We have a new member of the Maclaine family to announce.... No Merissa is not pregnant, we rescued a puppy. For many years now I have wanted a German Short-haired Pointer. After much research and attempting to justify the RIDICULOUSLY high cost of getting a good dog, a website that I had been monitoring offered one up for rescue. Her name is Bella. As I said, I had done lots of research and had decided I would get a dog from a hunting ranch in east Texas. I Monitored the website daily hoping they would post a dog that I could afford, and that seemed to fit our wants. The have Master trained hunting dogs for $3500 available there, and obviously we had no need for that. Then last Wednesday they updated their site with several new dogs one of which was listed as a rescue. She was one of many dogs a client of theirs had had, but she was getting pushed away from the feeding bowl. Her previous owners brought her to the ranch to board for a while in an effort to put a little weight on her. After two months of her being boarded they decided to just giver her up and have the ranch list her on the website. Three hours in the car later... She was officially a member of the family. She is incredibly sweet. She is 7 months old(we think) so she still has lots of puppy energy, but I have been pretty good at getting her out of the house at least twice a day for a long walk or a jog. Here are some pictures of her.
In a completely unrelated note, Jack took his first Major spill yesterday. I know this may be burying the lead, but I didn't want to alarm everyone by making it the title of the blog. Last night Merissa worked late so Jack and I were flying solo. After dinner during a walk with Bella, Jack managed to tumble out of his stroller. I say tumble because there really was not a big impact, instead he just sort of went head over heals out of his stroller and hit his head on the asphalt. Evidently he cut his forehead above his left eye, and much bleeding ensued. I guess head injuries are more likely to bleed profusely, and this was definitely no exception to the rule. By the time I could reach down and grab the poor little guy the blood had run down his head, past his eye, and was dripping from his cheek.
It was at this point I realized I was TOTALLY screwed. I was a mile or so from the house, Jack was screaming and bleeding from his head, and I was trying to upright the stroller and coral the dog. Just then a car stopped and offered to help by driving us home. I accepted and for the three minute ride to the house I tried to keep the kiddo from bleeding all over the good Samaritan's car.
Jack of course was a total Rockstar. By the time we got home he had stopped crying, and aside from a few whimpers during the cleaning and dressing of the wound(Thanks Craig) he really didn't fuss too much more. Upon arriving home, I wiped off his head, took some pictures and tried to decide if I thought it warranted a trip to the ER for stitches or if a band-aid would do.
After calling our two doctor friends and leaving voice mails, I went outside to see if our across the street neighbor was available for a consult. She has three boys, surely she would know how to treat a simple cut on the head..... No luck. Not home. How about our super friendly little old lady neighbor that has raised several children and has multiple grandkids.... Nope. Not home either. After about twenty minutes of trying to think of ways to handle things, Craig Teller called me back. He is a good friend, and more importantly a dermatologist. He insisted I come right over so he could help.
Craig cleaned all the blood from Jack's head and hair and assessed the damage. He decided that the cut was borderline as afar as stitches were concerned, and decided Jack really wouldn't benefit from them. He made Jack a super cool bandage(to protect it from infection) and we were back on our way home. Due to the immense guilt washing over me, Jack got to snuggle up with me in bed for a while before I rocked him to sleep.
All in all Jack did very well, and of course he will be just fine. He is such a little trooper and something tells me this is the first of many trips to the Teller's to get bandaged up.
