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

Ashlyn at the park with Daddy

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Originally uploaded by dwinn

Staying up late to work on your resume: 2 hours sleep

Getting up early for a head start on the day: 1 hour sleep

Getting off work early to take Ashlyn to the park: timeless

photo slideshow

Knotts Berry Farm X-Mas

Knotts Berry Farm 12.23.07 031
Originally uploaded by dwinn

Today we went to Knott's Berry Farm with Moma, Katie, Scott, Jenna and Andrew. It was a really great day. The weather was sunny but cool and brisk and the park was really empty so we were able to jump on/off rides very quickly. Ashlyn had a ton of fun in Camp Snoopy and of course her favorite part of the whole day was the Snoopy's Fun House where she played in a room with huge bouncy balls. She loved it so much we struggled to get her out and move on to the next ride. Here we are in the picture having a Bouncy Blast. We also watched Snoopy on Ice and all of us fell asleep except Moma, then we ate yummy Funnel Cake. Thanks again to Moma for the complinentary Tix. It was definitely a day to remember.

Merry Christmas!

Nicole

Ashlyn's First Trip to the ER

Thursday, November 22, 2007....As new parents Dennis and I are finding out that you can never predict where you will be spending your holidays when you have kids. On Wednesday night, the day before Thanksgiving I picked up Ashlyn from the babysitters as usual and drove home. I noticed Ashlyn was more whiny than usual but the babysitter mentioned that she did not have a good nap, so I just thought she was tired. When we got home we played, watched Elmo and had a little bite to eat before I took her a bath. My plan was to get he to bed early since we were planning on going to church in the morning with Grandma and Grandpa at St. Matthews in Corona, CA. She took her bath and everything seemed normal until I got her out and got her dressed, she whined when I tried to put her arm in her shirt, which I thought was odd. But it still didn't hit me that she had hurt her elbow. Then I went down stairs and Dennis had just got home and that's when we realized she was not using her left arm at all. We really did not know what to do, so we decided to observe it and take her into Urgent Care in the AM. We went to Urgent Care and waiting in the waiting room with a bunch of sick kids only to find out that the Dr. would refer us to the hospital for x-rays. All I could think of was the dreadful waiting time in the ER. So off we drove to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. We got admitted within 15 minutes and actually got placed in a private room where we waited for the Dr. to arrive. Once the Dr. got there he felt her arm, popped it back into place and within a couple minutes she was using her arm again. It was like magic, I was so happy and Daddy was so worried he actually had to leave the room), I think she may have even forgot she hurt it because she was so excited to use it again. On the way out, Ashlyn was so happy she gave the nurse a goodbye kiss. It was so adorable. And that was our Thanksgiving in the ER, a very scary adventure for us all. Luckily, my mom had planned to celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday, so we were still able to have a very enjoyable Thanksgiving celebration with family after all and Thankfully Ashlyn was as good as new. Two Co-pays later she didn't even need an X-Ray. :)

Nursemaid's Elbow
Nursemaid's elbow is a common injury that is seen most often in children between the ages of 1-3 years . It is more common in girls than boys and more often on the left side. Child will not use the arm and holds the arm slightly flexed and pronated. Usually the child has had an incident in which the extended arm was pulled. Most commonly it occurs when a child is falling and the individual holding the hand doesn't let go. Another common mechanism is when the child is swinging while being held by the hands. Occasionally, the injury occurs after a fall and has a relatively high incidence of recurrence.

Lots to be thankful for!
Nicole