Meet our adorable new puppy "Haley"

"Haley"

It all started the Sunday before last when Dennis took Ashlyn into the Pet Store to see the "fishies". I followed behind and took a peak at the puppies. There she was in her cold and lonely cage playing with her toy and looking at me with her sad Bassett eyes. In an instant she captured my heart. I can honestly say have never in my life fell so in love with a puppy before. Dennis fell in love too and while in the store we joked about buying her but we knew she was way...way...way... out of our budget. Not to mention the guilt in buying a dog from a pet store vs. being responsible and rescuing a dog from a kennel. The next day I still could not stop thinking about her, so I went back to the store and took a picture and emailed it to Dennis. He stood firm on the fact that we couldn't afford her and that I was not thinking about how hard it is to raise a puppy, especially with having a 2yr. old as well. I just about drove him crazy all day. So Monday night right in the middle of making dinner we dropped everything and drove back to the pet store to buy her. I was so excited! It was like bringing home a new baby:) Oh yeah by the way....that pet store doesn't even sell fish. I guess it was meant to be.

BTW... She is Bassett Hound/English Bull Dog Mix

12 1/2 weeks old and she will be sharing the March

Birthday month with Dennis and I.:)

Nicole Winn

Ashlyn's 3rd Trip to the ER

It all began Monday night when we were hanging out as a family at home. Dennis was feeling really flu-ish all day and didn't have much of an appetite so his plan for the night was to warm up a can of soup (not chicken noodle of course!) and take some Theraflu and head back to bed. Let's just say he did not get too far because at about 8pm, Ashlyn decided she wanted to wash her hands in the bathroom sink like a"A Big Girl" and to make a long story short she slipped off the step stool and split her chin open on the sink as I watched but could not react fast enough to catch her. At first, I did not see the gash on he chin because I immediately picked her up and held her on my shoulder to calm her down, but once she calmed down and I turned her towards me I saw the deep laceration on her chin. Dennis and I immediately got in the car and headed to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, just about five minutes away from our place. Once we got to the ER we were, as always, taken care of right away. We sat in the waiting room no longer than 10 minutes and they called us to a room in the non-critical area of the ER. We saw the doctor and she was so sweet with Ashlyn. She knew the doctor was going to make her better. The doctor opted to use surgical glue on the wound  because of the area it was located on her face. She wrapped her up in a sheet like a burrito so that she would not fight when she applied the glue, but to our surprise Ashlyn did not even flinch as the adhesive was applied. Since it was our 3rd trip to the ER this year, one of the nurses kind of knows us and so on our way out she said, Hope we don't see you soon!"-meaning...Keep the little monkey out of the ER.:) We got home at about 10pm and we were all pretty sick and tired so we skipped the bath and went to bed.  Today, Ashlyn kept saying "I hurt my face!", "The doctor made it better". She was such a brave little girl through it all.

Nicole