Wordless Wednesday: These are a few of their favorite thi....er.....PEOPLE! :)

If ONLY you could FEEL the love the girls (and the fur kids) have for their Nana(s) and Papa(s)!!!

 

My 4 Kids

Last weekend, I met up with a friend of mine, who had been commishioned by me (and Nana) to make some new Wrap Around skirts for the girls. They picked out their own fabrics, and she made them, with hopes of an Etsy store in her future.  So we met, I took the skirts home, and the girls wanted to wear them ASAP! So I let them!

 

Anyhoo, I took pictures for her, of my models, before we left for church Sunday AM. 

 My girls are getting so OLD looking! *sniff sniff*

 Some fur kids didn't want to be left out!!!!

 Treble always has a soft spot for me. Lots of love and snicky licks.

Sager is a little babe, too

Chaos.  Our usual look! 

Wordless Wednesday: Treble loves (aka Mama's first baby)

Doggie Flu?

Poor Treble (Tboy). Last week, we had a few days where we weren't sure what in the world was going on with him (health wise). It was so scary and made me feel so sad that we really don't know exactly HOW old he is, what his history is (as he was a rescue) and if he is prone to diseases, etc., because of his breed.

He has been on Phenobarbital for his seizures for about half a year now. He started seizing about a year ago that we had witnessed: we aren't sure how many time he had possibly seized without us seeing it. We decided to put him on medication, even though there were potential side effects. However, at his blood check in December, his liver and other organs were checking out normally, so no "damage" has been done that we know of.

Flash forward to a week ago last Thursday. CJ got home and found 3 different spots where poor Tboy had thrown up. He was hiding under the table, and refusing food. He began going outside to rid himself of this awful colored bile. Poor doggie. I came home, and he was definitely not himself. He followed me into the nursery to put Kyla to bed, and laid on his back, legs up. He has never done this before - I was panicked! He let me scratch his belly, and the moved his position into the bathroom across from the nursery, and proceeded to lie on teh floor, pitiful look in his eyes, and stare at me across the hall. He looked and acted like he was miserable. Of course, I immediately think the worst and thought, "he's dying! what's wrong with him!" - so CJ took him to the emergency Vet that is open after normal Vet hours.

Three hours later and many dollars...there was no conclusive evidence of anything showing itself to be wrong. They did not take Xrays, but suggested if the next day was similar we take him in for some.

He received some shots for his nausea, and for pain, and tips for bland food. They came home and he returned to his station on the loveseat, cuddled up in blankets for the night.

Friday we all left for work, but I took half a sick day (for my fur kid!) and came home for lunch to see how our boy was. He was still miserable. By now, he wouldn't even look at me, turned his body away and was trembling. He also would sometimes get into the "downward dog" stance, where the paws are forward, and his hind legs are still up in the air (I know now that he was doing this because that might signal pain in his abdomen). I got him to our regular Vet immediately where they took Xrays and reviewed his charts from the night before. Apparently , there is a slight possibility that his white blood cell count was higher than it was in December- so is his seizure medication to blame? Did he get into something and have something called Pancreatitis -that was causing his abdomen to become sick and therefore, his not wanting to eat and his vomiting?

Poor dude. *sad mama, sad mama, sad mama alert*

His Xrays were normal, so that (Pancreatitis) was the general consensus of the Vet we visited. Tboy received more shots for pain control (since his abdomen was tender and bloated), and again for nausea. As he trotted back into the exam room to be reunited with me, poor buddy was dripping yellow bile out of his mouth all over the floor.
We got him some antibiotics, more bland, soft dog food and drove home. I took him for short walk (he was so weak from lack of nutrition), and he again vomited bile and had it dripping out of his mouth as we walked.

That night, Tboy slept like a champ and awoke on Saturday morning seemingly more like himself. A couple days on his medications and eating bland food,and he has turned back into the passive, lovable sweet boy that we know. Whew.

How I love this dog, my (formerly) pink nosed Treb!! And how I DO NOT look forward to the future and the inevitable time when we'll have to say goodbye-uggg, I can't even think about it....

No, we didn't let him chew this- it was brief- he thought K1's M&M's were for HIM!

Get that Puppy!

Kyla has really started to notice the puppers -who wouldn't, with Sassy in your face licking you all the time? Here she is, trying her darndest to get that big puppy! Luckily, he is such a sweet boy, he gives her a snicky lick on her hand when she reaches, unlike Sass, who goes for the full face attack!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Our puppers playing

It's been awhile since I've posted any videos or pictures of just our beloved Tboy & Sass, but here they are last night, playing like the good ol' days. However, it does appear that Sage wasn't all that into playing with a frisky Treble!
We are just so happy he was a happy, playful dog. The previous night, he was sick with some type of poo'ing issues, and even crawled into bed with us(which he never does in the middle of the night). My heart was hurting for him. CJ went home early to take him out (repeatedly) and his poo was still icky, if there was any , and he even threw up. After I got home, we called the vet and decided to take him in. Chris took the puppers and we found out Treble has some type of intestinal bug -so he is now on some new meds for his bug, on top of a new allergy pill (because he's been incessantly licking and biting at his paws and legs lately), and his anti-seizure meds that he has been on for the summer. Whew. Poor Tboy- we laughed that we'll need those pill cases with the days of the week listed on it for his medications alone each day!
Luckily, his spirits didn't seem affected by the 3 shots he received at the vet, as you can see in his playful demeanor. Man, I love these puppers.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Doll baby

This girl is the other half of my heart. I look at her and I could burst with love. She is so precious. She is changing and growing every day- it's sad how fast babies grow. I wish sometimes that time could stand still with them, just a little bit. She is almost 3 months old,but doing things around a 2 month level (but she was born a month early, so it makes sense). She is really recognizing Mama, and will track me around a room with her eyes. She will stop when you make eye contact, pause, and then grin her big cheese grin (similar to her sissy's big cheese grin when SHE was a baby). She is starting to coo more and more and make different "talking" sounds to us, and the other day,she started to laugh with her mouth wide open when I sang the "ABC" song and "Twinkle Little Star" to her.
Yes, I am in love, deeply, madly, truly, with this angel girl #2!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Family love this weekend

Because Kyla was in the Special Care nursery, we were limited on how many visitors could see her, plus they didn't want children to go inside the nursery (aka germ carriers). Cousin Abby was so bummed out about this: looking through the window was not the same. However, Sunday, Kyla got to meet more of her extended family - not that the sleepy girl seemed to notice! LOL.

My brother Darren was in the Cities visiting a friend, so he made the drive to our house to visit his new niece. Keifer was so excited for "Uncle Darren" to arrive, and sat in the window looking for his "big red truck". However, she was not too keen on hugging him goodbye!

Then, that evening, Uncle Corey, Auntie Jill, and Mason and Abby brought pizza and dipping dots over for dinner and a visit. Keifer was literally hopping around the living room, high on life!

Auntie Jill is excited to feed her new baby niece!

Treble made sure his "girlfriend" still knew he was around - he is in love with Auntie Jilly- it's hilarious. I said they must have been star-crossed lovers in another life.

Proud big cousin Abby- a great helper and friend to both Keifer & now Kyla!

Keifer made sure Uncle Darren knew where his bottle of pop (soda!) was! Notice Treble was quite excited, too :)

A charmed Uncle Darren: "she's so tiny!"

Keifer was thrilled to play playdoh with her cousins (mama stocked up on art supplies, and our girl is loving the playdoh time)

Oh, what a night.....*breech,baby,breech*

..I'm tired today. Tired, tired, tired. Forgive this post for being a ramble and maybe not making much sense.

So -- Keifer has been regressing lately. She pretends to be a baby when she is with me - complete with fake crying and wanting me to hold her the long way (like a baby) across my chest, which is near impossible with the size of my tummy. Poor Kyla. Going to bed was finally getting really easy with her and then last week, something switched and she's been back to a total nightmare. Screaming bloody murder, sobbing, screaming for me, etc.. once she's put in bed. Ugg. My heart. So, nap time and bed time have NOT been fun. She even has begged me to get back into the crib, but we tell her it's for her baby sister that will be here soon. Saturday, as she sat on the floor sobbing, she told me "me no like baby sister". *my heart*.

Last night, CJ had softball so it took me close to an hour to get her down for bed. Then, around midnight, he woke me up to tell me that Treble was having a seizure. *sob sob sob*. Treble has had 3 seizures now in the past year, that we've known about (witnessed). Last night's was a total fluke that we even saw this happen. You would've thought someone had told me the house was on fire- that's how fast I jumped up and ran to him in his bed, where he lay shaking/seizing. Poor guy. When he was done, he got up and went outside with CJ, and seemed OK. *sigh*. After this, I realized that my PJ bottoms were really wet. I went to the bathroom, where my pink spotting was turning into more of a red, streaky spotting, and my undies and PJ bottoms were completely soaked through with clear fluid. I started to panic - thinking this might be amniotic fluid?

Then, around 4AM or so (?) Keifer woke up sobbing, screaming, etc., so CJ got her and brought her into bed with us. Not a good idea, but we were exhausted. The thing is, when she comes into bed with us (which is rare) she has to be pretty much RIGHTONTOPOFME. I had my back to her, and she had her head pushed as close to me as possible, with her feet against daddy. It was almost comical, because CJ was snoring, and Keifer kept saying "Daddy, no talking!". "Mommy, daddy tooted!" (snorted), etc. etc. LOL.

This AM, I got in the car, called my OB direct line, called the nurse line, and eventually got a call back from the OB on call. He wanted me to come in right away, so I brought K to daycare. When I got daycare, Elaine told me the horribly sad news that her father, who has been in the hospital- his kidneys shut down and it is just a matter of days before he passes. I am so sad for her.

I also very quickly stopped at work to alert everyone of my wherabouts, and to let the team know that I would not be making it to the 2 scheduled transition meetings I had this AM. Oye.

I got down to my OB office, they squeezed me in, and my dear Addie checked me out - after they had to have me lie on my back with my hips propped so they could get a "pooling' of fluid to sample. She also did an internal, and alas, I'm only a fingertip dilated and OH MY GOSH I forgot how painful it is to get internals! OWIE!

Good news: the fluid was not amniotic fluid, but if it gets worse, I'm to call and go back in. I also have my regularly scheduled check up tomorrow afternoon, which I'll keep. The other news (bad?): Kyla is BREECH. Addie wheeled in the portable U/S machine to confirm it, and there it was, clear as a bell- her head is still upwards. No wonder I'm having so much difficulty walking from pressure/cramps. The girl has her feet pushing out towards my pubic bone! I asked Addie if she thought I'd make it until my June 11 scheduled Csection, and she said probably not.

After this, I made it back to work, where I am now, and have kids this afternoon. I'm going to try to "lay low" as much as possible. Now it is a waiting game. Waiting to see what my body continues to do and what Miss Kyla decides to do inside me. Also, deciding what to do about Treble, our beloved Tboy. Do we get him on the anti-seizure meds- but not knowing how often he really DOES seizure? Ugg. My heart is so sad for him. And, my prayers are going out to Elaine and her family right now.......

Wordless Wednesday: The pup pups love their Papa

Puppers in love

*sigh*
I love these dogs

Treble's toy?

Poor Tboy. Sometimes he gets SO confused about what toys are HIS, and what toys are the baby toys. He thought this new toy with the squeaky horse was a Treble toy.
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Mama & Treble loves

Hanging out with mama and Treble - look at him loving the hugs and attention

Kiss, Kiss, Tboy
Aww, he's giving us a kiss, too!
Uh oh? Where's Keifer?
There she is!!

Wordless Wednesday: My Puppy and me

And they called it, puppy love........... Treble was kind enough to let K explore him a little bit and was hoping for some good belly rubs out of the deal.

Sass observing the action and making sure kisses are doled out minimally, since she wasn't the one giving them

Unofficial 7 month pics: our sick girl

Here they are, the "unofficial" 7 month pictures of "how we spent Keif's 7 month old birthday. Our poor girl. She is actually sleeping on CJ's chest in the 2nd picture, that is how she napped much of the past few days *sniff sniff*. Our poor sick girl. What a nasty bug she had.

"Ahh, yes, I may be sick, and refusing liquids, but I can still say "cheese!"

This frozen peach isn't too bad

Our poor girl. The weekend of sickies just didn't get much better. Last night, CJ and I force fed our girl some liquids, as she was loosing all the liquid in her body through her pooping escapades. Although the pictures of her on the couch with her favorite man (daddy, of course) make it LOOK as though she was all smiles, pictures can be deceiving. If anything, the camera made her smile , as she is our little poser.
Notice how Treble and Sass are on high alert for any droppings?

Anyways, after forcing liquids into her mouth the best we could (bottle and sucking on frozen fruit), she went to bed after drinking a small amount of formula. She awoke at 11 PM, screaming her little head off, and after a few minutes , it was apparent our girl had a horrible tummy ache. She was tooting like a marching band, but nothing was coming out. I did the bicycle legs, massaged her tummy, had her lay on my chest, everything you can imagine. CJ and I took turns trying to comfort her, but after almost 1 1/2 hours of pure screaming and crying, its enough to unnerve even the strongest of people. I suggested we try a bath, as she now loves her baths in her ducky tub, and that seemed to be the magic trick. She splashed and cooed and clicked her tongue at her daddy (*her new way to communicate (in a fun way) with us is to click her tongue, and she especially gets excited and does this specifically with CJ*). She went to sleep, again drinking a few ounces, then awoke at 5 AM. I fed her 4 ounces of formula, but she continued to scream for more; however, she hadn't drank anything more than 3 ounces of anything in the past 2 days. I gave in and made her some more bottle, because I didn't want to hear her scream and cry with hunger. Apparently that was not kind to her tummy, and she awoke at 8:30 AM this AM, having pooped through the 2 diapers we had wrapped her in, and then throwing up the rest of the contents of her stomach. That seemed to be the trick, and after this, she was in a great mood most of the day, and there have been no more shitting or vomiting episodes. She even managed to stomach a little bit of rice cereal at 2 different points of the day, and has had no fever.

Whew. Let's pray this is past and she is better this week and that mommy and daddy don't get this nasty bug. Mommy has a VERY busy week this week, working late on Tuesday for conferences, and having a after school/late night class on Wednesday.

** And in other news, Treble love has come shining through once again. We knew he was our silent protector of "his" baby, but last night proved that he is in this for the long haul along with us. When K started screaming at 11Pm last night, we walked by our closet, where he sleeps in his bed each night, and he was out of his bed, lying on the floor, clearly waiting for us to get up. Once we did, he followed us into the nursery, and curled up both under her crib, and then in the small doggie bed we keep in her closet (for times like these, and feedings, when they like to visit). He stayed in there the entire time she was upset, but once she calmed down for a bit, he left to go back to his own bed. Once she started screaming in pain again, he was a soldier and came back into the nursery to make sure things were OK and that if we needed him, he was there. *sigh*. My heart swells with love for this doggie. Our "boy", our "Tboy".

Daddy and Tboy love

Treble was so happy to be home Saturday night, after we had been away 3 days visiting my parents. He is a daddy's boy at night, when the boys of the house cuddle on the couch and watch TV. What a love bug.

And they called it...puppy love

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Return to Reality: First day of Daycare

*insert crying face here*

It was Keifer's first day of in-home daycare today. Mommy was a mess. Well, I held it together quite well, considering I hardly slept last night. CJ and I got up this AM, to the sounds of our angel girl talking to herself in her crib - she had miraculously slept 12 hours, around the clock, and was happy to be awake. I dressed her and fed her some bottle, and we packed up for our first trip to daycare.

Lovin' on my girl before we leave for Daycare

We dropped her off with Elaine, and we knew she was in great hands, and she'd be OK.

Of course, that didn't stop the tears from flowing as soon as I pulled out of the driveway and drove back home. *sigh*. But I pulled myself together, and I came home and napped for 2 hours (and proceeded to have nightmares, LOL).

I went into work around noon (unpaid, mind you) and sweated my arse off while unpacking boxes (they moved us back to our old school, but our stuff is all in boxes). I picked up Keifer at 3:45, and was so excited to see my girl, only to have her not give me her typical happy-go-lucky smile. *sad face*. She apparently had a fussy morning, and didn't really want to eat or sleep for Elaine, but she had a better afternoon. It was fun to see the other kids in her daycare, and the best was the 6 year old girl telling me her and her friend played house, and Keifer and the 1 year old, Gracie, were their "babies". Keif will be getting lots of love on her there, which is nice. CJ and I also like that Elaine focuses on manners and respect within her daycare -when I was there, the kids had to request to be excused from the table (even at snack time): "may I be excused?". We really like that, as we want Keifer to grow up learning to respect her elders and the people she's around. Plus, Elaine has been doing daycare for 30 years, and I have faith she knows alot more about infant care than I do!

Keif came home and practiced her side skillz - she still hasn't rolled either way (front to back, back to front) but we'll get there!

We have tomorrow off, and I'm taking her into our school's pancake breakfast (served by our new Principal), to show off my girl to the staff I'll be working with. Of course, I already have her outfit picked out *hee hee*. Then, my dreaded "return to work full-time" officially begins on Monday. To say I am sad about this is an understatement, but I know that Keifer will be fine in daycare, and I also know that I'm doing a job that is serving children and families, and I love doing it. It is stressful much of the time, but I'm learning now to not take that stress back into my home. Now that I have Keifer (and CJ and the fur kids) its a lot easier to drop things at the door and come home, eager to love on my family and just enjoy them, every day.

Treble loves his girl, too. Or maybe he loves something she spit up? LOL

He also loves her dirty burp cloth (yes, he dragged this over with his bone!)