The tale of two kitties

If you are a faithful blog reader (smirk) then you know Grace had a kitten named Lurlurr who died. A few months later we decided to get two kitties to see if we could increase our odds for survival. Matt had a friend at work who talked him into it. They were "free". Grace got Garfield (an orange, long haired tabby) and Bella got Tigsy (an orange, short haired tabby). Brothers. I'm not sure exactly how I get talked into all these pets. Except that I love my "animal loving" children and husband. And also, I hate mice. A few days after we had them Garfield got an eye infection. (Not uncommon in kittens, apparently.) Then one day we came back from taking the kids to school and Garfield was limping, not putting any weight on his leg. Sweet. A $350 vet bill later.... Well, what were we supposed to do? Tell our daughter ( who had come back from Disneyland, months earlier, to find her first kitten had died) "Sorry sweetie, We were hoping to send you to college so..." Free cats indeed. Oh and did I mention that Bella put Tigsy in a diaper bag and dropped him out of our upstairs window while were out of town? He, of course, was fine. You gotta be tough to be Ramona...I mean Bella's pet.

It's like we live at the zoo.

Lost Cat found

Our cat Tigsy went missing this week. Matt called, "here Kitty, kitty..." in a soprano voice for hours.

I called the animal shelter and all three vet clinics.

We assumed the worse.

I saw our neighbor walking her dog the second morning Tigs was gone.

I just had a feeling I should.

She brought Garfield (our other non missing cat) home to us that night when Matt and McCade were out searching for Tigs.

Then the next day she carried Tigsy home from way up the hill the next night. We are lucky to have such nice, long suffering neighbors. (They also saved Toby from drowning last summer. Seriously.)

But back to Tigsy. I haven't properly conveyed how sad we were. I'm just not feeling very dramatic today as I write this.

I really just wanted to post this cute poster that Grace made. I even scanned it onto the computer. (Gasp, that is huge in case you don't know how completely tech challenged I am.) I thought I should tell the story that goes with it.

17 months old

Riggins finally started walking after he had tubes put in his ears (January). He is such a busy little body, I forgot how they are into everything at this age.

He loves balls. To distraction. The only word in his vocabulary so far. Ba? He has a good arm on him and so far throws food and balls both with his left arm, much to the delight of his Dad and Uncle Val. (Something to do with sports, I think?)

He does sign language for "more" and "all done" and he makes a gurgly noise in his throat when he wants water. Other than that he is pretty quiet, content to sit back and watch.

Oh, and he has a mullet.
Yes, a business in the front, party in the back...mullet.
I don't know how to cut baby hair. It freaks me out.
He climbs up on things and also can open doors. I started locking the garage door because he loves to play out there. In the dog and cat food. Gross.

He is still super chubby even though he is a picky eater. The boy loves his carbs. And dairy. Loves the dairy
He is still a cuddlebug and squishy....yum.

Back on My Meds

Seriously-

you should totally have some of what I am having.

What am I having you ask?

Well... (you know you're in for a story when you see the well, followed by the ...)

First, let me start by saying... I almost didn't tell this story because it is sort of personal. But... I am not exactly one for privacy (my own of course, I respect other people's privacy. FYI) (And I respect Matt's privacy so I hope this won't embarrass him. ...oh, who are we kidding. He doesn't even read my blog.)

SO...I obviously haven't blogged for awhile. I can't say exactly when my "funk" started but I (in hindsight) noticed it had been going on for awhile.

I was still functioning pretty well, (helloooo, we ran a half marathon. Does that seem like something a depressed person does?)

But it started getting worse.

I started reading books.

A lot of books.

A couple books a day. (Loved Vampire Academy, hated the last Hunger Games; Mockingjay).

I didn't feel depressed (sad), more like... apathetic.

Toilets...who cares.

Blogging...Does anyone actually read it?

Kids fighting... shoulder shrug.

Being creative...maybe later.

Talking on the phone...hmmm might cut into my book reading time. (Red flag, anyone?)

Thoughts in my head...mysteriously absent.

Three different "interventions" from three different friends in one week finally got my attention. (I say interventions kind of joking, but kind of not.)

So I made an appointment with my BFNP (Best friend Nurse Practitioner). She told me that postpartem can occur for up to 18 months after a baby is born and she put me on Wellbutrin. (I took it for a while after Bella was born too.)

I began taking it and I started ... I started creating. I started couponing again. I started shopping.
I started cooking. I got excited about decorating. I let my library membership lapse. (ha, that is so not happening, I was just checking to see if you were still paying attention.) ... you get the picture.

Anyway, it's been a couple months and I am off them now. But doing great. I think I just needed a little some'n to get me back on track.

That is the story.

Sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable.

And now... back to your regularly scheduled programing.

Redemption

So, I signed up for the "Main Treat" for Grace's class for the Halloween party. I made some cupcakes.
They were... (wince) cute. They had orange frosting and a sucker poking out of the top. I took them into the class and what was already there but the cutest spider cupcakes with licorice legs, red eyes, and chocolate sprinkles so they looked hairy.

Argh.

My friend Mindy pointed out that I should have signed up for paper products.

Good Point.

WELL, my friends, today is Grace's ninth birthday (It's true, We have reached the half way point of the time we'll have her full time. Sniffle.) She asked me to bring in cinnamon rolls for her birthday treat. And I did.

Take that all you cute cupcake bringing moms.

They look good, no?

P.S. This post reminded me of the part at the end of Dumb and Dumber when the one says to the other, " Just when I think you can't possibly be any dumber you do something like this..... and totally REDEEM yourself." Funny.

Totally

shout out to my BFC

You know Best Friend Cousin... like a BFF, only blood relation.

She texted me last night to "update your blog already." So here it is.

This is Lyndi. She is my BFC. We've been friends forever. When we were little we were pen pals and I would eagerly await her letters. When we were in high school I lived with her family for a semester. We could carry on entire conversations without words. We had sleepovers Friday and Saturday nights in her room and we had hundreds of inside jokes, that only we found funny. There's nothing quite like a BFC. If you have one, you know.

The problem now is that the only time we see each other is if someone dies or gets married. Sad. Well, not this summer. The kids and I took a little road trip to see her family. So fun. We stayed up way too late talking and it's like the time has never passed.

My sister, Wynn; me; my cousin, Lyndi; and my other BFC, Cassie. It really doesn't do any of my gorgeous girls' justice...but after a long day of shopping and so many shots...we took what we could get.

So...Lyndi Lou... I love you! (Sorry it's taken me so long to update the ole' blog.)