no walk in the park...

I had today all planned out.
1) Eat breakfast after feeding Erich. Brush teeth and get dressed.
2) Get Erich ready and dressed.
3) Get the new fancy stroller ready for a walk. Pump the tires with a little air, put Erich in the car seat which fits on the stroller. (I took the above picture of him in the stroller right before we left home)
4) Go on our first real walk in the great outdoors. Walk to Walgreens to get a few random things. 5) Walk home and eat lunch.

Steps 1-4 went as planned. We had a lovely time, really. Erich was quickly lulled to sleep on the walk and slept the whole entire time we were gone.

But, step 5 didn't go off quite as well.

Because 3 doors down from my house, the neighbor's gnarly, nasty pit bull decided my left leg looked like a good afternoon snack.

As I was walking on the sidewalk, minding my own business, I saw two pit bulls walking around in the front yard, unleashed. At first the smaller of the two came out and walked around me. Then the bigger one followed suit and as I continued to walk passed, minding my own business and not saying ONE thing to the dogs, he came up behind me and bit the back of my left thigh, right below my butt cheek.

My first thought was to scream bloody murder in hopes that someone would hear and come to help me-I wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen next. As soon as I screamed, the dog let go and both dogs walked casualy-as if nothing had just happened-back to their spots on the porch. I panicked, not knowing if I should walk or run home, as I was literally three doors away from home. Of course, I started bawling and my leg hurt but I didn't want to stop to assess the damage until I was safely in my house. I looked around and no one was out, no one heard me. I looked back and saw the dogs sitting on the porch, again as if one of them just hadn't bit a human's leg!

When I got home I was shaky and freaking out, but I managed to text Ben, who immediately called me. After telling him the story, he said for me to call animal control and that he'd be home ASAP. I called animal control, who told me to go to the hospital first and then call them back. When Ben got home, we drove to the Instacare near our home. The lady at the front desk took the information and then said that there was about an hour wait. She didn't want us waiting there with Erich and so many sick people, so she said to come back in half an hour. We drove home and Ben called animal control. I fed Erich and then drove myself back to Instacare.

The doctor said it wasn't deep enough for stitches and had the nurse scrub/clean out the wounds. They put me on an antibiotic and told me to come back on Friday to make sure it wasn't getting infected.

A little after I got home, an animal control officer came to get the report. Long story short, mine wasn't the first issue with these dogs; apparently they've bitten a few other people. The officer went to remove the dogs and the owner was mean, nasty, and wouldn't comply, so she had to call for backup to help. At this point, Ben left for school so I was home alone watching all this happen from my office window. When backup officers arrived, they walked down to the house and a few minutes later I saw them with both dogs. They were able to put the little one in the truck quickly, but the big one--Boozer--(the one that bit me) was putting up a fight. He just about bit the officer's hand off, was biting the leash, and it took about 6 minutes to get him in the truck. He was barking and going nuts the whole time. The officer called Ben and said that the owner was very upset and wouldn't take the citation so they have to come back tomorrow to give it to him. Officer also said that, though she didn't think the neighbor knew which of their neighbors called animal control, I shouldn't go outside tonight and to be aware of any suspicious behavior. Great.

The best thing is that Erich wasn't hurt. And, after reliving the whole scenario in my head all evening, I realize it could have been much worse on my end, too. I think I was extremely lucky, though it hurt something awful. I had my mom take a picture of my leg tonight, partly to post on my blog and partly to keep record of what it looks like every day in case it does get infected. And, drum roll please, here it is:
But, I like to end on a positive note. Here's a few random pictures of my little man:

He loves his swing....
...and his mommy...


...and his fancy delux baby spa...
...and he looks just like a mini vesion of daddy!