Kitty Clubhouse

Well, tonight Lucky and Ludo disappeared. I looked around and then realized that I knew where they were...the kitty clubhouse!

What is the kitty clubhouse? Well, it is our bed. Yep. They have managed to tear apart the bottom of the box spring which gave them their own secret lair.

I remember the day we discovered their secret lair. We were getting ready to leave town and I just wanted to make sure they were all here before we left (our neighbor, Ellen, was going to be checking in on them) and Ludo was nowhere to be found. I got really upset because I thought he had gotten out while we were packing the car. After thirty minutes of searching, Jason found him...in the bed. Since then they have continued to make more entrances to their lair, like this one:


Here is a peak into their lair:


Oh yeah, this baby is two floors! Why you may ask? Once they tore down the sides to create entrances, the middle sank down. Two floors are created by a huge down blanket under the foot of the bed and 2 large rubbermaid containers (you know, the long ones made for under the bed) under the bed towards the head). Ludo has chosen the lower level, with the large down blanket I mentioned, as his recovery spot:


Lucky kept him company from above:


(he is atop one of the rubbermaids I mentioned)

There you have it. Everyone has a secret clubhouse at some point in their lives. Even cats.

ps - Poopy goes into the clubhouse from time to time. Tonight, he was more interested in keeping me company while I tried to take some pictures than going in and joining his brothers.

Patience

I have had lots of opportunities to practice patience this week. Especially, today.

Amelia has been going through a phase, which started sometime this week, in which she needs to be with Jason or myself all the time. Honestly, I find it annoying most of the time. Then I remember that I will miss it someday. I remember that she does it because she loves me.

It is just so hard for me because she is a very independent baby usually. She does well playing on her own. She likes to explore. She is busy. Now, all of a sudden, she wants to be held. If you put her down she sits there and cries. She won't move. You can call her from the next room and she just sits there, crying, where in the past she would come looking for you (happy or sad).

I leave her to cry before I give in to her wishes and pick her up. If this keeps up I am going to have to wear her around the house in a sling all day because my arms start to hurt after awhile! It's ok, one day I will wish I could hold her all day I bet. I just have to be patient with her.

Another patience lesson was tonight. My computer's security stuff wouldn't update, so my computer was not protected. I went online to tech support and "chatted" with a representative online. I tried his suggestion. It failed. I called after that. Was told to call another line especially for Dell customers etc. Normally, I get very frustrated when I am on the phone with companies like this, being passed around from representative to representative. Tonight I was able to not do that and the whole ordeal didn't ruin my night! It took 50 minutes to get it all sorted out and fixed but at least it is fixed!

The best part? I put Amelia in her pack 'n' play so I could deal with it and she was quiet the whole time! I think she was beyond bored though:


Almost every time I looked in there she was standing there, chewing on the side of the pack 'n' play and staring at the doorway. It seems she practiced patience tonight as well.

Lastly, Ludo is home! His belly is all shaved and he has a huge incision! He doesn't seem too mad at me...and he made himself right at home on our bed tonight:

Birthday Buddies

This afternoon, Amelia and I had a visit from Amelia's birthday buddy, Sarah. While Amelia had her afternoon nap Sarah and I were able to catch up, finally. Amelia was sooo happy when she woke up and laughed so much! I am sure Sarah isn't a fan of this picture, but here they are laughing together:


Here is a nicer one:


Well, that was as nice of a picture as we could get out of Amelia :)

Ludo had his surgery this morning. The doctor called and it went fine, mostly. Once she got in there, the stone removal was pretty textbook but she noticed some internal bleeding. She lengthened his incision and explored, trying to find the source of the bleeding. She determined it was from near his liver but has no idea why it was happening. All of his organs looked very healthy, his clot test came back normal etc. So, she wants to see him in a week to check and make sure he is not becoming anemic. We get to bring Ludo home tomorrow! When I called this afternoon to check on him they said he was cranky but doing very well!

Ludo Update

Well, little Ludo is feeling pretty bad. Since right around Christmas he has been in and out of the litter box 20+ times a day (5-6 is normal/average). We noticed because our apartment turned into a sandbox. There was that much litter being tracked around. Saturday I called his Milwaukee vet and they recommended I take him to the Animal Emergency Center.

We got to the AEC late Saturday morning and were there for over 3 hours. Ludo had x-rays taken and they found a large bladder stone, in addition to discovering that his urine is bloody. Needless to say, he is has a lot of pain right now. He has some pain medication and also an antibiotic to help prevent bacteria growth. He also is on a wet food diet that is specially formulated to keep his urine neutral which will help prevent the stone from getting any larger. Amelia found ways to entertain herself while we were there "all day":



In order to make sure he is "ok", he has to be isolated from his brothers. We need to know that he is going to the bathroom and that he is not obstructed. If he becomes obstructed he could pass within as little as 12 hours. That's a scary thought! We have him in the spare bedroom. The door doesn't close all the way (this house is 105 years old - no joke, so the doors and frames are pretty warped) so we have it rigged to stay shut with a shoelace and 5 gallon water jug that holds coins. He has frequent visitors at his door:


We went in for a follow-up with his Milwaukee vet this morning. Amelia kept trying to get into Ludo's carrier with him:


Whenever they would come take him for tests or something she would freak out and scream and cry. She would watch them leave and once the door closed she would look at me and start wailing. It was pretty cute :)

Long story short, Ludo is going in for surgery on Wednesday morning. Poor guy. It will provide him immediate relief and they can analyze the stone to see which type it is - there are several, I guess. From there, we can work at long-term management of the problem. Until then, he is confined to his "isolation booth":

Friday Fails - Christmas Gifts

There is a new blog carnival at myblessedlife.net, Friday Fails. It is a place to share with others things you have "failed" at, things you have dropped the ball on or things you just plain forgot or didn't have time to do! So, what is in this picture:


Christmas gifts... Yes, CHRISTMAS gifts. We had planned to give family framed pictures of our family as part of Christmas gifts. Well, some got them. Some didn't. Major fail.

See, we had some already pictures printed from when we had our family photo shoot last fall. The others, I had (um, have) to order pictures for. Well, December was a crazy month for me with graduation and all. I was so busy doing homework and other things that I just never got them ordered. We got home for the holidays, I planned on ordering them at the Wal-Mart there but I couldn't. They weren't even accepting orders. Go figure.

Needless to say, before the week is up (tomorrow), I will have an order placed on Wal-Mart.com for the pictures to fill the frames. I hope that by the end of next week I have those frames filled, boxed and shipped! I feel so terrible that we didn't have them at Christmas and even worse that they are still sitting in my house. It's hard to get things done sometimes!

Encouragement

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."
~Author Unknown


I found the above quote on Facebook as someone's status update. I actually found it right after publishing my "Imperfection" post the other night. I found it very encouraging. It sums up exactly what I am trying to do, as 2010 begins.

Snowy Day

It's snowing here! It has been snowing since we woke up :) Since I haven't had anywhere to go the past two days, the less than great weather hasn't really phased me. Apparently we should be getting around a foot by the end of today. Not having been outside, I have no idea if that is accurate or not! In fact, I haven't gotten out of my pajamas in TWO days. It has been great.

Late last night, before bed, we put beef stew ingredients into the crock pot for lunch today. Well, our first crock pot adventure was semi-successful. I liked it. It was a bit soupier than I had imagined but it tasted fine to me! Jason didn't like it too much. I am not sure why. It tasted like beef stew...what more could we have asked for? Maybe it is just the chef in him...

We all napped this afternoon. We had hoped to get up in time to take a walk in the snow, the three of us, but that didn't happen. We were lucky that we roused with just enough time for Jason to make it to work!

Amelia and I spent the afternoon playing with some of her new Christmas toys:


I am excited that she has been more interested in her toys than our things lately! I love it when she is digging in her toy bin and throwing her toys all over because it means she isn't throwing our books or movies around :)

Take this moment, for example:


The other day she crawled into her room, stood up and started throwing diapers over her shoulder. I said, "Amelia, NO" and I saw her startle (shake) but she never lost a beat, never turned around to look at me and just kept throwing her diapers on the floor. So, I took a picture. Then I grabbed her and we put the diapers back, together. Kind of.

I am started to freak out a little...Amelia is very comfortable cruising from one piece of furniture to another:


I am NOT ready for her to be a walker!!! I hope she holds off. Kind of like she has been holding off from eating table foods. That child will not eat anything but purees. I try feeding her "chunkier" purees and she gags on them until she either throws up or I manage to fish out the "chunk". Like yesterday, she had green bean puree with rice. She gagged on one tiny grain of rice. Over and over. I am ready to give up! One encouraging moment took place this morning though...she ate a few puffs! Jason was putting them in her mouth, she'd spit them out, he'd put them back in and she would swallow them! Now, I just need to get her to feed herself!

On a related note, the sippy cup issues are still, well, issues. She doesn't like sippy cups. This week I have been using Nuby sippy cups because all she has to do is bite on the nipple and liquid comes out, which is similar to bottles. She loves her bottles. She has been getting more receptive to the Nuby cups too. Today she actually drank a little from one while playing. I have been leaving a cup of water out, on the floor, while she plays. She eventually notices it and fiddles with it. I'd rather see her take an interest in it on her own vs. me trapping her in her high chair and making her try the cup. We'll see if it works!

Tonight I have an exciting evening of cleaning up the kitchen ahead of me. After that I need to start looking over budgeting stuff and see what sense I can make of it. Tomorrow is our first payday of the new year, so I want to try and see what I can do in the way of making sense of how budgeting works. I am sure it will take a few paydays to get the hang of it!

Imperfection

I don't have a lot to share so far this week. I haven't even taken any pictures this week. It's been a busy few days of getting some things done. The things that have been avoided and pushed aside. They're done now. Thank goodness.

So, in light of having nothing to share about our week, I am going to share something from my week. It might not be of interest to many, but I want to write (er, type) it out. Sometimes it just helps. Isn't that what a blog is, essentially? A journal. Well, consider this my first personal journal-like blog entry and proceed if you wish.


**I would just like to say that this post is not directed at anyone specifically, so please do not feel like it is. These things are things that I have been thinking about a lot the past few months, and even more this past week. It is not my intention to upset anyone who reads this. I actually struggled with whether or not to even post this.


I am very prideful and very stubborn. I don't like to back down. I like to be right. I can be very outspoken. Sometimes when I am stressed out, or feel judged or pressured (ie- someone pushes my buttons), I get in a "mood". You know, defensive, argumentative, harsh, not so nice and so on.

There. I said it. I don't like admitting those things about myself. It's not easy.

This week I have spoken with multiple people close to me about the very things I mentioned above...my imperfections. I am very aware of how difficult I can be sometimes. Often, I don't even realize that I am acting that way until it's been going on for a couple of minutes. That's when I get defensive and things usually take a turn for the worst. There are so many "fights" that can be avoided. It's not just my fault. It's not just someone else's fault. It happens. We are human. We are not perfect. I am not perfect.

Perfection. That is a word I don't like. So often I am accused of thinking that I am perfect. Even when I try and say that I know I am not perfect I still get accused of thinking I am. I am stubborn. I will not disagree with that. Is that where people get the misconception that I think I am perfect? It is my unwillingness to back down? Maybe. I don't know.

Communication doesn't seem to be my forte. I seem to fail, routinely. I am working to change that. I need the people close to me to work with me on that though. I need them to see past who I have been in the past when upset or irritated and see that I am capable of handling situations differently. I want to. I am trying.

Bottom Line: I am working on these things. I have been. It is hard. Really hard. I think before I say things way more often than I did even a month ago. I try and resist raising my voice when I am frustrated, which is something so many of us do. In that resisting, my tone changes and I am working on that too. I am striving to be a better person. A person who is not so difficult at times.

All I ask is that those closest to me, the ones who see this side of me, would give me the benefit of the doubt. Give me a chance. So often when an argument erupts, the past is drawn in right away. Because I did or reacted a certain way in the past means I will do it now. I am tired of being judged for things I have done or said in the past. I do the same thing to people, I know I do, trust me. I'd like to change that also.

This week's sermon is really what has gotten me thinking about all of this so much. In small group yesterday we actually spent almost an hour talking about the word perfect and how many view Christianity as being about perfection and following rules (God's laws). That is exactly what someone at work wrote about in our "box log" (employee journal we keep) in fact. Not accepting Christ because doing so would mean living in fear of sinning, being punished by God and going to Hell. He and I spoke, briefly, about it. He is not open to learning about grace and forgiveness right now, which is ok. On Sunday, Danny (our pastor) said, "the law exposes the need in our lives for a savior" (referencing Romans 3:20). Simply put, we are all sinners and we are not perfect. We are forgiven by God's grace through our faith in Jesus Christ.

I know I am not perfect. I never will be. I am striving to be a better daughter, sister, friend, mother and "spouse". It will take time. Please be patient with me. I am excited to be working on changing these things. I see some progress already, even if I am the only one who sees it.

Sink Bath

This morning I found Amelia very, very wet...she didn't get into an overnight diaper before bedtime. Poor thing. So, in an attempt to have a quick bath, I gave it to her in the sink:


Well, she really enjoyed her sink bath...so it took 20 minutes instead of the 5 I had planned on. Oh well. We still made it to the bank before they closed, so all is good. (I did have to go in my Paul Frank pajamas though because we were cutting it so close I didn't want to "waste" time changing...)

Here are some more pictures:



Yes, she is sucking on the faucet in the picture on the right. Apparently she was thirsty! Here is a video of her in action:

New Year's Goals

UPDATED: one more rather important goal* has been added at the bottom...

Yes, New Year's goals, not resolutions. The following are things that we will be working at throughout the year -- goals. If some of them don't work out, it is a goal not fully met vs. a failed resolution. See the difference?

So, here are our goals:

Budgeting. Now that I have more time, I am going to work on a budget for us. I never tried before but I found this budget form for fluctuating incomes and I am going to give it a try. I am hoping with budgeting that we will be able to start putting more money away into savings and Amelia's accounts. Oh yeah, and we want to take a small trip**, just the 3 of us (ie- not home), to celebrate graduation.

**Right now we are thinking Chicago might be easiest (and Jason hasn't spent much time there, ever). We would like to stay in a hotel, in the city, for a couple of nights and go to some museums.

Losing the "senior 20". That's right, the "senior 20", similar to the "freshman 15". I started this past semester in the habit of exercising regularly and then in mid-October I began my bad habit of working at the computer, eating. Eating a ton. I put all the weight I had lost in the previous 8 months back on. It is time for it to leave, again. Jason is also heavier than usual. He did quit smoking a year ago, which is great, but as a side-effect, he has been putting the weight on. So, we are not dieting...diets don't work (for me). We are aiming to watch what we eat more closely, follow the portion recommendations on everything we can etc. We are hoping that by eating better we can develop better life habits and in return, put some of the weight off. Which brings me to our next goal...

Exercising. As clique as it sounds, we want to exercise more this year. We are not running out and getting gym memberships or anything, yet, but we are going to try and make a better effort to get moving. It is a bit chilly here in Wisconsin, but we are going to try and start going on walks a couple of times a week. You gotta start somewhere! By the time spring comes we will hopefully be in the habit of walking and eager to go out more, in the nicer spring weather. As the year goes on I am sure we will find more ways to exercise and get moving.

Reading Hour. This one was Jason's idea, which was shocking to me. Jason, not the world's biggest reader, has suggested that we try and read, as a family, for one hour each day. He would like for Amelia to grow up in a house that reads. I agree. My parents are avid readers and I used to be, sometimes reading more than one book a week. I have been looking forward to being able to read, now that school is over, so a reading hour will help with that.

Cover to Cover. I have set out to do this before, more than once. I have never done it. I would like to, finally, get through the Bible, cover to cover, within the year. I found a plan, here, that I am going to follow. This one will be hard for me, as I have not finished more than once in the past. I am feeling good about it this year. Only time will tell.

*Correspondence. In the past year I have gotten even worse at keeping in touch with people (it was possible!). I went from phone calls, to e-mails to Facebook messages. Yikes. I had a busy year, at least give me that :) I am hoping that this year I can make it a point to be in better touch with friends and family (other than my mom, who I still talk to almost daily -- sometimes multiple times daily...). I need to get over the "fear" of calling someone. It's really not that bad. I am just more comfortable with writing things to people which isn't always the greatest.

Those are our big goals. I am positive that there are many more, smaller, things that we want to accomplish in addition to the ones listed. The neat thing about having this blog, and posting this entry, is that I will have something to refer to next New Year's Eve and see how we did!

Linked to Kelly's Korner - "Show Us Your Life Friday" - New Year's