Lately

It feels like the last few weeks have been a whirlwind. I have always wondered what it would be like to stand out in the middle of the field when one of those "dust tornados" were going on, and after these few weeks I think I might have something to compare it to.


The last two weeks I have been helping with the biometric screenings for our wellness program at work. It has equaled many early mornings and late nights, but is always fun. It is fun getting to see people you normally don't get to see every day. That is one thing that I really enjoy about employee events... getting to interact with all the people!


On a different note: Ben is doing GREAT!! He does not have much pain anymore and is getting around like those crutches are second nature. He has a boot on now that he has to wear anytime he is up moving around. When he is sleeping or just sitting he can take the boot off. The doctor told him to start moving his ankle and he has a lot of his mobility back. It is still a little swollen and he has a ways to go, but he is off to a great start.


Louie is still trying to heal up. We took another urine sample a week after he had been on the antibiotic. There was no change in his urine from the previous week. Still blood and white blood cells in the urine. It is not as dark as when I first noticed blood in his urine, but there has been no improvement in the urine tests. Another 7-10 days of antibiotics and then another urine test. If there still is no improvement he will need to have some x-rays done to see if he has stones. He is still eating, drinking and running like crazy on his wheel so I think he feels okay. Still losing quite a few quills.



Below are some recent pictures:



Below: The Tad man fell into the side table and got a black eye. That same week he fell again and ended up with a bloody nose. Poor little guy!!


Below: Tad and I are playing with food (of course). He thought it was really funny to watch me eat.

Below: Tad was helping Grandma with laundry... if unfolding folded laundry counts!! He has a celery stick in his hand. He was dipping it in Ranch dressing earlier. (That's my boy!!)

Below: Tad and his Momma were line dancing!! Watch our girls!!

Below: Tad stopped to strike a pose.

Below: Uncle Jake was helping Tad get ready for his bath. Little did he know that Tad would try to pee all over him after he took off his diaper.

Below: Tad has already figured out how to lick the beaters. The one he has is mashed potatoes. It will be so much better if it was brownies!

Below: Uncle Ben and Tad were playing. Ben had the cup stuck to his face and Tad was trying to pull it off.

Below: Tad thinks Uncle Ben's crutches are really cool.

Below: Tad went and played at the park in Garber one day. He LOVES the swings.

Below: Tad decided that he was tired of riding in the wagon and wanted to walk. He hasn't figured out that he has to hold someone's hand if he is walking down the street. In fact he did not like holding hands at all!

Below: I love this picture of Tad... even if he was cranky!

Below: Tad has his own straw he plays with, but is always trying to get Grandma's straw. This time he was faster.

Below: Tad was checking his grocery list. LOL

Below: Tad was tired of riding in the wagon... so he decided to push it.

Below: Tad greeting Poppa when he came in the door. He always runs right over when Gigi and Poppa come in.

Below: Heck yeah he is an OSU fan!!

Below: Gigi and Tad were dancing.

Below: You can kind of see the rash Tad has from an allergic reaction to some antibiotics he was on. He is fine though.

Below: I was tickling Tad.

Tad turns 1 on Friday!!! This year has gone by so fast. We are having his birthday party on Saturday. He is such a neat little guy and we are so blessed to have him.

Ju

Louie

Louie is my pet hedgehog. Most of the time when people find out I have a hedgehog they ask "what in the world made you think to get a hedgehog?" Well, I had several guinea pigs growing up and while they are very sweet animals, they can get kind of smelly. My friend Lisa has a friend that had a hedgehog and she told me all about it. So of course the animal lover that I am... had to get one! That is how I ended up with my first hedgehoge named Rosie.

When I lived in Enid and was still in college I got another hedgehog (Rosie had passed while I was in highschool... sweet girl) and still have him. His name is Louie. Louie has been on many adventures in his short little life...

Below are some of the adventures that we have had through the years:

Below: Louie likes dark places... unfortunately he got stuck in this one. There are bite marks on the inside of this koozie from him trying to get out. Rest assured I rescued him and all was well.

Below: This is Louie's and most pet hedgehogs favorite toy. I think when they get their head inside (and yes, he can get himself out) they think they are tunneling. Pretty cute. He would sleep with his head in it if I would let him.
Below: Snoozing on the couch.
Below: Louie's wheel might actually tie as his favorite toy (he has a green one now...much more manly). He literally runs on this thing all night long. He was an expert escape artist until I got him one. 3 mornings in a row I had to hunt for this little guy. Fortunately he had found a pile of clothes to rummage through and eventually fell asleep there not far from his cage.
Below: Louie was tubing and fell into his food bowl and got stuck.
Below: At my apartment in Enid I had an extra bedroom. When I didn't have any roommates, it was Louie's play room. I accidently left a roll of paper towels on the floor one day and Louie started tunneling with it. He was having such a good time that I couldn't take it away from him.
Below: Louie is breaking out of his paper towel roll tunnel.
Below: I love this picture of him. The paper towel all around him is from where he had been trying to dig.
Below: Jungle Louie!! Louie enjoys the outdoors... but I have to be careful. If he finds any kind of poop he puts it (anoints) all over himself. Then he of course gets a bath.
Below: I decided one day to expand Louie's cage. He had been living in one sterilite tub, so I decided to add another one on. I went to Lowe's and got a piece to connect them. I had a blister by the time I was finished. Here Louie is checking out his new tunnel to go back and forth between his tubs.
Below: Peek-a-boo!! Sometimes I line the couch with pillows and Louie plays behind them (again the tunnel thing).
Below: Louie was visiting Lisa's Pre-K class and decided it was time to play a game. For some reason he is trying to dig. Louie has probably visited hundreds of elementary students in his short little life.
Below: Peek-a-boo again! He was snuggling in a blanket with me.
Below: GRRR Louie really isn't mean. I had icy hot on my legs and the smell made him bite my pants. He then would anoint himself with the new smell.
Below: He kind of looks like a ferret in this picture. He had just had a bath and I was drying him off and keeping him warm.
Below: I just love this picture of him. So sweet.
Below: Louie just playing in his wood chips.
Below: This is another one of my favorites of my little man. His eyes look so full of mischief.
Below: Unfortunately in this picture Louie was being taken to the vet. He had a big sore on his foot. The vet had never seen a hedgehog before... I wanted to know whether or not it was infected. He ended up being fine and his foot healed right up.
Below: Just hanging out.
Below: Louie LOVES LOVES LOVES mealworms. So much he crawled into the bag and went to town on em.
Louie has had some medical problems arise. He has been losing quills for about 1 1/2 months now. I have been trying to treat him for dry skin and possible mites with not much success. He has been eating fine and his activity levels have not changed, but I found blood in his urine on Monday. He has been to the vet and we are attempting to try to figure out what is going on with him. This time I took him to a vet that is more familiar with exotics. Awaiting urine tests results.

Ju

Christmas Day

Update on Ben: Ben's surgery on Thursday went really well. He ended up with a plate and 4 screws (2 will come out later). He has to be completely off of it for 6 weeks. The doctor is not concerned about his bones healing and think they will be just fine. However, he did have some soft tissue damage which is why he is having to be off of it so long. It takes time to heal. He is doing well and they have been able to keep his pain under control. He goes back to the doctor in about a week and a half and they will remove his cast and put him in a boot. He is in good spirits.



Since we stayed the night in Perry on Christmas Eve, we got to see Alyssa and Grayson open their presents from Santa the next morning. She was so excited and I am glad we ended up staying so we could watch.



Below: Alyssa is opening up what I think is her cupcake maker from Santa. Ryan and I missed out on her baking abilities which I think occured later that day.

Below: Grayson got in on the action too! Such a fun little guy. He isn't quite old enough, but he sure tried to get that paper off!
Below: I just had to post this picture. This is the most impressive bed head I have ever seen! I am impressed and a little jealous. LOL She has the most beautiful curls.
Below: This is 412 while Ryan and I were driving home. This road is always bad if we get any kind of snow. It always drifts. Ryan and I felt like we were driving home on a cloud. We had to be careful though, there were drifts that came up on the road. Overall I was impressed with the road crews. I didn't expect this road to be so clear.
Below: This is the heaping drift of snow that is at the beginning of our street in Garber. I kept telling Ryan that we could make it, but he wouldn't try. It is probably a good thing I wasn't driving because I would have tried it!! I then would have been pushing!!
Once we made it safely home and got ready, we went to my Mom's house in Garber to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family. It was a day filled with fun and laughter, and of course great food! My mother had a turkey incident, but I will spare you the details. If you want to know the story, have her send you the e-mail! LOL She cracks me up, but is always such a good sport.



Below: This is the Christmas tree at my Mom's house I have been telling you about. The ornaments started out being evenly placed around the tree. Due to Tad (and possibly my encouragement) they slowly moved up the tree. He also wasn't afraid to use one of the gifts to get on and try to reach them. I am noticing in this picture that my special cup cake wrapper tree topper is not on top!?!?! What happened guys!

Below: Bryan opening up his gift. I think he gets a new pair of overalls every year. That is what he asks for!! Not sure what his expression is in this picture.
Below: Grandma received 3 bags of pecans for her Christmas present! I think some of them came the next Monday on her delicious chocolate cake!! Oh so good!
Below: Ashley opening her gift. She received a flash drive. Now she can store all of her pictures!
Below: Angie received a Braum's gift card. I don't remember what else she got. Bryan or Ashley had her name. They enjoy giving Angie a hard time. Well, our whole family gives everyone a hard time.
Below: Ryan was excited about his grill cover. Now we can make more room in the garage.
Below: Ryan had Jacob's name and got him koozies. They are neat. On one side it says "Reinschmiedt Bros. LLC" and on the other side it has their brand.
Below: Lisa received a waffle maker from Grandpa. She made waffles for everyone the next morning. (I of course was not out of bed)
Below: Lisa had Mom's name and got her some new sheets for her bed. There is another funny inside joke to this. :)
Below: Mom had my name and got me some picture frames!! If you don't know I am a picture person. Tad helped me open my gift. By that time he was really getting into it!
Below: I had Gpa's name and got him a digital picture frame. I put pictures on a flash drive and got it all set up for him. I don't even know how many are on there, but it is a lot! I hope he enjoys it and it brings back memories from the past few years. I know it did for me when I was making it.
Below: I don't remember who had Ben's name. I think he received some Wrangler work shirts but I am not 100% for sure.
Below: Dad is opening his gifts. He must have been surprised by the look on his face.
Below: Tad getting into opening more presents!
Below: We went and took family pictures and gave Gpa and Gma one. I should post those soon! (Yes that is a bow on Lisa's face)
Below: We all got a gift from Tad! He gave us these cute ornaments. One of these days when Tad has cousins we want to all sit down and make then together.
Below: Tad in the wagon Ryan and I got him. Yes, I wrapped the entire thing. It actually only took about an hour. It was to cold to take him on a ride outside that day so we took him around the house. Grandma Brenda took him out one of the warmer days and he loved it! It will be great this summer when they are walking over to our house to go swimming.
Below: Tad relaxing in the wagon with his juice cup. Heck yeah he is using one of Uncle Jake's koozies!
Below: Towards the end of the night, Tad was playing and tripped and ended up in the middle of all of his toys. He didn't know what to do and was stuck. To cute! He did this again yesterday but fell into a tub of toys.
Well, that was the majority of our Christmas vacation. We went to my Dad's the following Sunday and celebrated with the Reinschmiedt clan. I need to get some pictures from them.

Until next time... Take Care!

Ry and Ju