Friday, March 30, 2012

Sweetest Teacher Ever

Just when I was losing my cool yesterday I received the sweetest email possible-


"I have been meaning to tell you this for weeks. I LOVE HAYLEE!!! I'm sure people tell you how great she is all the time. But from a woman who has been around LOTS of children: She is the sweetest, happiest kid I've ever seen! Can I just drop my children off to you, and pick them up after you've raised them? You are doing such an awesome job with yours! Thanks for sharing Haylee with me!"

Haylee has the sweetest teacher. I just wish Haylee behaved half as good for us! It seems like kids always behave better around other people.

And how sweet to say I'm doing an awesome job. I sure don't feel like I am. Being a parent is the hardest job!!!!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Life's Not Always Peachy

This week has been horrible. I feel like a nervous breakdown is in order.

I went to the Doctor today after 5 weeks of back pain to finally get some relief. I have what is believed to be a torn/strained ligament. I am suppose to start physical therapy and take an anti-inflammatory for 4 weeks and hopefully that will do the trick. I was hoping she'd put me on strict bed rest but no such luck.

I made an appointment to take Jackson to see the Oncologist next Thursday. We'll go over what the next step should be and get a quote from him. I don't like the word Oncologist by the way. The word cancer sucks too.

Haylee has the worse attitude I have ever seen. She talks back constantly and pesters her sister. We've been disciplining her by sending her to her room. She spends most of the day/night in there. Ok, not most of her time, but it seems like she is sent there every 2 minutes and it never phases her.

Natalee is just her naughty little self. She screams (high pitched shrill) at the top of her lungs. She constantly throws her food on the floor. She now hops the gate downstairs and goes upstairs. Yesterday she rolled down the 2nd set of stairs and landed against the gate, didn't even cry. I have tried time out but she won't stay in the corner and when I tell her to get back in the corner she laughs. I put her in her crib in timeout tonight and when I came to get her she had ripped a nice chunk of her wallpaper off.

Do you see why I am on the verge of loosing it? I don't remember Haylee being as devilish as Natalee or maybe it's because I have 2 now and the fact that both of them are misbehaving it makes it 10 times worse. I feel like all I do is yell and punish them all day long. It's exhausting.

Life sucks right now. I'm throwing myself a pity party then I'm going to bed.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Sad Day

Two years ago Jackson had surgery to remove a 1 1/2 inch mass on his chest. It didn't look suspicious at all, just bothered him. The Vet said it looked benign.

Fast forward to this past Sunday (one day after his 10th Birthday) I noticed a new mass had appeared in the same spot. I called the Vet and we took him in last night. To make a long story short, we received the results from the biopsy- Mast Cell Tumor. It's a very aggressive, malignant tumor. Needless to say the tears have been flowing since last night when the Vet told us that is what she thought it was.

So our next step is to have it removed, have a x-ray to check to see if other cancerous areas are found, and have blood work done. From there they will stage it 1-3. The Vet said his is probably stage 2-3 since it has already came back.

I have so many questions now that I hung up so I am expecting a call tomorrow morning and hopefully I will have some answers. Our Vet gave us a quote of $992 for the "step 2" but recommends we actually have it removed by an Oncologist. So we will most likely meet with him and go from there.

To say we are heartbroken is an understatement. Jackson is more than just a dog to us. He was our "child" for 5 years before we had Haylee and he has always been treated like one of the kids. We celebrate his birthday, he has an Easter basket and goes on egg hunts, he goes camping with us and he opens presents on Christmas. He is the smartest, most patient (with the girls) dog. Besides the obvious mass, there are no signs anything is wrong with him. He is as healthy and happy as can be. Just tonight he was outside playing ball and catching the frisbee in mid-air.
I do not want Jackson to suffer from the effects of cancer. I do not want to put him through chemo and/or radiation. I just want him to carry out the rest of his life happy and carefree and that is why I will do whatever it takes.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Pretty Girls

Natalee has FINALLY started smiling for pictures. Boy does she look so stinkin' cute. I love it!

Haylee who has always been smiley and photogenic is now Ms. Superstar. I think this look fits her, what do you think?
 And you can even see the lady behind the camera in this picture :)

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Over The Hill

Our sweet little Jackson turned 10 yesterday. We got him when he was just a couple months old so we've pretty much had him his entire life. Before we had the girls he was our spoiled "child" and he has always been treated like more of a human than a dog.

We kinda went all out for the big 1-0 which included eggs for breakfast and roast for dinner.
We sang Happy Birthday with a cake Haylee added 10 candles and purple sprinkles too, but he didn't get a piece of that cake since it was chocolate. He did however get his own "cake".
He also got some treats, a new baby and a new bone.
We ended the festivities with time spent in the backyard playing ball, Jackson's favorite.
I love this picture of our 3 kids. It makes me laugh since Jackson is closing his eyes. Usually it's the kids who aren't looking or are blinking :)
Happy 10th Birthday Jackson. We love you old man!!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Ramblings

I knew there was a positive side to hurting my back 3 weeks ago. I have barely left the house and we've only filled up our gas tank twice in the last month. I think it's finally starting to feel a little better but I still can't sit without getting uncomfortable and I'm still in a lot of pain every time I stand up. My days have been spent laying on the heating pad.

Needless to say, I haven't been blogging much because we haven't been able to do much. But there are a few things I wanna remember about the girls.

Natalee is always saying "two, two" and she says it when she sees 2 puppies, 2 baby dolls, whatever there is 2 of. Smart girl!

Haylee has been obsessed with the movie Puss in Boots. It's actually a super cute movie. She always pretends she is Kitty Soft Paws and has the cutest "costume". She comes out of her room with a headband and a flower clip attached, a necklace, rain boots, a belt and a knife tucked into her belt. Natalee on the other hand crawls around on her hands and knees meowing!

Every morning when I go to get Natalee up she gathers her favorite stuffed animals of the day and holds on tight to them so she can bring them in my bed to cuddle. Most days it's her bear bear, a couple puppies, Minnie and her turtle. Some days she brings more. She cracks me up.

I finally found something Haylee loves to eat that is super healthy for her! I bought "Cuties" and she will sit and eat those all days. Those and grapes and her favorite right now. She likes yogurt too which makes me happy since she is rather picky and just doesn't like to eat much at all.

Natalee has started getting picky with food now too. She loves to eat fruit, mostly grapes and strawberries. Sometimes she'll eat bananas but lately hasn't liked those. She likes yogurt, especially go-gurt and the M&M YoCrunch I bought. She like macaroni and cheese, fruit snacks. veggie straws and maybe a few other things. At least she still loves her plain milk and water. I try not to give her juice at all.

Haylee is doing so good with her letters. I can spell out something for her to write and she does awesome. She has learned so much this year and I am so proud of her. She is constantly counting things like food on her plate, people in the room etc. I love my smart little girl! We are so excited for her to start Kindergarten at Legacy and Haylee seemed to really like the school when we went there for a open house last week.

Natalee has been escaping from her car seat lately. I was driving down the street yesterday and I hear "Mom, Mom" and I turn around to see Natalee has undone her chest buckle and has both arms out of the straps. She's my little problem child I tell you.

Both of the girls are sick right now. Natalee has an ear infection and pink eye. Haylee is congested and has a cough. You'd never be able to tell they are sick by the way the run around and carry on. Today was one of the worse days I've had in awhile with them. Natalee got on the dining room table and started throwing my decorative balls on the floor, the she proceeded to pick up Jackson's water bowl and dump that everywhere. Then both girls decided to swim in the water table outside and they were soak and wet. To make matters worse, Natalee had a dirty diaper when she got soaked so that was fun to clean up. Then Natalee kept escaping out the dog door and finally she dumped a bottle of hand sanitizer all over herself and the floor. It was definitely "one of those days".

Spring Carnival at Merrill Ranch

On Saturday we took the girls to another Spring Carnival. One we have never been to, but one will we definitely go back to. We decided to go here instead of the Ostrich Festival and the girls had a blast.

Highlights include:

Pony Rides


Petting Zoo
Roller Coaster (a first for Haylee)
Bounce Houses
Stingray Tank
Fire Truck
We also took a spin on the Ferris Wheel and watched Jeanne's School of Dance perform.

Sadly Natalee woke up sick the next day and now Haylee is sick. This week is gonna be rough.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Spring Has Sprung

March to me means Spring Carnival time. I love Spring, it's my favorite time of the year. The weather is perfect and there are so many things to do with the girls on the weekends.

Last weekend we went to the Lost Dutchman Carnival. Haylee rode a few rides but sadly Natalee wasn't allowed. They had the lamest rules. She couldn't go on any of the rides, even if I went with her. She was sad. Her and Haylee both played a game and won big, pink dolphins so they were both excited for that. I went on the Sizzler a couple times with my niece which brought back wonderful memories of my teenage years. We were there just a couple hours, but had a wonderful time.

This past weekend there was a Spring Carnival right next to our house. Josh set his Dish Network/Directv booth up there and Haylee was his helper most of Saturday. After Natalee's nap I met them down there and the girls went on a few rides. Natalee was sooooo excited because she got to ride 3 rides!!! Look at the excitement on her little face!!

Each of the girls rode 3 rides and then Haylee got her face painted. I asked Natalee if she wanted hers painted but she didn't. Haylee also played one game (which I cheated a little....maybe) and she won a huge, spiky, bouncy ball.
Next up, Ostrich Festival next weekend and possible another carnival...woo hoo!!!!

Happy 17th Birthday Dee!

Last Friday was Danielle's 17th Birthday! I can't believe my mini me niece is 17. She is so beautiful and I couldn't be more proud of her and the decisions she's made in her life.

Yesterday we took her to Serrano's for her birthday and luckily they didn't embarrass her and make her wear the huge sombrero.
After lunch we took her to the mall to buy her the Van's she's been wanting. She is one expensive little lady, but she's worth it!

Happy Birthday Dee, I love you!