Fur-Baby

My fur-baby, Karli, has been sick for several months now. We've suspected diabetes but don't have the funding to run tests and/or treat. So, we have had to watch her get thinner and thinner over the past six months or so. She was quite a healthy-looking obese cat for years. Rolly-polly and roughly about 20 pounds. Upon taking her to see a vet yesterday, she weighed just over 9 pounds.

We got Karli about 8 years ago as a gift. Her kitty family had been abandoned and a nice human family rescued her mom and all the babies. The human family wasn't able to look after so many baby kitties, so were looking for some help in adopting. We gladly took the little bundle of fur.

Karli means "covered with snow" in some language or other. I think I may have taken liberties with the spelling when I named her. She looked to me like a tabby cat that had just popped out of the snow, covered almost completely in the white stuff.

Karli was always the lap cat and she only wanted me. She'd claw her way up my pant legs just so that I would hold her. I was always amazed that she never actually got her claws into my flesh but climbed up my pants quite easily. (Until she got too chubby, that is.)

Back when we got Karli, we were still struggling to have our own babies, so our cats sortof satisfied our need for children in the house. Once Audrey came along, we didn't have as much time to lavish on our cats, which I still regret a bit. They got rather spoiled on our attention and I'm not sure they've gotten used to our switch in focus. In fact, after Audrey was born, we took almost no pictures of the cats at all. The last picture that we took of Karli was on Christmas Day this year. All she wanted was to be with me.

I've known several cats who have become ill or injured. Their human families have done what they could for the cats, sometimes very expensively. It has always struck me when an animal has become so ill that it can barely take care of itself and seems miserable. Some of those human families have continued to try to take care of that cat and some have decided that it was time to let that cat go. I have no wisdom as to which is better for families and their pets. All I knew was that I never wanted to be responsible for any of my own pets' suffering.

So, as Karli continued to get worse and worse, I had to contemplate our options for her. I put it off for a while because it was so unpleasant to think about. We finally decided that there was nothing we could do for her and that we were allowing her to get to the point where she would start to really suffer. I wasn't quite sure that putting her to sleep was the best option because it seemed like such a cop-out. I didn't want to give up!

When we took Karli to the vet yesterday, it was with brave faces on, firmly fixed in our decision to put her to sleep. While we waited in the examining room for the vet, we wondered what we would do if the vet refused to put her down on the grounds that she wasn't "sick enough". When the vet came in, he asked a few questions and examined Karli for about 10 seconds. That was all it took to satisfy him that she really was that bad off. I think that shocked me the most. I was expecting to have to tell him all the terrible things that were happening with her and that we really felt it was best, but in the end, he convinced me. She really was that sick.

Ben buried her in the Sandia foothills. He picked a spot that he felt was beautiful and peaceful.

We've agreed that the most difficult part was not deciding to let her go. It was that we HAD to let her go at all that was hard. After so many years, she really was part of our family and I know that there will be an empty place where she was, maybe forever. I won't be sad forever, but I won't forget her.
I also know that our other fur-babies will miss her too. Johnny has already come to me with that questioning meow and his routine is quite thrown off. It's as if he doesn't know what to do without her, and I can't say I feel much different. I performed a classic double-take on Patches when she poked her little white nose around the couch this morning.

What makes me feel okay about it all is that she isn't suffering anymore. That was the greatest thing I could do for her at that point in her life.

The romantic in me believes that she's Home, waiting for us; perhaps with our other fur-babies that we've had to give up for one reason or another. Why not? It couldn't possibly be heaven without the souls we love, human or not.

PCF

*Yawn* I sit here typing to you while struggling with PCF: Post-Christmas Fatigue. After spending a lovely evening at Nanny and Grandfathers house, visiting with Uncles Davvid, Joe, Sam, Aunt Sasha and Nanny and Grandfather, we went home, put Audrey in her Christmas Pajamas, and considered going to bed. It was not to be. With a toddler in the house, the Christmas gifts had not been wrapped and put under the tree. So, Ben went to work with some gifts to wrap during his downtime and I settled down for a long-winters-wrap.

I finally got to bed at about 11pm. Not too bad, I suppose, but I only have one child. Nanny regailed us with tales of staying up til 6am wrapping gifts for seven children and two adults. Can you say: Yuck!?

Anyway. Ben got home around 6:15, laid his presents out under the tree and settled in bed for the next two hours with me. At 8:30, we got up and fetched Audrey, carefully avoiding the Living Room and sat down to breakfast. By 9am, we were in the Living Room wondering where to begin. Audrey was completely enamoured with the large, plush horse that was sturdy enough for her to "ride" on. (It really is something that her favorite gift turned out to be the free one.) It actually took several minutes to convince her to look at anything else.
By the time we were half-way through the presents, she was starting to "get it" and helped Mama open her gifts.

All in all, it took us about an hour to take turns opening gifts, oohing and aahing in between. Thus, the PCF.
I hardly know how I'll make it through the rest of the day. Christmas comes but once a year and, right now, I'm thinking that's not such a terrible thing.

Nighties vs. Pajamas

We have decided today that graduating Audrey to wearing nighties is a BAAAAD idea. Ben spent the better part of a half hour scrubbing her crib, mattress, WALLS!..... and throwing everything that was in her bed into the wash (except for her Tad which, because it can't go in the wash, went in the trash. :(
While Ben was doing that, I was hosing Audrey off in the bathtub. I just thank heaven that Audrey loves her baths because this would have been a real mess otherwise... literally.

Audrey has recently decided that if we wait even 5 minutes to get her up that she will take revenge on us and remove her diaper. It was cute (motherly eyeroll) when she was just peeing in her bed... but today it was something else. She thought it was funny, of course, and was jumping up and down on her bed, giggling.

It seems to be that nighties leave too much access to the diaper. Since Audrey has been suffering from a persistent case of diaper rash, getting those diapers off seems to be first priority for her. So, I think, for the foreseeable future, Audrey will have to stick to pajamas. If she decides that taking off both the bottoms and her diaper is too great a temptation, we may have to invest in several pairs of zippered pajamas and a pound of safety pins.

Officially Surreal

It's official. We're having a boy! We found out at our last doctor appointment almost a week ago. I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of having a boy. First of all, I know nothing about baby boys except the rumors that they have the knack of peeing all over when you take off their diaper. (Yay.)
For those of you who don't know, having a boy in the Thompson family is a bit of an anomaly. If my count is correct, by the time our baby is born, he will be the 15th grandchild, including stepchildren. Of those 15 grandchildren, he will only be the second boy to be born. The eldest grandson is now 15 years old! So, as you can tell, it has been a loooooong time since a boy has been born in this family.
Aside from me knowing virtually nothing about boys, the other potential problem we are facing is the fact that all the clothes, blankets and majority of toys have all been geared toward girls. We will also need to get another bed and probably a hundred other things I haven't thought about yet. (Yay.)
We were unintentionally smart about getting a non-gender specific carseat/stroller. Quite a lot of the baby toys (bouncer, activity pad, etc) have also been for boys and girls. I don't suppose our little boy will go lacking.. but it is a strain to think of what we will need.

In the meantime, I've been trying to fathom the prospect of "boy".... I used the words "your son" when talking with Ben a few days ago and he had to stop and think about that for a minute. So, just when I think I'm getting the hang of this mom thing... here comes another adventure that I feel utterly unprepared for.
Oh, and just a last minute thought... It's fairly easy to find a cute blessing dress for a baby girl.. but what about a handsome little suit for a baby boy??? Is there any way to make a white suit NOT look like a blast from the past, a la Saturday Night Fever?? I suppose we could just find a sweet little traditional suit, because, I'm sorry... we're never going to put a little boy in those blessing/Christening outfits that look like a dress. No flippin way!

Run - Gotta Love This Tag!! Thanks Jessie!

1. Put your iTunes (or whatever you play your music on) on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the same as well as the person you got the note from.

1) IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY...
The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson

2) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Shine - Collective Soul

3) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Discombobulated Cheese Balls - Brak

4) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Alive & Kicking - Simple Minds

5) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
The Rainbow Connection - Kirmit the Frog

6) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister

7) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Porcelain - Moby

8) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Cuts you Up - Peter Murphy

9) WHAT IS 2+2?
The Magic Flute - Mozart

10) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
I Can't Get Behind That - William Shatner & Henry Rollins

11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Nitro - Dick Dale

12) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
O Holy Night - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

13) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Lowrider - Korn

14) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Shoots & Ladders - Korn

15) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Under Pressure - Queen

16) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Unvisible Zedd - Gogol Bordello

17) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Hit That - Offspring

18) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Always - Erasure

19) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Blasphemous Rumors - Depeche Mode

20) WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
I Can't Get to You - J.P. LeGrande

21) HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Midnight - Trans Siberian Orchestra

22) WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Our House - Madness

23) WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Praise You - Fat Boy Slim

24) WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Song to the Siren - Chemical Brothers

25) WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - The Tokens

26) WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
The Game of Love - Santana

27) DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zepplin

29) WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Oh Yeah - Yello

30) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Run - Collective Soul

Toddler Melt-Down(s)

Audrey normally wakes up in a decent mood, being somewhat like her father: The Morning Person. Today was no different and the first 2 hours of play were pretty good. We only had to take Christmas Tree decorations from her twice and she only got upset about that once. "MINE!!!"
After I finished my morning computer tasks (I.E. blogs, Facebook, Yahoo news), I relaxed on the recliner while Audrey continued to be busy. After a while, she wanted to sit on my computer chair. I obliged her and she proceeded to play with the mouse and keyboard. I, being the uptight sort about my computer, watched her for a while but reasoned with myself that she couldn't really hurt anything too much. When she pulled the keyboard off it's tray, however, I drew the line and locked the computer. Audrey took serious exception to that and proceeded to throw a huge screaming fit in which she cried, stamped her feet, cried, pulled the computer chair over onto it's side, cried, woke up her Dad from his nap (with said crying), cried, pointed at Mom (the offender) and cried some more.
Well, we decided lunch would be a good idea since it was close to nap time. Audrey was happy with her chicken nuggets until she saw Mom and Dad with some sort of wonderful purple sludge in their cups (berry smoothie). Again, we obliged her and gave her a small cup, a bib and let her feed herself some smoothie. She downed one cup relatively quickly and asked for more. The second cup didn't take much longer and she asked for more. The third cup, we figured, would need to be the last since she was now ignoring her chicken. After she finished said 3rd helping, we told her she was done with that and I rinsed the cup. THAT made her mad and she reasoned, in her toddler way, that throwing the rest of her chicken nuggets all over the table would be a helpful venting option. I was mildly tempted to video the tantrum and post it on this blog but I figured that would be mean and portray me as a non-sympathetic, cruel mother. It was funny though.

Really funny.

Tagging All Mommies!

1. What time do you wake up? Anywhere between 7 and 9am. It all depends on how well I slept and how sick I've been.

2. On a good night, what time are your kids in bed? 7pm is bedtime. If we've been at Nanny's or Grandpa's, it's usually later than that.

3. How long have you been a mommy? It's been 19 months since Audrey was born.

4. How old were you when you became a mom? 28 1/2

5. What is your favorite chore? Favorite? Err.. If I had to pick, I'd say vacuuming, but only if someone else cleans things up.

6. What is your favorite meal to cook? Fastest: Frito Pie... Yummiest: Grilled Hamburgers with sauteed pineapple on top.. mmm.

7. What meal do you cook most often? Er... these days I'm all about Souper Salad.

8. What are 5 things about being a mom that make you smile?
1. Watching Audrey slowly become a big girl every day.
2. Asking Audrey if I can pinch/tickle/poke/etc her and she screams and tries to run away laughing.
3. Audrey dancing.
4. Audrey saying "Mom?" from the backseat of the car and after I say "Yes?" she goes into a long garbled babble story that I can pick one or two words out of. (Usually ending with "happy?")
5. Audrey's fake laugh: Hee Hee Hee! (like a witch) or Ha Ha Ha! (like some sort of villain)

9. If you could take your kids anywhere, where would it be? I would like to travel the world with my family.

10. When was the last time you went out without your kids? I want to say it was our anniversary in June...

11. What is your most heartbreaking moment as a mom? Two days after we brought her home and she couldn't sleep in her bassinet anymore. She had to sleep in a special bed because she was jaundiced. I was terrified that she was going to get worse and have to go back to the hospital.

12. When was the last time you told one of your kids I love you? When I put her to bed last night.
13. When was the last time you were told I love you? When Ben and I were lying in bed last night talking about our hopes and fears.

Viva la Vida

I'm sure some of you have heard this song before, but I thought I'd share since it is my current favorite. I even put it in my playlist so that you could hear it... reading it does it partial justice.. the full effect is much better. It's a somewhat melancholy song, but to me, quite poignant.

Viva la Vida by Coldplay

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become

Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Hear Jerusalem bells are ringings
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Root Beer

I love root beer... even more now that I'm pregnant. You know how lemon-lime soda is supposed to settle your stomach when you aren't feeling well? Yeah, no. Doesn't work for me with this pregnancy. I suspect it's the citrus since I can't drink lemonade or orange juice at this point either.

I wouldn't say I'm a root beer connoisseur, but I have rather discriminating taste. For example: most canned root beers are barely passable as they tend to glean a little bit of a metallic taste. (With the exception of Barqs which is good no matter what.) Bottled is the way to go: plastic is okay but glass is preferable.

Of the root beers that I have sampled personally, I have a working rating system according to taste and overall appeal. For example, Dad's Root Beer and Shasta are waaaay down at the bottom of my list (sorry Dad). I can't even explain why I don't like them because I've been avoiding them for so long I've forgotten.
Mug and IBC are a close comparison in my opinion. Though decent, they don't make my list of favorites for two reasons. I like my root beer to either be smooth and sweet or slightly bitter with a bite. Mug and IBC fit into neither category and so fall a bit short for me.
Henry Weinhard falls into a category all its own because it has a wonderful head and a nice bite but it is too sweet for the bite, so I give most of those to Ben. (I do LOOOOVE their Cream Soda though.. I'll have to blog about that sometime.)
Up at the top of my list is A&W and Barqs root beers. A&W is wonderful when I am in the mood for a nice smooth root beer. It almost tastes a bit like a root beer float without the ice cream already in it, having a slight vanilla quality. Barqs, as we all know, has that wonderful bite and I simply couldn't do it enough justice. The downside for me is that it has caffeine in it, which I have been trying to avoid during my pregnancy. Ben said we'll have to hunt down some C-Free Barqs while we are in Utah. :)

I have also tried some home-made root beers that have ranged from okay to quite good, but it has been a long time since I've known anyone who makes it.

I have been interested in trying several brands out that I've seen in the stores, including Jones and Stewarts... If they're any good, I'll let you know. Oh, and did you know that Snapple makes a root beer? I've never seen it myself.

Welts

There is one thing that I suppose I will never understand about (some) men. Why, oh, why do they feel the need to injure each other in the name of fun? Wrestling in the backyard, headlocks, sports of any kind... I can't even think of all the ways manliness comes out in explosive bursts of testosterone. Like badges of honor, they come home smelling of sweat (and who knows what else) and proudly show off their latest injuries to whoever will pay a modicum of attention.

Ben and his buddy, Gabe, went paintballing today with a bunch of other guys (mostly from the ward). I suppose on some level, I understand why it would be fun to go out into the wilderness and play at war. I fail to understand, however, how getting hit in the head at close range by a paintball doesn't ruin it completely. For those of you who haven't either played paintball yourselves or witnessed the outcome of the carnage, you must be thinking, "What? A little paintball? Pffft!" Oh, you lucky souls who have been spared the awful truth.

A little anecdote: I used to subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine. Several years ago, Johnny Knoxville (of Jackass fame) graced the cover. This guy got famous for allowing his friends to do horrible, painful things to him. The cover of the magazine featured him tied to a bullseye, ready to get splattered by paintballs at close range.
Inside the magazine was a picture of the end result. I must assume that he was shot at VERY close range because those welts are some of the nastiest I've ever seen. (Sorry for the underwear shot.)


When I first looked at this article, Ben was not involved in a paintball group. I remember thinking, "What a complete moron!" Moron, indeed. As I said, those welts on Knoxville are some of the nastiest I have ever seen, but Ben has come home with some rather painful-looking ones himself. Arms, legs, hands, back, ribs, head... they've covered quite a bit of area on my mildly retarded husband. But, he usually comes home happy and well-relaxed. I say usually because there have been times he has come home steaming a little over some idiot who ignores the rules and shoots people at very, very close range or tries going into off-limits territory. And don't let me start on the terrible smell he brings home with him, somewhat like fresh air tainted with mildew and sour sweat.. I don't know.. whatever it is.. it's gross.

Flutter

It may have just been muscle twitches.

I think I felt a "flutter" at 4am...

New Haircut

Okay, so I don't have a picture yet since Ben took my camera with him to Arizona this weekend, but I got a new haircut on Friday. It's pretty amazing what a nice clean (light) haircut will do for you. I got a faux hawk.. yes, sortof like a mohawk, but not. I found a picture online.. it's not as cute as mine (since I'm so cute) but it will illustrate what I'm talking about.
The sides are really short and the top is cropped so that it comes to a point in the center. A little gel (or expensive salon "Taffy") and *poof* Fauxhawk!

So, the haircut (or haircute if you like... heehee) isn't quite what I was wanting to talk about exactly, but you might say it caused the events of today. Indirectly.. or directly.. I'm not sure.

I was getting dressed for church today and was thinking.. "If I'm not careful, I'm going to look like a boy in a skirt. THAT wouldn't be good." I pondered for a while about that. Now, I know I wouldn't really look like a boy in a skirt, but I certainly wouldn't look like a cute little feminine mommy. That has almost always been a stretch for me, though.

So, I figured the cure-all for that was a splash of makeup. I haven't worn makeup in more than 3 months since I'm usually too tired or too confident to even bother... Ben told me once that I didn't need makeup and I've been taking him completely to his word ever since. I now only wear makeup when I darn well feel like it.

So, all cute and femmy, I walked into church with Audrey throwing fits next to me. (She didn't want to be there.) One of my good friends (who has had really awful pregnancies herself) leaned over a pew and said: "Hey! How are you? Are you feeling better? You look like you're feeling better."
I, a triffle confused, said: "Oh, it depends on the moment, but I'm okay right now."
She said: "Yeah, I thought so, you have some color to your face!"

Ok, Steve

Alrighty peeps... just a little announcement that may or may not interest you all. Ben.. wait for it.. has finally.. wait for it.... started..... a Blog! Wooooohooooz! So. You will find his blog in my blog list but if you'd like to add it to your lists, his URL is http://jamminstew.blogspot.com/ otherwise known as Ok, Steve. I can't help you much on why he chose that name... you should ask him. He is sure to have an amusing anecdote on it. :P

Happy Blogging All... we've reeled another one in!

To eat or not to eat...

Is there anything better than a piece of toast with butter and Apple Butter smeared all over? Yes! Two pieces of toast with butter and Apple Butter smeared all over... oh yeah...

I have really started to appreciate what my stomach will accept and what it won't. I can't stomach a whole lot of sweets (good thing) or a whole lot of milk (sad thing). I am constantly bemused by what I think I want and the moment I take a bite: Whoa! This is disgusting!

I have been confused by my stomach several times, thinking it is telling me "you're hungry" when really it's telling me "Stop! I can't take anymore.. where are the Tums!?!" Boy, does it make me pay when I do that. I wish I could just NOT eat and feel fine. No hope for that, unfortunately.

I am amazed at how just a passing thought can make me feel sick... (Fish oil pills) I am also amazed at how much tripe (sometimes literally) I can watch on TV and NOT feel sick... (I recently found out what tripe is...I can't believe people eat it.. sick!)

I am looking forward to the day that I wake up and don't feel like worshiping the porcelain deity. If this pregnancy is anything like the first.. it might be another month.. here's hoping for an early reprieve.

Mormon Synchronized Swimming

Conversations with a Toddler

We were on our way somewhere in the car the other day and this conversation occurred as we pulled into a parking lot:

Audrey: My Dada!

Ben: Yes, I am your Dada!

Audrey: (pause) PEESACWAP!

Ben: I am not a piece of crap!

(Mom and Dad dissolve into laughter)

Updates... boring and .... boring.

Well, okay... I think I've been a bit boring lately and I'm sorry in advance if I still fall short of entertaining.

I had another prenatal appointment this week, this one with the specialists that I saw last pregnancy. It was that office that labeled me high risk with Audrey.

I got to talk to the genetic counselor lady who, among other things, informed me that I'm not likely to have Hemochromatosis unless Mom is a carrier and/or full-blown herself. I'm still taking that with a grain of salt as there seems to be an awful lot that doctors don't understand about the human body and genetics. Still, it was good to know that the odds are in my favor as far as that goes.

We got another ultrasound (I'll scan the pictures when I dig out my scanner which is currently buried under store ads and disposable dishes) and we got to see our little critter stretching and kicking around in there. That was pretty fun. We still haven't heard a heartbeat, but we have SEEN it going like gangbusters.

The really good thing that came out of all this is that my doctor at this office decided that upping my thyroid medication would be a good idea. FINALLY! I've been feeling unreasonably tired and, over this last weekend, was starting to feel depressed. Depression-like symptoms can point at a thyroid unbalance. So, I've been on the increased dose for two days and I'm already starting to feel good enough to sit up for extended periods of time and my thinking has cleared up a little.

My specialist doctor does seem to need a little breaking in, however. Ben and I were being mildly funny during our visit and my doctor might have cracked a smile once... I'm hopeful that we'll have him loosened up by the time I deliver.

I seem to be at the height of my morning sickness though.. without getting too graphic, I'm pretty sure the stomach acid has been making my throat bleed slightly the last couple of days. I'm definitely going to bring that up to my doctor on my next visit as I don't remember that happening with Audrey.

So, I know it's not funny (yet) but at least I'm able to bring some updates to the table. My only friend lately has been the couch in front of the TV. I am enthused to inform you all, though, that I've managed to help Mario collect 5 of the 7 Crystal Stars and am well on my way to saving Princess Peach and the whole world! Go me!

I'd rather be Farming

Since morning sickness kicked in, I have become a couch potato... sitting in a semi-reclining position takes a good amount of pressure off my tum. So, I have acquired a lot of TV Time...

My TV week officially starts on Tuesday since there is practically nothing airing on Monday night.. except Heroes, but I'm hopelessly lost when it comes to Heroes since I haven't watched it since half-way through season one.

Tuesday: Fox is my friend and I watch House (loooooove it!) and Fringe (learning to looooove it!). I can't help my ridiculous attraction to a horribly sardonic doctor who I desperately want to prove he's a good guy, but I'd be instantly uninterested if he did. Fringe, for me, is like a new, fresh version of The X-Files without aliens... so far. The scientist dad guy makes me giggle... a lot.

Wednesday: Two of my favorite shows are on at the same time on Wednesday. America's Next Top Model and Project Runway... good thing for DVR! Ben and I watch Project Runway together... I'm just sad it's over for this season... Finale was last night. As for that, I totally disagree with the Yahoo! critics who think this year was subpar... I thought the talent was AWESOME and I think the winner was AWESOME! Go Leann! Ben hates ANTM.. he got really annoyed last night when I wanted him to stay with me in the Family Room while I watched it. I am starting to think that the people that get booted off have more to do with "politics" this year.. I don't always get the logic behind the reason why these girls are sent home... speaking of girls.. don't get me started on one of the "girls" this year.. ugh.

Thursday: Woohoo for The Office. Steve Carrell is so histarical! He is an HR nightmare and yet I love him! I think The Office is one of the funniest shows on TV right now.

Friday: America's Toughest Jobs was on on Friday nights.. but for some inexplicable reason, they switched it to Saturday this week. Great show.. but like most reality shows, these "real" people are super annoying.

If nothing (I.E. The Presidential Debates) is on, I play Harvest Moon.... Ah... I'd rather be farming.

My Nugget

Here is the first glimpse at the newest Thompson. You need to have experience interpreting abstract art in order to see anything. :)

Normalcy would be nice..

Okay, so this isn't going to be a real blog today. Just an update on where I've been.

Morning sickness hit me with a vengeance on Monday. I managed to not throw up on Tuesday, but Wednesday was a bad one too.

Speaking of Wednesday...

Ben got a call at 5:30 informing him that our former roommate, Scott, had been in a motorcycle accident. He was unconscious and they were taking him to the hospital right away. Ben literally ran from his class on campus to the hospital. He actually beat the ambulance.

Needless to say we've all been terribly upset. Ben spent the entire evening at the hospital. The Bishop's wife, Erin, showed up at our door around 7 and firmly told me that she was taking Audrey for the night and giving me a ride to the hospital so I could be with Ben and Scott. So, I spent the latter half of the evening in the hospital too.

Overall, Scott looks okay. Not great.. okay. He could be much worse for having been in a motorcycle accident, so that's a blessing. As of now, we're waiting for his parents to get into town. We're also trying to find a suitable place for them to stay as the hotels are mostly booked for Balloon Fiesta. We've offered our third bedroom and the Bishop has offered his spare room as well. So, we'll be a bit touch and go for a while over here.

I'm still here.. just not as available as I was just a few weeks ago. But, I will try to keep in touch.

My Creepy Floating Baby

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed yet, but just under my profile, there is a little floating baby in a bubble. That, supposedly, is roughly what the little alien in my stomach looks like right about now.

Jennifer found the website, so thanks for that... I think.

When Dara first saw it, I think she said something about it looking like a creepy sea monkey...

Ben, if I recall correctly, was disturbed. Especially by the way the little baby free floats in the bubble.

I found out today that if you click on it a lot, it will rotate. I'm not so sure that is a great thing. But.. even if you're creeped out, I'm keeping it anyway. I'm just hoping it will start to look cuter when it gets too big to float around so much.

I'm Baaaaaaaack!

Okay. I still can't think of anything noteworthy to talk about, so I figured I would just update you all on the past horrific week.

Thursday: Dropped off Audrey at the Bishop's house to play with Theo and drove down to the Storehouse to do some service hours. When we got there, we were politely and sweetly told that we couldn't wear open toed shoes. Sigh. So we drove back home and got shoes and drove back. Overall, working at the Storehouse was super fun! We mostly worked in the kitchen preparing fresh fruits and vegetables for the patrons. (I think they put us in there because of my weight (lifting) restrictions.) One of the sweet little old men even brought me a chair so I wouldn't have to stand while chopping, bagging, weighing, twist-tying, etc. Ben and I had a great time and we were able to spend some quality time together talking. They served us lunch, which was a welcome surprise.

Friday: Woke up bright and early and drove up north to Dixion's Apple Orchard. Beautiful drive! We got a little past the start of the dirt road when traffic stopped. It was probably a good 2+ miles to get to the parking lot and we were just crawling alone. After about an hour of creeping down the road slower than a snail, Ben put Audrey in the stroller and jogged down to the Orchard. I continued to creep along in the van. Ben and Audrey and had a good time munching sample apples and looking at twigs, leaves, etc while standing in line. Emily's still creeping, creeping along. The people that wait in line are always super nice and friendly which is amazing since you typically stand in line for nearly 2 hours. And I creeped along. After Ben got our two bags of apples, he waited for a good ten minutes or so to see if I was just round the corner. He then decided that he could just meet up with me at the van. He packed up the stroller, apples and Audrey and hopped in, turned the car around and we headed back to the highway. (I was a good 1/4 mile from the Orchard at the time he got to the car.) I never even got to see the apple trees... maybe next year.

Saturday: Got up early and packed up the van for our trip to northern New Mex. Stopped at the store for a few groceries and hit the road. Ben ended up hanging out with Audrey in the back watching The Little Mermaid. The drive was lovely and the weather was excellent. Sierra Bonita cabins and RV park is pretty nice, though a bit outdated in decor. We got to witness a Catholic wedding blessing and vows renewal which was touching and thankfully simple. Afterwords, we all tucked into some tasty homemade New Mexican food. It was pretty good! After lounging around for a while, a bunch of us decided to go fishing at a tiny nearby pond. I was still feeling rather over-full of food and so was trying to be very careful. We'd been fishing for about an hour when I felt the urgent need to hit the bricks and toss my cookies. Without going into too much horrible detail, I rather painfully and quickly rid myself of my entire dinner.
My thinking was that morning sickness had finally hit (yay.) and that I was in for a solid two months of this. So, I had a pretzel to calm my tum and a little Sprite. About 30 minutes later, we packed up to go back to the cabins and I lost it again. Wow. That's not good, I was thinking. Got back to the cabin and there it went again. As near as I can figure (since my evening was a bit of a blur), I was sick about every half hour from about 5 o'clock to midnight. I was really starting to freak out that my brand of morning sickness this time would be every-half-hour-sickness.
When we got up the next morning, Audrey had thrown up too, so that set me back a bit. Maybe it was something we ate? I couldn't figure anything out. The kicker was when we changed Audrey's diaper and found a massive mess in there. It hit me: Stomach Flu. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!
So, we drove home as quickly as possible and I spent the rest of the day on the couch in front of the TV. Our Bishop's sweet little wife took my primary class for me on 2 hours notice! I owe her big time. Somewhere toward evening, the bug hit Ben and he spent the rest of the night running for the bathroom as well. Woohooo.

Monday: Lots and lots of lying around the house, trying to keep Audrey occupied (and off my stomach). Ben missed school and work that day. By evening we were barely starting to feel human again.

Tuesday: Ben and I spent the early morning clearing the kitchen out. The flooring guys came around 10-ish and started making a ruckus in the kitchen. Audrey, thankfully, was picked up by the Bishop's wife (again!) and whisked away to whatever super fun place they had planned. I spent the majority of the day trying to ignore the disaster in the kitchen. The really frustrating thing was how many blankity-blank breaks these two guys would take. Seriously.. they could have got the floor done at least 2 hours sooner if they didn't have to smoke.... or eat..
Around 5, the whole job was done and the guys left us to hook up our appliances and wonder what to do for dinner. I called the Bishop's house to let them know we were coming to get Audrey finally and sweet little Erin said "Have you had dinner yet?" "Um.. no.. we were trying to figure out something." "We have enchiladas if you're interested." So about an hour later, we rolled home with Audrey and full tummies and yet another thing that we couldn't possibly thank the Bishop's family for enough.

Today: I am so tired. I have no comments. But, hey... I blogged.

Tiger Lily

We suffered a loss in our family yesterday. We had to take Lily, our #3 cat, to the city pound. No sniggering all you cats-are-just-pets people, she was a member of our family and it was a difficult decision to let her go. What with a new baby coming and the phenomenal amount of food and cat litter our cats go through, we had to make a choice about one of them.

We finally fixed on Lily because Johnny and Karli have been in our family for many, many years and Patches, although she is the youngest, is the most like a normal cat we have ever had and that's really saying something. Lily has, especially in the last few years, been very withdrawn and "spooky" around us. We see her once a day if we are lucky. So, though she is a beautiful cat, as well as a gift from one of Ben's brothers, we determined that she wasn't adding enough to our family in comparison to the other cats. It was a very difficult choice and caused Ben, especially, considerable consternation.

We got Lily from Ben's brother, Joe, about 3 years ago. He owns Yarona (affectionately called Yoyo) who is the amazingly beautiful matriarch of a rather wonderful family of cats. I can't remember how many litters Yarona had before she was fixed but if I recall correctly, Lily's mother was in her first. Lily's mother was named Nosferatu but was always called Nossy. Unfortunately, she was dropped on her head as a kitten and ever after suffered from a very nervous disposition (and rightly so!). We also used to joke that it made her a little bit stupid too.

Lily's litter was born in spring of 2005. We were impressed with Lily right away because she seemed to be very adventurous and curious about everything. She was completely white except for a calico patch on the top of her head in somewhat of a flower shape. I thought the name Tiger Lily was very appropriate, but we ended up calling her Lily more often than not.

She was a very exuberant little kitten, exploring everything and just being a rather amusing little thing. She even decided to explore the fireplace in one of our apartments and after being scolded and bathed, she went right back in there to mess around again.

Somewhere along the line she suddenly became fiercely frightened of ceiling fans and would not enter a room when one was turned on. Heaven forbid we ever pick her up in said room, as we would always end up with large, bleeding scratches on our arms and sometimes our necks and backs as she scrambled to get away.

She seemed to have inherited her mother's nervousness and this continued on until the last moments we had her. This contributed to our decision to give her away because as annoying getting scratched was, we didn't want our children to suffer from such a temperamental attitude.

When I was pregnant with Audrey, we talked quite a lot about getting rid of one of the cats simply because the idea of 4 cats and a baby all under one roof was a little incomprehensible. We could never agree on what we should do about it and so it was left alone. Upon finding out that we were expecting again, Ben firmly stated that we needed to revisit the topic. We talked with a lot of people, trying to find out if anyone knew anyone that would take in a cat. We preferred to have her go straight into a home, rather than risk her getting put down at the pound. We couldn't find anyone who was willing or able.

Ben took Lily to the city pound yesterday afternoon. She seemed to know that something was up and yowled loudly as Ben took her carrier to the van. Ben, especially, felt terrible about it after he got home, fearing that he had sentenced his cat to death in the pound.

I think the most difficult thing about it all is even though we know that we did the right thing for our family, we can't help but feel that we have given her very poor chances of finding a good family and we can only hope at this point that she will touch someone's heart. If not, we can only hope that she understands on some level why we made this choice and forgives us.

Our picture-purrfect pretty girl.

Cake Mania

A few weeks ago, Albertson's had a sale on cake mixes and frostings. (Other things too, but they have little or no significance to this particular blog.) So, I was standing happily in the baking isle looking at the various cakes and frostings. For many years, I have prided myself in baking entirely from scratch, but time has slowly gotten the better of me and speed is now of the essence. Otherwise, my poor family would never experience cake. I normally try to look for cake mixes that I know I would have great difficulty in scratching out on my own: Carrot Cake, Party Rainbow Chip, Lemon, Strawberry... but, I also end up getting the occasional Yellow, White and Chocolate for the possible cake emergency.

So, I was standing happily in the baking isle looking at the various cakes and frostings.. (deja vu anyone?) I was trying to remember how many cake mixes I had at home that were potentially frosting-less so that I could get enough for all my little cakey friends. I can't remember now what I concluded and ended up walking out of the store with, but it will potentially keep me in cake for the foreseeable future... or in other-words.. about 3 months.

I finally got up the energy to make cake this afternoon when Audrey went down for her nap. I took inventory of my cakes and frostings and found that I had miscalculated the amount of frosting I needed and ended up with much more than the mixes I have. Oh well! (More cake for meeee.. heeheehee!)


AAAAANYway. I was pondering my cake cravings and recalled something I read in an email about how you can make your store-bought frosting go further by whipping it in a mixer. (This only works with the non-whipped kind.) So, I thought, "Hey! What a great idea! Then I'll have the equivalent of twice the amount of frosting! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" In order to use all the frosting, I theorized, I'd have to make two cakes. Two rectangular cakes in matching glass pans sounded a bit boring to me, so I ended up making 12 yellow cupcakes, a rather thin 8" round yellow cake (left-over batter from the cupcakes), and a nice, big 13x9 rectangular spice cake.

After the cakes cooled a bit, I rather hesitantly dumped my vanilla frosting into my Kitchen Aide mixer and turned it on the highest setting. Ben hovered nearby in interest. It didn't seem to do much to begin with and I was starting to worry that there was some key ingredient that I had forgotten and was necessary to fluff out the frosting. So, I went to the computer to search online. There is nothing on store-bought frosting except for the from-scratch-snobs who turned their nose up at the idea of anything like that. (This coming from an ex-snob.) While I was searching away, I hear a "Wow!" from Ben as my mixer suddenly seems to remember it's job and kicks into high gear. I went back over to find my batch of frosting had suddenly turned a whiter white and was now rather whippy looking! Hooray! It must have taken all of 3 to 5 minutes.


I had just enough frosting to top 10 cupcakes (two had muffin-top breakage and had to be forfeited down our gullets), the little 8" round and the entire spice cake. Not bad for a tub of frosting for $1.50! The other really awesome thing was that the frosting wasn't so heavy that it tore the cake up (a problem I have had in the past). All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I will now be eating cake for the next 3 or 4 days!

The Best Bedhead EVER

Look at the fullness. Isn't that great?!

Watch the bounce!

Doctors

Dr. Lewis is moving. He's been my doctor for 14 years or so and he's running away to Utah.. just like everyone else. I found this out a day or two before I went to his office to get my pregnancy verified, certified and prescribed.

As usual, he was pleasant and bland. If Dr. Lewis were a color, he'd be frosted glass, like a Christmas Tree ornament. It doesn't glow of it's own accord, but requires a 1 watt bulb to bounce light around on it's surface. He perked up just a little (he must have been REALLY excited) when my pregnancy test came back positive and wondered in his bemused way why I needed to come to his office to check if I was pregnant since I already took a test. I told him (trying hard to not sound irritated) that I needed to check with him that my medication levels were okay for the pregnancy and also needed something from him in writing stating I was pregnant for the medicaid office. His confused little smile made me want to smack him. I didn't ask him about getting blood tests for iron levels or anything because it seemed rather pointless since he was leaving in a few weeks anyway.

So, I am now searching for a new doctor and am in possession of my medical chart so that transferring to that said new doctor will be smooth. I am not excited. I wonder if my OB will take me on as a General patient... probably not.

In looking at my medical record, it was interesting to me that I only go to a doctor if I'm sick, need a refill/bloodwork, or if I'm pregnant. It seemed that my issues pre-marriage were bronchitis, resperatory tract infections and other cold/flu type problems.. my issues post-marriage were migraines and hypothyroidism. Let the jokes insue... I can't think of any right now.

I'm tempted to not worry about getting a regular doctor until after I've delivered but my luck would be getting horribly sick in the middle of January and needing antibiotics.

I'm sorry if this blog has been a bit wander-some... I've been a little scattered in the noggin for the past few weeks.

Rolly-Polly Me

I am bound and determined to have a better pregnancy than last time. I had trouble with weight gain (I gained about 45-50 lbs!), pre-eclampsia (also called toxemia or high-blood pressure), heart palpitations, premature labor and when it was all said and done, Audrey came out with the cord wrapped around her neck 4 times!! Sigh... I figured I could deal with ankles the size and consistancy of water-logged nerf footballs, but my baby being in any kind of danger was a real shock to me.

So, although I am not quite the exercise guru like Melissa and Dara, I have decided to try to be as active as I can. This, of course, is a challenge because I was not too terribly active before getting pregnant. One of the things all the books and websites say, is that starting a strenuous exercise program AFTER getting pregnant isn't very smart. They all say to start slow and work up to something that will get your blood pumping. Even then, for me, a fast walk will get me panting. (Pathetic, I know)

So, my current plan: Try to get out to someplace that requires walking every day. So far we've done Coronado Mall, the new Uptown Shopping Plaza, the irrigation trail from my mother-in-law's to the Flying Star (I got cake as my reward - Birthday present), and ANY shopping trip to Walmart.. you can guarantee to be standing in line for at least 15 minutes. I think just the stress alone of shopping at Walmart should burn a significant amount of calories.

The real problem seems to be my inability to get out of bed before 8:30. I lose a lot of around-the-house busy work before Audrey gets up. I keep planning out what I'm going to do when I get up and maybe I'm just psyching myself out because by the time I wake up, I'm exhausted from promising myself to actually clean.

Cleaning is especially difficult right now because our kitchen is in the process of being re-floored. The old flooring was creating a moisture problem and we found while we were ripping it all up that there were 3 layers of flooring (including the original 55 year old 9x9 ceramic/clay tile). Right now, our floor is concrete with 55-year-old dry adhesive creating sortof an interesting ridged pattern... oh, and it's black. As if I didn't feel my floor was dirty enough.. it HAD to be black. The inspector came earlier today to figure out how to sort out some of the problems the previous owners left for us with their poorly-done patch jobs and he enthusiastically told us that the tile and adhesive used back in the 1950's for these houses was chock full of asbestos. Oh, joy. As if I wasn't paranoid enough. He then went on to tell us that we weren't in any real danger since we weren't trying to inhale our floor. He also said that he's been working around it for years and he was more likely to die from smoking, but his friend died when his lungs shrivled up into little rocks and he suffocated to death. Like that's going to make me feel better. My baby is going to be a mutant.