Monday, January 28, 2013

Weekend Run Down


Hey y'all!
So Kev and I have been sort of hibernating the past couple of weeks due to the recent surgery of our sweet fur baby, Bailey boy.
He is recovering just fine.
We have been spending  A LOT of time in the house with him. 
So this was our first weekend getting back into the swing of things and spending time away from our nest
Kev and I live to go out for drinks and dinner on the weekend. 

Friday night we had date night.
We started off at The Pub for some brewskis. I had the largest fried fish sammy of my life. I  bet that things was 3000 calories! It was HUGE. This gal had no remorse, it was friday for pete's sake.  
After dinner we caught a movie. We had been dying to see Zero Dark Thirty.


Boy did it not disappoint.
I tweeted how it was the most intense movie experience of my life. Even though I knew the ending, I swear it gave me heart palpitations. My blood pressure had to be sky high.  We both really enjoyed it. It was intense, dramatic and educational.  Go see it!


Saturday -  I went to this lil love muffins baby shower.
You may recognize Miss Amber from some of the instagram photos I have been sharing. She was one of my bridesmaids.

Baby Emma is due early March and I can't wait to spoil her rotten!
Baby Emma's shower was so adorable. Everything was pink, girly and just plain precious!



Girlfran racked up on gifts for baby girl.

 Saturday night Kev and I took it easy on the couch our adult pallet. Yes, we are still sleeping on a mattress in the living room so we can be with Bailey.

Sunday - we went to church. I broke my wedding boots out. Only the 2nd time I have worn them. I seriously love the lace stitching on them.
Bailey Boy got his pen upgraded and enlarged so he could have a lil more room.
He is starting to put full weight through his surgical leg....YAY!

Bottom right - that would be our sweet uggie who may be the laziest lil bullie I have ever met....and we love her for it.

Kev and I have today off...a three day weekend for us is just what the doctor ordered!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

The Rehearsal


Saturday, November 17th, 2012

Due to the barn being booked on Saturday night, we had our rehearsal Saturday afternoon.
So all these lil flowers and such you see in the barn weren't party of my wedding. Not that there was anything wrong with them....just a tad bit too formal for this country gal :-) 

With that being sad, we had our lil casual rehearsal Saturday afternoon at Talon Winery in the barn.
We would have both our ceremony and reception in the barn, with a lil cocktail hour in between to reset the stage for the reception. 
The weather was 60s both days....in the middle of November...in KY people.
Sunday was close to 70!!! 
My adorable wedding coordinator, Miss Lindsay, led the charge.
I don't know what I would have done without her.
My Saving Grace!! 
If any of y'all are getting married...I would highly, highly recommend getting a wedding coordinator for the day of. Made the day go so smooth. 


And look who showed up to the rehearsal wearing their Saturday best.


The rehearsal was very casual. Check out all those boots :-) 

Most of y'all knew that my close girlfriend, Anne, was marrying us.
Isn't she the cutest?
She and her husband are both ordained ministers.
The ceremony she performed on Sunday was INCREDIBLE.
I can't wait to tell y'all more about it!



Baby brother escorted our 88 (soon to be 89 in February) Granny down the aisle


Anne was a pro at calming our nerves and keeping smiles on our faces.
Having her marry us was such an intimate part of our wedding.


Momma and her baby boy


Groomy and his groomsmen 


Kev's mom and dad


What would I have done without my brother that weekend?
Not only was he a groomsmen, but the official dog escort during the ceremony and usher for granny and Momma. 
Jack of all trades I tell ya! 


My sweet cousins, Kyleigh and Kimber, were adorable flower girls




Allie was our 2nd saving grace...our doggie wrangler!

Love my besite, Meg. 
Couldn't imagine anybody else standing beside of me on my wedding day. 



The true stars of our rehearsal!

and this would be my darling baby brother....
May I just add that this is Uggie's tutu and Bailey's bowtie......classic.




Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Hometown Wedding Shower



September 30th, 2012

Kev and I drove to my hometown tucked away in Eastern, Kentucky for our hometown wedding shower thrown by my sweet momma. 
It was great to spend time with family members and friends who showered us with love, affection and such thoughtful gifts. 
Since my family makes plenty of trips to Lex to visit me and baby bro, mine and Kev's trip to Whitesburg are few and far between. The afternoon was even more special to have so many women there who had watched me grow up.
 From a little girl to a bride to be. 
They have been a part of so many stages of my life and it was very nostalgic to have them there with me that day. Wishing me well as I was preparing to marry the love of my life. 

Below: My sweet Granny (on the right) and Mamaw J. 
She isn't really my Mamaw, but I grew up calling her that. Still wouldn't change that for the world. 


Katrina and Megan, the MOHs, were of course there to celebrate with me.
Love that they are Eastern Kentucky Rednecks Girls, too. 


There isn't a memory from back home that doesn't involve this girl.
So blessed to have had her as a best friend growing up in a small town.
We always knew how to create our own fun. There are memories I share with her that I will always hold tight to.

My momma outdid herself.
She poured her heart and soul into throwing her baby girl a wedding shower. She slaved all weekend making my favorite finger foods and desserts. I was seriously blown away! 
She started the shower off with a surprise slideshow set to music of me and Kev.
I bawled like a lil baby. Total ugly cry! 
I swear she is the most sincere and hard working woman I have ever met. 
She always puts others happiness first.
She is truly a giver and NEVER a taker.
I love her so much and I am so thankful I get to call her Momma. This day reminded me of that. 

Look at all those cakes... homemade by my mom's sweet friend. 







The shower was everything a country girl could have imagined.
Quilts galore!
Longaburger baskets everywhere
Bluegrass music in the background
sweet tea sippin with close friends and family
It was perfect!!! 




KR got to meet so many people that day that he never met before.
We were both blown away with this particular wedding experience.
We just felt so supported and so loved by so many people. There is no better feeling than that right before your wedding. 


Seeing so many people so happy for us was very, very humbling.
We walked away that day with feeling so blessed, and it had nothing to do with materialistic things.
Our hearts were full that day. 
No wedding gift can top that! 


It was that day that I started looking forward to our wedding in a different way than I had before.
I was looking forward to having all those people at our wedding......there to support us for the rest of our lives and watching us vow to love each other every single day.
:-) 



Sunday, January 20, 2013

Bailey Boy's Surgery



For those of you who follow me on instagram and twitter or via facebook....you know things have been a lil different in the Winchester house....to say the least.

It all started January 4th.
It was a friday evening and the hubs and I had our night planned with dinner and a trip to Lowe's to pick up some things for home projects. 
I decided to take Bailey on a little walk before we left. We try to be pretty strict about giving the dogs exercise, especially Bailey because he is so hyper and energetic. Typical for Boxers.

I bundled up and we headed over to our favorite spot for some off leash play.
There is a large open field that backs up to a farm right behind our house. We tend to let the doggies run free several times a week over there. It's our own dog park. 

I didn't take my phone with me that night. I knew it would be a quick trip since it was getting so cold that evening.
Kev and Uggie stayed at home since Uggie typically requires much shorter walks versus Bailey, and less frequent. 
Lazy bullie :-)

Bailey and I were playing a typical game of chasing each other....nothing too vigorous...when all of sudden it looked like something snapped in his leg and immediately went lame on his back left leg. He couldn't put any weight on it.

Visualize a horse running and all of sudden you can see something bad happened to their leg and the immediately begin to limp. You clearly just KNOW something is wrong.
This was the case for Bailey. I knew something was BAD wrong. 
I of course flipped my lid and started screaming like a crazy person.
Literally. Screaming.
There were a few middle school boys close by playing football that ran over to me.
Hmmm....it must have been the shrieking screams. Oops!
They were so sweet. I asked if I could use their phone to call Kev. 
But my mind wasnt working right.....I swear I could not remember my husband's cell number.
True story. 

So of course I called my mother. Had her then call Kevin to tell him to come pick up me and Bailey. I wasn't gonna make the poor thing walk all the way home on 3 legs.....and packing him on my back want an  option since he weights 98 pounds. 

One lil problem....Kev was upstairs the whole time my mom tried to call him. His phone....downstairs in the kitchen. Major Fail!
Can we please add that it was freeeezing?
I sat with Bailey on the ground...he was actually handling it well. Just panting a lil and limping. I think I made it worst by bawling like a baby and he could pick up on my anxiety. 
15 min later....no Kev.

Bailey and I started the trek home. I was amazed at how well he did on three legs. We just took our time and went slow. 
When we got home you can imagine what a panic I was in...i was so upset that Kev thought something horrible happened to me.
Me? A drama queen over my dog? NEVER!

Long story short....we immediately went to the pet emergency room. 
The vet seemed to think Bailey had torn is cruciate ligament in his knee. There was no sure way to tell without sedation and x-rays. I opted to wait until the next morning to take him to our primary Vet for x-rays. We left that night with pain and anti-inflammatory meds to give him.
That night we made our first adult fort/pallet in the floor....and we have been sleeping in the living room ever since. 
We drug a mattress down to the first floor and allowed Bailey and Uggie to be right in the middle of us. 

The next day, I took Bailey to the vet and x-rays did reveal that he had indeed torn his CCL (same as ACL in humans).
BUMMER!!!! 
The vet referred us to a doggie orthopedic surgeon and i made an appt for the following Wednesday.
The vet said to keep him off of his legs as much as we could...no jumping, running, or activity with Uggie.
So Kev and I immediately went into operation Bailey mood. We bought a crate, two large pens, a ramp, bones, an orthopedic bed.....you name it...we bought it.
I wish you could claim your dog on your taxes......

It was a very sad time in our house. Just pitiful. I have NEVER crated Bailey. NEVER.
When I got him as a puppy, I was living with 5 other girls in our last semester of college. Someone was always with him and it was super easy to potty train hm.
Having him in the crate was heartbreaking.
He cried, uggie cried, and then I would cry.

To make matters worse....Kev had to leave us for 4 days for a work trip in NYC. 
Thank goodness for my brother and sweet momma who rushed to be with me and the doggies. 
One of them would sit with the doggies while I was at work.

For the next couple of days we just tried to get him acclimated to his crate and pen. We knew he would be spending lots of time in it after surgery based on our Dr. Google research.
I laid in the crate and pen with him as much as I could. He still hated it.
I caved at night and let him sleep on the temporary mattress bed in the living room floor.
I curled up to him every night before surgery.
To say I was a mess is putting it lightly. 



My mom and I took Bailey to Louisville on Jan 9th and discussed surgical options. 
Our vet recommended the TPLO surgery. It is by far the most invasive, but the one with best and quickest results. 

A little bit about TPLO

Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy) 

What makes the TPLO unique is that using a special curved saw, the surgeon will make a complete cut through the top part of the tibial bone.  This cut is then rotated so that the once “sloped” tibial plateau is now essentially flat.  Once the proper placement is accomplished a metal plate and screws are placed on the outside of bone to hold it in place. See image below.It is important to remember that this is now a broken bone and therefore the healing process should be treated as such. 

(Yes - they literally saw his bone!!! Essentially fracturing his leg! No metal detectors for our Bailey boy either)

The surgery is the easy part. After surgery the vet explained we would need to do the following
1. Confine him for 8 weeks - leash walks only to go pee or poo 
2. No stairs or jumping...not even to jump on our mattress in the living room floor
3. No playing with Uggie
4. Pain meds every 8 hours and anti-inflammatory meds ever 12
5. No walking on hardwood, tile or linoleum floor to avoid slipping
6. Crated when out of home and possible E-collar (lamp shade) to prevent licking incision

Basically after 8 weeks we could start short walks and possible dog therapy/rehab.
Don't you worry, as an Occupational Therapist, Bailey will get plenty of therapy at home too.

I had a list of questions a mile long for the vet. My mom even videoed our appointment with the ipad so we could send it to Kev in NYC. 
I was an overwhelmed mess.
We scheduled surgery for the next day - Jan 10th

The other issues we discussed with the vet is that once 1 leg has a torn cruciate ligament, the other leg is 
50 % more likely to tear. 
Apparently this is very common, but most dogs recover just fine. 
Prayers, prayers and more prayers that we only have to do this once. I dont have the heart to put him through it again.
The Vet also discussed that he would need to be hospitalized and stay the night after surgery.

As a therapist myself, I get it....people go through much worse on a daily basis. I know that. I see it daily!
However, I will be the first to admit i am  CRAZY when it comes to my dog. Kev and I both are and that is one thing I love about him the most.
I hate that so many people in this world miss out on sharing a bond with an animal. I am a firm believer it adds so much to a person's life.
With that being sad, that whole first week was such an emotional drain for me. It was even worse not having Kev here to hold my hand.
I learned two things. - 1. i am so not ready for a baby 
2 - i dont know how you mommas do it all....and you single mommas, you get mad respect from me.
Yes....i know he is a dog, but he is my fur-baby. 

Surgery went well on January 10th.
The vet called me immediately after surgery and said there was only a small concern of an irregular heartbeat every 2-5 min. This is common with anesthesia, but taken serious in the boxer breed due to boxer cardiomyopathy. The vet wanted to do an ultrasound and echo-cardiogram of Bailey's heart.
Yes an echo on my dog...say what??? 
Everything came back normal....they would continue to monitor his heart rate overnight. 

I got to pick Kev up from the airport late thursday night. I was so happy he would be here with me to go pick up Bailey Boy.
We drove to Louisville the next afternoon to get our baby.
Let me just tell ya....TPLO surgery ain't cheap!
But my baby is worth every penny.

They had warned us he would be shaved, bruised and out of it.
I tried to mentally prepare myself....but the reality was rough....really rough
It was the saddest thing and broke my heart.
Poor guy could bailey walk, his lil leg was sooo swollen, he was shaved, and had some serious bruising. 
I fought so hard to keep the tears back.
I rode in the hatch of my SUV the whole way back to lexington with him.



I told him not to be embarrassed by his new haircut. 



We got him home home safe and sound and tried to keep him as comfortable as possible. We hardly left the house so we could be with him. 
It was such an adjustment for all of us. 

Kev and I spent plenty of time in the crate/pen giving him lots of love and attention and keeping things as normal as we could.
He also go iced down by his momma. The therapist in me came out in full force. 


It has been hard on miss Uggie too. It is clear she doesn't understand why she cant play with her brother. it's sad. 
Every time he goes out to potty she wants to sniff his incision. It's like she knows he had surgery and there is a foreign object in there. 

The above photo (bottom left) is day 1....so swollen and bruised.
Bottom right - day 7...such a HUGE difference in a week.
It looks even better today.

He is starting to put some weight on the left leg....just a little, but each day is better than the day before.
We go back for our follow up with Doggie Ortho on Jan 28th. 

He really has been such a good boy. He hasn't been as whiny as I thought he would be. He hasn't been licking his incision. He has been eating regularly, drinking lots, and no issues with his bowel or bladder.
It's more emotionally difficult more than anything, but Bailey has been a trooper.
They say that this surgery is worse on the owner than it is the dog....it's just such a drastic change to our  environment and routine. 
One thing's for sure....the 2nd floor of the house has never been cleaner. ha!
You can tell he is starting to feel better, which is gonna make it that much harder to have him all penned up. 

1.5 weeks down.....6.5 to go. Kev and I are counting down to March 7th!!

thank you all for the sweet texts, comments on instagram, emails, etc regarding bailey. 
you have no idea how much we appreciate it! 

Thursday, January 17, 2013

My Bachelorette Party

I hope you all are enjoying me recapping wedding highlights as much as I am.
Next on the list: the Bachelorette Party!

October 19th, 2012

I of course managed to turn the thing into an all weekend event
My girlfriends, Sara and Anne, came up to get the party started with a girls only trip to Keeneland to watch those ponies run.


However, the weather man did not cooperate with out plans. It rained alllll day.
That didn't stop us! We still had our own version of Keenland tailgating. It just may or may not have been in my SUV.
Hey a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do.
We ate panera sammies and sipped skinnygirl while the rain came pouring down.
We kept saying "we are gonna go into the track in 30 minutes"
Well....thirty mins turned into 2 hours. At the point we thought that happy hour might be calling our names.

We made it to Harry's, one of my favorite Lexington restaurant/bar for sushi and wine.
Miss Katie met us after work to join in on the fun.

Kev was a trooper and drove to the other side of town to pick us up and bring us home
He even picked us up pizzas for late night snacks.
We spent the rest of the night in our sweats on the couch watching old movies.
Great way to kick off the weekend!

The Big Bachelorette night
October 20th,2012

My MOHs, Katrin and Megan planned the perfect girls night out.
Kev and baby brother were out of town together to run the Tough Mudder.
That lil fact comes back up later.....
We started the night off with some cocktails at our house before headed downtown


I felt if very appropriate to wear my cowboy boots on my last fling before the ring.


I love these two to pieces. I was so glad Agray made the drive from Indy to celebrate. And of course, my bachelorette party could have not been completed without my girl, Katie.


Katrina and Meg had it all planned out for the gals to wear black and me be the only gal in white.


My Lexington Sex and The City group.
Don't know what I would do without them



Katrina brought all the bachey accessories to draw even more attention to our night out.
If I said i hated it.....I would so by lying through my teeth.
shhhh we won't tell




My Bridesmaid, Amber, didn't miss a beat that night.
Even if she does have a lil bun in the oven!
We are starting baby Emma out early :-)


It was a must to get an old school sorority pose at this occasion.
Go Chi-O!


This pic could be worth a thousand words.
The "kissey face" was mine and Angie's signature photo in college.
I don't necessarily think that is something to be proud of. oops!
We had to get one in....for old time's sake and all.


Majority of the girls minus a few that met us downtown.
I am so blessed in the friendship department...truly I am.



Megan and Katrina made us reservations for a private room at the Vue that is located on the top of the Chase Bank building in Lexington. It has such a pretty view of downtown at night.
We chowed down on Sushi, crab cakes and baked mac and cheese to name a few.....
and probably gave our poor waiter a headache taking care of 15 gals.
Once upon a time...i lived with these three gals (plus TWO More).
That's right 6 girls in one house.
Oh the memories....




My bridesmaids, minus Cati, who was stuck in Texas and couldn't make the trip.
We had a moment or two, or three for her.


After dinner and drinks at the Vue, the girls had booked a limo to take us around Lexington to shake our tail feathers.

Poppin bottles in the limo....


We made several pit stops at our favorite downtown lexington hot-spots.
I think some of the photos will simply stay forever on my memory card, but just to give you a lil glimpse into our evening....here ya go.
Don't worry, we kept in classy....for the most part!






My favorite part was riding around in the limo...sippinc chamgpange and singing fun songs like "Call Me Maybe" and "Can I get a What What" by Jay Z.  Not gonna lie....It was so darn fun acting like 17 year olds. Just all of us, together, crammed in the back of the limo....total girl time!
I will never forget Miss Katie showing her true hip-hop skills that night.
Girlfran can RAP!

I woke up the next morning and called my Momma.
She asked me how the night went. I told her that it was one of the most fun nights I had ever had with my girlfriends. When I would think about my bachelorette party leading up to that night....it was everything I thought it would be and more.
How many times do you get to wear sashes, veils, and glow in the dark/flashing diamond rings and be surrounded by the friends you love most?
It was the bachelorette party I had always wanted.

Thank you ladies for making my last night out as a single lady one for the memory books.
You all rocked my socks off!!


One more thing....That night Kev came home from his tough mudder run with my brother with ELECTRICAL BURNS to his face. Can we please keep in mind that we were just a couple weeks away from our wedding.
Probably not their smartest idea to engage in such a grueling obstacle course and race.
After I realized he was ok, I wanted to give him a lil kick in the booty.
Here's the proof. (check out the corner of his mouth)


oh yes...that did happen!










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