30 Days of Thanks-Day 2

What animal are you thankful for?

 

 I am thankful for our little first "baby"...Emma. She turned 8 years old this summer. 

We have had her since she was 7 weeks old. 

She is the sweetest and most loving dog I have ever met. 

Really she has such a big heart and understands so much of what we do and say, its amazing sometimes. 

She has had a rough year, first with the new edition of Ellie, our black lab we adopted last fall. 

And then with the birth of Grace, her world was spinning for a bit. 

She has been so good and patient and is finally starting to give Grace some attention instead of just ignoring her. 

She used to sit beside me when I was nursing, and now she now will come up 

and sniff her head and give her a little lick on the arm. 

She is so loving. I am so proud of her for accepting our growing family so well.

2 comments 30 Days of Thanks, Emma

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a wonderful surprise

My husband surprised me last week with one of the most amazing gifts that I have received in a long time. 

A portrait of Emma! He has a friend, his name is Matt Betts, who has been doing Pet Portraits for a while. 

We have seen some of his work and always talked about how awesome it would be to have something like that done with a favorite picture of Emma. Because any of you who have visited my blog, know Emma is like our child and we have hundreds probably thousands of pictures of her on our hard drive.  

She's just too adorable isn't she?

So he went and sent Matt some images of Emma that were his favorite and he decided on using this one 

for her portrait.  She has such beautiful eyes and markings and I love how she stands so strong. 

Very photogenic for a canine, don't you agree? 

Last week he received the portrait in the mail. He gave it to me after work. I cried.
Literally, I had tears in my eyes! It was beautiful! He did an amazing job!
You can see the detail in the picture below, but in real life it is even more amazing.
You can see the strands of her hair and the definition in her chest so much clearer.
Artists never cease to amaze me, but the way that Matt captured her strong features and her
sweet personality at the same time just blew me away.
I mean, he even got the twinkle in her eyes!
We are looking to find the perfect frame for it and just the right spot to display it.
Our little girl is now captured in art for us to enjoy for years to come. What an amazing gift!

You can check out more of Matt's work here. Stop over like his page and check out an amazing artist.
If you have a pet you consider a member of the family, check with him about getting your own pet portrait!
I am so thankful for his talent and for my husband asking him to create one of Emma. What a wonderful surprise!

3 comments Emma, Surprise

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You Capture-Doorway

Sometimes all you need is a doorway with a little sunshine coming in 

to make winter a little more bearable. 

15 comments Ellie, Emma, You Capture

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Happy Birthday Emma!

Yesterday was my little girl's 7th Birthday! 

We got Emma when we lived in San Diego, a gift from my father-in-law.  He had her mother, Tinker.

She was 6 weeks old when we got her, so tiny and adorable.
I had no idea she would melt me like she did.

She is part of our family and we are so blessed to be her human parents!

We spent the day lounging on the couch and enjoying each others company.  She loves to lay on my lap, it's her favorite place to be besides laying in front of the door enjoying the sunshine.

She has grown into such a wonderful dog, scratch that, she is so much more then a dog.  

I hope you never have to feel pain, sadness or being alone.
Here's to many more birthday's little girl...you truly are the sunshine of my life!

*Please send big puppy prayers to Fritz (Mel's newest family member) who is having big health problems right now and is fighting but in a lot of pain.  Emma is praying hard he get's better.

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Poor Miss Emma

Our little girl was sick this weekend.  We discovered some blood in her urine on Friday after she had some accidents in the house. She NEVER tinkles in the house.  Like maybe only 3 times in her whole life has she not let us know. The poor girl was shaking and hiding under my husbands legs because she thought she did something wrong, she didn't understand what was happening to her and why she couldn't control herself.  We quickly called the vet and made an appt for the next day to get her checked out, they didn't think it was urgent because she was eating and drinking normally.

So we went out Friday night and bought some doggie diapers that we kept on her just in case she couldn't make it outside.  She had a vet appt around noon after a urinalysis and rectal exam (ouchie...sorry sweetie!) the vet determined it was a Urinary Tract Infection.  Who knew dogs could get a UTI?  So he sent us home with some medication that should make it go away over the next 2 weeks.

I left the vets office and broke out in tears on the way home, thankful that it wasn't anything worse and grateful that it should be able to be cured with antibiotics.  That little 12 lb dog means so much to me and has become such an important part of our life, thinking of her being sick or losing control of her ability to function makes me sad.

I didn't want to say it out loud, but it made me wonder how am I ever going to stay sane enough to have a child if I worry this much about my beloved pooch?  I will be a basketcase everytime they get a boo-boo or catch a cold. Then Emma turns around and starts licking away my tears, her way of telling me that she loves me.  I look into her brown eyes and realize that she is teaching me how to be a good mom and that everything will be ok as long as we keep loving each other.


Emma is doing better as of this morning, there is already less signs of bleeding and she hasn't had anymore accidents in the house.  Thank those of you who were thinking baout her after my anxious twitter updates.  I appreciate your concern and sharing of knowledge.  So does Miss Emma!

(I am sure the non-dog lovers out there probably think I am insane, but that's ok...the other dog-lovers know exactly how I feel)

9 comments Emma, Emotions

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Is he here yet?

Somebody is waiting patiently for SANTA.  She's got on her MRS. SANTA  jacket....and the snow has started to fall...so the time must be near!

Yes...I'm one of those people who have multiple pieces of clothing for their dog-a girls gotta have choices.  Gotta keep my wienie warm during these cold days!

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You Capture - SHOW ME HAPPY

Her eyes can brighten up the darkest of days. 

She loves to soak up the rays of sun that shine thru the door.


She's a great helper and is constantly interested in what's going on.


She's a great cuddle buddy and we help each other stay warm! 

Emma makes me happy...just by being herself!  I love my pups!

Come share what makes you happy at I Should be Folding Laundry.

24 comments Emma, You Capture

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Emma's a Winner!

A few weeks ago I was strolling thru cyberspace and came across a blog all about Dachshunds! Anyone who has read my blog knows my 6 year old Emma holds such a special place in my heart, so this was a great find.

Whosyourdachshund is devoted to the cutest dogs on the planet and the people lucky enough to be their owners.  I love reading stories about doxies, because anyone who has owned a dachshund know very well the personality that they posess!  Anyway, there was a contest to enter to win a t-shirt from Psychedelic Fur. They have lots of cute stuff for your pooch! So I entered...and ended up winning!

Actually we all know Emma was the real winner!  She loves it!

 Go check out Whosyourdachshund for some heart warming stories and great pictures!

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You Capture - HAPPINESS

There are just some things in life that make you happy and make you smile just because. You Capture challenge for this week was to try and capture some of that happiness. Here are a few things that made me smile this week.

I went to the Toledo Zoo last week and saw this flower on a tree in one of the gardens. It was so simple yet so complicated...and breathtakingly beautiful.


Something that I see everyday that makes me smile is Emma, our 6 year old dachshund. I love how she sneaks under any blanket laying around...but not completely!

Sometimes she wants her but left uncovered.


Sometimes she leaves just her nose out.

This is a face that brings me happiness every single day. I love her so much and I am blessed to have been her mommy for her whole life. She makes me feel like I will be a good real-life mommy when the time comes.


What happiness did you capture this week? Come over and share with Beth and her happy capturing crew!

22 comments Emma, You Capture

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