Hey Jude.....

16 years of stinky canned cat food, numerous vet bills, even stinkier cat litter changes, furniture scratched and destroyed, hairball puke....and I still love my girls!

My sweetie pie Jude started puking large amounts just after we returned home from our Christmas trip....I'm talking like LARGE amounts. Not to be grossly graphic, but one morning I heard that horrible gulping sound coming from behind me....you know that sound that is similiar to a cat drowning and gasping for air..you cat people know what I mean, and you also know what follows. Yep, the wonderful hairball puke. Only when Jude was doing this for a few days, when she finally did puke....it was like a hairlall ocean....coming from a kittie fountain. Yuck.

Anyhow, after a few days of this, I knew it was time to do the unthinkable task of loading Jude up and heading to the vet. The thought of pulling my own teeth out with rusty plyers while blindfolded with barbed wire is more appealing then taking Jude into a moving vehicle, to a place that just the initial scent upon entering causes her body and neurological system to malfunction and release poo in her pet taxi....sorry, too graphic again.

Jude and her lovely sister, Avery have been my babies for many years.....after many moves and yearly vet trips, Jude just decided she did not want to be toted around anymore, and she basically flat-out refused to go in a taxi. At about 12 years of age, the vet told us the stress of taking her to a vet was going to lead to an early demise...I think he just couldn't take the howling sounds Jude made from the carrier for the whole hour we were in his office. We were very fortunate to find a mobile vet in Lubbock to take care of our shots and what not, so the problem seemed solved. However, since moving to Austin, finding a great mobile vet has not been easy....as soon as we tell them the age of out pets (My dogs: Poncho is 15, Bandit is 10, Cats: 16), they freak and tell me I will need to take them to a stationed office...."just in case".

DO THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE ASKING ME TO DO?????

Sadly, the day we took Jude, all the throwing up had caught up with her, and she was feeling pretty yucky.....yucky enough to not rip Doug's arm off when he placed her in the carrier....yucky enough to only make small howling noises, and yucky enough to not poo or puke the whole trip there. I did not go to the vet....Doug was the brave soldier. I made him promise me that he would come home with my baby, or come get me if it looked like she might not be able to....

Every 10 minutes I called Doug on his cell phone to get an update on what was going on..."Did she scratch anyone, yet?"..No...."Did they have to tranquilize her?"....No...."Did you have to spray out the carrier when you got there?"....No....Doug reported back that Jude was actually very mellow and did not fight off care one bit. He also reported that her kidneys were failing, and she was getting cat dialysis.

The last time I took a pet to the vet and heard the diagnosis of kidney failure, two hours later I held my sweet dog Brandi in my arms for her last breaths....having your pets get old sucks.

Okay....now the happy part of the story! So Jude DID come home....she had a huge bubble tumor looking thing in her (basically injected meds and IV) that slowly disapated into her body over time...kittie dialysis. She savored her last bite of 9 Lives Egg and Tuna (well, savored it and then threw it up) that day....from now on, Jude is on a very strict perscription diet....seriously, did you even know a cat could get a RX card? Well, Jude has one, and we have to whip it out everytime we go to the specialitly store to get her million dollar food.

For $50, you too can be the proud owner of this much cat food.....

And I would pay any amount for this sweetie pie.......

Or this cutie...who, by the way, is also on the new diet as a prevenative measure....not that she needed to diet or anything......

So, Jude is doing great...she went from being a 18 lb cat 2 years ago, to a sleek 11 lbs. She is back to her chipper self, and she has been doing extra reps on the stairs to tone up after her weight loss.

Notice those bald spots on the back of her legs....those are from rubbing the carpet on the way down the stairs....she is also bald on her belly from the constant rubbing :)

Yo! They call me Rocky!

So my batteries are dead in my camera....this is good. This means I can't take a picture of myself right now....this means you can't share in my agony. You've heard of Rocky, right? Come on, there are like 6 or 7 movies about him....you're bound to of seen at least one good Rocky bout. Well, right about now, I look like Rocky Balboa just after the big fight with Mr. T....No, I have not entered the women's cage fighting league here in Austin. I am, however, raising a hellion two year old....
My patience has been tried this whole week.....for some reason, my daughter has resorted to physical violence as of late, and it appears my face has huge bull's eye target pasted to it.
In one week she has bloodied my nose, put a nice goose egg bump on the back of my head, and now I am sporting a nice shiner and (hopefully not) a near broken nose. No, SHE has not joined the women's cage fighting league either....
The bloody nose happened while I bent down in front of her car seat to retrieve the cup she chunked under the seat during the ride....as I reached with one hand, I reminded her that we don't throw things because...BAM!...she kicked me right in the nose. I was so shocked, I did not even notice I had started to bleed....she looked just as shocked as she said, "Oh, mama...you have ketchup in your nose." I don't think she meant to full out kick me....it was odd, like she was playing but suddenly she completely lost control of her leg and foot. I was mad, but after closing the car door and taking a few deep breaths, and a few refreshing whiffs of baby powder scented wipes (I had to clean the blood), I opened the door to hear her say, "Sorry, mama."
We'll call that one a freak accident.....
The next day, Kaelan and I sat in dentist office waiting for an appointment...she had not been the happiest kid to be around that day, whiny and grouchy to say the least, but she was somewhat pleasant as we waited, enjoying our time playing with a huge pirate ship in the waiting room. Kaelan decided she wanted me to read her a book....I told her I would after she helped with cleaning up the pirate ship toys...to which I got a resounding, "No! I CAN'T clean up, I want to read!
"***Just a note, "I CAN'T" is the hip phrase in our house...it basically means "I won't, try to make me, I'm testing my boundaries, I am two...deal with it."***
Anyhow, I turned to hand her the bucket to start cleaning, and....BAM!...a pirate ship slammed into the back of my head....no accident this time.....good times!
So.....we had a long lesson on that one....I pray that chunking stage is over.
Oh yeah, the black eye you ask? Well that happened at play group today....Kaelan and another little girl were jamming out with some toy instruments....really jamming out. As Kaelan spun around in circles singing and shaking the heck out of her maraca, she made the mistake of closing her eyes...in her dizziness she started going down....but like a true mariachi maraca maiden, she kept shaking her heart out....unfortunately, my nose got in the way of the down beat.
My toddler has won this round.....I think I am down for the count.

So, about Christmas...

I know I said I would post more about Christmas later, so here goes....


The night before we went to Cloudcroft, we had a little Christmas get together with family here in Austin. Aunt Sara, and cousins Cathy and Alaina (and Alaina's boyfriend Mike), we all present. Doug got a cool Braves blanket made by Aunt Sara (hence the stylin' look in the photo).

On the way to the mountains, we stayed in Abilene and visited Nana, Grandaddy, and Aunt Mary. It was soooo cold.....and wouldn't you know it, we left Kaelan's heavy duty winter jacket at the restaurant....which I did not realize until we were standing in the snow...at our cabin...in the mountains. NICE!

Anyhow...Kaelan learned that "Hot, don't touch!"...is not just a warning, it is a true statement...she stuck her hand on the fireplace shield and burned her finger....she is in the first few photos ops, but not much post burn.

That night in the hotel room, I only had to tell Kaelan to leave the heater alone one time.....she stayed way clear of it....lesson learned.

The mountains were great...not a lot of snow, but still nice. Ty loved his "Smokey the Bear Firetruck". I know half the little intricate parts and pieces are long gone by now, but at least he is enjoying it.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Other highlights:

Ty helped Maw open ALL her presents. He loves her so much, and when she went into the hospital right before Christmas, I could tell he was worried. He misses his Baw, so he cherishes every moment with his Maw.

My nephew Ricky....a.k.a. "Rudolph"

He was very happy to give the low down on what happened to his face.....his sister Lexi hit him with her backpack, knocking him down face-first into the pavement. Lexi's version was a little different, but both agreed he annoyed his sister a bit too much that day.

My other nephew, Mikey....a.k.a. "The Tongue"

He is very proud of this trick, so take it in with all its glory.

It is just impossible to get the whole family together for a photo....here are some/most maybe, not a great picture, but at least we have a picture. Ty did not look up there for anyone....he would when I went up to the loft and yelled to him, but not for anyone else....mission NOT accomplished......

Red Hot Mini-Van Momma!

Ahhh.....home at last! Such a long, long, long week. So much craziness packed into a little amount of time!! Where do I start?
We hit the road on Saturday, headed for the mountains.....wait, let me back up.... I will tell you about our trip later. First....let me tell you this...
FRIDAY: OPERATION PING PONG
So here's the deal....I sooooo thought I was the coolest this year with the whole secretive present buying thing. Every year Doug and I agree to not buy each other anything for Christmas, and we agree we will go out after Christmas and buy something we like mutually or individually, and EVERY year Doug goes and gets some great gift for me and sneaks it up to Cloudcroft (i.e. a laptop, a camera) and then I am left to look and feel like a big horse butt. Not this year.....no-siree, I was going to get Doug that Ping Pong table he has wanted for years, and have it all set up for him when he came home from work on Friday night (I'm not going to drag the thing to CC for God's sake!). This would be a huge surprise, as I have adamantly denied him his table for years, and he would totally not be expecting it!!!
So, I tracked down the perfect table and headed off with my wonderful neighbor, Andy (and some twine just in case) on Friday morning to pick up the table.......sounds easy enough, but by the time we got the thing home.....on the roof of the Expedition, no less....(curse you...you Sears salesman who lied and told me it would fit in my car!)...I had no time to even entertain the idea of setting it up. So I just parked all 200lbs of table in the middle of the garage for Doug to see, and hopefully not run over, when he pulled in from work.
When Doug didn't show at his usual time, I called him several times on his cell phone wondering where he was and why he was late.....let's just say the messages got less "Christmasy" as time passed. When he finally pulled into the drive, I did not even know he was home....no garage door opened....no big surprise for Doug. He just came in the front door with his hands full, said his hellos and asked me to please grab his computer bag out of his car for him. Ugh....he was ruining my plan! I mumbled something not "Christmasy" and reluctantly headed out to get his bag, when I realized the car was not out there.....in fact someone else was parked in my driveway.....someone with a HUGE red bow on the front of their car.....SURPRISE!!!!

I guess he wins again....I have been telling him a "greener" car would be nice. I love the Expedition, but 15 miles a gallon, well, sucks! I have NEVER been a mini-van momma, but I must say, this little gal is pretty cool. It has all the bells and whistles...back-up camera (now if I can just get front and side cameras Ha!), all auto doors, DVD, fold away seating....I looked at the Quest a few months back, but the one I liked was $38,000...ouch! I was good this year, but not THAT good! Apparently Santa really digs me!!!!! Watch out Suburbia!!!!

Yum...Chinese Food

Mom: "Mmmmm, Kaelan. Do you want to eat here, they have edamame
(ĕd'ə-mä'mā) beans?? You love edamame!"
Kaelan: "Yes!!! I will eat rice and eggs rolls and edamame and edadaddy and edababy beans. I love them!"

Chicken Soup for the Toddler's Soul

Question:
What's more fun than Christmas shopping with a two year old????

Answer:
Christmas shopping with a whiny two year old who just cut her two year molars and is not feeling well.......

So, yah....I am still Christmas shopping, and yes, it stinks! I don't know what happened, but somehow I managed to fall really behind this year. I absolutely hate last minute shopping, because I just get in a state of "get them whatever", and then I go home and pull it out of the bag and go, "oh crap....this is stupid...why did I buy this for ______ (fill in the blank)." Then, I want to take it back and get something else and the whole viscous cycle starts again....


I know Doug's cousin won't use a Whirlwind One Swirl Smoothie Maker.....but yet I still have one waiting to be wrapped.....Bah Humbug!


I did get one cool present though.....want to see????



You don't seem very impressed......well, let me explain.

My brother, Ty, loves firetrucks....he loves Smokey the Bear, and for the last two years, he has asked Santa for a "green Smokey the Bear firetruck". Last year we, er, Santa brought him a cute little Forest Service truck with a picture of Smokey the Bear on the side...he seemed pleased, but it was not really a firetruck. Somehow, somewhere, it met its end, and now he is really hoping Santa will pull through.....no worries, Ty! You have a cool brother and sister who found the perfect gift for you.....don't ask me how much it cost....I will get sick to my stomach again, but it is sooooo worth it! I hope it just makes Ty's Christmas!


Our little baby is really sick....she started running like a faucet from the nose yesterday, and by last night she developed smoker's hack. Took her to the doctor today, and she has a really awful ear infection and respiratory ailment. She has only been sick a couple of times, and this really sucks watching her suffer. She started some potent drugs, so hopefully all will be well before we take off this weekend.....

It seemed she was a little cranky to start with.....we thought it was just the teeth coming in.......

But then the red, watery eyes and overall puffiness started to come on........

By the next day, all she wanted to to was lay around and cuddle "Teddy"...and for us to hold her...which is not a bad thing.

Poor baby.....

She saw the camera and tried to give us a smile....just didn't have the energy.....So, we are slurping down the Airborne concoctions, and trying to stay well.......let's hope this stuff is gone for Christmas!

Testing..1..2.

So I've jumped on the blogger wagon.....I figure I am on the computer everday anyhow....why not use this tool as an opportunity to preach from a pulpit on my daily musings and interactions. I will make my fellow blogger friends proud, and I will share my crazy thoughts with other nutso moms out there. Enjoy...here is the first blog.....here is a test photo....I am getting really good at this....watch out!