Cat-tastrophe

First off I am just going to say all you cat haters suck....cats rock, or at the very least ours do. Except when they have um....issues like ours do. But they don't muddy our carpets or chew up shoes or eat my food or bark or any other annoying antic our dogs bless upon us. Now dogs are great too....but most people think that already. Cats get a bum rap, not cool.

Anyway we have this kitty. His name is Patton. He's a very special kitty. Last year in May my dad was at my grandparents house and here crying and crying from a cat after some investigating he found a little tiny blue eyed ball of fluff in the basement of the house. The cellar type basment...kitty some how managed his way in thru the holes in the dirt of the wall. Our guess is from the deck that was built over part of it. Insane. He was roughly 4 weeks and we had to bottle feed him for a bit. He's turned into the sweetest cat ever. Snuggles and purrs and loves people. He's a big ole baby and has blue eyes I am jealous of. He's a cat I know....but he's one cool dude. Patton went missing Friday sometime. We didn't realize this until storms broke out Saturday evening...nasty, yucky, thundering, windy, lightning storms. On Sunday we sent out an APB email to the neighborhood asking for any citings of Patton to be reported to us. Robert pa-roused the neighborhood and neighboring neighborhood (I think I just said neighborhood too many times...)and no dice. More storms Sunday day and Sunday night. Poor Patton :( We hoped he was ok and hiding out in someone's house. Monday afternoon we get a knock on the door and some says they found our cat. In my panic the first thing I blurt out was "Is he alive?" lady looked at me like I was crazy. Yes he's alive...but he's in a tree. Very high in a tree. Our first thought was 30ft. Another estimate was 40ft. After purchasing a 32ft later it was determined he was roughly 50+ feet in the tree and absolutely unreachable . And had been there since Friday. Swaying and rocking away thru storms and hail and wind and all of it.

Many panicked phone calls later we found a tree service that would send one of their climbers out to rescue the cat. He made the rescue look just about easy. Granted guy was decked out in gear. But after 4+ days of no food and no water wind and storms Patton was more than willing to come down and be rescued. Again.

ETA:  Another Draft...not sure why I didn't publish this one?

Picture this Monday

Some pictures of our March....

Ready for their first soccer games of the season!

Jakeb is in the middle of the photo...running.

This little boy scored the very first goal of his very first soccer game!

We spent a Sunday afternoon at a new park...

We started our day saying "No getting in the water...." then said "ok just your feet...."

And ended the day like this....thank goodness I had extra clothes in the car!

This is what the flu on your birthday looks like....

Birthday presents help!

And so does Cake!

And THIS guy worked his hiney off to earn enough AR points to win a book and get to go on stage at school.

Green.

The trees are turning green and I am so blissfully happy to see color emerging from all the brown of winter. The pink of the azalea's is starting to peak thru and this next will be blooming in full force. Last year we didn't get to enjoy them so I am very much looking forward to that.
The past week or so has been a mess of busy and sickies. Our friends were visiting for Jakeb's birthday and a work conference so they were here for the week and that with our sick made for a interesting and almost confusing week. We loved the extended visit but were definitely bummed by the flu. Darn flu. Jakeb did luck out and get to miss the entire week of school and kick it with his buddy....but with that is a decent chunk of school work to catch up on. All are on the mend and we are once again able to be on the move.
I have been unusually lazy the past week or so and adapting a very much "I don't care attitude" regarding the appearance of the house. Now I say this with a grain of salt...because my "I don't care" attitude is not exactly a real carefree'ness. More of a I see the mess strewn about and rather then loose my brain I shrug and continue lounging on the couch. I do pick up later....but lounging on the couch isn't really my speed. But whateve. Sick kids man.
All will be back to normal next week and then we have spring break. After spring break the kids will have roughly 7 more weeks of school...7 more weeks until we pick up where we left off last summer. Can't wait.

Really?

Would you believe it if I tell you all 3 boys +1 came down with the flu again. And not just any flu but the same type of flu they had in January. Just a different strand. Type A...flu but different strand. I am beginning to doubt my decision to skip the flu vaccine. Drs. basically think I am crazy-ish for not doing the flu vaccine. I on the other hand just have a feeling to skip it...so we skip it. And instead get struck by the flu twice. However....the first time was relatively mild and this go round even milder. As in Gavin and Jakeb were better in 2 days. And Zachary was so barely ill it almost doesn't count. The bummer part of it all is that it was Jakeb's birthday weekend and his bff came to visit from TN and he got sick as well. He definitely seems to have gotten the brunt of it though and I hate that...because we invite him down and his parting gift is the flu. Not cool. In our defense we left to get him and came back to Gavin sick. Lovely. As for the vaccine...I am still not convinced the vaccine is the route we will take. I mean we can't vaccine against every darn thing. And the moderate research I have done leads me to feel that vaccinating every.single.year. may not be the best thing for us....but we'll see. Aside from that having 3 sick kids pretty much sucks...however it seems that this winter seems a little better than previous winters for us as far as illnesses go. We haven't really had colds floating around that linger forever. They have had a mild flu twice--get it, got it, and it's gone. And Jakeb and I have had strep once and again with that get it, got it, gone....pretty quick. Gavin's asthma seems to finally be managed well and I am hoping that by next fall/winter it will be even better under control. I am pretty much not a freak out about germs and I like to think that helps us build immune systems some how. Either way sickies are par for the course and I try to remember that. Suck as it may it is what it is.

Nine

Today Jakeb is 9. My oldest boy was born 9 years ago today---roughly 12 hours from now at 11:51p.m. At the time he was born the hospital we were at had a little "special" that they would do for "Thursday's Baby" and whichever baby was born first each Thursday was shown during the news. We tell Jakeb he was 9 minutes away from his TV debut. At 7lbs 9oz and with a head full of dark hair he made Robert and I parents for the very first time. We have stumbled along and somehow managed to end up with one awesome 9 year old little dude. And we are both insanely jealous of his awesome hair. Jakeb is my helper...he loves a routine and knows his. A friend recently asked me how I manage to keep up with their school work and things that are due and after I thought for a minute I realized it certainly helps that Jakeb is so on top of things. He comes in and does his homework without being told and reminds me of various things I may have otherwise let slip my mind. At 9 he is incredibly responsible and might just melt my heart when he proclaims that he loves organizing his toys. Granted this is rarely done but he sure appreciates it when it is and that is good enough for me. He is a incredible big brother and is stoked to be a big brother again...whenever that may be. He watches after his brothers and stands up for them. Now there are certainly times when being the oldest is hard work but he takes it in stride. He is finding his niche in soccer and absolutely loving playing and getting better.
Today on his 9th birthday he is sick with the flu. We are bummed as we had plans of trekking downtown to the museum and treating him to smoothies and pizza. This will have to wait until next weekend. It's a bummer being sick on your birthday but Jakey Badakey is hanging in there and enjoying lego building in between resting on the couch.
I am so amazed by this little boy everyday. He is growing into all the things we hope he is and can be and we are so very proud of him and all that he is. Happy Birthday Jakey Boy. We love you very much Jakey!

A secret

Yesterday we found out about You. The surprise of all surprises....I think everyone's response was the same. Giggling and shock. After 3 years of trying and giving up and deciding that the best way to grow our family was thru adoption....someone else had other plans. Wow. I am still sitting here speechless but vowing to cherish this very last pregnancy. A "second" chance at cherishing my last one. We had come to peace that your big brother was our last newborn to be in the house and yet here we are. So I am blogging...secretly until we tell the world. Until then we share with everyone the amazement that has happened...because we can't not tell everyone close to us. And at the same time explaining that we will be completing our adoption 100%....we love our new babies all of them and each of them the same. We have bonded with these children in our heart and mind and can't imagine letting them go now. So for now we are waiting and wondering what will happen. How it all will play out. For now we are in shock and cautiously excited. A family of 8. Awesome. How incredibly awesome. Wow. Wow. Wow. Happy St. Patricks day Baby....for this is the day we learned about You.

ETA: Another sitting in "drafts"...obviously since it was a secret :)

Thursday Thirteen

1. Happy St. Patricks Day!!

2. In roughly 3 days I will have a NINE year old. Holy Moly!

3. The weather this weekend is going to be AMAZING. So stoked! Need to remember the sunscreen!

4. We have a busy weekend planned for the birthday boy and I am so excited for him :)

5. Gavin is Mr. Dramatic with a capital D. He got in itty thorn in his foot just a little while ago and seriously the way he was screaming had all of us tearing thru the woods thinking he has ripped an arm off. He even completed it by yelling "Oh my god!" I mean there was a dot of blood on his toe and all...geez.

6. Last week proclaimed that he would be crying "for the rest of his LIFE" in between wails because Jakeb broke one of his toys.

7. There are a few pink buds on the azalea bush outside of my window...I cannot WAIT for all of the bushes to bloom. It was so pretty last year.

8. The very first thing we discovered last APRIL when we moved in was that apparently we had a tenant in the attic. We have tried evicting our non paying tenant and are really having a hard time getting him/her out. Mr./Ms. Squirrel will not take the bate and LEAVE. Very frustrating. We are pretty sure in the summer it was gone and hoped that just us being here was enough to keep it gone...apparently not.

9. I am still soda free. A few sips....but I am not counting them...because seriously it was SIPS. I am craving them only here and there.

10. I have also been fast food free....though I did request Taco Bell for dinner. BUT I deserve it. Trust me.

11. No news on the adoption front, still waiting for approval from ICBF and then we will find out more...maybe.

12. We finally painted the hall bathroom this past week...looks great! Now we just need to do the office, basement, master bedroom, and guest/new kiddo's room. Slowly but surely!

13. The boys are loving soccer....I need to get some pictures posted from their games. So cute!

Japan

I had to change the news channel this morning because Jakeb was watching and they were discussing the death toll and the bodies being found. He doesn't need to start his school day hearing that, yet for so many children his age and younger that is their reality. While I am protecting my son and his heart they are raw and hurting. It doesn't hardly seem fair, it isn't fair. It's scary. The earthquakes, the storms, the tsunami's. I don't know what it all means but it scares me. It seems that something is wrong and we aren't getting the message our earth is fighting back. Or maybe that's not it at all....I don't know but it still scares me.

Missing.

My aunt emailed me this picture this past week. I wasn't expecting to receive it and there it was, Pappy on my screen looking just like I always remember him. Happy and on his porch. Smiling his genuine smile and there. Being here makes them being gone easier. It's like I am just out of state and they are still there...their house is still their house, I am just away. But it's not real....what's real is that they really are gone. I don't get to cut his hair again wearing Grandma's genealogy apron. I don't get to sit and chat with my grandmother while she drinks her coffee and makes us dinner. Instead I try to forget but try to remember in the same breath. Instead Gavin sits in her chair and eats breakfast every morning. It's his favorite spot...GiGi's chair at the bar. Instead I get to make Grandma's meatloaf for my dad and my guys and share with them how she used to make this for me when I would come over so many times because she knew it was my favorite. Even when for a little while it wasn't and I would never tell her...but she always made it because it was my favorite. And for Robert she would make fried okra and spaghetti. I make her spaghetti and it's never the same but always reminds me of her. They were so much of my life and they still are but in a very different way. I wish I could tell them that...again. Just that. Thank you. I love you, I miss you, but thank you. Infinity derf 100 Thank yous.

Rain Rain

A very rainy rainy day this day. One of the concepts Gavin has difficulty grasping these days is the understanding of the words: yesterday, today, tomorrow. And trying to explain that to him is difficult. So his way of improvising is to say "this day" for today. He will ask me something like, "Do I have school this day?" to which I will respond with "Yes, Gavin you have school today." and he will then respond with "This day?"...."Yes, today IS this day" and then the conversation goes round and round. I imagine he will eventually get it. His other funny that he proclaims lately....I am trying to be better about asking the boys to do things around the house. Put away the silverware from the dishwasher, let the dogs in/out, put their clothes away, feed the dogs, set the table, etc etc. Little things that are easy. Well Gavin will be around from time to time and gets asked to do such tasks, which always goes over um...splendidly. Typically something like this: Me: "Gavin can you go get 5 napkins and put them on the table for everyone please..." Gavin: "uggghhh I don't want to..." Me: "Gavin please it's very easy and will take you 5 seconds..." Gavin: "grrrr, grumble, mumble, stomp" Me: "right now Gavin" Gavin: *chirp*chirp* Me: "NOW!!" Gavin: "....uuuuggghhhh I have to do EVERYTHING!!!!" Me: "oh.my.goodness.are.you.kidding.me....don't talk to me that way sir. *giggle*giggle*" That boy is a character for sure. It's funny as he gets older I am seeing more of his personality emerge. It always has been there but wasn't as easy to detect as his brothers were. Many of his traits we often assumed were toddler phases he was going thru but now that he's older those things are more "refined" and less all over the map and easier to see as him. He's a funny boy--and cute as a button. And very excited to be a big brother. Whenever that may be....ho hum.
Waiting, waiting, waiting!

12 on a Tuesday

1. The boys are outside playing....on this cloudy chilly day....it's not snowing and the water isn't frozen for that I am thankful. But a few degrees warmer would be oh so nice.

2. We installed an invisible fence for the dogs a few weeks ago. Amazing...wishing we had done this sooner. No more worry of dogs running away--or at least less of a worry. For 10 years of dog ownership we have chased down Bailey or dealt with him running away...no more!

3. Maddie (our 3 year old Boxer) however did manage to rip the shocker box off her collar the other day. Smart girl. Smart, frustrating dog....

4. I did my 2 miles on the treadmill today. And I am still Dr. P free. Though I will say today I have been craving it a bit more!

5. In the past 2 weeks several of my friends parents have had some sort of life threatening event--it's scary to realize we are getting to that point in our lives. Where our parents are older....take care of yourself parents!

6. I bought new laundry sorters (same style but not exactly the same) for the house a couple months ago and they are the best things EVER. We had a sorter before but for whatever reason didn't actually sort the clothes. Now we do and with these all I have to do is grab a bag when it's full--which is the size of a full load--and dump it in the wash. So much easier.

7. I bought 3. Not at the same time though--the first one I bought for Robert and I because ours broke but I loved it so much, I went back and bought another for us. And eventually one more for the boys.

8. Did you know that with proper medicines a person/child/baby with HIV can live a long and happy life--and live a normal life span. Didn't know that? Me either--until recently. Read more here! It's awesome how far medicine has come.

9. Did you also know that there are adoptable children all over the world who are HIV+ and don't have parents because of miseducation and misguided fear? This is also true. Something I recently learned. In fact there was a clip on the Today Show recently about just that.

10. Eating less junk is hard....I said that already but it is!

11. Oh! I have been doing the crazy coupon thing--well a lazy modified version and it's nice seeing the savings add up!

12. The boys have their first soccer games this weekend. Pray it doesn't rain them out Again!

12 1/2. ---I checked on the kids 3 times while writing this post....

Focusing my energy.

Elsewhere. I can't obsess and drive myself crazy(and everyone around me!) with adoption talk--though I may still try just bare with me! So I am doing the whole exercise and better eating thing. Whew, guys it's hard.

I knew I wasn't a fantastic eater but dang....try cutting out foods and cutting back what you eat and you realize you eat worse than you realize. So yesterday I did a bang up job of keeping things underwraps...that is until we got back from soccer practice and I couldn't hang anymore and I scarfed down a mid-size bowl of cookie dough ice cream--curse you Publix for your bogo and a coupon. What? Can't pass up a good deal! And then a few handfuls of BBQ chips...darn Kroger and your free bag of chips coupon. But all in all I did pretty decent. Despite finding myself wandering into the kitchen numerous times in the day and also not realizing I snack that much. Though I think it's the whole "want what you can't have" thing making it worse.

Oh I did make it to the treadmill yesterday--2 miles, 30 min. on the dot. I am proud of myself for that.

No news on the adoption front--still waiting!

Progress is progress

The treadmill was my friend only 2 times this week. Tsk Tsk. However, I have done a bang up job leaving the Dr. Pepper alone. A crazy good job...on Tuesday I had half of a diet Dr. P--half because I can only handle so much sweetener before it's icky tasting. Yesterday we took the boys to a movie--Robert misunderstood my drink request and stating that I could cheat from time to time and got a Dr. Pepper for me. I did have some sips and after the 4th sip I realized I really didn't want it. So I didn't have any more....so while I didn't get on the treadmill many times this week I did skip the Dr. P many. I will take any step forward I can get.

I also realized a problem with any sort of weight loss and diet change people face. The idea that "you can cheat" I get this and I do think this is true. However I do believe it's an addiction. So until you get a grasp on your issue you can't cheat. In the past times I have tried to kick the soda habit---the cheating is what makes me quit trying. It just doesn't work. At least for me.

I am a huge Biggest Loser fan. And this past week one of the contestants went home and during that time was his birthday and he wouldn't even try a bite of the cake that was bought for him. Granted during that time he was playing a game on a show but it also made me realize that trying it was opening a door he was trying to shut. Trying to get a control on, that food IS an addiction. It makes it a bit more eye opening how really hard the struggle is, and I see it for sure. I am absolutely addicted to sweets and soda and it's really really hard almost impossible hard to not eat them. One it's every where. The boys told me that there is now a Pop Tart that is called Ice Cream Sundae---this is presented as a breakfast food. That's crazy. We don't do Pop Tarts but seriously hello I think foods like this are not helping many issues kids are facing today. Both behavioral, emotional, and physical. We eat our fair share of junk and I am trying really hard to curve that but convenience foods are very uh..convenient. That and I haven't been taught to know a variety of foods both by myself and as a child. Thru no fault of my parents as it's what they knew too. But when it comes to trying to change a diet it's really hard. You suddenly feel you can't eat anything...most because you don't like it and just don't know. We are trying broaden our diets and our children's but it's hard. Education is key so we are trying and learning as we go.

Trying to try.

I am struggling a bit with my weight lately. I know, I know.... But here's the deal. I have gone up 3 sizes in roughly 3 years. That's roughly 30 pounds or so. Now I will give myself 10 for free because well I was approaching 30 so that's only fair. Duh. Aside from that not much else changed. In fact in the middle of that time period I ran a half marathon--ok well I walk/ran...either way I did it. And had my butt at the gym quite a bit getting ready for it. I did it. And that was that. I had all sorts of dreams of running another, of sticking with the running. Obviously I didn't.

The funny thing for me about running is this. I hate it, HATE it. Yet I often get the overwhelming feeling that I need to just run. And after a decent one (which isn't often because I have very, very little stamina) I feel fantastic. Getting myself to get off my duff put down the marshmallow cereal and the coffee is um yeah close to impossible.

The thing with my weight is that really its not awful and I know this but at the rate I am going....exactly. It will be. So we...er I...need to get a handle on it. Because it's creeping up and up. And truth be told I am kinda ok with how I look right now, I am mean I did birth 3 kids....and I am months over 30 but I don't feel great.

And really it boils down to this---love handles, jiggling stomach, and tight pants aside. I want to be in better shape. I want to go for a hike with my family and not need to request a "water break" ever few steps. I don't want to be winded taking my dog for a brisk walk--a long brisk walk yes but not a short one! Now my brisk walk is pretty damn brisk but still.

The problem with all of this is motivation and initiative. Aye. This is very hard. I really do know ways to change this or at the very least know how to work google. I know that I need to ditch the marshmallow cereal and I need to lay off the Chick-Fila. Chick-Fila I love you and your tasty sauce. And Dr. Pepper, sweet, sweet, Dr. Pepper.

I have a treadmill in my basement I nearly begged for it for Christmas--I got it. I have used it 3 times. THREE. 2 this week. The first time I used it I realized the delusion of exercising for an hour at home is just that...a delusion. At least on an ordinary day at home. It's so stressful that it's just not worth it. Exercising at home is like working at home--it takes some serious dedication. I get on there and notice a dirty baseboard or think of the laundry in the wash. So here's what I am proposing to myself.

At first I thought let's just give 30 minutes a whirl...and a diet change. I can do 30 minutes. I did them and realized 30 minutes is very close to 2 miles. So I did the 2 miles in 36min. and decided my goal would be this 2 miles and each time shorter. So the first time was 36 min, the second 32. I realized that I will get under 30 min and after I get under say 25 min or so I will bump it to 3 miles. This along with some diet change and I hope to see some increase in my stamina. Today I skipped and walked the park with Gavin and got my 2 miles. Gavin was on his big wheel so it was a brisk walk with pauses.

The biggest thing for me is that I need realistic goals. 30 minutes and ditching the Dr. Pepper is realistic. I think. And at the very least it's a start and right now that's what I need.