the CURSE

*warning... men may get nauseous and grossed out by this post*


My period and I have a love-hate relationship. Actually, it's mostly hate.

The only reason I "love" it is b/c without it, my kids would not exist.

The hate reasons however are too many to number.

That time of the month, a visit from Aunt Flow... whatever you call it, it's definately not my favorite thing.

Crazy horomones. Feeling bloated. Uncontrolled emotions. Being crabby. Crying... lots of CRYING!

Did Eve have a period? Or perhaps this was all HER fault for eating that fruit in the garden. If that's the case, believe me... I need to have a word with that woman...

I may be an accountant, but...

This is one equation that I can't figure out.

I always do Carsen & Madelyn's laundry together.

So, they should have about the same amount as eachother, right?

WRONG.

I did their laundry today. About 3-4 days worth. Madelyn's is on the left, Carsen's is on the right.

What is going on??!!

(no Carsen doesn't have accidents anymore, so I can't blame it on that...)

A little time can do a lot.

Last night I went out with 4 of my close girlfriends. We went to a restaurant, sat outside and chatted for a few hours. It was wonderful. I came home feeling refreshed, giddy, and had a tummyache from laughing so hard.

The time away was nice. It's nice to get out and have a little "you" time. A few years ago I was really bad at it, but now I realize more than ever how important it is. A little time away makes me a better wife and mom. Sometimes I still feel guilty for leaving, though.

When I got home lastnight, both kids were sleeping in bed. I wanted to kiss them goodnight since I had missed our bedtime routine. Carsen is easy to kiss, being he's in a twin bed. I covered him up, rubbed his hair and leaned over and kissed him... a few times... :) Madelyn being in her crib, and me being only about 3 feet tall :) was a bit more challanging. I was determined to give her a goodnight kiss, so I swooped her up from her crib and snuggled her for a minute. Maddie isn't a snuggler at all, so it was fun to have her sleeping on me for a moment. It was great. She was snuggling her mama. I felt loved.

And then it happened...

She lifted her head up from my shoulder, pointed to her crib and signed "please". I thought to myself... "ok, she's tired, give her a kiss and put her back down". After I put her back down, she rolled over and started going back to sleep. I thought "I'll just stand here and rub her back for a minute". I rubbed her back, and she immediately rolled over, and started kicking and screaming. It was almost as if she were telling me "mommy, leave me alone. I'm tired. Let me go to sleep".

I know... I'm pathetic.

As silly as it sounds, Madelyn's actions were a good reminder that life goes on even the evenings that I'm not here. My kids have an awesome daddy who takes amazing care of them. They have a blast, even when I'm gone.

So I'm going to continue my monthly girlfriend nights with confidence that I'm making myself a better mom and wife because of it, and that my family is at home doing just fine... having a little bonding time of their own.

I love my family. And I love it that I have a husband who encourages me to go out and get a little "me" time.

I'm very blessed.

DOG-gone-it

They shed. They mess up your yard. They get into things.

But...

They love you unconditionally. They never get mad at you. The bring so much joy.

DOGS.

We have 2 of them. Dougan & Gracie. They are 7 year old black labs, and are litter mates. From the same litter, however very different.

Gracie loves to be around people. If you're by her and not petting her, she isn't shy to put her snout in your hand in an effort to get a pet or 2 from you. Dougan is the opposite. He prefers being on our bedroom floor all by himself, away from everyone

However, both of our dogs are great with kids. Carsen practically rides them like you would a pony. They have never growled at either of our kids. Our kids come first, but our dogs are definately a part of our family, too.

A few weeks ago I noticed Gracie was peeing straight blood. The next week she was put on an anti-biotic to cure a bad bladder infection. 2 weeks later when she was re-tested, it was found that she still had the infection. The vet did an xray, and discovered that she had bladder stones. They put her on a special diet, hoping the diet would shrink the stones, which would then allow the infection to go away.

This past Sunday, Gracie started acting sick. She wouldn't eat or drink, and wasn't able to urniate. Monday she got worse, and Monday night was terrible. She was panting so loudly that Keith & I couldn't sleep. She was shaking so badly that I honestly thought she might die.

I frantically called the vet first thing on Tuesday, and they said to bring her in immediately. After an exam, it was determined that Gracie was healthy. However, one of the stones had become lodged as it was tryig to pass. When she wasn't able to urinate, toxins were being released into her body making her sick.

The vet was able to dislodge the stone back up into her bladder. However, there was a chance that this would happen again and again and again. So they recommended immediate surgery to remove them. We knew the surgery was expensive, but it was also peace of mind knowing the problem was taken care of.

We've spent nearly $1000 the past couple weeks on Gracie for vet bills. Some people say "they're only dogs, why would you do this?". These people have obviously never HAD a dog. Dougan & Gracie are part of our family. When we adopted them 7 yaers ago, I feel as though we made a commitment to take care of them. There was no option. Gracie deserved to have the surgery.

Here are some of the stones that were removed from her bladder. The penny isn't an indication of how much it costs... it's just to show you the size. :)

I'm so glad that our little Gracie girl is going to be ok. Dougan is glad to have her home and healthy too. She's still a little tired, but she's definately on the road to recovery.

Don't mind her sleepy look in this photo. She's pretty drugged. :)

I'm also very thankful for Dr Trandem at the Faribault Vet Clinic. He called me a few times to give me an update on Gracie b/c he knew I was worried about her.

Gracie is still recovering at home, but I'm confident she'll be back to her normal, spunky self in a few days.

30 years of being wonderful

Keith turned 30 on Thursday. It has been quite lonely being in my 30's all by myself the past 6 months, so I'm glad he's finally here! :)

Keith worked on Thursday, so I surprised him at work with balloons and donuts for his office. We went out for lunch (just the 2 of us!) and then our family headed to Owatonna that evening. We ate dinner with some good friends, and then Keith played frisbee golf with a couple of friends, while us wives/kids played at the park!

Friday night, we left these 2 cute little kiddies at home with their grandpa & grandma...

Keith & I went to a hotel in the Twin Cities for the night. We love our kids like crazy, but it was sure nice to get away, just the 2 of us.

Being a mom obviously brings out the responsible side of me. So it was nice to let loose and act crazy relax last night.

I of course wanted to capture every detail via my camera.

Thank goodness for the self timer

Keith LOVES the self-timer

Then I just started taking random pictures

Keith also LOVES random pictures. So he took one himself.

Yeah... you know it's been too long since you've gotten out when giggling and tickeling and stealing the camera to get a picture of the person is considered entertainment!

We ate dinner at TGIFridays. Keith was super pumped when I told the waitress we were celebrating his birthday!

He especially loved it when she shouted to the whole restaurant that it was "Keith's 16th birthday!".

Yes, my Keith LOVES being the center of attention!!

We did some shopping, and then headed back to the hotel and did some swimming!

Our night away was perfect.

We laughed.

We reconnected.

We talked.

We held hands.

We snuggled.

We had a blast.

This morning we slept in (sleeping in means staying in bed until 8:00! Pure heaven!), ate breakfast and did more shopping before returning home. We missed the kids, but we defintaely would have been ok staying another night! Next August we will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary, and are already looking forward to an extended vacation somewhere. Any volunteers to babysit?!?! :)

Keith has done a lot these past 10 years.

Moved to MN. Got married. Graduated college. Built 2 houses for us. Had a son. Had a daughter. Is in the thick of completing his Masters of Accounting degree.

Yeah... I'm pretty proud of him.