10 months old

It was hard to keep Rori still to take these pics so there aren't many!  She still is not feeling well today. :(
Here are her pics though...

Excuses, Excuses...

Alternate Title: So much to do, so little time.

Alternate, Alternate Title: Where does the time go?

Take your pick. lol

So... yes, it has been awhile.  But I have excuses... mind you, not good excuses, but excuses nonetheless!

Last week, there really wasn't much to say.  I was just cleaning and getting ready for my sister to come visit for the weekend.  Then she was here and we were busy.  And then Rori got sick.  She's still sick. :(  So, those are my excuses.

But now I will try to recap with a tad more detail. lol

We'll skip the boring stuff and get right to my sister visiting last weekend!  She didn't really come to see us, lol... she came to see a Great Dane puppy she was thinking about buying.  So on Saturday, we drove down to the breeder and hung out for a couple of hours.  It was so fun to see all the little puppies!  They were ADORABLE!!!  And Debi was able to spend a lot of time snuggling and playing with her new puppy.  While we were there, Acadia played with their daughter who was the same age as Cadi.  They had so much fun and I really wish we lived closer so we could plan more playdates for them. 

Debi ended up putting a deposit down for the puppy, so we'll be seeing her in July when she comes to pick her up too! :)  Debi stayed until Monday night, so we had a nice little weekend visit with her.  Lots of playing x-box, lots of playing with the kids, just lots of hanging out. :)

Monday morning started out great!  We got new couches for our front room.  It was a great buy!  I found them on Craigslist for a really good price and they are perfect!  They are microfiber and a nice deep sage green.  They look really good in our front room.  We aren't sure if we will keep them both yet, we may sell one or the other and get a chair instead, but for now we're keeping them both.  We're looking at replacing our family room and bedroom furniture in the near future as well and I'm excited about that! :)

Unfortunately, as soon as we got the couches, things took a turn for the worse for Rori.  I'm pretty sure it's just teething but it's giving her a low fever and diarhea, plus she's a little on the fussy side, wanting naps and not eating quite as much as normal.  The up side is that she is doing a lot of snuggling! :) 

On Monday, she turned 10 months old and I was supposed to get her monthly pic with her bear, but she was just not feeling well.  Then yesterday was the same thing.  Today she is feeling a little better and so I'll get them done when she's up from her nap.

In the meantime, here are some pics from this weekend...

Cadi's Angel

Today we made the difficult decision to let Angel go. After talking to our vet, we realized that not only was Angel not going to get better but everyday was just one more day of suffering for her. So when Acadia got home from school, we took Angel to the animal hospital and she quietly went to sleep.

Acadia has been strong and brave but she is very, very sad. She didn't want to watch Angel die, so we waited in the waiting area. She did want to bury Angel though, so we have brought her body home. We will probably bury her tonight when Ryan gets home. Until then, she is in Acadia's room. When we got home, Cadi shut herself in there for a few minutes to have a good cry.

It's a hard part of life to experience. I am very sad too, but I am mostly sad for Acadia. You want to protect your child from feeling hurt and sadness. But there are parts of life that you just can't protect them from. And really, this is one of those things that even though it's hard to experience, it's a good lesson to learn. She has learned to love and to let go. And she understands that Angel is free of pain now, living in heaven where she can run and play and scurry around as much as she wants. I am grateful that as hard as this weekend has been, she has faith in God and His plan for all of us. I know that this experience will help her when she has to say even more difficult "good-byes".

Tomorrow I will thoroughly clean Angel's cage and all of the little toys and things we had in it for her. Then I will bag it all up to use another time... someday. But not yet.

Saying good-bye to an Angel.

I remember when we decided to get Cadi a hamster for Christmas, I knew she was going to be so excited!  When I got all of the supplies for her, I also bought a book about how to care for hamsters.  One of the things I read and almost laughed at was how quickly you become attached to these little creatures.  I remember thinking, "It's gonna be Cadi's hamster, not mine."

HA!

Since the day I chose her, bought her, and brought her home, Angel has been half my hamster.  As much as I tried to fight it, I couldn't.  Even though the plan was for Cadi to clean the cage, I ended up doing it - every single time.  And since hamsters are nocturnal, Angel was usually up after Cadi went to bed so Ryan and I would get her out and visit with her.  We played with her as much, if not more, than Cadi did!

Well, today I noticed Angel laying with her face in her "potty corner".  She was breathing, but it was sporadic.  She wouldn't move for a very long time, even when I tried to touch her.  She appeared to be having pain, occasionally convulsing.  Acadia had already gone to school and I wondered what would be the right thing to do.  Angel remained that way for hours. 

Finally, after Aurora's morning nap and then eating lunch, I tried to get her to move again.  She did!  But she was not okay.  She couldn't walk well, she mostly dragged herself, slowly.  And she kept toppling over.  She seemed to be trying to get to the food, so I dumped it out to make it easier for her to get something.  I put the water bottle right to her mouth but she didn't seem to want any.  Then she just kept walking/dragging herself in circles.  Sometimes as she was walking, she would fall over and then end up on her back, eventually she would wiggle herself back over but it took a lot of effort. 

I decided to get Cadi out of school about an hour early.  Of course, Cadi just cried when I told her why I was getting her!  But she was glad I got her, she kept telling me that she was glad to be there because it was important for her to be with Angel.  One of the first things she asked me after we got in the car was, "Did you already pray for her?"  Of course I had and I didn't say it, but I had also prayed for Cadi.  A few minutes later, she said to me, "I know if she dies that it means we did what we were supposed to do to take care of her and now her time here is over." 

Fortunately, Angel didn't die before I got Cadi home.  In fact, she is still alive.  I don't really expect that to last long though.  Acadia is hoping for a miracle.  But I'm afraid that Angel will be living up to her name here pretty soon.  (Too bad we didn't name her "Miracle".)







We love you, Angel!

***Update***

Maybe we SHOULD name her Miracle!

Get this! Angel is still alive! AND she looks a lot better! I can't believe it - I mean she was so, SO gone! She was twitching and falling over and turning onto her back and twitching some more. She would squeal out in pain and breathe sharply! She couldn't hardly move!

And now she is walking (slowly, but walking) - not falling over at all! She has started eating and drinking too!

I am totally shocked!!!

But I'm glad too... as long as she is really okay. She let me pet her and she doesn't seem to be in pain anymore. Right now she's resting, back in her house, so we'll see how she is later tonight and tomorrow.
Man, I guess cats aren't the only ones with 9 lives! :)

Good things come to those who wait...

I took video of Rori walking this weekend! Actually, I had Acadia take the video. :) However, I have not uploaded it to the computer yet. I have also not uploaded some very entertaining pics of Rori eating a biter biscuit, or the equally entertaining pics of her eating a pickle! lol When I get the chance, you know... in my "spare time"... LOL That's such a great joke! ;) ... Anyhow, when I get around to it, I will definitely upload and post the video and the pics. Cause I know you are all just sitting on the edge of your seats checking my blog five times a day just waiting for me to put them up. ;)


In the meantime, I've been a busy bee! I've been doing more deep cleaning. For some crazy reason, I am loving it! I'm starting to wonder if I've come down with something! lol The most recent rooms have been the bathrooms - usually my least favorite chore.

I keep worrying that I will suddenly lose the desire to clean, just like I suddenly gained it. So I'm trying to take advantage of this "drive" for as long as I've got it! lol But I will try to get that video and the pics up soon... this week for sure. :)

A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart

(We just finished watching "Madame Blueberry".)

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, mothers-to-be, and mothers-at-heart!!!

I'm feeling mighty grateful this Mother's Day! This week has been like a wild ride on a roller coaster with many ups and downs! I'm talking big highs and big lows! But fortunately, all is balancing out and I feel like when all is said and done, we ended more on the high side. :)

The last two Mother's Days were fairly regular days for me. Both of the last two years, Ryan was not able to be here to get up with the girls and fix me breakfast in bed. Last year he wasn't here at all that day! I have been looking forward to today for a long time! FINALLY, I would get a real Mother's Day ON Mother's Day!!! Yippee!!!

However, at the VERY last minute, plans changed. Something came up and Ryan and I made the quick decision to allow him to leave for a couple of days. He left last night to go be a wonderful friend. I love him so much for it!

You would think that I would be a little disappointed that I would, once again, be getting up with the girls instead of sleeping in, making them breakfast instead of being served it in bed, getting them and myself dressed for church with no help, making my own dinner, cleaning up after it, etc. But I woke up so grateful! I felt so happy and didn't mind at all that this Mother's Day would not be a day of pampering for me. Instead, I was able to make a sacrifice to help someone else who really needed it. I don't even care if I get a "rain check" for my Mother's Day pampering... uh, but don't tell Ryan that. ;) lol

I love my girls so much! Aurora slept until 8:00 instead of getting up at 6:40 like she did yesterday - that was a great gift! lol And Acadia gave me some sweet gifts which included some pretty pictures she drew and a poem she wrote herself. We had my favorite breakfast, potatoes and eggs and I'm sticking a roast in the crockpot for dinner. :) (Easy dinner, easy clean up! Score!)

I love my husband so much! He is really good at the job he has but I think he did kind of missed his calling in life. He has sometimes felt that he should have gone into counseling. (To be a counselor, not to be counseled! lol... uh, well... maybe both. ;) hehehe) He really is a great listener and he gives wise advice. I am grateful to have him and I'm grateful that he will be able to help our friend today. :)

Baby Steps

Aurora walked today!!!

She took a couple of steps to me and then said "mama". I don't really think she knew what she was saying but it was the icing on the cake for me! A few minutes later, she took about 5 or 6 steps again!

She is following Acadia almost identically. Acadia walked at 9 months too. Rori crawled about a week or two ahead of Cadi though, but close. And so far Rori still doesn't have teeth ... Cadi's didn't come until 11 months.

I knew she was close to walking but I expected it to take another week or two. Wow, way to go Rori!!!

Just when you think she couldn't get any cuter...

I have more pictures!!! :)  These are Aurora's 9 month portraits from Sears...

"Really Quick"

You know how sometimes you think, "I'll just do this really quick and that's it." But then, once you start that "one thing", you find yourself doing more? Yeah.

I was so tired and I was heading to bed, but before I did, I remembered that I really needed to start a load of towels. So I gathered all the towels from the bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchen to throw in the wash. While I was doing that, I saw the sink half full of dishes and thought, "Hmm, I should wash those so I can throw the dishrag in too."

Of course, that meant unloading the dishwasher first. So I did. Then I washed the dishes and as I was washing the tray to Rori's high chair, I thought, "Oh! I need to also add the high chair seat cover to the wash too!" So I wiped down the counters (which I always do when I'm done loading the dishwasher) and went to take the high chair cover off the high chair.
Then I thought, "Wow, Rori really did make a huge mess when she fed herself dinner tonight... I should wipe down the whole high chair." So I did. And in the process, several wayward cheerios and puffs found their way to the floor. And even though Simon did get most of them, I thought, "I really should sweep, there are quite a few crumbs left."

So I did. I then started the load of towels.

Now, the thought did occur to me that I should also mop, seeing as how the dog had just "cleaned" the cheerios up off the floor... but let's not get carried away! I was just doing this "one thing really quick" and then heading to bed, after all!

Broken? Or just broken in?

We had to make our first non-well baby doctor's appointment for Rori yesterday.

On Wednesday, Rori pulled a step ladder over and in the process, her finger was pinched. I looked at it and it seemed fine. Then on Thursday, I noticed it was red, swollen, and it looked like she had gotten scratched when her finger was pinched. It wasn't bothering her at all, I could touch it and even put pressure on it and she didn't pull away or make any noises. She also didn't have a fever at all. So I decided to just watch it and see how it was in a day.

Yesterday morning it wasn't any worse but it also wasn't any better either. So I called the advice nurse and they told me that they wanted to see her, just in case. The only time they could get me in was at 4pm. That means we had to skip gymnastics (we're making it up on Monday, instead) to get to the appointment.

The doctor said to just put Neosporin on it 3 times a day (like right when she's going down for a nap so it doesn't get wiped off) and soak it once or twice a day (ie. baths). But she did also give me a couple of prescriptions in case that doesn't work. She said we should see a noticable difference in just a day or two.

So, Rori's officially been broken in. lol Oh, one cool thing about the visit was that we got to weigh her. She had her diaper on (normally she is weighed without her diaper) but I figure it's probably close enough. So as of yesterday, she weighs 18 pounds, 13 ounces... give or take a few ounces. lol

9 Months

Has it really been that long?  Wow!

This weekend Rori turned 9 months and you know what that means!  Time for pics with the bear!!!







Other pics...




Despite what the pic above suggests, Rori is not walking... YET!  She has been crawling for over a month, she pulls herself up and stands easily, she's even walking along furniture a bit... just not walking quite yet.  That's fine by me! lol

Also, still no teeth. :S 

But she is so active and happy and good!  We love her so much!!! :)

My Testimony

I'm fairly sure that everyone who reads my blog knows this already but just to be clear...

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In other words, I am a Mormon.

Recently, PBS aired a show called, "The Mormons". It was a four hour long program, split up between two nights. It was not produced by our church, but it was made with some cooperation from it. I watched it, having hopes that it would be a positive, uplifting program. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed.

I have no intention of responding to or commenting on the program and the many things it talked about. However, I do have some other thoughts I'd like to share...

One of the things I took away from this experience was this: It really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or says, there is nothing that can change my testimony. I have received a witness for myself and even if no one else in the entire world believed, I still would.

In the past, I have always felt so defensive when people criticize the church but now I realize that I don't need to be. The church can defend itself. The teachings, the laws, the principles, the doctrines, they all speak for themselves. People can choose to believe it or not, that is up to them. But I choose to believe it and that is up to me. When someone disagrees, that is simply their opinion. Sure it would be nice if everyone accepted the gospel but we all have agency and I want the right to choose, so I will gladly allow others their right to choose too.

I sure am grateful for the gospel and my testimony! And I hope there is never a doubt in anyone's mind (who knows me) where I stand. I stand with President Hinckley, Joseph Smith, the Savior, and my Heavenly Father... that's the side I want to be on!

After the program ended last night, Ryan looked at me and said, "Well! I think I want to watch Testaments! I need something uplifting after that!" So we popped that in. What an amazing difference!!!

I love my Savior! I know he is my Lord and my Redeemer! I KNOW it! Not because I have seen him, I just know it inside my heart. I feel that I could say the same as Elder McConkie said in his final Conference address, "...in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer". I don't have a perfect faith in all things, but I have absolute faith in my Savior!

As the Testaments dvd ended, I was overwhelmed with the image of Helam and his son when Christ comes to them. The look on Helam's face when he finally saw Christ... It was a look of a man who had suffered so much all his days, who had endured to the end and never gave in to what the world was trying to tell him. He had such love and gratitude and joy in his face when he saw the Savior! I want to have that experience!

I thought, I want to be like that! I want to be able to do the same thing! Then I realized what that would require. Am I ready to face that kind of opposition in my life? Am I ready to endure such trials? I am not sure what the future holds, what kind of trials and opposition we will have to endure, that can be frightening. But I want to be obedient and I pray that I will be strong enough to endure!

I know that to have that strength, I will need to do more myself. I want to "give up my sins to know my Savior". I am striving to do that. I do love the Lord more than I love any other thing in my life! I want so much to give up the things that are holding me back from progressing farther. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done! lol But I am trying!!!

For any who are not LDS and may have questions about our beliefs, I hope that you will understand that to really learn about our faith, you must ask one of us! In my side column I have a link where you can "go straight to the source" and find answers to your questions or you can just ask me! ;)