We had a difficult day today. I’m on edge and the boys have been cooped up for too long. Gavin’s been freaking out a lot lately and Lizze is still struggling with losing her grandmother a couple weeks ago. It’s been one thing after another and today was just tough on all of us.

Having said that and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, there are a few things that happened today that I’m incredibly thankful for.

For starters, Elliott still has a nasty cough but is otherwise feeling better. That’s a very good thing and with any luck, he’ll continue to improve.

Eariler today, I was sitting in bed writing when I heard Emmett crying. Lizze and I were trying to figure out what had happened. He’s wasn’t talking about it and kept screaming that he wanted to be left alone.

He was really upset because he missed his dog Bella. She was his dog since he was a baby and she was a large part of what finally got him to come out of his shell. As she got older, she began picking fights with Maggie, our English Staffy. Maggie had been here long before Bella. They got along really well for years until one day, Bella became very aggressive.

It got ugly and dangerous. After trying for many months to change the behavior, it was deemed the best and safest thing to do would be to rehome her.

The vet said she was challenging Maggie for dominance and while normally they settle things and move on, she wasn’tettong it go. It got very bloody and dangerous for the kids because she would pick fights around the kids. We had no choice. It killed Emmett but that was years ago. I don’t know what sparked this today.