We miss you, Crumpet!

In June of 1995 our darling Yorkie, Dutchess, went into heat and we decided to breed her. There was an advertisement for stud services on the board at our veterinarian's office, and I got in touch with the owner of little Zero where she worked at the Pet Corral dog groomers. I just found this picture of the darling little guy!

Two "dates" and $250 later, I was pretty sure that Dutchess was expecting. I thought I could only feel one little lump in there, and at the end of July we even had an x-ray done at our vet's to see. Sure enough! Just one puppy, so we had to watch closely for when she went into labor because sometimes when there's just one, they grow a little too big to fit through the birth canal.

On the evening of August 8th, 1995 Dutchess went into labor. I got all my birthing supplies ready and tried to keep her calm. The puppy finally started to emerge, then stopped half-way out! The puppy was being born bum first, which you would call "breech" in humans, but it is just as common as head first for dogs. I gave it some time, but Dutchess was straining and straining and there was no progress. I finally tried grabbing onto the little bum end, but it was too slippery. I used the washcloth I had ready to break open the amniotic sac and then grabbed again. I started pulling out and slightly up, but I was just pulling Dutchess up and across the blanket! I had to hold her down with my left hand while I pulled on the puppy with my right. I had to pull so hard that I was afraid of damaging Dutchie and was just about to give up and call the vet when, POP, Crumpet was born!

Tony was driving truck over the road at the time, so the next morning I called his dispatcher to pass on the message that he was a new dad!

We originally bred Dutchess to sell the puppies, but since she just had one and it was a female, we just had to keep her. Our first Yorkie was actually named Crumpet, but she had tons of problems that she was born with, including a congenital heart problem, and only lived a few months. I loved the name so much that I decided that I would pay homage to our first Yorkie and reuse the name. We now lovingly refer to the other Crumpet as "Crumpet Number One."

I love cutesy, country of origin, food names for pets. My first dog when I was young was a Miniature Schnauzer (a German breed) named Strudel. Yorkies are British and Dutchess' AKC papered name was "Crumpet Dutchess of York" and Crumpet's was "Crumpet's Yorkshire Puddin'."

After Crumpet was born, I slept downstairs on the family room floor for a few nights next to the whelping box. When Tony came home for the weekend, I moved the box upstairs to the side of our bed. Dutchess would nurse baby Crump, but then jump up in our bed to sleep next to us. Crumpet would whine and wail! Finally we couldn't take it anymore and lifted Crumpet into our bed. I would have nightmares of rolling onto her and squishing her to death from that night on, and then for the rest of her life. Right at first, she was about the size of a hamster!

Here are the scrapbook pages from when Crumpet was a tiny baby (remember that I only scrapbooked before I had children!): ~you can click on the picture for a larger view~

and some extra pictures that I found:

Kiss from her big bro

and kisses from mom.

All the time for years and years, until Dutchess passed away, Crumpet would come and sit right in front of her and demand to be licked in the face. If Dutchie didn't do it right away, Crump would do a kind of begging growl until she got her way!

Here is Crumpet's first Christmas:

Crumpet is the only one that I ever got a baby tooth from. I noticed her chewing on something one day (and she was usually chewing things she shouldn't) and I saved that tooth to this day! My animals truly are my babies :)

Crumpet was a stinkery, chewy puppy. Once my friend and coworker Sandi Frandsen (who would play Mrs. Claus at the Ogden Park at Christmastime) was over to get her cocker spaniel groomed at my house when Crumpet was about four or six weeks old. She played with the puppy and then watched t.v. downstairs. When I came down with her groomed dog, we noticed that Crump had chewed all four ends off of her shoelaces! Also, when we moved, we were packing the kitchen chairs to take them to D.I. when I noticed that the bottom crossbar rungs between the legs looked funny. Crumpet had chewed them like corn on the cob since they were only three inches off the ground and some of the few things she could reach!

Through the animal shelter, I met Sparky, a cute little boy Yorkie whose owners had too many dogs. They sold him to me for just $20 and I was able to even track down his AKC paperwork. We gave him to my sister Sarah and her family, and we bred him to both Crumpet and then Dutchess. Crumpet gave birth in 1996 while we were living at my mom & dad's and building our house in Clinton.

Crumpet actually had three little boys, but one had severe cleft lip and palette and had to be put to sleep. We sold her little guys when they got big enough. They were so cute! Here is a picture of Sparky:

Dutchess had her second litter, also at mom & dad's. She had three boys and a girl who we teasingly named things like "refrigerator" and "new couch." Dutchie needed a c-section for that birth (all four puppies tried to come out at once and caused a jam) and we got her spayed at the same time. We were done with the stress of breeding! 

We certainly caused a ruckus at my parents' house. We brought our three dogs to live there with us, then had six puppies total. Sorry mom & dad! One funny story about Crumpet when we lived there--one evening we were eating chicken divan. My mom had a floret of broccoli on her fork and, just as she was bringing it to her mouth, Crumpet jumped up, grabbed that broccoli and was down the other side before my mom even knew what was happening! I'm sure Crump-a-dump thought she was getting a forkful of chicken, ha ha on her :) She was always the springiest little thing, she could jump higher than most dogs four times her size!

Crumpet loved to play a keep away game with Smokey and this rubber chicken. This is from 1997:

Here are some scrapbook pages from 1997 in our Clinton house:

She's kind of smiling in this one. Crumpet would always smile on cue! We would say in a sing-songy voice "wet me see your mie-oh" (let me see your smile) and she would bare her teeth. She lost this talent when she lost her hearing, but before that we would love to see her smile!

And here is Christmas 1998:

I went through my picture boxes to find these from 1999:

and 2000:

This was a bit of a sad Christmas. I finally had gotten pregnant after 2 & 1/2 years of trying in June of 2000. Because we called our pets collectively "the Bunnies," we called that baby "Baby Bunny." It devastated me when, after seeing the tiny heartbeat just three weeks before, there was no heartbeat at my 12 week appointment. I waited to miscarry naturally, since it would give me better chances to become pregnant again, but after several weeks I finally had to have a d&c in late September. I relied heavily on my other bunnies to get me through! I think both Crumpet and Dutchess look extra gorgeous in this picture:

Shortly before that picture was taken, I was walking Smokey west of our house, in a terrible depression, when something stopped me dead in my tracks. I just stood, frozen, for about three minutes and had an overwhelming feeling that after several months of being on birth control to regulate my cycles, I would give fertility medication another go and get pregnant on the first try. I've never had inspiration like that before or since, but it was not subtle--it was a huge event in my life. Sure enough, it happened exactly like that, and I had baby Faith on November 1st, 2001! Nearly all the pictures from that time and for the next year were exclusively of her, but here's one of Crumpet amid Sunday newspaper ads on our bed from November 11, 2001:

Faith loved her pets from the start!

Easter 2002:

Crumpet got full of burrs in 2003 and had to have a haircut. Dutchess loved keeping her hair short, but Crumpet was awfully embarrassed.

A cute kiss in 2004:

And a stretch in 2005:

Crumpet always worried about Faith as a baby, but it was even more stressful for her when Christian was born because the other dogs had passed away and she felt the full responsibility for him. She loved the babies!

From 2007 on, there are lots of pictures of Crumpet on the blog, and now in our blog books (post about these coming soon).

Crumpet was always a spoiled rotten little girl. I've heard that only puppies (one puppy in a litter) tend to be bratty and also pups who never get kicked out of the "nest." Well, she had both of those issues. We used to always joke that she would live forever just to spite us, but we adored our little baby, no matter what. In a way, problem children tug most at your heart ❤  We were so lucky to have Crumpet so long and so healthy for nearly her entire life. She was full of spunk and personality!

Even now, our home feels so empty and our hearts hurt. We miss you so much Crumpet! All our love, your forever family.

Last half of September

I got some cute pics at Christian's preschool on September 16th. This is a snowman that he made out of playdough,

and this day Miss Kelly got out the shaving cream and food coloring!

On the 17th Buddy finally beat Faith and dad at Wii bowling. Way to go!

And then we headed to Lagoon.

Christian's first ride on the Wild Mouse! He says he wasn't scared, but doesn't really want to ride it again :)

We loved passing around Brandt on the 18th at mom & dad's. Here's Grandma Quinn with him:

and Faith:

and Eric:

On the 22nd I volunteered in Faith's class, so Buddy and I came early to meet Faith for lunch and recess.

That evening we got to taste test 10 varieties of raspberries at the Kaysville Farmer's Market!! They gave us 10 pennies and you could "vote" for your favorites by putting how ever many pennies you wanted in that variety's piggy bank. It was fun and delicious! I wish I could remember my favorite, but we also loved the golden ones.

Here's Buddy at preschool again on the 23rd. He loves to paint during free time.

On the 24th the kids made fire trucks (again, but these had sirens!) at Lowe's.

You might be getting tired of hearing about all of our Lagoon trips, but we were sure loving them! Here we are on the 25th.

The kids love "Spook-A-Boo" where you get to trick-or-treat to different themed rooms. Here's the pirate room.

Because the line wasn't too long , we decided to go through "Nightwalk" the five spider rated (with five being scariest) spook alley there. It was really hot in line, so Tony took Faith (who wasn't as interested) on a ride instead, but when they came back Buddy and I were still waiting, so she line jumped and went through with us. I didn't think it was all that scary, but I certainly jumped several times! The kids sure held on to me tightly, but said they weren't very scared either.

Our clothes dryer finally gave up the ghost. It had previously broken several times and Tony had fixed it, but finally an expensive part went out and it was kaput. I did several loads of washing each Sunday and brought them to both parents' houses to dry, and also Buddy and I had been schlepping a few loads to the laundromat by our library on storytime day. On the 27th we were walking back to get our laundry and car (we would park at Faye's and just walk across Main Street to the library) when we passed the "Passion for Popcorn" shop. We'd never been in before, so we stopped by. It's mainly just an industrial kitchen, but they have two shelves of product up front. We got two flavors to try: Pumpkin Spice and Halloween Mix (which contained orange, lime, grape and I think the black was vanilla in a darling printed bag). Yummy!

A few weeks after this, Tammy took pity on us and BOUGHT US A DRYER!!! She surprised me a few days in advance, letting me know to be home for the delivery from R.C. Willey and that they were hauling our old one away, as well. She is the sweetest!!!!!!! You can only imagine the relief of finally being able to dry clothes at home again! Tammy--thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!!

And one more favorite preschool activity from the 30th.

First half of September, the circle of life

September 1st is Christian's birthday and he turned five years old! His sweet sister got him this white mouse beanie baby weeks before because her little Buddy begged for it...

I made his favorite breakfast: bacon and eggs. (He wouldn't mind if I held the eggs, actually.)

He'd gotten a card from Toys 'R Us that had a $3 coupon and an invitation to be their special birthday boy, so we went by. They gave him a crown, balloon, and announced his special day over the intercom! He selected a tube of candy that had a magnetic fishing game on the top and a can of playdough so the total was barely over $3. I was in such a generous mood that I let him get a 50¢ necklace (he was so excited that he got the bone shape he wanted) out of the bubble gum machine!

We would be celebrating his birthday at the grandparents' on Sunday, but my mom wanted him to be able to open some gifts from her on his big day. She brought out two presents and they were Pirates of the Caribbean Lego sets!

He picked out a fancy scooter for us to give him and I'm surprised I don't have a picture of it. To this day both kids are constantly riding that thing around the house! I just did his favorite dinner (spaghetti) and a simple cake (chocolate with chocolate mousse on top instead of frosting) for that night.

On the 3rd we went to Alaura's baptism. She looked so beautiful! It was very special and afterward we ate together at their stake center's bowery.

On the 4th we made Christian's fancy birthday cake. Here is an artist's (Faith's) rendering of the cake plans (dictated by Buddy):

And here is what we came up with:

I baked the cakes and put together the brownie ship, but the kids did most of the frosting and all of the decorating! (This was another reason my mom gifted the Lego sets on his actual birthday.)

Here is a video of them describing all the features:

First we went to my mom & dad's.

Then over to Braegger's. Check out that pirate ship balloon!

He had an amazing birthday!!

Tony was home on the 5th for Labor Day, so we went to Lagoon.

Buddy was finally tall enough for the big bumper cars!

Christian asked me to take a picture of this on the 6th. Yet another installment in my series "keeping it real."

On the 8th we discovered that Day Farm has pick-your-own raspberries for only a few dollars per large carton. It was a huge pain, very slow going, I got completely scratched up, and there were billions of bees and wasps that scared off the kids, but it was still somehow cathartic about the experience for me. And the high I get from getting something for cheap! We ate some and made the rest into raspberry-peach freezer jam with peaches fresh from Willard.

On the 10th the kids made a police car at Lowes,

and Buddy found a friend while I was mowing the lawn.

On the 13th Brandt was born! We were so excited to meet this little guy!!

Unfortunately, Joy had to have a c-section because he was breech so we didn't get to do our hypnobirthing, but at least the little guy was here safely. Joy, on the other hand, has had nothing but multiple infections from a few weeks before he came to now (mid-December) :(

The 15th was a very, very sad day. We had to say goodbye to our beloved Crumpet. She had been going downhill healthwise for several months, and then, a few days before, started throwing up. It completely broke our hearts, but we wanted to let her go before she really started suffering. Faith stayed home from school to love on her Dumpet.

We made Sculpy clay hearts and pressed her little paw print onto them as a memento.

Then took her into the vet office.

Christian had seemed pretty okay up to this point, I guess the gravity of the situation hadn't really sunk in yet even though he knew what was going on. Right after the fatal injection, he completely lost it and became inconsolable. He needed me to take this final photo of her, just after she passed.

Faith had the idea that we needed a luncheon afterward since we had the vet cremate her body instead of bury it, and you always need to eat at a funeral. I bought the kids happy meals (irony) and we went to Barnes Park.

Christian finally settled down enough to eat and then we played at the playground while talking about all the fun times with our doggie. I know we were so lucky to have more than sixteen years with her and, other than her deafness and the final few months, she was healthy and spry as a youngster all that time.