Goodbye Pumpkin

Our sweet Pumpkin died on Friday morning.
She was such a great pet. We are all very sad, and will miss her so much.

Here's what happened.

On Thursday morning Rebekah came to me and told me that she thought Pumpkin was sick - that she had been lying still in her cage and wouldn't open her eyes. I was hurrying out to the pool with the other 3, so told her to clean her out and make sure she had lots of clean fresh bedding, and give her fresh water.

While we were at the pool Bek text (texted?) me several times to tell me she really thought she was sick. Rebekah LOVES Pumpkin and played with her every day. I trusted her judgment, and that she would be the one to tell if anything was wrong. Yet, I wasn't sure what to do. I knew hamsters got something they call "wet tail" which is basically diarrhea and is almost always fatal, but other than that .....

I called a vet while we were still at the pool - they didn't see hamsters, but gave me the number of another vet that did. I called them and they had an appointment for 2pm. It would be $95 to have her seen. I called Rick and was happy to get his voice mail.

"Hi Babe. We'retakingthehamstertothevet, it's$95, justwantedtorunitbyyou.Bye."

When we got home I googled "sick hamster" and decided taking her to the vet was the best thing - if it was something bacterial, she'd stand the best chance getting on an antibiotic early. We loaded up and went.

When the vet saw her she asked how old she was. I told her 2 1/2, and she said "So you know she's a pretty old hamster." I was surprised, when we bought her I was sure that the pet store girl had said they could live from 2 - 5 yrs. The vet's response was "If you had a 5yr old hamster it would be in the Guinness Book of Records. I've never seen one over 3."

The vet told us it was not wet tail, and that actually Pumpkin seemed to be a relatively healthy hamster - alert and curious, comfortable being held, bright eyes, etc. She had some blood discharging from her bottom, so she thought it was something internal - maybe bladder stones or maybe something uterine, like cancer. The only way to tell would be x-rays. The x-rays were $230. What will they tell us, and what would we do with that information, I asked? We would know what was wrong, and the action to correct it would be surgery. Expensive surgery, that may or may not save her life.

Here comes the hard part as a parent. I really believe that if you are going to get a pet - any pet - that you need to take absolute full responsibility for it's life. One of the reasons I want my kids to have pets is to learn compassion, to love & care for something selflessly, and then to also experience death - a normal part of life. Standing there in the vets office with them and the pet they love so much, it was much harder for me, than I thought it would be.

I decided NOT to do the x-rays. I wasn't about to pay for surgery, and didn't think it would be fair to put her through it, so no point in knowing what else it might be. We decided to do a stool sample to let us know if it was anything bacterial, and they gave her a shot of SQ fluids to help hydrate her and sent us home with special fortified food, and a formula to syringe feed her if she wasn't eating. The final bill was $220 (best to not even show it to Rick.)

We took her home. She was eating a little, but I didn't see her drink. I gave her some water through the syringe. We filled her cage & strawberry bed with white paper towel, as the vet had instructed, to be able to see anything unusual. She was lethargic, and mostly just stayed in her strawberry. For everyone who's ever spent the night at our place - you will understand how odd it was for us not to have the sound of her wheel squeaking as she ran in it that night. Rebekah said she saw her walk towards it, but couldn't get more than her front paws up on it, and left it.


Rebekah slept on the floor next to her cage that night.


The next morning, she was pretty much the same, but moving around even less. Around 10:15am, Rebekah called me. Pumpkin was lying on her side in her hands. She was dead. She died with Bek holding her. I called the other kids and we cried, and each held her & said goodbye. We told her how much we loved her, and what a great pet she had been.

We buried her on Saturday morning. Under the maple tree in our front yard, that we all love so much. We had named her Pumpkin because of her color and because it was a name Jacob could say (remember he couldn't talk when he was 2). In the fall that tree turns the most glorious orange colors, and we always put our jack-o-lanterns out by it. That will help us think of her.

I wrapped her in a piece of cloth cut from a dress that had been both Emily & Jane's. We had a little memorial. Rick said a prayer, and we all said goodbye to her again. We put a rock over the spot (I'm planning on getting one with her name carved on it for there,) then each put a flower on her grave. Jacob stuck his in the ground in front of it - and of course, Jane followed suit.
I sobbed.

Really, 24 hours of sickness is pretty merciful, and I'm glad she wasn't sick longer. We loved her and I think she had a good life with us.


Our Darling Pumpkin.

April 2007 - July 2009

This is how we will remember you.

Another pet is definitely in our future, but we're going to wait a while before we decide on anything.

Hamster Race

Saturday, October 4th was Pumpkin's big race.

We bought her a new ball for the occasion, and got there early to size up the competition.

A little TLC to make her feel good,

and a pep talk to get her "into the zone."

There were several heats - we were in the first one.
On your mark, get set -

GO!

Here's the first heat.

OK, do you see the hamster on the end - the one who's owner is PUSHING THE BALL! We were so robbed!
After this race, they emphasized that there was no rolling the balls allowed (duh) - but I think that other kid should have been totally disqualified! Yeah, I'm competitive ...

After all the heats, they let the 2nd place hamsters race against each other for a place in the final. This was pumpkins second chance -

Alas, another loss. She looked so promising at the start. "Penny" beat her, but not by too much - and "Penny" ended up being the overall winner - so we feel we could still walk away with some dignity!

Cookie, the pre-school hamster did very well and came third overall.

Pumpkin was impressed with him (even though he has a girly name!)

She's obviously attracted to success.

There's another race in 6 months - we've got to get Pumpkin into training.

In Training

Guess what we signed Pumpkin up for? They even gave us a sheet with a training schedule on it. We're all very excited! Our darling neighbor, Elaine, is even coming along to cheer her on.
The pre-school hamster (Cookie) is also entered.

May the best hamster ....

Westward Ho - Day One.

We are in Utah. Yay! I started posts along the way (all the places we stayed had wireless), and over the next few days I'll add pictures, and blog about our trip.

New York to Cleveland, Ohio.

First things first - the kids said good-bye to Pumpkin. I myself will also really miss the sweet little creature. She really is a great pet - no trouble at all, never bites, and the kids ADORE her. We have left her with able caregivers, and look forward to being reunited in 6 weeks.

We planned on this being our longest day of driving. We figured that the kids would not be sick of being in the car yet, and best to just get going and make a dent in the miles we need to travel.

Jane woke up at 4am that morning crying and with a fever. Great. We gave her some Tylenol and headed off. I thought she'd sleep in he car, and she did a little, but not as much as I had thought. The two hour later start (couldn't be helped) and the fact that the 8 hour journey took us 10 with stops had us driving later than we thought. We were all pretty happy when we arrived in Cleveland at 10:30pm that night.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn - definitely gets my recommendation. Super clean. no "motel smell" very comfortable beds, and helpful staff. The breakfast the next morning was wonderful too - steel cut oatmeal, fresh fruit, yogurt. A good start.

Over the River & Through the Woods ....

Two years ago I started to think about driving across the country. Jane was but a wee babe, so thinking about it was as far as I got.

Last year, I briefly considered it. Briefly - but long enough to think of some of the places I'd like to see & take the kids.

Then several months ago I started to really think and plan. Rebekah will be old enough next year to get a summer job, so this will probably be the last opportunity for some time for us to spend an extended time away from home in the summer. Jane is bigger, and my kids are pretty good in the car.

In April Rick's boss announced he wanted to retire, and was closing down the fund. Perfect! OK, not really all that perfect, but for purposes of the trip - pretty great. Rick was also now available for a long time away in the summer, and that clinched it for me. I started to plan. We will spend a week or so driving out to Utah, seeing sights to the north. Rick will drive with us, then fly home to NY to keep interviewing, looking for work, etc. A few weeks for the kids & I in Utah with a jaunt over to Colorado, then back to Utah (to meet Rick, who will fly back out to us) and then we all make the drive back home in a southward arc.

I'm hoping it sounds more complicated than it really is.

The kids are excited. Jacob especially cannot wait to go to Grandma's house, and has asked every single day for weeks if that day was the day we could go. A couple of weeks ago we made paper chains for the kids to rip one loop off every day until we left. I hoped that having something more visual would help Jake understand how much longer it would be. I guess it was still taking too long for him, because several days ago he ripped up the last 6 loops and said "They all gone! Now we go to Grandma's house??"

This morning we are on our way. The bags are packed, and the car mostly loaded. A neighbor girl is babysitting pumpkin, collecting our mail & watering the indoor plants (sprinklers will get the outside gardens.) A young man we know will mow our lawn & tend our garden (i.e. weed). I have DVD's, audiobooks (big kid AND little kid stories), CD's, iPods, coloring books, snacks galore & gallons of water. The car has a built in DVD player - and we're bringing a portable one to boot. We bought extra headphones so we'd have one for each kid, and they could have 3 different versions of media going at the same time - not to mention, so Rick & I don't have to listen to "Diego" for the whole trip.

Rick is already mad at me, because we're 2 hours late leaving (seriously, 10 years together and you were still expecting me to be on time?) AND I have to stop at the pharmacy on the way out of town. I forgot to refill my Synthroid. This is a new health issue for me, it's the first time I've ever refilled it and just didn't think about it until this morning!

I'm sure there will be frustrations, and quarrels & some disputes, but I am also hoping to make some great memories for our family, to see a lot of the country we live in and to have lots of time together to bond.

WHAT I"LL MISS -

Our garden - working in it, eating from it, looking at it.

Pumpkin.

Our darling neighbor, Elaine.

Swimming with the kids & friends at Wilson's Waves

BBQ-ing in our backyard & eating outside.

Firefly's.

Bikes - all of ours & family bike rides.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO -

Lots of uninterrupted time with our family.

Seeing the country.

Seeing friends as we travel.

Having a break from the responsibilities of home

(although I'm bringing my 4 biggest one's with me.)

Spending time with extended family in Utah.

Cherry Hill.

A break from our ward.

Seeing the kids playing with their cousins.

Watching the Olympics with other people who will cheer for Australia & cry when they win or loose.

Low / no humidity.

Visiting our friends in Colorado & going to Anne's baptism.

Good or bad, there's no turning back now - Bon Voyage!!

Pumpkin Carving

We always try to carve our pumpkins just a few days before Halloween (so they don't shrivel by the big night), and I'm always thrilled when that works out to be a Monday and we can incorporate it into Family Night.

This year we carved 4, one for each kid.

The kids thought that Pumpkin, would like to taste her namesake. She loved it, and was so cute eating it (she's such a great pet, and we all love her.)
I was amazed the difference a year has made for Emily. Just last year we needed to help her through the whole process. This year she did the majority of the pattern placement, poking and carving herself. Rick and I just helped with some of the smaller carved pieces.
Rebekah made her own design - a tribute to My Chemical Romance.
She really worked hard on it, and did this on the back to reflect out against the house. I didn't realize until posting this that I didn't take a picture of it finished in the dark (hers took longer, and I was putting the Little's to bed by the time she finished.)
Mess and a sharp object? Sign Jacob up! He had a lot of fun, and since Emy could do hers herself, I could really spend time helping him.
Concentration.
Rick got home in time to help Emily with the windows in her castle.

Jacobs bats.
Rick did this little one for Jane - it was my favorite of the night, so cute.
It looked cool reflected on our walkway.
Emy's castle.
I like how Emily & Jacobs looked together.
Sorry bek, next year I'll remember to go back outside and make sure I get pictures of them all!

New Addition

We babysat Nibbles back in February, and it was a positive experience for us. The kids have been dying for a pet, and I was feeling like we could manage one after Jane turned a year old. We had planned to get one at the end of summer. Since then we've been "visiting" the hamsters at the pet store, looking for the one we might like and also checking with the humane society.

Two weeks ago, we went for a visit - and saw this little cutie. I wanted one with a white stripe around it's tummy, and a girl. We fell in love with her, and it took very little begging for me to decide to bring her home with us.

She was just a baby, and really a bit too little for her to be sold, so we've had to be very careful with her for the 1st two weeks (changing her every day, and no holding.) Everyone wants her in their room. So far she's been in the office (where her running in her squeaky wheel keeps me company at night), but she'll probably take "vacations" to each of the kids rooms.

This next picture is blurry, but shows her coloring a little better. We had pre-decided to call our hamster Pumpkin, because we wanted one with orange, and because Jacob loves pumpkins. Then, when the girls saw her they wanted to name her creamsicle, because she's orange (blond really) with white in the middle - cute, but harder to say. Much harder for Jacob actually, who really couldn't say it at all. I want him to feel like she's his pet too, and saying her name is a big part of that. So I vetoed it, and Pumpkin she became. The girls protested for a day, and then adjusted.

So far, they've been really responsible with her and she is getting excellent care. They've learned that she likes blueberries, and carrots, and is not such a fan of apples. She falls out of her wheel when she gets going fast, and startles easily.

We like her. Even Rick, who is not really a pet person, let alone a rodent person said "It's kind of cute" - so here she is. We plan to take good care of her, and hope she's a part of our family for a long time, and enjoys a full and happy life.

Hamster or Fish?

NO, this is not a perverse dinner menu, just a pet commentary. We recently babysat our friends fish for about 2 weeks. If you are considering a pet for your family of young children - consider our experiences.

I've had fish as pets before, but they just are not all that much fun. They can't be cuddled or held, and they really don't do much. The kids loved having "her" here, but she wasn't at all interactive (unless you consider Jacob throwing Cheerios, a pencil, a few toys, etc into the bowl saying "Fish eat this?") Emily made various works of art to hang by the bowl for her to look at, so she wouldn't get bored - the picture above is of a bat.

Our neighbors had had 3 other fish die in the few weeks immediately prior to our taking over this remaining one - and I was super anxious the whole time. Rick brought me orange roses for my birthday, and Jacob pulled a petal off one and tossed it in the fish bowl. When I walked in the kitchen and saw something orange floating on the water I just about died.

Then there's the cleaning. Given, Mrs Nibbles had come with a newly cleaned cage & we didn't have to clean her out during her stay, but still I'm thinking it's not too hard, and something Rebekah (& maybe even Emily) could do without my help. The fish? No way. Fish are pretty sensitive to water changes. I cleaned it out 4 times while it was here, and each time I was on tender hooks that the change of water would be the thing that killed it. Then there was the actual cleaning process - where to pour the old water? In our sink (where we prepare our food?), the tub maybe (where the kids bathe?) Eventually I settled on down the toilet - but was SUPER careful not to let any of the gravel from the bottom go down. The rinsing water went down the toilet too - this is not a task I would trust to my kids.

I had tons of pets growing up (hamsters, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs, a horse, a goat, a duck, chickens, a tortoise ....) I always thought that when I was an adult and calling the shots I'd have a menagerie. Yet here I am debating about a hamster! The thing is, I really love animals and don't want to get a pet and not give it the utmost of care. I know that the final responsibility for this will rest with me (no matter how many promises I hear from my kids.) However, I also think having a pet teaches kids responsibility and a great way to observe & learn about the life cycle. Rebekah had guinea pigs and a rabbit before we moved to NY - but we haven't had a pet since then. When Jane is older I'm all for a dog - but am not up for that much work right now.

So, on Saturday we made a stop at the pet store and looked at hamsters. I'm going to get them one in the fall. I don't want to have to worry about getting people to watch it while we travel (we're about to take a big trip, and always go away for a while in the summer) and Jane will be 18 months old by then. Rebekah and Emily will be able to clean it out, and I think it will work out well. Of course, it's going to have to rotate who's bedroom is stays in - they all want it in theirs.

I'd love to get them guinea pigs again (one of the BEST pets I've ever had), but they can get pretty smelly. Our Guinea pigs when we lived in Utah lived outside during the summer, and in the garage in winter. Our garage here is not attached to the house, and has no electricity - the poor things would freeze. So no guineas for us here. Yes, I think a hamster is the perfect solution for us. I have a few months to plan for it - I'm actually pretty excited about the idea!