Goodbye, Our Fat Max

It's Wednesday night around 11:30pm and it has been a very sad night in the Bumgarner house. Our sweet 8 year old boxer, Max, passed away tonight unexpectedly. I think I was in shock for the first few hours and now, I'm just really sad. As you know, Max was diagnosed with cancer about three weeks ago after he had two cancerous tumors removed. We took him back to the vet a week and a half ago to get rechecked and his incisions were becoming infected so the doctor gave him antibiotics. He has been taking those and has seemed to be just fine until today. This afternoon, my mother in law said that he was acting like he felt bad and that he had thrown up 4 times. Throwing up isn't unusual for Max - he has done this for several days at a time before and he is always okay. When I got home this afternoon, he was lying on his couch in the back bedroom (his favorite spot), he seemed to feel so bad that he wouldn't even raise his head to welcome me home like he usually does. I was worried about him but didn't think he was sick to the point of needing immediate care. Landis' granny was put back in the hospital on Friday night and has been in intensive care until today so we had plans to go see her tonight right after work. So....I thought to myself, I'll take Max to the vet tomorrow and me and Luke went ahead and left for the hospital. Landis met us at the hospital so we had two separate cars. After eating dinner, Landis arrived back at home about 20 minutes earlier than I did. By the time I got home, Landis had called my dad over - when I pulled up and saw them both in the back bedroom, I knew something was wrong. There lay Max in his same spot but not breathing. My dad said that he probably died a few hours before. I couldn't believe it!!! I don't know what happened - was it a stroke, a heart attack, a blood clot from his surgery - I will never know what killed him. I sit here beating myself up because maybe I should have taken him to the vet immediately. And, if I did, would they have been able to do anything? I'll never know....I feel so bad because I didn't even spend a lot of time with Max before I left to load Luke in the car for the hospital - I was in a hurry and didn't take the time to check on him like I should have. There's just so much I wish I would have said and done that I will never be able to do - I just can't believe this happened. You know when a dog gets older, you know they are going to die, but you always expect to have some time to deal with it. I can't believe it happened this fast. We are just really sad around here tonight. Really, really sad....

Max was a good dog - a great dog! He was big, clumsy, and lovable! His little ears would go back when you rubbed him. He loved to roll around with Madi in the yard. He loved to EAT! He lived for meal time!!! He hated the vet - he would shake like crazy every time we went. He panted and drooled when we rode in the car. He LOVED Madi and he LOVED me!! He would have died defending me if needed. He was a great dog that will be very much missed. Thank goodness, Max isn't Luke's favorite dog. Luke prefers to play with Madi because she isn't as big and she is more gentle. However, I still think Luke will ask about Max and wonder what happened to him.

Our dear Madi has lost her best friend. Thank goodness she was able to be with him when he died. Therefore, instinctively, she knows he's gone. I read on the internet years ago to always let dogs that live together smell the dog that has died so they have some closure and know that their companion is gone. Madi is lying at my feet right now getting some extra rubs tonight. I feel so bad for her and dread the day that she leaves us - Max was a great dog and Madi is even better. And...Madi is 9 years old - older than Max!

It's a sad night and I will probably wake up in the morning still trying to process it. In the meantime, I've learned a few lessons - rub Madi as much as possible each day, give her a few extra treats, and TAKE HER TO THE VET immediately if she appears sick. Please keep our family in your thoughts as we deal with the loss of our first family pet. Wow - it sure is sad!

I began this blog on Monday night but due to the extremely slow internet, it has taken me forever to finish this. I had originally titled this blog - "Santa Train #2 and The New Baby" - with the hopes that I would catch your attention quickly with that new baby hint. :) Well, well - don't get your hopes up - there is no new baby on the way, the new baby has already arrived. :) The new baby would be this new toy that Luke has. Granny Otelia gave Luke this small doll from her house for him to take home. Well, against Landis' best wishes, Luke LOVES this baby doll. He wants to carry him around, take him in the car, and take him to bed. He pretends to feed him and give him milk, he rides him in his red car, pushes him in the shopping cart, hugs him, and gives him nose kisses. It's actually quite cute to see how well he takes care of his baby. We gave the baby the name Shelton - which is Luke's middle name. Luke loves this name and calls him by it. I have some super sweet pictures of Luke and Shelton below.

There are also a few pictures of some Santa events that we attended this past weekend...let me show you a few...

The first few pictures were taken at the Davidson County Smart Start Snacks for Santa. It was a free event that included a ton of arts and crafts, free pictures with Santa, face painting, snacks and a few other things. Luke loved getting his face painted and he enjoyed making a few crafts but he didn't care anything about waiting in line for Santa, so we didn't try it. Here are some pictures ....

Luke beside of the big snowmen...

Luke getting his face painted...


Luke with his sucker and fireman hat...



Walking to the car...


And, now, I introduce you to baby Shelton....:) There he is....(this is right after Luke woke up from a nap)...



Landis is trying to steal baby Shelton in the pictures below. Landis is truly aggravated by the fact this his SON is playing with a baby doll. I've tried to explain to him that this is common for this age - toddlers like to take care of things and this is Luke's way of taking care of something.

On Saturday night, we attended a family Christmas dinner that included my grandaddy's brothers and sisters. Here is a picture of grandaddy's family - his kids, grandkids, great grandkids, and spouses. This is by no means all of us. For instance, my mom, Lexi, and Kim weren't there. :)

Luke and Shelton just chillin....

On Sunday night, Luke, Landis, and I went to Denton to ride the Christmas Train. It was a beautiful night - not too cold yet for this time of year. The farm was beautifully decorated. I think Landis and I were more impressed than Luke. We loved looking at all the lights. We started off with a trial visit to Santa. There was not a line when we arrived so we decided to give it a try. Luke was not thrilled to sit on Santa's lap but we got him to do it for a quick 30 second picture, see???
We did have to wait about 20 minutes for the train. Luke did well waiting. Daddy tried to entertain him. As usual, Luke enjoyed the train for about 5 minutes and then he was ready to get "on the move" again. :) Landis and I loved the view from the train. The lights and the Bible story that they showed on a huge screen was really neat. Here are a few pictures of our train ride. Waiting on the train...

Riding on the train...



After the train ride, we walked up the lit pathway and got some hot cocoa and gingerbread cookies. Then, we continued our walk to look at the old church, the ponies, and the general store. This was Luke's favorite part - not the stores or the church, but just walking and exploring. As we walked, I got him to stop and pose for a few pictures...check them out...


Look at this cool lit crane in the background....Luke thought that was awesome!

And...here are some of my favorite pictures....after bath time the other night, Luke wanted to walk "naked" as he says, so I let him walk in his diaper only. Then, he requested to put his tennis shoes on - well, sure, okay. It was quite funny looking. :) Then....he wanted daddy to push him in the red car. So, here is Luke playing and riding in his diaper and tennis shoes. :)





And...some super cute videos...

#1 - Luke playing with Baby Shelton

#2 - Luke playing in is diaper and tennis shoes.

Before I go, I must list a few of Luke's favorite sayings lately...here they go...

"This is ridiculous." - He got this from me. I say this about traffic, when I lose something, when waiting in line at Wal-Mart - I know, I know, I shouldn't say it, but I do....because some things are ridiculous.

"Look at that hansom boy." - He said this on his own while looking at a picture of himself on my computer. I guess he doesn't have a self confidence problem. :)

Sometimes we call Luke a copycat. Well, the other day I said, "Luke, you are a copycat." He looked at me very seriously and said, "I'm a dog too!" :) Now, that's funny...

As he was eating a yogurt that he normally loves, he makes this awful looking face and says, "I don't really like that." :)

While eating dinner the other night, he made the craziest looking face and looked at me and Landis and said, "I'm making a silly face." It's one of those moments you just had to see to appreciate! Landis and I laughed and laughed. The Lukester is quite the clown. :)

"It's in the den." - thanks to his mammaw, he now tells us where his things are and he calls the living room the den. I mean how old is he???? Who says den these days????

His mammaw bought him the cutest Thomas the train book that plays a ton of Christmas songs when you push each button. Luke loves this! I will hear one of the songs playing and look over and Luke will be breaking it down with some dance moves next to the coffee table. It's adorable. He has pretty good rhythm.

And...finally, the new favorite book of the week....there is a book called, "Secret of the Pasture," where a pig loses his friend, the horse, only to find out later that the horse has gone away to have a new baby horse. The book allows for some real animated reading with all the different animal sounds and voices, so, when I read it, I do the different voices and Luke loves it! He will try his best to mock my sounds. We also use his farm animals to "act out" the story and he enjoys this also. We have made this $3 Wal-Mart book when of the best books that he has.

So....it's now midnight...I'm exhausted....thank goodness I'm taking the day off of work tomorrow to get some Christmas shopping done and to get the supplies I need for Luke's birthday party coming up soon. I look forward to a productive morning while Luke's at preschool and then a nice afternoon spending some extra time with my little man. What I don't look forward to is waking up without our fat Max...so, so sad.

Keep us in your thoughts....have a good evening.

Toddy

Oh yeah - one more thing, our internet was changed to North State this afternoon and Time Warner was dropped. The internet is 3 times as fast so I should get better again at posting more quickly. I'm very pleased with the switch BACK! :)