I Feel Like "The Crazy Cat Lady"

On Thursday, Derek worked from home in order to take our cat, Alex, to the vet. Prior to me leaving work, we discussed a couple concerns we had with Alex that he was going to bring up with the vet (i.e. drinking a lot of water, and some weird bathroom issues). To make a long story short, they ended up testing him prior to declawing him, only to discover he was terminally ill and suffering from kidney failure. (The SAME thing Gwen had.) They mentioned that from what they can tell, this has been going on for quite some time. Derek cancelled the surgery and took him into the Humane Society where he was returned to be put down. I suspect the previous owners thought it would be cheaper to surrender the cat instead of euthanizing it. NEVER would I find it acceptable to drop off a terminally ill cat to the Humane Society for another poor soul to adopt, fall in love with, and be heartbroken over. And in this case, reliving the same nightmare we had with Gwen. Let me tell you, it was not easy to explain this to Ella a second time.

On Friday, Derek packed up our heartbroken little family and took us to the Humane Society again. I really wasn't ready for round three, but I'm glad he made us go. We spent quite a bit of time there and saw many of the same cats again. After a lot of thought, we took home this sweet little 6 month old kitten. We contemplated calling her "Lucky" in light of our cat escapades, but didn't want to jinx it. Her name is either Polly/Molly/Holly. (TBD by Ella)

When we got home, Ella was so excited she scared this poor cat half to death. The cat raced down to our basement where we could not locate her for approximately 18 hours. The next morning, we discovered her in the rafters and it didn't look like she was able to jump down. We rescued her, and since then, she has spent every moment on our lap: purring, sleeping, and getting to know us. She is a very nice kitty and very tolerant of the girls. I hope she likes her new home.



 "You can run but you can't hide!"

Moments to Remember

Two of the sweetest things happened this week that I never want to forget:

On Wednesday, I was getting ready to take Ella upstairs to bed. I instructed her to tell Erin goodnight, because Erin was still running around like crazy from having a nap before supper. Ella leaned over, kissed her forehead, and said totally serious): "Good night, Trouble."

Tonight, Erin went from happy to fussy in a matter of seconds. I gave her a bottle and she went right to sleep as I rocked her. When I carried her upstairs, I laid her in her crib and took a step back. There she laid with her eyes closed and her arms above her head. One hand was still clasping the plastic Easter Egg she had been playing with.  Sooooo sweet.

If Erin Could Talk

"Come on in, Alex, the water's fine!"

A New Furry Friend

After the unfortunately incident with Gwen last week, we decided to seek another pet for our family. Alex is the newest addition; he is a 2 year old gray kitty who we rescued from the Humane Society. He is a little underweight, but otherwise healthy. He has a very sweet, curious personality. He loves to follow Derek and I all around the house. He is also very gentle with the kids, and continues to rub against Erin even after she grabs him and squeals.

We've only had two issues in his first day with us:

1. He still has claws, which will be taken care of very soon.
2. Ella locked him in the bathroom, and since he doesn't really make noise, it went unnoticed for a half an hour!

Missing Derek

Derek is over in Europe right now. I really hope he is enjoying the experience, although I know he's been working/traveling almost non-stop. In the mean time, these are the things I miss the most when he is gone:

• I miss him and the girls greeting me at the door when I get home from work.
• I miss his cooking.
• I miss sharing the duty of reading "The 3 bears" EVERY night. 
• I miss sharing our drink at the dinner table.

This morning, Ella laid in our bed while I got ready for work. She must know the rules around here, because she neatly placed Derek's pillow back on his side of the bed, knowing I stole it. :)

Galena

This weekend, I indulged in my Christmas present from Derek.... a girls' weekend in Galena!! I went with two friends to the Irish Cottage. How appropriate for St Patty's Day weekend! We had a blast. We enjoyed an empty pool/hot tub and the Irish pub on Friday night. On Saturday, we had breakfast, massages, a day of shopping, a top-notch Italian restaurant, and spent countless hours at a fantastic bar called Embe. What a perfect retreat for two mothers and a mommy-to-be. Our husbands know how to treat us right. :)

I regret not bringing my camera, but I will post my memories via a picture I found online:

Gwen

I am very heartbroken to report that our kitty, Gwen, is no longer with us. Early last week, she got into something that caused her to get very sick. We are about 95% sure it was raisins Ella had dropped on the floor. On Thursday night, we noticed she was just not herself. She was pretty lethargic, not  eating or drinking much, had lost some weight, and stumbling as if she couldn't walk. I took her to the animal hospital in Cedar Falls, where they reported her kidneys were not functioning well. After two days in the hospital with no improvement, the vet said there was little hope that she would recover, and if she did make some improvements she would live with kidney issues the rest of her life. We decided to have her put down that day.

I shared the news with Ella. She understands that Gwen was too sick to come home and was put to sleep so she could go to kitty heaven. Ella was pretty concerned about Gwen not having a blanket where she is sleeping, but I told her i was pretty sure there were blankets in Heaven so I think she was comforted by that.

RIP Gwenny!

A Little Humor to Get Through the Week

Ella: "I had chicken and check-up. Chicken and check-up. Check-up. I can't say it!!"
Me: "Ketchup."
Ella: "Ketchup!"

Ella: "Mom, why do you have slobber on your foot?"
Me: "What? Where?"
Ella: "Right there!"
Me: "No, that's a sliver. Mommy got wood in her foot."
Ella: "I think you should put toe nail polish on to make your foot feel better."

Lakefront Property

Rain, rain, go away

You're flooding both of our gardens away

Ella's Creations

A quiet week at home (and poor weather) means craft time for Ella!

• A rainbow for St Patty's Day
• A self-glued bunny rabbit...and if you look REALLY close, it says "Happy Easter"
• Learning how to trace!

Robots & Stairs & Bears, Oh My!

I really cannot believe how fast our girls are growing up. In the past week, Erin has hit two milestones:

1. drinking from a sippy cup
2. climbing stairs

What has Ella been up to this week?

1) Dressing up like a robot

2) Helping read bedtime books with Mom/Dad! The 3 Bears is a current favorite and we can't stand reading it anymore after 35 nights in a row. My favorite part of this video is Ella pretending to be Papa Bear!