When Mom's away.........

Yesterday was the first day that Dad has been alone with the girls without mom being here at night. Jana has taken a 4 day wellness trip to Phoenix with Tara to rest, relax, and have a couple of days without any responsibilities toward anyone.

Of course I am the funnest of all fun dad's, and my new bike was delivered yesterday, so I quickly assembled it and got the girls in the pull behind buggy and went for a long bike ride. The bike didn't come with a kick stand so after our bike ride, I loaded up the girls and drove to Dick's sporting goods to pick up the only kick stand they had.

After stopping at Dick's it was close to eating time for the girls so I treated them to cheddar bites and chicken strips at Sonic (I think they are on Michelle Obama's nutritious foods list). We went home and picked up Bella and decided to go to the dog park so the girls could experience that for the first time. Bella is always excited to go to the dog park and couldn't wait to get there.

At the dog park, I got the girls into the stroller and had Bella's ball and we played with Bella for a while and then walked down a path that has a thick undergrowth in the woods next to it. Bella ran off into the woods on a little game trail and that's when the veritable fecal matter hit the fan.

I heard a limb snap and then Bella let out a quick painful cry. I thought she was just scared and I told her to get back on the trail. She came back and we started to walk again, when Bella sat still for a second. When I checked on her, she had a 3 inch gash on her abdomen with some blood around it.

Bella seemed in good spirits and wasn't losing a lot of blood so we quickly walked back to the car and I loaded the girls and Bella up and called our vet. Of course it was after hours so they gave me another number to call which was the emergency vet clinic about 20 minutes away. I did manage to break some speed limits (but I was very safe Jana) and I unloaded Bella first and took her in and they quicly came and took her into the back to get evaluated when I told them I had two small children waiting in the car. I knew the girls would come in handy. I went out to the car and put the girls in the stroller and sat in the waiting area.

It turns out that she had impaled herself on a sharp stick that went into her abdominal region between her skin and her abdominal cavity lengthwise down her body about 12 inches. The vet said she was lucky that it didn't penetrate into the abdominal cavity. They gave her stitches and a penrose drain (Now Bella and Emma have something in common). I have to clean the drain twice a day and fill her full of antibiotics and pain meds. We have to take her back to the vet to get her drain out in 3 or 4 days and we have to also take her back in 10-14 days to get the stitches out.

She stayed in the animal hospital overnight and the girls and I picked her up this morning. Last night when we were leaving the hospital to go home, Abby kept asking for Bella and Momma? I told her Momma was deep into the Margaritas and Bella is deep into the same (pain killers).

Now back to the kick stand. Last night I got the girls to bed and cleaned the house (dusted, mopped the floors, cleaned all the dishes, washed the sheets, vacuumed, cleaned all the bathrooms..... or I just picked up the living room a little bit - you decide which) I went outside and put the kick stand on my new bike. As I lean the bike over and put the kick stand down it was too long!!! After several expletives I pushed with moderate force down on my bike and the kick stand magically bent into a position that would work. Obviously my dad's logic has been passed down, "when in doubt just mash down on it."

Here are the latest pics of Bella and her Penrose drain: