun. When she was awake she had fun with Charley, Killian's sister.

Since it has been so cold we have been a little stir crazy at home. Mark made a fort with all the pillows and blankets he could find. The girls loved it.

Lauren played in there all afternoon. She even found a way to read her books.

My two girls just hanging out today.

Lauren and Mark ventured outside today for about 15 minutes. I think Lauren had a blast. The snow in our backyard is very deep in some spots. Zoe loves the snow too and had fun with Mark and Lauren out there.