Murphy's trip to Doggie Heaven

Murphy's Urn

Paw Print from the Vet School

On Tuesday morning July 24th we lost a friend and a companion!  As some of you know, Murphy had had diabetes for a little over 3 years!  He got insulin shots 2x a day.  While I was pregnant with Kyleigh he started having episodes that we weren't really sure what they were.  Then last year he started having seizures that weren't diabetic, we think they were epileptic seizures.  Now, where he was not every diagnosed with epilepsy, the vet thought they were probably epileptic seizures.  Tuesday, the 24th Murphy had a really bad seizure at about 5am in the morning.  Mike had commented that he didn't think Murphy had felt good the night before!  I tried to comfort Murphy the way I normally did, but he just didn't come out of it.  He pretty much lost the use of the back of his legs.  We laid there for a while and then I believe he started to seize again.  I knew that sending him to be with Grammy was the best thing to do.  It wasn't easy to do, but I knew it was best.  So we took him to the NC State Vet School where they put him to sleep.  The vet there said he was pretty much already gone by the time we got there so she went ahead and gave him the meds and Murphy passed in my arms.  Kyleigh was so good with him.  When we told her Murphy wasn't feeling well, she would give him kisses and hugs.  While it has been weird and an adjustment to not having Murphy around we are adjusting.  We think about him often, for example when we are getting ice cubes and he doesn't come running to get one.  We also think about him when Kyleigh spills food under her chair and there is no one to clean it up for us!  Most of all we miss the greeting that he used to give us when we would have been out or at work.  We loved him very much and he helped me through a lot of things both good and bad over the last 10 years!  We will miss him dearly!



Wow, didn't realize it has been so long!

Well I guess a lot has happened since January!  Mike started a new job at Wells Fargo where he is a teller.  I started a job with Quality Staffing, a staffing company in Cary.  I was contracting from home, but the State department I was working for closed.  I am enjoying working with Quality Staffing.  I have learned a lot in staffing!

What else has happened?  I went back to the doctor in June for an MRI/MRV.  Unfortunately the clot in my drainage veins was not gone, so that means 6 more months of Coumadin!  I was horribly disappointed, I was looking forward to not hearing the "quack, quack, quack" that my phone alarm makes every day telling me it's time to take my Coumadin.  Not to mention I was hoping to not have any more blood draws and easy bruising!  Oh well, I guess it could be worse!

Other things going on.  Kyleigh went from part time daycare to full time daycare.  We switched her from North Raleigh Church of Christ where she loved her teachers to The Legacy Academy where she spent 5 weeks.  We pulled her out of there because she was not acting like "Kyleigh", she would come home with scratches and no notes from the teachers among other issues.  After the 5 weeks we switched her to Preston Children's Academy where she started out with the Toddlers.  She was like a whole different child when we switched her.  Her learning curve went up, really quick!  We are really happy where she is now and feel like she is learning a lot!

Well the biggest thing that has changed is, Kyleigh has turned 2!  On June 23rd our little girl turned 2!  Where did the time go!  We had a birthday party with great friends and family who was able to make it!  I can't believe my baby girl is getting big, she is growing way too fast!  We took her to the doctor on Tuesday for her 2 year check up!  She was 20th percentile for her height, 45th percentile for her weight, and her head measured in in the 85th percentile!  Where she is growing up and learning to talk, I guess I can't say she is growing to fast physically!  :-)

We would love to see you all, please feel free to come visit us here in Raleigh.  I will try to do better with the updating!

Love to all!

Health Update

I wanted keep you all updated as I said I would. Yesterday we went for the month after the hospital check up. The PA was very optimistic that this would be gone in 6 months. I will have a repeat MRI and MRV in 6 months. If the clot is gone after the 6 months I can then come off of the Coumadin. We also asked her if there would be any reason we couldn't try for a second child in the future and she agreed with the OB/GYN that we could! Just knowing I have had this clot will allow them to monitor me that much closer if I do become pregnant! So optimisim on all around.

I hope everyone is doing well! We love you!

Happy New Year!

We had a great Christmas! Kyleigh got some great gifts! She got some Little People, a Picnic Table (which she LOVES!), a cleaning trolley and some clothes. You ask why a cleaning trolley? Well this child loves to help clean, put clothes in the washer or just pick up dirt! She loved to play with my broom and swiffer so we got her her own little cleaning trolley! She has been a lot of fun this year and I know it will only continue to get better!

As I mentioned we moved, so we are back in Raleigh. Kyleigh is in a new daycare where we love her teachers. Especially Mrs. Amy, I see how good she is with her, and having my Mom's name, I know she is extra special! Kyleigh is learning to sign, drink from a regular cup (no sippy cup), dance, fitness, and some spanish; oh and Mrs. Amy has been helping us with taking her to the potty some too! No, she is not fully potty trained, and I am not forcing it on her, but I am introducing her to the potty, she had gone pee and poop in there, we just need her to want to do it all the time.

The week before Christmas we went to Nicole's and David's at the Outer Banks! She had her baby, so Kyleigh has a new baby cousin. He was born on December 21st and his name is Austin Matthew Saffell. He was just shy of 10 lbs and 21.5 inches long! Mommy, Daddy and baby are well! Shelley was also in town from Colorado, so we got to spend time with her as too!

New Years Eve, we didn't do anything special. We went to an NC State basketball game! We took Kyleigh and dressed her in her little NC State Cheerleading outfit. I have to admit, she makes the best NC State Cheerleader out there! I may be biased a little, haha! We got to sit really close and they showed Kyleigh on the big screen! Then that night we just stayed in and watched football and watched the ball drop to bring in 2012.

Last week, I took Kyleigh for her 18 month appointment. Yes, you are saying 18 months already, we are too! She is growing so fast and is so much fun! Anyway, she weighed in at 22lbs and 11ozs (was in the 25%), I can't remember the inches for her height but I know she was in the 35% which is an improvement from her 12 month appointment where she was in the 25%. Are you ready for this, her head was in the 90% (was in the 70% at her 12 mos appointment), I have to say I have a very smart girl!

I hope you all had a great Holiday and I hope we can see you all very soon!

My Health

The beginning of December we had somewhat of a scare! Those of you that know me have known that I have had aura migraines since High School and another type of migraine that affects my sinuses, neck well basically one half of the side of my head. I have had those headaches since about 2002. I went to a neurologist back in 2008 but she didn't do anything, she just gave me some stretches to do to deal with the pain. I had to go to the eye doctor, and when I did I mentioned I was still having my migraines and he said I should go to the neurologist since I was still having them. So we got in the car and Mike called the neurologist right away. When they called back, I scheduled an appointment on November 28th.

On November 28th I went to my appointment. I don't know if the doctor was going to order any pictures until I told him that Mike was really worried that I kept having these headaches and they would last for days. Saturday before Thanksgiving I had one for about 5 days. So the doctor ordered an MRI for Friday night at 555p. That night at almost 10p, I got a call from the on-call neurologist saying that they had reviewed my MRI and they saw abnormalities and they needed to order further tests to make sure and see further details. Kind of in shock and in worry, I called my sister Nicole. She eased my mind and told me that if they were really concerned they would have ordered me to go to the hospital right away. She described what she thought it might be and eased Mike's and my worries. The following Tuesday I was scheduled for an MRV. They inject dye into me so that they can better see the veins in my brain. 24 hours later I had not received a call from the doctor so I called the office and left multiple messages to find out the results. I was worried because I hadn't heard anything! Finally a bit later the doctor called me and told me that I had some blockages in my drainage veins in my brain, specifically on my left side. He said I had what was called Veinous Sinus Thrombosis. He also told me there was a bed waiting at the hospital for me to go get started on blood thinners to get rid of the clot! Later that Wednesday evening, after calling all of my family, calling friends to help out with Kyleigh, I was admitted into Wake Med where I stayed until Saturday morning! I hadn't told anyone until then because I wasn't really sure what was wrong and I didn't want to worry anyone.

Since my release from the hospital, I have had to go the PCP to get my PT/INR's checked several times to make sure I stay in between the 2-3 range. I go back to the doctor on Thursday and I will know more about when I need to go back for a follow up MRI or MRV. They also took me off any migraine meds and birth control as they would interact with the coumadin I am on for at least 6 months. We weren't sure if we would be able to try for a second child, but we have also visited with an OB/GYN and she said she didn't see any reason why I couldn't have another, that they would just monitor me that much more closely. So that was good news!

I am feeling better, have had 1 migraine since I started on the coumadin! So please keep me in your prayers that things continue to get better and great improvements continue to be made!

I will keep you posted on how things go with my doctors appointments!

Love to all!

I have started my own business!

I hope everyone is doing well. I am not working full time, I have been contracting for the State as Media Buyer, what I was doing before I moved to Charlotte. I am enjoying it because it give me the flexibility of being home with Kyleigh. I am also selling Thirty One, check out my website at www.mythirtyone.com/caruso, if you want to support me by purchasing something or throwing a party for me (can be in person or a catalog party) I would greatly appreciate it. I am very excited about the Spring Catalog that comes out February 1st. Thirty One has great products. It's hard to see in the catalog, but if you see them in person! I have had a few family members and many friends purchase and they are very happy with there items.

Again, my website is www.mythirtyone.com/caruso! Let me know what you would like to order!