July 11, 2009, the Wedding Date!

Fabulous news!!! We have officially set our wedding date and location. It will be July 11, 2009 in Cincinnati, OH at the Hilton Netherlands Plaza hotel in the Hall of Mirrors ballroom, which is absolutely breathtaking! The wedding will be in the ballroom and after that, everyone will transition into a holding room, where you will be served cocktails and appetizers for one hour (that's how long that can confirm that our wedding area will convert into our reception/party area), next you will be served dinner, after that...let's get the party started!!! We can't reserve the block of rooms until 6 months before the actually wedding date, so I will keep you posted on that date.

Surgery a success and Homeward Bound!

September 17, 2008: Harley's TPO surgery to repair his severed ACL was successful with no complications or issues. I received the call from Dr. Kennedy around 1:00 confirming that everything went routine. He explained that he would give Harley a complete check-up the next morning and call when it was time to come get him. Mom had driven up that morning to relieve my Dad since this wasn't a planned emergency, we all had to adjust our schedules and I'm very thankful my parents were able to help me out! KUDOS to Mom and Dad!!!

September 18, 2008: Homeward bound!!! Today was pick up day for Mr. Harley! As I have said before, the recovery period for this type of surgery definitely teaches you to be patient. Obviously, Harley can't treat himself or perform his own physical therapy so that's where Mom comes into play. For the first two week, Harley must receive physical therapy from me three times a day, 3 exercises, 15 reps each followed by icing the incision 15 minutes after every therapy session. This also includes 2-3 brief walks followed by icing. Three to four weeks, Harley must receive physical therapy three times a day but without icing and 3-5 brief walks per day. Four to six weeks, multiple short walks, 20-30 minutes three times a day and sit to stand exercises. We are required to see Dr. Kennedy for our 6 week check-up appointment for him to review his progress and hopefully be released. However, we do have certain exercises we must perform during the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th week. Good gracious, I love this dog but he has definitely taught me a valuable lesson: patience!

I will keep you posted on his progress through these trying times! We've got a game plan going here so we are staying focused because we've got our Florida trip coming up in early November and we have to hear good news at our 6 week appointment!

A hotel room stay is a first for this guy!

Harley just chillin' in the room

September 16, 2008: Today was a very stressful day for me. My dad and I packed the car and loaded up Harley off to Columbus we went. Harley's consultation was scheduled for 2:30, which we promptly arrived 30 minutes early for. Dr. Kennedy (the surgeon) confirmed what we already knew but now it was game time! We were asked to have him back in the morning at 7:30am for prep work and they would proceed with the surgery an hour after that. The procedure only takes 45 minutes which does equal out to the recovery period of 6 weeks that we must go through. We stayed at the Sheraton Suites which allows pets without a fee. Pretty cool, huh, especially for a Sheraton?! This was Harley's first experience in a hotel room (Baylee was the world traveler so this was nothing new for her!) so of course pictures had to be made.

Bridal Expo Shopping

Brooke, Sherry and Cathy toasting the occasion!

September 14, 2008: The Sunday after the Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee we sent the men on home and Mom, Cathy and I decided to stay a little longer in Lexington to shop and check out the Bridal Expo at the Embassy Suites for pre-planning ideas! It made for a very interesting day, considering this was the day of the huge wind storm that was pushing through western and central parts of Kentucky and Ohio. It was well worth the trip to see everything and I did come up with a few neat ideas that I will probably use in my wedding. I have attached a few pictures of us checking out the endless possibilities of transportation from a church to the location of your reception.

Here's Mom checking out the white Rolls Royce!

Kentucky vs. Middle Tennessee

Kelli, Aunt Brookie, and Miss Hallie Lou

September 13, 2008: After the stressful that I had with Harley, Vivian and Charlie (Brad's parents) were gracious enough to watch Harley and Tex for us so we could take part in the tailgating festivities and of course the game! While there I received the best surprise EVER, Miss Hallie (my cousin who calls me Aunt Brookie because we are WAY closer than just cousins) choose to come sit with Brad and I for the first half. I probably haven't seen Hallie in almost a year, so needless to say I was thoroughly enjoying myself as well as Hallie's company. We chatted about her playing soccer and softball, her unusual way of putting ketchup on her meat and cheese taco from Taco Bell, her summer vacation where she was stung two days in a row by a jellyfish. When I asked her what she did to make it angry that it stung her, she quickly responded with, "Aunt Brookie its probably because I peed on him!" Only from an eight year old would I have received such an answer, but I did ask it though!

At one point, Brad looks over at me and says, "You are having way too much fun, aren't you?" I quickly answered with, "Yes sir, I am!"

Brookie and Hallie

Harley a.k.a Tom Brady

September 12, 2008: As funny as it sounds, Harley completely blew out his ACL in his left hind leg. I had been in Lexington for a few days for work and on the drive home Brad called and said, “Brooke you might want to take Harley to the vet tomorrow. He is really favoring that left leg (Harley has been experiencing some problems in that particular leg for about two months now). By the time, I got home, Harley was only using three legs to walk and hurt leg wasn’t even touching the ground. Needless to say, I was the first patient in Dr. Duncan’s office that Friday morning! Dr. Duncan quickly diagnosed Harley with a torn ACL.

At that point, I had two options: 1) Have Dr. Duncan do the surgery by implanting materials to repair the damaged ACL. This option couldn’t guarantee a higher success rate as option #2 or assure me that he wouldn’t have future problems. 2) Be referred to MedVet Animal Hospital in Columbus, where doctors perform 8-10 TPO surgeries a day (which is what Harley desperately needed). However, this surgery could guarantee me a higher percentage of Harley returning to his normal life again without future problems, if we followed protocol and guidelines set forth by the doctors themselves!

Rest in Peace, Baylee Boo

Here is my mom’s email that she sent to her closest friends:

“Baylee’s kidneys had failed, due to the Lasix that she needed for her heart (we found she had a heart murmur).We got that under control and she was up, walking, eating, being social on Tuesday, August 12, 2008. Then on Wednesday, she developed an urinary tract infection, which put her over the top. By Thursday, her breathing was worse and we knew she couldn't go on. They had ordered stents for her surgery on Friday but of course, that didn't happen. As Dr.Sara said, "because of this little guy we will have stents readily available from now on.” Maybe another Yorkie can be saved because of Baylee's stents.”

My parents ended up putting her down on Thursday, August, 14th. They chose the option of having her cremated, which has been the best decision for the Elswick family. Even though, she is gone we still feel her presence as being there, but just in a different form. I kiss the wooden box every time I’m visiting parents, which has helped me tremendously through the grieving process. Thanks again for all your awesome prayers and words of encouragement. As you can see from my previous blogs, they really helped her condition during that week in Columbus!

Much love,
Brooke

Wedneday, August 13, 2008 - Baylee's a Trooper!

I must say the thoughts and prayers are definitely working! I drove to Columbus yesterday morning to be there when the doctors from the animal hospital met with my parents at 11:00. We had prepared ourselves not to hear good news that why I wanted to see Baylee one last time, but we were pleasantly surprised when we were told she was improving significantly. Her creatinine levels, which were at 6.7 on Monday had dropped to 3 overnight, so I’m a firm believer that the prayers are working!!!! Keep in mind they were at 11 when they took Baylee in on Sunday. They are also monitoring another set numbers (I don’t remember the name of them) which dropped from 300 to 150 overnight as well. She is still not out of the woods yet because we need her numbers to be “normal,” which would be 1.5/2 (creatinine) and 20 for the other. We were able to visit with her and she knew exactly who we were and giving us tons of kisses even though she was somewhat sedated. They are keeping her that way so she doesn’t get too excited and starts to cough and irritate her trachea problem.

Now onto the other problem: her breathing and collapsing trachea. Big Poppa (my dad) is meeting with the Radiologist today to discuss inserting a tracheal stent to allow her to breath better. The success rate is 70% for dogs under the age of 6 and Miss Bayee is 11, however, after using the scope to see how severe the damaged trachea is. They were able to determine that it’s right in the middle (so we are told, it’s the best place to work with) and she is in fact a good candidate for the procedure. The stents will be ordered and the procedure should be Monday or Tuesday. I will keep you posted as I know more!


Good gracious, what we will do for our four-legged critters! Keep the prayers a coming!

Love,
Brooke

Tueday, August 11, 2008 - Baylee

To all my dearest friends,

I hope this email finds everyone happy and healthy this Monday and willing to say a small pray for such a small, little dog. Baylee, my parents “love of their life”, who came the “stand in” daughter as I went off to college is not in good health. She has been taking 4-5 different medications for an enlarged heart and lungs, congestive heart failure , narrowing trachea (predominately in Yorkie’s) , etc. My parents took her to the Animal ER in Columbus yesterday and the prognosis isn’t good, although we are hopeful. The medications have worked tremendously for her but because of one medication she was on to cure one problem caused another to occur. She now has kidney failure, where only 75% of kidneys are working. This would be a huge problem if she was a larger, breed dog but she is only 6 pounds. So if her kidneys respond to the antibiotics they are currently giving her and her kidney levels lower then we can continue with treatment. If not, we will have to let her go.

So for all you doggie lovers out there, please say a quiet little prayer that the antibiotics are working for Baylee, so Harley can still hear her yappy mouth when we go visit!

Love to all,
Brooke

Brad and Vivian's Birthdays!!!

I’m very much behind on my blogging for the month of September so I’m apologizing ahead of time for the numerous blogs I plan to post at one time here in just a few. As you will quickly see, September has been SO jam packed with up’s and down’s and I just haven’t had time for the nervous breakdown I desperately need!

We started out the month with Vivian’s birthday on September 8th and Brad’s 32nd birthday on September 9th. A joint birthday party was held on Monday with a cookout. Brad received awesome presents from his parents and of course ME! Charlie was responsible for the new golf shoes and brand new set of golf clubs and Vivian always covers the clothing department---new boxers, dress socks and work attire. As for me, I got Mr. Bradley a new Coach wallet. Brad’s twenty dollar fake Gucci one just had to go! It bit the dust a long time, Brad just couldn’t part with it, but now that one is old news. Ever since Brad and I got engaged, he has made joking remarks about how I got something “shiny” and he didn’t, so inside the card that came with the wallet, I typed “Now here is your something shiny, honey…” It truly doesn’t sparkle like mine does, but the leather is shiny though. Anyway, he got the point and that’s all that matters, right?

Brooke & Brad got ENGAGED!!!

I have very exciting news to share with all my family and friends about a new development in my life…as of Wednesday night! It’s official: Brooke and Brad got ENGAGED!!! We both couldn’t be happier with the commitment that we have made together. I’m still in shock because everything feels so surreal but there definitely isn’t any complaints here.

The evening began with Brad and I going to dinner at Rocco’s. There was a wait so we decided to pass the time away at the bar. We started into one of our deep conversations about our relationship, followed with humor and laughter. We were eventually seated in what the server claimed was “the most romantic table in the restaurant.” The cute, round table in the corner! Keep in mind, this wasn’t planned at all because Brad had intentions of proposing on Monday on the pontoon boat with Harley and Tex at my dad’s Elks property and pond, but it didn’t work out because we wouldn’t have gotten out there until almost dark. (Of all days, I needed to got work out!) After that, Brad was shooting to propose this weekend but he just couldn’t keep it a secret any longer and was too excited to wait. Plus, Wednesday evening just presented itself to be the best opportunity!

After dinner, we went to Brad’s house to pick up Tex. And as I turned around, Brad reached for my left hand and said, “Miss Holly Brooke Elswick will you do me the honor of marrying me.” My immediate reaction was, “You’ve got to be shitting me,” plus I felt like I was in dream because he completely caught me off guard, but I realized I wasn’t so I immediately started hugging him and then Brad’s next statement was, Um, Brooke… you haven’t answered me yet?” I shouted back, “Oh, shoot…I do, I will…whatever you’re supposed to say!” Then, the fabulous ring went on! We had to go see my parents immediately to share the good news! No plans, no dates yet but Brad's response was "Can we think about that tomorrow?” Needless to say, it was a long night but one I will always remember!

Since the big night, I have started to ask about all of the “behind the scenes” details because I’m a woman and that’s what I do. And this is what I have discovered: Brad called Pollock’s Thursday morning to make sure Clayton Hill was working and off to Pollock’s he went. Brad received the “Diamonds for Dummies” course (as Brad calls it) for an hour or so in Clayton’s office. (Just an FYI, Clayton played soccer with Brad in high school and became Brad's assistant coach after graduation. He was also mine when our coach was out of town).They went through the different stages of selecting the perfect ring and it was sent off and Brad picked it up Monday morning. The picture above shows what he selected. It’s exactly what I wanted: one stone, simple, and platinum! Way to go, Brad and all by himself!

Here’s a funny story I would like to share about my Aunt Hana (my mom’s sister) when I told her the good news. I first said, “Would it be alright if I added a nephew to the family?” Her quick response was, “You got another dog!" I said, "No!” She said, "You're pregnant!" I said, "No!" Finally she says, “Oh, shit, you got an engagement ring!” Oh, Hana…you crack me up but gotta love you though!

Doggie Beaching or Bust!

Last week was very busy and stressful for Brad and I-just with our full-time jobs, second jobs (his house rental business and my jewelry and gift business), etc. By the weekend, we are just worn out. However, we did finalize dates to travel to the great state of Florida to visit my parents (during the time they spent at their condo for the fall) and let Harley and Tex experience the Doggie Beach!!! I have dreamt of this trip for two years now and it’s finally coming true. Every time I fly down to visit my parents, we always go out on our boat in the back bay and anchor down for at least an hour, watching the dogs (big and small) frolic on their designated island/beach. It truly is a wonderful experience for any dog lover. Brad and I realized that we weren’t getting any younger and neither are Harley and Tex so we just going for it.

We plan to set out on our adventure, November 1^st and return on November 10^th. The downside though, it’s a 16 hour trip to Naples, Fl. Luckily, Brad’s sister, Julie lives outside of Atlanta, which is an excellent half-way point for us to stay overnight and unwind and let the dogs run their little hearts out for being stuck in a car for so long. Then, onto Nana and Poppy’s place for some much needed relaxation! Tex has been practicing some new moves in the pool with Harley as the coach! Watch out, Floridian mutts, us, four-legged Kentuckian friends know how to kick some "tail" in the H2O! Stay tuned for the pictures to follow in November…

Brooke gets braces...AGAIN!!!

For those of you who had the wonderful opportunity of wearing braces, either in middle school or high school, there was a reason why your dentist said, "Wear your retainers as much as possible or your teeth will move." Yelp, I heard the lecture but just didn't abide by it!

Now, I'm 29 years old and have six, clear brackets on my top, front teeth! I've had the clear before and you really don't notice them so I'm not sweating the 4-6 month period of moving the teeth. Thank goodness I have excellent insurance to cover the cost! I just thought I would share my day as I'm reminiscing back to high school in the area of dentistry! Cheers to the brace face! HA!