Just a Quickie

HILARIOUS moment of sleep deprivation last night. It was about 2 am, and the baby was crying. I wake up, and think, "Oh, I better bring him back to his crib." This is odd, since he doesn't sleep in our bed. I spent 5 minutes picking up the CAT like the baby (under his arms), then dropping it, thinking, "Wait, that's the cat, he's got to be here somewhere" before finally realizing, "Oh, if I hear him over the monitor, he's in his room." Yay for 2 am.

Animal Reaction to the Baby

Things have already changed a couple of times regarding the animals.  I suppose that's the nature of any relationship, though.  Dr. Oz actually said an amazingly insightful thing on today's show to that effect.  He has been married to his wife for 26 years, and said that during that time, he has been married to 4 different women, because she continues to evolve and change.  It really made me think about the need to stay connected to the person you are with TODAY, rather than who you assume they are.  Anyway.  Pets.  Right.

When we first came home, Monster was incredibly clingy.  He couldn't get enough of the baby, and would cuddle up next to me while I was nursing, and be desperate to sleep in the nursery with us at night.  However, this has now changed into complete avoidance.  He wanders around the house yowling and will NOT come to me when I call him (yes, our cat used to do that).  Seemingly, he now feels that he isn't receiving the same level of attention that he is used to and requires.  And rightfully so.  Therefore, I only have pictures with Monster and Robby from the first couple days, as he is virtually never in the same room now.

Day 1 photos

Harper was initially intrigued, but she was more interested in reconnecting with us than checking out the baby. She wanted to smell and lick him, but would quickly give up and move on.  However, she has now transitioned into full-blown jealousy.  She "knocks" on the nursery door multiple times a night (by banging the hang tag on the doorknob), will stare at us from as far away as she has a clear line of sight, and does anything in her power to get our attention.  This includes stealing clothes and/or pacifiers out of the pack n play, trying to give Robby toys, licking him, and ringing her bell to go outside frequently.  Her EPI is also flaring up, she's losing weight, and she's back on antibiotics.  It's not out of control, though, which we had feared would happen.

She definitely is torn between interest in and jealousy of Robby, though.  The pictures below are from today.  She wants to be around him, but also misses being the center of attention.  Overall, we're lucky that both animals are very well behaved with him and are doing well, but we're still working on finding a good balance.  It would be easier if Chris wasn't hurt, because he's having trouble walking Harper, and I haven't been up for it yet.  Though, I did take my first stroller walk today, so I may try taking her on her walk tonight to give Chris's hand a break.

I can only imagine how difficult it is introducing a second HUMAN child to a family, with how much our furry ones are struggling.  We'll all get used to the new nature of our relationships soon.

Our Anti-Social Cat

This actually happened last week, but I wanted to make sure that I could tell the end of the story and waited to post.  For once, we were so excited.  We were going to have made it a month without going to the vet.  THAT NEVER HAPPENS.  With Harper's EPI, we joke that we should buy stock in our vet's practice.  Harper's not entirely healthy because of the stress of the baby, but she's hanging in there.  We could handle a little blood, digestive issues, and the like.  I know, how crazy is it to think of that as a GOOD month?

Alas, a break from the budget line item "Animals - Medical" was not to be.  Monster's goal in life is to get outside.  To be fair, I adopted him when he was 2, and he had lived outside previously.  He does not understand why he can't go outside now.  It might not be a big deal, other than 1) We've been trying to keep him inside during pregnancy, because being an outdoor cat increases his risk of picking up toxoplasmosis, and 2) Our neighbor "has" 4 cats.  They are somewhat feral and he never brings them inside.  He just feeds them.  There is a gigantic black cat that is NASTY and will pick fights with any other animal in the neighborhood.  This is not an exaggeration.  He apparently even sits outside another neighbor's door and yells at their Chesapeake Bay Retriever.  He's a bully.

This bully caught up with Monster when he got out last week.  Monster is NOT a small cat.  And he usually can stick up for himself quite well.  He's 13 pounds of muscle and claws.  That wasn't enough to stand up to the bully.  He is COVERED in bite wounds and came back limping, barely putting any weight on his front right paw.  One of the bites had landed right in his shoulder joint and was starting to form an abcess. 

I took him over to the vet, where they shaved select spots where the bites were bad, shot him full of antibiotics, and were amazed that they got to see me again before the baby was born.  I'm not joking that these women know me too well.  They gave us Christmas presents, have invited us to private parties, and probably know more details of my life than even I do.  So, they were happy to see me doing well, but they do feel bad that we single-handedly keep the vet practice afloat. 

He still isn't walking perfectly.  It's been about a week, but he's definitely improved.  So, I think we managed to avoid any further need to have bites drained.  Thank goodness!  We love our animals, but they seriously are going to bankrupt us.  Again, not an exaggeration. 

And, of course, this has added to Harper's stress.  She is NOT supposed to be on the bed, but this was the scene when I got out of the shower one day last week.  Her protecting her "Bubba".  It's sweet, but the cat certainly doesn't see it that way.  Drives him nuts.  And I think he's very relieved that within the past couple of days he's finally felt well enough to take swipes at her, and to run away.

Now, this is an order....BOTH OF YOU STAY HEALTHY UNTIL AFTER THE LION'S BORN.  At least.  Please?!?!

The Noah's Ark of Suburbia

The animals went two by two to the vet yesterday.  I must say it's a little much for this already-encumbered girl to deal with, but we survived.  Monster screamed the entire way, as always, and Harper was ENTIRELY too excited to go visit her "friends", but so be it.  I just made multiple trips to and from the car, and left each one in the car by themselves during the others' appointment.  Harper sat behind her gate and Monster was in his carrier. 

What was unexpected was the results of the trip.  Harper is doing well.  She is at 71 pounds, and while she continues to eat excessive amounts of food, she at least seems to be fully stabalized, vaccinated, and her energy level is great.  Her current regiment is 6 cups a day of Purina Pro-Plan Sensitive Stomach Salmon (2 feedings of 3 cups each) and a teaspoon of Panicare enzyme on each feeding.  We have discovered that due to the tendency of EPI dogs to have MANY food allergies, that a fish-based diet with virtually no grains works best.  The purina has sweet potato and oats, which are less inflamatory.  She also, on occasion, will get a treat that is made of dehydrated salmon and sweet potato.  I'd have to look up the name if there are any EPI owners that care, but they seem to agree in small doses, too.  We are debating re-starting training, and may try buying cans of salmon to see if that works well as a reward (both as motivation, and not upsetting her stomach).  This is pretty amazing.  Below are pictures from December 2nd and today.  You can see how far she has progressed.

Surprisingly, Monster's appointment did not go so well.  He's been having some trouble jumping recently, and I mentioned it off-handedly to the vet.  Chris's theory was just that Harper made him nervous, and so he was having a mental block.  The doctor proceeded to check his back hips, and said that he has arthritis and mild hip dysplasia.  Of course, we would need x-rays to confirm that, but we don't have the money to spend on those.  For now, we're just starting him on joint supplements and seeing how that goes.  It's not particularly surprising, he is getting older.  He's at least 8, though we can't be sure of his exact age, as I rescued him when he was "at least" 2.  So, now we probably could fill an entire medicine cabinet with drugs just for the animals.  Monster doesn't seem too phased at this point, though.  As Chris said, we're really hoping for a healthy human kid, as we have had WAY too many issues with our furry ones!

The "Correct" Relationship Style

Dogs and cats may not seem to be a good example here, but it's exactly what I've been throwing around in my mind.  Harper and Monster's relationship is at best love/hate.  At worst?  There may be some murder plots involved.  However, they can not stand to be apart from one another.  They will always check up on where the other has gone, and go bat or nudge the other just to ensure that they are aware that they're in the room.

This then leads to lots of screaming by Monster, and lots of running by both of them.  They would be happy to play this scream, run, swipe with the claws game for hours, and I don't think it's just Harper enjoying it.  But for Chris and my sanity, we usually don't let it go on that long.  Still, we'll turn around, and Monster will have gone up to the sleeping dog and wailed in her face, or Harper will walk up to Monster and be licking his head.

What does this have to do with relationships?  I know we all have friends or family that are in relationships where there is seemingly more bickering than friendly interaction.  Yet, I am often believe that some of these may be entirely healthy relationships and it is just their method of communication.  Whatever works for them, right?

It's a lot of the reason I have issues with talk shows, or even scripted television.  You rarely see more than one style of interaction that works.  Do I think we should encourage everyone to scream on occasion?  Absolutely not.  I do think it helps some people to vent, though.

The irony is that neither Chris or I are screamers.  So, who knows where the example came from.  I am somewhat confrontational in my argument style, though.  I am not one to beat around the bush.  I say what's on my mind, and that's that.  Chris can be passive-agressive.  I know that these roles are a little reversed from the male-female stereotypes, but that sounds about the norm for us.

For example, let's take cleaning bathrooms.  All of our favorite task.  *heavy sarcasm*  I have taken the "I absolutely do not want to do it, and will take chores x, y, and z instead" route.  I own up to avoiding it, being lazy, and generally doing everything in my power to give it over to Chris.  Chris takes a more circuitous approach.  Meaning, I find the bathroom cleaner and rag following me everywhere I go.  It will be sitting on top of my make-up, or next to my pile of clothes, or anywhere else that he thinks I might notice it.  DRIVES ME UP THE FRICKIN WALL.  He can spend an eternity plotting how to get me to "notice" something, rather than just doing it.  And then, his most recent tactic, was that he "gave in" and cleaned the tub.  Kinda.  It was still absolutely filthy and disgusting.  He knew that would drive the perfectionist in me up the wall, and of course, it immediately had me in grungy clothes scrubbing down the tub 5 minutes after he claimed to be done.

Long rambly post later...I wish there were more examples of functioning relationships that embraced different styles.  It sure would be nice to have role models that looked like real people!  So often, you only see the dysfunction, though I guess that makes for a better sitcom. 

Wordless Wednesday

Notes on my fur-babies

Currently, Chris has sunk into a deep, dark depression because Monster was dropped off at Tim & Cathy's last night.  He will be staying there for the wedding and the honeymoon.  Chris is lost without his "little bubba", and cannot be convinced that they will take good care of him, and return him to us...alive.  I may not be helping when I told him I had dropped the cat at the SPCA.  I kid, I kid.

Harper also had a big milestone last night.  With the cat gone, we decided it was time to see how she did out of her crate at night.  She did not jump on us, nothing was chewed, and she slept peacefully on her own bed.  I may have made a big mistake, though.  At 2 am, she came over and put her paws up on the bed, whined, and I yelled at her.  She went into the hall and peed all over the floor.  Apparently she was asking to go out.  Bad mommy.  My little girl is all grown up.  Remember when she was a peanut?

**Yes, I'm re-using photos.  But aren't they cute?

Renovations with Animals

Ah, the satisfaction of putting in a hard day of manual labor.  Seeing the visible progress of your work.  Anticipating that after being dead tired...the animals will still need baths. 

Monster was never terrible when we were doing interior renovations.  For the most part, he stayed out of the way.  He might come in to check out what was going on, but was never impeding to the process. 

As I type that, I am hearing Harper running up the stairs to investigate something.  I question the cliche "curiosity killed the cat", because in our house?  He's not the one at risk.  This weekend was productive, but did involve both a cat and a dog that were very eager to "help".

Since we have so much free time, we have many outdoor projects started.  No, of course we're not consumed by getting married in 40 days, and of course Chris is just fine working full time, then immediately coming home to study for his PE exam on Friday.  But just to keep ourselves entertained, we've surveyed for a fence, started the garden, are continually planting more flowers, and then the biggies: building a patio, levelling the yard and re-seeding, and building a brick liner around the flower beds. 

Goal #1 for the weekend was to dig out the base for the patio and lay the gravel....it didn't happen.  We finished digging, but Chris and I are both barely mobile at this point.  It's hard work!  We used the dirt to level the front, and to build up an area in the back which, ultimately, will be another raised bed, with a retaining wall.  Monster and Harper?  They enjoyed helping with digging and moving the dirt...  Oh the mess.

  

Cuddling

Please excuse that I look like a hideous slug.  This is Harper's main method of cuddling.  She's not allowed on the couch, so she gets as much on your lap as possible.  Ridiculous.

On a more self-indulgent note...Supposedly I've lost 3 lbs in 3 days?  WTF.  I would love this to be true, but I don't get it.  Have I exercised?  Just 2-3 mile walks with the dog.  Have I eaten differently?  I've been good, but certainly not starving myself.  Kinda mystifies me.  Every day I jump on the scale thinking it was water weight and will go back up...and every day it goes down.  This puts me 2.5 lbs from having lost 20 lbs and hitting my wedding goal weight.  Huh.

This picture is actually from 5 lbs ago, demonstrating what previously were my "skinny" jeans:

Eh...I'll go back to cute pictures.  Harper and Monster:

The Forgotten Child

Monster doesn't so much enjoy the new addition to the family. Sure...it may seem like Monster and Harper are "playing" when they run around after each other, and Harper certainly loves it, but Monster? His world has been rocked.

Gone are the days when it used to be Monster that would greet us at the door, and talk to us (he is a Siamese after all) about his day, and cuddle, and demand butter. He still does all these things on occasion, but recently he's much more likely to be hanging out in the bathroom by the vent. A little bit because it's nice and toasty warm, but mostly because the baby gate is usually up and preventing Harper from terrorizing/jumping on him.

I'm sorry, little buddy, we'll try and give you more lovin'!

Raining Cats and Dogs

Well, yes, the weather is horrific right now, but this is really a post about washing pets. Ours? Don't like it. Don't like it ONE bit. Both of them think that this has got to be just about the most inhumane thing ever created by man and will claw, bite, squeal, and do anything and everything to get out of the tub.

Even worse? The flexible shower nozzle. Wonderful for us, but apparently a snake-like object that spits water at high velocity is not exactly how Monster and Harper would spend a lazy afternoon.

Harper's new buddy Rory

Currently, Harper could probably use another bath. We met up with Adrienne and Jamie and their Australian Shepherd puppy, Rory. This was WONDERFUL. Harper has been passed out ever since. However, Rory and Harper did have WAY too much fun digging and rolling in the dirt.

Why is this a problem? Chris has given the last 2 baths to Harper and feels it is my turn. Ok, maybe. BUT, I gave the last 2 baths to MONSTER. And, really, I don't care if the dog's bad, there is NOTHING that compares to giving a 15-lb cat a bath.

DogCat

Someone thinks the dog crate is for him....

Moving Day Pictures

Yes! I'm finally posting them! Took me long enough!

Kyle worked hard.

How many people does it take to put together a table?

Mike and Kyle and the disaster of a kitchen.

Chris and the ladies (Amy and Kelle)

Monster didn't work so hard...

And thanks to Tim, Jen, and Matt, even if they didn't make it into the pictures.

House in Progress

I...am...so...tired... You wouldn't even believe. It was another LONG weekend at the house, with more wonderful helpers, and it's finally starting to look like a home. We're pretty close to wrapping up most of the projects we want to do before moving in, and will be mostly packing, cleaning, and moving stuff this week. And...I still have to paint our bedroom. Minor little detail. Anyway, here's what you came to see. Pictures.

Monster isn't fond of moving.

I lost my mind and painted Chris's Penn State man cave.

The bar.

The kitchen.

Other finished projects: family room is painted, den is painted, door to laundry is replaced, dead air conditioners are removed and the walls are patched, ugly kitchen light is replaced, hardwood floor for the family room is purchased (but not installed yet), some outlets replaced, holes in laundry room closed so Monster can't hide in them. Think that's it. A lot.

Upcoming:

- Paint master

- Install floor

- Rehab chimney (mason coming next week)

- Replace roof (contractor coming next week)

- Ground electric (electrician theoretically starting sometime soon)

- Logo on bar wall

- Repair or replace washer

- Fix dining room ceiling where roof leaked

- Replace ceiling fans in master and kitchen (there was an incident with the ladder)

- Renovate the upstairs bathroom (currently demo's done...)

Only a couple things in the next month or two, right? Doh...

My cat, the fighter

So, Monster took another trip to the emergency room this weekend while I was out of town. Poor Chris had to deal with the beast after he got out and got into yet ANOTHER fight. Getting beat up doesn't seem to bother him. This time, aside from tons of bites and scratches, he tore open his paw and got it infected. And he doesn't seem to be able to close the outer eyelid of one eye, so he's just using the inner lid, which has totally freaked Chris out. Maybe one day he'll learn to play nice with others.