Harry is a strange creature

I just remembered why I love kittens... I had forgotten for a moment while I was picking the 93rd piece of litter off of my bare foot today.

The Simpsons

I'm all for father/daughter bonding time. In fact, it is completely fantastic, the greatest invention since sliced bread. And not only because it gives me a break. The best part is, it actually benefits the daughter too. I wonder though, does the positive impact of spending quality time with Daddy outweigh the negative impact of spending that time watching "The Simpsons"?

Behold, my daughter the architect.

***Maybe that show isn't causing so much damage after all. Darn it, there goes that excuse for changing the channel...

Just So You Don't Get Too Comfortable...

How come when you finally have things going exactly as you want them pretty darn close to exactly how you want them to go, something happens to throw a kink in your plans? Two fabulous pieces of mail arrived this week to remind me not to get too comfortable. Needing to maintain some modicum of privacy, I will simply say I am frustrated with the system, financially stressed, and genuinely perplexed with what qualifies as a fair and lawful "advance" notification in this state. Who are these smucks in control of the government insurance program?


Look who's growing like a weed?



And, although I've already posted very similar pics, I felt like we all needed a good laugh after this week. At least I did...

Looks slightly nauseous, doesn't she? Six whole ribs will do that to a girl.

Like any normal, well-adjusted child, Dezi has fears that he has been replaced by his new sibling. The new baby comes home, and it all goes downhill from there. Less catch, less petting, less oohing and aahing over him by visitors. Less attention.

But at least he will always have his bed. His own special place where it still smells like him, he can go anytime for rest, scratching, licking, and to reflect on the new state of his life...



Yeah, not so much.

And just because we all can't get enough cuteness, Maddie-style.

Happy Girls

Water Balloon Fun

Our great quest to find the perfect water balloon has been long and arduous. Walgreens, Walmart and HEB are a few of the places where we have purchased packages of water balloons in this search. Finally, we found ones that will endure overfill, baby teeth, and explode only with the right amount of force and velocity. Pretty, they are not. But fun, they are.

Oh, and the velocity/force part, the proof is not in these pictures. Corey and I tested these qualities in the yard, repeatedly, on eachother, for at least and hour. I promise, we did let the kids play too. Good thing they come in packages of 100.

Taylor Wants to be Just Like Daddy

Here she is wearing Daddy's boots, er, boot.

This video of Taylor is sideways, I know, but that's the way Blogger loaded it and I don't know how to fix it. I wouldn't use it, but I wanted you to see what's going on in the background (if you can tilt your head far enough).



I love that man!

What's more fun than repeatedly pounding a toy on the kitchen chair to make beautifully obnoxious music?

Why, unloading Mommy's sock drawer, of course!

By the way, Harry is just fine. He was already walking normal and playing like the psycho-kitty he is the very next day. Whew...

Did I Say Weaning Had Commenced?

I must have spoken too soon on Tuesday, because yesterday and so far today Maddie has refused to take even a sip of formula out of her cup. I guess she's not completely ready, and since the only reasons I have for weaning her are my own desires for a little more freedom and a lot more sleep, I guess I will give her more time.

I have been cracking jokes and giving the impression that all of Taylor's shenanigans with Harry have been 100% amusing and generally harmless. Well, yesterday she pulled him out from under the bed by his leg (I was stepping out of the shower when I heard him cry and busted her), and today it seems like his tiny front leg is either broken or at a minimum, sprained. We are hoping for the latter, and it does seem more likely since symptoms didn't appear until this morning, he is able to move/bend it, and when I gently probe it he doesn't seem to mind much. He just will not put any weight on it, and the knee (is it called a knee on a cat?) is swollen. You can see how swollen it is in this picture (it is his left leg, on the right in the picture).

As it seems to be improving throughout the day and he has started eating and trying to walk more, I am simply watching it for now. If it does not continue to improve I will take him to the vet tomorrow. Poor little guy, I feel its completely my fault for failing to fully supervise Taylor while she plays with him.

Neglected

I just realized that the last several posts have been about Harry, and I have been neglecting this beautiful 9 month old. New news in her world is...weaning has commenced! Today we had a sippy cup of formula in place of the pre-nap nursing. It went great! She drank every drop of it and the dropped off to sleep! Go girl!!

A Day in the Life of Harry

Ahhh, its a tough life...

But appearances can be deceiving. When I got out of the shower this morning, and went into the living room to check on Taylor, she was in the process of putting her little back pack on her back. I looked around, wondering hmmm, where's Harry? The little guy, who weighs maybe a pound, was zipped into her back pack. A few minutes ago, Taylor was sitting on top of a plastic lego bin tipped over, watching tv. Once again I wondered hmmm, where's Harry? Trapped under the bin. The pictures above were taken last night, after Taylor had gone to bed. That's the time when he sits with me in the recliner, and he can finally relax after a really long, really tough day. I know the feeling...

***I feel the need to state that my arm is not really that fat...must be the angle.

Harry's Story

In case you can't tell, Harry is Siamese. When I was very young, we had a Siamese cat named Sushi, and she was outrageously mean and vicious (my family knows this story). We're talking hide-in-the-bathroom-and-attack-my-legs-when-I-walked-by-mean. We're talking sleep-in-my-bed-and-scatch-the-cr**-out-of-my-legs-when-I-moved-at-night vicious. Anyhoo, Sushi had a litter of kittens, and we kept one. He was born feet first, and it seemed that at some point during that process his brain was deprived of oxygen because he was mentally retarded (of course there was no way of knowing this for certain, but his behavior over the years indicated some, shall we say, mental deficiencies). This cat was the best cat I have ever known. He let me dress him up in baby clothes, and push him around in my doll stroller. Sweetest animal ever. His name was Harry. Today when I came back in the house from outside, I was greeted with this sight...






Harry actually seemed to be enjoying himself. This little guy is doing an amazing job of acclimating to the chaos in our house. I think we've found another good one. He's got big shoes to fill, and I think old Harry is smiling down (or up??) from cat heaven!

Update on the Binky Attempt

****FAIL****

It was a long shot, but I still had high hopes. No self-respecting breastfed 9 month old would start taking a binky at this point, I know. At least that's what Maddie told me...in "baby-ese".

How did I become the crazy animal lady? After Taylor and Maddie were in bed last night, I still was covered in small creatures clamoring for attention...

More Proof That My Husband Loves Me

Corey bought me a gift today. Kind of a late birthday/early anniversary present. Meet Harry...

We'll see if he wants to run away by nightfall, what with Maddie yanking his tail, Taylor carrying him around by his tummy all the time, and Dezi trying to sample his toes.

Oh my gosh what was he thinking The more the merrier, right?

So I can feel the end of nursing rapidly approaching. I resent being the only one who can get Madison to sleep at night (and most nights, like tonight, its extremely difficult). I resent being the only one who can get her back to sleep when she awakes during the night. Neither one should be solely up to me at this point, I think.

Anyway....just needed to vent.

Cuteness

I find over-sized ears particularly endearing, extremely cute and then some. If you know me IRL and have met my husband, you already know this about me.

Equality

One of our favorite things to do around here is gorge ourselves on fresh, juicy summer fruit.




If we can get messy, sticky, and stained pink in the process, well, all the better.

Maddie, however, thinks she got the short end of the stick on this deal.

***in case you are wondering, yes, Taylor did eat the entire quarter of that watermelon in one sitting.

Just a Quick Note

I will not be posting for a few days, my computer has been infected with a virus. The Geek Squad "doc" says "malicious software" has somehow found its way from the net to my laptop. Apparently I executed something/pop up/something/blah blah blah. Don't know, but I brought it home to back up my files and will be taking it back for surgery at the low low price of $130. So much for the service package I purchased with the unit, doesn't appear to cover this. Kind of like my medical insurance...



Josh/Dottie-- thanks for the note. I miss you too, always always love to see you guys!

I Love My Home

We are back from Grandpa's funeral. Here are a few photos from the flight home. I may have something funny to say about the trip in a few days, but for now, all I can say is...

it's great to be home, and I will never fly and/or stay in one hotel room with four kids again look forward to our next family trip.

Any Advice Out There?

My 9 month old has started waking up again at night. Some nights its only once, but more often its two or even three times. While I have nursed every one of my children for some length of time, I have never nursed for this long. Maddie has never taken a bottle (not more than 1 ounce, and not for lack of trying), nor has she ever accepted a pacifier. When my other ones awoke at night at this age, all I had to do was give them their binky and they went back to sleep. With Maddie, she of course wants to nurse, even though she does not need the night-time feedings at this age. She never eats much, just enough to drift back to sleep. I will not mention the resentment and frustration I feel towards my husband as he sleeps soundly next to me through all of this. Logically, I know he can't help because he doesn't have boobs, but in the middle of the night logistics don't mean cr**. I am tired, and cranky. So today, I picked her up a pacifier. I realize it may seem dumb to try to start this habit that I will just have to break in a couple of months, and maybe to all of you out there who are currently trying to convince your child to give up their beloved binky, it seems super dumb (I have been there before, too). But I need sleep.




Right now she is mostly just carrying it around, but at least she is not rejecting it like before.

***In 5 months or so, when she is addicted to the binky and I am struggling through screaming and more sleepless nights because I am trying to take it away, I don't want to hear "I told you so"...not from anyone, ya hear??

This Is So Cool

I have won my first award as a blogger! I am super excited to announce that Janae has granted me this:

She is an amazingly upbeat, witty blogger whose posts never fail to brighten my day and make me laugh out loud! Head on over to her blog to show her some support!
Now it is my honor to pass the award on. I don't have 15 followers (yet!), so I would like to recognize two of my favorite internet people and their blogs:

Heather at 3 Under 3

Rebecca at Conversations Between H & M

Stop on by their blogs, I know you will enjoy them as much as I do.

Thank again to Janae for honoring me with this award!

New Adventures with Dezi

This morning at about 4:30 am, Dezi started whining and carrying on from his box in the other room where he sleeps. As he never does this anymore, I knew he had to go potty pretty badly. Well, when I opened the door he came rushing out, already peeing. (note to self: when he whines a little bit around 2 am, go ahead and get out of bed to let him out...you will regret it if you don't). Poor guy tried to hold it, but he just couldn't. He fell asleep in my bed, and when I went to bed I just put him in his bed, instead of making him go out first. Mistake #1. Anyway, I cleaned up his mess and since it was almost morning already and his new sheepskin fake sheepskin/fleece covered cushion was wet, I left him outside. When I let him in at 6:30, he was covered, and I mean COVERED, with hives. I have never in my life seen a dog so swollen with hives. Even his lips are 3 times their normal size. Don't know what he got into, but I have given him a bath and twice his normal dose of Benedryl.

Madison's top front teeth are through, and she has developed this habit of grinding her 4 teeth together--not a pleasant sound.

And, on Wednesday, the six of us will be boarding an airplane to attend my grandfather's funeral in Colorado. Yes folks, you heard correctly. All four children will be on the plane, none of which have ever flown before. One of which is a baby, one of which is a very rambunctious 3 yr old. I tell you this so that you can make sure you do not fly Frontier on that day, reschedule any plans you may have, as a matter of fact plan to be as far away as possible. Please, save yourselves...it's too late for me, but you still have time :)