Our Lily Bean

The weekend is here. Actually, I can't say that yet. Both David and myself have to work tomorrow morning each for a few hours....but hey, then the weekend will be here. Nothing really planned. Seems as though the weather's going to be crummy and cold. That's one amazing thing about ohio (okay, there's more than just one thing), you can have a 70 degree day one day then a 40 degree day the next. It's about 9:30 and David's already hopped in bed. He's been surviving on about 5 hours of sleep each night. So he's exhausted.
I have to share something that we have been so excited about. Some of this I have already posted so it is kind of being repeated, but I just have to, because it's something amazing. If anyone knows be well, you know that my life revolves around my "kids" And although I know I am not a true mom I feel as though I do have kids and it's something I'm very proud of. I know that Mother's Day is around the corner but I want to share my appreciation that I have for my kids. As most of you know Lily has IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) which makes her have chronic diarrhea, oftentimes uncontrollably. We've had her for the past 2 years and have changed much of our lifestyle of living because of her disorder (special homemade diets, made a "special" room for the animals with commercial vinyl tablecloths covering the entire floor for easy cleanup, run every test you could think of on her, and even went as far to pull up the carpeting in our new house-okay, we probably would have done that anyway, but she definitely encouraged us). Both of our dogs are litterbox trained so it definitely helps the situation. She's always been one depressed pup with little spirts of happiness, however we couldn't let her go because we knew she had a good life and her good times made it worth it. With our yard she is now able to run outside and be a dog. Now she is one happy pup with tons of energy. She still has the loose stool, but she's been able to get to the appropriate areas. No accidents in several weeks, we haven't had to clean out her kennel in about 3 weeks (it used to be every time we came home), and her nighttime playpen has been packed away and she's been sleeping with us. I can definitely tell that she now feels as though she's part of the pack and is so happy to be here. Now if we can just figure out how to get used to having a rambunctious puppy again! I pray that this continues and we never have to go through what we've been through with her. But I can honestly say that every sleepless night, every messy kennel, and every accident is worth it just to see her happy even if it's for one moment. And I thank our family members who have been so gracious when she's around to put up with the issues and even help take care of her when needed. I couldn't imagine our lives without our "kids". Even with all of the "work" that we put in, it's so worth it when you come home at the end of a long day and have them all run to you saying "mommy, we love you!" A form of unconditional love found nowhere else.