Christmas season for us.

Berry is 5. Ack, my baby will be in kindergarten in the fall.
Bear is 2. She'll be in morning preschool in the fall.
Me? Well, I'm going back to school to start the path to become a nurse.
Life is chaos and I miss simpler times.

Self-accountability.

I get these ideas, get all excited about them, even start on some then fizzle out. I need some accountability for myself. I am using this dusty old blog to go for it.
1) Chickens- living creatures, not fizzling on them and we are working on the coop, so "check" for today. They have fresh water and will be fed later today.
2) Meds, have insulin pump on, need to take thyroid I have taken my pill.
3) Have my sewing machine out but have no projects lined up yet, will research some of those later if I have time.
4) Beta-reading a novel for a family member, reading at night after kids are in bed is working best for that. Enjoying the novel.
5) Cleaning:
                  (A) Kitchen- clean counters, dishes, sweep, mop. take out garbage
                  (B) Dining- clear table, clean tablecloth, sweep, mop
                  (C) Living- Vacuum, help kids put away toys, straighten shoe rack
                  (D) Kids' room- Put away toys, make beds, put away laundry
                  (E) Office- put away bed frame, vacuum, take out garbage
                  (F) Guest bath- sweep, mop, pick up toys, clean counter, clean toilet
                  (G) Master bath- clean rugs, counter, toilet, take out trash
                  (H) Master bedroom- vacuum, make bed, dust, do all laundry
6) Still need to find a day to clean windows and do other spring cleaning items that haven't been done yet.
7) I need to make a home in my room for my treadmill, and to clean the treadmill before it comes inside, it's very dusty and has garage dust allllll over it. Ew. I have been inspired by a neighbor to try the couch to 5k program. I found a free app for my phone and tried it out on the treadmill this morning. It was amazing. The nice little euphoric grace from that 25 minute walk/run was worth it and I want more.
8) Must still make time to feed the family. They like eating daily, go figure >.<

There will be brooders.

I was browsing craigslist a few weeks ago, and ran across an ad for miniature horses. I jokingly called the hubs and begged and pleaded for the tiny equines for ten minutes. With my voice full is laughter and laced with mischief I cajoled and sort of whined. Then I dropped in because we are in no position to get an four legged critters more exotic than a new kitten.
 However, I saw a photo a friend posted to her own wall. Her daughter had been cuddling a chick perched on her shoulder while reading. They live in Alaska, and I figured that if they can keep those birds alive and well for years now, I can do the same in the Midwest.
The day following the miniature pony joke, I told the hubs about my desire to raise chickens for eggs. He agreed, and now we have 5 chicks in a brooder, smelling up my laundry room. We have a small coop and will be building a larger one soon. There are four Ameraucanas/Easter Eggers and one Rhode Island Red.
 They're too cute for words and I'm getting them used to being handled.

My Baby Bear will be two this month, and Berry-Girl will be starting tee-ball this summer.
Life is going along so very swiftly. My firstborn baby girl knows how to write her letters, practices her shapes, can hold pretty lively conversations, and she amazes me daily with how aware of her surroundings she seems. My Baby Bear, my second child, my spitfire, she is walking, talking, climbing, counting, singing, dancing, smiling constantly, and is simply perpetual motion.

I am at a place in life where I feel content, joyful, settled, and at peace with things as they are; while simultaneously wishing for a bit more. I want to get a job outside the home, to feel useful financially, and to contribute to our budget. Then all the things that would need to be juggled for that to happen come to mind. Finding a trustworthy daycare, finding the money in the budget to get a certification for my desired job, juggling classes and being full time mommy because we never know when Mr K will be home that night or off in another state for work, and ensuring that by the time I am certified that there is a need for the job I am training for. The part of me that absolutely hates the idea of missing anything my children do more than I already have to has won out or have been relived when I've learned that a job I've applied for has been offered to someone else.


So, instead of agonizing over the whole job thing I'm going to keep on trying to stay within budget, do my best to find ways to cut spending and not so patiently wait for Baby Bear to start preschool so I can get a job while the kids are in school.

For Mom

Hi Mom,
I think you are my only reader!

Life is a true blessing. I have moment I have to overcome. Moment when I feel so overwhelmed, where my temper is short and my kids see a grumpy mom rather than a happy one. I'm working hard on maintaining control and staying calm. When my bloodsugars are messed up, I have a much harder time staying calm. I've been better about remembering to take my thyroid medicine, to take my insulin as needed, and to test my blood. I'm no where near perfect, but I am working on it. I have a husband and two girls to care for; I need to be here, and be healthy, to do this.
My Berry-Girl is 4, she is in preschool, she loves all things princess, tea parties, animals, bikes, tee-ball, helping others, and being a mommy to her babies. My baby is nearly two now. Baby Bear is whirlwind of loves, cuddles, giggles. She follows her sister around like a duckling. They fight, the laugh, they play, and they love each other more than anything.
We have our two pups, our cat, and now we have 5 new babies! We welcome Ada, Caramel, Inca, Molly, and Tinker to our family today. They are one week old Ameraucana chicks, they are all female chicks and are going to be giving us eggs in a few months when they are mature. We have them in a brooder, and will be building a coop over the next few weekends.
The awesomest of all husbands has put down quite a few pavers, making a beautiful walkway and patio. We now have a nature path leading from our backyard to the farm fields on the far side of our property.
 Overall, life is blessed.

Been awhile.

I'm sitting here with my daughter asleep on my legs. She wanted cuddles and zonked out in a few minutes. It is the perfect time to update the dusty old blog.
I was not up to the challenges of posting daily photos, as evidenced by the lack of them.
Fall is making it's windy way here in a lazy way. We've had some cooler days and the leaf colors are changing. Soybeans have been harvested and the corn will be done this month.
I found a couple of project toys at a garage sale and am working on them. There is a wooden bench/toy chest, a little tikes brand vanity, and some wooden blocks form 1960 something. They are bound to have lead paint on them, so they are getting lots of safe fresh paint on them.
 Minion 1 has a birthday in a few weeks. We are going to have a small cake, and dinner at home and that weekend we will go to children's museum.
Halloween will be fun I hope. We are having a Harry Potter marathon and  am going to be doing themed snacks. I think Minion 1 will love it while Minion 2 will drool and babble appropriately.
That's all for now, I'm going to sit and enjoy the weight of a 30 pound nearly 3 year old snuggled up with me and watch something on the idiot box.

30 days, failed.

I haven't picked up my camera or blogged in days. Too rainy, too cool and too happy to pick up the camera for pics that are not of my family and I don't like showing their faces, so those are out. The result is a failed first attempt at 30 days of blogging, even without counting the other days I have missed this month.

The girls are in bed, my Mr K is out on business, and I am playing an online game with him while watching the newly regenerated tenth Doctor. Good time for the tired mommy.

30 days, days thirteen and fourteen

This was supposed to have been posted last night but i fell asleep before I could finish writing it.

Day 13

Daddy got Berry and Bear a surprise. Berry was so excited, she seemed to think Purple deserved the inaugural ride.

Day 14

Berry managed to get my phone while we were speaking with a realtor and snapped this funky angled piece and I just love it.

30 days, day twelve combined with Theme Thursday.

This week's theme is text. I really like the variety of text, or fonts, used on this photo frame.

This was precious. She was an amazing dog and my best friend for every one of them. She kept me company, slept at my side every night I was home, and was intuitive to when I need cuddles. I miss her still, years after her death.Head over to Clan Donaldson for wonderful pictures on this lovely Thursday

30 days, day 11, and some seriousness followed by fun.

Today was a hard day when I awoke and realized it has been twelve years.

No matter how old I get I will remember the utter despair, the helplessness and the fear from that horrid day. From hearing my teachers talk about it, to walking in my front door to see my parents sitting on the sofa and seeing the first images from that morning at 4 in the afternoon as I stepped through the door. My heart broke all over again, remembering telling a good friend as we walked together to English class "We're at war. There is no way we are NOT at war now...." Then the crying. Not sobbing but the whole "tears welling, throat swelling shut silent crying."

Chris gave me a one armed hug and agreed quietly.

The years passed, the images showed up less and less each anniversary, and here, twelve years later, it still hurts as much as it did when I was in high school and learned how truly horrific foreign terrorism can be. This, following April 19, 1995 and how domestic terrorism already made me feel helpless and angry.

I have no answers, no wise words for the masses, just heartache over the hatred, ignorance, fear, and senseless tragedies that I have witnessed thus far in my life.

On to the happier part of this post.

   Today was busy and hot. We hired a local tree service to come remove two dead trees for us. It is NOT in our budget, but we both agree that the cost of cutting them down far outweighs the risk of them coming down in parts during winter storms, potentially causing damage to our home, requiring us to pay a hefty deductible to have insurance pay for home repairs. In winter. With snowfall and freezing temperatures. Yeah, paying to prevent those makes me feel a quite a bit better.
   The tree guy showed up, and Zee ran off. Again. She pulled this running off thing back during a thunderstorm in early spring. Eleven days later, she showed up 3 miles away, skinnier than a bean pole, bedraggled and scarred up but alive and well. Then today, the guys showed up earlier than expected so Zee took off. She was gone about four hours. Around the time K was coming home from work she trotted back into the yard like nothing was the matter. Knucklehead!
   After the tree guys left, i realized that in my exhausted state of little sleep, after my shower this morning, I forgot to put my pump back on, so I went hours with no insulin >.< Not good. I put if back on and spent the remainder of the afternoon until K arrived recovering from spiking a high blood sugar. K used his awesome power tool to work on the old pile of trees left by the previous owner. Good times were had by all.

My manly and lovely Mr K.

There is something simply yummy about a man properly using a chainsaw.

30 days of pictures, day 10

I picked up this small table today, super cheap, real wood, with a massively messed up surface. I was debating turning it into a side table or something when Berry chose to make it her own art desk.

30 days, day 9

Berry bids bye-bye to the bug.

Help! I need somebody....

Not exactly but I do love the Beatles.
   I need patience. When it was just the Berry girl and I here at home, it was so very easy. I wasn't outnumbered, I had enough in me to set her in a safe place and go take a two minute breather if things got to be too intense. It felt like I had life mostly under control.
   Then Bear came along. Even in my pregnancy with her, I was the embodiment of emotional overload. That chocolate bar I had craved and eaten was already gone? Beware, let loose the waterworks and stand back while insane woman rages over the injustices of a chocolate treat gone too soon. And even now, when Bear is edging closer to the four month old mark, I am still overly emotional.

   I lose my cool and my temper way too often. Things with Berry get out of hand and she is sent to her room so *I* can have a time out while Bear is vocalizing her extreme displeasure at being anywhere other than my arms.
   These occurrences are not constant but they happen too often. I feel like the world's biggest failure when I make my toddler cry because I don't have patience with her, or when I have let my infant scream because I let things get to me that probably shouldn't matter that much and she feeds off my tension and screams more instead of calming down. I am trying to find a balance between raising children who listen to me and who have the confidence to try new things; and letting them explore while having them trust me to be there when they fall.

   If you have a moment, can you pray for me please? I'm trying to have more patience and I need all the help I can get.
 

30 Days, day 8. Barely getting in here in time!

I was in bed, about to turn off the light when I realized I hadn't posted a picture today. I am digging through the archives to find a great picture.

This was taken in April 2013.
This is the view from my dining room.

I absolutely love living where I do, because in the winter, when there are no leaves, this is the view of sunsets we see almost every evening. Such beauty.

30 days, days 6 and 7

   As I sit here, Thomas the Train is softly chatting in the background, and Berry is finding a shirt to wear I didn't want to put one on her first thing this morning; after discovered she had wet through her diaper and needed a bath then breakfast and *then* she could be clothed. Bear is blissfully sleeping to the soothing tones of the Rainforest swing. Heck I'll be back later, I'm going to clean.
I'm back. Sorry it was too awesome to have happy and quiet offspring to just sit here, so I cleaned up the kitchen. I'm now awaiting an awesome friend to come over so we can make a northern style jambalaya. It's northern style because we don't have Bryan Smoky Hollow Cajun Sausage up here in the Midwest, so we are substituting Polish sausage and hoping for the best.
   After reading a fun blog post about using a stand mixer in a science experiment while teaching her children, I now want one. I want either espresso brown or bright red. However, we don't have a spare 300-500 dollars laying around so I have to rely on my trusty hand held mixer. for now.


This was started yesterday. Then my friend showed up and didn't leave til after 2, when her designated ride showed up as none of us were sober enough for driving at all.
I awoke early to bright sunlight in my eyes, my Mr K's voice telling me the coffee was brewing, and rain. yes, rain. It lasted approximately 45 seconds and upped the humidity to 980000000%. Yay.
Alas, I got up and decided it was time to run to the store for a cheap stand mixer which had the "sure, honey" from the Mister. Suh-weet! Well, on the way to the store, my van started acting up and i had to swing by previously mentioned friend's place to pick her up to get her car from our house. Once we got to the store, no mixer was in stock. Drat. I picked up the heavy cream, and we came back here. Friend left, and I made butter with the Berry. All in all, it was a fun morning.
Day 6 picture:

Day 7 picture:  Top is butter, middle is whipped cream, and bottom is buttermilk. 

30 days, day 5

This is what happens when Daddy forgets to put away his computer before leaving for work, and Mommy is still half asleep and forgets as well.

 Notice the native minion, making use of the unused-for-the-intended-purpose potty as a chair.
Notice the scraggly locks of un-brushed hair.
That would be the Berry, in all her mischievous glory, trying to Skype Mimi, or become president...who knows?

30 days, day 4?

An interesting smell lingers around this log.

The very best Berry, ever.

She really is the best Berry ever. After a rough night with bear, where I accidentally woke Mr K with my pleas for the wee one to go to sleep, for the love of all that is holy, I had my Berry. She has given me countless hugs, "I love you" proclamations, and so many simple laughs today that I feel much better.
Here is a pic of a younger Berry for your trouble in visiting here:

Does the dog's face scream "Please get her off me" or what?

A decent day.

Today was decent. Not good nor bad, but decent.
I had grand plans to wake early, dress the girls and take them to the library. But then Baby Bear woke at 4 and demanded food, then proceeded to fight the food, me, and sleep. She was ticked, people. She screamed, until Mr K woke up and took over while I crawled into bed, buried my head under my pillow and begged the Lord for patience. K got Bear back to sleep, dressed and left for work. i dragged myself out of bed to care for the minions. I got Berry fed, and worked on Bear. Berry spilled half her breakfast on the table. I said a prayer of thanks that I stuck to my "breakfast eaten AT the table" rule this morning. Bear chose to eat, then scream for over an hour. She calmed down when Berry got the tablet out and began madly dancing to Michael Jackson while screaming for me and her little sister to dance. Great fun was had by all.

Bear finally zonked out long enough for me to pick up tree garbage while Berry ruled over her play area.
 Mr  arrived home in time to eat dinner. we had the tree guy come out and give us an estimate on the removal of two dead trees. Yay. The good news is, he is giving us a great discount thanks to the help of a wonderful friend, and we are saving a good third of the total estimate by not having them remove the tree or the stumps.  K has a chainsaw, and we have an amazing fire-pit thanks to my Mr K's awesomeness.
And as a bonus, here is another pic from today:

This is one of the two trees to be removed by the end of next week.

30 days, day 3. poison!

This:

is a poke-berry plant, it seems. At least, according to my lackadaisical Google searching it is. Those dark berries are quite juicy, smell fresh when you squeeze them, and likely stain things a purple/blue color. Unfortunately they are poisonous to humans.
I ***will*** fins something edible and yummy in my foraging attempts, or I will plant something edible and pray the critters we share the woods with leave some for us mere humans.
Pretty but poisonous, don't you just love nature?

30 days, day 2

This is Baby bear, doing her best to hold down that absorbent pad. (That pad is under her so that when she spits up, it doesn't flood her bed like the Mississippi floods the plains when the levees fail.) Also, daytime sleeping, yes I know the dangers of sleeping on the belly but I also know my child and I'll be darned if the little tyrant downs't put herself in that position. She rolls people, she rolls really fast. I put her on her back and this is how she is found the moment I turn her on her back.
Yes, her sleeper is blue, and yes it is meant for a little girl. There are purple and pink bugs on the front.
This was posted about an hour later than what I thought the time was. Minions one and two are finally tucked into bed, not in a swing or on the race-car rug in the room, but in their beds. I'm going to attempt to sleep until Bear wakes up, demanding sustenance and affection, which i will happily give. Middle of the night cuddles with a baby are precious and awesome and even though I lose sleep, they are perfect for one on one bonding that is harder to come by with additional kids than they are with a first or only child.
Ok, so I am hearing the neighbor'c cow and she has not stopped mooing in over 18 hours. She was doing this since about 6am on the second.

Thirty day picture challenge?

Sure but we won't take off points for starting on day two, okay?

Day One:
This was taken from a bridge over a gorgeous little section of either river with a low water table at the moment, a creek, or a stream. You decide. Mr k and I took the girls to a state park and hiked a bit. We found this little bit of breathtaking woodland beauty near the end.


Day Two:

will be done later, after i have taken a picture.

Blog Title Change

Since there are two minions now, I thought this random bit of the internet needed an updated name.
   Berrygirl is our first, our amazingly funny, sweet, energetic, defiant, helpful, and insistent two-almost-three year old girl.
   Bear is our second, our three month old and oh-so-different than big sister girl. She is ahead of where Berry was at her age. B1 wouldn't tolerate her belly at all, while B2 hates her back. Bear pushes up and has since she was 2 months old. She holds her head high and looks so interested in everything. B1 was more laid back, more easy-going and was on a set schedule for a long, long time. Bear, not so much.
   Bear is inconsistent. She can sleep through the night, or be up every hour. She will eat 8 ounces in ten minutes or nibble on 4 ounces over the course of an hour. Sometimes she tolerates her carseat, other times it is a nonstop scream session from the moment we sit her in it until the moment we take her out. Makes for interesting drives longer than ten minutes.

   We still have not done anything new in regards to our dogs. I emailed one lady about an elderly Yorkshire terrier but nothing came of it Our tentative plan is to get a larger breed rescue after our old house sells. I'm not going into that mess, just keep praying we get an offer, soon and adequate, so we can sell.

   I'm at pre-Bear weight but still have the excess ten pounds to go until I'm pre-Berry weight. I don't know if I will ever get there but it is a goal to focus on when I want to be healthier and eat better.

We had a small garden that failed. The only thing that didn't die immediately was carrots and corn. The carrots became home to bugs and the deer ate the corn before we had a chance to build a fence around it. Alas we shall try again next year. I envision preschool lessons with Berry while Bear eats bugs, dirt, and grass next to us.

Introducing...

Well, March seems so long ago.
I don't remember all I last told you about but here is what is going on in this crazy world of mine.
The good:
 MayBerry arrived at the end of May, a healthy seven pounds, three ounces, twenty inches long, with a full head of soft dark hair, and healthy! We named her when we saw her, and due to privacy reasons we shall forever call her L. The first of my daughters is A, she is L, and I will continue this naming system unless I go bonkers or forget >.<
 She is now three weeks and counting, her days and nights are mixed up, and she sleeps more than big sister A did at this age, just not at night...when we want her to sleep! LOL
 Big Sister is amazing. She is helpful, oh so very helpful, to the point where we have to tell her not to try to force a soothie (aka pacifier) on her sleeping sibling, not to shove a bottle down the wee one's throat, and no, sweetie, we don't need to suffocate L with the bib when wiping her face off. L tolerates the loving sisterly abuse affection quite well. Let's hope this continues for the next twenty or thirty years, shall we? My mother came to stay with us for a few weeks, but will be going home the first week in July. I will dearly miss her since she lives so far away but for now I am thankful and savoring every minute my awesome mommy is here to help me.

The bad:
 I am still a good twenty pounds overweight, and am not yet ready to exercise to get rid of the last of the chub that came because of my penchant for greasy fast food and candy that still has not left me. Drat, L, you made me want that crap that I avoided since your sister was born.

The ugly:
 There has been death in my life. Death and loss. It is quite sad. First, a good friend was told she was losing her foster-but-hoped-to-adopt-child due to the way the law was written regarding custody for our state. The child's only living biological parent lost all rights as a parent because the parent kept making bad choice after bad choice. Instead of my sweet friend getting to adopt this chilld, the child was removed to the custody of a biological grandparent, despite everyone involved saying and knowing my friend had the better home, the best interests of the child, and stability, security, and siblings. It has been a hard few months for her. After the courts ruled against my friend keeping the child she already loved as one of her own, her mother passed away very unexpectedly. This woman was a foster parents, and she inspired my friend to be a foster mother and to adopt her children from the system. She was a good hard working woman and will be missed.

In the days following the birth of my second daughter, we were adjusting well to life with a newborn. My three dogs were still being kept separated from the baby so they could adjust to her sounds and smells slowly. I let my girls out one morning after a small tiff with the hubs. After I was done chatting with him, I went to get the dogs back in from their morning potty break, but I heard a very bad sound. I thought the truck going by my house blew a tire, and I looked to the road to see if he needed assistance. As I looked up, I heard tires locked up skidding on the gravel. That wasn't a tire in the road. I screamed my dog's name and ran. With a Cesarean section incision only healed for nine days, I ignored the pain and ran to her. She was still alive but non-responsive. The neighbor stopped and tried to apologize and help. We apologized back for not having her leashed, and we left, we grabbed my beloved Tink, piled into my car and drove to the vet. My mom stayed with the girls and we drove quickly to the vet to try to save my Tink. According to the vet, she lasted long enough for x-rays, and coded three times. She came back twice, but not that last time. She had a severe hernia in her abdomen, a broken leg, and suffered shock. I am still quite broken and cry over this. Partly from the hormones but mostly from grief and guilt. If only, all of the "if only" thoughts... no matter who says what, this is my fault. My Tink died alone at the vet on a cold table as I sat crying in the waiting area. All that is left of my girl is a collar, ashes in a wooden box, and paw prints in clay. Had I kept up with keeping my dogs leashed every time they went out, she would be alive. There is no way around the cold hard facts. So, while I celebrate every moment of my life with my newest child, I am grieving over my first rescue, my Tinkerbell.
That is the cold, ugly truth. My lax practices of leashing my dogs resulted in the horrific death of a very beloved family member.

Now here I sit. I will forever remember and love my Tink.

Slowly getting closer

My last trimester is going slowly it seems.
In less than ten weeks, MayBerry will be here.
This past weekend, we got some things done that were needed, but it still is not close to being ready for a new life here.
Spring is still forever away based on the snowfall I woke up to this morning. I miss green things. I want to do a garden this year, but how the hack am I supposed to waddle around making sure no critters get to the things I want to grow? Also, how am I supposed to go out and weed a veggie garden when I have a newborn to tend to?
So many thoughts flying through my head, so much left to do, and yet I feel stuck.
I opened my mail to find a questionnaire from federal court. I served for jury last year right before I lost JellyBean. It was a full service, we did the trial, deliberations and verdict and all that jazz.
I loved being able to serve but so much has changed since then. My only contact for childcare has moved and I will have two kids, not one to deal with. If they do not excuse me based on serving within the last two years, then I will be hauling a two year old and a newborn to a federal courthouse to illustrate my inability to serve as juror. Think the judge would throw me in lockup for contempt??? Hope not :-(

So far for the MB, we have the bassinet ready, the changing table re-assembled, some diapers found, some cloth diapers folded and ready to go, the clothes washed and sorted, the carseat washed and prepped.
We will still need to get a second base for Mr K's vehicle, we need to get a more firm date for the arrival of my mom and whether it will be for a visit or a move in date, we need to see if any other family plans to drive the 16 plus hours to come visit us, we need to sell the old house! Gah, brain = fried.

Sleepy and can't sleep!

There are times where I feel like I'm on autopilot, just trying to make it through the day because I'm so darned exhausted.
Today was one of those days.
Half an hour ago, I was barely able to sit up on the sofa with Mr K and remain awake. Now, I cannot for the life of me fall asleep. Ack!
I shall rant now.
   Before I met my Mr K, I loved all animals. We had numerous dogs when I was growing up, and I loved every one of them, from Spunky and Blackie to Lazy and Precious. We had many semiferal cats thanks to ignorance and lack of funds for a simple spay procedure on the feral girl that showed up when we moved in. Anyhow this feral cat, Pookie, was a wild Calico girl. She was an avid hunter of field mice, moles, and other small varmints. We knew this because their corpses were often gifts at our doorstep. She loved us humans that she adopted, but hid from everyone else who ever came near our house. Pookie got sick when she was about 13 years old. She had gotten hurt by something and never healed well. We had a wonderful mail carrier who offered us help by rehoming her in a rescue that could afford the veterinarian bills that were likely extensive. After the hard choice was made to rehome Pookie, we were given a few updates about her from the mail carrier. She lived another six months with a whole pack of other semiferal cats rescued in our area. She died peacefully in her sleep one night. It broke my heart that I realized we were unable to care for her properly because of lack of finances on our part, but it also mad me swear to never get another cat as long as I lived because of how much losing Pookie (first to a rehome, then when she died) hurt me.
Then I met Mr K.
He has a cat.
   I have tried to like this cat, but have failed. We have been together for over four years now. This cat went from being left alone for days on end without Mr K due to business travel, to being here with me, every single day. I mentioned we had Pookie for YEARS earlier. Pookie was an outside only cat. I grew up in the south, so she only ever came inside on the rare winter nights that it froze outside. This was a handful of nights in the thirteen years she lived with us.
   Back to Scooter. Scooter was neutered and declawed in the front because Mr K didn't know better at the time, if he had known better, the surgery would have only been a neuter, no declawing done, period as told to me by the mister himself.
   Scooter cannot be an outdoor cat because he is defenseless without those front claws. This makes for a very frustrating life. Scooter also bites because Mr K thought it was cute when he would bite as a kitten. Scooter grew, as did his teeth. You see where this is going don't you? Scooter was never trained on proper play and behaviour. He thinks biting is the only way to show affection, playfulness, and aggression. This makes me not want to interact with Scooter as I am not fond of being bitten. This keeps Scooter locked away from me and our daughter since I will not risk bites to my child. It is not fair to the cat that my two year old chases him, his only recourse is to bite as a defense. I will not let him bite her so I keep them separated.
   I cannot and will not spend my entire day following my daughter around while she tries to play with Scooter. There are things like cooking, cleaning, practicing letters and numbers, and cuddle times that need to be attended to during the day. So, Scooter has his bed, food, water, and litter all within the confines of one room. When Tyrant is awake, Scooter is put up. When she is in bed for naps or for the night, or we are gone for an appointment, he can be loose. Scooter has no manners. He still tries to jump up on the counters and dining table (EW! Cat fur and litter on his paws from burying his excrement, freaking disgusting) I do not allow pets on surfaces where food is handled. That is not okay in our home. Scooter was allowed run of the house for the two or so years he lived with Mr K in the bachelor pad, so he got set in his ways. It has taken a lot of time, energy and water squirts to get him to behave while we are home.
   Anyhow, my point after all that rambling is this: Scooter and I do not like one another. We tolerate each other. Him because he knows where his food comes from, and me because i cannot be cruel. He loves K, and K loves him. I swore to my Mr K that I would never ask him to get rid of Scooter, as I could not handle it if he asked me to get rid of any of my three dogs. He tolerates the dogs just as I tolerate the cat. I would love nothing more than to hand Scooter off to someone who adores overweight orange tabby cats with no front claws, a fondness for biting, and a deep seated love of splashing all his water out of his bowl. But I cannot. I cannot give up my three rescue dogs. My Tink, who has a Chihuahua body and a Great Dane sized ego, my Zee, who is so timid she is afraid of her own shadow but loves to hunt small game like squirrels and mice, or even my Little Foot, whom Mr K and I rescued together during a family member's divorce or else she would have been euthanized.
   I cannot give up my dogs, so I cannot ask him to give up his cat.
   I can say, however, that I would happily say no to a new cat unless it was to be an outside only, semiferal but spayed Calico that would hunt all the snakes and other nuisance critters like our cat Pookie used to do for us.
 
   I'm going to sign off now, attempt sleep yet again, and pray that the demon spawn kitty does not bat at a door, jump on a counter, or attack a sleeping human foot tonight.

Taking breaks?

Some days I feel like I need an evening break. Just a small break where I can sit and read, sip a warm drink, and relax for an hour without guilt.
Mr K is amazing. If I need time to myself, he gladly goes solo on parenting the Tyrant so I can rest, but the guilt is there. It feels like I am being selfish by being alone in our room while my sweet girl is is playing with her daddy and every few minutes saying "mommy"  amidst her toddler babble or directly calling for me in such a lonely sad voice. I don't get it, K is on the floor playing cars, dolls, or reading to her, and she still calls for me. She knows I am in the house, as she doesn't do it when I go to run errands and she doesn't do it when K is at work.

How am I supposed to relax for a little bit when I feel extreme guilt for taking time alone?

  Tonight, the tyrant decided to go to bed early. Our routine consists of brushing teeth, changing into a fresh diaper, and getting pjs on. We give kisses and hugs, place her in bed with her dog and her soothie, turn on her night light, shut off the light, close the door, and we are done.
  We usually do bedtime at nine pm. I need to sleep at some point, and my insomnia-type sleep patterns keep me awake until the early morning hours. Since my sweet girl gets good time with us in the evening, we have her bedtime at nine pm, and she usually awakens by nine am. Tonight at twenty past eight, Little Miss chose to go to bed early. She grabbed her daddy's foot, then my hand and tugged. She ran to her bathroom to wait for us to brush teeth. Her daddy and I were more than happy to oblige.
   Here it is at ten past nine, Little Miss is asleep, we are on our electronic gadgets watching dvr tv shows, and having quiet adult time. Yes!
   My pregnancy is going well. I am showing symptoms of symphysis pubis dysfunction, minor pain compared to what Doctor Google has taught me, but still some pretty intense pains at night. My next appointment is at the beginning of March. It will be a busy day with a fetal echo to check the baby's heart for any changes in the tricuspid regurgitation that was seen in the previous scan. I will also have a growth scan ultrasound. I will be making certain to ask the tech for a print of the scan to have for the baby book. That reminds me, I need to make a baby book collection!

My tablet is warning me of a low battery so I'm off for now.

Valentine's Day

Yesterday was a good, quiet day.
   I was smacked, kicked, beaned in the head, sneezed on, coughed on, screamed at, cuddled with, kissed, smiled at, and hugged, all before 5pm. I love being a mother.
After A had her busy day of terrorizing our home and myself along with the dogs and cat, she loudly squealed "DADDY!!!" as he walked in the front door. He told our sweet girl "Give this to Mommy!" I heard a rustling of a grocery sack then the slapping of feet as she ran towards out kitchen. I get to the gate to discover a bright red envelope held outstretched towards me, a big grin on my little girl's face. I told her thank you and took the card. I opened it to read a funny message form my husband and giggled. As he stepped over the gate to unload his lunchbox from the day, I gave him a warm hug and a thank you kiss. He surprised me with a large pack of Reese's Cups. My husband knows what to get me, what can I say?

   I was about the check dinner, so I playfully made the excuse of my ever expanding belly being in the way, and asked him to get the pan out the oven for me. He did then checked the chicken I was baking inside. It wasn't done yet. Drat! I put the bird in for another hour, finished up the side dish, and K surprised me again with an offer to get frozen yogurt. Awwwww. The man spent all day at work and on week nights he only wants to rest, not drive into town for anything. He prefers comfy clothes, a beer, and dinner. Dinner wasn't ready and we had been dying to try out our favorite frozen yogurt place at their new location, so off we went. It was delicious! As we were leaving, I spied warm brownies and a display of chips. We got them both and came home to the fully cooked bird. After a bit, we had dinner and some family time. We put the Tyrant to bed and watched some Friends on dvd. As soon as K began snoozing, it was bedtime.

   As soon as we were in bed, my sweet husband was asleep. I tossed and turned and gave up on sleep. My incubating fetus had decided to wake up and proceeded to do a one-person version of the summer Olympics in my uterus, thereby rendering me sleepless. It's all good, I caught up on my shows I had missed the night before. As one am arrived, I had had enough and told my baby to be I was done and going to sleep whether or not they wanted me to do so.
   It was a great day with my family, depsite the seeming abuse from my toddler and my baby to be.

It's been interesting since I was last here!

Miss A is in her room, playing quietly. Luckily it is the safest room in the house for her (meaning there is nothing my monkey girl can climb on or pull onto herself), and she enjoys destroying the order playing.
Updates:
Miss A is two years old, loves to climb, and run after the dogs and cat.
Her likes:

• any type of car or truck, be it toy or real; 
• animals, she can spend hours watching critters in the yard and playing with our furry family members; 
• eating, she likes to snack on chips and salsa, and will willingly dip anything into anything which makes for some interesting flavor combinations at mealtime; 
• Daddy, he is still her favorite person in the whole world.
• Mommy's iPad, which stays put away to prevent rough and tumble A from doing too much damage in her rigorous play
• books, while we are not given too much opportunity to read more than a page at a time before she takes the books to read by herself, we enjoy trying every day. she loves to look at the pictures and will have entire conversations in toddler babble about what is going on in each page.

News about us as a family:
    We have since moved. We bought two acres south of the town we were in, and we are in the middle of a bunch of farmland and wooded areas. We see deer regularly and I have spotted a fox, an owl, and a hawk, along with the scurry of squirrels and flocks of small birds. We love it out here. When we lost power at night once, we could see so many stars in the sky, it was absolutely mesmerizing. We went from our 1950s two bedroom starter home to a gorgeous three bed, two bath home all on one level (no more basement, wahoo!) and my kitchen is three times as large, with a separate dining room off the kitchen. We moved at the start of 2013 (that story is deserving of a whole blog post all in it's own right).

    A will be  big sister this Spring! We are expecting our second baby in May and we could not be more excited. I will reveal the sex in a later post, maybe...    ;-)

More about A. She is two years and three months old. She began walking at 14 months, she has said dada and mum for a long time, and switched to mama at some point. She has slowly added to her vocabulary but has trouble pronouncing sounds and words. I have started the process of a speech evaluation this week. Her hearing screen was normal, so we wait for the referral to reach the speech evaluation people. She has some words that are perfect and clear like "daddy" "mama" bye-bye" and "I/eye" however, most words are not completed, like book (boo), bite (bi), and many other words. When we say her ABCs, she will try but many sound the same, such as C, D, and E all sound like "dee"
I work with her daily and we do not many baby talk to her, but she is still not picking it up, so I am going with the speech eval. to see if she needs more than what I am offering currently and to see what else I can do for her.

I'm a big fan of car seat safety. I learned more and more about proper car seat use after A arrived and her daddy and I chose to rear face her in her seat past the law's minimum of 1 year and twenty pounds. She is now 28 pounds and rides rear facing in a Britax Boulevard 70. I love it because she is safer this way. Had we forward faced her at a year and twenty pound, when we totalled our van while heading on vacation during the Christmas of 2011, she could have suffered a very serious and life threatening neck injury. Thankfully, she was still in her infant carrier and riding asleep rear facing. She didn't wake up until we came to a complete stop and the road noise and movement were gone. We are lucky that no one else was involved in the wreck, just my beloved minivan Bonnie, and the deer who decided leaping at us from the median at that precise time was a good thing. I knew immediately that we had to replace A's car seat. In the event of a high speed collision (deer vs van at 55mph) all car seats MUST be replaced, no matter how well everyone weathered the wreck. Micro fractures can occur and the seat is no longer considered safe or usable. I eventually settled on the Britax and have loved it ever since. If you want more information of car seat safety, visit www.carseat.org A will remain rearfaicng to the limits of her seat.
I must go for now, A is wanting a snack, or as she says "nat"

It has been almost eight months since I last posted.
My kidneys are fine, thankfully.
There is so very much that has happened, but all is well.
We were trying to conceive after my scare. I found out I was expecting in late January. The first ultrasound was scheduled for Feb 6. We went and were hoping to get an estimated due date. Instead we found out there was nothing in my uterus. After many days and many blood tests, we were given a prognosis of ectopic pregnancy but I had already miscarried, despite what the doctors said. I was coerced into having a dose of methotrexate. It was bed, I ended up in the emergency room for the bed side effects. Then when the blood showed the levels were not making them happy I was told I needed surgery. Surgery happened but no pregnancy was found (obviously since I had miscarried before). I recovered from surgery and slowly my hcg levels dropped to zero.
I am now healthy, I cut my hair short for a change and am enjoying life.

We are currently having our roof repaired, and will be saving for getting our windows replaced before this winter if we get the money saved in time before winter sets in.

Our sweet girl is doing so well. She is talking, walking, climbing, and is so very smart. She is showing her personality more and more each day.
well, I must go for now but will try to get back here tomorrow.

A big scare about my kidneys

     I went to my endo and had my a1c test, it was very very high, literally double what it ought to be. I was not happy that despite my meager efforts I had gotten worse since A was born. I got into gear, began checking again and decided to give minimed, and their carelink system a second shot as well as getting back on the CGMS. I spoke with my endo's office today and learned that a test was done incorrectly and they needed to re-run it with a fresh sample. Getting more details from the nurse I learned that it looked as though I had developed a new complication from uncontrolled diabetes, as there was significant protein detected in my urine.
     Later this morning I go give a new sample for a slightly different test to see if I need to go on a new medication the rest of my life. Naturally I went through lots of feeling from shock, anger, fear, despair, and now am just anxious. This is not a 100% guarantee that the new test will show I need a medication but I am so very scared I will.
     If anyone is reading this as a newly diagnosed diabetic, here is a glimpse into your future if you choose my path, and don't follow doctor's instructions to watch your diet, take your medicines, and CHECK YOUR BLOOD! This is happening because I let taking care of everyone and everything be above me and letting the testing and the daily maintenance of diabetes slide to last in my priorities.
     This is a pathetically needed scare to get me on track. My first motivation after nine years with Type 1 was learning I was carrying my daughter. This time I want to be in control because of me and my life, not just because another life depended on me.
     So, here I sit in the wee morning hours, unable to sleep. My mind won't slow down. I'm scared, anxious, and upset. Hell I halfway believe I don;t deserve to feel so bothered by the inevitable complication because I went so long letting it all go by the wayside.

A little girl.

There once was a little girl born to a mommy and daddy who at first were convinced they were having a boy. When the nurse showed them that a little baby girl was going to be born, they laughed and cried and the mommy knew the little girl's name instantly! They named her that very instant, and began to prepare for the girl to arrive. Months passed and the parents got everything ready. One fall day, the mommy went to the doctor and was told that the girl looked like she wasn't growing anymore and she needed to arrive immediately. The next day after a long labor and finally a surgery the girl was born, but she had a little trouble. After a rocky start, the little one went home with mommy and daddy. There she grew and thrived. A few months later, her heart doctor (whom she had because of that rocky start) noticed something on one of the special pictures the doctor had taken of her heart. he noticed there was something that should not be there, and the girl had to see another few doctors. Eventually the mommy, daddy, and doctors made the choice to do an operation, so the little girl would stay healthy and be able to grow normally. That was done, the doctors and the parents were happy. The girl once again continued to grow. She learned to sit up, to crawl, to feed herself, and to jabber, sounding much like a murloc and a wookie combined!
     Now this girl, whose mommy and daddy love her so very much, are just as happy as can be. This girl who they thought was boy has brought so much joy to their lives. The daddy comes home from work every day and sees the smiles and hears squeal of happiness from his little angel. Every morning the mommy wakes to the same smile and squeal. They are living right in the middle of their happily ever after!

The Boog and Genetics

Booger had her appointment with a geneticist today. It went quickly and nothing in her physical appearance made the doctors think anything was going on. However, the RCDH was a bit of a red flag, so they decided to order some blood work done. Her other congenital anomalies are not noteworthy according to them. So, we are now in the waiting period for the results from a chromomal test to see whether or not she has anything extra, missing or if everything is normal.

My own personal diary - for the world to see.

I feel like this place is ignored except for my visits to randomly ramble on about whatever happens to be floating through my mind. I'm cool with that.
I've been reading different blogs. I will go to one that catches my eye, go to the beginning and read the posts in chronological order. I enjoy this very much. The current one is from a mommy who has a child with special needs. She is anonymous enough to keep her privacy but open enough to share her life with the blogosphere and I love it that she shares her kids' triumphs and the little things.

If I were a decent writer, this blog would be organized, a fun/interesting read, and be bringing back followers. Alas I simply have an online journal that the world can see.

Onto Booger. Booger is doing well. she can crawl-and crawl forward!! She is no longer stuck in reverse gear. Go my little angel! She like eating fruit chunks from a can with only juice, no heavy syrup for her. She is only eight months and does not need all that extra sugar. She has had a taste of mommy's Splenda sweetened fruit pop and loved it. She is a puffs fiend. She's go through a full container if we let her. Her favortie food is sweet potatoes, but has her daddy's appetite and love of all foods. There's nothing she won't try so far. she even had canned mixed veggies with lima beans sans skins and enjoyed them. Go A!

She has her nine month checkup at the beginning of August so we get to see her current stats. My only concern will be her head shape. Her head is still flat on the back, despite only reasting on her back while in the carseat. Her left side bugles out and the right seems okay. You don't notice this unless her hair is wet and slicked down. I think I'm going to give her a wep mop of hair during the visit so the ped can see just what has mommy concerned.

After her surgery for hernia repair, she has gone from not rolling over to crawling!!!!! She is a happier girl, even mre so than she was pre-repair. I am amazed at her babbling, her consonant sounds and every thing she has learned so far. She *knows* how to hold her bottle but chooses not to. She knows how to use a soft spout sippy but again chooses not to. At this point, being that she is under a year, I am happy with this and not concerned. We will transition when the time comes.

My prediction for her ped's appointment is as follows:
-Her head circumference is still below the growth curve but following it
-He'll say her head will be alright, but I will challenge this because a head is not supposed to bulge.
-She will be less than twenty pounds but more than 16
-He will be happy overall with how she is progressing.

A Good Time

I awoke to the screaming demand of my child for her soothie. The Mister was downstairs starting laundry, and the babe wanted out. I gave her the soothie, and crawled back into bed. She went back to sleep. All was well. I dozed for a few more minutes, just long enough to gather my wits and be able to move without stumbling around. The husband and I enjoyed our coffee while the wee one played with her toys. Boog had her lunch then went down for her afternoon nap. We went outside and worked (don't worry, we had her monitor on and could hear her if need be). There's a storm creek next to my home, and our neighbors to the south had a tree limb lying in the creek. After two weeks, no progress was made, so we took the wood after trimming the limbs and stacked it for fall firewood. (This was not theft. The neighbors had already taken the firewood they wanted and left the rest for the city to clean up.)
On and off today we worked outside chopping the wood into manageable sized lengths and stacked it. Tomorrow I get to work on the wood given to us from another neighbor. We will have so much this fall for our outdoor burn sessions. yay,
At the day's end, we went to a local ice cream place that sells handmade soft serve and got some lemon and raspberry flavored stuff. Yum!
Now it is bedtime for the Boog and we so need to get her down. I'm off to feed my Tyrant and tuck her in afterwards.

Not so wordless Wednesday

I found a new blog. Ellen over at Love That Max has a amazing writing style, great humor and one pretty awesome set of kids. I've been reading her stuff for the past few days, getting caught up at whatnot. I had to share. Through, her I've found a LOT of other wonderful people, (and it makes me even more aware of just how lame I am here in my own little dark corner of blogdom). I simply had to share the latest thing to occupy my reading time.

Wordless Wednesday

On doctors, coding, and other bull hockey

Boog went to the neurologist in late April. she was examined and diagnosed as developmentally delayed according to the words of the doctor. He prescribed physical and occupational therapy to help her get on track. I fought with insurance and finally found somewhere to take her that was equipped with staff who knew what she needed. Cut to this past friday, the fifteenth of July. We get a bill stating several hundred dollars was due by 7-31-11. Naturally, I called to find out from the doctor's office and from the insurance company just what was going on. After two brief phone calls, I learned the official coding for the appointment was "Early intervention" and that was A's diagnosis. Insuracne refuses to cover early intervention anything. I called first thing this Monday morning, and was given the run-around by the nurse for that neurologist. I call back at twenty minutes before the office closes and it turns put the nurse lied to me about speaking with their billing person, as she was out today.
The nurse told me she would speak with the lady in billing and have her call me back. She did not disclose that the billing person was on vacation still.
I will not be paying this bill. Insurance will or the darn doctor will eat the cost because I'll be damned if I am paying fro 15 minutes of time with a guy I could barely understand when he spoke, and who seemed to not give a rat's butt about proper terminology and wording when speaking directly to him much less in coding and billing.
I am beyond ticked off. This is not right. We did not go see him because A was suffering from "Early intervention" but from "developmental delay". Argh!

Could this be how it is for the Wee One?

     This morning, I woke up, I looked around, saw the brown mesh covering the slats of my sleep prison. I whimpered-nothing happened. No tall ones came. I cried louder, as surely this would have them in here to tend my every need- still nothing, though..... Finally I took a big deep breath and wailed at the tall ones. Oh yes, I hear floorboards squeaking, and the shuffle of feet, the door opens and - DADDY!- I see him and  grin so big because he makes me happy. Awesome I get some time in with Daddy! I get the wet heavy diaper off and a fresh clean dry butt, and some fresh clothes. I'm ready for my day people.
     First up, I go to my spot, with all my toys and do a bit of serious play and investigating my limits, exhaust my entertainment and now on to breakfast. Time to inform Daddy- "wahgrahble-ah-uh-ooooh-agh." Ooh-he's getting up, score. I only had to tell him once. Into my high chair for my meal. yummy pears and rice cereal.
     What next? I'm going to cuddle with Daddy and watch some Battlestar Galactica. Um Dad, not the floor, cuddles. I said CUDDLES. "WAHHHH AJH OOh Unh!" Much better. Hmmm, this is comfy, I think I'll nap.
      *Yawn* That was a good power nap. I want down now Daddy. Down, please. "Grrrr, grblegrble gah." Thanks. "Bababa-aahh ba" Hey, my Pooh-bear rattle. Hey look, it's Mommy! "Eeeeeeee-ah ha ha" Yay more cuddles! I think I'll just rest my head here a bit.
     *Eyes crack open* Why are the warm furries yelling so sharply? Why am I back in sleep PRISON?! "WAH Agh! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah?!" Daddy, there you are. I need a new diaper and some food. More floor time and some new toys. But that power cord looks much nicer than this noisy piano. My only problem is I can't reach it. I need to climb over the warm furries' sleep pillow. Off I go- one hand, then another, next the knees and oof.  Try again. Ha, already there, now to see how this tastes-wah? Um Mommy why are you picking me up? And you stink! Eww, you're all sweaty?! What have I missed why sleeping.... Oh well, you'll do for keeping me happy. Oh, a bottle, good thing as I'm thirsty. Yummmm....
     *Eyes open* Again with the sleep prison? Ugh. "Wahhahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"  Daddy! Good to see you! Hey, I'm getting a new outfit and a new diaper again already? Outside too, how fu- HOT! "Whimper" Really Daddy? It really will be okay? If you say so, then I guess I'll let you strap me into the moving prison.  Oh Mommy's store! It is awfully bright in here, but at least everyone smiles at me so I can smile back. This is fun Daddy.
     Hey, we're home! Mommy! More smiles for Mommy and cuddles too. Now it's real fun. Tickling, I'm all for that. "Heeeeeheeeeeee-ehehehehe" Hugs, smiles kisses, oh my! This has gone on for hours now, I'm getting tired. A bottle and some food. Mommy time for you to hold me. There now I can grab that colored thing with the string on your hip. What? What do you mean I can't have Mommy's pump? But, Mommy, it's so colorful and there's a string! WHAT?! That tubing isn't for Booger? *Whimpers sleepily* "Aaeeennhhhh" Ooh, the sucky thing!  Hey why am I back in the sleep pris- oh the mobile is on. I like the mobile. I need to get comfy. Onto my belly, tuck my knees in up under me, fist my hand around my blanket, tuck it under my chin. There we go.......

How our Bug has been since surgery

     When our Wee one was diagnosed with a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia of the right side, we were concerned. Then I used Dr Google, and became simultaneously thankful and scared spitless. Thankful because our girl was lucky in that her hernia was mild to the point where she was only mildly affected at birth and then not at all. Scared spitless because from the time she was born til her diagnosis, the hernia grew.
We saw a surgeon for a consult, got a second opinion out of my fear that she would suddenly have the hernia do something and it would become a serious condition quickly. The second opinion suggested a sooner surgery as he saw no benefit from waiting. We went with the second guy, and a week later, A was pronounced hernia free and on the mend. It has now been two months since surgery and while she has four small scars on her right side from the laparoscopic machines and the chest tube, she is like a new baby. We'd never realized how much she was developmentally delayed due to the hernia, but as soon as she started PT and OT, we saw a marked increase in her mobility, and development.
     She was at a two month old development level at six months. Now that she is eight months old, she is beginning to crawl, can go from laying down to sitting up and pulling herself sort of up towards things, and is grabbing at everything. Before surgery, she didn't grab at toys or put things in her mouth. Now she is a terror for anything not bolted down. I am so proud of her!

Netflix and Gran Tourismo.

I enjoy television shows that are currently running along with some that have been released to DVD and Netflix instant queue. The Mister prefers shows that have been released to DVD/IQ with maybe two that are currently aired. We have a routine set up.
     This begins with Mr K getting up when A does, makes coffee, starts and episode of Battlestar Galactica, and having coffee and quality time with the wee one. I get up put it on Baby 1st TV (awesome for babies, mind numbing for Mommy) until I awake after my millionth cup of coffee. He goes to work and so do I, but my job involves human, feline, and canine waste; human, feline, and canine dirt and messes; various other household maintenance needs and chores to be run outside the home. As my day progresses,  will find programs on TV to watch, and then put it on a Netflix show or movie, if I've gotten a DVD in the mail that day.
    When in town, my sweet husband will come home, do his thing with chores/maintenance, and sit down to an episode of something science fiction or educational, and then go play an hour on the Playstation 2. Usually it's Gran Tourismo. Fun for him to play, and A will get to watch Daddy play racers.
    In this event, I get to sit down with a cup of something yummy, maybe a sugar free popsicle, and watch mind-numbing teen girls become mothers.
    Our routines change up a bit on weekends and when Daddy is out of town for work, but this has become a nice routine.

Baby's first.

This July 4th was A's first Independence Day. She is still teething without result, so poor kid had a fever, looked bad for a bit, then reintroduced a liquid version of breakfast and was happy once again!
Mommy had fun too, she got to ride a horse, went shopping, and Daddy grilled chicken for dinner. Yumm!

Unexpected road trip.

     Monday the twentieth of June was a good day. We went on a family bike ride and enjoyed a nice supper. At twenty past seven central time, Mr K recieved a phone call from a family member who lives up in North Dakota. It was his dad, and he was letting K know he was being evacuated due to flooding of the Mouse River. K asked four or five time if he wanted us to bring the pick-up to help move out the stuff. My father-in-law repeatedly said no thanks, he would be pkay. As soon as he got off the phone, we talked and decided we HAD to go help. And we did.
     We packed up both our family van and his pick-up to make sure we had a place to sleep in the event that there were no beds available once we got to Minot. Mr K, A, and myself all piled in for a long drive overnight from Monday night to Tuesday morning. We set out at 9pm, drove with frequent stop in order to make ourselves wake up, stay comfortable, attempt a nap, get gas, and generally make our way for this fourteen hour drive. Arriving about mid-day, we immediately began loading and unloading furniture. By the day's end, it was still light out at nine pm, twenty four hours after beginning our trip, thirty seven hours of being awake, and we crashed on the sofa still at my FIL's home. The next day we moved the rest of the items out and the last load was being put on the truck as the civil service sirens went off.
     The home was empty, we were out of there. One more night in Minot spent at Mr K's uncle's home and we went over to visit my MIL in another part of the state.
     What a crazy crazy week! We arrived home Sunday night after being in ND since Tuesday morning. I think we will be happy to not go anywhere for a while yet.

Meh Monday

     Father's day was yesterday and we held true to our plan of me not asking Mister K to do anything he didn't wnat to do, therefore we sat and watched many episodes of Battlestar Glactica, with breaks for some Gran Tourismo and finally a little grilling for supper.
     It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the 80s. Today, however, it is rainy and not nearly as pretty out. I had planned on the grass getting cut, and pulling out the wading pool for A to splash in.
     Meh. I'll be inside playing with Tyrant and the animals, sipping my coffee and figuring out where to get the motivation to get anything productive done for chores. I may be back later to edit and add something, for now, Baby-love-me-lots is beckoning me with a grin.

I really do love my job.

Mrglmrglmrglmrgl!! Wahh!
*Cracking an eye open*
I see it is 6:24 am. Thinking I dreamt the sounds of a murloc coming from A's room, I close my eyes briefly and doze off.
MRGLMRGLMRGLMRGLWAHHHHHHHH!
*Eyes both pop open*
6:25am.
Nope, not a murloc. Just my daughter, face smooshed into the mattress, pacifier an inch away from her mouth, alternately yelling/fussing/talking to someone (me, herself, her daddy?). She is ardently vocalizing the fact that she is unhappy with her current situation. There she lies, adorable footed pajamas with little flowers printed on them, soaked from shoulder to knee. That is the hazard of a baby who sleeps for nine hours without waking. Soaked everything, you know.
I walk in, see all this, pick her, smelling like the urine soaked diaper wearing baby that she is, cradle her to me and whisper "Good morning tyrant, I love you!"
Change her diaper while she smiles and kicks, then rolls away from me. "Hun, no you need the butt covering on, Mommy gets tired of cleaning up after the dogs and cat, she does not need you to contribute to the messes, thankyouverymuch." Wrangle diaper onto baby, get her dressed and fed, then playing happily with her feet, and the next thing I know I am face to face with a pee covered crib. Oh joy - notice that did you? The sarcasm that was darn near dripping from my words? Ha!
Muttering to myself...'Oh Booger, this is why you have a dry diaper all night long. It stays as fresh all night as it did when  first put it on you at bedtime. The minute you wake up, the floodgates open. and you secrete about a gallon of liquid from your well trained bladder, fill the diaper, the sheets and anything else that is in the crib.'  I pull a hamper close, drop in every last item she slept with, her sheet, the receiving blanket she was covered with, her woobie (blanket and Winnie the Pooh combo toy tihngamajig), and Eeyore all go in to the wash.
In less than two minutes, your bed has been stripped wiped down and remade. Mommy's plus 10 to haste buff is on, go me!
My dear daughter is now jabbering at the dogs while banging a rattle on a caterpillar. She sees me, I smile and walk to the kitchen to nuke cold coffee (yes the coffee was from yesterday, no I don't care, and plus it is not wasteful and the stronger the better :-D  ). Her look says "Um, Mom? WTH woman?! I am sitting here, the least you could do is drop everything and entertain me! WAH! Ooh, soft, cat fur!"
It is now 8 am. Mommy is normally just now waking up, hearing a soft cooing from A's room. This up extra early thing is not for me. We *did* have a routine just this past weekend. However, Mr K's job decided he was going out of town this week which left me with no relief pitcher in the 9th inning. No, my go-to guy is lounging in a hotel room this week. I am the on call parent at night and first thing in the morning. We (Boog and I) are not used to this. We are used to going to sleep in Daddy's arms, him putting the Tyrant to bed because the daddy-daughter time is just awesome for all three of us; him being the one up bright and early (Thank you Navy for training him well here) and doing the first morning hour thing while Mommy tries to go from zombie stumbling and mumbling "caaaafffffffeeeeeine" to human mommy. We miss The Daddy.
Despite this temporary burp in our routine, we are getting along. I get extra cuddles in the evening and see that glorious happy grin first thing when she rolls over at the sound of a voice, sees one of us and all is wonderful in her world.
Those things, you see, are what make: the screaming for an hour because daddy is not there, or grunting at me because 'Hello Mom! I made stinkies over here, I need a clean butt now!' and the fact that Mommy never gets to bed early, it's not genetically possible for me, those things make me adore my job as maid, cook, housekeeper, laundress, busboy, bellhop, slave to a Two Foot Tyrant "Mommy". Each smile, every game of "Where is she?, THERE she is!", each yank on my face, finger in my eye, every last gaze into those sea colored eyes every last bit of makes it awesome. It totally makes up for all the sleep missed, the pukes, poops, pees, spit outs, raspberry drools, don't eat the cat furs, the dogs' rawhide is not an acceptable teether, honey that is a cell phone-NOT a baby toy, I thought you swallowed the sweet potatoes ten minutes ago?!

We have plants!

The mister and I wanted a garden last year. The only problem with the pan was the fence that took 9 weekends to put up. We had to work in the heat and battle queasiness from Anna floating around unhappy with the temperatures, K's broken toe, and waiting for rainwater to dry up. So it took nine weekends, totalling about 90 working hours. That stole our gardening time, energy, and money.
This year, we had a deck to stain, we still have wood trim to paint, and we have a roof that is in dire need of fresh shingles. Today though, K worked on the box garden. He had previously built the box but today our wonderful neighbor came through on his offer to till the dirt. Suh-weet! Off to buy plants and back home in an hour, go me! (I am so bad at stopping and looking at stuff that this is an amazing feat.)
 We managed to plant about twelve different things for food and I got some bulbs, 'cause they were pretty. It's been a few days and the plants are still alive (so far).  Some of the bulbs are beginning to sprout. We shall see how this goes.

What a weekend!

I have been assimilated. Into the car club loving world. I am an American woman who has always liked the looks of American muscle. When I met Mr K, I learned he had a 2002 Camaro. I then became involved in learning about the wonders of a 6-speed V8.
The Mister belongs to a car club of F-body style. There is an annual get together at a lake in the Ozarks, which the club refers to as LOTO. This annual LOTO rally was this past weekend. When the Mister lived in Missouri, this was a two hour drive for him, but now that we live north of the area, it is a six hour drive. Despite the fact that these glorious muscle cars are not meant for long distance driving, we made this trip. With a baby. It was not nearly as bad as it could have been. Did you know you can manage to pack quite a bit into the hatch of a two door sports car? You can also safely use a cut up pool noodle to assist in the safe installation of the car seat. Also, did you know a woman who weighs anywhere from 125-135 any given day at is 5'2" in height actually can maneuver around the inside of a Camaro at 65mph in order to feed an infant? Because, despite the very dangerous aspect of it, it is possible, but never, ever advisable.
We manage to get to the lake, get checked in at the hotel and begin swimming by 9pm. The infant, Little Miss Shy One, decided after the first splash she was not having anything to do with the pool. She went to bed shortly after, we hung out near the room and talked til bedtime.
Saturday, we managed to enjoy a breakfast after my handy dandy brand new insulin pump got locked accidentally then unlocked despite no help from tech support. We enjoyed a long leisurely breakfast, then got to the park where we were to have a barbecue. Talked more, played with little ones and ate some burgers and hot dogs. As we left, we all decided to go back to the hotel and cool off at the pool. It was hot and sticky, so the pool was just the thing. Little Miss decided she'd rather nap than go to the pool with us so we compromised. She went to nap and we swan, with frequent checks, it was a success. Little did we know, one of our own members had gone back to the park to check on the stragglers who were behind, and as he was leaving, some minister lady was heading to officiate a wedding and either didn't see or was not paying attention and made a left turn into a church just as our friend was going along with traffic, not speeding (Thank God), and T-boned into to her. She had two other passengers in the car, and everyone made it safe with minimal burns from the air bags. He is fine but his beautiful Sebring Convertible was totaled. We are thankful as well that his own Camaro was out of commission for this rally, because he'd have surely died in that car if it were the Camaro in the wreck.
After he came back to the hotel, we went out for dinner at a local restaurant, then split up where some went back to talk and BS at the hotel while others went to the local downtown strip of hokey but awesomely fun shops. Then the group met up, talked more, and hung out til bedtime.
Sunday was when the fun ended, some went home early and others ate breakfast at a buffet. We left and arrived home at dusk, exhausted from our relaxing weekend.

My new pump did not make the cut. Yes, it is waterproof, but there were just too many other issues and it is locked away in a box to be brought out only in case of dire emergency.

In other news, A. now knows how to sit up, and she is eating solid foods. We are working on her reaching and her pivoting while on her belly. She is rolling like nothing else and will be crawling soon, if her kicking motions are any indication.

Rant ahead- you were warned.

TLC has a new show about gypsies. Normally I am all about live and let live, there is rarely a family lifestyle or type that I'll even bat an eyelash towards. However, one thing really sets me off.
When people let/encourage/force underage age girls to have spray tans, wear things that show more skin than have actual cloth, and dance like they have something to offer sickens me. This includes the gypsy lifestyle, the parents who have their kids wear makeup and hairspray and ten pounds of cloth for pageants, and those who think it's okay to encourage the attitude of entitlement.
The gypsies are known as travellers, they have a high moral mindset, yet dress like sluts. When the males are only allowed to approach females and impose themselves on the females in a forceful manner, demanding a kiss or some other sign of affection, it seems so off.
Oppulence bothers me, as it seems just wasteful in many cases. What bothers me more, and gets me riled up, is when children are sexualized. A young child of age 6 or so does not have a sexy body, should not be wearing glitter and makeup and showing off breast buds in training for being a sexy 14 year old wearing tassles and shaking her breasts and butt.
I am all for when someone is legal, age 18 in my country, to be as sexy and free and open as they want, but not children! If you want to shroud your body in a burka and be a homebody or strip for a living because you have a great body and feel confident enough to show it off, great! Do what you want when you're legal! I don't care if you want no kids, you want only to adopt, or you want to give birth to 20 kids, go for it. For the love of all the bunny farts in the world, people: don't dress your child, pre-teen or let your 15 year old dress like she belongs on a street corner in a red light district.
You get my idea. Expressing yourself is truly awesome but it can be done without making little girls and even little boys sexualized beings.

Adventures in DIY home improvements, part 1.

I have this house. The mister chose this house for no other reason than the massive amounts of garage space. It has the orginal garage built when the house was, back in the fifties, and a newer one that fits twice as many cars. The house is not all that large. She's a good little house that needs some love. When I moved in two years ago, the house was stuck in the 60s and 80s. There was carpet in the finished part of the basement that came from an episode of the Brady Bunch, and the kitchen had little country hearts and flowers stenciled on the cabinets and wallpaper that could have been in Full House. It was bad.
I promptly removed the wallpaper,and painted white primer over the country blue cabinet doors. Now, two years later, I stripped pain off the upper doors. My poor kitchen (what little there is of it) has robin's egg blue counters, off-white door openings, and country blue cabinet doors and trim. The flooring is (according to a blog I found about remodeling and finding a 1960s kitchen inder a bad fix-it job) a 1962 Armstrong special.

Step 1 was to remove wallpaper.
Step 2 was/is to get rid of  the blue doors.
Step 3 is to remove the countertop and replace it with something made in this century.
Step 4 is to remove and replace the 1960 flooring.
Step 5 is to hopefully repaint the hardware to a brushed nickel finish
Step 6 is the last step, to get rid of the blue trim and paint it all white while I paint the walls all one color.

That is simply the kitchen. More to come on other parts of my home.
 Exhibit 1, the blue on blue on wallpaper and white.

Exhibit 2 and 3, the Brady bunch carpet and the stripped doors.

Exhibit 4, the 1962 flooring

Crafts- HA! I'm dreaming.

I have this dream. One day I'd love to have a home big enough to have a room dedicated to crafts. All things ranging from cross-stitching, sewing/quilting to model cars/scrap-booking. I love these types of things, even though I am no good, and wish to eventually have a room so that I can light a candle or open a window, settle in with a mug of something hot or glass of something iced and go into my own little world while I attempt to create something.
This room would have a great table for all manner of crafting, two or comfy rolling chairs and two reading chairs. Those oversized chairs that can almost fit two people in it. They would each have their own ottoman with storage in which to keep warm blankets. To fit all this, I would need either an open floor plan attic, or a walk out basement.

In keeping with laughing at my lame attempts to craft, it would be a must to have a wall for tacking up ideas. Putting up a huge section of cork board, surrounded by trim sounds just fun an insane enough to give a go. I would have a small stereo system or hook-up thingy for my music player.

There are many, many things I would have set up here. A wall full of open and closed shelving, built-ins because if any of my children are anything like me,  they'll be climbing anything that will hold them, would have a large number of books and also hold cute craft things that have not been too embarassign to put on display.
The colors would be soft and soothing, with earthy tones and floral colors, like greens, oranges, lavender, tans, etc, all in the accents, but the walls would be very neitral, either white or off-white.

The only thing missing now is the things that my sweet loving mother would add to the room, because in this dream, Mom chooses to live with us for a few months of the year, when the weather at home for her is not perfect.