New arrival!

Meet Mario,

He's new here.  

The baby loves him.  

Winston isn't so sure...

On the move...again

One thing I've come to know pretty well in our almost ten years of marriage...is moving. We are currently in the middle of our sixth move. We've had a few bumps in the road already...I'm hoping the remainder goes well. I haven't handled the stress so well...neither has Winston. But Miles and Nathan keep us held together.

Miles and Winston checking out our mountains of boxes.

Poor Winnie knows EXACTLY what's going on (this is his fourth move)

So here's to a smooth move! Two weeks from today we'll be in Italy, hopefully enjoying some gelato!!

Bye bye stuff - see you in six months!

Two months

Miles hit the two month mark last week...and yesterday he had his two month doctor visit.  (Insert sad face here for his poor little skinny thighs that had to get shots) 

11lbs 7oz

22.5" long

head 39.5cm

Over the past month he has grown so much...although I don't notice it unless I look back at old pictures and compare them to our current little guy.  He is still little...he's in the 25th percentile for height and weight.  He is just barely wearing his 0-3 month size clothes...and he swims in them.  But that's ok, he has so many it will be nice for him to be able to use them all.  I do wish his feet would get a little bigger though...he has SO many cute shoes that he can't fit into yet...and you can imagine how that pains me.  :)

So lets see...his latest bag of tricks now includes smiling, giggling and holding onto something placed in his hands.  He loves baths, so much so that he screams bloody murder when you take him out.  He has warmed up to the kiddie pool on the back patio, and loves going on walks in the stroller.  

His nicknames include: 

shark bait

squishy fish

smiley miley

monkey

squirt

Winston has finally started to warm up to our new addition.  I think he's finally realized that Miles is not a temporary resident so he may as well like him.  In fact, he has turned out to be quite protective and concerned...when Miles wakes up early in the morning and fusses, Winston jumps off the bed and trotts into Miles' room and lays on the rug in front of the crib.  

Happy Two-Month Birthday Smiley Miley!!

Happy Fluffy B-day!

Our sweet Winston celebrated his eighth birthday today...his preferred form of celebration included special canned food, a nap in the bay window, a trip outside to snack on the grass, an extended nap with momma and lots of scratches and loves.  

Isn't he the cutest kitty ever?  I can't imagine our lives without him...he is my baby.  He is full of personality and seems to know exactly what I'm thinking all the time.  The move to Italy will be a bit stressful on him, but I'm sure once he realizes that Italy also has birds to watch and windows to sit in and canned food to eat he'll be fine.  

One Month...attempt

I can't believe our little guy is one month old today.  That month FLEW by...I need a time turner to make sure I'm not missing anything.  I decided that I wanted to take 'progressive' pictures of Miles his first year...you know the kind...picture of baby with a certain stuffed animal each month to show how much he's grown.  I had the bright idea to try and take a picture of Miles with Winston.  Winston took one look at the baby and had other ideas. 

Why is that thing by me??

I'm outta here

No dad...I will NOT sit by that mini human. 

Stay tuned for plan B.

Christmas Tree Climber

I've been feeling a little bah-humbugish.  Because of the move we have yet to put up our tree or stockings or even a wreath.  To help lift my Christmas spirit I watched this about 4 times.

Enjoy :)

Sure miss that pesky little bugger.

Halloween

This was kind of a lame Halloween year at our house.  I caught a wicked nasty bug and spent Friday, Saturday and most of today in a drug-induced state.  If you know me at all you know just how much I {{LOVE}} Halloween...so it was a big bummer to get sick this weekend.  But being sick didn't stop us from cuddling on the couch, cranking up the fire and watching some scary movies.  Poor Winston had to be the one to fulfill my dress-up desires (well except for my black cat socks), Nathan was excited to trick-or-treat from our Halloween candy stash and I was relieved to have the weekend off (I only get one off a month) to rest. 

This is the second year in a row we've been lame for Halloween...we'll have to go all out next year. 

Oh - brownie points to whoever can name the source of Winston's quote.

Reason for being blue

All week I've been feeling blue and I just couldn't figure out why.  I thought it had something to do with being sick (allergies and sinus stuff...ick).  Then I realized...a year ago this weekend we lost our sweet little Frankie.  I sure miss that little Rat Cat. 

Pick-me-up

I haven't been feeling myself lately and I really needed a pick me up. Enter this video.



Hope it brings a smile to your face...if it doesn't you should look in the mirror and see if this is what you see:

#3

3: Winston - Oh how I love that after a 4:30am alarm, a 45-60 minute drive to work, a long day at work, a 45-60 minute drive home in heavy traffic, and a trek up four flights of stairs in 4" heels I can open the door and see this cute little guy waiting for me. EVERY. DAY. He promptly meows, rubs on my legs and jumps up on the table by his food dish. He sleeps by my feet every night and if I'm home alone, he is my little grey shadow. I just love this little bugger.

A Month

Today has been a month since our sweet Frankie died. I had a few moments today where I got really sad. I sure miss that little menace.

Tender Moment

One thing that touched my heart through the whole thing was the tenderness of the staff at the vet. They had to put a catheter/IV in for the drugs and it was wrapped with that sticky, stretchy tape...it had a heart on it. They also made an imprint of Frankie's paw in some clay for us. I wasn't expecting that at all, it will be a nice momento to treasure.
By far, the sweetest thing was this: After the process was over they allowed us to have some alone time with Frankie. We cuddled and loved him for a few minutes and then called the nurse to come get him. The nurse who came in (who was a guy in his late 20's) gently took him from my arms and then kissed Frank on the top of the head. Gets me all teary just thinking about it.

I will remember you

Our sweet little Frank passed from this life late this evening. He was deteriorating so quickly, and we knew he was suffering. We chose to have him put to sleep, and I can honestly say that was the HARDEST decision of my life.
Nathan was gone the majority of today on a gig and I took the opportunity to spend the day with Frank; snuggling, napping...getting in every last second I could. As the the day wound to a close I knew what was coming and my heart started to ache.
The staff at the vet were fantastic. They were so understanding and supportive. They made a sweet little paw impression for us.
I count myself lucky that I got the last two days to spend with him and make sure he knew he was loved. I got a chance to say goodbye.
Thank you for all of the prayers offered on his behalf.

I need your help

I know it seems as though as of late I have been asking for that a lot. Today has been a bad day and it is only 2 in the afternoon. Many tears have already been shed.

Our little Frank is very sick. The vet believes it to be renal failure (which is odd considering that he is only two years old). We are treating him aggressively over the weekend and hoping for improvement by our appointment on Tuesday. If he doesn't show any improvement, he will never get better. We will then be forced to make the choice that every pet lover dreads.

I know there are those of you who have pets and understand just how much a part of your family they are. Our fur kids are our kids. In the absence of children these sweet little guys have filled the holes in our hearts left by that aching desire. They have shared good times with us and have cuddled us through the bad.

I know there is a God, and that He does hear our prayers. I am asking that any of you who have faith in a supreme being, please pray for us. Pray that our Frankie will get well. His chances are very slim so we need all the divine intervention we can get on this. I know it seems trivial to pray for an animal, but I just don't think...no...I KNOW that I cannot lose another baby. We've lost two kitties already, along with our three human babies. My heart is just not strong enough to take it.

Happy Birthday Frank!

Our little black furry menace turns two today. I can't believe he's only two...seems like we've been dealing with the 'terrible twos' for the last 6 months or so.
He is such a sweet kitten, when he wants to be. He loves to cuddle, and is quite a morning person. He does have his menace streak...for instance: at night if he isn't ready to go to bed and we are in bed trying to go to sleep, he will jump up on the dresser/desk/nightstand and knock things off to get our attention. By far the cutest thing he does is crawl up onto my shoulder al la parrot. He will just sit there snuggled into my neck as long as I'll let him.

Happy Birthday Frank! Mom's going to have some cake for you...don't you worry!

I'm too sexy for my human

Spring

You know how I can tell for sure that warmer weather is here and Spring has finally sprung?

Tulips blooming? .......nope
Buds on trees? .......nope
Birds chirping? .......nope




Sweeping up enough cat fur dust bunnies in one day to make a cat? ......yep

Viva Chicago! (part 2)

We started out this morning in our super loud truck and it started ok. It quickly deteriorated. Winston was freaking out at the loud sound and was crying nonstop.


The truck was losing power quickly so we pulled off the freeway into the Walmart parking lot and Nathan got under to see what was up. We learned that we would need to replace the catalytic converter before going any further. We were really lucky to find a muffler shop close by. We went in and they were GREAT. They were super friendly and they just loved Besta. I tell you, Nebraska has some of the nicest people I have ever met. They got us right in and got it fixed and it only cost us $286. The people at that shop were awesome and if any of you ever find yourselves stuck in Grand Island, Nebraska and need a muffler fix go to Green Bear Safety Service. (Yes, that is seriously their name)


We saw a TON of these windmills across Iowa. At one point there was a field of over 100 of them. You gotta hand it to the state of Iowa to harness the energy from their abundant wind.


We made pretty good time after that and we are hunkered down for the night in Iowa City. Our hotel is a castle themed hotel. Our room is awesome...and the restaurant in the hotel was like an old tavern. The bathrooms in the restaurant were labeled "Damsels in Distress""Knights in Need" and . Here are some pics of our castle room. This is the bed...it is up a few stairs from the rest of the room. There is a chandelier overhead and mirrors on the ceiling (bow-chica-wow-wow).


Here is the bathroom...nothing fancy here but I just had to show you the phone by the toilet. Don't think we'll be using that one...


Here is the gilded mirror over the sink.


Here is the painting in the room. Cute kitty, huh? (It is big...like 4'x4')


Here is a view of the lower half of the room from up where the bed is...notice the other chandelier. As I type this Besta is lounged out on the couch.


I can't wait to get to Chicago tomorrow...hopefully we'll get there, checked in to the hotel and get a chance to go out and look at some places in town...cause we need to find a place to live and QUICK.

Viva Chicago!

We are half way through our insane (I'll clue you in on that later) trip to Chi Town...this may be long...but it WILL be good for at least a few giggles.

The moving company came and packed us up on Monday and then loaded the truck on Tuesday. More than once we heard them say something to the effect of 'You have a lot of stuff'. Don't we know it. After the truck was loaded on Tuesday my mom came up and helped us clean the house, then we went to a farewell dinner at a great Thai place. (Thanks mom, I really appreciate your help and you not crying...because if you would have, I would have totally lost it instead of just partially losing it)

Winston was really freaked out by the whole thing. He has been through a move before and wasn't sure he liked what was going on. This is where he 'hid' after all the boxes were gone.

We woke up Wednesday morning to snow. Utah wanted to send us off in style!


I was fine until I knew I was walking out of our house for the last time. I had so many hopes for that house. I had planned on bringing a baby home from the hospital to that house, raising children in that house, having many Christmas mornings in that house. To leave without fulfilling those wishes was hard. I love that house. I love my scrapbook room. I love the plaster paint job in the Master Bedroom, I love my flower beds. I am sad that I won't be able to see my Daffodils and Irises come up this year. Nathan was great and allowed me a bit to cry, then gently pulled me out the door.

Unfortunately the storm Utah decided to send us away with caused quite a few problems. We already had the car packed to the gills, on a dolly, hooked to the truck (which was also packed to the gills)...we didn't need to add snow to the equation. We didn't make too bad of time until we hit Rawlins, then it got ugly. We got back on I-80 and shortly after we did, they closed the road because of the weather. We had to SLOWLY (read: So slow sometimes I forgot we were moving) make our way through the ice and snow and wind. They had closed the freeway going West so there was a while where we didn't see another car for almost an hour. It was kinda freaky. We got to Laramie and wanted to push on to Cheyenne for the night, but fate had other ideas. I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne was closed...which was probably good because the roads were getting slicker and we fishtailed more than once as we got close to Laramie. We got my mom to work for us and found us a hotel that had rooms open and would also allow us to bring our entourage (Besta, Winston and Frank). We got the circus unloaded and went to bed. (This hotel would be the source of much laughing today...the bathroom light didn't work...the shower was VERY testy and wouldn't hold a steady temperature...the front desk person didn't know how to let me connect my Mac to the wifi and I'm sure the floor hadn't been vacuumed in weeks. By the time we got there we were so tired we didn't want to go find food so we ate two left over tacos from lunch...cold tacos. yummy.).

We got up this morning fully aware that we were HUNDREDS of miles behind schedule. Speaking of waking up...this is what we woke up to:
We had wanted to make it to Grand Island, NE the first night...we were 412 miles off. So we took off. What should creep up on us? More weather:


The truck seemed to get slower and slower. It wasn't pulling the load as fast as we'd like. (We were lucky to get to 40mph). I called my dad (who has owned more than his fair share of trucks over the years and so has extensive truck-fixing knowledge) and he thought it was our Catalytic Converter. All we needed to do was punch a hole in the pipe that leads into it. Sound simple? Now factor in that we are in sub-freezing temps, in the snow, in the middle of nowhere Nebraska. We pull off the side of the road, under an overpass (seriously...) and Nathan climbs under the truck with a screwdriver and a rock and works for 30 minutes before he gets one hole. (Turns out there were TWO pipes leading into it...so we had to punch two holes).


He can't get the other one so he climbs back in and we keep moving. It helps a little, so we stop at the next truck stop, Nathan goes in and asks for a hammer and gets back under the truck. He worked for almost 40 minutes, then some random kind stranger asks if we need help. He is a mechanic or something, offers a HUGE hammer and a tool that will punch the hole better. Four swings with the hammer and there is a grand canyon size hole in the pipe and we can now go 65mph. I can't believe how nice that guy was! (Oh, did I mention the side-effect of punching the hole in the pipe? The truck is now LOUD. I mean LOUD, like a truck with no muffler...so conversations in the truck are now not held unless necessary because we don't want to yell)

So we are now in a hotel in Kearney, Nebraska. (I know, where??!?) It is clean, the bathroom light works, it has internet, and a working heater. The dog loves being inside, Frank loves having a new room to discover every night and Winston is doing better tonight than last night. (See Winston under the blanket on top of the pillow? He wormed his way up through the blankets to get himself there...we woke up to find a very interesting lump on the pillow...and that lump turned out to be him)


I am trying not to be frustrated. We are still not where we hoped we would be on the first night...we had actually hoped to be in Chicago tonight...but storms and truck trouble have held us back. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. If you're on Facebook, you can keep tabs on us there. I can get on Facebook on my phone. I haven't had time to read any blogs, but I promse to get caught up once I get settled in Chi Town.

If looks could kill

This is the face I get if I don't feed Winston on time.