Friday 30 November 2012

Goodbye to a great kitty

It has been too long since I posted anything but I have had alot of ups and downs over the past week. We had a wonderful birthday party for my little guy, which I will talk about in a different post. That was an up.

Then, a few days later our kitty, Kaos, who was nearly 17 started having trouble moving. Definitely a down. He all of a sudden lost the use of his left side and was unable to stand on his own. I suspected a kitty stroke. The vet was closed by the time we realized something was wrong and so we tried to make him comfortable and see how he was the next day. When I tried to call the following day the vet was closed for the day. I was able to get some "food" in him by mixing some tuna with water which he went crazy for. He seemed to have a bit more energy but was still unable to move on one side. We tried to help him eat/drink and go to the bathroom. I gave him more snuggles than I have since my sons were born. He was purring alot which seemed like a good sign but he felt so skinny and you could tell that he was frustrated with being unable to move.

My 4 year old son was worried about Kaos and put his special baby blanket on him to help him feel better. He made a little bed with couch cushions and tried to give him toys to play with. It was so touching to see my little man caring for the cat. I haven't cried quite as much as I did this week for a long, long time.

Finally, yesterday I took Kaos to the vet and had him put down. The vet explained that there was likely liver and kidney failure and it seemed like Kaos was having some trouble breathing. He had lost over 1/2 his body weight from 4 years ago. Giving the okay to put him to sleep was one of the hardest things that I ever had to do. The night before, my husband and I had a long discussion and decided that if the vet didn't think that there was something that could be done to help him get better, really better and not just keeping him alive for us, we would let him go rather than watch him suffer any longer. I was there the whole time (the vet told me that he would know that I was there and he was loved) and hugged him and kissed him even after he was gone.

When Kaos was a kitten he used to love to play and would hide my panties all over the house for us to find. He was a huge cat (18 lbs) who would almost fetch (he only brought the ball back half way), and loved to chase away any dogs that came too close to our house. He loved to go outside and occassionally brought some friends home to visit. My sister called him a "dog cat" because he was never the aloof, snotty creature that people often assume cats to be. We would often get compliments on how handsome he was with his "tuxedo" coat. But, he was really a big suck and would even snuggle on my belly and purr to the baby when I was pregnant.

We will bury him in the back yard in the spring and mark his special spot.

I dreaded having to tell my son the news especially after how he had been helping the cat all week. How do you tell a 4 year old that one of the family's pets was dead? Later in the evening, my son made a comment about the kitty being sick. "This is it," I thought. I explained that the kitty wasn't sick any more and that I took the kitty to the vet and she helped the kitty go to sleep and he was with God in heaven now. "Oh, Kaos is dead" was all he said and went on playing. He asked a few questions about heaven and God but was surprisingly calm. I don't know if he really understands or not but I was expecting him to get more upset and to have to explain a little more about death. Maybe 4 is still a little young for a child to truly grasp what happened. We will see if there are more questions over the next while.

Goodbye Kaos. We love you and will miss you big guy.


Tuesday 20 November 2012

My Baby Turns 1 Today

I cannot believe that a year ago today (20/11/2011 - nice and easy to remember) my little guy was born. It has been the fastest year of my life. I thought that it went quickly with #1 but with baby #2 if you blink you miss it. I am not sure whether to be happy or sad today. I am so excited for my little prince who is now taking about 10 steps in a row and is learning new things daily. But, I am also sad that my baby is now a toddler. My little bug is likely my last baby and I keep thinking that this might be my last first steps, my last first word...

Oh well, enough sappiness.  Happy Birthday Bug! And here is a quick year in review in pictures.









Friday 16 November 2012

My First PD Day

My 4 year old started full day JK this year and while it has been a big adjustment for everybody, he seems to be really enjoying himself. Last night we went to "Meet the Teacher" night and his teachers had fantastic things to say about him. They actually told us he is a pleasure to have in class. I am definitely a proud mama!

Today, is a PD day so that the teachers can do their interviews, etc. Even though it has only been a few months since I had both little guys home with me full time, I am feeling a little lost. I let "Doodle" sleep in until he finally woke up at 8:45am, made him a special breakfast (blueberry pancakes which are his very favorite), and he is currently watching one of his favorite shows. What should we do next? I guess that playing outside should come soon, maybe do a little baking for the church bazaar and possibly a craft... I think next time I will have to plan ahead instead of flying by the seat of my pants.  Any PD day suggestions? What do you do?

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Internet Obsessions - Is It Just Me?

I have found that for some reason I easily become obsessed with things that I find while surfing the web. I believe that it started when I was pregnant with DS#1 (I will call him "Doodle"). I would use my lunch hour to search the web for information on what was happening with the baby at each stage of my pregnancy. I would come home and start searching for all of the things I would need to make sure that my little bundle of joy would have everything that he would need. I was obsessed with baby sites.

When my Doodle was born I started looking for deals. I was on Mat leave and our income was significantly less than what it had previously been but we needed baby things. I was using cloth diapers and had to find the best kinds and of course the best deals. I started obsessing over deal sites like Kijiji, Craigslist and good ole Ebay. I probably spent way more than I should have but I was getting some great deals!

I went back to work and things settled down for a bit until I found out I was pregnant with DS#2 (I will call him "Bug"). This was going to be our second child and I pretty much knew what I was in for as far as the pregnancy went so the pregnancy websites seemed less important this time around. What did become important was getting as much free or nearly free baby stuff as possible. (I plan to list some of the best Canadian free stuff soon). I found websites and phone numbers for samples and coupons and free memberships for points clubs. This is when I came across my first Mommy Blogs with giveaways. I came for the giveaways and stayed (and returned) for the content.

I had always wondered what people saw in Blogs. I heard about people Blogging and about people who spent alot of time on Blogs but I never really understood why someone would want to read about someone else's life. Then I found my first Mommy Blogs with Giveaways and I won a few things from those Giveaways. My next obsession began! Makobi Scribe, Simply Stacie, Keenly KristinAbout A Mom, My Little Review Corner.... The list of my favorites is pretty extensive. These are also the sites that inspired me to create my own.

My latest obsession happens to be Facebook games. Wetopia having been my gateway game I am now also playing Chefville, Farmville 2, Castleville, Ghosts of Mistwood and Joy Kingdom. Most of the special Hallowe'en quests have ended now though so I am starting to play less, thank goodness.

What is my latest obsession? It looks like writing my own blog is starting to take over. How about you?

What to Blog About

I was thinking about things last night and trying to decide which of my interests might interest other people. I love my family, and this site will likely focus mostly on my kids and being a mom, but I also love books, movies, celebrity gossip, crafts, cooking, and the list goes on... I imagine many of these things can be incorporated into a Mommy blog but which ones and how?

I was watching Dancing With the Stars (dancing shows are another of my favorite things) last night and started thinking about Brooke Burke's big announcement on her blog this week about fighting cancer and was surprised that nothing was mentioned on the show (unless I somehow missed it). How could this have been missed unless they were worried that it might detract from the military salute that the show was focussed on last night? Thinking about Brooke's blog also made me wonder how much information I should share. How much should I post about my kids and how much is too much information to be floating around in cyberspace? I guess it will work itself out. I have to admit that so far having an outlet for my random thoughts seems to be great therapy.

Monday 12 November 2012

Time Goes By So Quickly

I took this video about 6 months ago now and forgot just how cute my little guy was (he still is of course but he is much bigger and starting to walk now). Is it just me or does time go by even quicker with the second baby? Blink and you miss it!

Mat leave is over and now what?

I am the mother of two wonderful little boys and wife to another.

DS#2 is almost 1 now and my maternity leave ran out a week ago. I spoke to my former employer who amicably let me go and now I am unemployed and trying to figure out how we are going to make ends meet. I am lucky that I was working as a bookkeeper, a job that could easily be done from home, but first I need clients. I figure while I am trying to build my client list from scratch I might as well try this out for a little bit (mostly for my own sanity).

I had never really paid much attention to Blogs until I was pregnant with DS#2 and suddenly got the urge to find as much free stuff as possible. My obsession with Blog giveaways soon began. I couldn't believe that there were so many opportunities to not only get the opinions of other Mothers like me but also the chance to win the very things that you were interested in. I was determined to start my own blog to give others the same opportunity. This is my first step. The giveaways will hopefully follow.

Thank you to anyone who reads this and please give me some feedback because I would love some adult conversation!