Best. Day. Ever.

Well, best day in January ever, at least that I can ever recall.  It got up to 72 degrees here today, and was completely sunny with low humidity and not a cloud in the sky.  PERFECTION.  So of course we had to take advantage of the beautiful day by getting out in the sun, especially after the week we've had (our one week-iversary of kitty cat dying, as well as some other major family things going on with BT's family--lots to deal with--keep them in your thoughts and prayers). 

So off we went to the zoo!  We went ahead and bought our membership for the year today so we would be all ready once the spring and summer come along.  Since Thomas has been going to the zoo since he was six months old, I was really excited to see how he was there NOW.  And he LOVED IT.  His favorites were definitely the petting zoo (which our zoo has a really new children's zoo and it's fantastic), the carousel, and the horse and llama. 

On the Carousel Ride

Trying to figure out this petting zoo thing

He Loved it!

Once he had the ropes, he was totally in charge of the day.

Thomas also seemed to have NO fear.

Checking out the pigs

Loved the Pigs alot too

Come to the zoo, yall!

Mr. Serious

Waving to the animals

Lunch Break!

 Later on in the day, after nap, we took Beau for a walk (he's been pretty bummed out this week, losing his buddy last week really has actually kind of hit him hard), and so T got a wagon ride in at the same time!  It was a perfect ending to a wonderful spring-preview day.

We ALL needed this day.  Makes me really REALLY ready for spring.

Oh, and by the way, baby girl has a name.  Kathryn Lyn.  Kathryn after BT's mom, and Lyn after my sweet sister Mally, my mom, and my grandmother.  We'll call her Kathryn, even though I won't be surprised if a nickname eventually comes our way.  I've heard her already called: Katy, Katy Lyn, Katelyn, and Khaki.  So I guess time will just tell, but in my mind, she is my Kathryn :-)

Grief

Last night, I lost my companion of eleven years, my cat, Skyler.  It's been a rough day. 

She was here for me in some of the toughest, darkest, lonliest times of my life, and stayed my friend through the best, happiest, and most joyous times too. 

The hardest part was how very, very sudden it all happened and how completely unexpected it was.  In hindsight, I should have known.  But I just can't beat myself up about it.  I had made comments about how much water she was drinking, and about how she was going out of the litter box (which we blamed on a behavioral problem).  We've long known she has had a vitamin/mineral deficiency of some sort, but didn't know how it would come into play with her kidneys and everything else until it was too late. 

I went to bed last night at 9, and at midnight, woke up to her crying under the bed.  By that point, she was getting very sick and couldn't even walk or hold her head up.  Two hours earlier, she had been FINE. 

I rushed her to the vet, and they tried all they could, but they said that she had obviously stopped breathing on the way for at least a few minutes because she was unresponsive behind the eyes.  They said even if they were able to stabilize her that she would most likely suffer from brain damage and the vet just looked me in the eye and said, "I just don't see much hope for your cat." 

So I made the decision I'd been dreading for ten and a half years, by myself, at the emergency vet at 2:30am.  And I left in tears.  I've been crying all day.  I have, however, been overwhelmed with the calls I've gotten from friends and family, even if I haven't been able to take many of them between my moments of normalcy. 

So say a little prayer for me.  It's going to be really tough.  I just loved her so much.  She was the best.  The perfect fit.

Love you, Skyler.

Skyler, 2000-2011

My Growing Boy

T's babysitter Allison took this picture of him last week on one of his snow days. 

LOVE IT, hate it. 

Love it, because it's adorable.

Hate it, because it makes me realize how fast he's growing.

Sigh...

Introducing...

Thomas' little sister :-)

Way to go, Luke for being 3/3!!!





Long Weekend

It's been a long weekend over here, both literally and figuratively.  Not only is it a three day weekend, but this is the weekend of WAITING.  waiting for my birthday tomorrow, of which we really don't have any plans, but it's always nice to have YOUR day.  and waiting, moreover, for Tuesday at 10am.  That's our time to find out what we're having, and i'm trying to be patient.  It's easy to be patient when you have Thomas, though, as he is master at occupying and entertaining your time :)

This weekend we've done some time at the park, lots of playtime at home, taken some wagon rides to the park, and tonight, he got his first haircut!  Here are pictures from the weekend.  I sure do love this kid.

This is T's new thing: climbing in the oven drawer.  Whatever works for him.  This picture was also what made me decide it was TIME for a haircut!

Just chillin' this morning: eating a little watermelon snack and perusing the sunday ads.  He's a quirky one!

At the park yesterday: another shot that made me cut the hair.

This one made me want to pull the scissors out right away.

Haircut night Tonight!  And, yes, I cut it myself.  :-)

Post-Haircut.  He's lovin it!

Posing with his new do, and also his gloves that are about four sizes too big.  He refuses to care and HAS to wear them.

Tune in Tuesday!

Snow Day!

As usual the weather predictions were a little off.  Two days ago, they were predicting that we were going to get between 3 and 7 inches of snow, which is a TON for us!  Cue the maddening grocery store runs.

So we basically spent all day Sunday waiting for the snow, and it started around 5pm Sunday night.  But not snow: freezing rain, sleet, and ICE.  Sure, it looks pretty, and it actually looks JUST LIKE SNOW.  But trust me, it's not. 

So today is an at-home day.  No driving anywhere, not on these roads.  Luckily for Thomas that doesn't apply to wagon-rides, which he INSISTED on going on this morning.  I think, in my opinion, snow or ice, he had a great time :-)

Ready to go out to the snow!

I mean ICE

New Year

Aunt Darlene was wonderful and let Thomas spend the night with her to celebrate New Year's while we went out on a "grown up" date and ate a fantastic dinner out here. 

The rest of the long weekend was spent with a little shopping, a lot of football watching, and LOTS of  RELAXING! 

Here's a little of what we were up to this weekend:

Our version of "Where's Waldo."  Can you find Thomas in the picture?

There he is!

Lots of playing with the new basketball goal this weekend!

Checking out his new book from Great Grannie G.

The biggest hit of the weekend for Thomas: a pizza picnic in the den to watch the Alabama game!

In case you were wondering: he's like Mikey: he'll eat anything.

Getting (demanding) Mr. Beau wear his new toboggin. 

Thanks for being such a good sport, Mr. Beau!

Been thinking alot about how it's 2011.  The older you get, the quicker time flies.  Especially when I think that T was born in 2009, and how our newest will join us this year.  It's a nice place to be: loving where you're at...

Stay tuned for a BIG announcement January 18th!  Will it be a boy--or a girl?  We'll see!