Thank Heaven for Grandma's!

So, I seriously was quite sick for an entire month. Ridiculous. It started with some crazy flu thing when we went to Phoenix. Most of the symptoms went away pretty quickly, but I had a bad cough for a while. We were only back from that trip for about a day when Ian came home feeling sick... totally unusual because the guy doesn't get sick. Naturally, the following day, I was sick, too. Strep this time around and more antibiotics for Mae. After a week of that, I had a terrible GI infection from all of the antibiotics. I get why it happens, but I have to say that I think the entire idea of getting an infection from taking antibiotics is just not fair. So I really just kept getting worse & worse. Blah. We were starting to get a little concerned I might end up in the hospital to sort out everything - not so easy to do with the baby to take care of. SO, baby's Lola (aka Ian's mom) came to save the day.


It has been so, so wonderful and helpful to have her here. It's always hard for me to rest unless I know someone else has the baby. There's always that little part of my brain that's listening for her. So I've finally been able to get some good rest and I'm doing much better. Somehow, I think Lola's managing to make the best of the situation. :) Gosh, she's such a trooper to come spend a week with her granddaughter. Sometimes I've felt a bit guilty about all she's been doing for baby K, but I really think she's happy to do it. A few times, she's told me to go take a nap. I think at least some of the reason has been so she can have some baby-grandma time. I've loved to be in the other room listening to them play together. It has truly been precious.


Lola's going home tomorrow.... sniff. Fortunately, we have more family fun to look forward to. On Thursday, we're heading to Clarksville, TN, to visit about half of my family. We're so excited (although not so excited for the drive...)! Joe, Jill & Grammy haven't seen K since Thanksgiving! K was only a few weeks old then. How crazy is that? She's such a different baby. We also haven't seen Kevin, Mandy, Emma & Hannah since late February, before they moved from Springfield. Hannah wasn't even a month old then. These babies are just growing up WAY TOO fast! We should have some fun pictures and stories to share very soon! So, I'm sorry to have completely fallen off the face of the earth (both physical and virtual). I've missed you all! :) Hopefully, we're back for good now!

Nope, Not Me!

Well, hello there! Are you still here? Well thanks for checking in even though I haven't posted for about a bazillion years a few weeks! I'll update you more on that in a later post. For now, though, it's time for Not Me! Monday courtesy of MckMama... Here are some things I most certainly did not do this week. You can check MckMama's site to see what everyone else has NOT been doing!



I did NOT stay in bed for an extra hour this morning, pretending to still be asleep but really catching up on my blog reading while my mother-in-law took care of my baby. Good thing, too, because that would have been really rude!

I also did NOT breathe a sigh of relief when the tornado sirens went off on Friday evening because I'd previously invited our neighbors to come hang out at our fire pit, but ended up not feeling terribly social that night. I also did not worry that my Kansas neighbors, being the hardened tornado-survivors they are, might come over anyway as soon as the sirens stopped. Who would ever be happy there was a tornado in the area?! That would just be crazy.

Oh, and I also did NOT decide that we should grill for dinner tonight because I don't really feel like cooking and it's WAY easier to get my hubby to grill than cook inside... and I can still put on a good show of being a domestic diva competent homemaker for my MIL. And I totally wouldn't be paranoid about such things in spite of the fact that I basically have the greatest MIL anyone could ever ask for! And I absolutely would not be writing this post while my hubby is grilling said dinner and my MIL is with him on the deck... holding the baby for me. Nope, not me!!

A Pooka Post

Did you know that we have two cats? When we looked ahead to how life would be after the Kumquat's arrival, we knew it would be a hard adjustment for Connor Cat because he is such a baby. We knew there would be a lot of resentment and rivalry from baby K's big brother. BUT, I also knew that he would make sure to get his affection needs met because, well, that's what the Big Kitty is all about. I honestly was a little more worried about my sweet Pooka kitty.
Little Pooka is our secret cat. She runs for cover any time someone comes over, so it's quite possible that you could spend a fair bit of time in our house and never know we had 2 cats. This was true even when we lived in a 500 sq. ft. apartment. :) The Pooka has always been a pretty self-sufficient kitty cat. Don't get me wrong... she loves her people and lets us know that all of the time. She's just much better at entertaining herself than a certain Big Kitty we know. She's out and about quite a lot and is very fierce when the need arises - usually when there's something on the hardwood floor that requires immediate pouncing. She is a very proper lady cat and generally sits with her feet just so to make sure the stripes on her legs line up. The rare Pooka Belly sighting is rewarded with a glimpse of the Pooka Dots that speckle her belly (and the roof of her mouth). She's always been my girly ally. Like a true girlfriend, she rushes to my side any time I'm crying and purrs and purrs to help me feel better. Connor and Ian tend to run for the hills. Boys. :) So, we have tried to make sure that we still give The Pooka the love and attention she needs. We have special Pooka Time each night when we go to bed. Pooka usually starts nudging us to go to bed by 10. Once there, she purrs like crazy and climbs all over us. She also loves to dig tunnels in the covers and attack the viscious blanket monsters that sometimes masquerade as our feet.

So, why this tribute to The Pooka? Well, yesterday we celebrated Pooka Day. The 8th anniversary of the day Pooka took a crazy run through the St. Louis airport with me, was a perfect angel on the plane, and came to Houston to join Connor Cat, who instantly feel in love with her. Is it excessive to celebrate such a day? Not to me. The kittens kept me company for YEARS when Ian was working 120 hour weeks and went through three moves to new cities where we didn't know anyone. They've taken good care of me over the years, so I think they deserve to be honored a bit.

One of my very first posts was written shortly after our move to Charlotte, when I was still looking for a job and had time to answer one of life's great mysteries... what do the cats do all day? Since I've shut down the old blog, I've pasted that post below... just in case you're interested in the daily goings-on in the world of a very Fierce Pooka.

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"No fairy is more feared in Ireland than the pooka. This may be because it is always out and about after nightfall, creating harm and mischief, and because it can assume a variety of terrifying forms."www.irelandseye.com

Since we've moved to Charlotte and my most important job has been the monotonous unpacking of boxes, I've had the opportunity to learn more about something that has always made me curious... what do the cats do all day? I've learned that I was right about Connor Cat. He eats and sleeps, which explains why he wants me to stay awake all night. The Pooka, on the other hand, is quite busy. Here is a sampling of her activities yesterday... a day in the life of a Pooka:

1. Wake up VERY early to give Ian plenty of hugs before he goes back to work.
2. Go back to sleep.
3. Eat breakfast.
4. Sit in the shower and get wet.
5. Use the box.
6. Wonder why I smell like poo.
7. Sleep.
8. Accidentally lock self in bathroom.
9. Engage in a very fierce battle with Carpet Fuzzy.
10. Keep an eye on The Kingdom from the window.
11. Try to figure out what the deal is with mirrors. Is that another cat or what?
12. Accidentally lock self in bathroom again.
13. Eat lunch.
14. Pounce Big Kitty.
15. Check on The Kingdom.
16. Try to figure out why bathroom door won't open anymore.
17. Walk up the stairs on the wrong side of the railing (and make Mae very glad the railing only goes up 5 stairs) before jumping down from the top step.
18. Sleep.
    
19. Go outside on patio.
20. Go back inside after about 20 seconds.
21. Eat dinner.
22. Check on The Kingdom.
23. Clean Big Kitty’s head.
24. Chase (toy) Mouse up and down the stairs.
25. Sing in the hallway.
    
26. Check on The Kingdom.
27. Sleep.
28. Build a tunnel in the bed sheets next to Mae.
29. Get hot and leave the tunnel.
30. Sleep.

Time Flies

It doesn't seem possible, but today, this little baby...


is SIX MONTHS OLD!

Can you believe it?

It really seems like yesterday that we were anxiously anticipating her arrival. These have absolutely been the best six months of my life, in spite of the fact that I can't remember what it's like to feel rested. :) She continues to amaze us all the time. Some of her big achievements lately are learning to screech sing (just in time for one of our recent flights), rolling over both back-to-belly and belly-to-back, sitting up unassisted, and eating solid foods like a champ. She's actually incredibly mobile and keeping me on my toes. In the past day or so, she's discovered she can scoot on her back pretty effectively and has been using that plus her mad rolling skills to go after lots of interesting objects... mostly Connor Cat. She seems to be working on waving, clapping and playing peek-a-boo. I swear, in the past two weeks, she's had an explosion of development. I can't even keep up with all of the new things she's doing.

I had high hopes of including a video in this post of my Kumquat rolling around, but I never seem able to get blogger and my videos to cooperate. One problem is that I think I'm incapable of keeping a video to 100 mb. Blurgh. Maybe someday I'll figure it out. Until then, here's a little one of her sitting up with her elephant.



Baby girl, I can't believe six months have gone by already. At the same time, your daddy and I don't know what we did without you! You continually amaze us and light up our lives with your smile. We say prayers of thanksgiving every day for being blessed with the privilege of being your parents and we are excited to continue to watch you grow. Love you, little Kumquat!