Allergies...They run in the family

Most of you know that we have been battling Abby's severe allergies since we got her 2.5 yrs ago. Recently I changed her food to a very high quality (& expensive)dog food called Blue Buffalo. I got her the lamb & rice flavor because that supposed to be less allergenic. She has done great on it, her skin started to clear up & her coat has never been softer or shinier. I highly recommend this dog food to anyone. I had to take Izzy to the vet the other day d/t the fact that she kept scratching at her ears & was yelping some. You will never believe what the vet told me.....Izzy is having an allergic reaction to the new food!!! UNBELIEVABLE! This is a new vet since we have moved but I really liked him & he was very honest. After telling him about Abby & her problems he recommended that my dogs be put on a strict diet for at least 4 weeks to see if they did better. They can't have any chicken, beef, lamb, corn, wheat, or rice. Do you know how hard it is to find a dog food that doesn't have some form of one of those in it? I was going to make them food w/venison, potatoes, & veggies but you need to make sure they get vitamin supplements if you do that & every one that I looked at had at least one "bad" ingredient in it.
So after literally 8 hour on the computer looking at dog foods, the ingredients & Internet forums, I finally found something. Taste of the Wild dog food, it has one that is made from fish & potatoes. There is also one called Natural Balance (@ Petco)& they have a few different flavors for the dogs. They are also pricey but they are @ the same as the Blue Buffalo. The other reason that I had originally changed their food is because all the crap (fillers, preservatives) in regular dog food. My mom has had 2 dogs die from cancer & it is becoming more common so I wanted to try to avoid this with my 2 babies.

End of a legacy....

Thurs. Night my mom called me to tell me that her dog Rex wasn't acting right. After some nursing asessment over the phone I told her she should take him to the vet in the a.m. if things weren't better. She called Fri. night to inform me that Rex had a 3 pound tumor on his spleen & had passed away after the vet had tried to remove it. My mom was crushed.
It was hard for me too b/c he wasn't just my mom's dog. He was the only link I have left of my beloved Boomer. I got Boomer for my 10th b-day & he was & always will be the best dog I ever had. To say the least I loved him very much. It devastated me when he died @ 15 yrs old. Rex was his son. RIP Rexy-boy 1996-2008

Fun weekend!

We had a great time this weekend! Stace didn't work & we decided to do something fun as a family. We drove to Natural Bridge Caverns, by San Antonio. They have several things to do there, cavern tours, mining, rock climbing, & a wildlife park. The kids have always wanted to do some mining so we decided to surprise them & do that. They have mining pans & water running through these trough like things, to help you wash away the dirt. It was a lot of fun. The kids found arrowheads & lots of "gem" stones. Stace & I also found some good stuff. I even found a pretty decent size amethyst. Although, I doubt any of it is really worth anything. It was still lots of fun.
After mining we drove through the wildlife park & saw lots of really cool exotic animals. The coolest part by far though was when a momma & baby Zebra came up to our car & we fed them from our hands. They were sooo sweet! They walked into the woods though b/c it started pouring down rain. After the wildlife drive we went to the petting zoo. AKA, a bunch of goats in a pen. They weren't that interested in our food they just wanted to eat the bags. There was on that really enjoyed getting a butt scratch from S. :)
Then we went to Clear Springs Catfish for dinner. We met my mom, dad, brother, sister, & nephews there. It was a goodbye party for my brother, who will be headded back to college next weekend. It makes me sad b/c although he has been home all summer I don't feel I have gotten to spend much time w/him. I'm going to miss him lots. :( We also ate a wonderful strawberry cake my mom made for S b/c his b-day was 8-13. It was de-lish! Thanks mom.

OUCH!!!!

We are officially moved into our new house. The the timing could have been better though. This weekend was one hot MF. After moving on Sunday we decided to take a dip in the neighborhood pool. It felt sooo great until.....I BROKE MY NOSE! Yes, I broke my nose while swimming! I was swimming a lap under water w/my eyes closed (the chlorine Burns them)when I felt that I was on the surface of the water so I dove down deeper. Well guess what. I was actually only @ 6 inches from the bottom so I did a face plant onto the concrete bottom. OUCH! It hurt so bad that all I could do was come up & hold my face. When I finally took my hands off S looked @ me & said "Baby what happened? Your nose is bleeding!" To which my daughter Sh freaked out! I looked @ my hands & they were covered in blood. I went to the bathroom & stopped the bleeding. I have a scrape on the bridge of my nose & it's all bruised & swollen. S felt bad for me but he also kept laughing at me. We had to leave the pool because I needed some pain meds. It hurt all the way down to my teeth. I couldn't smile or raise my eyebrows, any facial movement hurt my nose. I felt better after the meds. Today it's still swollen & bruised but I'm OK as long as I don't touch it or bend down. It's not crooked it just feels stuffy from swelling. I think I just cracked the bridge. I have never broken a bone in my body & leave it to me to break my nose swimming.