Bless Your Heart

I know you’re probably thinking “Man that was a short trip!”. And it was. I would have stayed much longer but Joey was having a hard time with Sara gone and she wanted to get home. And since we traveled together it wasn’t 100% up to me. We left Friday night at 7 and got home Monday night. I totally understand wanting to get home to your baby. Plus, we were only allowed to see Pappy for 10 minutes at a time. We saw him 4 times while we were there and said everything I wanted to say, so I feel good about our visit. I told him how much I love him and told him all of my favorite memories of him. Then today I got a call and found out that since our visit his appetite has greatly improved as well as his spirits. In fact, they are taking him off hospice! My dad is calling Sara, Jake and I angels. I wouldn’t go that far. I mean, I am delightful, but I’m no healer. We did make sure to talk to him like he was well, not like a dying man. You know, saying things like “When you come up to the Carolinas we’ll go here and there” and “We’ll see you soon” instead of talking all doom and gloom. That news makes the whole trip totally worth it. I was already happy we went, but this news really sealed the deal.
While the reason for our trip was emotional and sad, our trip was actually very enjoyable (minus the crying in the bathroom so Pappy wouldn’t hear me). We loved seeing everyone and we plan to go down again in a few months, hopefully with Joey so we can stay longer. Pictures and the fun stories will be posted soon! Thank you for all your kind words. It meant a lot to have the crackberry ding to tell me I had messages that were your sweet comments. (Haloscan now emails your comments to you). And yes, I cut the crackberry back on for the weekend trip. It will go back to being just a regular boring cell phone again this week.

Home. So tired. We left Friday night and it is Monday night and I’ve just spent way too many hours in a car in just 4 days. It felt like we were there for a week. Emotional visits will do that to ya. I’ll update later. Lots of stories, some funny, some pretty emotional. We are so so so glad we went. It was the leaving that was hard. Just in case, you know, it was the last time we’d leave him.

My Pappy (grandfather) has taken a serious turn for the worse. He’s been on hospice for a couple of months but they are saying he probably won’t last the weekend. I’m leaving in a couple of hours for Florida. I’ll be back next week.
Because of this I called and got squeezed in for my sleep study last night. I’ll have that story and pictures when I get back. Y’all take care.

Hello my snippy little scallywags!
I am so excited! I think I have sleep apnea. Jon swears I do. So I told my doctor and they referred me to a sleep doctor and next Monday night I get to go be a science experiment! I will have to spend the night at some sleep clinic and try to sleep while attached to a million wires and probes. I wonder if they’ll let me watch my tape. You never really get to see yourself sleep. I wonder what sounds I make and if I roll around a lot. I’ve heard that I’m a noisy girl. Then, once they prove I have sleep apnea I’ll get fitted for a CPAP machine and mask that I’ll have to wear to bed to keep me breathing all night. Sexy. There’s nothing hotter than a chick with a bunch of tubes coming out of her head and going up her nose. I’ll be beating Jon off with a stick!

Hello my prickly little petunias!
My mom’s been trying so hard to overcome a recent bought with poison oak. Nasty stuff. I don’t know how she hasn’t just grabbed a carrot peeler and scraped the skin right off her legs!

Molly was so desperately trying to sleep in her sun spot the other day that she looked like she was in time out with her little head pressed against the entertainment center. Finally 2.62 lbs when she came home! She’s growing so fast we often wonder if it hurts! Like do they get growing pains?
We had a low key 4th, just hanging out on our back deck enjoying the free fireworks shows put on by our neighbors who try and outdo each other every year. I swear they must spend hundreds of dollars at Big Daddy’s Fireworks castle!

Hello my snarky little badgers!
I was on the phone with my sister the other day when I was privy to this directive:
“Jacob, get your finger out of your hole!” Dumb me asked what hole. Apparently my 3 yr old nephew has discovered his poop chute. Then she said to him “Well, at least get your finger out of your hole long enough to give me a hug.” Yikes. Me thinks I’d be directing him to the Purell first.
A little while later Jake ran to tell her he’d just gone poo poo in the potty. Yay! So Sara went to go see and to make sure he flushed. She found a poo skid mark trail from the bathroom through the foyer into the playroom. Jake had actually gone poo poo in his pants. Then dropped his trousers and carried the poo to the potty to fool his mama. Poor Sara had to spend the next half hour cleaning skid marks!
Please tell me girls don’t do this sort of thing!

Whoa- I’m behind on posting! I’ve been really busy doing some spring cleaning around my neglected house. When I was sick the last thing I wanted to do was mop! We had the house pressure washed last week and that really freaked out the pugs. But the house looks great!
This past Saturday I went over to hang with Susan, Will, & Olivia. While I was there Miss O signed her new sign she had learned just that morning(!), she learns so fast– cookie. I finally got kisses too. That’s a big deal! She had a big time playing with my sunglasses. She’s so great. Any time I feel down about how long it is taking for me to be a mom I hang out with her and can totally imagine my own girls. Of course, Susan’s fabulous at pep talks too!
Two of my furry babies had to go to the vet Monday. Molly for another puppy visit and boosters, and Kea cause her little ears had turned all red. Turns out Kea is allergic to GRASS! Quite inconvenient as my entire lawn is grass and that’s where I’d prefer her to potty vs. inside the house. So she’s on allergy meds and she’s doing great. Molly loves going to the vet.
Riding in the car and getting love from multiple people is the best for a baby pug!
Then Tuesday we had a bit of a scare. I dropped a bottle of prescription meds and they went all over the floor. Molly (I thought) grabbed one and gulped it down. Right to the vet we went and she’s still there under observation. She hasn’t shown any signs of toxicity though, so maybe she dropped the pill. But better to be safe then sorry. I was a MESS thinking I’d killed my baby girl. I can’t imagine how it would feel if it were Ling Ling! I miss Molly though and can’t wait for her to come home!
Today my mom came over and helped me around the house a bit. We tore down 2 cat pee smelling trees out front of my house that blocked the porch. Then Mom decided my shutters needed to be painted. Crazy woman. I was scared to death the whole time she was hanging out my office window. They look great now though!

Of jumbled thoughts.

-Love the word bevy. Sounds like the name of your favorite babysitter or that fun girl in class.
-My hair has decided after 30 plus years that it wants to be curly. Esp when it is hot and humid out. But only in one spot. This is driving me insane.
-No more bleeding! For a few days now! I’m free!
-Adoption update: Not sure if I’ve mentioned this of late, but everything is kind of on hold til we raise/save some more money. Which sucks, but we’re getting there.
-I don’t understand the point of sesame seeds. Do they have a taste at all? They never really stick to buns. They just fall off. And if I planted one, what would grow?

-There is an inordinate amount of toddler nudity going on over at my sister’s house. Makes for great photos, but you know the neighbors are groaning! I’ve never seen a kid love to be nakey as much as my nephew Joey. Combine that with his inclination for exploring and that makes for some Fun Times!
-A table full of people at a restaurant who do NOT look and coo at a baby is so much more odd to me than seeing a group of adults coo and goo goo at a child.
-More and more I find myself disliking drinking anything out of a glass glass. Plastic and acrylic is fine. Classy right?
-I think my eyebrows have shifted over time (and due to some bad plucking on my part I’m sure) and now I think they are totally off center. I don’t think there is a way to fix this.
-I have so much to do around the house, and all I want to do is nap and watch VH1. Damn that Celebreality!

I ADORE summer patio and garden decor and accessories. I love summer dishware- all that plastic and melamine in those fabulous colors! I love brightly colored sparkly shiny things you can hang from ceilings and tree branches. And this year I’m loving these fabulous things- from afar mind you, the adoption budget does not allow for frivolous summer spending sprees:

This adorable garden sculpture is from Carruth Studios. The artist there makes a ton of adorable things that are all really affordable. I love the face on this fish named Sid. Doesn’t he look like a grumpy grampa? They have a sweet little ladybug mini sculpture. But I’m on a budget and can manage self control sometimes. Plus, I don’t want to turn into the crazy ladybug lady. I like other things too!

This I love as an idea and a finished product. An outdoor rug that you can hose off but is still way cute. You can get it here, and they come in a million (there abouts) colors and patterns. And for less than $70! Deal!

And of course my favorite place in the world, IKEA, didn’t let me down this year. There are too many things to list all the ones I love. But I adore this garden gnome: and these tea light holders: You can check out their summer offerings by clicking http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=12&catalogId=10103&langId=-1&categoryId=16708″>here. Thankfully the closest IKEA is 3.5 hours away or we would be filing for bankruptcy! I am making a promise to myself to get there before the fall if it kills me!

So, any other cutie pie things out there I need to know about?