The Art of Racing in the Rain

It's been easy to let Gina handle the girl's birthday blogs the last couple of years, especially considering she does such an incredible job with them.  I figured it was my turn to chip in on some level and so here I am blogging about our pooch.

Today, Casey turns ten years old.  It's hard to believe that.

Earlier this week I finished reading The Art of Racing in the Rain (suggested to us by Jeff and Martha) and it felt to coincidental not to take advantage of the timing and say something about Casey and about reaching this milestone.  For those of you who have not heard of the book, if you are a dog lover it's definitely worth checking out.  The entire story is told from a dog's point of view.

We got Casey in August of 2003, four weeks after we were married.  He was 14 months old.  By all accounts, he shouldn't be ours.  The shelter that he was at had a policy in place that would not allow them to hold dogs for anyone.  I had called about him on a Thursday after seeing his profile on petfinder.com but we were unable to get up to see him until that Sunday.  On Fridays and Saturdays, the shelter he was at had open adoption days and if someone wanted him during that time we would be out of luck.  But, something happened in the Thursday phone call.  What was supposed to be a five minute chat about the high level details for coming up to see him on Sunday (if no one claimed him yet) turned into a half hour conversation with the lady who answered the phone.  They had interested families in him that weekend but without telling me they had decided to unofficially hold him for us because she was convinced we were going to be the right fit.  

I fell in love with him right away.  Gina took a little more convincing, but mainly because he pretty much looked like a train wreck with long dreadlock / matted hair (the picture above is from our first day home with him), not to mention his smell.  To Gina's credit, she saw how I responded when he was brought out to see us and she never questioned whether we should take him or not.  She let me make the decision.  She also let me name him Casey (and reference my love for baseball).  

It's only fair that dog number 2's name will be up to her. :)

We had a lot of fun with him the first couple of years.  In this picture we are up at a cabin with Matt and Ann before any of us had kids.

This picture is at Matt and Morgan's place in Chicago.  He stayed with them for a couple of days while Gina, two month old Natalie, and I continued on to the St. Louis area for Andrea's wedding (Gina's cousin).

Casey's been there for pretty much every big event in our life since our wedding and in the process he's gone from being our baby #1 to our baby #4.  At times it's been hard on him but he's transitioned well all and all.  

He's been an amazing dog with our children.  Some of the abuse he's endured from them as toddlers would drive anyone nuts but he's been incredibly patient and tolerant with them.

Here he's enjoying being outside, nothing like a little wind in the face to make his day.

At the park (Spring 2012)

With his girls (June 2012)

In the Art of Racing in the Rain, you're basically forced to think about life from your pet's perspective.  It's a good thing to do.  

I'd be so curious to hear what he has thought of the last nine years being an eye witness to so much of our lives.  More than anything though, I'd just hope that he'd tell us that we'd done right by him and that he's thankful to us for giving him a good life.  We probably should have taken him on more walks or maybe slowed down a bit and made a little more time for him but overall I feel like we've made sure he has been an integral part of our family.

He's been a great dog.  We were so fortunate to have ended up with him.

As of today (his 10th birthday), I am going to try to do something going forward I haven't done very well with over the years.  For so long I have dreaded the day that we will lose him.  I've recognized that even though he's been here with us for so many incredible memories, he won't be here for even more.  The times that I think about it (which is more often than I probably should), I get really really sad.

But, he's only ten.  I need to keep telling myself that.  Initially that seems like such a landmark number for a dog to hit but with some luck (because he is small) he could live another five years pretty easily, maybe even more.  

Going forward, I am going to be very intentional about enjoying my time with him instead of dwelling on what he is going to miss out on with us down the road.  

At a minimum, I owe him that.

A bittersweet symphony

Here are 40 random observations from the last week or so:

• When Evie was born, her right hand was next to her face. So, Gina unfortunately had to do a little extra work to get her out. Thank you epidural.

• Evie is pronounced ee-vee (just like saying the letters e and v together) and not ev-ee. We weren't expecting to need to clarify that when we chose it but in retrospect I can completely understand why it's been a bit confusing for everyone. We panicked a bit when everyone was mispronouncing it but we both still love it.

• Gina has said she is still in a fair amount of pain but looking at her you can't tell. She looks great! She's also been pretty sassy since just after Evie's birth which is definitely a good sign.

• Gina's labor was pretty interesting. I don't know when it officially started but on June 19th we spent the night at St. Joe's because she was contracting and things never really stopped from there. There were breaks where nothing was happening but then it would pick up again shortly thereafter. I think Gina plans to post about the days leading up to Evie's birth so I'll leave that story for her.

• We thought that Evie was constantly awake in Gina's stomach but it turns out that the girl is moving her hands and feet all the time, even when she is sleeping.

• The title of the blog simply refers to Evie being our last child. It's relieving yet very sad all at the same time. I hold her sometimes and think about how I'll never hold my two day old / three day old / etc. son or daughter ever again.

• Leaving St. Joe's was very difficult for both Gina and I to do. We have felt so loved there with the birth of all three girls. It's an amazing place to deliver a child. We were able to see many of the nurses that were involved in Natalie and Macie's first few days and were also able to make a couple of new connections, especially with Jessica. She was with us all day on Thursday (the 24th) and was absolutely wonderful.

• Evie will always be considered a preemie. It seems weird to say because she is doing fantastic. But, she was born at 36 weeks and six days (one day short of being considered full term).

• Preemie's need to have a number of extra tests done on them before leaving the hospital. All of the results came back very positive. The only thing they noticed was that she has extra red blood cells because her liver is premature. It is just something to note and not uncommon in preemies. It isn't anything to worry about.

• Evie was given the full ballard test because she was a preemie. Full term babies only have a partial test done. With the test, they do things like count the creases in the newborn’s foot to confirm that the due date of the child was correct. Sure enough, Evie's score came back placing Gina between 36 and 37 weeks along.

• Most of you who will read this post already know about how interesting this pregnancy was for Gina. It began with a subchorionic hemorrhage on December 21st and the discussion of potentially doing a DNC. But, as we all know now, Evie and Gina are both fighters and with a lot of love, prayers and support everything turned out just fine. We are grateful in so many ways.

• Because of everything Evie went through, our pastor has dubbed her "el milagro." It means the miracle.

• Furthering that point, Evie means life. While we already loved the name that definitely added to why we decided on it for her.

• In 2009, Evie was the 723rd most popular name for girls in the U.S. One in approximately every 5,000 girls were given that name last year. I don't expect for her to ever need to go by Evie S. because there are too many Evie's in her class. However, it surprisingly was the 10th most common girls name in the U.K. in 2008.

• We definitely considered the name Rory (both for a boy or girl) as a first name but in the end decided that it just didn't feel quite right. We also looked at possibly using it for a middle name instead.

• Where did the name Evie come from? Gina liked it more than I did originally. Most directly, it is Natalie Portman's character in V for Vendetta. In the movie she spells it Evey. I wasn't convinced it could stand on it's own as a first name until I saw the movie. After seeing it, I knew it was a strong enough name and began falling in love with it.

• For the first time, I had the final decision on the name. It was far more stressful than I thought it would be. I should have probably held my tongue with Gina and let her deal with that pressure (I joked about never having the final say even though I would have picked Natalie and Macie as well). You live and learn I guess.

• Evie's announcement was finished on Wednesday.

• Congratulations to Susan (a co-worker of Gina's) for winning the expectnet.com guessing game that 60 people participated in.

• Evie decided to buck a number of trends. All of the milestone dates in our life fall on another date of significance (generally tied to the Gina's side of the family). But, there is nothing on June 24th that we are aware of. Had she waited one more day she would have been born on my Grandpa S's birthday and my Grandma and Grandpa K's wedding anniversary.

• Evie was born on a Thursday. Both of the other girls were born on Tuesday.

• Evie was born in room 2528 (what use to be room 205). Both of the other girls were born in room 201.

• Sleeping or awake, Evie is constantly making sounds with her mouth. It is so funny to listen to.

• I think people at church were surprised to see us at the musical on June 27th (with Evie). We didn't want to miss it. Not only was it well written, but Natalie and Macie were absolutely adorable in it.

• The middle name of Marie is in honor of Gina (it is her middle name as well). It is also her mom and grandma's middle name too.

• Even though she was a preemie, Evie was born with a higher birth weight than Macie was. Evie was 6lbs 7ozs and Macie was 6lbs 3ozs (Natalie was 7lbs 12ozs). For those who are wondering, Natalie was three days late and Macie was one week early.

• Evie is on a very positive weigh path so far. She left the hospital at 6lbs 2ozs on Saturday, was 6lbs 1oz at her in home visit on Monday and 6lbs 4ozs at her doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Seeing her weight begin to increase already is a very good thing.

• If you want to see a crazy picture, click on the one below and check it out. It's pretty hard to dispute whether or not these three are sisters.

• We call Evie a treefrog because of how she curls up on your body when you hold her upright.

• Years later, JoAnn's prophecy that Gina would have three girls has been fulfilled.  Gina and I were laughing (and crying) when we figured out that we had yet another girl. We would have definitely enjoyed having a boy but we are pretty excited to be a family of girls.

• Thanks again to my mom (Wednesday and Thursday) and Molly (Friday) for taking care of the girls for us while we were at the hospital.

• Thank you to everyone who has visited us at the hospital (and at home). It's been great seeing all of you.

• Both Natalie and Macie have been so great with Evie. They are going to be amazing big sisters. Right now, they want to hold her and spend as much time around her as they can.

• It was pretty cute on Thursday night (the 24th), when Natalie was around Evie she couldn't stop giggling.

• At first, Macie kept asking "where's my baby?" after we got home from the hospital because she couldn't remember Evie's name. Natalie took a little while to remember it as well.

• Both girls love to push on Gina's belly and tell her that it is squishy now.

• We've had great doctors with all three of our children (and have been blessed that each of them have been there to deliver our babies). I must say though, Dr. Kelly was absolutely the perfect doctor for us this time. Since December, she has been exactly what Gina has needed. We are both so thankful for everything she (and the clinic) has done for us the last six months.

• We love Target. Well, we sort of do. We have been there almost every day since leaving the hospital. If it's not one thing it's another. It's great to have a one stop shop for things but we feel a little to dependent on the place right now.

• Speaking of Target, three and a half years is a bit longer than we thought between kids. We are going to be replacing a few more baby items (bottles for example) than we were planning on.

• The summer of the babies is underway...we are already looking forward to Carrie and Nick (due July 29), Matt and Morgan (August 22), and Becky and Eric (September 5) having babies in the near future as well!